#(Kind of - these are representations of my avatars in both games)

[minecraftfan11onscratch]

GOTTA FOLLOW THE LAWS OF THE WILD! 🎸

Two of my favorite Roblox games! I wanted to make this partially as a homage to the moment I beat Pressure for the first time and the moment I beat Combat Initiation entirely on my own for the first time (the latter happened first), and partially because I realized both the Searchlight(s) and the Great Drakobloxxer are ginormous and challenging bosses with glowing eyes.

I'm especially proud of Drakobloxxer! (I don't usually draw animal-shaped characters nor mecha characters)

[74thcookie]

The Shroomy Brainrot

This section is just the part where I go completely rotten in my brainrot. I am anxious to share this since I’m not used to sharing this kind of content, I don’t want to flash others with it nor do I want others to be uncomfortable. Me being a chatterbox is already uncomfortable so having this mixed made me think I’m going to be scolded at. Then I realize, most of those kinds of people don’t read.

These are the contents wanted to draw related to each pair.

-Start-

Vanilla and Shamil

These two were just suppose to be an excuse for me to draw ShadowVanilla/PureMilk with cuties Sanrio materials.

After awhile I itching for drawing something fruity again. The kind of aesthetic that is both cute but also edge? If that makes sense.

The songs “Romeo and Cinderella” and “Milk and Coffee”(specifically the Itou Kashitaro cover). Got my brain itching.

So whatever happened to them at night after going to conventions or just plain hangouts, they just explore other things. Particularly related to cute “toys” and cosplay.

They became not only an excuse to draw cutesy ShadowVanilla/PureMilk stuff but also nsfw that’s cute stuff. (I only wanted to post those drawings at private when I have the time)

Vanilla here is also the freak vanilla a lot of shadowvanilla/puremilk artist enjoy giving to the awaken Pv

Anymore related to these two will just be saved for drawings since it’s hard to put into words.

Fortune and Fount

I originally just want Fount to be just an excuse for me to draw Motherly materials related to him. Milf if you will. A gentle mom with the themes of comfort.

But I know some people find that boring so I just plan to add scary stuff with him in between, like the crazy horror type. Where you don’t put d*ck in crazy

If you watch the anime Happy Sugar Life (if your younger than don’t). There’s an aunt character there, that was in inspiration for the scary side of Fount. Though shes crazy, she knows things. Her motif of “accepting all love” is what I took inspiration from. He accepts all information, from both bad and good.

He also likes games, similar to the actual SMilk where he does get bored and resorts to games. In his normal mood it’s just the simple games like truth or dare or cards. Theres mini consequences when people lose to his game but at night those consequences turn severe especially for trespassers who planned to steal in the studyhub. Think of his little games as “Other mother” style from Coraline. Tapping fingers if you wish.

Fortune was originally suppose to be added since I want Vanilla to be both the PreAwaken and Awaken Pv. Though I saw others wanted Fount to have a PV of his own and so Fortune was given since in the spire he is like his own thing.

I put a bit of Healer Cookies motifs into him since I miss the old man but also I don’t know what to do with fortune since his recluse and recluse is his own thing in this AU already. So I out Fortune Teller and Healer cookie into the blender and we got this guy. With a dash of Avatar of Destiny to counter Founts creepy horrors. Horror meets Horror I guess.

He would be the representation of the reader on navigating Founts both cute and scary side.

Fount would give second or more chances for Fortune when he loses games at night. Since he knows he is the student he saved back then and is probably messed in the head as well from the events. The chances were given to the point that Fortune actually won their games.

Fortune is also nuts in the head due to the events but also listen to the stories people have to go through just to get simple medical care in the legal way. He can’t show his frustration because he knows it will affect the safe environment they build in their clinic. Fount gave him that outlet and now they’re just enjoying each other in the most scariest yet spicy way possible.

What Fount does to the trespassers.. well have you listen to the song “A little priest from Sweeney Todd” if so, there you go.

Recluse and Sage

The tamest? Of the three.

It’s just CondensedMilkAU but in the context of this story. The context of CondensedMilkAU is that the Sage is burnt out from his duties and is now navigating how to cope with his job but also his new life/hobby. In the AU, his new life is his life as a mother of two children, living a simple life. In the context of this AU, it’s him being a vtuber mom for many tired employees and students from overwhelming works.

For some reason, drawing Sage tired gives me some sort of comfort. So most of this is just him being tired and trying to relax. As for his vtuber, I want milfs but also want to draw female SMilk. People are feral for that design, IM ALSO FERAL.

For Recluse, he is the kind of nurse that you can just hang out in the clinic to release pain.

But Recluse also represent the consequences of not thinking about your words especially if in the context of another person. Word of mouth can be muttered and the word do deceit can harm people. It harmed the Sage badly.

Recluse forgets that Sage is also a normal person. He may have suffered from the constant scolding relating to his younger brothers actions and now he just think of what was the perspective of the professor.

Those two I only plan simple angst with a bit of tension mix in since there’s also the context of Recluse being into Sages attitude after the school break.

Sages motherly attitude he presents during his livestream mixed in with his actual self. So that attracted Recluse to the Sage. It’s just frustrating that the Sage avoids him like the plague or excuses himself a lot when they’re alone.

Another Freak Vanilla was born. Probably worst since there’s one person from the replies mention that Recluse could have been the scariest. He might turn to the creepiest. Fount the second but a Vanilla.

Most of these I know I will draw one day or another but will post in private since I don’t want to creep people out. It’s a pain for others who just want to read with no restriction but I want to filter myself from time to time. I’m an anxious person but I also want to draw something outside of the simple fluff and angst. I want to give props to those artist who do post and draw weird, scary but juicy spicy art. I have no thick skin. I’m just a squishy mushroom with a green pea brain hahaha. Thank you to those artist for giving me food and to those people who are encouraging me to get out of my shell.

[c0d33]

Richard Lore

WARNING! This post contains spoilers for Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye!

If you have not yet completed this DLC (Or Outer Wilds for that fact), I would suggest not reading past the read more. What I talk about in here will spoil some of the largest parts of the DLC, and they're too good to not experience for yourself first.

Y'all gone? Alright, now let's get into this mess of a character.

Richard the Owlk

(Art by @luckylazulii!)

Part 1: Origins

Richard's origins are probably not a conventional way for OCs to be made. Richard was spawned entirely as a joke from several VRChat sessions I had with some friends. In them, we would usually start in the Outer Wilds avatar world, and one of the avatars was a customizable Owlk! Naturally, I tried to make the silliest looking one possible, so I gave them no antlers (But I prefer just calling them bald). While I used this avatar, I jokingly called them Richard. Not only did this name stick for the character itself, but it also somehow got attached to me. So if you're wondering why I had that random name listed as one of the ones you can call me, that's why.

Part 2: The Lore

This is where it somehow gets sillier. I never intended for Richard to be a serious character, so naturally I just started making up whatever lore I wanted for him. So, here's what the initial lore was:

He's bald (As mentioned earlier)

He's a certified Fortnite gamer

He sleeps in doorways (The one on the top end of the stairs in the Party House in the Shrouded Woodlands is the main one he sleeps in)

He eats children

As you can see, not the most serious OC. But again, I hardly intended for them to be serious. It wasn't until they had been around for a while and I started getting art of them that more lore started developing. So, here's the Serious Lore™:

Richard was spawned through a bug in the simulation's code. Despite the Owlk's best attempts to fix the bug, he was never patched out and remained in the simulation indefinitely.

He didn't act like other Owlks. He would often be looming in the distance, watching. Waiting.

He wasn't very... friendly, so to say. Various reports were made and many stories were told about the various things he had done, but there were never any other witnesses for any one story.

By the time the events of the main game are taking place, there are no other Owlks left in the simulation except for Richard (And the Prisoner, but due to their current situation, Richard couldn't feasibly get rid of them).

And so far, that's the lore. There are some other meta things I could think of that would explain how they would work in the context of the game, but that doesn't necessarily apply to their lore.

Part 3: Personality

I've given a lot of thought about Richard's personality and how it would work with both sides of his lore, and I think I've worked something out.

Richard experiences what I would best describe as very extreme mood swings, due to how messy the bug that allowed him to exist was.

One is the very silly, very goofy Fornite-playing doorway-sleeping Owlk that most people (Aside from the other Owlks) know and love.

The other side is the side that the Owlks experienced, with the general creepiness and violent nature.

My best comparison would be to some kind of mental illness, but I'm very cautious and nervous about saying that since A.) I don't know nearly enough about mental illnesses to name any one that it could be similar to, B.) I don't want to offend anyone who may have the mental illness that I specifically name, and C.) I don't want this to vilify mental illness in any way, shape, or form.

I'm very aware of how bad mental illness representation in media can be, and the last thing I want would be to add to that pile of misrepresentation. I would greatly appreciate any feedback or advice about this, since I'm very worried about portraying something the wrong way.

Part 4: Conclusion

Well, that's the Richard lore! Thank you very much for reading!

Richard is still very much a character that's under development, as I'm still attempting to work out exactly how they act and behave. Any thoughts or comments are appreciated, and feel free to send me asks about them, be it questions or feedback!

(Entirely unrelated to Richard, but after writing this I'm realizing just how starved for lore my other two OCs are. Maybe I should get some for them too.)

[guessthatrec-poll]

Congratulations to rec #127 for winning the matchup!

The identity of rec #128 is...

Danganronpa!

Note from the submitter:

I don't think I CAN provide a good rec for Danganronpa, but I do genuinely love the series— while this submission was mostly in hopes of fooling people, there are a lot of things I actually like about it, unironically.

I know I made it sound progressive and tactful. Danganronpa is kind of anything BUT that. Sorry. Misleading is the name of the game here. For what it's worth, I genuinely really love the Danganronpa girls. Yay women's wrongs! But if you go into Danganronpa expecting tasteful, tactful, sensitive, socially respectful representation for the groups I described you'll probably be sorely disappointed. If, however, you want to see a bunch of freaks and murderers who happen to also be women or have personality disorders or PTSD or diverse body types, you might have a good time? I dunno. I don't really want to be responsible for recommending Danganronpa to anyone. But I like it.

As for the rec explanations (SPOILERS for all three games!):

1) beach-set filler scenes with women in swimsuits: from SDR2, chapter 2 if I remember correctly. They had a girls' beach party. Also the whole game happens on a beach island.

2) sci-fi dystopia: both THH and NDRV3 can be considered this, I think.

3) ghost (Korekiyo's sister), a mage (Himiko), a princess (Sonia), gangs (Crazy Diamonds, Kuzuryu clan, arguably D.I.C.E.), and cults (remnants of despair and related despair-spreading activities, arguably Angie's thing in NDRV3 chapter 3)

4) demure waifu-types (plenty of examples but I was thinking Mikan) and evil and sinister women (Junko, Genocider Syo/Genocide Jill, Tsumugi)

5) yuri (Sakuraoi famously, but I hear Toko and Komaru have something going on too) and yaoi (mostly I was thinking Komahina but there's also Taka and Mondo)

6) diverse body types (Sakura, Hifumi, SDR2 Byakuya, Teruteru, Ryoma, TECHNICALLY maybe Kiibo), disabilities (some of these are spoilers even for me but my friend assures me I'm correct), and neurodivergence (toko and genocider syo's DID was most of what I had in mind for canon, but there's TONS of implied neurologically queer characters in my opinion)

7) queer-coding (see aforementioned yaoi and yuri, but also add in chihiro being trans)

8) social justice themes (Kiibo calling out robophobia, Tenko as the feminist)

9) strong female characters / girls that aren't afraid to get their hands dirty (Junko, Maki, Peko, Genocider Syo again, Tsumugi, Kaede, Kirumi, Mikan, Sayaka…. really so many. such is the nature of a murder mystery game that wants to make their female cast plausible suspects)

10) "in the end it's the girls who literally change and shape the entire world": I thought it would be funny to describe the most tragic most awful event in human history as "literally changing and shaping the entire world". I actually really like Junko's character, so I meant this genuinely.

…I also tried to discreetly slip the word hope into that list of tropes. I hope it was discreet enough. I didn't dare mention despair. That may as well be a character name.

My friends said that this rec sounded like "smoking guy on balcony meme" and "did Tsumugi write this" which is probably the best bad rec review I could've gotten tbh.

Danganronpa has been guessed correctly 3 times and incorrectly 1 time as Homestuck, 1 time as Adventure Time, and 1 time as Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Guess That Rec Season 2: Round 1, Poll 32

Rec #127

are you a fan of stories where the protagonist is just too selfless for their own good? what about an element-based magic system that was secretly designed to destroy the world under the right conditions? maybe even throw in some queer enemies-to-lovers? oh, but i haven't even mentioned the supporting cast yet! we have an angsty furry, gender non-conforming representation, lots of characters confirmed queer by the author, and even a quirky neurodivergent character! if you like the idea of a ragtag group of superheroes coming together to save the world in a fantasy setting, you'll love this!

Rec #128

This multi-genre masterpiece literally has something for EVERYONE!! From beach-set filler scenes (with cute girls in swimsuits!) to sci-fi dystopia, there's plenty of variety in setting— there's even a ghost, a mage, a princess, gangs, and cults!!

But the setting isn't the ONLY thing with so much variety!! Several different genres and themes blossom throughout the series, as it sweeps through romantic feelings, friendship, mystery, comedy, betrayal, loss, hope, grief, and tragedy! It's an emotional ROLLERCOASTER, the plot twists are CRAZY!

And that's before we look at the unique, diverse cast of characters!! From cute demure waifu-types to evil and sinister women, there's a blorbo for you no matter WHAT your type is! There's heavily implied yuri AND yaoi for you fujos out there ;) and even some implied straight crushes if that's more your thing! There's CANON representation for several diverse body types, disabilities, and neurodivergence, and even MORE that's implied! There's plenty of queer-coding as well, and social justice themes! There's a character who explicitly fights against prejudice and isn't afraid to call out bigoted comments about their species! There's a feminist who vows to protect her female friends at any cost! There's plenty of strong female characters that fall far from "big sister" or "braincell-holder" archetypes— there's girls in here that aren't afraid to get their hands dirty! While there is a lot of focus on the male protagonists, in the end it's the girls who literally change and shape the entire world!! ❤️

[randomwritingguy]

The Myth of Y/N (Korra x Reader UNREQUITED) Part 7

REVELATIONS

It has been a couple of days since the Equalist attack on the Pro-Bending arena. I still cannot believe that Amon was able to orchestrate all of it right under our noses. I'm just thankful none of us were severely hurt. Despite the depressing situation, my capture of the Lieutenant gave us at least an ounce of hope. If we're lucky he will crack under interrogation and will tell us everything we need to know about the Equalists and what they are planning.

My victory over the Lieutenant also made the news too. I would be happy if it wasn't for the fact that I'm still a bit frustrated over the situation. Still, I guess it does help to see that my accomplishments are being recognised.

