#which means a) i tend to get most of the side effects including some of the Real Fun ones

[thisbrilliantsky]

just found out my psychiatrist already recommended to me the highest safe dose of melatonin. devastated

[directdogman]

Hey dogman, idk if you answered this

Who, out of both DSAF and Dialtown, was your favourite to write and/or create?

It's very hard for me to pick favourites with my characters because I don't tend to give characters a lot of screen-time unless I find a character interesting or fun to write. You've caught me in a talkative mood, so warning, there's an onslaught of text coming!

DSaF: Dave was the most fun to write for, as I remember it. I mean, the guy is the walking personification of chaos and even when he's being constructive (eg, rigging robots to do insane stuff), it's usually in a destructive capacity. Dave will do LITERALLY ANYTHING but contribute to society in meaningful/valuable ways.

In terms of what character-writing I was most 'proud' of, I was also pretty happy with Dr Henry Miller, as a villain. Namely the research he embarked on, described in his logs in DSaF 3 (which the fandom evidently agreed with, as I got really strong feedback on those logs.)

One issue a lot of people (including myself) have with canon William Afton is that he's this kind of mad scientist character but his research doesn't really seem to be... idk, going anywhere? Other than using remnant (soul nectar?) to make kids possess robots, it's kind of a mystery how he got to this point he did from running a bad fast food restaurant. William gets fleshed out motivations in TSE and even then, it mainly revolves around his relationship with Henry Emily, iirc. It's actually pretty accurate to how real serial killers think, imo, but there's a pretty wide berth between this kind of serial killer and becoming a sci-fi fast-food mad scientist... So, I decided to try to bridge that gap.

DSaF Henry's logs actually mention where the idea for his research came from, namely the fact that he existed in a world with normal scientific rules just like ours and seemingly discovered something supernatural, and he approaches it like an amoral scientist would - trying to figure out how to figure out more about the fabric of reality using the newly discovered phenomenon of possession. The 'joy of creation' phrase people pulled from Golden Freddy's phone call in FNaF 1 is given context - Henry is trying to find out what's on the other side (and eventually, how existence itself formed.)

There's other aspects to his character that make him more interesting too, like the implication that his research is partially an excuse for him to act on an underlying sadism (with scenes implying that he inflicts damage on others than can't be justified as assisting with his research.) His background as a dissident/quack laughing-stock scientist (thanks to pushing his soul theory in a best-selling book, which is considered pseudoscience) BEFORE he embarked on his journey to become a fast food tycoon also makes it less farfetch'd that he'd be capable of y'know, harvesting human souls intentionally to continue his research?

I had more for the character on paper that people haven't seen but some of it wasn't revealed due to it feeling a bit too disturbing to publish. None of the contents would've been all that controversial, more just too tonally disturbing when written about in detail (like a omitted part from his backstory/lore post where he managed to pick up a hazy audio of his wife + son's crying from the radio of the car his wife/son drowned in and reacted with genuine elation upon realizing he'd discovered a new scientific phenomenon (as this was the first time Henry witnessed soul-possession.)) Yeah.

I don't feel much of a need to revisit Henry as a character because as a series villain, he was pretty thoroughly-written and he did his job effectively... And his fate was well earned! (He even got an epilogue short-story a few years back, further cementing his fate!)

Dialtown: From the characters/writing that the fandom has seen? Tough to say. I genuinely really like every DT character. Gingi and Mayor Mingus are two of my favourite characters to write for because they're both really insistent and react to adversity in a really comically indignant way. Mingus is more like Gingi than she cares to admit in very specific ways, which is the core hypocrisy of her character - she's one of the most abnormal things IN Dialtown, and spends the game on a quest opposing abnormality that she, herself, can't stand.

Many absolute rulers have debilitating physical and/or mental cruxes and despite that, usually have the final say on what is/isn't okay, often guided by arbitrary preferences. It's funny to remember all of the ancient kings and emperors who dictated how others should act, talk and even think, when very many of them themselves were anything except a good reflection of their own subjects! It's an irony I quite enjoy and leads to a fun character to write for!

My favourite DT writing is probably some of my Callum Crown speech drafts. I have a definite bias here since Crown's character is based on many figures I've encountered in my own reading (and his story relates to topics I enjoy reading about.) A lot of that is real nerd shit that wouldn't be interesting to 99.9% of DT fans (like a long conversation where Crown + Milt discuss a campaign speech Milt wrote for Crown and they bicker about if the wording/arguments used are truly honest.) Again, not super relevant to Dialtown-proper, but it explains a lot about why the world of DT ended up the way it did.

Realistically, the story of Dialtown itself is basically a weird little epilogue to a story that ended decades upon decades ago, centered around a bunch of small-town nobodies circling around the carcass of the last surviving main character of the old story.

I'm also very happy with Gingi's character partially because I know more about Gingi's past/future than you guys do. Gingi has such rotten memory that Gingi's backstory before DT's story begins is basically a complete mystery. Thanks to Gingi never getting close enough to any humans before laying its eggs, there's nobody in Gingi's life that can fill in the gaps. Companionship means so much to Gingi because prior to meeting The Gang, Gingi is aware of a massive and unknown block of time that's a complete mystery precisely because Gingi had nobody in its life. To Gingi, this time was basically akin to being non-sentient or dead, and Gingi would never go back.

While I was making DSaF, I drafted a ton of other stories on paper. I considered making most of them, but decided not to for various reasons, despite getting some solid feedback from collaborators. Bits of almost all of those project ideas made it into DT, with Gingi having traits from several other main characters I prototyped years and years ago. This includes where Gingi came from and what exactly Gingi is. I don't want to mislead people into thinking Gingi is more important than it is, like Gingi is the key to unlocking DT lore (I promise there's a LOT of aimless scuttling/devouring in Gingi's past and relatively little else!) BUT: Of everything from those old scrapped projects, Gingi is what I decided deserved to survive the most. And that has to count for something.

One day I'd love to make sequels to DT and perhaps explore some of the stuff I've described above, like why the hell the world of DT is the way it is or maybe where the hell Gingi spawned from. Thanks

[listentoace]

Hey, I wanted to address a couple of things.

I have been receiving several asks regarding some of my recent posts. I admit they are darker than the usual stuff. That was a decision I consciously made, because I do tend to have darker fantasies and wanted to see how they would be received. I consider most of the criticism I received to be valid points. Here are a few of them:

The whole idea of "ruining yourself"/"ruining your body" as you're gaining weight can be found fatphobic

Connecting feederism to habitual behavior, addiction, loss of control, and even brain damage can be found scary or even disturbing

Encouraging people to embrace health issues (both physical and mental) because of feederism can be found toxic

Constantly connecting feederism and weight gain with the negative side effects (sluggishness and laziness, health issues, societal judgement, etc.) can lead to the conclusion that feederism, obesity, indulgence, etc. are generally bad things

I won't try to defend myself. In fact, I completely agree with (most) criticism I received. The only kind of "criticism" I don't recognize are attacks toward me personally, but that's just reflected in a minority of the asks I receive. To all people who have sent me asks: it's great that you're sharing your opinion and thoughts, and I encourage you to keep doing so!

I think it is necessary to mention again that I don't mean anyone any harm. I am not fatphobic, and I do not mean to force any kinks upon anyone. This is just me writing and recording some horny ideas I occasionally have for those people who are into the same stuff. It is also very important to mention that in many cases, the fantasy of something can be very hot, while the reality of it could be very stressful and traumatizing. This is especially the case with more intense fantasies and kinks, e.g., being kidnapped and fattened. Everything I write takes place in "fantasy land". Nothing I post is meant as a threat, actual encouragement for dangerous behavior or self harm, or other harmful behavior. Pleae keep this in mind!

Getting back to the criticism: Yes, I like the dark stuff. I am very intrigued by the idea of feedees getting fatter for pleasure, despite all the negative consequences that can come with weight gain and obesity. I also enjoy calling people out for it, both with mild teasing and with very direct "you're damaging yourself" claims. I know that this is not everybody's cup of tea, which is why I already tag all posts with darker topics related to self-destruction, severe health issues, permanent damage and even death with "#death feederism" and "#death feedist". This is also mentioned in my pinned info post under "My Content", encouraging people to hide these tags who are not into certain content I post. However, it is quite clear that this isn't a great solution – otherwise I would not be receiving these asks.

I am very open to solving this issue together. After all, it always has been my personal ambition to write and record content for your enjoyment and pleasure. I want to make you – the readers and listeners – feel good and excited. I don't mean to scare or disturb you with my darker fantasies and kinks that don't appeal to you. Nonetheless, I do enjoy causing "holy shit, this is really bad, but it just feels so good!" pleasure and horniness.

In the past, I occasionally made use of trigger warnings at the top of my posts. If I recall correctly, I did hide the main content behind the "Keep reading" button. This was not consistent, but I am open to generally implementing this for all future posts that include sensitive subjects, such as death feederism, consensual non-consent, heavy conditioning and brain damage, or severe degradation and objectification.

However, before I do that, I first wanted to recognize the asks I received and open the conversation by addressing these issues. I encourage you to share your thoughts on this with me in the comments, asks, or my dms. Please let me know whether you think the combination of a trigger warning and a "Keep reading" button is sufficient and reasonable. I will still be tagging my posts accordingly, like I've done in the past, so filtering through hiding certain hashtags will remain an option either way.

I'm looking forward to your feedback and ideas, thank you for the criticism! :)

[cerastes]

What are some of the greatest/most impressive feats of strength in Arknights’s story?

Taking the overall narrative and worldbuilding into account, I believe the most effective aspect of Arknights' narrative is that they managed to make Terra feel like a breathing, living world and setting instead of a vehicle for the point-of-view character to exist in and act upon. This is specially remarkable for a mobile gacha game, as settings in these tend to be exactly that sort of vehicle instead of world that give any hints of existing when outside the player's immediately vision. The way I like to think about it is, "if a tree fell somewhere in this setting while my intended point-of-view or self-insert character isn't there to see it, did it make a sound?”. In Arknights, Girls' Frontline and SIGH Epic Seven (credit where it's due), the answer feels like a yes to me, whereas in every other game of this kind, it feels like a no, if you know what I mean.

