#thoughts on revision

[pierrotwrites-hc]

I’ve seen you allude to how different the original AO3 version of TGB was, but I never got a chance to read it - if you have the time, I’d love to know more about the things that changed the most during the rewrite into its present incarnation and if anything stayed the same!

Thank you for this question!

I may have talked about this before, but I think Luca changed the most drastically between versions. On rereading, I was frustrated by the one-dimensionality of his character. He was someone to whom bad things had happened, but he lacked the interiority and distinct, unique voice necessary to communicate how profoundly his circumstances had shaped him (or to demonstrate his subconscious strategies of resistance).

Giving Master Trainer an audible voice in Luca's head was a game changer. He is the visceral embodiment of Luca's trauma, a fragment from the past lodged in his brain -- and he is also Luca himself. Master Trainer isn't a ghost or some kind of split personality; this is Luca talking to Luca. He is constantly undermining his own humanity in the voice of his persecutor.

Turning Master Trainer into a sort of chronic mental virus gave me an opportunity to structure Luca's arc in Part II around building the resilience and resistance he needs to inoculate himself against that voice and everything it represents. In this rewrite, it was really important to me that Luca develop a sense of personhood outside of his relationship with Robert. Luca might see Robert as his savior, but I wanted Robert to be the motivation Luca needed to save himself. Having Luca begin to push back against his programming is a big part of his larger arc/relationship with Robert.

Along with the characters, the worldbuilding also (I think) became a lot more multidimensional and (I hope) effective. While Solas has always been a mashup of Ancient Rome, Golden Age France, and Victorian London (you know: three rotten old empires at peak decadence), I did a lot of work on the culture and politics, as well as the broader historical/global context in which all these events are taking place. I have read way too much speculative and historical fiction in which One Brave Man Saves the Kingdom, and I wanted to show that wartime politics are really complicated and that success and failure are often contingent on sheer chance rather than the actions of any single individual. There's a lot going on outside of Solas, and a lot going on inside of Solas that has nothing to do with Robert and Luca, and while both of them get to do a lot of cool stuff with a measurable impact on the course of events, they are also small actors on a stage so big they can't even see the edges of it. That's been really exciting to write, and hopefully to read.

[universalitgirlsblog2]

🎀🧋MENTAL DIET🎀🧋

🎀" A change of speech is a change of mind " - Neville Goddard. Everyone indulges in self- talk,we can control the nature & direction of our inner conversations. Our inner conversations are the causes of the circumstances of our life. To change your mind , you must change your speech aka your inner conversations. Inner world creates the outer world.

🧋Mental diet is like a normal diet , the only difference is that instead of avoiding unhealthy food , we avoid unproductive thoughts aka thoughts which contradict our desires . We choose to think productive & healthy thoughts. Believe it or not , our thoughts create our reality.

🎀Master your mind to focus on what you want & persisting in the desired story. If you are focusing on what you don't want or if your mind keeps going back to the old story, then it's very important to maintain a strong mental diet. Our brain is used to wandering or be in auto pilot mode. We need to create a new pattern where we only focus on what we want. To create a new pattern , we need to put consistent attention and put mental effort to focus on what we want. The more effort we put to focus on what we want , the more we will train our mind. Gradually , the new pattern will become habitual. Choose to be a conscious creator and be consistent.

🧋Think from a perspective of a person who already has everything they want and keep persisting. Persist until it becomes your reality. You have control over your thoughts , you have the power to choose what you think about.

🎀In one of Kim Velez's videos , she said that said Mental diet is King and she is right. The more you think something , the more you believe it. Mental diet is so beneficial when you need to reprogram your mind or upgrade your self concept , or manifest your desires. In general , mental diet is very helpful.

🧋Sammy Ingram also said that Mental diet is forever because our thoughts are forever creating. We need to be on Mental diet to replace our limited or negative beliefs. When you let those negative thoughts settle , you are holding the undesired reality in place. To change things , we affirm the opposite , we focus on what we want.

🎀"It is the food which you furnish to your mind that determines the whole character of your life. It is the thoughts you allow yourself to think , the subjects that you allow your mind to dwell upon , which makes you and your surroundings what they are " - Emmet Fox.

🧋Incase, all this sounds very confusing to you , let me simplify it for you. You don't need to do anything but just focus on what you want . Think thoughts from a perspective where you have your desires. If you have your desires , you won't whine about not having them , right ? Keep persisting in your desired reality. If you get thoughts which contradict your desires , just take a deep breathe and know that they don't matter. Those thoughts don't matter so don't pay attention to them.

