#I don't think their dynamic would change drastically from what they already have (which is what lets me theorize that they might

[prowerprojects]

It's interesting to see that people think that Amy had given up on Sonic, or even stopped having such strong feelings for for Sonic at all, but I actually have a completely opposite view on this. (Especially since rewatching that Sonic Station Live bit with Amy and after seeing something that made me recontextualize her (Japanese) arc in Frontiers. And I have to stress that it's about the way her arc plays out, not the way she and Sonic interact)

I actually think nowadays Amy acts as if she and Sonic are already together. She's more chill not because she's given up, but because she's already got what she wanted, and now she's content. (Maybe what she wanted changed overtime though, I'll give that) There's always been this bit of mystery in Sonic and Amy's relationship – does Sonic like Amy back? It's always written deliberately in a way that Sonic doesn't give a straight answer when confronted with it outright, to keep this mystery going. And now it also has a bit of a "What are they already together or something?" on top of it.

I actually enjoy this kind of dynamic a lot. And I think it's especially interesting with Sonic and Amy being (in canon) a mlw couple. Because usually this type of dynamic I associate with same gender relationships that are only coded as romantic, and the writers wanted to write them this way (romantically, I mean), but couldn't due to censorship.

Though I will admit it's not like this dynamic doesn't exist in mlw relationships (and it's probably more prominent in shonen too), but it is more likely that they will eventually end up together and go full romo with all the kisses and dates and possible plans for a white picket fence, and lose their interesting dynamic to "well they're dating now". And even with a same gender relationship you know writers would make them outright romantic if they only could. (Which is great, it's always nice to have more open and undeniable representation) But also it lowkey makes me feel weird for enjoying this type of dynamic with those, because I know this is not the kind of relationship the writers wanted to portray, they just didn't have a lot of alternatives.

Which is why I really like the fact that Sonic and Amy's relationship is written this way deliberately, this tethering on the verge of romantic and non-romantic is very appealing to me.

[serpensortiamaxima]

In the light of the summer update not including the restoration of companion feature, which - again - was initially planned and for which NPC lines are already recorded and in the game files, I think I'd point out how drastically it changes not only gameplay but storytelling.

Being a PC player, I use the companion mod to make up for the game's exclusion of the feature, and while it doesn't change anything to the main quest, what it does do is allow the player to craft a more concrete narrative around MC and the various NPCs we're presented with.

I can only use Anwen as an example but it occured to me how the attachment she has to Sebastian is only strengthened by the fact he was her companion. Sure, his questline, his involment in the main quest and the shared trauma plays a part, but in this playthrough, Sebastian was there for nearly everything else. Basically everything including the damn Merlin Trials. Hell, he even spawned during the battle against Rookwood. That alone completely changes the dynamic between them. She witnessed him use Avada Kedavra on his uncle only for him to witness Anwen use the spell he taught her on the man he'd learn cursed Anne. It probably bent canon that it happened this way, but, in that playthrough, it just did.

Even from a character building perspective, having a companion forces the player to ask themselves questions about their MC like "why did they choose this NPC?", "why did this NPC accept to follow MC through thick and thin?", "how does escaping death 589252 times and literally saving each other's ass that many times impact them?" etc.

It just does so much from a RPG perspective that have nothing to do with the practicalities of essentially having a body guard to do quests with. I don't know, I just think it's a shame that Avalanche seems to have ruled this out entirely, at least for this game, because it would have taken their game to the next level. Hogwarts Legacy is a good, enjoyable game, but it has deep flaws that are very difficult to get past for someone who's played deeper, fuller RPG games.

[mrbensonmum]

TV Show - Dr. House | House M.D. VII

Unstoppably we are approaching the end of the third season (currently at S3E20, House Training), and I'm wondering, as my memory refuses to reveal, what major event occurs that causes House to reform his team or leads to drastic changes. Yes, I admit, I'm really looking forward to seeing Thirteen (Olivia Wilde) and also Martha M. Masters (Amber Tamblyn), although I think Masters might take a little longer to appear.

