#very cool visuals and settings and really fun ways of storytelling

[paradoxgavel]

ough. just finished 100%ing the help wanted dlc, corn maze ending and all. i am so excited to never have to play another fuckin plushbaby level for the rest of my life god bless

[batbabydamian]

The Boy Wonder #3 by Juni Ba rambling about how cool this series would be to read in a single sitting...it's all so connected!!

rambles for issue #1 and issue #2!

i don't have as much personal interpretation for this cover besides it being a solid piece of art in shapes and silhouette! ALSO. bi bg lighting lol. Damian's "X" posing of his cape and swords parallels with Tim's "X" chest straps + the Robin emblem in the center. Tim's closed Red Robin wings frames Robin's own outstretched cape wings; and on top of that, the shadows cast inside the wings nicely frames Damian's demon mask.

Joe and Merle's dynamic has been so fun, especially with the mutual enthusiasm over the storytelling 🥺 Joe also opens up about his circumstances that led him to this moment, which perfectly sets up the setting of this issue! Even his very first introduction becomes a relevant detail when a fancy rich couple drops a champagne glass, uncaring of the people literally below them, saying “some poor sap down there’ll appreciate it” when it bonks Joe’s head.

it all comes around!! and tbh this issue proves how much this series would slap to read in a single sitting (GET THE COLLECTED EDITION)

Going beyond first impressions seems to apply to the color palette in this series. From #1 in the first page of Gotham, we see the gold of upper society to the blue of the downtrodden → from issues #2 and #3, it’s the warm gold of inner Gotham to the cold blue of the rich. there’s a sense of community displayed among the poor - even part of Jason’s intro avenging Bill, a generous man mourned on panel by many. The rich gives off a sense of individualism, celebrating themselves and their excess.

With the change in scenery, this issue steps into the more civilian side of things through a spy theme - fancy suits and lil gadget intros! Going down the civilian route with Tim feels very fitting since it's what makes Tim's run as Robin so charming!

i love that Talia’s taught Damian to be conscious of the rich’s effects on society, especially in the following page of small panels zoning in on the details of wealth and overindulgence. but also LIL DAMIAN. HIS LIL ROUND EYES AND HANDS 🥺

Damian’s aware of the facts, and his disgust is clearer after having just been through lower Gotham and seeing firsthand the poverty directly caused by the wealthy (also not sure if that old lady is the same one from #1 with similar hair and clothes, but pls she can't a break…)

i mentioned Damian’s “inciting incident” for this journey to be the intro of a demon for Damian to prove his worth but i’m correcting the use of that term!! the intro of the demon is more the beginning of plot, whereas the actual inciting incident is beheading the thief!! it’s the main reason he’s in this situation where he felt the need to prove himself, and atone. Most notably is that the beheaded thief is a consistent character that quite literally haunts Damian every step of the way.

The statue of Batman’s head being popped off becomes a significant visual, because while Damian started this journey to prove something to Bruce, the only one that really seems to have (quite literal) eyes for Damian’s journey is the thief. Why does he make more of an appearance than the actual Bat? Even his statue’s head doesn’t make a figurative presence; whereas the only one looming over Damian is the thief. Guilt over killing him may be driving him just as much as his desire to be worthy. Alternatively, it could be that Damian needs to reexamine his motivations since the thief is really getting in Damian's face now.

Damian is proud to be a positive influence on Tim, but the moment is short-lived. It’s an ironic moment to me because Damian doesn't even know the impact he's had on Jason just in the previous issue!! 😭

Damian's so desperate to prove his worth, yet he's been making choices in every issue to help others!! Helping the old woman up in #1, being vulnerable with Jason in #2, and now sacrificing himself for Tim!

The Ra’s "Weakness" panel has been reoccurring since #1, but it's the first time Talia has been included. Being great figures in his life and mind, their silhouettes consume Damian's, similar to a few of Batman's appearances below. This latest disappointment was such a blow to Damian, that Talia (who he might have the most respect for) becomes an added voice in his head.

Final thoughts!!

Like Rok, does the thief actually have a connection to the al Ghuls or is this beard just in fashion at the moment.

Lex is clearly referencing one of the Underwell warehouses that Joe and Merle are presently, so wondering if whatever he and Tim discuss here will be affecting them later.

Ending with Talia’s cover for extra hype!! i’ll probably go back to this for the next ramble, but i’m already gearing myself up to wail about Talia just based on this cover. The Mary and Jesus imagery (more prominent with Damian’s lil crown as a “prince”) but most importantly Talia weathering the flames for Damian…her own shroud/shawl wrapped around Damian and burning… oh boy

[icarusthecryptid]

Keath's storytelling through their art is amazing.

Like, look at these characters, these concepts, these pictures. Every bit of media used to convey a story. It's honestly brilliant!

I've got so much to say about it so let me ramble about the Harkers today!

Each of these represent something, which is very neat. But the way each character is dressed, is designed, looks even, it tells you something! It's brilliant. The personalities out of clothing and designs.

The Storyteller, their entire design is a story. Every accessory, every detail, every layer. It tells you so much about them! The hat that covers eyes, which I think is a fun way to show how the past doesn't look forward. Uncovered mouth, because historically stories/legends/history was passed by word of mouth because most people couldn't read. Also most of the time it was through songs too! That's so cool. There's so much going on in the Storyteller's design and clothing, the feather accessories, the plants, the straws, the clothes and dress like attachments. The shoes! There's a million details, and each says something without actually saying anything at all. For a mysterious figure, I believe the storyteller has the most that's actually being told purely from a visual perspective. There is a mystery, but the past illuminates (get it? Storyteller has a lamp hehe). Visually, the Storyteller lives up to its name so well! This is a being you'd find at the side of the road, along the crowd, on a stage, to sing of a past, to tell a story. A forgettable but unforgettable being. Too many details that will overwhelm you with implications, too many stories, but not extravagant, still rooted in the past, the basics if you will. Straws are important here, fields, the outside, nature. Straws in the past have been used for so much, bedding, isolation, food for cattle, to soften places, and clothing like hats. Multi-purpose and helpful.

Okay, next the Storyteller's significant other, the Bell-Ringer or also known as Yarrow. Who represents the future! A goat like being who wears Bell's and expensive clothing. If the future is commonly associated with good fortune, this is exactly how it should be conveyed! Not too simple and not too extravagant, there's a lot of details, but they're still rich in its simplicity. Ruffles, straight lines, horns and branches. Bell-Ringer is tall (but not the tallest), imposing, regal, a crown of golden really. Stitched patches on their cheeks, which convey a doll-like being, even as a goat. Their eyes are unique, like all goats, horizontal. To me their eyes are a way to have a unique play on future insight. And the patches on the cheeks can convey that these are untold. Yarrow is colorful, bright, imposing and even knowing. A representation of the future in such a beautiful way. Bell's also!!! Bell's are so important, Bell's have been commonly used to announce big news, important events and presently more for the time. Ringing Bells on a street corner for news, ringing Bells to herd cattle, ringing Bells to celebrate. A bell for attention, now more to great people too. It's important here, and it can have a lot of implications. Does the bell ringing mean that something important happens where the Yarrow is? The future is the sound of bells.