🎀Also , I feel this chart will be helpful, it was in solar's creator code guide too.

This chart explains how to do mental diet in a very simple way.

🧋Also never forget , YOUR THOUGHTS CREATE ! 🎀🧋

[phyriaxi]

Can I request a Mostima corset to go with the Fia one?

Or a Spuria since she just came out and I saw you put up a previous Mostima recently

Also thank you for doing these requests! I love your work :D

perhaps i'll make this an illustration series~~ it's a lot of fun!!

[ thank you for the request! ]

[ktzuki]

sit on me;

izuku x reader, university au

✎ synopsis — there were no more seats, so izuku offered you a seat. on his lap 🤞(only BORDERLINE suggestive)

✎ a/n — bnha fandom i am here again but for my manz izuku. he is just so.... arrggghhh i love older izu aus hes everything to me

"yn, the movies starting!!" ochako screamed. your uni flatmates decided to host a movie night, and with all the stress from finals... it was really something you appreciated.

"on my way! blame kirishima for wanting so many snacks!" you retort, scurrying to the living room where everyone else was.

what bad luck you had. normally the couch was able to hold the lot of you, but jirou had invited her boyfriend, kaminari, to the party. and for the first time, you had the courage to invite your literature classmate, and crush, izuku midoriya.

"theres no more seats..." you mumbled from the kitchen doorway. you werent sure what to do, since this was a problem that never came up. you didnt want to kick anyone off, or disturb anyone since everyone looked comfortable. you also felt a bit down as you missed your chance to sit next to izuku. you knew the others would take a hint, but you never told any of them about your feelings. in the midst of your overthinking, you hadnt noticed the slight turn of izukus head towards your direction. he watched you for a bit as you couldnt come to a solution.

"you can sit on me if you want."

the room fell into silence at izukus statement, jaws dropping in the process. you werent sure if you heard that correctly, nor did anyone else for that matter, as the boy never usually had that kind of confidence — that was something youd expect from kaminari, or bakugo with his girlfriend (a sight youd never expect to see).

"woah, izuku... who knew you were so manly!" kirishima broke the silence, smacking izukus back in the process.

"yeah... woah...!!" "okay puller!!" "sit on- ????"

said boy only blinked his eyes a few times before the realisation of what he really said washed through him. in just a few seconds, he found himself stuttering and waving his hands in the air, sweating profusely. "i-i meant on my lap! seriously! i mean!! she looked stressed!! i didnt mean anything bad i promise!"

you had nothing to say, except laugh. his rambling was sort of cute. but you knew izuku was just a friend, he was only being considerate — its in his nature. "come on guys, you know what midoriya meant."

despite being incredibly shy when it came to all things izuku, you didnt want to miss this chance. you walked over to him, sitting across his lap and resting your back on the arm rest. the edge of the armrest was hard, so izuku slipped his arm there before you even laid your back. his arm was eventually going to ache, you thought, but he still did it anyways. everyone else seemed to have gotten distracted or bored after seeing izukus reaction, and went onto their usual chit chatter before starting the movie.

"thank you midoriya. i didnt know what to do." you quietly admitted, a bit flustered as you were sitting on his lap, playing with your hands awkwardly.

"no worries. i know how it is to overthink. i just hope youre comfortable?" he asked with a sheepish smile, noticing how awkward you were. it took you aback — was he always this thoughtful?

"y-yeah. i am." you looked away, not being able to bare any more eye contact with him. you guys were only friends, and you hadnt been in a relationship in years... maybe thats why you felt the way you did.

the movie went on, entrancing everyone into it. you on the one hand couldnt focus on anything but the mere fact you were sitting on izukus lap, and you werent sure why you even did so. the urge just to melt into him was strong, but you prevailed since you convinced yourself you "didnt want to take advantage of his kindness", even though the boy fully invited you to get comfortable. your neck was currently in a bit of pain from craning it to the side, and you felt too shy to move incase you block his vision or invade his personal space. why did you sit in this position? were you dumb? you were literally frozen trying to not distract him from the movie — something you wish youd be enjoying too.

"your necks going to hurt if you keep on craning it that way. wanna face forward?" midoriya whispered in your ear as to not disturb the others. you felt how close he was in the midst of your overthinking, and it jolted you, oblivious to midoriya. it made him chuckle, but his breath against your skin lingered even when you jolted away. you wanted to chase that feeling again, but fought against it.