It's quite exciting when you've seen everything already, can remember a lot, but a rewatch helps to put all the puzzle pieces back in the right order. Yes, one could think about it, but I enjoy the suspense.

One of the scenes that made me laugh a lot back then has already come up, namely when House compares a patient's body to the German railway system. Back then, the comparison might have been somewhat accurate, and yes, even in the original, he makes the same comparison with the same cities (Berlin & Düsseldorf), but unfortunately, the German trains, whether regional or long-distance, are nowhere near as good and punctual anymore. I've been wondering the whole time if it was like that back then, but no, today it's definitely worse. Just thinking about how many times I got stranded at a train station last year, BIG UFF!

Otherwise, after the Tritter thing, things are moving rather slowly, and I don't think that's a bad thing at all. The highlight, of course, is the romance between Chase and Cameron, although it's almost over by now. I vaguely remember a wedding in the future and maybe even a divorce? No, I'm sure about the wedding, but I don't think there was a divorce. Oh, I also remember the big bus accident involving Wilson's girlfriend. There's a lot more to come!

Speaking of which, I think the dynamic between Wilson and House has changed a lot since the incident with the prescription pad. At first, it seemed like everything was over and they had no future, but now the connection seems stronger than ever. We also saw that in the story with Cuddy, when they both tested each other to see how far they would go. And then just saying "Night House!" "Night Wilson!" to each other, that's a true bromance, ladies and gentlemen! (I know, I'm late to that party!)

But now there's a very heavy episode on, as once again, an important topic is being addressed, one that often unfortunately gets overlooked in every society, Alzheimer's & dementia. Foreman's mother suffers from Alzheimer's, and I know, it really affected me back then because my grandmother died of Alzheimer's, and my mother is showing the first signs of it now. This disease steals the mind first, then the body, and we should talk about it much more and do much more against it. I know what it's like to watch a person lose themselves in the darkness of this disease, and believe me, you wouldn't wish it on anyone. Once again, a topic highlighted by the series and one that should continue to be addressed. I'm currently wondering if House is airing anywhere on regular TV in Germany, but I don't think so at the moment. That should change because yes, it can be fun and enjoyable for about 45 minutes, but it's also a topic of conversation that might find resonance in the workplace or similar institutions, and suddenly a disease is lifted from its obscurity and brought into the real world. THAT'S IMPORTANT! However, there is another important aspect in this episode that must not be overlooked. Doctors make mistakes, and these mistakes can end up being deadly! Of course, nobody wants to talk about it in the real world, and doctors usually don't admit to such things. It's another issue that's hushed up, but the series brings it back to light, brilliantly! Also, the fact that House performs an autopsy afterward for research purposes may seem strange and odd at first, but it's also about finding out where things went wrong. Yes, it's also to stroke one's own ego, but it's also to prevent such things from happening again.

I won't manage to finish the end of the third season today, but there was another remarkable appearance. In the last episode (S3E19, Act your Age), part of the supporting cast of Bones made an appearance. We saw Joel David Moore and Carla Gallo. And in the episode before that (S3E18, Airborne), Pej Vahdat was one of the passengers or Foreman's substitute.

A little thank you to everyone who diligently reads and shares my Dr. House posts. I'm just doing this for fun, but it's cool that it's well-received and my little analyses are being shared. Thank you very much!

[surely-galena]

Changing the Status Quo of ToT

[WC: 2.1K]

I've been thinking about where Tears of Themis has been heading lately.

ToT is a surprising blend of otome and detective/mystery game, and because of this, it can be difficult to create a balance that satisfies both halves. By focusing too much on the main story, the game risks losing out on sweet moments MC has with the love interests. But on the other side of the coin, by leaning too much into otome, the main story risks being buried or being dragged out longer than necessary.

Am I saying that ToT is failing to hit this balance? Not objectively, because my personal nitpicks with the game could be reasons why someone else might enjoy it.

But I am saying that with the way ToT is created, I cannot help but feel they are building up for something drastic to happen. Something that shifts the way we see the story forever, something so that the characters are never the same again.

Something that changes the status quo permanently.