Like on the newspaper that I am just reading:

CHI-BLOCKER CAPTURES EQUALIST LIUETENANT AT PRO-BENDING ATTACK!

Despite the declaration of war by the Equalists which has struck fear into the hearts of the benders of Republic City, there is still hope! During the attack at the Pro-Bending arena, just after the championship tournament, childhood friend of Avatar Korra and former Depute in Councilman Tarrlok's task force, the chi-blocker Y/N, was able to subdue and capture the Equalists' Lieutenant! Chief Beifong has stated that the extremist will be facing constant interrogation in order to find any useful information that could help them bring an end to this war. When asked about the situation, Councilman Tarrlok had this to say:

"I applaud the brave and heroic actions of my former depute. Because of them, we are edging closer towards the final defeat of Amon and the Equalists. It is a shame, however, that they were able to bring more success in this conflict than our current Chief of Police, whose arrogance risked the lives of many, and Avatar Korra, who was more focused on playing a game than being the hero the city needed."

I frown at the harsh criticism Tarrlok gave towards Chief Beifong and Korra. I can't believe I worked for that asshole. There has been an increasing amount of critics for the daughter of Toph and Aang's successor since the attack, with there being claims that they have failed Republic City. Even as I turn the page on the newspaper, I see an article slamming on my best friend:

AVATAR KORRA: MASTER OF ELEMENTS OR MASTER OF FAILURE?

When Avatar Korra first arrived Republic City, there were hopes that she would save the citizens from the extremists known as the Equalists and their ruthless leader, Amon, and protect the place that her predecessor and Fire Lord Zuko poured blood, sweat, and tears into creating. However, since her arrival there has been an increasing amount of doubts and criticism of the young Avatar and her actions. While there is still a substantial amount of supporters of the woman, it cannot be denied that the debate of her effectiveness is controversial.

"She is supposed to be stopping Amon, not playing some stupid game!" - Citizen of Republic City.

Doubts of Avatar Korra's abilities have been called into question even more due to the actions of her childhood friend and former Depute of Councilman Tarrlok's taskforce, Y/N. From the consensus, it appears that the young chi-blocker has received nothing but praise, both from normal citizens and well-known figures alike.

"That chi-blocker has done some real good! Are we sure they're not the Avatar? They've done more for us than she has so far!" - Citizen of Republic City.

"I met the young chi-blocker at the gala in the honour of Avatar Korra, and they were really kind to my daughter and I. I said it to them before and I'll say it again, they are a hero and the perfect representation for the non-benders of Republic City." - Hiroshi Sato.

Has Avatar Korra acted as the hero the city needs in this time of crisis? Or has her fame got to her head and she has forced her responsibilities onto her chi-blocking best friend? Only time will tell.

I close the newspaper and chuck it in the trash. I think it will be best if Korra doesn't see this, if she hasn't already. I don't want her to worry even more.

"Oh, hey Y/N!"

Speak of the devil.

I look to my right and I see Korra, looking cheery as ever. From her getup, it looks like she is about to head out.

"Hi, Korra." I respond with a smile. "You going somewhere?"

She nods frantically, a big grin plastered on her face. "I'm going to visit Mako and Bolin. I talked to Tenzin and he said they can live with us on Air Temple Island!"

Oh yeah, since the attack the Pro-Bending arena has been shut down. That means the two brothers have to leave. It would be nice for them to live here with us.

My smile grows wider. "That's great Korra, that's very sweet of you."

My best friend blushes in embarrassment. "Thanks. You want to come with me?"

I nod. "Sure, let's go."

LATER

We finally made it to the Pro-Bending arena, and as we enter Mako and Bolin's place we see them packing their stuff.

"Guys! Great news!" Korra tells them with joy, "You don't have to go back on the streets. I talked to Tenzin and made all the arrangements. You can come live on Air Temple Island with me and Y/N!"

Mako's face flashes with worry. "Oh...well, we'd love to, but-"

"-Asami already invited us to live in her dad's giant mansion! From here on out, it's gonna be the lap of luxury for us." Bolin cheerily interrupts his brother.

Oh wow, seriously? Awesome!

"That's really nice of her!" I reply. I'm just glad they don't have to go back on the streets like they did when they were children.

"Thanks, Y/N!"

"Ah!" I sputter out in surprise as I jump back a bit. I turn around to see her on a platform, holding Pabu. "Hey, Asami. You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Asami chuckles at my reaction and goes down a ladder. "Sorry about that. It's good to see you two! I was hoping you and Korra would stop by."

Before I could respond, Korra beats me to it.

"I was just leaving. So, I guess I'll see you guys around...sometime." she tells Asami and the brothers, her voice once full of enthusiasm now gone.

Why do I have the feeling it has something to do with the firebender?

Despite her words, Asami continues. "Why not tomorrow?" I'd love to have you and Y/N come visit the estate. I also invited Kyuni too."

I smile at that last bit. It's good to hear Kyuni and Asami are becoming good friends.

Korra seems unconvinced on going. "I don't know. I have some...Avatar stuff to do."

Suurrreee, Korra, surrreeee.

Before my best friend can run off, I see Bolin lift Pabu in the air at the corner of my eye. "Come on, Korra." the earthbender says in a high-pitched voice, trying his hardest to impersonate Pabu, "We all deserve a little rest and relaxation after all this craziness. We could swim in Asami's pool. It'll be fun."

Korra and I both laugh at the scene before us. Looks like "Pabu's" argument worked as Korra has a big smile on her face now. "All right, Pabu."

"Yeah, Pabu, you're right. It will be fun. I have to head off too." I say to "Pabu" and the rest whilst chuckling.

"Okay, we'll see you two tomorrow." Asami cheerly replies as Korra and I make our leave.

As we're riding on Naga toward the docks, I decide to speak up.

"Hey, Korra?"

My best friend turns her head slightly to the right. "Yeah, Y/N?"

"Something tells me that you're upset that Mako and Bolin are living with Asami?" I knowingly point out.

Korra sighs heavily. That pretty much answers my question right there.

"Yes." she replies with melancholy, "I'm happy they found a place to live, really I am, but..."

She trails off. Time for me to fill in the gaps.

"You were hoping to spend more time with Mako?"

My best friend nods slowly. "I know he's dating Asami, and I am happy for him, but I still really like him. Part of me even wants to get closer to him out of hope he'll eventually want to be with me. I know that sounds bad, but its what I'm feeling. Does that make me a bad person?"

What?! Is she really asking that?!

"No, Korra. Not at all" I reply with complete honesty. "You're an amazing person. Remember what you've done in these past couple months? Not only you helped save Bolin when he was captured, but you've been fighting the Equalists. All of that gives me the impression that you are definitely not a bad person. Good people are not going to be amazing all the time. There are going to be times when you mess up or do something bad. It is natural. But it's whether we learn or not from our flaws and past actions is what makes us who we are. I know how hurt you were when Mako rejected you and how sad Bolin must have felt when he saw you kiss his brother. Do you want you and your friends to experience that again?"

Korra shakes her head frantically. "Never."

I reply immediately. "Then you know what to do then. Or rather what not to do. Though to be fair since Mako told you that he likes both you and Asami and he's confused, then he should have really tried and figure it out before doing anything, but still."

My best friend chuckles at the comment. "Yeah. Thanks, Y/N. Romance is complicated."

"Tell me about it." I slip out. My brain catches up to what I just said and my eyes widen.

Korra noticed my comment and turns her head to look at me from the corner of her eye. "Oh, really? You having romance trouble too?"

Shit!

"Pssh, no. Of course not." I weakly reply back, the pitch of my voice rising each second.

Korra doesn't buy my answer at all, and a smug smile forms on her face. "It's Kyuni, isn't it? I knew you liked her!"

What?! For real?!

"No!" I say loudly, surprising both myself and Korra. "It's not like that. Kyuni and I are just friends, I don't even like her like that."

My friend tilts her head slightly in confusion. "Well, who do you like then?"

You.

"No-one." I reply almost immediately, trying my hardest to sound calm.

Coward.

Korra stares at me for a few seconds, her eyes narrowing slightly. I can feel my insides shaking from her gaze.

After a tense few seconds, she turns to look at the path in front of us. "Okay, if you say so."

I sigh internally.

Coward. What a fucking coward.

THE NEXT DAY

Korra and I finally arrived at Asami's mansion. And spirits, it's huge! I've never seen a building so big before! I hear my best friend chuckle at my amazed look on my face as a butler leads us to the swimming pool where everyone else is.

"Avatar Korra and Y/N have arrived." the butler blandly announces.

"Hey, Korra. Hey, Y/N." Mako greets us from the pool.

"Glad you guys could make it!" Asami adds on.

Bolin emerges from the water and puts on a pose. "Welcome to paradise."

Kyuni swims closer to us. "Hey guys!"

I chuckle at the scenery and wave. "Looks like you are all having fun."

Korra hums in agreement. "Yeah, looks like you guys settled in."

"Pretty much." Mako agrees. "Except someone forgot to ask her father if Bolin and I could stay here."

Uh oh. I would never "forget" to ask my parents something like that!

Asami doesn't seem bothered by it though. "Yeah, but I smoothed it over with him. It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission."

As I snicker at her carefree attitude, Bolin climbs out of the pool.

"This is the greatest place in the world. Watch this, watch this. Fetch me my towel, good sir."

The butler, not moving an inch since we entered the room, obliges to the command. "Yes...Master Bolin."

The title seems to get the earthbender excited. "Master Bolin! I love this guy! Now pat me dry."

In a blink of an eye, the butler proceeds to nearly completely dry Bolin (and Pabu). Before I acknowledge how cool that was, the earthbender jumps back into the pool, rendering the butler's work useless.

I cover my mouth to hold in my snickers as Asami approaches Korra and I from the pool.

Korra, who appears to be in that mood again, looks towards Asami with dread. "So, what do you have planned for us today? Let me guess, shopping, makeovers..."

Asami, unfazed by my best friend's lack of enthusiasm, gets out of the pool. "I have something a little more exciting in mind."

I raise my right eyebrow in curiosity.

Exciting?

What does she mean by exciting?

I get my answer 30 minutes later, as we are on the front row seats to a race between two sato-mobiles!

"Pretty cool, huh?" Asami asks us.

"Way cooler than a makeover." Korra agrees.

"Yeah, this is awesome!" I add on. "Is this for testing or something?"

"Yes, exactly," Asami confirms, "this is where Future Industries test drive their sato-mobiles. Have you two ever been behind the wheel?

Korra responds first. "The only thing I know how to drive is a polar-bear dog."

I chuckle at her comment. "I'm sorry, but now I have images of you having road-rage in the middle of the city."

Korra playfully shoves me, a smile on her face. "Shut up, you can't drive too!"

"Well, if you want, I can take one of you for a spin." Asami tells us once our playful fight is over.

Korra whips her head to the other woman. "Let's do it!"

I chuckle again at Korra's enthusiasm. "Well, I hope you two have fun."

"I can drive." Kyuni announces, joining in on our conversation. "You can ride with me Y/N. It can be a race!

I turn to look at her, a bright smile on her face. "Okay, sure!"

I look back towards Korra and a grin slowly forms on my face. "You hear that, almighty Avatar? Sounds like its gonna be a race between you and Asami, and Kyuni and I. I hope you're ready for defeat!"

Korra puts on a teasing grin of her own. "Oh yeah, "Depute Y/N"? I think you're the ones who are gonna taste defeat today! Let's do this!"

Oh, they are so going down.

TIME SKIP

We lost.

Whelp, turns out it wasn't a good idea to challenge Asami as she completely annihilated me and Kyuni.

We all walk back towards the Sato mansion, me dealing with Korra's teasing for 30 minutes (though honestly I always found it charming). As soon as the doors open, Bolin rushes towards the bathroom. Looks like someone forgot to pee before leaving. Korra heads to the bathroom upstairs as the rest of us just stand and wait for their return.

I walk up to Kyuni. "Hey, you alright?"

The firebender looks at me with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, why?"

I shrug. "I don't know. I know I already asked but I just wanted to check to make sure you were fine after what happened at the arena.

Kyuni sighs. "Yeah, I'm fine, really. I just can't believe people would actually do something so terrible."

I nod slowly. "I know, but soon they will be sorry for what they did. I can promise you that."

A small smile forms on her face. I can feel a smile appearing on me to.

Suddenly, Korra appears out of nowhere and grabs my hand, luring me away from the rest of the group. I feel my cheeks warming up as I feel my hand engulfed by hers.

Dammit, Y/N, now is not the time! Why is Korra dragging me away?

"You two are leaving?" Asami asks us with a trace of surprise in her voice. "But I thought-"

"-Sorry, Y/N and I forgot. We're supposed to be airsit, I mean babybend, I mean babysit the airbender kids. See you later!" Korra interrupts Asami as she drags me out of the mansion with her.

As we exit the building, Korra lets go of my hand.

I ignore the disappointment in my stomach and focus on the situation. "Korra, what on Earth was that all about?"

Korra turns to me, a serious look painted across her face. "I think Hiroshi Sato is an Equalist."

What?!

I feel my eyes widen at the claim. Hiroshi Sato, an Equalist?!

"What?! I breathe out. "Are you sure? Where's the proof?"

Korra looks down on the ground. "I don't have proof, but I heard Hiroshi speaking on the phone. He said that the closing of Cabbage Corp bought "them" enough time to prepare for a strike. I think he built those Equalist weapons and framed them."

I put my hand on my chin and stroke it gently. "That's a pretty wild accusation, but are you sure?"

My best friend nods immediately. "Absolutely. This must be investigated at least."

I frown in concentration. "Okay, I trust you. We gotta tell Master Tenzin and Chief Beifong about this."

Korra nods in agreement. "Let's go."

I really hope all of this isn't true...for Asami's sake.

LATER

We just met up with the airbender and chief of police and Korra has just explained what she heard and what she believes. From the looks on their faces, it appears that they are finding it hard to believe.

Tenzin speaks first. "So you think Mr. Sato manufactured those gloves for the Equalists, then framed Cabbage Corp?"

"That's a bold accusation." Chief Beifong adds on, her voice dripping with doubt. "But what proof do you have?"

Korra's face remains confident despite the hesitance. "Well, I don't exactly have proof, but I know what I heard. Sato's up to something."

I add my own thoughts about this. "I trust Korra. From what she heard, it does sound pretty suspicious. It wouldn't hurt to at least investigate this."

From the look of the earthebender's face, it seems that she is slowly beginning to believe us. "Yes, it does sound odd. He does have the means. And he has a motive."

"That's right." Tenzin agrees.

A motive? What motive?

Korra beats me to it to ask them this supposed motive Hiroshi has. "A motive? What is it?"

Tenzin's face immediately shifts to sadness, his eyes full of grief. "Twelve years ago, the Agni Kai Triad robbed Sato's mansion. A firebender killed Sato's wife during the break-in."

I feel my heart shatter at the revelation. That's horrible. No-one should have gone through that.

"That's terrible." Korra comments.