"if thats fine... with you i mean!" you exclaimed — you were so thankful it was dark. you didnt want him to see you flustered over his actions when he was just trying to be kind. you wouldnt have minded sitting on anyone elses lap at this moment of time, or even the floor. his actions didnt make you uncomfortable, but rather made you want to-

"of course yn. get as comfortable as you want! think of me as like... a chair!" he quietly joked. you couldnt find that funny in the way he did, but it definitely felt funny to you. it didnt help how you were already feeling. the butterflies in your stomach were running rampage, and below that... you just hoped he didnt feel anything on his thighs. he clearly didnt realise what he was saying... or maybe that was just you feeling otherwise. still, you shifted yourself and found yourself comfortable in his lap, your back now on his chest, faces just cms apart.

for the rest of the movie, you calmed yourself down and found comfort in your position. normally, your mind would be running miles over being this close, to the point where you could count every freckle, but something about him was warm, and his steady heartbeat lulled you to sleep.

when you awoke, you found the movie was already over. you shuffled around, trying to wake yourself up after a good rest. you couldnt see anyone else, so you figured everyone had left after the movie ended.

"awake?"

you jumped, not expecting anyone to be around. "midoriya?"

"you were asleep on my lap, remember?" he reminded, albeit sheepishly, "you fell asleep."

"oh my god yes! im so sorry. i mustve kept you there for-" you turned to check the time, "hours!! im so sorry midoriya!"

he waved one of his hands in response, putting his phone down in the process. "its okay - you looked so comfortable i didnt wanna wake you."

"ugh... i so owe you. thank you for everything tonight." you sighed. if it wasnt for midoriya, you mightve considered leaving movie night as a whole.

his eyes lingered on you, but so did yours.

"yn?" you looked at him, "could i..."

you could practically see the clogs in his head whirring. there was nothing he could possibly be thinking about, except getting sleep for a long day of lectures tomorrow. he was stuck overthinking as to what he should say or maybe how he should say it, and in that time you found yourself admiring his features. since you and izuku were just friends, you never got the chance to see him up close — how did you never notice how pretty he was?

he probably didnt want what you were hoping he would want. with a sigh, you got yourself ready to leave, wanting to wash all your inappropriate thoughts about midoriya away as to not make this awkward for yourself in the future. he was still your classmate after all. he noticed you shuffling, and that broke him out of his trance. he infact did want what you want. in the first place, he only asked out of kindness, but things changed over time, for example, when you were shuffling against him — he couldnt believe how stupidly oblivious he was. just as you were about to stand, you felt the hem of your shirt being grabbed, "come back."

you looked back, confused. did you get the wrong idea? "please." he asked. and that answered everything. you felt like a giddy highschooler.

in a trance, you found yourself back on his lap, lips on his, minds blank. one thing lead to another, and you began straddling his hips, and his hands found themselves under your shirt. good thing no one else was around.

for the first time in forever, the two of you couldnt even think.

[the-lavender-clown]

I saw this tiktok earlier and literally couldn’t stop myself from drawing this

[gabelew]

not a single thought behind those eyes

[melanchoise]

more stress drawing! but here is tged again :) small comic

[maeby-cursed]

vampire!satoru who’s not used to being in the shadows. 

he gets turned very young and lives through every stage he could possibly live through; denial, starvation, a deep self loathing and a bitter feeling of acceptance. he was never too concerned about harming others but he was also not used to having his liberties curtailed.

vampire!satoru who begins to hunt others.

he needs the blood, quite literally, to survive. he’s also gotten even more vain in this new skin, this odd state of life between what was and death. he hasn’t found any others like him yet so he has no guidance, he hunts men and women alike and tries to figure out what he likes. he can’t help but admire himself though; this new glow of his skin, his elongated canines… he enjoys the blood dripping down his face, the only drop of color against the white of his hair, skin and eyes. 

vampire!satoru who gives up on morals entirely. 

he finds new victims easily and feeds on them, enjoying himself like narcissus in the lake. he buys a mansion by stealing money from every prey and works out a system to enjoy his life to the fullest even if he cannot see the sun ever again. he tricks and manipulates women and lies and slaughters men by the thousands. he feels numb with every drop of blood.

he never once kills a child.

vampire!satoru who meets you.

it’s a cold january night and a blizzard has struck the town he resides in at the moment. he could very well go out if he felt inclined to but he’s not forgotten his lazy ways, he doesn’t feel like chasing some poor victim in the middle of a snow storm just to get a drop of cold blood. he’s not that desperate. 

he spends his night reading, studying, turning the tv on and off and contemplating himself on every surface he can see himself reflected upon. 

he’s in the middle of admiring his eyes on a silver spoon when someone knocks on his door. he’s so startled he drops the utensil, and now he’s annoyed. no one startles the satoru gojo.

vampire!satoru who opens the door and sees your face for the first time.

you’re wrapped in a thick coat, hair floating around your visage due to the wind. he’s struck for a moment with a memory he can’t recall; a warm smile and a mane of black hair. 