This is intrinsically tied to the cast of characters: It is an inevitability that games where a guiding principle is to release an immense number of characters throughout its lifetime will have characters that will never have any relevance whatsoever besides existing as a minor piece in the world, and Arknights is not immune to this. Even other works of a different base nature and with a much smaller casts will be victims to this: In Trails of Cold Steel, for example, you have a pretty big cast of playable characters, some of which are very well developed and have a lot of screentime and development, and others who are Gaius Worzel. However, this leads to two aspects of Arknights as a narrative and as a game telling a story and fleshing out a world that I appreciate:

The first is that those characters that do get used, are for the overwhelming majority fun and interesting to see and accompany throughout their narrative, and rarely for me, I include the usual point-of-view character in this, Doctor. I tend to have a pretty big dislike, if not disdain, for characters you're meant to self-insert into, I sincerely cannot stand them. Doctor definitely has a big of a self-insert nature to them, but there's also a lot of the Doctor that is actually pre-established, such as them being a weirdo, tending to be very effective but also causing troublesome aftermaths that others then have to clean up, and being particularly good at bonding with assassins and underworld types, among other things. More importantly, Doctor is not present in most side-stories. This is fantastic and leads to the second aspect I appreciate.

This second aspect is that the cast has legs to stand on without needing the protagonist or POV character. You'd think this is a problem mostly limited to gacha games due to their usually flimsy narratives and structures, right? Except, this is actually a huge problem in pretty much every corner of narrative art! I can think of countless comics, manga, cartoons, anime, light novels, novels, and much more, eastern and western, that just tend to have worlds and casts that center entirely around the protagonist, for the protagonist. Whether it be a US author writing out their post-apocalyptic hoarder fantasy or a Japanese author detailing the trials and tribulations of a relatable nobody that a myriad of girls want to have sex with, and even some other pieces of art perhaps not so comically easy to make fun of, it's a consistent aspect of them that the protagonist is the center of the universe, both in terms of events and what the rest of cast thinks about, talks about, and takes action upon. Obviously, this results, in my opinion, in weak worlds and weak casts that have no legs to stand on. I appreciate that even without Doctor around, Arknights does a good job of having protagonists of their own little stories in the side stories: Olivia Silence is a joy to follow when she takes the lead in a Rhine Lab story, Kroos has been one of my favorite characters to be able to experience events through with the Sui stories, Skadi and the Abyssal Hunters are exciting to watch in Abyssal Hunter stories, and the latest event as of the writing of this post filled me inspiration, seeing Reed star in a character piece that tells us more about someone so immensely reticent to open up. It's by having interesting world events occurring throughout Terra that don't have the input of Doctor, and thus lets us see more and more of this huge cast of characters taking the lead that I think is a fascinating experience for me as a reader that keeps things fresh. It's even allowed me to come to appreciate characters I initially didn't care about, such as Bagpipe and Magallan, and see, in most games of this nature, if I don't care about a character frame one, it's probably going to stay that way because, well, if I didn't care about what their limited assortment of pre-cooked lines had to sell me on, then I'm likely not going to care about that character likely not showing me a new aspect of themselves impactful enough to change my mind in an event they'll likely just be an accessory to.

It's upon this base that I think Arknights stays interesting and fresh: A solid foundation that I can agree with and that keeps things dynamic and interesting. Specific events and story beats that I think are interesting are a natural result of these baseline aspects, but it all traces back to the cradle, to these baseline aspects that facilitate those cool narratives in the first place.

[koorinokujira]

Logs from the OC Database: Sunrise ( TF IDW1)

(Finally decided to make a little introduction post for my main Transformers OC, Sunrise. This will most likely get updated often as I keep reading the IDW comics and learn new information).

The lovely art below is made by the amazing @the-prince-of-vos, aka Akkalis! Thank you again for bringing him to life!

"No matter how far I travel from it, Earth will always be my first and only home. After all, home is where the spark is, eh?"

Bright, loud, cheerful, and so energetic that it causes concern; those are just a few ways that the Autobots have described one of their newest additions to the faction. This friendly, large mech is sure to steal your attention with his cheeky personality, unapologetic love for the things and people he's fond of, along with the desire to do good, no matter how impossible it gets. A skilled fighter with a fondness for learning new things, Sunrise is definitely someone you call when you need a helping hand, or just a friend to talk to.

Names, Nicknames, Designations...

"Sunrise is the name, and brightening up your day is my game!"

Sunrise was a name chosen by himself, shortly after his unceremonious crashlanding to Earth. While it was mostly the natural phenomenon itself along with the color of his frame that inspired the designation, it is also a reference to his late predecessor and doctor, Sunset, and the small sliver of hope he felt that he refused to lose. It holds great significance to him, and he is more than determined to live up to it.

In the past, he was referred to as Aeroflare, or simply "Patient Zero", as he was the first (and only) documented case of a condition simply referred to as an "Acute Partial Spark Disconnect". While he doesn't actively use either of these (the second one for very obvious reasons), some Cybertronians know him as such thanks to the aformentioned Sunset and his Conjunx, Cloudwave, who took care of the unresponsive Sunrise. The name "Aeroflare" was created so they'd have a better way of referring to him.

As for nicknames, those tend to be either shortened or slightly altered versions of his name (Sun, Sunny, etc.). However, some humans have also likened his appearance to that of a moth because of his headshape, finials and the way he folds his wings. Variations of nicknames that include the insect aren't too uncommon thanks to that.

Important Physical Attributes

"You know... I worry about the humans sometimes. I'm pretty good at moving around them, but... what if I step on one on accident?"

Discounting his finials, Sunrise is around 36 feet (10.97 meters) tall. While his exact weight is unknown, he seems to be on the heavier side, despite being a jet. His bulkier, sturdier build easily supports his weight. The main color of his frame is a warm orange, with red, black, and sometimes even yellow/gold as his secondary colors. His face is mainly a lighter, metallic grey, with the sides being a grey-ish white. His optics seem to have a color somewhere between yellow and orange, and are particularly bright in comparison to some other Cybertronians.

Sunrise's alternate mode is based on a Canadair CL-415 plane, which is designed for aerial firefighting. Of course, his altmode is quite a bit smaller than the regular plane (which has the length of rougly 65 ft/19.81 m and a wingspan of rougly 94 ft/28.65 m), so the length of his altmode is almost 36 feet with a wingspan of around 52 ft (15.84 m). So, not as big, but forest fires still cower before him!

As for his weaponry, he prefers to get up close and personal, which tends to mean a blade or two. He eventually gets an inset blade in his right arm. But his firepower is nothing to scoff at, either, as his most used weapons are two massive energy cannons. Those are separate from his body unless he is in his altmode, however. In that case, they tend to take up some space in the compartment where the plane stores water. More often than not, his servos are also an effective weapon because of his large size.

Sunrise's spark is of a bright orange color, which occasionally seems to fade into red or blue.

His holoform is that of a young, tall man with freckled skin and wavy, fiery red hair. His eyes have a very light brown, almost orange color. His physique is nothing short of impressive, and even appears to have some tattoos and scars. Sunglasses are an often used accesorry.

Oddities and Anomalies

"Me? Oh, c'mon! I'm just a regular guy. Or mech? Ah, doesn't matter. Just don't treat me like I'm something special or awesome. Others deserve that more than me."

While Sunrise seems like a fairly regular (albeit tall) mech, many of his fellow Autobots very quickly found out that he's anything but ordinary. After some time of debating, Ratchet eventually classified him as an outlier. Everyone, including Sunrise himself, is still struggling to make sense of how his abilities make sense and come together. Most of them seem to have to do something with the spark itself. These are anomalies that have been verified to happen at least once:

Extreme stamina: While he is not that much stronger than his comrades, everyone will tell you that he can do everything for much longer than anyone else. He does need to refuel more often, but his body seems to distribute it with almost concerning effectiveness. His recharges are short and rare. And as any medic in his vicinity quickly finds out, he doesn't seem to realize when he's tired, either, which tends to result in him collapsing every few days (and sometimes even longer than that) in the middle of whatever he's doing. It has been debated whether this is an actual outlier ability, or some strange side effect of the Acute Spark Disconnect, or the current lack thereof.

Spark-hearing: Sunrise's hearing is already extremely good (purely through meddling with his audials and processors), but this ability is something completely different. It is a type of hearing focused purely on sparks; as he himself puts it, every spark has its own unique rhythm that can tell you a few things about its owner, and he insists he can hear it even without the use of any external tools. This was already a bit strange, but it got all the stranger when he admitted that from Optimus' Prime he not only hears a beat, but a melody as well. A short experiment proved that even when he was deprived of regular hearing, he could still hear sparkbeats of others around him with incredible accuracy. He never really divulges what exactly the rhythm tells him, but he has been known to be more perceptive to the moods of others, and many internal ailments have also been discovered when he noticed that someone's spark beats "wrong".

Spark-meld: So far, there has (luckily) only been one instance of this happening. An occassion where Sunrise's spark completely melded with two others despite a ridiculous distance between them. This essentially allowed him to "be" those other two mechs, as he heard, saw and felt all they did, and he even had access to their memories. It was, of course, an overwhelming and traumatizing affair that he had zero control over, and whenever he speaks about it, he insists that he wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy.

Faction and Role

"Mhm, I'm a proud Autobot! Whatever that means..."

Sunrise is an Autobot, though he could have been counted as neutral for a few years. He takes loyalty to his allies incredibly seriously, but he doesn't mind extending a friendly hand to a Decepticon that wishes to redeem themselves. He's quite disconnected from the entire conflict, and has been known to abide by a certain moral and honor code (such as not killing an opponent who cannot fight back).

As for his role in the faction, he is somewhat of a universal helper. He doesn't mind doing menial tasks if it means everything runs smoothly, and often goes around asking others whether they need help with something. He's an avid learner, so he slowly becomes a jack of all trades over the years, with a bit more focus on medical support as Ratchet teaches him how to help others. He's also unanimously considered to be a morale booster, as he's a great listener and his positivity is infectious to most.

Personality

"Well 'course I'm all happy and smiley! I'm not named after the Sun for nothing!"

On the outside, Sunrise is a bright, happy-go-lucky mech that often acts before he thinks. Boisterous and sometimes even a bit mischievous, he unapologetically goes through life doing whatever makes him the happiest. He's a friendly chatterbox, and every room is full of him once he enters. While he is a tad annoying to some, most don't say anything, as he's too endearing to interrupt while he speaks. However, this also often has the effect of some thinking he's a mech of the... simpler variety, and that he's very naive, which he most certainly isn't.

However, this bright exterior hides many complexeties, many of which aren't exactly happy ones. He often feels disconnected from his fellow Cybertronians and the entirety of their conflicts, leaving him feeling left out and lonely. Thanks to his previous ailments, he has missed much, and so he struggles to keep up with his peers. He rarely shows it, but his self-esteem is quite low and he tends to put others miles above himself. His ability to express negative emotions is also not the greatest, which he usually resolves by walking out of the conflict and losing himself in one physical activity or another. As more and more fellow Autobots come to him with their troubles, he feels trapped and a need to constantly appear strong, until he finally reaches a breaking point.