To be fair, if the developers have planned for this, it's a good strategy. Something absolutely bonkers happening in the main story that upends almost everything would get people talking -- and word of mouth means more people playing the game. Certain examples of massive events like these off the top of my head are Amphibia's season 2 finale and the Hatoful Boyfriend secret route.

There is a certain thing that cannot happen in ToT, of course, and that is killing off one of the four love interests: Luke, Artem, Vyn, or Marius. Although it's not impossible (and would certainly be gutsy), I'd argue that the decision would be too risky.

We all know Luke has massive death flags, but given the nature of an otome game, permanently killing any one of them would risk backlash -- especially from the players who are attached to the now-dead character.

While this decision might work out for the detective/mystery genre, it clashes with the otome aspect. Unless it's a deliberately tragic game or is used in exploration of a greater theme (see: Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly), love interests are basically contractually obligated to not die unless it's a bad ending. And ToT doesn't do bad endings, because that's what the AU cards are for.

Ultimately, Tears of Themis is an otome with detective/mystery elements. This is how I see it, and I'm pretty sure this is also how the game is primarily marketed. So instead of something like Danganronpa which is basically mystery solving with a side of dating sim elements, ToT is otome first, mystery second.

Arguably, there have been some turning points that have indeed changed the status quo we saw in Main Story Episode 1!

MC joins the NXX (Main Story 5)

The lack of a final court case in Main Story 6, and the ensuing hollow victories in Main Stories 7 & 8

But these events feel like they're building up to something. At this point, I don't think we're heading for an ending that waves a hand and tells us everyone lived happily ever after, because that would feel cheap. We can have a happy ending, of course, but it has to feel earned. And in order for a happy ending to be satisfying, the characters have to fight for it, not have it handed to them on a plate.

So that got me thinking. What are examples of events that could cause a drastic shift in the game?

1) One of the main five is a traitor

A lot of the time, revealing a mole/double agent (reluctant conspirator or not) is interesting because it forces us to change our perception of a character. A side character who turns out to be a traitor is fine because we don't care about them. But for someone who is currently part of the NXX -- including MC -- to turn against the group? That's interesting. That's something that will change the group dynamic for a long time. (Exceptions for Neil and Giann because they're a) already suspect and b) it's likely the player doesn't care for them as much as the main cast, because their primary value lies in their connection to the main characters).

Of course, care would have to be taken here if the traitor isn't MC, because you don't want to risk alienating fans of a specific love interest. In this case, the traitor would most likely be redeemed by MC or have second doubts about his choice to betray the NXX. This means all roads lead to redemption, because it probably wouldn't be a good idea to end a well-liked love interest's arc negatively.

In the same way, an important side character turning traitor would be interesting, but not as impactful as the main five. It would be a massive plot twist, of course, but on the whole, it doesn't affect the status quo as much. Unless, of course...

2) One of the important side characters (i.e. someone with a face and is positively linked to one of the main five) turns out to be the big bad

For example: Kiki Bennet is actually behind the whole conspiracy, but hides behind the guise of a cute, internet-savvy attorney-in-training.

If the developers were to go this route, it would have to be done carefully, with some foreshadowing so that the twist doesn't appear out of nowhere. It wouldn't feel earned if details about a side character were simply retconned and tossed aside. Similarly to the first point, this would recontextualize a character, but in a massive enough way that would impact the entire NXX group. Here, I used Kiki as an example because it would be fairly easy to twist her into someone who is at the law firm to keep tabs on MC, and her internet connections could be used as a cover for a hub of secrets and information.

3) The introduction of a fifth, secret love interest

We've talked a little about this in the ToT discord server I'm in (shoutout to @lukepearcing and @roshie-writes here). And yes, the character we've decided is most likely to be the additional love interest is Jerome.

This would, essentially, create a sort of villain route for MC, where she gets her true enemies-to-lovers plotline. While this may not necessarily impact the main story greatly, it would drastically change the otome part of the game -- especially if it comes with UI changes to suit the addition of a new main character.

4) The world of Stellis is not as we know it

The inclusion of Zangr is arguably enough to build on this idea. Of course, Zangr could just be comic relief, or the standard fourth-wall-breaking character. But if Zangr was right all along, and that there is a (fictional) world outside of Stellis, or that there's some kind of multiverse out there, that would change things no matter whether we liked it or not.