"It was tragic." the airbender agrees. "It's possible he's been harbouring anti-bending sentiment all this time."

That would make sense. It's possible he wants to avenge his wife in the form of helping the Equalists.

The chief's face hardens at Tenzin's claim. "Maybe we should look at Mr. Sato a little more closely."

I sigh, my shoulders dropping and my gaze focused on the ground. Poor Asami, I really hope all of this doesn't come true. It will break her heart.

THE NEXT DAY

I'm with Korra, Tenzin, and Beifong as the butler of Sato's mansion opens the door. We all walk in without introductions.

As Tenzin and Beifong walk to Hiroshi's office, Mako and Asami approach Korra and I.

"What's going on?" the firebender asks with worry. "Why are they asking Hiroshi more questions?"

Korra doesn't beat around the bush. "I overheard him on the phone yesterday. Asami, I don't know how to tell you this, but I think your father might be involved with the Equalists."

"What?!" Asami immediately barks out, her face shifting into anger. "I don't believe this."

As the daughter of Hiroshi walks away in frustration, Mako turns towards us, his face full of rage. "You spied on Hiroshi? What's your problem?"

The firebender begins walking, but I speak up before he gets away.

"Mako, I'm sure Korra didn't mean to spy on Hiroshi." I calmly explain to him. "Hopefully this is just one big misunderstanding."

Apparently my comment angered Mako even more as he looks back at me, his frustration intensifying. "You're taking Korra's side?!"

I feel my own frustration growing as well. "I trust Korra. If she thinks she heard something then I'm gonna believe her."

Mako scoffs in disbelief. "I don't believe this."

As he walks away, Korra and I exchange concerned looks.

This isn't going to end well.

We eventually made it to Hiroshi's office as I hear the man talking to Beifong and Tenzin, his daughter beside him.

"Equalists? Is that what this is about? I can assure you, I have nothing to do with those radicals." the Future Industries founder passionately defends himself.

Ah, looks like Asami told him what Korra said.

"Yeah, you don't know what you're talking about, Korra and Y/N." Mako tells us, his anger still present.

This doesn't deter my best friend, as she points at Hiroshi. "I overheard you on the phone. You said the Cabbage Corp investigation bought you time, and you're getting ready to strike. Explain that."

Surprisingly, Hiroshi begins chuckling at Korra's demand.

Uh oh.

"This is all just a misunderstanding, resulting from a young Avatar's over-active imagination." he calmly explains. I frown at the man's condescending tone when talking about Korra. "My number one competitor was knocked out of the game. It's providing me an opportunity to strike the market with a new line of Sato-mobiles. It's just business, nothing nefarious."

Hm. Seems reasonable. But something doesn't feel right.

Tenzin speaks up after a few seconds of intense silence. "In order to put all suspicions to rest, might we have a look into your factories and warehouses?"

Asami sighs at the request, but her father remains calm. "If you feel it's necessary, you're welcome to search all of Future Industries."

Well then. Time to learn the truth once and for all.

TIMESKIP

Nothing. After hours of searching we found nothing. No Equalist weapons, nothing. It looks like Hiroshi is innocent.

Korra looks defeated. "I can't believe we didn't find anything." she says melancholy as we approach the Chief and Tenzin.

It seems the earthbender came to the same conclusion as I did. "It would appear Hiroshi is innocent."

Asami and Mako approach us, their faces still the same as before: full of frustration.

"Okay, you did your search." Asami tells Tenzin and Beifong, "Now you can all leave."

Mako shoots Korra and I a look, and we all move away from them. Looks like an argument is about to go down.

"So?" the firebender asks us, "I hope you two are convinced now."

"No, I'm not." Korra immediately replies, her voice full of confidence. "I don't care how cooperative Hiroshi is being. I know he's lying."

I frown slightly. I trust Korra with anything. But what if she is wro-

"-Why are you doing this? Are you that jealous of me and Asami?"

My eyes widen as Korra gasps.

Did he just...?

Asshole.

Does he really think of Korra like that?

Fucking asshole!

Before my best friend could respond to that accusation, I beat her to it. "That is fucking stupid, Mako. Do you seriously think Korra would do this out of jealously?" I ask the firebender, my rage leaking out as I spoke.

Mako and Korra jump up slightly at my outburst, but the former remains determined. "At this point, I wouldn't put it past her."

I grit my teeth harshly, as I clench my fists tightly.

He has the audacity to claim that Korra is that low, that petty?!

"Then you don't know Korra at all!" I loudly exclaim. "Come on Korra, lets get away from him."

I grab my best friend's hand and drag her away from the firebender.

After I created some distance from Mako and us, I stop. My gaze is stuck to the ground.

After a few seconds of silence, Korra speaks up.

"Y/N, it's okay-"

-"It's not okay!" I angrily reply as I bring my sight towards my best friend, her shining blue eyes full of concern. "He accused you of framing Hiroshi out of jealousy! He thinks you're being low and petty! How are you fine with this?!"

Korra remains calm at my outburst, her gaze never leaving my own. "I'm not fine with it," she admits and she sighs sadly, "but I understand why he's angry. I did accuse his girlfriend's dad that he was working with extremists. I'm grateful you stood up for me, it was really nice of you, but its not worth it. He's not going to believe us."

After a long silence, I sigh heavily, my anger slowly fading away. "Okay...I'm sorry I got angry."

Korra gently smiles at me. "You have nothing to apologise for."

We look into each other's eyes for a few seconds. I can stare at them forever.

I look down and notice I'm still holding Korra's hand.

Shit!

I let go of her hand immediately, as if I was touching something boiling hot. "Sorry."

Korra chuckles. "It's cool, don't wo-"

Her sentence is cut off by her making a quiet gasp.

"What is it?" I ask her.

She holds her right hand up. It looks like she's holding a note.

"Someone gave this to me." she tells me, looking around in an attempt to spot the person responsible but being unsuccessful. "I have to show Tenzin and Beifong this."

We approach them, with Mako and Asami being long gone from the area.

Good riddance.

I shake my head to get rid of that insidious thought, as Korra speaks up. "Guys, I think you should hear this. "If you want to find the truth, meet me under the north end of the silk road bridge at midnight."

This is it...this could be the lead we have been looking for.

"We gotta head there!" I exclaim, "This might be our one and only chance to find out more about the Equalists!"

"I agree." Chief Beifong replies. "Let's just hope it won't be a trap."

Korra and I look at eachother, determined looks painted on our faces.

We're going to get to the bottom of this...now.

LATER

We made it to the bridge dead on midnight...but I can't see anyone.

"Psst, over here."

We look to our left, and a man wearing a trench coat emerges from the darkness.

"Listen," the man quietly tells us, as if he's afraid that someone is watching us, "I joined the Equalists because I believed in what Amon said. I thought he could make life better for us non-benders. But I didn't sign for this--this war."

I feel a wave of sympathy for the man. He's just an ordinary guy wanting to make life better for non-benders. Not a monster like Amon.

"What do you have on Hiroshi Sato?" Chief Beifong asks the stranger, not wanting to drag this conversation out.

The man focuses his gaze on the chief. "He manufactured those gloves for the Equalists."

I gasp quietly. It's true....Korra was right. Hiroshi is working with the Equalists.

"I knew it!" Korra exclaims.

The stranger isn't done apparently. "And there are rumours he's working on something even bigger; some new kind of weapon."

A new weapon? That can't be good. But where?

"Where is it?" I speak up. "We searched everywhere and came up empty."

The man focuses his attention towards me. "That's because he has a secret factory...right underneath the Sato mansion."

We all gasp at the revelation. It was right under our noses all this time and we didn't even notice?

I look towards the others. "We have to get there immediately!"

They all nod as Chief Beifong calls a airship for us.

I bring my gaze back to the stranger and give him a smile. "Thank you."

He nods, and slowly walks away, once again being engulfed by the darkness.

So Hiroshi Sato has been an Equalist all along....

Then only one question remains.

How is Asami going to react to this?

LATER

We waste no time in knocking this time. We and some of Beifong's men burst into the mansion.

When we arrive at the room Asami, Mako, and Bolin walk in, Asami's face shifts into anger. "What are you doing here?!"

The chief of police wastes no time in answering her. "We have reason to believe there's a factory hidden below the mansion."

Despite this, Asami refuses to listen. "I think I would have noticed if there were a factory underneath my house. The lies you people come up with just to persecute my father..."

"Where is your father?" the airbender asks her, unfazed by the woman's latter comment.

After Asami tells us that Hiroshi is apparently in his workshop behind the house, we all travel there, only to find it completely empty.

"Dad? Hello?" the daughter of Sato asks, confusion and concern clearly evident.

An officer tells the Chief that no-one has left the workshop since we arrived, but she is unconvinced. She walks towards the centre of the workshop, rises her left leg and using metalbending to remove the cover underneath her foot, and slams it on the ground. It looks like she's using her seismic sense.

After a few seconds, the Chief's face hardens. Looks like she found something.

"There's a tunnel beneath the workshop. Running deep into the mountainside."

Yep. She definitely found something.

Asami protests at this claim, but is quickly disproved when Beifong uses her metalbending to reveal the aforementioned tunnel.

I look at Asami, and I see her face full of confusion and...sadness. "I don't understand. There must be an explanation." she weakly replies.

I place my hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry Asami, but I think your father has been hiding stuff from you."

"I'm sorry too." Korra adds on, her face full of despair.

The Chief, Tenzin, Korra, and I travel further into the tunnel while Bolin, Mako, and Asami are forced to stay put. I guess my former status as depute of Tarrlok's taskforce and my capture of the Lieutenant allowed me to join them.

My best friend and I look back to see our friends. Mako's face especially has traces of guilt on it.

I sigh as I look back forward and step onto the platform, and we begin to travel downwards.

I place my hand on Korra's shoulder. "You okay?"

She sighs heavily. "Yeah...I just...I feel bad for Asami."

I sigh again. "Me too."

When we finally reach the end, we all walk forward into a bright room, full of Equalist banners and weapons...and....

And....

What?

Throughout the room there are loads and loads of giant metal suits. They have big metal claws ready to strike and tracks as feet. They look like something from fiction and yet...they're right in front of me.

I guess these...things...are Hiroshi's new secret weapon.

Suddenly a wall emerges from the floor out of nowhere, covering the entrance to the room and trapping us inside.

Beifong attempts to metal bend the wall....but nothing happens.

A loud, booming voice invades our ears.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to to metalbend that wall, Chief Beifong. It's solid platinum."

Hiroshi Sato.

As he is talking, the metal "things" power up, and begin approaching us.

"My mecha-tanks are platinum as well. Not even your renowned mother could bend a metal so pure."

Despite the danger, Korra remains confident. "Hiroshi, I knew you were a lying, no-good Equalist. Come out here and -"

"-And do what, young Avatar? Face the wrath of your bending?" Hiroshi interrupts, his voice dripping with a condescending tone. "No. I think I'll fight from inside here, where my odds are a little more...equal."

"That source was a setup." Chief Beifong realises, "You lured us down here!"

"Guilty as charged."

Dammit! We were tricked!

Then, in a blink of an eye, Hiroshi strikes.

I jump out of the way, barely missing the cable that was ejected from the arm.

Korra, Tenzin, and I rush toward Hiroshi in his Mecha-Tank. As my best friend firebends at him, followed by gusts of wind from the airbender, I jump high and flip onto the the tank. I punch the glass, attempting to attack Hiroshi or shut down the machine, but before I can feel getting engulfed by a claw and thrown into a wall. The force of the impact sent shockwaves throughout my body, and before I know it I can feel myself being shrouded by blackness.

TIMESKIP

I slowly open my eyes, the pain from the impact still overwhelming. I can feel myself being carried by someone. I focus my gaze and realise that Mako is carrying me, with Korra on top of me. I look around me and see that the others have been defeated too. Dammit.

I see Bolin attempting to grab Chief Beifong from the corner of my eye and-

"-Not so fast, boys."

Shit.

Hiroshi is wearing two Equalist gloves, a massive grin on his face.

Bolin, being Bolin, attempts to play innocent. Attempts.

"Hello, Mr. Sato. Wow. What a really...swell, scary factory you have here under your giant mansion."

Mako, however, continues staring at Hiroshi. "Sponsoring our team. Supporting the Avatar and Y/N. It was all just a big cover."

"Yes," Hiroshi proudly states, "and the most difficult part was watching my daughter traipse around with a firebending street rat like you!"

He slowly approaches us...is this it?

"Dad, stop!"

Asami?

Hiroshi turns around, and sees his daughter, a horrified expression painted across her features.

"Why?"

Hiroshi calms down, and approaches her. "Sweetie...I wanted to keep you out of this for as long as I could, but now that you know the truth, please forgive me. These people, these...benders, they took away your mother, the love of my life. They've ruined the world! But with Amon, we can fix it and build a perfect world together. We can help people like us everywhere. Join me, Asami."

The silence that comes afterwards feels like an eternity. No-one moves an inch.

After the eternal silence, Asami steps foward...and puts on the glove.

No...

She betrayed us...

I-

"I love you, Dad."

Suddenly, Asami shocks Hiroshi with his own invention, knocking him unconscious.

We all stare at Asami in shock, my own jaw heading towards the ground.

The victory is short lived however, as the mecha-tanks take notice of what just happened and begin approaching us.

Korra and I get off Mako, and we all quickly rush towards the exit, with Bolin sealing it so no-one could follow us.

TIMESKIP

We escaped them...but just barely.

And not without consequence.

Not only some of us are injured but Chief Beifong's men have been captured by the Equalists. Dammit.

Korra and I are looking through the windows of the airship, completely silent. At the corner of my eye, I see Mako approaching us.

"Korra, Y/N," the firebender says, guilt obvious in his voice, "I'm sorry I didn't trust you two, but Asami's dad being an Equalist is not an easy thing to believe, even now."

I agree. He seemed like such a kind and honest man. Little did we know.

"I know." Korra agrees, "I'm sorry this whole thing happened."

"I'm sorry too." I add on. "I'm also sorry about what I said to you earlier Mako, I was just angry."

A sad smile forms on the firebender's face. "It's fine, I understand. Does your offer to live at the Air Temple still stand?"

Korra responds immediately. "Of course it does. And Asami's welcome too."

Mako's face flashes with relief. "Thank you so much." he responds with complete gratitude.

My best friend is not done though. "After everything she's been through, she's going to need you, Mako."

I nod in agreement. "Go to her. She needs you now more than ever."

Mako nods and walks to Asami, with both of them embracing into a comforting hug.  

I turn to look at Korra. Her eyes are so dim, so sad. "Are you okay?"

She sighs at my question. "No."

I pull her into a tight hug. Korra reciprocates immediately, her grip as tight as mine.

"It's going to be alright, Korra. I promise."

She doesn't say anything. She doesn't have to.

I close my eyes...and succumb to the embrace.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that's it! I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter! I'm sorry if the fight scenes so far have been too short or disappointing. I'm not sure on how to write them at the moment, but I will try and get better!