Some traumas have left him with some underlying feelings of paranoia, and he often needs guidance because he feels lost. Anger issues have been a problem in the past, not so much now.

Interests

"Did you know-"

If you ask Sunrise about what he likes the most, he'll probably pretend he's thinking for a few seconds, before he excitedly yells out "Earth!" or "Humans"! If it's related to our dear blue planet, he'll adore it, or at least be interested. He finds humans to be extremely adorable, even after years of living among them, and will talk your audial (or ear, if you have those) off about this or that human culture, or express his admiration for their inventiveness.

But his interests don't just stop with humans, as he's really into learning about nature, particularly animals. Nature documentaries are his favorite genre of film, and Sir David Attenborough may as well be a saint to him. His favorite books are sappy romances and he mostly likes upbeat, energetic music genres. The only exception are chansons, which have a calming effect on him.

He's also always interested in learning more about the home planet he never really got to know, and talking with older Cybertronians about what they've seen.

Tinkering with whatever he gets his hands on is therapeutic to him. It only becomes concerning when he learns more of Cybertronian anatomy and tries to give himself strange upgrades...

Relationships

"Hi there! No need to be scared, I'm harmless, just really big! Wanna be friends?"

The jet makes a point to always start out friendly and respectful when meeting someone, and to not judge a book by its cover. He considers all Autobots to be his friends, and tries to give a chance even to some Decepticons when they seem harmless.

He has a talent for awakening something akin to paternal instincts in most older mechs, which often causes humorous misunderstandings and someone always being there to try to teach him about this and that. This effect was always particularly strong with Ironhide, Kup, and even Ratchet to some extent, as he feels responsible for his wellbeing.

Sunrise is quite close with Optimus Prime and Ratchet and trusts them with everything. Hot Rod and Jazz are always welcome company to him, and he later also becomes good friends with Drift, with an extended friendliness and respect to the other Wreckers.

His relationship with Ultra Magnus is cordial, though it can't be said they're the best of friends considering Sunrise's ignorance of most laws and tendency for harmless mischief.

The only Autobot Sunrise has a fairly bad relationship with is Prowl. At the start, the both genuinely despise each other, until Sunrise lets it go and is satisfied with driving Prowl up to wall with his antics and witty banter. No one really knows where they stand in their relationship currently, and everyone is too afraid to ask.

An important part of Sunrise's inner circle is also a very unlikely friend; a troubled Decepticon seeker named Dustbite, with whom he forms an unlikely friendship based on them both sparing each other's lives. With mutual respect and understanding, their bond eventually becomes so deep that they become each other's Amica Endurae.

As for who he cares more than just a friend... well, only time will tell.

Other Fun Facts

When it comes to the chansons, Sunrise's favorite singer is Jacques Brel.

He himself is a fairly talented singer, though he mostly just hums to himself.

Sunrise's Cybertronian somehow has a vaguely Canadian accent.

He speaks Hand very fluently and uses it to express himself when speaking is difficult.

Even though he seems very innocent, the mech swears like a sailor when he can, even making horrible amalgamation of human and Cybertronian swear words and insults.

He dislikes Primus, blaming him for his previous illness.

Later on, he becomes a good friend and "calming agent" to Fortress Maximus.

He uses his (usual) enhanced hearing to check malfunctions in all sorts of machinery, including cables running through walls. However, he still struggles to find an appropriate way to announce it. "I hear it in the walls" is not something he should say to alert someone of a fried cable, he's been told.

His optics can get blindingly bright when he's very happy. On the other hand, they grow dim when he's feeling under the weather.

His voice claim is Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds.

Story/Story Involvement

(Empty for now... but some short scenes and chapters from his life will hopefully come soon).

[untameddwildsunseen]

Introduction

Welcome to the untamed wilds traveler. Take a rest by the river and speak to this wolf all your worries.

Anyway, hello there! You all may call me The Fenrir, or Fenrir when not using formalities. I have many identities, but this one is where I will chronicle my journey with my alterhumanity. That, answer asks about our knowledge of the communities I inhabit, or just generally whatever alterhuman posts I am feeling like posting about.

I do not know everything as I am not a therian and I am not physically alterhuman (to my knowledge at least). So I cannot talk about experiences on those. I have only been awakened fully since this year. I presume I have been awakened longer, approximately 2-3 years, without knowledge of the terms. Though, topics I am open to talking about are what I am, which I will explain later in this post. I am also willing to talk about my own experiences and how my alterhumanity affects me and my day to day life. Though, I should warn that I will talk about the negative sides as well. Things such as negative shifts (as I experience them) and the negative sides to my alterhumanity. Though, I will combat those posts with positive ones.

Some more information, I am 21 years old and have several queer identities. The more important ones being that I am a (trans)demiboy, demiaroace, and polyam with 3 lovely partners.

Identities

In this portion I will be explaining my experiences with my identities. Is it a lot of labels? Perhaps. Though, I think it's generously also organizes each one. In each label I will explain what they are for anyone awakening or wanting to know about linktypes.

Otherkin

A basic understanding is that otherkin are those who involuntarily identify as something not of this world. Such examples include gods, aliens, elemental, dragons, vampires, zombies, et cetera.

Type(s):

Drago~ Specifically a chaos/space dragon. I get intense shifts, especially of the phantom and astral variety. I am naturally carnivorous and I have only experienced primarily good feelings during shifts.

Copingkin

To note: This is a term underneath the otherkin umbrella, as otherkin includes coping based identities. I prefer to separate these two terms due to how different my experiences with these terms effect my day to day life.

My understanding of copingkin in that one involuntarily identifies as a certain being as a means to cope. This could be for a variety of reasons. One can be a domestic breed of dog, another can be a character from Baulder's Gate 3, and maybe someone identifies as the nemean lion.

Type(s):

Fenrir~ Ah, what this blog is based on. Anyway, I intensely awakened as the fenrir this year due to what I perceived as severe betrayal where I reacted in a way similar to the Norse story "The Binding of Fenrir." I only Identify as the Norse myth version as it was the closest to my feelings and shifts. My shifts tend to be very negative. Perception shifts tend to be the most common and the hardest to come down from for me. It's not all bad though.

Fictionkin

Those identifying as fictionkin are those who involuntarily identify as a character from a piece of media. From books to shows/movies, to video games. Is it a fictional character one involuntarily identifies as? They could definitely be fictionkin.

Type(s):

Julian Devorak (The Arcana: A Mystic Romance)~ This is my oldest type surprisingly. His martyr personality and his fatal flaw of sacrificing himself and working himself into the ground is what made me connect and see me as him. Along with uncanny similarities between our lives. I don't shift often with him. It is more of a situation where if I see art of him, I just think 'Oh hey, that is me.'

Otherhearted

This is a touch different than a kintype as you involuntarily identify with something, rather than as that something. Can be anything, or multiple anythings. It's what you involuntarily identify with that matters.

Type(s):

Lucifer (Clado?)~ There is no real one depiction of Lucifer I do not identify with. Though the strongest ones tend to be closer to the biblical depiction and the Netflix show Lucifer. This is possibly because of my journey with religion (I am not Christian in any sense other than agnostic). I don't have a lot of shifts to my knowledge, but that's fine by me.

Otherlink/Copinglink

Note: I have combined them due to what I have now learned.

Otherlink and Copinglink are synonyms. Normally used interchangeably. These are terms when one links to, or voluntarily identifies as, something for any reason. I tend to associate copinglink with coping with something, but that isn't the case for all. Use these terms however you wish. Anything can be linked to for any reason, like if it is for the fun of it.

Type(s):

Anatolian Shepherd/Saint Bernard Mix (Copinglink)~ I aim to please and am used to wrangling others together. I linked specifically to a domestic mutt as a means to cope with my copingkin and the negative feelings it brings about at times. Seeing myself as a big, goofy, lovable dog makes me feel at ease. Especially with my eagerness to please. It is also due partially because of how I love, like a dog. Even if I'm hurt.

Telemachus (EPIC: The Musical/The Odyssey) (Otherlink)~ I took some time to read The Odyssey (still in the process of it as well) and have been listening to EPIC. Telemachus reminds me of myself when I was younger and had more of an optimistic and ambitious outlook on life. He is partially a copinglink as I envy he and his father's relationship. The way he looks up to his father was the same way I did with my own. I knew something was there, but it didn't fully connect as a hearttype or as a kintype. So, linktype it was.

Questioning/Considering

Considering (Linktypes): Odysseus (EPIC: The Musical/The Odyssey)~ I am currently doing research by finishing the book and waiting for the musical to finish, which will not be until the end of this year I would assume for the musical. This is because some of the things that happen to him in The Odyssey I have never experienced (besides fighting off monsters) personally. Though, there is a part of me that feels a connection there somewhere.

Questioning (Theriotypes/Kintypes/Hearttypes): None at the moment.

Boundaries

Now, onto important information on this blog. My boundaries are to be followed. I am not afraid to block if someone completely disregards them.

I do not want to deal with drama. If I am wrong, respectfully let me know by sending a message, by reblogging the reply, or by commenting. I am learning and some labels I do not know much about. I am constantly learning, and constantly pursuing my own self-education on certain topics.

I still bleed the same blood. Do not harass me under any circumstances. Respect me and I will respect you in return. I enjoy a good jest every now and again, but even every now and again I do find some things over the line. Do not joke at my, or others, expense for laughs.

Do not harm others who are on my blog without just reasons. I am one who believes in innocent until proven guilty. This is due to some issues in my own past. I do not enjoy drama either as stated before. So if something is going on with a certain user, respectfully let me know and I will fix what I need in the way I choose to do it.

When doing asks, keep away from NSFW topics. While I am above the age of consent, I do not want to go into that on this blog. Nor am I interested in sharing any accounts as such. What I do is private, and is not exactly appropriate for my blog.

If I say to quit it, I mean it. When I say "quit it" I mean to cut it out and act your age. As it may be seen in my boundaries, you must give respect to earn respect. We talk thing out if something happens. I will not argue if someone is acting like a toddler with their arguments. (For example: an Anti telling me to end it. I consider it childish, showing that you have the emotional comprehension for others on the same level as a young child who knows no better.)