(I sort of talk about this idea in referencing the 2022 ToT April Fools' poster.)

Is this a good twist? Honestly, it would be very difficult to pull off. Tropes like "it was all a dream" or "all of it was fake" are extremely hard to execute well. With the main conflict currently linked to the NXX drug, though, I don't see this as something that is likely to happen. I won't rule it out of the picture, but as of now, it's thematically pretty unlikely.

5) Time travel / MC is looping and she doesn't know it

Is this a trope that has been done heaps of times? Yeah.

But it would change the story -- and would allow for love interests to actually die (e.g. if someone uncovers the NXX and assassinates each one of them, resulting in MC looping back to a certain point in time). I don't really have much evidence to support this apart from the prologue, which implies MC has been through some horrible things, and the continual exploration of memory as a theme. (I elaborate a little on the memory theme in my Giann sprite theory.)

For some reason, I always find myself returning to that prologue. Maybe it's metaphorical and has been all along. But I cannot help but feel that in some way, it was meant to foreshadow something that still looms over our main cast.

6) The group dynamic changes in some way

This is perhaps not as impactful as some of the points above, but would still significantly shift things. I've spoken about the potential for an NXX schism in my post about Vyn, responsibility, and trust. The NXX breaking apart, either as individuals or into groups would definitely make for a change in the main story (and would probably not affect the otome aspect as the game will probably let MC be an intermediary and not pick a side).

Alternatively, adding people to the group would also dramatically change things. Some examples of new people could be Darius or Vincent, but the additions also be old members like Neil and (just maybe!) Giann.

The current NXX has been slowly growing together over the last couple of team events. Perhaps something could happen to slow this growth, or something could happen to accelerate it.

7) MC isn't who we think she is

This is very similar to the MC is a traitor point above, but in this particular idea, she doesn't have to be a traitor. This time I'm thinking of something more akin to the twist in Bee & Puppycat season 1, or something connected to her identity or parents. Maybe she isn't just an up-and-coming attorney who believes in hope and justice. Maybe there's something in her memories that she's blocked out and can't remember, or something that she's deliberately hiding from everyone else. If something like this is done, it would completely recontextualize MC, and it would be significant because she's the protagonist. If there's anyone we think we know, it's her.

8) Protagonist switch

That said, is MC/Rosa truly the main character? I mean, she kinda has to be -- she's the girl the main four guys are in love with.

But imagine, even if for a single episode, we play as Ingrid Rosworth, or any other character that isn't part of the main five. If the NXX conspiracy is bigger than we think it is, it could be interesting to step aside for a minute and peek into someone else's perspective. Baldr is kind of a joke at this point, but what if they weren't? This is somewhat connected to the idea of side characters becoming more important, and seeing them influence the plot could impact the direction that the NXX takes. Is this something that will dramatically impact the status quo? Probably not. Is it still an interesting idea? I like to think so :D

-

When trying to break down ToT, I think it's almost inevitable to separate the slice-of-life romance from the main mystery at hand. It's pretty much a given that most of the card stories and solo/couple events branch off after the first anniversary, and maybe even before that.

What this means is that the romance cards/events cannot actively impact the main story, and the main story cannot select a 'canon' love interest for MC or do something that will impact the romance timeline(s) too heavily. And hence, if we were to encounter a significant twist in the main plot, the romance aspect is unlikely to be affected too much. This is probably why a lot of dramatic events happen in the AU cards, because they sort of test the waters -- and allow the developers to see which ones the audience enjoys and which they don't, because the AUs do not directly influence the story.

Overall, that means that the type of plot twists that are likely to happen are limited. This does not, however, mean that the potential to be interesting is lessened, because there are still a number of ways the main story could go down. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I hope the writers have a good ending in mind. Because there is a lot of potential in the threads that they have given us, and rather than continuing on for years with the general pattern of "culprit of the episode", I want to believe that the main, overarching plot they are promising is going to be satisfying, or at least carefully thought out.