Constructive criticism is always appreciated!

See you all in the next chapter! :D

[thegeneralreturns]

If I Had to Rank the Best Picture Nominees

From worst to first...

10. TRIANGLE OF SADNESS - Of the seemingly never-ending buffet of 2022 movies that had a hate boner for the rich, the Academy selected the one that wasn't as entertaining as The Menu, wasn't as righteous as Glass Onion, and wasn't as straight-the-fuck-up mean as Bodies Bodies Bodies. But it was obvious and trite enough for most third graders to lose patience with, and it's the English language debut of an esteemed Swedish director. So here, have a Best Picture nomination. Oh, and a Palme d'Or!

9. ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT - To watch the 2022 All Quiet on the Western Front is to miss the hell out of the 1930 version. Even ninety-three years after its debut, Lewis Milestone's classic is a stark and primal thing that laid the groundwork for depicting combat on film. So no matter how good this new version's intentions are (and director Edward Berger's intentions are indeed very good), we're still watching kids play dress up. All sheen and no impact.

8. ELVIS - It was one of the internet's favorite hobbies this past year to flip Tom Hanks an ungodly amount of shit for his garish performance as this film's Colonel Tom Parker. And yeah, he's terrible, but given the rest of the movie around him, could you really say he was wrong? Baz Luhrmann likes to make glitzy and over-the-top fairy tales with sad endings, and that kind of broad artifice is part of the game. The problem with Elvis is that in the middle of it is Austin Butler's gritty, realistic, and quite frankly brilliant method performance. He doesn't fit in. That, or the movie can't contain him. I'd have liked to have seen the movie Butler thought he was in. I'd have liked to have seen the movie Luhrmann was trying to craft around him. I don't think I got either.

7. AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER - The first hour is great, the third hour is terrific, but the second hour goes all in on a shapeless nature documentary about the seafaring N'avi. That sounds good on paper, but... wait, if James Cameron's writing something, it doesn't sound good on paper either. I can't say I disliked the film, no one can do big quite like Cameron, but I saw it with all the 3D Imax bells and whistles. Once that avenue of consumption is non-viable, I don't see this film working all that well dramatically.

6. TAR - Boy, Todd Field really wanted to make a Kubrick film, didn't he? It's all there, from the deep-focus shots of clean environments, to the low rumble on the soundtrack that portends dread in every scene. Hell, Field even got Kubrick's habit of taking decades in between films down pat. If I don't seem as up-with-people about Cate Blanchett's performance as everyone else, it's because it's part of the machinery. So was Nicholson in The Shining. They're both brilliant performances, but they're not the kind of brilliant you notice on the first viewing. Field wanted to make a Kubrick movie, and for two hours of the 154 minute runtime, he got closer than any of his contemporaries ever have. The problem here is, if Field wants to make a movie to The Old Master's Standard, then he's going to need to live up to The Old Master's Standard. Kubrick would not have gotten away with having a character we've never seen before come in, baldly state the main character's arc as though we were children who needed to get it, and then vanish. This previously spellbinding film never recovers after that, leading to a third act that just... feels... gross. I just think it's weird that while a certain other Best Picture nominee is getting all due credit for its Asian representation, Tar depicts its lead's personal and professional rock bottom as having to actually live in Asia.

5. TOP GUN: MAVERICK - Unlike Avatar, which needed a theatrical experience the price of a small yacht to work, I watched Top Gun: Maverick on my TV, and thought it was just dandy. Tom Cruise threw hundreds of millions of dollars at the screen to convince us that fighter jets were cool. And he was right, too, fighter jets are fuckin' rad. A simple (some might even say "paint-by-numbers") story that's old as the hills subtly lays the groundwork needed for a final half hour that's the tightest, best edited, most well-constructed third act to an action movie I've seen since... Jesus, A New Hope? The more I think about this movie, the more I like it. And this is coming from someone who hated the first one.

4. WOMEN TALKING - How did this movie get the reputation as "The Vegetables" of this crop of nominees, and not Triangle of Sadness, which is so tediously pretentious as to have a Russian capitalist and an American communist drunkenly screeching quotes at each other? Women Talking is about the women in a Mennonite colony reckoning with their sexual assault by the men in their community, and deliberating on whether to stay at that colony, or to leave, and director Sarah Polley deserves all the credit in the world for both making this cinematic, and actually finding moments of levity and recognition. These are women who have undergone something terrible, yes, but they are also women who have history and get on each others' nerves. Their kids screw around in the barn and play jokes on each other. It doesn't sound like much, but it matters a great deal, as through this, we see what these women are potentially giving up by leaving. It's these moments at the periphery that makes the core all the more devastating.

3. THE FABELMANS - I've seen accusations that The Fabelmans is Steven Spielberg mythologizing himself, but that's grossly unfair. This is America, and we did it first. If anyone even slightly interested in film history laid down the tracks for him, then why can't Spielberg drive the train? This is a thinly-veiled, genuinely moving, and wonderfully entertaining Roman a clef of his own life packed with terrific performances, and when the aliens get here in a thousand years after we've blown ourselves to bits, and they ask for evidence that Seth Rogen can act, at least we can say we have it. It's humble without being self-lacerating, and it's the fun kind of meta instead of the irritating kind. Speaking of which, kudos to Spielberg for giving us the funniest and most satisfying final shot since Knives Out.

2. THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN - I've rarely seen a comedy that left me this unsettled. Or a tragedy that made me laugh so much. Colin Farrell has never been better as a man on an Irish island in the 1920s whose preoccupation with his own image as a nice guy threatens to engulf all of the things and people he ever loved, from his sister, to his friend that doesn't want to talk to him anymore, to his pet donkey. If Everything Everywhere All At Once was the Zoomer ignition point for the kind of nihilism that engenders all-encompassing love and radical hope, then The Banshees of Inisherin feels like this ancient force of queasy malevolence that doesn't give a shit about placidity or empty gestures.

In any other year, I'd call The Banshees of Inisherin the best in show with a smile, and go on my merry way. However two guys named Daniel found out how to activate God mode.

And the best picture of the Best Pictures is...

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE - How many times in a given year--Hell, in a given decade--do we see a film that earnestly and actively tries to be the best ever made? People want to communicate, or they want to make money, but Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert throw the immigrant experience, kung fu fights, generational trauma, the multiverse, nihilistic despair, butt plugs, and the ebbs and flows of the mother-daughter bond at each other at relativistic speeds in an effort to go down in history. And Holy Hell, it worked! Far from cancelling each other out, these disparate elements cohere into a tear-jerking, mind-blowing, thrilling whole. It's not the actual, literal best movie ever made, but I wouldn't dream of knocking anyone for being taken with how close The Daniels got, because by God I'm taken with it too. I've seen everyone and their mom point at any number of reasons as to why this film reached so many people in the way that it did, but maybe, just maybe, Everything Everywhere All at Once blew up because we haven't seen this kind of ambition in a long, long time. It feels good to see. And we want more.

[apparentlyaswarmofbees]

Deaf MC vs Devildom

.

A HUGE thanks to @jaywalk-on-me for reaching out to me about this subject. I really hope I have given this it some justice.

Also, to avoid some of the controversies inside the Deaf Culture: I will not be referencing cochlear implants.

And a note for my fellow hearing people, there is definetelly not much difference between us and deaf/hard of hearing people, in fact, after reading about it, I can hardly consider it a disability seeing it can actually allow them to percieve the world in a much different way from ours and would not have any problems in their life if only us, hearing peers, were cooperative and understanding. Everything we need to do is literally minor details and does not hinder our own lifes in the slightest, in fact, it can even help us too! An example is captioning, there is literally nothing to lose, and honestly, even I put captioning on movies of my mother lenguage because sometimes I just can't understand what is being said and captions really help me with that and enjoy whatever I am watching to the fullest! So let's be more understanding. We are all humans, and can all learn from each other's perspective.

And as always

Warning: Uncensored swearing lol, and reference to lesson 16

.

Lucifer

Ah, yes, he knew about it, was in your files, nailed it, he learned your local sign lenguage, all good.

Except his expressions are so damn stiff.

He signs a 'Welcome to The Devildom' and I kid you not, you will not be able to tell if he is trying to be welcomingly polite (and failing miserably) or threatening you.

It was definetelly both

He gets better at it-

Perks if you like classic music though, because you will be able to give him a whole different way of enjoying it.

He won't force you to speak if you choose not to, but he sure will never stop being delighted to hear your voice if you do.

It still baffles him how observant you are, may start trusting you to find details he missed on certain things.

.

Mammon

He definetelly forgot everything he learned on sign lenguage the moment he stepped out of the tutoring Lucifer made him and all his brothers, except for Levi and Satan, go through.

Yes he will mistake around 5 signs per day on the first week of your arrival in the Devildom.

And he will often forget that you most likelly cannot hear him (if his voice frequency doesn't match your hearing that is) and go off blabbing without signing and then just go "oi why ya ignoring me" and he definetelly is this close 👌to being wacked with the closest thing at range.

Again, he gets better too.

In fact, once he warms up to you (and that's like, real fucking fast) he will make so much effort to get things right, and he always pays attention to have captions in movie nights even without you asking??

He tries lip reading once when you told him it's not easy and, I will let it to your imagination what on hell he managed to lip read.

.

Leviathan

As mentioned above, he didn't need the tutoring. Why? Guess what, he already knew at least a few sign lenguages, all because of the many animes, games and shows he has watched portray it, even though the ammount of representation is small.(btw I recomend DARK, there is a deaf&mute character and oh boi she's awesome, it's on netflix)

So he definetelly had no problem communicating with you, in fact, he was almost relieved.

He doesn't need to speak verbally?? He basically would rather spoon his eyes out than talk on the phone so on drug levels texting instead is like heroin????

And oh lord you NEED to invite him to the music festivals on the human world catered towards deaf and hard of hearing people, be will LOVE it.

A little bit of downside though, some of his expression changes are very subtle, but as he spends more time with you, he will start incorporating character voices into expressions and body lenguage instead, and you bet he enjoys doing it.

He will definetelly make music just for you. You only hear high frequencies? Or maybe only low frequencies? Or just nothing at all but you enjoy the rythmic vibrations? He definetelly has spend an entire night making a full fucking album just for you.

.

Satan

Seriously, he knows so many sign lenguages it actually made his way of signing pretty unique!

Another fake ass who will give you gentlemany smiles at first. He may be a way lot more smoother than Lucifer but you bet his fake ass is not passing your vibe check, not with the way his eyes just feel a little bit not right.

Another one who gets better though.

It's kind of nice how he grows so used to signing while speaking that his hands often give off a sign or two even when he is speaking to hearing people.

He will definetelly roast quite a few half assed interpreters.

Also he may or may not have gotten a new obssession after you two watched a few silent movies together??

.

Asmodeus

Oh boy this one needs to chill out a bit.

If you can't interpret signs when done too fast then good luck because his hands will literally be able to spell a full fucking paragraph in 20 seconds.

And oh how he explores your other senses.

Definetelly goes to you first to judge how he looks.

Also he is the best option to keep yourself informed?? I mean, it's also something he can relate with, it doesn't matter if someone killed somebody or just broke their nail, he needs to know about it.

He may be a bit disappointed if you don't speak but he gets over it quickly.

Will ruin many people's carreer if they so much as refuse to attent to you just because you're deaf. There's just nothing wrong with it??? Stop being so petty!

He is now your biggest distraction in mid class and you will definetelly end each day carrying at least 10 paper notes in which he will try to speak with you. They definetelly smell like whatever he smells like at the time. And are definetelly written in colored pen. With glitter. And there are hearts. And possibly a kiss mark-

.

Beelzebub

Big boy definetelly has two types of sign lenguage he uses, and if literally depends if he is eating and what he is eating.

Normally he is just, normal lol. Since he is pretty much quite a bit of an amateur at it he will make use of speech filters a lot when he needs to remember certain signs.

If he's holding something big like a sandwich he will either just gulf it all in to have both hands free or try to make a simplified version with one hand. I'll admit the first scenario is quite amusing.

Yes some of the first questions he asks is how to spells certain foods.

And yes you bet you won't be able to know all of them because Devildom food is definetelly something.

Oh and get ready for a bit of chaos if anyone refuses your order because you're deaf.

Please tell him to flap his wings and proceed lay on him or hug him. The vibrations will be very much close to one of those massage chairs.

.

Belphegor

Oh boy.

First off, he did NOT know about you being deaf because thanks Lucifer.

You guys definetelly spoke in a lot of exchanged notes under his attic door.

He keeps them all hidden somewhere but he will never admit it.

If you're willing to teach him at least how to say 'hi', 'good night' or things like that, he will appear to not be very interested but once the entire lesson 16 fiasco happens they're definetelly the only signs he knows about for some reason when he finally gets tutored.

Still texts you instead.

Even in the same room.

That's what you get from the avatar of sloth I guess-

He does sign a few remarks at you per example commenting on how the new hairstyle Asmo decided to make made his bangs look like a poop behind his back.