If you interact with the ask box, please be kind. While I may seem to be able to handle those who are acting like pains, I can be surprisingly sensitive. Coming at me guns-a-blazing or keyboard warrior like, I get extremely anxious when reading them. I spiral quickly. I tend to understand if people are upset, but if I feel threatened, I will bite back with a block. No questions asked there.

DNI

This will be interesting. Lets see how many respect my do not interact list. I will block anyone who doesn't respect my interaction boundaries.

Harmful paraphilias. Those who claim to be MAPs or Zoos and other similar paraphilias. I find them disgusting. I do not care to know if you are in recovery. Stay off of my blog.

Anti-Alterhuman (and others like them). I believe this is reasonable since this is my alterhuman blog. I do not want to interact with you, and the same for you to me. Out of mutual dislike, simply do not interact with me and just block me. Simple as that than telling me how I identify.

Transmeds/TERFs/Transphobes. I believe me stating that I am trans and a demiboy is simple enough to understand why I do not want these interactions. Though for those who are wanting more, I find them ignorant. I have dealt with enough people disrespecting my gender identity to have a short fuse with them. Especially if they bring up Christian rhetoric to back themselves up.

Homophobes. I also group up people against polyamory here too. But because my sexuality and romantic orientation are more complicated then I have stated, I do not wish to interact with closed-minded individuals. I respect you, you respect me. Once again, Christian rhetoric against the LGBTQ+ community are not welcome. As for those against polyamory, it's okay if you have been hurt or it is not your style. It does not mean you have a right to telling me how to live my life. I will not tell you how to live your life. Give me the same respect.

Proshippers and the likes. I find them disgusting as well. While it may be fictional, it doesn't make it morally correct. I do not like what is there or the impact it has on the youth. The possibilities of normalizing unhealthy dynamics is extremely harmful. I lived through the box office openings of Twilight and its fanfiction movie (I will not give out the name). This ruined how my generation saw love (Not everyone, but looking back at what was coming out at the time).

Racists and other harmful ideologies. I think this is pretty self explanatory. While I am not POC myself, I have friends who are and I will always have their back. Sentient beings deserve respect as much as the next. Let us respect one another in this shared space we call the internet.

Hardcore Christians (extremists, cults, et cetera). Seem weird or a bit ironic being Luciferhearted. Though I have good reason for this in my "Do Not Interact". I have dealt with Christian rhetoric before, and I don't exactly appreciate being told something I don't exactly believe. I'm agnostic/pagan. Abrahamic religion need to give me proof of their beliefs. Though I do believe their figures and god have a place. Though, I actively choose to believe more in the pagan gods of old. Such as those of the Nordic and Hellenic pantheons.

Minors (Below 18 years old). With me being 21, I do not feel comfortable being in an area around minors. Even though the blog is safe for work, I would like users interacting being a minimum of 18 years of age.

(User boxes made by: @/kthecritter)

[lunar-wandering]

ALRIGHT. LETS GO. LIST OF CHARACTERS IN THAT RIDICULOUS MONSTER OF THE WEEK HERO AND VILLAINS STORY I GOT SO WE CAN GET SOME NAMES FOR EM

PLEASE send me names for these guys cause im dying just referring to them by titles

i didn't want to just go "villain 1, villain 2," so i assigned them colours

we'll start with the ones in the polyam relationship and then do the other characters

Our Hero!! think more magical girl themed than DC Comics. he/him pronouns, transformation item is a butterfly hairclip (and most attacks have a butterfly theme) (the butterfly specifically is a Red Lacewing). In civilian form his hair is purple and his eyes are blue, while in hero form his hair is blonde and his eyes are red. He is SO tired and stressed, but it's only visible in civilian form (aka he's got dark shadows under his eyes and his hair looks like it hasn't seen a brush in months). He goes to university, and works in a tea shop beside the university. Due to an incident early on in which a monster of the week caused him to temporarily be split into two people, since his brain couldn't handle the double perspective of information, he does have another personality- they're basically the same for the most part, but the other him only takes control when he's really stressed out (in the middle of a hard battle, or in the middle of a difficult exam). He's basically just slightly more serious overall. It's harder to surprise him and stuff like that.

Pink Villain!!! tbh he's the funnest one to me. he/him pronouns. when i say pink i mean PINK. symbol is a heart and the monsters he summons cause physical effects. he can drain energy, and give energy to people via kisses (does not need to be on the lips). (the more power he stores, the longer his hair gets). he's just a silly guy, he's having fun with this. the first one to figure out the hero's secret i.d. Actually he knows WAY more than he should. he's like, the secret keeper. he Knows Things. keeps a piece of the Hero's energy that he took early on stored in a locket.

Blue Villain! ???/??? Pronouns (any pronouns). symbol is a teardrop, and the monsters they summon cause psychological effects. nobody knows SHIT about them. not even what they look like, they wear one of those like- hats with a veil so their face and hair is completely covered. (well. i say no-one knows- Pink Villain actually does, but only cause he goaded them into kissing him once.) They don't tend to talk a lot either. In reality they're just shy- and also the only one to have a civilian form. They also attend the university the Hero goes to, albeit they look completely different.

TECHNICALLY she could also be called Pink Villain but for the sake of not confusing people, Yellow Villain!! she/her pronouns. her colour scheme is actually mainly pink but there's enough yellow in there for her to be called this. her symbol is a lightning bolt, and the monsters she summons affect nature itself. arguably the most powerful of the villains excluding the Big Bad. she has an electrified whip, btw. the coolest person here by far. she's the only one capable of one-upping Pink Villain. also the only one that goes into the tea shop to actually get tea and NOT chat with the hero (looking at you Pink Villain).

Okay!! That's the polyam gang!! now. other characters.

The Science Team- there's like, a bunch of people included here, but only two of them are really important. They're on the hero's side, they help him figure out the weaknesses of the monster of the week and all that, but they're also constantly trying to figure out who the hero is. He's close enough with two of them to consider them to be friends, and the team has narrowed down what university he's going to, but not who he is. Funnily enough, the two he's closest to actually started working at the same tea shop he does in order to like, get Info, but they don't suspect him in the slightest.

Purple-Blue Villain, a 16 year old girl who was brainwashed by the big bad at the very beginning of the series. She doesn't have a symbol, nor does she summon monsters. Her main job is to act as a spy on the science team- since she's the daughter of one of them.

The Big Bad, a ruler from another dimension who's big on the idea of having another dimension bend to his will. The Hero's butterfly hairclip actually was brought into this world by him, but he accidentally lost it during portal travel. He brought the other villains here with him as his "trusted generals".

Hero's Clone, he/they pronouns, initially created by the Big Bad just for, yknow, the typical "lets clone the hero" reasons. Was highly unstable and dripping black goo everywhere. After being stabilized, the only differences between him and the hero are that one of his eyes is pink, and the tips of his hair is pink. After stabilization, the hero has him stay with the villains, cause he doesn't trust the science team to NOT try to experiment on them, but he DOES trust the villains to be able to effectively hide them from their boss. sometimes gets involved with plans as the hero's body double to confuse people.

[delfiore]

only make you cry

pairing: florence pugh x fem!reader

synopsis: flo isn’t ready to be in a new relationship after her last one ended by means of public scrutiny.

word count: 2.6k

a/n: hello. um, ik it’s been a while, but school and work has just been so hectic that i barely even have time to rest. i was also dealing with some things too, but alas am back. i hope y’all haven’t forgotten abt me and i’m hoping to get back into writing again soon because it’s fun and not because it’s sth i have to do. so ya, enjoy this angsty, kinda smutty but not rly fic i whipped out :3

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

She remained untouched.

By the responsibilities she had to bare as a price of only doing what she loved to do.

By the lousiness of the world waiting to gouge out any imperfections so that it may discredit her just for the sake of it.

By the mask-like cynicism she had come to develop just to survive and not get swallowed whole.

She remained untouched by you.

Yet, the desire to reach out and touch her, despite her serene appearance—face pressed into the pillow, eyes comfortably shut, lips slightly parted—was beyond any reasoning that you could muster. You simply desired her, to touch her, to feel her, the way you did merely hours before.

The sky was beginning to brighten, signaling another day. You didn’t want to leave, you only wanted to reach out and touch her, to kiss her, and tell her that you were here to stay. But you knew you couldn’t.

She stirred, finally. Florence was a quiet waker, with a sharp inhale and a purse of her lips, eyelids slowly peeling open to reveal two emerald gems, that usually start out more hazel and golden in the morning. You gave her a small smile. “Good morning”.

“What time is it?” She asked.

You hummed, reaching back toward the stand for your phone. “8:37”, you had checked ten minutes prior too.

You watched her as she willed herself to rouse, hunching over the side of the bed, like she was putting the weight of the world she left by the bed back on her shoulders. You reached over, and brushed her spine with the back of your hand. You thought you felt a split second in which she found comfort in it, but it was gone too soon when she stood up and headed for the bathroom.

You always observed Florence. You liked to admire the person that she was, watching this phenomenon of a human being do the most mundane tasks, like cooking an omelette or watering a plant. It made you feel special, being able to be in her presence made you feel phenomenal. She tended to have that effect on people, not just you. You were just lucky you got to witness it behind closed doors.

“Could you feed Billie, please?” You loved when she included you in her routines. You would give her a kiss on her jaw and a gentle caress of her hips in gratitude in passing her.

Sometimes when you’re lucky, like now, she would grab you, and kiss you deep with a sigh, her eyes lustful and sultry when they gaze into yours after.

It started a few weeks prior, the sex, and the mingling, months earlier than that. It was at an after-party you were expected to attend, that Flo also happen to be there. There was a certain glow to her, something that made her seem more mature than the last time you saw her whilst shooting Black Widow. The short brunette hair, the nose ring, it was different, but it all suited her.

“Y/N?! Christ, is that you?!”

You started hanging out again, just like you did whilst shooting the movie and a little while after that before your respective schedules pulled you apart. It was as if no time had passed.

She cooked for you the way she did, a drink on the side and occasionally dancing to music that hyped her up. Then one day, she confided in you. She told you that she and her boyfriend had broken up.

“It was a few months ago,” she said with a sad smile, “the pressure just got too much. We’re friends, though.”

“I’m sorry.” Were you an asshole for leaping on the inside? You couldn’t tell her how you felt three years ago because she was already in a relationship, especially when Zach was a good man, and she was happy too.

Then one night, she kissed you.

It was after a bottle of wine (or two), and you both were on her couch. You felt bold, and your hand ended up over her thigh, feeling the softness of her skin. Her laughter had died down, only breathy giggles now from her plump lips, her intense gaze lighting fires in the pit of your stomach. And before long, she was straddling you and desperately attempting to pull your shirt off.