The last two Harkers are a bit harder for me as I'm not super sure I have seen all their details. So I'm hoping I'm getting it right and not misinterpreting what I'm seeing.

Okay! Third, let's go with the Enkindled. The Enkindled is the shortest. Its name can mean several things, like set on fire or to inspire (emotions). With a tree like being that is messy, that is wooden but small, pretty simple and not too extravagant. I believe the Enkindled has the least amount of detailing, oh there's a lot of it don't get me wrong, but clothing and accessory wise, there isn't much. But it represents a tree like being, so that makes sense. The wood that branches is detailed enough. Trees are mesmerizing enough. A truly rooted figure that doesn't need much, but still can inspire. The smallest of things can give the most ideas. A single tree can tell a story, a forest tells more. Again, I still don't know much, but what I know is that there is heart in this being, contrary to what you glean from a first glance maybe. But trees have represented so much, like family trees. But also strength, individuality and expression, calmness, growth and the interconnectedness of everything. It's the heart of it, the beginning maybe. They represent order(?) and that's reflected in their design! Trees might look chaotic, but they're ordered in a way that makes sense. Branches serve a purpose, the way they form is the most ideal path for a tree. The order in which a tree grows, withers, lives or dies.

Lastly the Croon, the tallest and most imposing looking. It has feathers and matches the design of a bird, the skull is bird-like. It's body looks like a bird's. But that's not the only animal trait, moose antlers, a crown of spikes and claw-like hands. The Croon looks the most intimidating. And its name can be interpreted as a tone of voice, crooning, sentimental humming/singing/speaking. The croon represents entropy, entropy can mean the end or decay of things. With a skull representing their head I feel that that's really well conveyed. There's a chaos to their design, but it all makes sense still especially with the concept of entropy. Where things fall into disarray or decline. The Croon looks dosserayed.

I love the way that the Harkers are themed after story aspects. The Storyteller as a name tells a story, respecting the past as most stories are retellings. The Bell-Ringer, the future, every story has one, what comes after. The Enkindled, the heart, the idea of a story, that what motivates, but also the order of it, there is a way to tell a story that makes sense of the chaos within these events that are linked. The Croon represents entropy, the chaos in a story or the ending of it, the challenge or the struggle that simply is.

If I got anything wrong please don't get angry! I'm very much still learning about the lore and details, unfortunately my brain is far more focused towards details in art than all the smart stuff everyone else seems to get 😭 and please do correct me if I'm wrong on anything!

End of the day, I just really love the amount of attention and visual storytelling that was put into Yaelokre, the art was addmitably what got me so into this all. It was the first thing that really caught my attention. The songs and the story I love them too!

Thanks for reading :D (if you're still here) and I hope if anyone else wants to share their thoughts on designs and stuff they will! I can't wait to ramble about the lark too, but my brains too tired to talk any more so I'll leave this here for now :D

Have a doodle page as compensation for sitting through this!

[carlyraejepsans]

i feel like uty improves on things undertale did but it doesnt have the same strong foundation as the original. like all the qol tweaks and secret shit and meta flowey are all super impressive but as a whole i agree i didnt find it cohesive or consistent

eh, sorry but i don't really think UTY "improves" much of... anything from Undertale? you can make an argument for the visuals, which are more detailed and certainly better animated, but i would argue right back that undertale's rougher, retro, "kinda ugly" graphics are a deliberate design choice on Toby's part that he stuck to for a reason. not to mention, even in their ugliness, the original main cast managed to display more variety in shape language and size than the entire UTY one, which seemed unable to break past the "tall, skinny, anime proportioned humanoid" figure for anyone beyond the occasional side NPC (which, credit where it is due, DID have some really creative designs).

the secret shit is part of my critiques, actually! while conceptually cool, i don't think they appropriately distributed their story and lore at all. i feel like if we got to the end of the pacifist run and were wholly confused as to why dalv was even a character in the story, the whole "human attack" backstory was... not delivered properly. now, there's no problem with having secret lore, gaster is right there. but if you DO have it then it shouldn't be... yknow... tied to the main backstory conflict that literally set the story in motion? lol? it felt like a game with dataminers in mind, rather than players. which was unavoidably detrimental to its storytelling.

the bullet patterns and attack designs were very visually creative but what they improved from the original in their cleverness they tanked with their execution. WAYYY too unfair, counting too much on memorization and giving you no time to accustom yourself to the mechanics (shout-out to the gun tutorial that... didn't teach us how to shoot. at all. we figured it out on our own in the axis fight LMFAO)

the meta flowey stuff was a fun idea that only really delivered in the neutral run and didn't amount to enough anywhere else to justify his presence in the game imo. like, i lost my shit during his fight too, don't get me wrong, i like when fan stories let him be a little FREAK. but everything else was just so... wasted? i almost didn't see the neutral ending at all because the way pacifist handled flowey disappointed me so much.

uhhhhh running was a good addition and the music fucked hard. can't say anything against those two, nossir. not sure it'd go so far as to call them improvements tho, just nice touches

[daniigh0ul]

— #simblr gratitude day

dear simblr community,

hello! i'm going to be sappy. i just want to say that i really enjoy this corner of tumblr, and i look forward to reading everyone’s stories, seeing pretty screenshots, laughing at jokes only simmers would make, and the kindness i’ve seen extended from the people i follow and have had the pleasure of being mutuals with. and, modders, i didn’t forget you!! thank you for making this game better where it needs to be! this is a general post, because i want everyone to feel included today! consider yourself tagged, because you are. ❣️ (heart emoji)

to the storytellers: hi, there are so many stories on here that inspire me to be a better storyteller. whether it’s the people i’ve talked to about writing, plot, or character development, or lurking afar during a sleepless night while going through someone’s backlog, or seeing the cool and fun ways we use the video game(!) medium to tell stories, i appreciate every single one of you. whether the story is slice-of-life, fantasy, royalty, or something i haven’t discovered yet, i’m glad you’re telling your story/stories. and if i haven’t read your story yet, i will soon!!

to the funny simblrs: thank you for keeping this place alive with laughter. seriously the amount of times silly jokes have crossed my dashboard that made my day brighter are countless. whether we joke about the game’s numerous bugs and glitches, references to townies we love to hate (or hate to love), or things that are simblr specific, i appreciate you.

to the casual players:

y’all are stronger than me!! if you play vanilla, vanilla-lite, or modded and are happy to play through legacy and bachelor challenges, or share your sims for the sheer joy of sharing your sims, you are a pillar in this community! you keep this place collaborative and fun! please keep sharing your gameplay!

to the blender users (+ pretty picture people):

hi i adore your work. the use of lighting and composition and posing and all of the things you learned to make visuals for my eyes to feast upon? thank you!!! these are all things i’m still learning to do, so i really do love seeing it on my dash so i can take notes. keep posting them!!

to the modders: hi! thank you for making free recolors, free poses, free builds, free meshes, etc. made available to keep this hobby alive!! some of my favorite cc i have ever downloaded has been really niche cc—so if you’ve been doubting making that jester cc set or trash bag dress please do it. obviously, my examples are very silly but i’m being genuine!! i am a cc hoarding dragon and my collection is forever-growing, so continue making pretty things for my sims to wear, useful things to shove into lots, and poses to make my story-telling hobby a smidge easier thank you !!

okay, sappy time is over!! it’s impossible for me to know every single one of you, but to everyone i do know (or have chatted with, or am mutuals with, etc) you have been a fun and positive place for me to hang out online which is so rare in this age of the internet. keep doing that. and to anyone i don’t know yet, don’t be shy!! even if it’s not to me, the best way to become apart of this community is to engage in it—whether it’s sending an ask, replying to someone’s post, or joining a discord server! i promise you will have fun here!