Also this:

(The picture above actually happened and was translated to english from my mother lenguage)

[irrealisms]

hi! for that ask game, uh, i don't super know what i can reasonably expect you to have opinions about, so i am hoping this will work better if i give you a list and you can pick and choose stuff to have opinions about? ☕️+ [c!phil, c!sam, hannibal (the show in general, or just the guy if you want), pangolins, love (as a concept / as it applies to your own life / a specific flavour of it / whatever), the history of science]

c!phil - i am TRYING to like him okay i am TRYING. i. like him more than i used to. definitely. he's a super interesting character! i want to like him! unfortunately when it comes down to it i am just... ultimately not really a c!phil fan. pensive emoji.

c!sam - i loooooooove him. representation of autistics who just kind of suck and are bad people. he is so rigid and bad at understanding people and bad at plans changes and especially bad at not responding by digging himself deeper and he has a complicated relationship to [personhood], he is part of the machine that eats people and he is an awful person-machine and he never asked why do you want this horrifying prison made, just how do you want it made, and he follows instructions to the T long after it no longer makes any sense for him to do so and sometimes he enjoys the cruelty and sometimes he doesn't and either way he continues being awful in this terrible methodological way because it is too worn into him to do anything else. i love the parallels between him and c!dream, between these two sadists who made their own prison. i love his desperation to be doing a good job and obeying all the rules and i love his deep and abiding misery that comes from it and i love his power trip that comes from it and i love his self-justifications and his insistence on always doubling down rather than admitting defeat. i love the way he is both a dom and a sub (not in a sexual way but in a deeper way of relating to the world) because he gets an awful sort of enjoyment out of Enforcing Justice And Rules on others but also he does it to himself & he wants so badly for someone else to take control of his life and pat him on the head and tell him he's doing a good job. he is Crushing and Being Crushed! i love. my local Buried TMA Avatar .

hannibal - HANNIBAL MY ONE TRUE LOVE....... watched s1 for the first time when i was 13 and it dug its way deep into my brain and will not be coming out ever. the capital-r Romance of it all!!!! sometimes i think all i ever want is to be in a relationship like that, all-consuming and hungry and conjoined and eating and being eaten, understanding and being understood on a level no one else can touch, and then i remember that's why i go to church. other times i think, this is horrifying, this is abusive, why does no one see or acknowledge that this is horrifyingly abusive, like-- i realize that there is Murder involved as well but the fandom is so victim blame-y and buys into all of hannibal's rhetoric without acknowledging the power dynamic and it's so profoundly uncomfortable sometimes-- i realize there is sexism and racism in the show which we can talk about all day long but the show is so profoundly anti-ableist in a way almost no tv shows are and the fandom is so!! fucking!!! ableist!!!!! it's about love and it's about the things we do to survive and it's about trauma bonding and it romanticizes all of these things in a way that rings very true to the experience and also gives me very very complicated feelings sometimes and. screams. also it doesn't care about consensus reality but in a way that is realer than real, truer than true. it taught me a surprising amount of pretty high-level literary analysis when i was in the fandom back when i still read meta for it obsessively instead of largely giving up on the fandom in disgust. we construct fairy tales, and we accept them.

pangolins - i'm a fan. he's just a little guy!!!!!!!!

love - ooooh this is a complicated one. it is so broad. i love so many things and so many people, at least in English, in the ways we define the borders of [love]. i fall in love so easily, much easier than i fall out of love. part of what made Christianity appealing, maybe, is agape. i want, have always wanted, to love everyone. this connects to hannibal, a little, and also to ender's game, and to a wind in the door. when you understand someone, no matter how horrible they are, you cannot fail to love them, the same way you understand and thereby love yourself. love your neighbor as yourself. the existence of a creator implies the existence of a loving creator; to will someone's existence is the same as to will their good, because [what good-for-someone is] is [Being-themselves]. i don't find that argument wholly persuasive on its own but there's a seed in there that is compelling. love is not always unterrible; cf hannibal again. love can be monstrous. i think a lot about john darnielle's quote about love love love--quite possibly my favorite song of all time--

The point of the song is, you know, that we are fairly well damaged by the legacy of the Romantic poets--that we think of love as this, you know, thing that is accompanied by strings and it's a force for good, and if something bad happens then that's not love. And the therapeutic tradition that I come from--I used to work in therapy--you know, also says that it's not love if it feels bad. I don't know so much about that. I don't know that the Greeks weren't right. I think they were--that love can eat a path through everything--that it will destroy a lot of things on the way to its own objective, which is just its expression of itself, you know. I mean, my stepfather loved his family, right? Now he mistreated us terribly quite often, but he loved us. And, you know, well, that to me is something worth commenting on in the hopes of undoing a lot of what I perceive as terrible damage in the way people talk about this--love is this benign, comfortable force. It's not that. It's wild, you know?

it is still love. bad and destructive love is still love but it's not good, necessarily. i find it beautiful anyway & this is what i mean when i say hannibal dug its way into my brain. i talked about love coming from understanding but it doesn't have to, always, i don't think; that is a certain sort of love but there are others. some people i don't understand at all & i wonder if i ever did & i still love them deeply & will never be able to stop. there was a girl (is she still a girl? i don't know. i knew her as a girl) i spent every tuesday with in elementary school and we would go to the pool and afterwards we would eat cookies and popcorn and watch mythbusters. i have not talked to her since i broke up with her, the summer between freshman and sophomore year of high school (has it really been seven years?), and we were terrible for each other but whenever i think of her i hope she is doing well. that's love, too, i think. whenever i talk with my parents we are both of us never sure what to say, and i spend much of the conversation uncomfortable and confused, and neither side really understands the world the other grew up with and lived in, and we never will, and we would both do almost anything for each other no questions asked, and we end every conversation i love you / i love you too. sometimes love is about the not understanding and loving them anyway, about my dad watching mcc with me or me watching hallmark movies with my dad. it's complicated. love is not just one thing.

the history of science - i think it's beautiful of people, and very human of us, to always be curious. to be trying to figure it out. people sometimes frame science and religion as opposed; i was too [raised on madeline l'engle] to ever go in for that, i think. if a religion is about knowledge and truth and beauty then science is no threat to it; if it's not, what's the point? certainly i know too many science people to have ever believed that science and art, or [knowing how something works] and [appreciating its beauty] are opposed! see this xkcd and this comic. so I love the history of science in that... people have always been doing this. people have always been loving things and trying to figure out how they work and rejoicing in the knowledge. but it's also complicated, because the history of science is often horrifying, is people papering over atrocities if they get in between themselves and the shining beautiful thing that they love, or taking and using the knowledge that they get to create the atrocities. but also i know that this dialectic is just... how humans are. cf. my answer about love, again. sometimes love is destructive.

[low-budget-korra]

The first text I made was over 2,000 words so I’ll try to summarize it.

First I'm going to talk about what I think is Bury Your Gays and poor writing of minorities.

For me, Bury your gays is when certain productions kill the lgbt character for the sake of shock value, often in the most stupid ways possible. A famous example of this was what happened to Lexa in the 100. When it feels like the character only died because he is gay.

And for me, poor writing for minorities (poc, lgbt, people with disabilities ...) can be characterized as:

1. Productions that want to portray the image of progressives and put a poc or lgbt character (which are the most common cases) without personality, unimportant, without development ... Character that are just there for decoration

2. When they even create an interesting character but soon create a reason to kill him to shock the audience. Kill them because they are poc.

And for me having a poc or lgbt character (since these are the boxes where I identify with) interesting, important ... this is the word: Important! whether it is important directly in the plot as a protagonist who carries the story or a supporting role with a good role on the story and a good development, it is much more significant than a character forced only for certain productions not to be accused of racism, sexism or lgbtphobia.

Of course, each case is different. I will now comment briefly on Atomic Blonde, The Last of Us part II and The Legend of Korra.

In Atomic Blonde we have the death of Delphine, a lgbt character who has generated some discussions about being a "bury your gays". I don't particularly agree because I believe that if she were a man or straight, she would die anyway. Since the protagonist's other love interest had died in the beginning and he was a heterosexual white man, and because the character of Delphine, despite being a spy, did not belong in that work or life style . Something even commented by herself. She was an inexperienced agent in the worst possible scenario to be one . But i now understand and why some people still think It was bury your gays.

In The Last of Us part II I saw many people complaining about the death of Jesse, Yara and how Lev was just a supporting character. The Last of Us part II .... a game that is not afraid to kill loved characters without any ceremony simply because in that world, one mistake can cost your life. Regardless of gender, sexuality, age, skin color ...

Jesse and Yara played Asian American characters and died. Mel, Joel, Owen ... were Caucasian, cishet characters who died too. None of them die because they are asian american or caucasian, they die cuz that world is fucking ruthless.

And about Lev not being important just because he is an supporting character... First that he is for Abby what Dina is for Ellie, both of them are extremely important support for the protagonists and Interesting characters with their own internal struggles and development. I think it is very unfair to throw this away with the argument like: "ah, but he is not the protagonist so it is not important"

And still about The Last of Us part II we are talking about a game and for those who do not know the gamer community is toxic, full of sexism, racism, lgbtphobia ... And the game developers had the balls for not only make two protagonists women outside the steryotype of femme fatalle or defenseless love interest(still very present in games) and one of them a lesbian, but also introducing an important trans character in a mainstream high-budget game.

People, until recently the only image we had of women in games was that of a busty model running around, made purely to please male players, good and important black, asian and lgbt characters was really rare or just didnt exist at all.

And today we have characters like Ellie, Lev, Kassandra (AC Odyssey), Jill Valentine and Claire Redfield who were reimagined more humanely in the remakes of Resident Evil, Lara Croft herself in the 2013 Tomb Raider remake, Max and Chloe(Life is Strange), Lee and Clementine(TWD from telltale), Marcus (Detroit Become Humam ), Connor (AC3) ... I know, there is still a long way to go until we have achieved the equality and representativeness that we want in the world of games but we are advancing. They may be a baby step but they still are steps forward. We should continue to support this initiatives and demand better representation.

Now about The Legend of Korra ... Reading the comments in the post i get the feeling that people were much more angry with Bryke for being cishet than with questions related to the narrative.

It bothers me the fact that it seems that whoever made the posts (originally from twitter) did not watch avatar or simply watched without paying attention. It was NEVER about Korra needed suffering but about finding Meaning in suffering. And yes, they are two different things.

When in the end Korra is talking to Tenzin, about understand the why she had to go through all that , for them be abble to be more compassionate of others. That shit is real. When you have a panic attack , for exemple, you become more abble to help someone who also suffers from that. Or when some people lose someone for a disease or acident and choose to become a doctor to help others, wanting no other person had to go through that pain... In this case, the person didnt have to lose someone to be a doctor but maybe after saw all the fight that the doctors put in to save someone and the pain of losing someone may have made the person spend the rest of his life saving people. Get It?

And in Avatar, both TLA and TLOK, people have suffer.

Aang: Cast aside by his friends when people discover he was the Avatar. Runaway and lose all of his people. Had to see the devastation for himself and find the bones of his friend and possible father figure. Almost die a few times. For many years had the weight of been the last of his people. And in a part of the journey, lost Appa.

Sokka and Katara: Lost their mother. Their dad leave to fight and possible die in the war. Sokka was only a teen when he was the man responsable for his tribe. Katara had the weight of being the only waterbender of her tribe and be the only one that could calm Aang once he was in Avatar State.

Toph: as a blind kid, her parents think of her as someone unable to do anything. Had to choose between save Appa or save the others in some point of their journey

Zuko: When i start with him?

Azula: oh Boy...

Iroh: Lose is only son. Had to see his brother burn Zuko's face. And Zuko betrayed him, kind of, in the end of book2.

Asami: Her mom was murdered , maybe even in front of her. Her dad was a evil genius. She probably suffered with Korra in those 3 years.

Mako and Bolin: They grow up as orphans on the streets...

I could go on and on, dude, even the cabbage man had suffer from losing his cabbages over and over.

But all of the sudden, Korra now had to have plot armor or else Bryke is wrong and are terrible people.

Everybody loves to talk about how perfect Zuko's arc and development is. Zuko, who was one of the characters who most have suffered in the show. But for him all was necessary, had meaning, perfect storytelling and structure but with Korra.... "She cant suffer cuz she is brown"

And its not like Bryke was making something up outta nowhere just to torture the character. All she face it was a consequence direct or indirect of her actions and actions of other people.

Amon and the Equalists? Aang didnt kill Yakone nor put him in prison for life, just took his bending. Yakone was a terrible father, and one of the reason Amon hate bending (even himself been a waterbender) so much to the point of him do what he did. The same to Tarrlok. He turn his sons into monsters. And the triads only help them, because they use their bending to rob the non benders.

Vaatu? Look up The Beginning epsodes because this one is more complex.

Unalaq? Look, the worst villain of Avatar. But he took advantage of things that happen as consequences of the ending of book1

Zaheer? Direct consequence of that happen in the finale of book 2.

Kuvira? Direct consequence of things that happen in book 3

Again, i could go on and on and go deeper on all that. But this is already getting to big.

But what pissed me off most is ... Look im years in this fandom. As a Brazilian i saw and read stuff from the fandom here in my country and the fandom here in Tumblr. And in those years i read so much about how Korra journey help people overcome their struggles with ptsd, anxiety, depression...myself included. How much Korra was important to lesbians and bissexuals girls, especially girls of color.

And them we have those few people throw shit on all this and "cancel" you for not agree with them...

The Legend of Korra ended 2014, 6 years ago and still is so loved, so important to so many people, for the most diverse reasons.

For a cishet, Bryke did a amazing job creating this amazingly beautiful universe. With the most diverse inspirations, coming from places that are forgotten on western media. But i guess its easier criticize, and cancel them and the show than do what they did.

I know that sometimes we just wanted a scape from our difficult reality but seriously, if you Just want a movie/tv show/book...100% happy, rainbow and sunshine with no suffering at all, stick with the fanfics because even romcons sometimes have their among of "i you make you cry and suffer" kind of shit.

Suffer is present in our life and what a lot of movies/tv shows/games/books...try to do is bring our struggles and our suffering into them. Why? Its easier have simpathy for characters who look like us, characters who had been through the same stuff as us.

Is so difficult talk those things in another language. I always feel like i didnt express myself right. And im really sorry if i offended anyone, it wasnt my intention.

[nelfs]

I would totally read an essay about the degree to which some MMO players view their avatar as an extension or representation of themselves vs. those who view it as a separate entity that might even have its own motives and story. I find that roleplayers’ whole thing is disconnecting & distancing themselves from their character by giving them their own attributes, history, and personality, while a lot of raiders and more conventional “gamers” see their character as “them” in the game. like, if there’s a mechanic in a game where you have to have your character eat or they starve to death, some players might say “he’s dying” and others might say “I’M dying”. my main toon really occupies both roles for me, she represents me in the game but she’s also not really me at all. she’s a tool through which I can access & interact with the game, but she’s also totally tied to me personally, and I’m called by her name when I play. MMO players in particular definitely occupy both ends of the spectrum because those games allow you to make a completely original character as opposed to, say, Legend of Zelda, where you play as an established character and it’s much easier to say what HE’S doing instead of what YOU’RE doing. I’d be interested to read more about that kind of thing 🤨

[jjaquerabbitt]

Just saw a post about Ready Player One and I wanted to write out something that’s been nagging me ever since I saw it, 

one small change that would’ve turned it from being a run-of-the-mill sci-fi action thing into being something that I, personally, as a Gamer for many years would have resonated with that would’ve made every bit of difference to me and would’ve changed absolutely 0 things about the ability to tell the overall story.

Now, my memory’s kind of hazy because while I enjoyed the film for what it was, being a Video Game History buff and Video Game connoisseur, there was one jarring aspect that stood out to me like just lazy writing in order to pander to the Beautiful Hollywood Standard. This is both a Book Issue and a Movie issue. (Haven’t read the former, but have seen the latter.)

The character of ‘ Samantha ‘, or ‘ Art3mis ‘ as we meet her within the Game as, was a really interesting character that I think a lot of gamer Girls can relate to. A Kickass and powerful female avatar that hits the Ideal Standards of Beauty, hiding the fact that in the ‘Real’ the person behind the Avatar feels self-conscious about their own appearance. I know that (before my realization of Gender Identity) I, as a formerly Female Gamer Teen, always had a worry with making friends online through Videogames that when they eventually saw me, or heard me, they would immediately be repulsed or judgmental.

This was because I am Fat IRL. Every bit of fear towards having someone get to know the ‘Real Me’, of being seen as Ugly or Disgusting, was because I was and am overweight and I know the stigmas against it. Even if I myself am comfortable with my body and the way I look, I know through experience that I’ve been ridiculed and judged based solely on my appearance by friends I could’ve sworn were close enough to me that seeing who I was beyond my username and character avatar wouldn’t be an issue.