“I’m going on a trip next week with some mates,” she told you, tickling the back of your neck with her arms resting around it, “come with me?”

You could never say no to her, never when she holds you like this. But alas, you were just messing around.

Ibiza was a nice change of pace from the bustling city; it was sunshine and blue sky as far as you could see during the day, then parties and drinks until the early hours in the morning.

You liked that she knew when to have fun, but not too much to let herself go. She always seemed in control. Her friends were welcoming of you, but you weren’t free of the teasing comments.

“She seems lovely,” one of her friends said, once you had left to the bar. You’d just make out what she said. “Where’d you find her?”

“We met on-set,” Flo answered.

“Good for you, mate. She’s always following you around like a lost puppy, it’s cute.”

A small laugh erupted from Florence’s chest, and you felt something churn in your stomach. You took the drinks from the bartender with a small ‘thank you’, and returned to the group.

You handed Olive her drink, then Flo hers before kissing her cheek. “Your dry martini.”

It was only after you had come back from another party that night, that you thought about it again.

“You okay?” She mumbled, peppering kisses on your bare shoulder, her hand roaming your body.

The thing was, you didn’t mind being her lost puppy. You were too devoted to care.

The media was started to catch up. Pictures of her and you during your sun-soaked holiday started to make headlines, at first because two Marvel stars were seen vacationing together. But then fans began to speculate when more handsy pictures began to surface (a failed attempt by your publicist to keep things quiet), and you suddenly felt the pressure. It was in particular the pictures of you and her splashing each other in the water that did it.

“People need to get a job, christ,” you sat by the island scrolling through Twitter on the private account you made for the sole purpose of lurking.

Florence let out a small laugh as she chopped a bell pepper in half. “Let them talk, hm? We don’t need to concern ourselves with it.”

“It’s a bit difficult to mind your business when it’s shoved in your face every time you open your phone,” you huffed through your nose, extending your foot toward where Billie had chosen to sit by your side to taunt the pup.

“It’s not like you to care about what people think. What changed?”

“I don’t know, I just don’t like people butting into my relationships, that’s all.”

“Well,” she said so casually, “we’re not exclusive or anything, so . . .”

You didn’t know what to say. Billie seemed to have picked up on the awkwardness too, and trotted away to find her bed for a nap.

“Y/N,” she said, but you didn’t look up, “you know we’re just messing about, right?”

“Of course,” you said, shrugging, “it’s what we agreed upon the first time. What? You think I’m in love with you or something?”

“You better not be,” she laughed as you made your laugh over to her side.

“Why not?” You mirrored her laugh, and snaked your arms around her waist.

“‘Cause it’ll complicate everything,” Flo said lowly, “and I don’t like things to be complicated.”

“Alright,” you nodded, taking her chin in your fingers. “Well, I’m not, so.” You pecked her lips.

You didn’t know you could feel the kind of isolation like what you felt when Flo went away. She had gone back to England to be with her family, leaving you all alone in this god-awful town, in Los Angeles, the city of liars and pretenders. You thought you might have become one too.

It was easier said than done, and you thought you could do it. You thought you could be content with just being a fuck, but it was never that easy. You stopped seeing anyone properly ever since you started knowing Flo, and that was three years ago. You knew it was a futile effort to wait, but you waited anyway.

“My nan just gave me this amazing apple pie recipe. I’m gonna make it when I get back,” you let her ramble on FaceTime as you attempted to do work on your laptop.

“Y/N.”

“Hm?”

“Did you hear what I said?”

“Your nan’s pie recipe,” you replied, turning towards the camera, “can’t wait to try it.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine,” your voice was started to growing harsher, “‘s fine.”

“Doesn’t sound like it,” she said, “Y/N, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” you said firmly, “please leave it alone, Flo.”

You didn’t like the way you sounded. You were so harsh to her. A quick glance towards the screen told you she was taken aback by your response, maybe a little hurt too. It was a mistake.

“I have to go, got some work to do,” you sighed, swallowing the lump in your throat, “I’ll call you later.”

“Okay,” Flo said, so quietly you almost didn’t catch it. You ended the call before you or her could say anything else.

You sunk back into your chair, and finally let the tears flow and you held your face in your palms.

Hours later, you were clutching your phone, staring at the screen showing your messages with her, trying so hard to say something, anything. The silence was brutal, but it was one you caused yourself. You didn’t want to bother her, but you couldn’t stand it any longer.

Please don’t be upset with me, I was an asshole.

I can’t stop thinking about you all the fucking time.

I think I have feelings for you.

Sorry about earlier. Work is stressing me out.

Mere minutes later, you received a photo message as a response. Your breath gets caught in your throat when you opened it to see what it was. “For your troubles ,” it read, and it was a picture of her in her underwear in bed.

You leaned back and exhaled a heavy breath, as your hand slowly crept down your body underneath your pants.

But it wasn’t the same. You needed her with you, under you, above you, close to you. You wanted to hold her as you came, as you have been lately, hoping she would feel the affection in return.

You counted down the days that you would be meeting her in New York. She had to do press there for a couple of days, and you agreed to spend some time with each other before she returned to the UK for more press. Your manager wasn’t happy when you decided to book your own ticket after she had refuses to book you one because it wasn’t for ‘professional purposes’.

The hotel you booked was close to hers, just by accident, but you decided to hire a cab to bring her over anyway. You had been waiting patiently when she knocked on your door at around 10 at night.

“Hi,” you said softly, walking backwards to let her in.

“Hi,” she replied, tugging at the back of your neck and kicking off her boots, “I missed you.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhm, couldn’t stop thinking about you, and this,” you let her explore your body because you had been waiting for her to do so for so long.

You collapsed next to her with a heavy sigh, looking over. Her hair was disheveled, her eyes closed and lips parted, her chest rose up and down. She looked so pure like an angel, but also sinful like the devil. Her eyelids peeled open, and her eyes had turned a deep green when she looked over at you.

She was perfect, and you were enraptured by her in every way.

So you captured her lips in a slow kiss. Low hums bubbled in her throat, as she snaked an arm around your waist.

“I love you,” it came out as the fainted whisper. You froze. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

“What?” You breathed out.

“I said I love you,” she repeated, locking you in with kisses along your jaw.

“No,“ you pulled away, shaking your head vehemently, “no, you don’t, Flo. Don’t say shit like that.”

“What the fuck?” Why was she offended? “Y/N?”

“You can’t just say stuff like that without any consequences,” you didn’t mean to snap, but you were pacing around too, “we agreed to just fooling around.”

“Okay, I’m sorry. Why are you so pissed about this?”

“Because you’re being unfair!” You exclaimed. “You don’t love me, but I love you, Flo! I love you. And this, all of this is so unfair.”

“Then why did you agree to it?” She frowned.

“Because—“ there was a lump growing in your throat, “because having some of you is better than nothing.”

“God, Y/N,” Flo sat up, and put her hand in her hands, the sheets barely covering her bare chest. “We should have never done this.”

“So you regret it?”

“No, but I wouldn’t have agreed to it if I knew it was so agonizing for you. Like shit, what the hell do you want from me, Y/N?!”

You stood at the foot of the bed, your fists clenching and relaxing. You felt so small. The light from outside the window scarred her face.

“I want you,” you said defeatedly, “I want you to love me the way I love you.”

She looked at you incredulously, “how long have you had feelings for me?”

You looked away. “I don’t know, like ever since we met I felt something. I just never said anything.”

You heard her grumble under her breath. “I-I can’t right now, Y/N. There are things that I still need to work on. It was really hard where I left off with my last relationship.”

“I know,” you took a seat at the edge of the bed, “I’ll wait for you, until you’re ready.”

“I can’t ask you to wait for me.”

“I’ve been waiting for three years,” you smiled sadly, “I can wait a little more.”

You watched her as she wordlessly got up and gathered her clothes to put them back on. You wanted to speak up, but you could only watch like a ghost.

“Thank you, Y/N, for everything you’ve done for me,” she held your hand, and stroked your cheeks tenderly. “I have never taken you for granted, ever. And yes, I do love you.”

She leaned down to kiss your forehead before heading for the door. You felt the tears welling up, but you spoke anyways.

“When you’re ready, you know how to reach me.”

There was a hint of a smile before Florence turned to the door. When it closed, you felt the stillness of the room, void of the rustling of the sheets when she would turn to the side, her quiet hums of a melody she couldn’t get out of her head, the click of her lighter as she goes to light her cigarette. It was you, and your own sounds now, devoid of bliss, devoid of her.

[becauseimanicequeen]

Why do you often write about contrasting colors? Do you think there's a reason the show creators use contrasting colors on the set and characters?

Hi, Anon.

I first want to point out that contrasting colors can mean different things.

I often write about complementary/contrasting colors, which are colors on the opposite side of each other on the color wheel. So, for example, yellow and purple, red and green, blue and orange.

If we just talk about contrasts, however, it can include what I wrote above, but it can also mean:

Contrasting value (dark vs light), where the combination of black/white is often used, but it can also be, for example, dark blue/light blue if the same color is used or yellow/dark green when different colors are used

Contrasting temperatures (cool vs warm), where, simply speaking, the warm side of the color wheel (all the colors from yellow to red-purple) is set against the cool side of the color wheel (all the colors from purple to yellow-green), and a common contrast here is ice/fire

Contrasting intensity (saturated vs muted), where, for example, an intense, saturated red might stand against a dull, muted red, or a saturated orange might stand against a muted blue if different colors are used

In other words, there are several ways to use contrasting colors in visual media.

I tend to focus on complementary/contrasting colors, contrasts in value, and sometimes contrasting temperatures (if that seems significant to the story).

If I were to make a guess, I would say that the complementary/contrasting colors and contrasts in value are the techniques used the most (and most intentionally) in visual media.

And, in terms of complementary/contrasting colors, I would say that the blue/orange combination is used most often, followed by the red/green combination, and lastly the yellow/purple combination.

Now, to get back to your questions.

There are definitely reasons why creators of QLs (and other visual media) use contrasts.

When complementary/contrasting colors are used together (when they're in the same frame in a show we watch) they pop and grab attention. Since we're talking about visual media, one of the goals of the creators of these shows is to keep the viewer's attention on the screen. Using complementary/contrasting colors is an effective way to do that.

(Using contrasting colors is definitely not the only way to grab and keep the viewer's attention, of course, but it is an effective technique.)

Contrasting colors can be used in set design, lighting, hair colors, clothes, color grading, etc. Color is used everywhere and it's (mostly) intentional.