<3 ok bye

[feladi-fority]

Happy Homestuck day everyone!

Fuck, insane I'm still obsessed with a comic THIS OLD but what can you do.

I feel like people often focus on what Homestuck did poorly or just discuss the characters or the comic abstractly, so in this post I wanna go into a bit more detail about what I think this comic did really really right which I'm yet to see done in other media.

The dialogue is just fantastic. Hussie really knows how to write naturalistic internet style dialogue and it breaths life into characters which otherwise are very flat. So many of the characters are objectively very simple but the dialogue is just so good they still feel like real people. Like Nepeta is objectively very boring, but the dialogue made her feel real enough to make past me kin her.

The format gets a lot of attention for using flash animation and games, but I think the real biggest strength of Homestuck's format is the pesterlogs. I read through Kill 6 Billion Demons a bit ago which is a very similar comic to Homestuck and despite loving it I found I didn't grow nearly as attached to the characters as I did HS. The reason I've come to as to why is that in K6BD the standard comic formatting just doesn't allow natural the characters to be normal people and have normal conversations without totally killing the pacing, so to maintain a fast pace it has to keep that to a minimum. In Homestuck, however, the pesterlogs allow characters to just kinda talk about whatever for normal amounts of time while not requiring the plot to just stop around them. John can ramble about his love of Con Air while doing important ectobiology shit. This gives the audience time to get to know these characters while maintain the lightning fast pace of acts 3 and 4 and a bit of 2 and 5.

The time travel, holy shit like I have NEVER seen time travel done so well, I used to think I hated time travel in media until I read this comic. The comedy gotten through time-traveling chat clients and the use of stable time loops for the story is just so masterfully done. The fact HS manages to have very few plot-holes in terms of its time travel internal consistency is seriously impressive compared to other stories featuring it. I crave so badly a story which can reach the peaks of the lil' Cal reveal and the conversions Karkat had with Karkat.

The fandom hooks. Like most stories are out here letting the fandom do some shipping or have a fun set of factions or a magic system to sort their fav characters into. Homestuck is here quadrupling the potential ships. "My story has 4 elements and what element you have is determined by your personality" Homestuck has a character personality sorting system with 336 possible combinations. Your story has one cool unique world to imagine being in? Homestuck has several. How would your fav react in the Hunger Games? How would they react to their entire planet being destroyed and being sent into a game designed to allow personal expression as much as possible! The lore is also overcomplicated but it does a great job at helping the audience through it. Like fuck this shit was crack to my neurodivergent ass.

The [s] pages were fucking AWESOME, like I am yet to feel the emotion the best [s] pages did since I finished reading the comic for the first time. The complexity of the storytelling means that when it's being told visually you need to actively interpret what's happening, causing strong moments of "oh shit!" when you realize what you just saw, further making an already awesome animation even better!

The way the comic mythologized the feeling of growing up online was so fucking cool to my terminally online ass. It made the worldbuilding feel so much more compelling than similarly complex fantasy worldbuilding ever has.

I might have missed a few things Homestuck did really well I'd like to bring up so I might make another post later, but like, damn. Homestuck was an incredibly unique work and I haven't seen anything like it since. One of my goals in life is to make a work that makes other feels how this comic made me feel cuz nothing has scratched that itch for me, but who knows if I'll succeed at that.

Either way, happy 413! I'm a derse sylph of heart btw <3

[sibyl-of-space]

It's time for me to go to bed. And that means everybody gets a Procrastination Essay No One Asked For About Sonic Adventure 1 for the SEGA Dreamcast!

This game is one of my super mega ultra all-time favorites. Every single time I revisit it, I am so afraid that my love for it is entirely nostalgia goggles and it will lose its charm this time around, and every single time, I just have the time of my life because the game really is great. It is so fun. It does some very cool things. It is kind of stupid but it takes itself seriously, and that is very endearing and a million times more interesting than a game that's too afraid of being perceived as cringe to be sincere.

I love basically everything about it. I painted Big the Cat on my Dreamcast and even that is not enough to communicate my vast love for this game.

MANY WORDS BELOW CUT. Visuals, audio, gameplay, I love all of it.

Visuals

The game came out in 1998. It looks like a game that came out in 1998. But the world and character designs are fantastic and the world is so detailed. I could genuinely spend hours just moving around on the Egg Carrier overworld map appreciating all the gadgets and gizmos moving around that are purely 100% set dressing. It makes up for what it lacks in polygons with cool textures and fun trinkets everywhere. The animated CGs genuinely look amazing, and you can forgive the rest of it considering the game came out in 1998.

I also love the splash screens you get after finishing each route. They're so good.

(It goes without saying that the game looks its best on a CRT. There are some really cool lighting effects CRTs just capture better.)

Audio

It obviously has an insanely good soundtrack of just nonstop banger after banger. It also has a very 1998 dub and the sound mixing and implementation are some of the worst you'll ever hear. Eggman has like 5 voice lines that are re-used in every scene he's in. But who can complain about that when they're listening to the likes of "Bad Taste Aquarium"? Literally nobody. Who cares. Every single song slaps.

"But Leo half the time the songs start and stop mid-cutscene because of how the game handles loading" who cares. I can forgive just about ANYTHING a game does in terms of audio implementation if it has a song as good as "Bad Taste Aquarium" in its soundtrack.

Narrative

Setting aside the fact that the story is kind of stupid, I really think we need to appreciate the way it tells it. The way this game has you play through the same story from everyone's different perspective, and how the scenes that overlap actually play out differently depending on who you play as, is so big brain. You don't get the full picture of what's happening until you've played as everybody, and there is no "big group of heroes collectively take on the bad guy" until the very very end Super Sonic story... until then, it's just different people having wildly different journeys that overlap here and there and are all part of a single, bigger story.

That's just cool ass storytelling. Everyone loves to bitch about my good friend Big the Cat but the entire point is that this extremely chill guy who loves to fish and just wants to save his friend was caught up in this Adventure, and he was a small but vital part of it, and it affected him differently than it affected everybody else because he had a different reason for being involved. But that goes for everybody! Everyone's story has an arc with a start and a finish, and most of them don't come close to being involved in the whole thing. Even SONIC doesn't see everything (he doesn't have a Hot Shelter level at all). Knuckles's story ends on a really cool note, with him going "I may never know the full story of what happened here, but maybe it's better that way." Or something close to that.