The entire movie up to the reveal of Art3mis as ‘Samantha’, that’s what I was hoping for. When she starting being dodgy, of saying that she felt ugly IRL or that Wade wouldn’t think she was so beautiful if he saw the ‘real’ her, that’s what I was hoping for. 

Do you know how much of the movie would change if she went from simply being a ‘Hollywood Ideal’ Body type with a birthmark over her eye, to a fat, or even CHUBBY female gamer with a birthmark covering her eye, or even part of her face entirely? Only the representation. 

If the character of Samantha had been played by a fat or chubby actress and had still had the same character arc, with romance and action, it would’ve only changed the Representation. It would’ve been nice to see people like me, who find comfort in online spaces because of the judgements of Real Life, who make idealized forms of themselves in videogames and artwork, being represented as a Hero. 

And before people jump in with the whole ‘WELL SHE WASNT FAT IN THE BOOK EITHER SO WHY WOULD MAKING THE CHARACTER FAT ADD ANYTHING TO THE MOVIE?’ There wasn’t fucking Tracer Overwatch in the book, either. Any of the Pop-Culture References made of ‘Modern’ media that happened between the book being published in 2011 and the movie coming out in 2018 was added to cater to current Audiences. I haven’t read the book so I can’t verify exactly how many differences have been made, but even a simple google search shows the changes from the Book to the Movie for simplicity of storytelling, and Pop-Culture changes to make sure it appealed to the current Teen-to-YA audience.

Wade was supposed to be fat in the Book, he’s described as ‘Overweight’. You can’t just take that Representation away from BOTH characters, change it to being the Girl if you want to keep the male Gamer Audience rooting for a Hollywood Standard Male Ideal.

It would’ve been a simple and innocuous change. 

Representation for an entire group of young girls who are terrified of meeting their online friends face-to-face on fear of ridicule for their body over the friendship they established with their personality being told that ‘Hey, you ARE valuable as a person outside of the Avatar, your friends WILL still love you when they find out, and it’s OKAY not to look like the thin and tiny Game women you’re forced to play as’. Updates aspects of the Book, like the pop-culture references, to meet ‘Modern’ audiences and resonate with the crushing reality of Modern standards of Beauty.

Make the character of Samantha fat or chubby.

And keep the romantic aspects of hers and Wade’s characters unchanged.

[mmmmalo]

This is a (meandering, non-exhaustive) overview of Homestuck’s use of

by which I do not mean examples of psychological realism in a character’s words and deeds, but rather the various means by which characters’ psyches are expressed outside of themselves. I wish to elaborate on how thoughts, feelings, and desires may find expression in the environment, in the medium of the story itself, and in the form of other characters.

That’s perhaps a little vague, so here’s a ready example of what I mean: brainghost!Dirk. He talks with Jake, but since he is a construct of Jake’s mind, Jake is essentially talking to himself. Brainghost!Dirk is an alienated medium for voicing Jake’s own thoughts, irretrievably distorted through its intermingling with what Jake thinks/wishes Dirk would say (not unlike a puppet). I am claiming that this mode of characterization is not a unique to Jake; the blurring of inner and outer voices is omnipresent throughout the story.

Or, rephrased: what I hope to show is that a great deal of Homestuck is haunted with brain-ghosts, of one kind or other.

An early example of this kind of storytelling in science fiction would be the film Forbidden Planet (1956). The film contains a pair of conflicts which eventually reveal themselves to be one: the scientist Morbius wants some space explorers to get off his planet, and an immense monster (pictured above) appears during the night to attack the explorers. Morbius, it turns out, has been experimenting with a machine capable of turning thought into reality. So when Morbius sleeps, his dream of driving off the trespassers materializes in the form of beast that forcefully enacts the wish.

The beast is declared a “monster from the id”, the “id” being a concept borrowed from Freudian psychology, indicating the part of the mind responsible for the unfiltered generation of impulses, of urges. In the film, this passing mention of psychoanalysis precedes the revelation of Morbius’s link to the beast.

Homestuck hints towards its own mixing of thought and reality with a device similar to Morbius’s dream machine: Sburb.

A snapshot of Dave’s Sburb client (1519) shows that the final subprograms launched during the games installation make reference to terminology associated with Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. The terms suggest that Sburb interacts with the ideas in the kids’ subconscious minds (archetypes) and brings symbolic representations of these ideas into conscious reality (manifests the ideas). The game alters the means by which reality is constructed. As with Forbidden Planet, a major result of this is id monsters.

When John slips on a staircase, he flips out (left, 560). And when he nearly launches himself into the abyss with the Pogo Hammer, he has to take a nap before he has calmed down enough to continue (center, 637). Immediately following both moments of vertigo, massive ogres appear. The eventual fight with the ogres begins after John looks over the edge of the platform above his house, into the abyss (right, 662).

All of this suggests that Sburb is reacting to John’s emotional state (fear) to produce in-game content. The game functions as a waking dream.

It should also be noted that Sburb provokes the reactions it elicits. Karkat once mentioned a nagging feeling that the game was mocking him by giving him a planet covered in the candy red blood he had spent a lifetime attempting to hide (2301). Karkat’s paranoia seems to be correct here, and moreover applicable to the cast in general -- John’s house was likely placed atop an immense spire /in order to/ bring John’s dread of falling into sharp relief. The suspicion can be substantiated with a few related motifs.

The story provides two likely origins for John’s fear of heights: his own fall from the slime pogo as a child (2626) and the death of Nanna, which John believed resulted from her falling from a ladder and being crushed by a book (52). What’s more, Sburb’s invocation of the Fall of Man (Adam and Eve being cast from the Garden of Eden) via biting into an apple hints that there is an allegorical significance to John’s more literal fear of heights. 

We can apply these patterns to other characters in an attempt to learn more about them. LOLAR being covered in ocean suggests that Rose is afraid of water, with the likely cause of Rose finding Jaspers dead and washed up on a riverbank (presumed drowned). Dave speaks openly about how his sword fights with Bro left him anxious of metal sounds (7749), meaning the grinding gears of LOHAC were a personalized hell for Dave. Jade’s first imp manifests in response to the sight of a yellow aurora (2998), inviting the reader to investigate why that image invokes a fear response.

But we won’t get to into all of that, not for now at least. Let’s take a step back.

For my reading of the imps as manifestations I’ve been leaning heavily on a piece of film theory devoted to the effects of sequential images. The sequence above constitutes two observations. One, that by this arrangement the viewer will infer the old man sees and reacts to the middle figure. Two, that the viewer’s impression of the old man will change based on the content of the central image, even if his expression is the same. Is he smiling at Nepeta or warm embrace Marvus’s armpit? The answer may influence your interpretation of the little smile.

The neat thing about montage is that the interrupting frame need not bear any obvious relation to what precedes or follows in order to be subject to a causal reading. Moments that occur sequentially can be read as triggering one another, even if what follows any particular moment appears to be a break rather than a continuation.

Example: There’s a moment where Aranea walks into Jake’s dream, and brainghost!Dirk immediately starts razzing Jake about his attraction to the alien girl and threatening to give him a boner. The scene is interrupted by Jack committing a series of gratuitous murders. We then cut back to Jake, and bg!Dirk is now teasing him about his dirty thoughts.

DIRK: You have got to be kidding. Did you seriously just think something THAT dirty? DIRK: You must be doing this on purpose to spite me now. I mean, just wow dude. That was x-rated as fuck. 

JAKE: (No no stop. See youre talking about it and now i cant help it!) JAKE: (You are psyching me into having dirty thoughts get fucking lost you interloping brain douche!!!) 

DIRK: Don't worry, I'm gone. It's like a goddamn peep show in here and I feel like a sleazy piece of shit watching this from a dark corner of your mind. DIRK: You have a graphic imagination, English. I'm kind of impressed. 

JAKE: (Shut up theyre just thoughts its not even like im trying to have them THEY DONT MEAN ANYTHING!)

The ostensible joke is that bg!Dirk is exaggerating or outright fabricating his account of Jake’s thoughts in order to hassle him. But by way of montage, one can infer that we /have/ seen Jake’s dirty thoughts, in the form of Jack’s display of overwhelming bloodlust. Violence is superimposed over the sexually explicit. 

Whether the scene literally takes place in Jake’s mind is secondary (though such a reading would explain why Jake’s brain ghost is even aware of Jack) -- the use of montage allows Jack’s actions to function as a /metaphor/ for Jake’s thought.

Another example of Jack functioning as a murderous/libidinous avatar would be the death of Mom and Dad. At their little tea party, Dad spills some wine on Mom’s clothes and declares that she must disrobe immediately (so that Dad might launder the garment). Mom calls the aromas wafting from his pipe sensuous. The two clasp hands and declare that all they need is eachother. Then they die! The joke is that while Bec Noir is ostensibly an interruption to date night, he also functions as its culmination, with murder acting as substitute for the sex act.

The link between violence and sexuality is perhaps a hard sell, but I hope to convince you that the reading holds merit. Let me emphasize that the very act of Mom and Dad holding hands was itself sexually loaded.

I owe to HS liveblogger elfstuck the insight that John’s linear 3 card sylladex is a reflection of his short attention span. Consider how John’s role as a game character means he is thrown all around his room, back and forth, as the player figures out what to make of the situation. If you ignore the fourth wall, you’re left with an extremely distracted person, who attention flows easily from one object to another. Accepting the object-in, object-out nature of John’s sylladex and the resulting shenanigans as a metaphor for this, it would follow that the sylladex in general can offer an abstract representation of thought.

In passing, I can mention how the enormity of Jake’s sylladex (it cannot even fit on the page, and contains an object that exceed most players’ size limits) would imply that despite evidence to the contrary, the boy likely has a big brain (and perhaps its being offscreen suggests Jakes own unawareness of much of his own thought). Dirk’s comment about avoiding items that are difficult to shoehorn into his mnemonic schema (4535) could be read as a difficulty maintaining information that doesn’t fit into his personal mental models. The sylladex becomes a metaphor for the mind that requires interpretation.

Under this mode of thought, the moments when Jade’s pictionary modus fails to correctly interpret her drawing become akin to a mental slip-of-the-tongue. For the Tanglebuddies to be misread as enmeshed hands implies an association, in Jade’s mind, of horny Squiddles and clasped hands. John affirms the association much later by miming Tanglebuddies as he attempts to grapple with the question of whether Jade and Davesprite are sexually compatible (5294):

JOHN: how do things even work if you marry a sprite?

JADE: what do you mean 

JOHN: i mean... JOHN: ok, he has a ghost butt, for one thing. 

JADE: uh JADE: so 

JOHN: a GHOST BUTT, jade! 

JADE: SO WHAT IF HE HAS A GHOST BUTT!!!!! 

JOHN: i'm just saying... 

JADE: WHATEVER YOURE JUST SAYING, JUST STOP SAYING IT! JADE: and whatever youre trying to gesture with your hands there, stop doing that too!

It should also be noted that before launching into her “daring dream”, waxing poetic on the miraculous union of the human and the animal with her hands clasped in wonder, Jade successfully captchalogued the Tanglebuddies (796). And more to the point, Jade’s pose in reproduced during discussions of cherub (5961) and leprechaun (6007) reproduction. Hand-holding becomes representative of an (oft-sexualized) union, underlining the euphemistic nature of Mom and Dad’s post-contact demise.

The next example of using montage to communicate thought requires a little more buildup.

There’s a gag in Rose’s introduction where the reader tells Rose to play with her writing journals, and scoots the journals under the bed and retorts that she would only do that if no one were watching (220). At first glance, the moment scans as a minor meta joke in a story filled with meta jokes -- but the trick is that Rose does not /know/ herself to be a video game character, her every movement controlled and observed. Rather, she /believes/ this to be true -- the joke about being watched establishes that Rose is paranoid, as will become apparent in the hostility she assigns to Mom’s every action.

The command prompt and narration are themselves brain ghosts of a sort: the voice deployed in them is always linked to the present point-of-view character. The insults that precede character introductions ( “Zoosmell Pooplord”, etc) become marks of anxiety, an intrusive proclamation of what the kids at times think of themselves (and/or what they think others think of them). “Nice time management skills, sweetheart!” becomes a bit of self-deprecation Rose as she procrastinates, which Rose experiences as having been voiced by some objective observer who judges her deficiencies.

A blurred line divides characters from the voice at the back of their head, belonging to the (presumed) omniscient, omnipotent author-god. This is why avatar!Hussie is dressed as Calliope when he is killed by Lord English. Both Calliope and Hussie are a voice in Caliborn’s head, and thus both present apparent obstacles to an unmediated self.

The left panel (3219) foreshadows the right (3358). Gamzee is not being declared the objectively most important character in Homestuck. Rather, Gamzee is declaring himself /to have been declared/ the most important character in the story. The line establishes that Gamzee believes himself to be in a story (with an author!) and that this author has declared him paramount. Furthermore, “fondly regarding creation” is an modus operandi of Problem Sleuth’s Godhead Pickle Inspector. Applying that turn of phrase to Gamzee’s actions further establishes that Gamzee believes himself to /be/ the god-author declaring his own importance. So it should come as no surprise that 137 pages later, Gamzee outright proclaims himself to be the god(s) he worships.

Going back to montage, it becomes interesting that this snapshot of Gamzee’s megalomania is inter-cut with the creation of Jadesprite -- the moment that dead!dream!Jade merges with Bec, forming a unity with a deity not unlike the unity Gamzee claims with his mirthful messiahs. The interweaving would suggest that Jade and/or Jadesprite experienced analogous thoughts of megalomania upon the moment of ascension.

This would be a good point to mention that not only imps and ogres, but trolls also function as manifestations for the people they impose upon. Karkat is not only an interruption here, but also a continuation. He points out that Jade’s self-loathing, that she cannot safely distance herself from the qualities of Jadesprite she finds distasteful. This is precisely why Karkat ends the conversation by telling Jade to turn off the fourth wall (which divides the self!), as well as the reason he imagines Jade making out with herself: Karkat is on every front presenting the prospect of union with oneself.

The notion of trolls as manifestations first emerges clearly when Rose and Dave receive their packages from John. As they finish reading John’s letter, each is suddenly contacted by a troll and greeted with the command “Answer.” Critically, by word alone it is ambiguous as to whether the command refers to answering the troll or the letter. And as it turns out, these answer occur simultaneously: Rose and Dave’s responses to the letters are embedded in the subsequent conversations. 

Rose receives a letter poking fun at her pretensions, claiming that her attempts to hide her affections for people are futile. In response we get Kanaya, who imperiously proclaims her disdain for Rose, only to suddenly change tact and explicitly seek Rose’s friendship, an entreaty which the oft paranoid Rose accepts. Dave receives a letter imploring him to let go of his insecurities and express himself. In response we get Tavros, the very picture of insecurity, who is fixated on the idea of making Dave shit himself (as part of an ‘emotional constipation’ motif that follows Dave). And Dave complies, in a sense, by way of the quasi-ironic gay treatise that compels Tavros to block him. Each conversation addresses the issues laid out in John’s letter.