Now, let's get a bit detailed with some examples.

Contrasts can make the most simple scenes visually pleasing and attention-grabbing. Like this scene from The Rebound:

There isn't much happening in this scene. One person is visible and three items stand out (the basketball more than the whistle and the cup). But the eyes are still engaged because of the contrasts that are at play:

Contrasting value (dark/light): The coach wears dark colors while the window behind him is bright.

Complementary/contrasting colors: He has a blue whistle around his neck and lines on his jacket, which contrasts against the orange ball and the area on the wall behind him.

Contrasting temperature: The warm orange against the cool blue.

Contrasting intensity: The saturated orange of the ball against the muted blue cup.

Another example of the blue/orange combo is this scene from To Be Continued:

The intensity of the orange Ji is wearing compared to the muted blue of the comforter pulls the eyes toward the orange and, in turn, to Ji and the puppy (who are both the focus of this scene as they were abandoned by Achi who decided to run away).

Contrasting colors can also be used in subtle ways that still say a lot about what's going on, like in this scene in I Told Sunset About You:

Here we have the red/green combination. The green coconuts with the red flowers stand between Oh and Bas to pull the eye toward what's happening between them.

Also, Oh is using a green pen while Bas is using a red pen, which is a small detail that makes the color-loving artist in me so happy. That's because Oh, who lives in a (mostly) green world, is drawn to the red. Here he's drawn to the red in Bas, but he's also drawn to Teh who lives in a (mostly) red world.

In other words, contrasting colors can be used to make a scene visually pleasing, pull attention toward the focus of the scene, say something about the characters and what's going on beneath the surface, etc.

When it comes to, in particular, characters and contrasting colors, the black/white, dark/light combination often connects to their overall mood/vibe when used to show contrast. In other words, the character connected with black/dark is usually moodier and more mysterious (often due to hiding some secret or other type of information), etc. While the character connected with white/light is often more open and peaceful, etc.

This can also be used to show that one character is the light in/lights up the other character's dark world. Like Bai Zong Yi (white) and Fan Ze Rui (black) in Kiseki: Dear to Me, and Lee Hyun (white) and Kim An (black) in Love Class Season 2:

When it comes to the complementary/contrasting colors on the color wheel and character pairs that are color-coded in this way, these characters often have contrasting aspects in terms of their personality as well.

To give some examples:

I've previously written about Yak and Dee's (Wandee Goodday) contrasting colors (yellow and purple) and personalities so I won't go too deep into that here. But, to give an example, Dee (purple) is mysterious while Yak (yellow) is more clear/direct.

For some reason, I could only find this example of the red/green combination right now, and that's Rak and Dino in Dinosaur Love. Dino (red) is dominant and a bit temperamental while Rak (green) takes his time (just like plants/nature) and is more even/balanced.

Nuea and Toh is Secret Crush on You display the blue/orange combination. Nuea (orange) is a bit impatient and dominant (which is the red coming out in the orange) while Toh (blue) has a calm (ish) demeanor and is more passive (since he's more focused on his secret crush remaining a secret than believing he can actually have a relationship with Nuea).

There are obviously many more examples, but these were the ones I could remember and find right now.

So, with all that said, I often react to/write about contrasting colors because I love them, because they're visually pleasing, and because they (often) say something more about what we see on the screen or what we hear the characters say. And I absolutely love it when they're used intentionally.

Thank you for your ask.

[antianakin]

Anakin Skywalker and the Semantics of Redemption

So everyone knows that the scene at the end of Return of the Jedi is something of a source of mild controversy. Are we supposed to see Anakin as redeemed because he became a Force Ghost? Is that the intended message behind the story? If it is, does Anakin truly deserve to be redeemed?

My personal take on it is that we are probably supposed to understand Anakin as redeemed, but that it doesn't really feel like a satisfying ending to me because Anakin never really does anything particularly worthy of what I would consider redemption, and that I don't really think Anakin COULD be redeemed even if he had survived.

That take has garnered me some... interesting... responses from people. I've had people tell me that I'm an inhuman monster for refusing to believe Anakin could be redeemed at all. I've had people argue that obviously Lucas thinks he's redeemed, so nothing else matters. I've seen people say that it's ridiculous to think he ISN'T redeemed, that's the entire point of the story and I've missed the whole theme of the saga if I don't get it. The politer responses have included people telling me what THEIR definitions/interpretations of redemption are and how they've made Anakin's ending fit into that.

If you're familiar with me at all, it won't shock you to discover that this sent me digging through the online dictionaries that seemed pretty reputable (for context, I used Merriam-Webster, Encyclopedia Brittanica, dictionary.com, vocabulary.com, and Collins Dictionary) to seek out "the true definition of redemption" to see if I could put the issue to rest in any way. What I ended up discovering there is no "true definition of redemption" to be found, even in the dictionary. I know. Absurd. How dare they.

Instead, once we eliminate the definitions that don't really apply to the situation (things that are more monetary in nature), most of the dictionary definitions fell into one of three categories: theological, internal, and external.

The theological definition appears to say that being redeemed means being completely freed of sin, totally absolved of everything. My assumption is that, given its origins, this generally means forgiveness by your god because you or someone else has done something to cause that complete absolution.

The internal definition is more about making the choice to improve yourself. It doesn't necessarily matter if other people see you differently (though it seems to be an expected side effect), so the redemption is about what's happening internally in how YOU see the world and your place within it.

The external definition is about how other people see you and, most commonly, about atonement and making amends. Now you could make the argument that the definitions could be implying that just the act of TRYING to atone or make amends is enough to count as redemption as opposed to needing to succeed at it in order to count, but generally the definitions seem to be implying that if you've actually MADE amends, THEN you are redeemed.

All of these are perfectly valid definitions of redemption according to these dictionaries. Redemption is a word that can be used to mean more than one thing depending on which definition you tend to associate with it the most or even just depending on the context or the person you're talking about. One person's definition of redemption is not necessarily the one and only way to view redemption. My definition may not be yours and it's definitely not the same as a lot of other people's.

In the case of Anakin, some people are maybe looking at him through a more theological context and if the Force has forgiven him via his own sacrifice or Luke's, he is then freed of sin and completely absolved for all of his crimes, happy endings all around.

Some people see redemption as an internal choice to do better or improve yourself and so Anakin's one good choice to save Luke at the cost of his own life is enough to redeem him in general even if it changes nothing about the evil things he's done.

Some people see redemption as an external thing that happens if you are able to truly atone or make amends for things you've done and change the way people view you and so Anakin can't be considered redeemed because he just dies before he can DO any of those things. Some of us go even farther and say that he'd never be ABLE to do any of those things even if he DID survive due to how much damage he's truly done and how unchangeable some of his choices are, so he'd never truly be able to be redeemed even if he spent the rest of his life making better choices.

Redemption is going to mean so many different things to so many different people. And that obviously is going to impact our views on Anakin and his ending in ROTJ. It'll work for some, and it won't work for others. But what I'm starting to come to terms with is that there's just no one way to view redemption. So someone who sees him as redeemed isn't necessarily WRONG. But in the same vein, someone who DOESN'T see him as redeemed is EQUALLY correct. Lucas himself seems to have said a few different things on the subject and sometimes sees Anakin as saved or redeemed and sometimes doesn't.

Redemption is a complex topic, obviously, but I'm sticking with my personal definition and interpretation because it's what feels right to me. But if someone else wants to go with a different definition because it's the interpretation that feels right to them, I'm not going to contradict them. Just don't try to come onto my blog to tell me that MY interpretation is wrong and that I'm some kind of unfeeling asshole because my definition of redemption is different than yours. I've got the damn dictionary receipts to back me up now.

[vellaphoria]

As someone whose read Tim Drake comics can you answer a question for me? I've seen two troubling tags about Tim on AO3, Stalker!Tim and 'Tim's incel tendencies', and I was wondering are these purely fanon characteristics? I only read Tim's robin run through Identity Crisis before getting out of comics and into manga (I did read his Red Robin run as well later). And from what i read, I never got stalker or incel vibes from him. Like at all.

I read Tim following Dick to NY as showing off his detective skills and not stalking; He wasn't actively following Dick (or keeping track of where Dick was) before he decided to ask Dick to be Robin again.

And Tim stalking the bats on rooftops as a kid is purely fanon.

As for the incel thing... I can't think of anything from the comics I read that could explain this. He never pressured his girlfriends for sex (quite the opposite actually), and he never shown any signs of hating women as a whole.

Did they make changes to his character after Flashpoint that would explain the prevalence the stalker and incel tags for Tim?

Thanks for asking!

The short answer: of those two characterizations, I’d say that Tim being a stalker has sort of a basis in canon but is mostly down to interpretation, but Tim being an incel directly contradicts canon.

Please note that this is referring to post-crisis continuity because after flashpoint I stopped reading 😌

The long answer:

Part 1: Tim a stalker?

It’s a matter of perspective, but you’re absolutely right that most of that stems from events in and around A Lonely Place of Dying. What I mean by that is that Tim essentially got the job as Robin by proving to Dick that Bruce was going off the deep end after Jason’s death and subsequently impressing Dick and Alfred enough that they vouched for him as being Robin (though he still had to go through a bunch of training before he was allowed on the streets rip).

Things that qualify as stalker-ish that Tim’s done

Took pictures of Batman to prove that he was going off the deep end so that he could make his case to Dick (Batman #440)

Went to New York and Titans Tower to look for Dick, but didn’t find him. Ft. Creeping on the Titans (Batman #440)

Went to Kory’s apartment to ask her where Dick was, leading to her being fairly confused and kind of worried (Batman #440)

Broke into Dick’s apartment and went through his stuff/broke into his safe in order to steal the picture of him and Dick and the Circus (New Titans #60). Which is kinda creepy, not gonna lie

From there, it was following Dick to Haly’s, recognizing him when he’s dressed as a clown, Judo flipping him before Dick flips him right back, and helping him solve a crime/freaking him out enough that he brings him back to the Manor (New Titans #60)

He also has a somewhat later tendency of figuring out peoples’ secret identities (i.e. Huntress, Wildcat, others), but that kind of comes with the territory for Bat-adjacent people So, there’s an argument to be made that he has some stalker-ish tendencies, though they tend to be overblown by fandom (including me, because I think it’s fun lol)

Part 2: Is Tim an incel?

No.