I also just love the concept of benevolent protector water god goes apeshit at people, as well as the concept of a ghost from thousands of years ago trying to right ancient wrongs. Chaos and Tikal are great.

Gameplay

The thing I love about Sonic Adventure is that every single character is really fun to play. This comes at the "cost" of what you might call "balance," in that half of the characters are broken as fuck and you can just disregard the very concept of platforming with most of them. I couldn't really care less about that because I just enjoy how fun it is to play as everyone.

Sonic Adventure 2 understandably put Tails in a mech because outside of it he is too damn broken. Sonic Adventure 1 lets you play as him anyway, and it rules.

The ONLY gripe I have about the gameplay is that Big the Cat does not have the means to harm robots (because he is too nice and chill to do that), but as a result he is unable to collect animals to give the chao. I cannot think of a single character in the Sonic the Hedgehog universe who would be better suited to raise chao than Big the Cat, but Big the Cat is unable to give them animals to power up. This is a tragedy.

Overall

Sonic Adventure is a masterpiece. Every time I play it I'm like "this is the greatest game that has ever been made." The parts of it that are clunky, awkward, kind of dumb, or very dated are still endearing because it tries to do so many things that you really just have to respect it. This is the kind of game that is fantastic whether you sit down and play it straight through from plot point to plot point or you spend three hours throwing that statue around Station Square into oncoming traffic.

Of course it's not polished. It tries to do way too many cool ass things all at once to be polished. It is WAY too ambitious to be polished. That's what makes it so good. It's perfect exactly the way it is and the fact that people will play this incredible game and go "lol, 3D Sonic sucks" is a good reminder that gamers will bitch about anything and you should never care about what gamers have to say when making games.

Big the Cat has glow-in-the-dark eyes. Game of all time.

[torra-and-the-toons]

Since I never seem to have made a post about my top Ed Edd n Eddy episodes, here it is! 

Most of my favorites come from the later seasons, sorry if that’s a disappointment to some.

Torra’s Top 5 episodes! (in descending order)

#5 May I have this Ed?

This one is just cute, with the added bonus of Eddy basically declaring himself done with girls at the end. Between Eddy pretending to be way cooler than he actually is, Edd being terrified out of his mind over a dance, and Ed just having the time of his life, what’s not to like? The stuff happening in the background is almost funnier than the focus lmao. I wish Eddy hadn’t made them wear that ridiculous facial hair get-up, but I get it, it’s part of his character to fake puberty. Just… Eddy why.

#4 Hand Me Down Ed

Truly a very funny episode, but it is a little awkward to watch. The second-hand embarrassment is real. Someone please get Double Dee some clothes… Though, Rolf opening the door and just belting out in song was one of the moments that made me laugh the hardest in the whole series. I’m ever-fascinated by Kevin Lordi’s theory on the boomerang bringing out repressed traits rather than opposite traits, which is really what places this episode on my list.

#3 Every Which Way But Ed

What’s not the love about this episode? Baby Eds, Flashback gags, heavy-set characters that aren’t being made fun of, lines like “Zappity-Zap-Zap,” “You bet your sweet bippy I did!” All of it is just so wholesome and great. The storytelling is pretty cool too, we get to see the reasons behind a lot of small details we never would have thought twice about. But gosh the sequence with baby eds is too cute to leave off this list, I cry from the cuteness every time.

#2 Thick as an Ed

This has got to be one of the funniest episodes ever, which is why I’ve placed it #2. The humor is spot on, the writing is phenomenal, and the voice actors are truly the proverbial cherry on top of this delicious cake of an episode. The visual gag of the color falling off Double Dee from the stench has me in tears every time, and he and Ed’s little verbal spat is just *chef’s kiss* Literally nothing gets done but it’s far from a boring episode.

#1 Fistful of Ed

This one is number one on my list purely for the characterization and the writing. To have Edd become the school bully on accident was such a bold move, and they pulled it off so well. I love that they didn’t go a cliché route of having his friends back him up. Ed is actually scared of him, and Eddy, well… Eddy’s just an instigator, taking advantage of the situation for his own gain and not at all helping his suffering friend, in typical Eddy fashion. And to have Jimmy be the one who helps Edd in the end was a twist that I never saw coming, but it fit so well. This episode made me stop and truly appreciate Jimmy’s character. Plus, the ending sequence when Eddy tells the Kankers off was actually really nice. Overall, a very well-done episode.

[kil9]

reasons to watch each of the taemin concerts:

hi its me, the self-appointed taemin concert expert :) i think we're all missing him a lot rn so its the perfect time to watch all his concerts >:) here's what i think are the strengths of what i consider his 4 quintessential concerts !!!! come join my world >:)

off-sick:

[DL link]

- his first korean concert ! he debuted most of the tracklist for the "move" album there (which is a phenomenal album)

- also performed "move" itself for the first time here !!! the energy of it is insane

- live band [!!!!] as the backing instruments for at least half of, if not most of the concert, gives a different feel to songs youve already heard :)

- because of that theres a lot of rearrangements, & his romeo + juliette solo version which is so beautiful

- (biggest selling point is the live band tbh but its so so good ^^^^)

- also the best door performance is the offsick one (yeah, the bondage one)

- the mystery lover vcr !!! (his indie horror movie) and a very cool dance vcr

- overall very fun & extremely energetic feel with a classic taemin edge !!

- this concert was such a big hit irl that he had to do it again in a bigger venue lol (his one and only public apology, not enough people got to see this concert)

Sirius:

[DL//watch link (eng subs)]

- a concert with a story !!! theres a LOT of overarching themes and storytelling in this, even the vcrs are mostly continuous :) !

- some very very beautiful expressive performances

- THE DOOR PERFORMANCE [!!!!!] its completely different from the usual tied-up door, but in a way that lends itself to the story very very well (i will never shut up about it)

- overall feels very musical-esque ? theatrical ? besides the vcrs, even the performances themselves seem to continue from each other in a sort of plot arch :) (if you care to read that much into it which, you should)

- very cool use of the background screens, feels more integral to the performances, rather than just something as a backdrop. the set design is super cool in general !!

- overall elegant and theatrical feel !! a lot of emotion in this. i go insane over sirius lore once per month

- space wolfs [!!!!]

t1001101:

(also known as "TMI concert") [DL link]//[watch link (eng subs)]

- a "little prince" themed concert with some of my favorite costumes and visuals out of any of them (i own the photo book :] )

- THE INCLINE !!!! a large portion of the stage is inclined and incorporated into the dance in very very cool ways

- ^^^ the incline !!!!! (emphasis) its very cool and steep, a lot of time he's on it he has to be held with a bungee, but since hes taemin, uses it to make the dance even cooler :)

- he debuted "identity" and "heaven" here (before they were full versions u know today) !!!!! the identity opening is one of the coolest things ive seen, he has so much power

- the very concert that gave us "taemins media bible" & songs transitioning into each other a lot (plus a taemin+shinee mashup)

- stone heart and back to you VCRs !!!!!! basically bonus music videos :) stone heart got the mv it deserves considering its the best song of all time :)

- overall cool cool cool feeling, prettyboy taemin strikes again, the feeling of a taemin music video, but 2 hours long

- the first taemin concert i watched :) my recommendation for newer or more casual fans

X™:

[DL link]//[watch link]

- his most recent in person concert, extremely good and epic !!