Examples can be found throughout the comic. Equius remarking that he talks to Gamzee every day (2220) establishes that Gamzee is regularly haunted by the thoughts of domination that Equius voices -- both in the literal and metaphorical sense. Erisolsprite referring to Dirk as a rock 2oliid piiece of a22 and then calling himself 2ociiopathiic for even thinking something so callous (5516) expresses a conflict already present in Jake’s own mind, echoing the frustration with his own dirty thoughts expressed by the argument with brainghost!Dirk. Feferi’s pronounced enthusiasm for the imminent apocalypse should cause you to question Kanaya’s seemingly neutral resignation towards the end of the world, since Feferi manifests for Kanaya (2328). And so on.

The person being trolled is always being confronted with thoughts or feelings or memories already present within themself. Alien contact always doubles as a brain ghost haunting.

Another example, with some buildup: Karkat invokes the phrase “PERFORATE MY BONE BULGE WITH A CULLING FORK” to express his contempt for Vriska, and on subsequent pages we see Feferi pointing her culling fork at a cuttlefish (2181), as if to suggest that the creature symbolizes the bone bulge. Fast forward to Kanaya, who has just gotten through a conversation with Vriska and finds herself haunted by Eridan, who keeps going on about his romantic desperations and insisting (correctly) that Kanaya’s crush on Vriska is itself romantic. That his notification erupts from an image of cuttlefish held at Kanaya’s waist adds to the air of yearning, as though her own bulge is rumbling. The scene is capped off with a double entendre: “its hard and nobody understands” is playfully poignant jab at an inability to understand one’s own desires (among other things). 

And Homestuck devotes a lot of attention to desire.

It’s long been acknowledged by the fandom at large that Kanaya’s attraction to Light players functions as a joke on the proverbial moth-to-the-flame. As reconciliation with the fire destroys the moth, there’s a morbid tinge to the attraction, as though it doubles as a death wish. And the wish is granted -- when Kanaya dies in Homestuck, she dies to light, either from Eridan’s wand or the laser blasts unleashed by HIC. Even the death of Kanaya’s lusus pertains to light -- the matriorb ripped from her innards is shaped like a miniature sun, as if to establish some loose link between the notion of motherhood and the incandescence Kanaya eventually achieves.

This can be generalized into a principle wherein lusii (and the circumstances of their deaths!) can functions as analogies for the desire of the wards.

Vriska, for example, desires execution. When offering Terezi a flimsy apology for crippling Tavros and proxy-murdering Aradia, Vriska offers to slam her head against her desk in penitence. This moment should be read against Vriska’s addiction to breaking 8 balls, and leaving the broken shards lying around as though she’s inviting the “bad luck” of stepping on them. It /is/ an invitation. Vriska seeks love via violent retribution against herself. This is why in the right panel, Vriska’s blood-spattered head is juxtaposed with a broken 8 ball: the blood came from Spidermom’s execution (which characterizes Vriska’s desire), and motif of 8R8K H34DS connects the moment to Vriska’s idea of apology.

Like Kanaya, Vriska (to a degree) seems to structure her love life along these lines. In the words of @azdoine:

like ppl are actually out here writing Vriska as the top as if her entire Act 5 character arc isn’t about bratting out until Terezi has no choice but to punish her

“oh noo, I, the thief of light, stole all of your luck, and made the coin land on the scratched side! now you have to kill me! but I’m probably going to get away with everything, because you don’t have the guts to stab me with that sword of yours!!!!!!!! if only there was somebody, like you, who could prove me wrong!”

EXTREMELY SUBTLE THERE, VRISKA

Vriska’s approach to wooing Tavros also revolves around baiting execution:

The scene: Tavros leads a horde of imps and ogres into a mystery cave, the top of which is adorned with kissing lizards and an alchemical symbol. Tavros is putting a puzzle of a frog together, but Vriska has already pieced together the puzzle: making a frog universe is, in part, a cipher for personal reproduction. The Ultimate Alchemy is making a baby! And as Vriska says, “real gamers cut to the chase. They power through all the nonsense and go for the gold.” So she brings Tavros to LOMAT and makes the moves on him.

Tavros is equated to a treasure chest by the repeated use of framing and Vriska is GOING FOR THE GOLD, like a WINNER. Tavros later reaches into the same chest for his lance before heading off to attempt to kill Vriska -- affirming that the treasure Vriska seeks here is Tavros’s “lance”.

This setup was suggested by the conversation accompanying the kissing salamanders: Vriska gives Tavros a map with a big red X, saying he should take his legion of imps through the gate and go defeat his denizen. The gate actually leads to Vriska, but she isn’t lying. She is positioning herself to be Tavros’s final boss. The imps are manifestations of Tavros’s pent up rage (much of which was generated by Vriska’s harassment), and Vriska wants Tavros to take that anger out on her. Hence the later panel which uses Vriska’s boots to place a big red X directly over her groin, making explicit the implicit goal of Tavros’s trip to the windmill X-gate.

This pursuit of love through violent comeuppance may have something to do with Vriska’s bitter disappointment that ghost!Aradia did not seem to hate her.

An intermission/introduction of sorts, as we bridge from one discussion of desire to another: did you know that Michael Bay’s Armageddon (1998) structures itself in part around Freud’s Oedipus complex? I say this in total sincerity.

The plot: a meteor the size of Texas bears down upon the Earth, threatening armageddon. Luckily, a crew of rough-and-tumble oil drillers are ready to fly into space and split that mother in two. Oh HELL yeah.

Except, wait, the movie’s actually about family drama: Bruce Willis finds Ben Affleck sleeping with his daughter Liv Tyler; Willis proceeds to chase Affleck around the oil rig with a shotgun, bang bang bang. Not Allowed. The Protective-Father-Hates-Your-Boyfriend dynamic is presented as an Oedipal triad of sorts: although Tyler is not literally Affleck’s mother, she performs the mom-function of “forbidden object of desire” -- and Willis opening fire is equivalent to the castration said to await trespassers onto maternal soil.

The above reading is buttressed by jokes: Armageddon appears to function within an implicit dream machine, such that the characters’ thoughts and fears can become manifest in their environment. So when it comes to pass that whenever  Affleck climbs into a hole (heehee), a pipe breaks (hoohoo), and suddenly everything goes boom, I read that as Affleck reliving the consequences of boning Tyler, packaged in such a way that the Freudian fear of castration is more explicit. (The relevance of Oedipus to the proceedings adds some humor to Steve Buscemi declaring the entire disastrous situation a “Greek tragedy”)

At any rate, after some shenanigans, Willis comes to accept Affleck’s claim to his daughter and confers the deed, as it were. Willis gives the young couple his blessing and they get married. Hooray!

Except, wait, the movie’s actually about the perpetuation of the oil industry: the dream machine was declared at the beginning of the movie when a petty street-side argument triggered the first barrage of meteors. The meteor the size of Texas (aka Dotty) is triggered by conflicts that haunt the central cast -- namely Willis, who enters the film hitting golf balls at a Green Peace boat. On a metaphorical level, Dotty is a golf ball the size of Texas, striking directly at the Earth instead its self-declared representatives. There’s a certain irony here: the film lampshades that the men who are destroying the world have been tasked with saving it.

The family drama folds into the environmentalist angle: Liv Tyler is a symbol of the earth (which gets drilled). This is the joke when Affleck is bouncing animal crackers around on her belly like she’s host to the Savannah: she kind of is! It’s no coincidence that Willis confers ownership of the oil rig at the same moment that he offers his daughter’s hand in marriage: the motifs are being discussed simultaneously.

But enough of all of that: back to Homestuck.

Armageddon’s simultaneous casting of Liv Tyler into the roles of earth and mother offers a glimpse at the interpretive possibilities made available by Hussie’s statement that Homestuck is in a way a synonym for Earthbound (an RPG in which “homesickness” is a status ailment which can be cured by calling your mom). Stuckness or boundness can be deployed to communicate a sense of longing for “home”.

A good chunk of Homestuck is built upon feelings of nostalgia, taken to mean a sort of intense separation anxiety with the past. John speaks about this when he watches Con Air with Jade – John wants the movie to feel like it did when he watched it with his Dad long ago, but the feeling from when he was a kid is gone. This upsets him. Moreover, John’s freakout starts at the moment Cyrus puts a gun to the bunny’s head (5286): Con Air itself is partly about Nic Cage trying to return to the life he lost when he went to jail, and ‘putting the bunny back in the box’ is a metaphor for the attempt. Cyrus, in threatening the bunny, is highlighting his role as a force preventing things from going back to how they were. Thus, if we are to believe that John is responding to the movie thematically, Cyrus confronts John with his own inability to go back to a happier past – his inability to go home -- and this recognition is met with anger.

In making the leap to the psychoanalytic motifs, it helps to recall the part where baby!Dirk responds to being born by cracking open his ectotube and crawling back inside. Dirk, who aspires towards his “ultimate self”, illustrates here that he envisions his ascension as a return to the ‘essence’ of Dirk from which he (and all other iterations of himself) arose, as represented by the ectoslime. Baby!Dirk gestures at unity with his ectoslime/essence by crawling back into the place from which he was born, which I’m basically claiming is a “return to the womb” on a symbolic level, or at least that this is a useful parallel to draw. (A related motif to think about: Dirk decapitates himself by sticking his head inside a box, which as per Con Air symbolizes the place you wish to return to)

[Hella Jeff sez: “i took (my pants) off because i was banging your mom for a minute there..... AND NOW YOU ARE BANGING HER”]

Castration becomes unavoidable as you try to relate all of this to Dave, whose occasional references to banging hot moms are part of an ongoing reference to the Oedipus Complex. Critically, the complex is not /just/ about wanting to bone your mom, but also fear that your dad will chop your junk off if you do. The breaking of Dave’s sword on the rooftop is a realization of this fear (yes, we’re doing the “swords are phallic” thing). But Dave has no mom that he knows of, so what gives? 

The answer is in the way Bro inexplicably breaks the record emblem on Dave’s t-shirt, as though he has introduced a fissure into Dave’s very identity. Life with Bro has made it very difficult for Dave to be honest with himself, which is to say, Dave pictures Bro’s abuse as having divided him from an ideal “true self”, which can feel emotions without all the anxious ironic detachment. I mentioned before that seeking unity with that from which you came is a “return to the womb”. This is the sense in which the Oedipal mom attraction becomes relevant: the return to the past is sexualized. The ‘home’ Dave wishes to return to is /himself/, and in this sense Dave is his own hot mom (which is related to how often Dave compliments his own looks, as well as the above gif suggesting Dave’s boner – he is literally/metaphorically “attracted” to himself).

(Incidentally: this model of desire, in which a broken subject attempt to become whole again by seeking out its lost half, is basically the concept of the soulmate, as laid out by Plato. Cherub reproduction turns the metaphysical pursuit of one’s lost half into a plot-level objective)

John’s entry item (apple) was linked to fear embodied in a childhood trauma (the Fall), and the same can be said of Dave. Hatching from the shell that contained your primordial goop (Dirk) is analogous to being violently separated from yourself (Dave), which is why Dave’s entry item (an egg) hatching coincided with Bro slicing the meteor in half: the abuse that divided Dave from himself, his “castration” by Bro, is simultaneously the “birth” that separated Dave from his “mother” (which is also Dave).

The general idea is that birth = self-alienation = castration, insofar as all are depicted as modes of being separated from oneself.

The broad motif of ‘being separated from oneself’ can be very useful for identifying brain ghosts in unexpected places. Take for example, Roxy’s fenestrated planes: when they are introduced the narrative is quick to tell us that if someone were caught half in/out of one of the windows when the power cuts out, they would be sliced in half. By the rule of Chekhov’s gun, this introduction should mean we should eventually see someone get gorily bisected by the window, but alas we never do. 

Instead, when Gcat warped the panel away, trapping Roxy between the windows, we were shown the image of a bisected horse puppet in Dirk’s apartment, This signals that Chekhov’s gun has indeed gone off. But rather than splitting a body, it split a soul: Meenah’s introduction follows the sequence because Roxy has generated a shadow of herself, a doppelganger. This is not without precedent: an earlier portion of this post was devoted to exploring the fourth wall as a mode of self-alienation. Roxy’s panel mishap can be considered part of that pattern.

If Meenah functions as an extension of Roxy, all of her actions can be read as bearing some relations to Roxy’s own latent thoughts and desires. Prior to the epilogues, for example, Meenah imploring John not to give her the ring seemed to be yet another Fuck You to the late Chekov: the issue never comes up again. But a psychic link between Meenah and Roxy would suggest that John broke his promise to Meenah by giving the ring to Roxy, and that whatever motivations compelled Meenah to make her request in the first place would also apply to Roxy.

Decapitation is yet another mode of self-alienation, and thus can be construed as a mode of birth. Hence the image of Lil Sebastian hatching from his shell of taxidermied man meat. That’s a motif unto itself, but what I wish to call attention to is the match-cut from John’s broke body to Jake’s broken tower. The juxtaposition collapses the images into metaphor, such that Jake’s loose dome in the woods becomes a decapitated head -- an appropriate addition to the pumpkin patch it rests in, given all the Headless Horseman jokes. We can look to Dirk for for another example of a headless horse-man of the house echoing the head: for a guy who idealizes decapitation to such a degree, it is striking that Sburb aims to provoke him by reattaching his beheaded apartment to its underlying units.

Houses act as metaphors for heads, then “Homestuck” could also interpreted as “head trapped” -- like the title emphasizes confinement within one’s own mind. Such a reading offers up Failure to Launch and Arrested Development (posters on John and Jane’s walls) as alternate synonyms for Homestuck, as each satirizes (or outright mocks) potential failure states in the process of inter-personal and mental development (ie “growing up”). Like Earthbound, both lean on a sense of homesickness in characterizing despondency, as though characters are haunted by the needs that defined their childhood -- or else find themselves needing that childhood itself.

But collapsing nostalgia into infantile regression is far from the only way to approach the house/heads equation. One might read the transformation and growth of houses with Sburb as metaphors for expanding the mind. One might infer that the choreography of events within houses can map out thoughts like dancing bees. One might take the metaphor as a foothold for interpreting the significance of the Sburb logo being at once a house and a window. \I have my own thoughts about Homestuck’s brain-ghost haunted house-minds, but for now, I only hope that this document has raised some interesting questions -- and ideally, that the interpretive approaches I’ve described might be useful in seeking answers.

[ripley95]

For the Video Game asks - 1, 9, 14, 22, 39, 62 & 69 :)

Thank you so much for the ask! These were really fun.

1. First game you played obsessively? and 14. Favorite game music?

Were both answered here

9. Most regrettable purchase?

Was answered here.