There is so much potential here, and I wouldn't be rambling on this much otherwise. Even if the status quo never shifts drastically, I'd be happy with a good story. Maybe that's all I want from the main plot.

[pep-the-artemis]

What I think Murder Drones needs to be a perfect show for me is two more episodes (so ten episodes total not including the alluded series 2) or to make the episodes like 5-10 minutes longer. I know with indie productions more episodes is difficult but MD needs it but I have a few reasons defending my position.

For one, all the characters are well written with very fun and interesting dynamics to the point an episode centred around any one of the core cast would be wonderful. But due to MD being so plot heavy (a prerequisite of an 8 episode structure), we don't get much time to sit back and enjoy the characters and to watch them grow. Extra time given for the characters to just exist would do wonders for the show.

(spoilers ahead from this point on)

Secondly, there is a notable shift from episode 2 to 3, the plot really suffocates imo. in episodes 1 and 2, I feel they really struct a great balance between plot and character development. The episodes are slower giving more time to the side characters. The action scenes are coddled by slower scenes of self-reflection and character development, which is a concept Miyazaki argues is very important. In episode 3 and beyond, I feel the plot takes a stronger lead with basically every scene directly advancing the story causing the show to feel much faster and the side characters to become neglected (rip Thad, your cool kids shin dig will be missed). Stories speeding up is not uncommon nor inherently bad and basically universal but I still feel with Murder drones its jarring.

Thirdly, some parts just needed way more time to flesh out imo. The biggest offender for me was Uzi becoming a 'murder drone' for lack of a better phrase (I know its canonically called 'Absolute Solver' but she was already one of them way before gaining the wings and lust for oil). The show had a full episode basically dedicated to her transformation but then no more, the next episode we're just supposed to presume that she had gained control over the changes to some level of competency and had come to terms with the implications (not going into the implications of becoming a 'blood thirsty' creature was so underutilised it caused me to spend over 6 hours writing a short story just about that concept alone). We need time to see her adapt and come to terms with the implications imo, I think its so important it could have its own dedicated episode.

As I said earlier, there isn't much that can be done, I'm really crying into the wind here. But I still think its sad and I want to be sad about it but you can't cry on social media so you have to express your emotions in a different manner. I wonder will anyone agree?

ps. I chose two extra episodes because i felt you could add two episodes to the show without any drastic changes to the other episodes. I feel more episodes (although lovely) would be a lot more to ask of Glitch and would also require a more substantial restructuring of the series.

[utilitycaster]

My head has been spinning recently just thinking about the sort of backlash that Laura and Marisha would get from fans if Imogen and Laudna didn't end up together.

For example, I can imagine them roleplaying a conversation in which one of pair reveals they have a crush on someone else in the party, and the other supports them fully in that endeavour. I can only imagine the people who would say "she looked away when she said that line so she's lying!!!" or "they're just denying their feelings for each other"

C3 is the first campaign I've managed to catch live, so I'm not sure if this sort of shipping happened in C2 or C1. I feel like Beau/Yasha would be most likely to have caused similar reactions, but even then, I don't think I've seen this amount of protectiveness over a ship that is this vague. Marisha and Ashley at least made it clear from e1 that their characters had (at the very least, one-sided) romantic interest.

Hi anon,

I've gotten a few questions to this effect and have declined to answer some because it does feel a bit like borrowing trouble, even though I will fully admit some of my private DMs look not unlike this. So I'm going to try to answer this with as much sensitivity and thoroughness as I can despite a number of frustrations (not with you, to be clear) and let this serve as my answer going forward unless anything drastically changes. I am making it non-rebloggable, under a cut, and will be blocking any clownery.

Let's rip off the bandaid right away: for some reason, and I have my theories but they are unconfirmed at in some cases, rather ungenerous, Marisha and Laura's characters have been heavily shipped in all three campaigns despite a chemistry I would call middling at best. I think the most generous way to put it is that while Ashley was working on Blindspot, they were often the only two women at the table (though one must look a bit askance at how Veth is often ignored as a female character, despite unambiguously being one). So I suspect that a lot of it comes from simply wanting an F/F romance between main cast PCs during Campaign 1 and having no good options, and then...remaining fixated on that particular cast dynamic, despite, as stated before, chemistry that has never particularly impressed me.