- i've seen this so so many times, also amazing costumes and visuals, so much power, he's truly living up to being called "king"

- there isnt really a gimmick but it has some of the most solid taemin performances ive seen (eclipse lives forever in my heart <3 most underrated performance) & a generally amazing setlist

- the famous album came out during this tour so a few songs from famous were debuted here :) !!!

- specific shoutout to the slave performance.... yknow

- the lighting and camerawork is so amazing !!!!!!! seriously, i can not sing the crew's praises enough they deserve a raise

- they surprised him with an end of tour video it was really sweet :(

- "FLOW" & "CRYONICS" vcrs !!!! are so crazy... i still dont understand the lore but they fuck

- overall very solid and powerful feeling, taemin simply showing off what he does best !!!!

in summary: i can not stress enough how experiencing a taemin concert in full is very different from seeing the same performances isolated. him and the crew clearly give so much thought into them, the sequencing, the continuity, the set and costume design, lighting.... the secret lore thats going on maybe sometimes ??? i really think they deserve more appreciation (even if they get a lot lol, never enough !!!) so... yeah :) bye

[ultfreakme]

I've read the WarWorld saga and I love the twins. However, like Chris, they are also sidelined and underdeveloped. Otho is the only one with agency, while Osul feels like another version of Chris. All three characters needed more time and development beyond Clark rescuing them.

Regarding Zod and Ursa's abuse, I understand this may not be what you meant, so this isn't an attack on you, but rather a statement. No child abuse ever makes sense. There is no justification for a parent to hurt their child. Ever. Unfortunately, there are people who want kids and still end up abusing them. Abuse never makes sense—some people are just awful. Zod and Ursa are simply terrible people. A wanted child doesn't always equate to a loved child, which is a sad reality. Zod and Ursa are just bad parents—monsters without any real motive, just inherently cruel. Just like all real-life abusive parents. There's no point in trying to rationalize their abusive behavior because there is no reason parents should ever abuse their child.

Anon, again oh god I hope this does not come off as me condescending to you. I have no personal anything for Chris. I'm mostly indifferent to what he is to people in fandom, all of ym gripes lie with writing decisions. I personally disagree about Otho, Osul and Chris being similarly dismisses, and I think I have textual proof Otho & Osul got more investment as characters independently, and as children to Clark more than Chris ever was, and with more intention behind WHY they act the way they do. This will not be about Chris or Osul or Otho as characters, but about how Geoff Johns wrote Chris & PKJ wrote super twins. I'm doing this to dissect storytelling and characters. I genuinely wish you all the happiness and fun for liking Chris. I am personally simply not compelled by him and I think the text doesn't provide me nearly enough of him in comparison to his counterparts and alternatives. That's all, this is just me showing why.

Right off the bat, introduction scene; this is pivotal, this is where your character makes an impact & shows us what they're about. How they talk, what they do on the regular. This is the establishing moment.

PKJ with Otho & Osul's very first scene:

I don't need to speculate or think too hard to know that Otho's the hardass who doesn't give a crap- she's resourceful, motivated entirely by survival and being warzoon. Osul's the more empathetic one, he tries to be the same kind of tough his sister is with the way he sneers and talks, but he tells her to go easy and is clearly the more open and kind one.

Sibling dynamic establish. Individual character and action established(along with individulistic design).

What was Chris's introduction scene? I'm dismissing the very first page we get of him in the pod because he isn't really a character there, but going to the scene where he does something character-wise

K, nice dramatic shot. What does this tell us about Chris Kent? He's smiling as he says "I'm hungry" and lifting up a TV set. What does this tell us? What does this mean? Why is he doing this?

In-text, this entire issue, I don't get an answer for this. We can speculate, but it's not factual. I can make up that he's lifting the cabinet to draw attention because he comes from an abusive home but I can also just as easily defy this by saying Zod & Ursa would never allow this level insubordination and disobedience by randomly lifting objects. I can say whatever I want to explain this behaviour of smiling, lifting an object and saying hes hungry but in-text, in canon, we are given no explanation for why he does this as a character.

This scene is actually in service of the audience. This is just to show us the reader, a kryptonian feat, which is simply visually repeating a thing Clark's already verbally confirmed.

But I do have a answer for why Otho & Osul said every single thing they did in their introduction scene, down to their expressions. Otho's cool with Clark being dead because dead people have resources on them she can steal to better defend herself. She's sneering because she doesn't give a crap if he's 'Superman'. Osul is looking unimpressed up there because Clark is looking rough & he is in disbelief that this is apparently the famed "Superman" who they held admiration for. His expression softens because yeah Superman is weak, but he still admired him at some point & he's trying to calm Otho. I don't need to dig or search because the writer is telling us "hey this is their deal". Otho's the more aggressive one and we spend more time with her because she's taken on the role of being the tough one, protecting Osul.

Chris? We never learn why Chris acts the way he does. In fact, we see a page immediately after the cabinet scene that puzzles me as to why Chris was lifting it in the first place. He doesn't KNOW he has these superpowers, he tries to fly like Clark and almost falls. So why is he smiling? Is he happy he's strong now? I'm purely guessing because the writing and art don't convey anything congruent. He says he doesn't have a name. He is entirely unfazed. And we never get an actual, canon explanation for why. We need it though, because these things are character defining and this behaviour especially is highly odd for a kid who just landed in a planet he doesn't know, away from the only world he understands, among complete strangers crowding around him to observe. The entire time, he smiles serenely and for some reason, trusts Clark after an extremely brief conversation. It can't be just because he's kryptonian because Zod & Ursa are also kryptonian.

Otho & Osul's reason for trusting Clark? Established immediately in the next two chapters. Otho & Osul are the most precious things to each other > Mongul says they must kill each other > But Clark says absolutely not > Twins like Clark better than Mongul because they figure out if they must become the people Mongul wants, they must destroy one another which is NOT on the table > Clark's the better bet. This is why Otho chooses to somewhat warm up to Clark and Osul goes from "hesitant" to "yeah I trust him entirely". Their trust in Clark develops slowly, we know why they're hesitant, and we know why they open up.

Chris? Why does Chris trust Clark? Is he the first kind person he encountered? What did he mean when he say "you don't belong here either, do you?" Again I can personally hc a bunch of things but it is not clearly intended by the text. GJ doesn't ever allow Chris to talk. And when Chris does, it's singular words and are rarely insightful into Chris's psyche, even in Kryptonian. Like why does Chris want to be adopted by Lois & Clark, specifically Lois, when he himself says "Lois doesn't like m" and Lois does nothing on-page to subvert this? If kindness is what made Chris attach to Clark, shouldn't he be averse to Lois the entire time?