22. Do you wear game related clothing/accessories?

I do! When my dad bought the N64 he got a really cool shirt with it and I lucked out because he could only get a kid's size. I’m the youngest in my family so that meant it was mine. Back then, that was the coolest shirt to me and I’ve loved wearing game merch ever since. I don’t buy a ton of it, just because of the cost, but I have a few pieces in my current wardrobe. I have a BioShock hoodie that I got from PAX and I’ve bought a few Mass Effect hoodies too.

39. A sequel that you would die for them to make?

Mass Effect: Andromeda. They left that game so open-ended and with so many questions unanswered. I really enjoyed it despite its imperfections. I can’t imagine it ending where it did. But the game was such a flop that I don’t know if we can realistically ever expect to get a sequel. I’d love to have one though.

62. Ever buy a console specifically to play one game?

I haven’t. I got REALLY close to buying a PS4 just for The Last of Us 2 though. I loved the first game. When I saw they were making a sequel, I had to know what happens. With the way this year has gone, I couldn’t justify spending that much money to play one game, so I ended up watching a playthrough instead.

69. In your opinion, best game ever made?

This probably doesn’t come as a surprise given what the majority of my Tumblr revolves around, but I’m going to have to go with one of the Mass Effect games for this. I’ll admit that BioWare is far from a perfect company. They could do a lot to improve their gaming experience, especially in terms of sexism and better representation for marginalized groups, but that being said, no gaming experience has ever come close to what I’ve felt while playing their games. The fact that you can make choices that alter gameplay and how your character is perceived was such an amazing mechanic to me the first time I played. The fact that you could choose a romance was also such a new mechanic to me and something that really drew me into the games because I’m a huge sucker for that kind of stuff. Choosing one of the Mass Effect games specifically is really difficult though. The simple answer would probably have to be the first Mass Effect game. I have played it recently and in a lot of ways, it doesn’t hold up to today’s standards, but without that game to pave the way, we also never would have gotten the trilogy. I also remember when I first got that game. It was the first time I felt really attached to the character I was playing, and I think that was in no small part due to the fact that I had a choice in the character I was making. It was the first time I’d really gotten to choose a female avatar and that was really memorable for me, but then they even let you shape who your character becomes to a certain extent and that was so cool to me. I could finally make a character that I could relate to more. Plus, I’m very into sci-fi, so Mass Effect was basically the perfect combination of everything I ever wanted from a gaming experience.

[incomprehensiblelentils]

1, 11, 25, 30

1. Top 5 TV shows

I am taking this to mean “my favorite TV shows” and not like “these are shows I recommend” bc even though there’s some overlap in those categories they are NOT the same thing

Avatar: The Last Airbender - nuff said, this show is just very good

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - this used to be my favorite Terminator thing until Dark Fate and I still love it very much. Summer Glau is perfect, Lena Headey is a goddess, and Thomas Dekker is the best John Connor we’ve ever had.

Community (seasons 1-3) - the season 3 finale was the end for me. No further comment.

Warehouse 13 - I love this kinda bad show with all my heart and I think more people should watch it but also it’s bad, but also I don’t want any non-fans to ever say anything bad about it

Dollhouse - ditto except this show is sometimes good but I understand it’s kind of a hard sell in 2020

11. Top 5 female characters

I am going to try to list some women I don’t talk about very much!

Aeryn Sun (Farscape) - Kyle Ron WISHES he had this redemption arc

Rogue (X-Men: Evolution) - goth teen purple-lipsticked Rogue is my FAVORITE Rogue. I love her so much

Jessika Pava (Star Wars) - Jess! Pava! Deserved! Better!

Wendy Watson (The Middleman) - DubDub is so relatable and Natalie Morales is really underrated as a comedian. Please watch this show if you haven’t, it’s like if Men in Black and the 60s Batman show had a baby and it only watched Legends of Tomorrow and Inspector Gadget.

Calamity Jane (Deadwood) - Jane is a mess of a person and she’s butch representation and I adore her.

25. Top 5 ships

again, gonna try to be less boring and talk about different ships or it’ll just be the same five ships I always yell about.

Thor/Jane (MCU) - I think these guys are really cute and they get maligned unfairly in both fandom and canon!!! let Jane climb him like a tree!!!!!

Calamity Jane/Joanie Stubbs (Deadwood) - DEADWOOD SAID BISEXUAL RIGHTS. These guys just fell in love quietly during season 3 and are still doing great 10 years later. They’re just happy! It’s very good.

Cameron/Donna (Halt and Catch Fire) - I did some yelling about them a few weeks ago and I am still not over this, thanks. They!!!!! were semi-reluctant business partners and then had a huge falling out that lasted for years DURING WHICH TIME DONNA PLAYED AND BEAT CAMERON’S VIDEO GAME THAT NO ONE ELSE COULD BEAT, BECAUSE SHE UNDERSTANDS CAMERON. and also Cameron lived with her and her family for months. and the series ends with Cameron excitedly telling her “I have an idea.” they’re gay your honor.

Buffy/Faith (BTVS) - this is the real answer to Bangel vs. Spuffy disc horse. But also genuinely I think they are intertwined in a very interesting way and that they kind of need each other.

Troy/Abed/Annie (Community) - they’re in love thanks no further comment

30. Top 5 off-screen relationships

I...don’t know what this means. I am interpreting it as “ships that maybe happened or could happen but the canon won’t tell you because they’re cowards”

Bobbi/Kara (AOS) - after all this time? ALWAYS!!!!!!!! I have Many Thoughts about Kara and I curse the writing decisions that killed her instead of keeping her around. and she and Bobbi should have fucked.

Dominic/DeWitt (Dollhouse) - I cannot believe that this wasn’t canon! They were so great and so tragic. This is also king and lionheart, now that I think of it.

Cisco/Caitlin (The Flash) - they’re just really cute and support each other so much and also I’m pretty sure their evil versions were fucking, soooooo

Thirteen/Yasmin (Doctor Who) - I haven’t seen the new season yet but I just think they’re cute and should kiss

Honey Lemon/Gogo (Big Hero 6) - there’s an entire episode of the cartoon about how they try to live together. these are lesbians

[bemused-writer]

Could you please do Joey Mallone for the character ask meme?

Of course! I’m guessing you mean the same questions as the one I did for Rosa?

favorite thing about them - I love Joey’s wry wit. I find him absolutely hilarious. I also really love how he cares about people. Sure, those people are usually fellow ghosts but who can blame him? That’s his community now. Furthermore, he manages this despite being pretty jaded about a lot of things both in his life and death–despite all that’s gone wrong and the fact he doesn’t know why he’s a spirit guide, he tries to maintain a positive-ish outlook.

least favorite thing about them - I suppose his harshness in the first game is kind of tough especially when you adjust to how he is in the fourth and fifth installments (where I think his personality was written absolutely perfectly). Still, he was trapped in a hospital for 20 years without anyone to talk to, so I think it’s somewhat understandable.

favorite line - Every time he refers to a ghost as a “spook.” I just love that. I also love his entire speech in Epiphany where we see exactly how he feels about his lot. He’s just a “gust of air.” It’s terribly sad and so impactful and Rosa never really gets a chance to hear the whole speech.

brOTP - Rosa & Joey all the way.  lot of my feelings about these two was already stated in my Rosa answer but I think Joey views her as a proper partner. I know Dave Gilbert has said he views it a little bit like a father-daughter relationship and I can kind of see that but I don’t think it quite fits what we’re witnessing. In the first game there’s some antagonism (understandably) but in the third onwards I think we’re seeing the two develop a proper understanding for one another and a mutual respect.

One of the biggest problems the two had was that Rosa felt like she couldn’t live up to Joey’s expectations; she was always being compared to her Aunt Lauren. I don’t think Joey ever meant to do that; in the fifth game in particular (and the fourth if you go through all the possible responses when Rosa is trapped) we see he genuinely cares about her and, by that point, sees what they have as being on equal footing. They’re two halves of a whole, bestower and spirit guide. You can’t have one without the other.

OTP - I don’t really have one. I think the one-sided Joey x Lauren ship is interesting because it shows us what Joey looks for in a love interest: someone who is tough as nails, has a good sense of humor, and doesn’t put up with his nonsense. XD

I’ve also wondered if he didn’t have a one-sided thing for his friend, Danny, as well. We never did get a full explanation for why he saved him and he refused to give his final words to him as well. This suggests to me it was a powerful sentiment and not one he was prepared to deal with. Joey died in the 1920s, a progressive era in many ways, but I think bisexuality might have still been a hard thing for him to contend with, especially since he’d have grown up in a much earlier era.

Either way, Joey has zero luck in the love department. Lauren viewed him as a nuisance more than anything else; she resented her role as bestower. And as for Danny, he married a woman and from what we see wouldn’t have had that kind of interest in Joey either.

nOTP - I don’t really have one for this either! I like seeing the different interpretations the fanbase comes up with.

random headcanon - Well, one headcanon I kind of already gave is that Joey might be bi but another headcanon is that I think he’s a much more powerful ghost than he realizes. He made a physical representation of his and Rosa’s bond with his tie without even thinking about it. Even Madeline seemed surprised by that.

unpopular opinion - I think some people actually believe Joey is plain sexist and I get it, I do, but I also think we need to give him credit for being quite progressive for the era he was from. Joey never once has an issue with working with women or with them being in charge. In fact, he seems to appreciate it! When he deals with a prostitute, he doesn’t judge her, doesn’t come onto her, doesn’t do anything remotely cringey, and I think that speaks volumes about his character. Furthermore, the one time he had a chance at having an intimate relationship with another ghost he turns her down even if you choose the answer “yes” because he knows she isn’t in her right mind.

Joey respects women. I think he just often puts on a facade of being a player so he can hide his real feelings. Joey doesn’t handle feelings well; it’s why he’s always joking and being sarcastic. It’s why he ran from Danny the second he saw him rather than try to have a conversation. But ultimately, Joey cares about people, he respects them, and he’s all around a pretty solid guy.

song i associate with them - Just the game music. ^^

favorite picture of them - I actually don’t have a favorite picture of Joey exactly but I do have some favorite avatars. I felt like the third and fifth games really captured the right Joey vibe!

I just wish we could have had an even higher resolution of it.

Thanks for sending this in! I’m always happy to talk about Blackwell. ^^

[gascon-en-exil]

While I've certainly found the gay relationships in older FE (i.e. the one's relegated to subtext) much better than modern, subtext is not an equivalent substitution for the kind of confirmation S supports give. I'm really tired of having to rely on subtext for any kind of meaningful representation since it's so easily shrugged off by the broad cishet part of the fandom. And I think shrugging off people's disappointment with "there may be more in subtext" is a little insensitive. (1/2)

That being said I don't see S supports as end all be alls either. I think the system is limiting and I would really just prefer to see S supports and the avatar leave in favor of romances and relationships that can develop more naturally during the plot and save culmination to the epilogues or if appropriate than at some point in the story. (2/2)

You are right in that there is something distinctly artificial about the presence of Avatars and S supports in FE, although like it or not those features are popular enough to where we’ll probably keep seeing them in all non-remakes* going forward. S supports themselves were introduced in Awakening as an update of Genealogy’s purely numerical love growth system, in order to replicate that game’s breeding mechanics. This was a necessary addition in light of how the C-A support system had been employed in the GBA games and Tellius, to develop relationships ranging from the explicitly romantic to the subtextually romantic to the familial and usually not romantic to the completely platonic - and all of these categories either with or without paired endings. FE13 stamps out all that ambiguity to allow the player to make specific, clearly marked choices that lead to eugenics babies, and for all that game’s obnoxious bouts of homoerotic denial it works as both a breeding metagame and an Avatar dating sim. Fates shook things up a bit with two same-sex S supports, but then those are as criticized for being gameplay detriments as much as they are for characterization issues. 

Now we’ve come to the third iteration of S supports, for the first time in a game without breeding. My belief is that the only reason they exist in Three Houses is for that secondary function introduced in Awakening, that of self-insert wish fulfillment. It therefore makes perfect sense that Byleth is the only character with S supports, and while I have never bought into FE’s self-inserts and as such care remarkably little about them I understand what they’re meant to represent. It does however highlight the artificiality of the whole mechanic, as it would be unreasonable to assume that the other characters don’t have romantic entanglements of their own outside of Byleth that will be expressed in their C-A supports. Byleth can S rank because they’re meant to be the player, and that’s it. To borrow an observation from @agoddamn, it’s as superficial a conceit as the decision to make Byleth - the amnesiac child of a mercenary with no prior experience - a teacher, which gives them authority to command the game’s armies without needing to be royalty (Corrin), super secret BFFs with royalty (Kris), or BFFs with laughably naïve royalty (Robin).

But is it insensitive to ask people to look to subtext for representation when the game’s S rank options are not to one’s liking? I don’t think so. I’m old enough to remember when subtext was pretty much all you were ever going to get for same-sex relationships in popular media, which for gaming in particular wasn’t even that long ago. Looking specifically at Fire Emblem, there have been all of two inarguably gay characters in the series’s nearly 30-year history, but far more than that who’ve raised enough eyebrows to have people pointing at them as more or less positive depictions of same-sex relationships...and pushback from members of the fandom who don’t care to read them that way. The debates on Ike’s sexuality have raged on for over a decade now, reignited by the existence of Priam, and there are still people out there who maintain that the guy having paired endings with two male characters (and only them) is inconclusive. So yeah, I get the frustration - but does it really matter what other people in the fandom think? For a good bit of the 2000s and (so I hear - not old enough) earlier online fandoms in general were hostile to the idea of slash/same-sex fanwork and kept it walled out of many major fansites, and yet it continued to exist in spite of opposition. Ignore those elements in the fandom, find community elsewhere, and move on.

Besides, this is overlooking the point that reading into subtext can be genuinely fun. Take for example Shadows of Valentia, which produced the series’s second canonically gay character in Leon. Despite this however in the weeks and months following FE15′s release neither I nor my acquaintances in the Tumblr FE fandom spent much time talking about him; rather, most of observation on the game’s queer content focused on the Deliverance, that hotbed of sublimated desires and unusually frank contemplations of non-straight sexuality. In the tumult of everyone in the organization wanting Clive’s heterosexual dick we got Fernand being a frustrated childhood friend turned antagonist and potential rapist(!) via some weird triangulation of desire, Lukas yearning for something he can’t name with his superior officer and Python being the one to coax out the man’s lack of physical desire (for women or for anyone), and Forsyth and Python being massively gay in general but also comically dysfunctional. That’s all far more interesting to parse out than Leon the aging twink pining for daddy dick he’s probably not going to get. Both are entertaining in their own ways, but the Deliverance situation had a lot more analytical longevity. That’s the kind of stuff I’m really looking forward to in Three Houses, from Dimitri’s circle, from Caspar and Linhardt, and from anyone else who presents the material. There’s a lot fewer limitations when you don’t rely on the game to tell you who can and cannot have sex.

*Even though a Blazing Sword remake could hypothetically see Mark the tactician expanded into a full-blown Avatar role, belatedly vindicating the torrent of badly-written Lyn/Tactician fics that flooded the fandom back in 2003.