I did not watch Campaign 1 live, so I don't know what the discourse was at the time. I did watch Campaign 2 live and your prediction is accurate. The ship that caused similar reactions was actually Beau and Jester; you can still find people who claim it was a "mistake" to pursue Beauyasha instead and that Beauyasha "came out of nowhere" and was "for the straights." You are also entirely correct that people will grasp at the weakest of straws to support a ship, though, in all fairness, this is not remotely limited to femslash shippers but is a general shipping problem. (The worst offender during Campaign 2 for that, in my opinion, were people who shipped Caleb and Jester and who became creepily obsessed with Laura's expressions late in the game; that is also incidentally still the ship that I think has the most parallels to Imogen and Laudna in terms of canon character relationship vs. fanon perceptions.)

I do expect that if Imogen and Laudna do not get together, for whatever reason, there will be considerable denial. We've already seen some misplaced vitriol towards Ashton, and the response among shippers towards Imogen has, as I've pointed out over the past two weeks, been wildly inconsistent and deeply ungenerous in a desperate attempt to twist her actions in favor not just of the ship, but towards a highly specific idea of the ship as soft girlfriends against the cruel world, instead of a complicated codependence with the potential for becoming something more. I and others have also pointed out that the ship has gone from "they are already in love" to "a QPR would also be totally cool" which is rather unkind to QPRs.

I should also acknowledge the elephant in the room. I am well aware that I am probably public enemy number one on the Imogen/Laudna server where they come up with such bon mots as "bone-dry takes". I suspect this is because I genuinely enjoy both Imogen and Laudna as individual characters and write about them a lot, but in doing so, acknowledge the cracks and tension within their relationship. So on some level, even though the ship could absolutely still happen, they've already kind of started with some of the behaviors you mention, which is rather disappointing.

Anyway, I think this is all to say that this is a general problem in shipping across the board that is not confined to Imogen and Laudna nor F/F ships, but because that specific ship is both, as you say, vague, and yet has an extremely popular and extremely narrow fanon interpretation, it's in particular focus this campaign. I think you're correct that there will be backlash should it not happen, though I would be pleasantly surprised and deeply humbled if there is not. Fortunately I have found that Critical Role is fairly impervious to fandom backlash in terms of the decisions they make in-game, because let's face it, people will push back on anything, including such necessary parts of story as "dramatic tension" and "conflict." If you listened to them you would make the world's shittiest story, and because there are frequently multiple conflicting ships, you can't please everyone. I'm here to watch a story, and I do think ships are intrinsically part of character arcs, so if the ships serve the characters, whatever they are, I think it will be a worthwhile endeavor.

[anghraine]

Another general fandom thing I've been thinking about lately is the extent to which our attitudes are shaped by opposition rather than just liking things.

This extends beyond fandom, of course, but I do feel that the broad dynamics of fandom are increasingly shaped by opposing things we don't like or people we find grating or worse. I'm very conscious of the "ugh at that, I'm going to do the exact opposite" impulse, because I'm a very contrary person by nature and I have to deliberately push against a tendency to have my perceptions (not just activities) shaped by that.

I mean, sometimes we dislike some trend or fanon or whatever because it's diametrically opposed to how we see things or what we like or find acceptable, so it's very natural to dig our heels in. But there's a really common phenomenon, for instance, of "I didn't really care about [whatever], but the fans are so awful that now I hate it." And I have absolutely been there—I'm not excluding myself at all.

But there's still something sad to me about people we find obnoxious actually managing to change our feelings about things and shape what we think about them to such a degree—even though their behavior often has nothing to do with the quality or morality of the thing.

It's one thing if you already dislike something, and then fans/opponents of that thing reinforce what you already thought. But when that actually causes you to think something different than you did, than you would have without them, it's—there's something very uncomfortable about that to me.

Additionally, I think it creates these kind of drastic backlash cycles that can be kind of exhausting. This isn't new in itself, but it feels to me like it's been more rapid and more extreme over the last few years (which may not be an accurate perception; that's just my impression). And this is not always just about annoying and inescapable fanons and the like, but responses to actually bad things.