Tim being an incel has no basis in canon. While an incel is a person who is involuntarily celibate, a direct reading of the text would mean that he’s voluntarily celibate; like you said, people have often pressured him for sex and he keeps saying no. It’s worth noting that a lot of this is pretty much Chuck Dixon’s ideas about sexuality and purity coming through a Tim-shaped mouthpiece. In his mind, Tim not having sex with his girlfriends made him a good person/hero, so Tim would therefore not express an interest in having sex with his girlfriends. This also had the side effect of making Tim read as having no interest in women, which many queer fans picked up on. (It's also worth noting that now that Tim is canonically queer, Chuck Dixon is throwing a fit about it because he’s a homophobic asshole).

Dixon is also pretty sexist, though arguably not much more so than most of the people writing comics in the 80’s and 90’s. As far as hating women, in some Chuck Dixon issues, Tim says some mysoginistic things on page, though I’d also chalk that one up to Dixon being insufferable.

Examples of Tim not having sex when it was directly offered and/or when others are trying to pressure him into it:

In Robin #40, Tim’s girlfriend Arianna Dzerchenko tries to pressure him into sleeping with her for a variety of reasons, none of which are relevant here:

So I suppose it’s most accurate to say that he’s waiting for marriage or something. (And also accurate to say that Dixon doesn't understand how doors work).

Their relationship doesn’t really go anywhere, and Tim goes on to date a variety of other people including Stephanie Brown (on and off throughout Robin), Zoanne Wilkins (late Robin), and Tamara Fox (Red Robin).

But, while we’re on the subject of people offering to have sex with Tim and him turning them down, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the time that he walked into his room in Titans Tower and Ravager was naked in his bed (Teen Titans 2003 #35). She clearly has excellent timing, since this is in the middle of Tim’s repeated (and failed) attempts to clone Kon after he died in Infinite Crisis:

Anyway he handcuffs her and puts a stop to that. Sort of.

(Dis)honorable mentions go to both Steph (Robin #37) and Darla Acquitsa (Robin #126) for non-consensually kissing Tim and not knowing how to take no for an answer. And an extra dishonorable mention to the Daughter of Archon who tries to rape Tim in Red Robin #25 before Cass fights her off.

It’s possible that there’s some basis for either of this in post-Flashpoint continuity? I’ll have to throw that one to the comments, though, since I haven’t read much of DC’s post-flashpoint stuff and tbh I don’t really intend to.

tl;dr: in post-crisis continuity, Tim could arguably be seen as a stalker for how he got Robin, but anyone arguing he’s an incel probably hasn’t read the source material. Like, at all.

[wishing-stones]

Have fun in Disney land!

Also! Imagine the gang and ren at disney land. They’re just out there having fun but also freaking out everyone and get kicked out in like, 2 days

Thank you! I had a ton of fun!

This is a fun one to think about, lol.

Killer causes trouble, but somehow never gets caught at it. He's really good at vanishing into crowds, so he tends to trip kids who are being obnoxious or shove adults into one another. The bigger the commotion, the shorter the line for whatever he wants to get on. Dust has his hood up and some sound-dampening earplugs stuffed into his acoustic meatus because he and crowds don't play well together. With something to cut the noise level, he's a little more agreeable. He helps Killer make quick escapes from scene-causing sometimes, but mostly sits back and watches the chaos. Almost better than the attractions. Axe is the one having the most fun, arguably. Everything is so bright and colorful and full of life! None of the cast members look at him oddly, either, and his condition is respected. He chooses to wear a hat while here, so he doesn't frighten someone without provocation, although he does get a little bit of malicious glee in thumping on the outside of Doom Buggies in the Haunted Mansion to get extra scares in. Cross is a little overwhelmed with crowds but generally sticks with Axe, who has the most fun here. Cross enjoys thrill rides, but most enjoy some of the more tame rides. Catch him unironically enjoying Small World. He likes Pirates of the Caribbean too. Baggs... might or might not skip the trip entirely. He might go some days and just hold down the fort others. He's not a huge people person, and the thought of so many crowds isn't very appealing... but if he gets in to see the technical side of how everything works, he's pretty fascinated. Also in the psychological aspect of how the entire park makes use of its assets and theming in different areas to immerse guests. Nightmare won't go within twenty miles of the place. The "Happiest Place on Earth" and the guardian of negativity don't play well together. It's a shame, really; he'd probably enjoy some sense of wonderment here. He's still an old curmudgeon who doesn't mix well with too much tech, and a lot of the things that go on at the park, especially visual effects and illusions, would fascinate him. ...Which means that Ren is in charge, more or less. They have to keep everyone in line. They threaten to put everyone on leash backpacks if they don't behave. But... it's also fun for them because they haven't had the chance to go. It's an expensive trip, but with the resources (and favors to hackers) put in for them by Nightmare, money isn't an obstacle. Nor are the tickets, reservations, or hotel stays.

With Ren around, they don't get kicked out. Killer might be if he ever gets caught, but... That won't happen.

Other fun activities with these idiots here include:

Killer, Axe, and Dust spinning a teacup as fast as they possibly can (which... is pretty damn fast.)

Everyone posing for a pic on Splash Mountain

...And the other rides that take pictures too

Getting stupidly competitive at rides that incorporate scores. No one ever beats Dust at them, but Baggs gets pretty close when he figures out the mechanics of the Astro Blasters and how to aim and never miss.

Lapping Indiana Jones until they get all the routes. Killer enjoys being in the driver's seat, even though the wheel doesn't move.

Feeding Jungle Cruise skippers more puns and jokes for later use.

Also lapping the Incredicoaster until someone gets sick

Making it a contest to see who has to squish back to the hotel room to change after any of the major water rides (especially Splash Mountain and Grizzly River Run)

Getting stupidly competitive on Radiator Springs Racers, even though there's no way to ensure your car wins

Doing laps on Star Tours for aforementioned route reasons

Absolutely killing it on Smuggler's Run. Everyone gets really good at a designated task, although their party is so big they have to be split into two groups.

And lots and lots of other fun little things. no one will admit to it, but they also all like the dark rides in Fantasyland.

Everyone was skeptical of the trip at first, but they all wind up enjoying it so much that it becomes a sort of annual thing. They'd wind up going to the other parks, too.

[chounaifu]

While most people are aware of of MISSINGNO. and the other assorted glitch Pokemon that exist in generation one's title games, there are also a variety of glitch moves. Glitch moves are known by these glitch monsters, and have various effects-- though, most of them either do minimal amounts of damage to opponents, softlock the game, or even crash the game entirely.

The "Super Glitch" attack, also known as TM TRAINER or the Exclamation Point effect, is a particularly destructive glitch move, because using it corrupts the game's RAM, resulting in major corruptions to the overworld, menu options and battle system.

You can cause all sorts of effects in different videos on YouTube, but, the one I tend to reference is from MissingNoXpert's 'Let's Glitch Pokémon Yellow' series, found here, which focuses on the battle effects. TheZZAZZGlitch goes in more depth and shows the technical side of how this RAM corruption works, which is found here.

Credit: MissingnoXpert

Now, when it comes to applying this to roleplay worldbuilding, I'm going to explain it as a sort of "broad corruption" move used by certain glitch anomalies. It's likely that this is the attack that was used against Proton and his squad when they were attacked during The Out-Of-Bounds Incident. "Super Glitch" is inconsistent in how it effects the overworld, your Pokémon, your items and your menu options-- but, it DOES consistently insta-kill any Pokémon that it targets, by "freezing it solid" and inflicting it with the the burn effect, knocking it out immediately.

This means that "Super Glitch" is collapsing the nervous system from the inside out, killing the target. It's like a potent blast of radiation toxicity.

Credit: TheZZAZZGlitch

Some of my other favorite "Super Glitch" corruptions include:

Reverting the first Pokémon in your party to level 1, changing all of their moves, and giving them infinite HP.

Loading your party up with hundreds of unseen Pokémon. Attempting to open your party menu, or healing your Pokémon at the Pokémon Center, results in softlocking the game due to the sheer amount of team entries that it's trying to load.

Random Pokémon in your team evolving into OTHER random Pokémon after a battle.

A constant poison status condition on one of your party members.

The overworld NPCs becoming glitchy monstrosities???

Eating the ENTIRE RAM by trying to load the ENTIRE GAME ALL AT ONCE onto your screen, and just collapsing the whole game entirely.

Fragmentation Syndrome explores the "duplication glitch" that occurs when battling MissingNo. in RBY, but it also explains the endless duplication effect and "system eating" nature of Super Glitch's corruptions. Random, unpredictable bullshit, and the person suffering from it never knows what sort of symptoms they're going to experience on a day to day basis, unless Fragmentation Syndrome is stabilized.

As you see though, "Super Glitch" cannot be stabilized, it eats the game's RAM. This is why saving the game while using this glitch is NOT RECOMMENDED. While it doesn't always have game breaking effects, abusing it two, three, four times in a row certainly does.

That being said, people afflicted with Fragmentation Syndrome should avoid interacting with glitch anomalies entirely, or else their condition is only going to get worse, and eat away at their system.

[balshumetsbaragouin]

Lore Post: The Deity of Love and Hope

Considering the story being updated the most right now, it seems ridiculous that I haven't shared anything about this Divine. The theme(s) of Passion and Plasmatic Plague, and all of its future sequels, have to do with this particular being. I have a story involving one of their Relics, and the sequel of Passion involves a curse derived from material beings interactions with this Divine.

So, let's get to know the Deity that rules the Ideal of Love and Hope below!

Ceris-Óengus is a dual aspect Deity of Love and Hope, changing forms and genders by all who behold them to the form most pleasing and attractive. The ruler of all sorts of love, not just the sexual or romantic, they are considered to play an important role matchmaking, holding together a family, or binding lasting friendships.

They are especially called upon after bleak circumstances, in recognition that love and your loved ones give you hope for tomorrow. Although Ceris-Óengus rules love of every type, most people pray for their matchmaking guidance. And because many ghost desire a mate, as do many in the Living World, Ceris-Óengus is considered moderately powerful, able to influence the hearts and minds of those in the Zone and out of it to fall in love.

Possessing many acolytes and temple attendants, but much fewer servants than most deities, Ceris' shrines are on the larger and more elaborate side, stuffed to the brim with offerings of gold, incense/perfume, flowers, sweets, and silks, anything that could potentially win the eye of a lover is placed upon altars in their temple. Their altars also see used to celebrate certain family occasions, like the birth of a child, and dates/festivals that celebrate members of the family.