Chris is entirely well-adjusted with Clois. We see no evidence of abuse, the stories never discuss Zod & Ursa, or what Chris specifically thinks about them. There's nothing reflected in his behaviour or character other than "he's nice". Which is fine, but again, why?

Even Jon, who experienced extreme abuse for years is now very nice. But there's an in-text reason for this. Jon refused to bend to Ultraman and kept fighting, and this meant holding onto hope. He refuses to be unkind because then he'd become like Ultraman(which was Ultraman's point). He also shows the after effects of this time through his insecurities with his powers and abilities as a hero.

Chris? Where? I read the action comic arc and the Tim stuff, there's little to nothing. He's got your typical kryptonian struggles but every Kryptonian's got em and after that it's up to the chraracter to react how they do. Otho was frustrated and immediately getting into fights, Osul was trying but still not getting the hang of it and both of them exhibited their inability to adjust through a penchant for violence because of Mongul. Chris just, he just says "this is difficult" without any unique expression as to why. He just says it's hard and reports generic symptoms.

Otho and Osul each got a separate arc btw. Otho got the final PKJ arc with the Blue Earth Movement with Ra's Al Ghul's alternate dimension granddaughter trying to force her further into being a ruthless warrior. Osul got the opening arc on Earth where he had an entire go inside him and Mongul's lackeys were hunting after him.

Chris got.....afaik, individual arc only after his spontaneous age-up. I'm not counting it because atp he's not Clois's kid anymore.

Onto the next point.

Abuse itself is senseless, but we are not dealing with real people here. These are characters, and characters have motives, that's their entire deal. Zod isn't just generically evil, he's like that because he wants Kryptonian supremacy dictated by violence and might. Same goes for Ursa. You cannot just say "these characters are simply evil" because then I can replace Zod and Ursa with two robots if all we need is "generic evil person".

Characters, be they good or bad, stand for something. They have to, otherwise it's just bad writing.

These character motives define actions. So when I say the abuse doesn't make any sense, I'm talking about it in terms of character, and what the writers and creatives intended to tell the audience through these choices. Zod and Ursa arent just inherently cruel, there's a reason for why they're like that. Their families value military might and strategic importance, they consider kryptonians to be superior to humans and shun any intermingling with "lower species". If you paint Zod & Ursa as just "simple evil", then you dismiss the message CLARK is trying to convey by defeating them.

When Clark defeats Zod, it's not just "good guy defeats evil". It's showing that this kind of exceptionalism and what's basically an analogy for racism and colonization, THAT is what is bad. If Ursa and Zod are just evil, it's not about child abuse as a story arc. It's just "child suffers under villain".

If the message was "abuse bad", it was lackluster and stating the obvious. We all KNOW parental abuse is bad. Now what does that mean for Chris Kent? How is he impacted? You can't say Ursa and Zod abused Chris and then not explore such a severe topic. The entire Chris arc in Action Comics fully ignored this aspect until the final 2 issues, and even then it didn't show Chris's turmoil. He had all of 10 lines across the issues dealing with his abuse. There is no exploration, no insight, no genuine engagement by Geoff Johns with the topic of child abuse.

I am saying all this not because I think Ursa and Zod can in any way be justified. I want to reiterate that, nothing will justify what Ursa and Zod did. With that in mind, an explanation for their abuse is NOT a justification.

Abuse and its cruelty makes no sense. But every abuser has an explanation for why the do it (again this is not a justification, this is still bad, explanations don't make a single thing better). The point of a story is to give a believable explanation for the things that happen and Geoff Johns didn't even TRY to explain.

I feel like I grew less and less coherent as the post continued but I hope I got my point across. You are not going to make me enjoy Chris as a character. And in turn I am not going to make you hatete Chris as a character. That's not what I want, I don't care about asserting which character is better. My current favorite is an anime character who showed up for 4 episodes in a 40 episode anime who people say I need to move tf on from. I am doing this not to bash Chris, but to bash Geoff Johns, who failed to deliver a compelling story.

This is again, a criticism of writing. You can love Chris all you want, I just don't think the Chris arc is a well-crafted story, and there aren't enough well-crafted stories of him for me to try to like him.

[anthropologicalhands]

twenty questions for fic writers

tagged by @redbelles !

1. how many works do you have on ao3? 112

2. what’s your total ao3 word count? 497,546

3. what fandoms do you write for? currently, I’m still eyeballs deep in black panther (mcu). I’ll write for whatever catches my interest, but previous fandoms include naruto, yuyu hakusho, thor (mcu), mass effect, and crazy ex girlfriend

4. top five fics by kudos

vigil of the loved tales of the storyteller bring back the baby shoes sleeping arrangements pft, tradition <- biggest shocker honestly

5. do you respond to comments? i’m making more of an effort these days! I might respond late, but i do try to respond because it’s a nice way to talk more about characters and stuff with people.

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? probably a frozen pond alight with torches. It’s a hina fic, by nature of canon it’s doomed. I tend not to write straight angst though. Or maybe i stay up all night in your memories, where priya has to let go both of ajay and, worse, of seema so they can all move on.

7. what’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? by far don’t need no ammunition, aka the sif goes to midgard au. loki doesn’t fall into madness, thor and jane get to stay in contact, and sif gets a shiny sword that cuts through dimensions. everyone wins! it’s so self indulgent, but i do find it endearing.

8. do you get hate on fics?

almost never, but the only time i remember getting hate is on make me an offer i won’t refuse, where some commenter took issue with how i wrote kay and her and michael’s relationship. they clearly hated kay as a character but still read a whole fic about her, so i wasn’t even angry, i was just completely bemused by it. 

9. do you write smut?

…i do. i have a very limited comfort zone, but honestly i want to write more and get better at it!

10. craziest crossover:

I don’t really do crossovers, except for the ceg fic that ended up featuring jean ralphio from parks and recreation. that was super fun, but i think it’s too tonally consistent to count as crazy. I’m more likely to write fusion fic than crossovers

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as in someone else tried to take credit for it — i have had my fics uploaded onto other websites w/o my permission though

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

I have! In the Naruto fandom, someone translated one of my fics into Vietnamese. that was pretty cool, but i think i lost the link.

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

just for fun! And there was one sasusaku/uchiha family round robin fic i was fortunate enough to participate in. 

14. all time favorite ship?

nah, can’t do it

15. what’s a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

rip telepathy au. I had so much written but i couldn’t figure out a couple key parts and then i lost steam for writing ceg fic. I’ll never say never, but i think that one is gone.

16. what are your writing strengths?

i think emotions, how characters relate to each other, moments of high intensity and catharsis

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

Setting! i hate it, because i loooooove a good vivid setting, but i have such a hard time visualizing places! Especially new places!

18. thoughts on dialogue in another language?

probably only a good idea if you are fluent. I have used honorifics in anime fics, but i worry that i apply it too inconsistently and not as thoughtfully as i should have, so these days i try to move away from it.

19. first fandom you wrote in?

unpublished, probably teen titans or sailor moon. published, naruto

20. favorite fic you’ve written?

I think understand the edge of this desire is one of my favorite things I’ve written, just because i think i got the voice and the mood right, and it took a long of agonizing over both.

tagging anyone who wants to do this meme!