“who the hell are you?” he asks. 

vampire!satoru who for an unknown reason decides to listen to you.

you explain how you were about to catch a flight when the storm hit, how you don’t know the town very well and cannot find your way to a hotel. a shy smile makes your cheeks soft when you timidly ask if you could stay for a night. 

vampire!satoru who is a predator, vampire!satoru who is an animal, vampire!satoru who is not human, not your friend, not kind, not good.

vampire!satoru who for a second feels greedy.

you trust him. you trust this creature in front of you who is very obviously not like you, who has the coldest eyes you’ve ever met and the longest canines you’ve ever seen. your instincts know – they must.

and yet… he can see it in your eyes, the kindness hidden behind the pupils that tell him you always expect people to be good, even when you shouldn’t.

vampire!satoru who feels thirsty for something that isn’t blood for the first time in a hundred years.

vampire!satoru who can’t remember who he was all those years ago.

he can’t remember the faces of those he used to love, can’t remember how he looked like or what he thought of the world. who was a human in a world of humans and now feels like a child who’s been told he has to hurt others to survive. 

he can’t remember what he’s done since he was turned, can’t remember the number of victims or what they looked like. who was reborn alone and has lived alone and will exist forever alone.

vampire!satoru who really truly doesn’t want this to be his existence. 

vampire!satoru who answers your question with an “okay” and lets you in.

[stuckinapril]

I need to get so badly into the habit of just going “we’ll see what happens” like at some point worrying and stressing and hemming at hawing away at something is so counterproductive and you just need to make a decision and go w it

[iloveyoublue]

thinking about how any animal doing something vaguely weird or annoying or just plain stupid that evan comes across gets nicknamed ‘barty’, like a raccoon going through hogwarts bins or a bird that accidentally flies into a window

and barty goes to a pet shop place to find some disgusting creature as payback but while he’s there this little blonde kitten takes a liking to him and ends up falling asleep on his thigh, and bartemius simp crouch jr literally can’t help himself

and that’s the story of how barty brings home evan the kitten who quickly ends up ruling the roost in the slytherin dorms, which evan the human h a t e s, especially when it decides to sleep curled up on his pillow every night

barty will whine for hoursss if evan tries to move the cat, which was originally meant as a joke but when a sleep deprived evan stormed into barty’s bed because he refused to share with ‘that mangy cat’, barty quickly ups the ante and they end up sharing most nights just to stop the headache evan gets from bartys screeching

(regulus caught barty moving the cat from curled in the common room back up to evan’s bed once, and hasn’t had to do a single piece of transfiguration homework for the entire term in exchange for keeping the secret)

[scarnemo]

just a nice peaceful picnic

nothing more~

[sea-buns]

wow... what a season. it feels weird to say that this little 6-episode side quest, in all of the 19 seasons of d20, is one of my favorites they've ever done but it just is. it had all the stakes and humor and drama that you could possibly want, all balanced with an incredible cast of players. the table chemistry was excellent, the characters were so perfectly themselves, the TROPES were OFF THE CHARTS!

i can't quite remember the last time i finished something and ached so sharply for there to be more. i just know I'm gonna be thinking about this one for a long time

[mariyekos]

So in the Visions of V Manga, when kid Vergil's attacked he specifically shouts "Demons?!" and is confused why they're there, wanting to warn Dante and Eva about it. Since he seems immediately certain about what his attackers are, this to me says that Vergil was already aware of the existence of demons even before the attack occurred. But in DMC3, when Cerberus asks Dante if he's human, Dante responds "Who knows? I'm not even sure myself" which implies to the point of pretty much outright stating he's not sure of his heritage and thus that he's part demon.

Do people think Eva/Sparda told Vergil and only Vergil about the existence of demons because of some sort of "older brother" responsibility? Or do you think Eva/Sparda told both Dante and Vergil that demons existed, but just didn't tell them (or only didn't tell Dante, which seems messed up and less likely) that they were half demon themselves? Why does kid Vergil not seem shocked that demons exist while teen Dante isn't even sure he's part demon himself? Retcon/inconsistency, or some combination of the above?