The expense and rarity of many of the offerings to the Deity make their temples a potential target for robbery. As a result, their temples are the most well-guarded in the Zone. Despite the fact they will not punish a parishioner for a stolen offering, most believe their gifts will not remain effective if removed from the altar before it is formally acknowledged. (There is some truth to this for certain specific rituals.) Formal acknowledgement is completed by either the Deity, or one of their Incarnations directly—which is unusual—or by the Head Acolyte of a temple. One might imagine a simple solution is to deal with the offerings quickly, however, offerings come in daily, at a pace that far exceeds the ability of their temple workers to attend to them quickly, so strict security is used instead.

The lavishness of some of the gifts and the gifting culture surrounding the temples mean Ceris’ temples in Lenaindros and Kingdom Drazi are especially well-appointed. That being said, the Deity experiences the highest level of popularity in small villages and towns throughout the Local Zone. This is because, despite their opulence, many of the temple goers in more established areas marry or become involved for reasons outside of pure love. Political, and other arranged, marriage fall far more closely under the purview of Coitreb with the offerings in more established areas tending towards family obligation and festival days. Worship of the Deity is also more popular among Afterlifers than Neverborn in general, as a history of worship on Love God(desses), romantic ideals, and newer habits of love marriages have always been more present among the Living than in the Spiritual Realm.

Though Ceris has few Servants, and even fewer Incarnations, those that exist possess a number of unique signs. These include unusual or rare hair and eye colors for their species, an especially appealing voice, or an oddly charismatic appeal that convinces others to do their bidding. When the Deity does work among the living, though this is always indirect, they are credited with being the source of epic tales of love and devotion(both filial and romantic). These tales often take on a life of their own through the ages, but there is always a grain of truth…

[papercutsunset]

but i'll be honest: in the end, the character's feelings on how they are, in body and mind, have to come first. i don't care.

if we have to go about it this way, im speaking as someone who is, in all technicalities, disabled here; and you can leave your debate of that fact at the door when i say this; so it's not like im saying this for no reason. im also saying this the way i am because i tend to put the character and their journey above most else in my full-process writing, meaning that's my first priority.

realistically, they shouldn't be making it out of so many things unscathed. if she gets shot in the side three times, she should feel the lasting effects of that. we don't have to hook her up to machinery for weeks and send her to physical therapy if you don't want to, but does she feel it when she strains? does the once-fractured part of her skull and the injury to her brain have any sort of ramification? these are things that you did to her.

your characters are accumulating injuries. they are. and the story still needs to happen, so what do they do?

because, to be frank, and we have to be frank here, there are a lot of disabled people who don't treat themselves gently. they just full-out don't. they don't have the time; they don't have the money; they don't have the energy or the patience or the self esteem or the whatever. or maybe your character does treat themself with some grace when they fucking need to, right? maybe they do. because let's be honest: there are limitations to their life now.

i can admit that the reason i didn't want to write about tiff's (or denny's) anxiety in the beginning (which, outside of government purposes, isn't really counted as something disabling) was because the thought of writing something so vulnerable that could make someone else uncomfortable was terrifying to me. and you know what? sometimes you have to step out of your shell and write it anyway.

conversely, the reason i didn't want to write about migraines later on before i gave in (oddly, mid-migraine, though i didn't mean to be) was because i... well, aside from not wanting to mess up, knowing that my migraines aren't one-to-one with those that everyone else has (whose are, really), i didn't want to have to deal with thinking out every trigger and counting out the hours of postdrome and having the thought of readers looking at this character slurring her words and rambling more incoherently than usual and going, "why is this necessary? why include this? and if you're including this, why is she fighting ben on getting her pajama shorts on? why is she fighting ben and elton on taking a nap? why is she staying awake and trying to do things instead of taking a nap and trying to stop it from happening? this just feels really out of character."

listen, man. it's already happening. might as well dim the lights and try to be useful. might as well try to get through it. and sometimes you look back on it and you're like "... why did i eat a bowl of strawberry ice cream? i hate strawberries. i hate them so much." you are out of character. you're in pain; your brain is messed up; the sun wants you dead; and it's nothing if not true to life. leave it be.

so i think, honestly, you can and should think through your own biases, but thinking through the biases of the characters themselves is just as important. why don't they want to lay down when their blood pressure is tanking? why do they want to push through massive blood loss? why is their instinct to down a fistful of painkillers and slap on sunglasses and then go to literal hell instead of laying in a dark room like everyone says you should? and so on

[zeravmain]

Tell us about your opinions about talking animal movies.

I will try to be brief (1/435)

Before we get into The Opinions, I need to first establish that when I talk about talking animal movies, I specifically mean live-action talking animal movies in all their unrepentant glory, so no fully animated stuff like Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010), or a semi-animated realism one like Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and also stuff like The Muppet's movies. We are also including talking animals who are narrated and don't have CGI applied to their faces to make the illusion of talking, so films like Milo and Otis (1986) do qualify, but something like Zootopia (2016) does not. This is exclusively live-action, though of course there can be special effects or CGI included in these selections, even fake animals so long as they work as animals within the story. The main basis needs to be that it is a live-action movie where there are realistic (per the movies) animals talking.

More than anything, these movies tend to be kids movies (of course) but that in itself does not mean that these movies are always intentionally silly. No doubt that the vast majority of them are comedy, mind you, but there's a difference between genuine well-made comedy (for kids) and something like that scene in 50 First Dates (2004) where we have the walrus throw up on the worker (side note I am not including this movie despite how the animals do seemingly communicate with Adam Sandler, already a talking animal himself in some respects).

Now onto my opinion: There are precisely 4 golden questions you need to consider for whether any given talking animal movie is good (subjective), and more than anything is that these are not hallmarks but rather categories these movies fall under and should embrace to be enjoyable.

1. How much suspense of disbelief is the movie demanding from you?

Ah, the classic concept for media engagement that seems to be lost to time. Generally, whenever you will be approaching a new movie or show or etc, there is always the question of realism and the idea of suspension of disbelief, how much you are willing to shutter away that little voice in your head that makes you chronically unfuckable that goes "um ACTUALLY that scene is totally unrealistic-" and other noteworthy lines. For a movie with talking animals, of course you will be expected to give it some ground, but as well you need to keep in mind that you don't just throw it all out.

More than anything, a bad movie made with passion is better than a good movie made with none. How much does the talking animal movie like the fact that it is a talking animal movie? Do they just cash it in for the paycheck like the latter half films of the Air-Bud Extended Universe, or do they double down and go whole hog on the concepts like with G-Force (2009)? Are the movies simple comedies like Marmaduke (2010) that know they are there just to give you a laugh, or do they try their damnedest to make up a moral like Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 (2011)?

Once more, a bad movie does not mean a bad movie when talking about this complex topic, so while I do think these questions I posit are subjective, they are recommendations to keep in mind for your viewing experience.

2. Are the talking animals actually animals or just people who happen to also be animals?

Certain scholars might point you to Alvin and The Chipmunks, or Garfield (2004) and Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties (2006) for reference on talking animal movies which deal with this subject matter, perhaps the most famous example being Stuart Little (1999), the mouse who actually goes to school and, within the plot of the movie, gets captured by a hate group (of cats) who plan to kill and eat him.

This question can apply to a fair bit of movies, I think the Dr. Dolittle movies could fall under here as those movies actually hinge on how the titular "Dr. Dolittle" specifically has the power to talk with animals, where in turn this power makes said animals genuine characters and it's not treated as a minor quirk. Another good example could actually be Detective Pikachu (2019), where Ryan Renolds does his best to Renolds it up. Paddington (2014) also qualifies for this question under the same rules as Stuart Little, where Paddington is just a person but also a bear.

A more modern variant could be Show Dogs (2018), where the dogs are not understood by the humans, but do in fact hold places in human society. I also want to give a special shout-out to Kangaroo Jack (2003) here, which does not technically qualify for this list given that Jack never really talks (only makes implicit noises that kangaroos can't actually make), but I believe that in spirit it qualifies here. Same with Furry Vengance (2011), who I believe in spirit qualifies due to the animals having human levels of intelligence and primarily having all the markers of talking animal movies, except for that the animals themselves don't directly talk.

3. Are the talking animals actually talking?

Already this one may seem ridiculous given the subject matter, but I do think that it's important to keep in mind. Whenever there is a talking animal movie, there is always the question of "are these animals just actually speaking english in the real world or is this just the omniscient movie viewer translation for them?' George of the Jungle (1997) actually had a very clever opening sequence where they provided translation for realism, except that the translation was [ANIMAL NOISES] while said animals spoke in clear english.

This does not mean that the movie NEEDS to be realistic, mind you. Technically the Narnia movies count as talking animal movies due to Aslan being, well, a giant talking lion, but those are intentionally a fantasy setting which makes it fit, same with a film like The Golden Compass (2007). To a lesser extent, the live action Scooby-Doo movies also fit as talking animal movies due to the presence of Scooby and [REDACTED] Doo, where Scooby and robotic Rowin Atkinson are just actual talking animals as an accepted fact of life within those universes despite being clear anomalies. Once again, Alvin and the Chipmunks live action movie series fit here. Perhaps a more elegant example could be found in Zookeeper (2011), where the animals do talk, and do directly communicate with Kevin James.

Of course there can be duds, such as Ace & The Christmas Miracle (2021), where it falls into the territory of also being a Christmas Hallmark movie with a recycled plot of saving the horse ranch. Conversely, we have a 'So bad it's good' movie like The Karate Dog (2004), which suffers from inglorious CGI, the dog actually speaking to humans, and all the depth you can expect from a dog performing martial arts in what is actually a buddy cop detective film.

4. How much do they take advantage of the animals talking?

Ah, now this one is the classic kaiju movie dilemma: Is the movie actually about the talking animals, or are they simply a backdrop b-plot for the "main character" humans of the movie who are like. usually planning a wedding or something. They always make these romantic. You may remember the classics such as Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) or the Transformers movies (Michael Bay version) where they shoehorned in a plot concerning the humans in order to make people care about the movies or provide some narration, irrespective of how these franchises do better without them.

You can look to films like G-Force (2009), which manage to elegantly intermix these plots by having the human and animal characters goals line up, mainly in that they want to prevent a genocide, or how movies like Milo and Otis (1986) are exclusively about the animals in their adventure. From Babe (1995) to Charlotte's Web (2006) to UNDERDOG (2007), there's a wide range as to how well they incorporate these aspects into their movies, whether it actually be about the animals or the animals serve as a backdrop to the humans.

There are a wide range of archetypes and variances to be found in live action talking animal movies, a rather underdeveloped field all things considered, but I do hope that people keep their minds and hearts open to discussion about this and find the movie that's right for them.