[reelvibes91]

Road House Remake a Smashing Success

Remakes are always a questionable endeavor from Hollywood. You have to find a movie people are okay with remaking. Fans of the original have to accept that idea and you have to find a way to modernize that while staying true to the original.

Road House does all of those. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Daniela Melchior and Billy Magnussen the remake has a new set of visuals that definitely don't look as dated in todays age. The change of locale plays a big part in the plot and helps differentiate the two films. We all know the original from 1989 starring Patrick Swayze. Perhaps when you think of all the movies out there that could be modernized this not the first one that comes to mind but it certainly is a fun.

There are a lot or positives in this movie. One is of course Jake Gyllenhaal being in peak physical form as well as giving one of the best performances of his career. He has a lot to choose from but this one to me is an instant classic. His chemistry with Daniela Melchior is what sealed the deal for me. She is becoming a must see actress and her presence immediately elevates a film for me.

It goes without saying that the action is very much over the top but that is part of the charm. The fight sequences are brutal and it really helps give you sense of what these people have at stake. Conor McGregor in his film debut brings an absolute absurd psychotic performance. He is built for this kind of role. He brought the extreme parts of the plot to life while Gyllenhaal and Melchior kept it grounded.

It's fun because at the end of the day it is what is great about storytelling. You can get lost in these characters and this fun little romp for a little over two hours. Movies should allow you the ability to disconnect from the real world and fully immerse yourself in these fictional worlds. This one provides that. The story is simple yet effective. The cast is phenomenal. It's fun. Very well shot, very cool action sequences. Truly all you could want.

[dededaio]

ik i just sent an ask yesterday but i need to send another

whatre your favorite boss attacks

a) from a gamplay standpoint

b) based on spectacle

and c) from a lore standpoint

personally (rtdl deluxe warning) the double black hole attack from the final boss is super cool and a great and creative way to buff and old move that wasnt much of a challenge

in terms of spectacle hearing the cutesy "and here we are" before chaos elfilis tears open the most violent black hole in the series is such an amazing moment and an incredible way to set the mood

in terms of lore i love the shared attacks like the paintballs and massive fireball attacks that a ton of bosses have that are used to relate them to each other

sorry for the long ask i just had this idea yesterday and needed to ask someone bc i have NOBODY to spill my kirby thoughts on and you happened to be in the crosshairs of my mental illness sniper rifle

honestly, i want to thank you for such thorough and in depth asks! i love having discussions like this, so don't worry :)

sorry if i take a bit to respond to these though, i just want to actually make a good response so i wait for the moment my brain functions properly to articulate my points.

anyways, my favorite boss attacks...

from gameplay standpoint... probably that attack from queen sectonia fight where she teleports all over the place. probably not the fanciest description but you KNOW the one. it's just very fun for me to try and predict where she ends up being so you can both avoid an upcoming damage and make it in time to be able to attack yourself.

based on spectacle... honestly i don't think anything will quite compare to me (at least until next new mainline comes out lol) with the chaos elfilis attack where he just grows GIGANTIC in the background. like holy shit this actually made me feel incredibly scared when i first reached that fight, it leaves a very strong impression on you.

in terms of lore it's kind of hard to say for me, because, imo not a LOT of bosses in the series actually managed to retain good balance of "gameplay storytelling" and "reference for the reference's sake". being said, MAGOLOR EPILOGUE SPOILERS

i love how master crown's laser attack is literally THE SAME attack void termina used with it's master crown move. not only it looks very impressive visually, it's a great bit of genuine connection/continuity that really makes you think about what kind of relationship void and master crown have. did ancients use power of void to create master crown in the first place? or void itself created one and ancients just said that they made it? a lot of stuff to think about!

[offscreendeath]

I watched Valerian last night. I appreciated how very ambitious it seemed, but ultimately the performances fell very short. My take is that a lot of filmmakers have tried to do what Fifth Element did as far as crafting an expansive and detailed world filled with unique designs for its characters and sets, which it absolutely did, but failed to create compelling characters who we follow throughout it. Jupiter Ascending which premiered two years after it did this much better, although I have similar critiques.

Dane DeHaan and Clara Delevingne and were not the worst actors I’ve ever seen, but they seemed too stiff and stoic to come off as endearing or relatable, even while they were joking. I didn’t feel much chemistry between them, and neither of them seemed to have meaningful character arcs to speak of.

I wish the writers took the mystery element of the plot even further. An action/adventure whodunit” type of story set in space would’ve been really cool. I found it difficult to accept Valerian as this super deadly space soldier and it wasn’t just because he doesn’t look physically intimidating. I got the impression that it was his ability to come up with a plan on short notice that was his real strength, but that wasn’t highlighted enough to be very memorable. Laureline straight up did not sell the badass and intelligent role very well.

Worse than them though, was Herbie Hancock, who didn’t have much time on screen, but his performance definitely revealed a lack of training and commitment to the role — no shade, I love his music, but he was not impressive. I was initially excited to see his name in the opening credits (and the opening scene was one of the best imo,) but after watching felt like it was mostly a ploy to draw attention.

I felt similarly about Rihanna’s performance. When she wasn’t giving awkward one-liner jokes, there just didn’t seem to be very much passion in her delivery of the lines. It doesn’t help that she was a cgi blue flubber squid alien for a good half of her appearance or dying in of the most egregious “we can’t afford to pay you/use all this cgi/create plot holes so we’re gonna have to kill you off” scenes I’ve ever witnessed.

That said, there were lots of things I found fun about this — the creative and fun moments with action set pieces, (like the chase following the market heist) practical effects, cool characters design (the three pigeon snitches, the albino twink beach aliens) and costumes (a circuit board design on a military uniform,) an unconventional story about war crimes being covered up…all things that could’ve been enhanced by just a bit more effort in terms of acting and storytelling.

There are moments where I was a bit confused about the tone of the movie. Was this a comedy? Is it for children? Am I supposed to be sad about this character’s death scene when what led up to it was a visual pun about stinky trash? I have my own issues with Marvel films, but at their very best they can manage to balance humor and tense/depressing moments pretty well. I got the impression that there was this rush to establish certain things narratively, and as a consequence, certain other parts (the best parts,) weren’t given much breathing room.

After watching Jupiter Ascending I felt pretty hungry for more exciting space epics with immersive, elaborate worlds. After also watching Avatar 2: The Way of Water just a few days earlier, unfortunately I’m still searching. JA wasn’t perfect, but had less obvious flaws than either, helped greatly by some legitimately decent performances. Avatar made me feel sorta motion sick after a while, even though it also had a few interesting plot elements and thrilling sequences.

I was expecting more, and I’m not sure why. I remembered watching the trailer years ago when it first released, and recalled feeling like “oh yes this is what the streets been waiting on!” and quickly forgetting about it not very long afterwards. The 2010-2019 period of Hollywood was very strange. I liked the direction this was heading and since it didn’t do well I’m wondering if it’s failure signaled a departure from movies like this and into the direction we’re headed now. It being the most expensive independent film kinda blows my mind—but only because it makes the end result all the more disappointing.