EDIT: Thank you to @/astronomiaa for mentioning the bit in Before the Nightmare! I'd forgotten about it. In BTN Dante mentions getting sword lessons from his father, but knowing very little about him otherwise, and not knowing (or even suspecting) that Sparda was a demon. These are the four main scenarios I see coming from that:

Neither kid knew demons existed because Sparda taught them to fight and that was it,

Dante didn't know demons existed while Vergil did, but neither suspected their dad was a demon,

Both kids knew demons existed but (at least Dante) didn't suspect their dad was a demon

Theoretical fourth where Dante knows nothing and Vergil knows everything (or at least that Sparda was a demon) which could've helped guide Vergil's research where Dante just kind of lived and ran, which would make sense but is also reeeeally questionable parenting because guys your kids can't be more than a few hours apart at absolute most stop shoving so much responsibility on the older one! He might only be older by a few minutes!!!! He's 8 (eight) (or younger depending on when they told him!!!)!!!!!! That's yoo young for you to decide he can shoulder that entire burden oh my god!!!!!

Again, since Vergil's doesn't have some sort of "what the hell are these things" moment I do want to say that at least he knew demons existed, but that's not a guarantee. It could just be a situation where a kis goes "of course monsters are real!" because it makes sense and they've read scary stories rather than one where said kid's parents actually sat him down to tell him monsters/demons were Real (And potentially Out To Get Them). But it would be really interesting if Sparda and Eva gave him more information than they did Dante, especially when you consider that means Dante might've watched his life be torn apart by creatures he didn't know existed until they destroyed everything he knew and loved.

Sources/Pics of what I'm referencing under the cut.

Visions of V:

DMC3:

EDIT: Before the Nightmare

The sepia/top picture is the newer version floating around the internet, while the bottom is the old translation.

[odo-apologist]

Thinking about Out of Time, specifically the ending, which, in my opinion, is one of the best Rimmer scenes of the franchise. It's one of those moments- like his sacrifice for Nirvannah in Holoship or his insistence that Lister burn his soldiers in Marooned as a gesture of friendship- that hint at the potential that he has, deep down, of being noble, heroic, kind. What's particularly interesting about this scene, though, is that up to this point, Rimmer has often been shown as having a fascination with power, with militarism and fascist aesthetics. This is among his worst, most dangerous traits. You see the extreme outcome of it in Meltdown, what I think is Rimmer at his most abhorrent; he is the cause of the death of an entire group of people all because he wanted to live out his power fantasy of being a strategic military general, watching the battle at a distance like he describes in Marooned. Of course, as others have pointed out in their own posts, Rimmer's desire for/adoration of power likely comes more from his desire to be loved and prove he's deserving of love, but its consequences can be horrific. In Out of Time, when he encounters a version of himself that is an *actual* fascist sympathizer/apologist, he is disgusted. He is the one who wants to fight and who says, "Better dead than smeg." Whereas his future self says he would rather die than live like rats as the present crew do, our Rimmer would rather die fighting than live a life of ease and comfort while rubbing shoulders with bloodthirsty, power-crazed dictators.

And I think it's really interesting that the episode before this one is Rimmerworld. The aspect I often think about (that I wouldn't be surprised a lot of other fans also often think about) is Rimmer's 550+ years of imprisonment. It's such a disturbing concept, being kept in solitude for that inconceivably long, that its apparent dismissive treatment as a joke and lack of any real impact on Rimmer haunts me a little bit and I'm glad there are a few fics out there that explore the aftermath more thoroughly. But before he ends up in that situation, he 1. Abandons the others- the seemingly only people who have ever come close to caring about him- to die, leaving them to flee in an escape pod, and 2. Creates a civilization of clones of himself that he clearly bases off of the Roman Empire (a notable inspiration for many fascists). The first is significant because it shows the contrast between his cowardice in that situation and his lack of it in Out of Time. But the second point here, about the creation of his civilization, may show why that contrast happens between episodes, the reason for it. The civilization of Rimmerworld, based on an obsession with power, inspired by what we can assume is Rimmer's own idealized view of the Romans and empire in general, is the same that causes his centuries of suffering. So the next episode, when he sees another version of himself willing to get along with the kind of people like those who imprisoned him (who, albeit, were also versions of him)...I don't know, maybe the events of Rimmerworld did have some notable effect on him after all, at least for a while; maybe that's why he was so sure in his decision that the crew fight even though he knows they'll die trying.

Or maybe I'm just being ridiculous and overthinking things

[astarionposting]

I LOVE MODDING SO MUCH!!!!!

[clarissaweasley-10]

Lyra : A mosquito tried to bite me and I slapped it and killed it. Lyra : And I started thinking. Lyra : Like, it was just trying to get food. Lyra : What if I went to the fridge and it just slammed the door shut and snapped my neck? Grayson : Are you ok?