I don’t regret my watch, however. I think there were plenty of good decisions that were made, but unfortunately casting wasn’t one of them.

4.6/10

[artisticbunny]

Alright Bun— bonus ask before I go to sleep because I think I’m getting Whispering Willow brainrot lol (on top of utdr and fnaf rot ough—) Because tbh I sincerely think it’s really well thought out, with the little tidbits I’ve read about. The first chapter of it was cool Yk? I’m gonna guess that you’re new to ao3 writing? :3c am I right?

But, skipping the rambles, Lemme get to what I wanted to say:

Can you pretty please feed give us me Kat lore? Like I love ghosties and everything, especially ones that hang around. Like how does she hang around? We know she got buried alive (must’ve been terrifying seriously my bros buried me in sand once but not my face…) but how does her spirit hang about?

Also, why’d her adventure friends bury her? Was it for a reason or just them being like plain old toxic? I don’t think they’d have to like, bury her tho if it’s the second option… :( maybe it was a sacrifice??

(Thanks for storytelling tho Bun! I’m totally locked in! It’s very interesting so far! <3333)

UWAAAA THAT IS SUCH A HUGE COMPLIMENT THANK YOU!!! Literally I have no idea what’s more flattering than having someone brainrot over something you made!!! I’m so SO glad you like it so far!!!

I AM new to writing on ao3!!! You are correct!!! I actually just made my account about a month or two ago! I actually attempted to post this on a website I made in the past, but 1: it didn’t get any traction and 2: I didn’t like my writing, this is actually the third iteration of this story! I am much more comfortable with my writing now than back then :3

Anywho, on to Kat ;3

Here’s the ref I made for her for visualization’s sake! :D

You may recall on the post where I gave a brief rundown on each of my ocs that Kat was framed for a crime she didn’t commit. Kat was originally a Part of an adventuring group called The Rogues of Justice, though since her death she can’t remember the name of her group or the people involved, or even their faces. The Rogues of Justice were a chaotic good group of jokesters. They were known for helping wherever they could and for their wacky and often nutty solutions that didn’t seem like they would work, but always worked out in the end. They were very close.

On Kat’s final mission, she was framed for a crime that severely broke her team’s moral code. She was made to look like she’d ransacked and destroyed a nearby town. Entire livelihoods and homes were destroyed and burnt. People were severely injured. She was found with valuables from the people of that town hidden on her being, and thus was the one to blame.

Of course, she didn’t actually do this. She would never. She was most likely the one who believed in the moral code the most.

She was set up and doomed to be buried alive by a member of her team. Someone who, once upon a time, she loved dearly. When things didn’t work out between them, in a fit of rage, her ex was the one to have sealed her fate.

He didn’t exactly expect for it to go this far, but he didn’t dare speak up, even as the dirt was being shoveled onto Kat’s face. He stood on the sidelines, watching her last moments.

She woke up days later, memories missing, with only the feeling of once being part of something, a burning feeling of injustice and betrayal, a fuzzy memory of a single face she couldn’t recognize, and a crippling fear of tight spaces that gives her a horrid sense of deja vu. She had no idea where she was or how to leave, stuck in the middle of nowhere with nobody nearby. She had been stuck in those woods, going in circles, unable to escape, losing track of time until the day she would find a way to leave.

So basically what’s keeping her here is unfinished business that she forgot ;)

It’s honestly really really sad, but she copes with humor and distractions most of the time so she doesn’t have to think about her memory gaps and the extreme distaste for that one person she can’t quite remember.

There are quite a few dark themes hidden in the story beyond the found family and fun fantasy settings, sorry haha!

I should also mention that the main reason she sticks around with Brook and the gang is cuz she’s BORED. Like she has been stuck in the woods and these are the first people she’s seen in GOD knows how long and they’re on a quest??? That’s some high quality entertainment there!!! She also gets pretty attached pretty quickly because again: human interaction!!!! And they helped her get out!!!! It’s honestly the least she can do while having hundreds of thousands of years ahead of her of existing.

Fun fact!!! Ghosts are basically the magic sparks of people who refuse to return back to the cycle just yet for whatever reason. They can last a REALLY long time but eventually they will get re-absorbed back into the cycle as everything continues on. :)

[llycaons]

palm tree + sage !!

hi dolly!

palm tree ⇢ do you have a fictional villain you shouldn’t like but love regardless?

let's see *checks my database of media real quick* eh the only character I can think of is xue yang, just because he's so unhinged. whx is a real treat to watch, and his scenes were just fantastic. he manages to be fun and amusing despite the truly horrific things he did. and if his performances wasn't enough, the sheer power of wearing cheetah-print robes in a wuxia setting sealed the deal. 10/10 presentation but I AM glad he's dead

sage ⇢ what ‘medium’ of art (poetry, music, fiction, paintings, statues etc.) is the most touching to you? why do you think that is?

oh, I love this question! when I was an edgy high schooler I used to joke that I hated art 😭 this was foolish and short-sighted obviously, I just meant that I don't really care for the types of paintings I would see in museums. obviously I appreciate visual arts like illustration and painting now for its aesthetic and the talent that goes into it, but I can't say it really touches me emotionally. same for most songs, poetry, music....I like sculptures more than most things, but still only in a way where I think it's cool and exciting and not in a way hat I feel like, the deeper meaning of what the artist is trying to say.

my most beloved, most meaningful, and most emotional connections to art has always primarily been through storytelling, whether through animation, comics, movies, tv shows...especially longform works where I can follow a character's trajectory and watch their development. I've seen some very condescending posts about people who treat fictional characters like real people who we like personally and who we believe deserve things, and maybe that means that I'm engaging with stories on a more juvenile level than the other people Consuming Art on here, but that's what fun about it, for me. so I don't really mind? yeah it's cool to step back and see something deeper and keep that distance and objectivity but a lot of the times I like rooting for my little guys and sharing their losses and their joys.

the creation of fictional lives and people gives me that emotional connection to really feel a piece of art. I've certainly never cried at any painting or piece of classical music no matter how beautiful it may be...I just find stories about people to be the richest, most rewarding, most endlessly fascinating type of art to be invested in. from the moment my librarian introduced me to fiction to get me to read something besides animal care booklets, to my current fascination with all the worst fanfic the internet has to offer, I just have the most to say about storytelling, and my engagement in it feels the most rewarding.

as for why....idk. I'm well aware this is the majority of how people interact with fiction on here, so my reasons are probably similar to lots of other people's. I've always struggled to communicate with others, so through fiction I feel like I'm getting that sense of connection, whether I'm discovering how other people perceive the world, or seeing myself in someone else's writing. there's also the escapist appeal, but I don't think I've watched this stuff for escapism in a long time. I just like to feel connected to other people, I guess, and I find that writing and tv and other forms of linear storytelling can deliver the types of character development and engaging plot that I find very rewarding. and sometimes I just want to watch or read something that makes me stand up and walk around like

and storytelling (manga in particular - I love you yu yu hakusho) has been the only form of art to give me that

what a fun question. thank you!