For an example I'm really familiar with as a lesbian, homophobes in and outside of fandom tend to perceive same-sex relationships as in some way more sexual than het ones and more depraved, corrupt, and/or exploitative. And one of the ways that fans (sometimes queer fans, sometimes not, but well-intentioned) will often respond to this is by a total rejection of that narrative and creating or advocating for depictions of same-sex relationships that are wholesome, soft, and "pure."

And it's not uncommon for those reactive depictions to get pushed forward as the right kind of ships or content to the point that they're presented as the only way to be queer in fandom or to represent queerness, and you end up with people talking like anything this side of Candyland is impure or problematic or grimdark or whatever.

And the thing is—some of those people genuinely prefer the soft bubblegum kind of content for varying reasons, and would have preferred it or created it regardless. That happens! It's not really fair to impose that preference on everyone else (nor fair to deny its validity for some!), but okay. However. A a lot of the time, it gets really caught up in being so much of a rejection of the standard homophobic narrative rather than its own separate thing that it can feel like even things we do for fun are being shaped by homophobes' values and ideas, and we're pressuring each other based on cycles of backlash to them more than expressing ourselves in our own hobbies.

And I feel like this happens in a lot of ways, ranging from very serious concerns like that to "ugh, that fanon is so annoying, I'm going to do its opposite because I can." And it can be difficult to even tell the difference between things we like because we like them, and things we "like" because they annoy people we dislike or at least contradict the things we dislike. A certain amount of pushback to dominant narratives is healthy and appealing, but ... idk. I think it's something to be wary of, too.

[rhine-gold-archive]

You got me! Lol

but honestly? Was going to ask about Diluc and Jean since I don’t understand their relationship?? friend? divorced couple? Nothing but former co workers who generally respect each other?? And maybe comparison between their working dynamic vs kaeya & Jean working dynamic. but if that is not your cup of tea then i was going to ask about Rosaria and Kaeya friendship lol

so you pick whichever you like, Or ignore up to you <3

Jean and Diluc - childhood friends who were *almost* on the verge of dating and everyone around assumed they would get together, but they never actually did bc Diluc left to became a batman. kids of aristocratic families who did not have a lot of options to have friends growning up and at first were almost forced to hang out, but this is what allowed them to get to know each other better. both had pet turtles, come on, that doesn't happen on accident, Diluc is the pets guy (cavalry\horses, bird) so he probs got his first and infected Jean into getting her own, while they were both mocked by Kaeya. They were both crushing on each other, but nothing happened, which is why there's both clear respect, fondness and trust, but also awkwardness that can come off as this "divorced" vibe. They knew each other so well, but then everything changed so drastically and they don't know how to carry themselves around each other anymore despite still caring about each other. but Jean is the only one Diluc clearly trusts with his secret identity, he does his whole scooby doo shebang to throw Kaeya off, but accepts Jean without hesitation. It's almost easier to have a third neutral person like traveler who doesn't know their history around to communicate by proxy while pretending it's only about mondsdat safety. somewhat a romantic option, but very tentative, shy longing on both parts with a belief that the other person has already moved on and changed too much.

Kaeya and Rosaria - friends who have such similar coping and defense mechanisms that they get along very well, but their relationship hinges juuust on this side of unhealthy. Both cynical, closed off, wary of others, cryo isolationists who think it's better if others stay away from them and hang out together precisely bc they think the other one would not get attached and then hurt. The shadowy methods they can share without being judged, the sarcasm, the loneliness. Their problem is that when one would show vulnerability and the need for connection, the other would shut it off, esp Rosa with quite the harsh jabs. But this certainty that Rosa will not get too close and so won't get hurt from being around him is what lets Kaeya hang out with her a lot more, while keeping distance from Jean despite caring a lot about her too. Somewhat?? friends-with-benefits vibes, but very matter-of-fact, not romantic, "we know such secrets of each other and we don't want to get other people hurt bc we believe we're a bad news, so we might as well just have so fun". each of them actually needs open support and acceptance, so I don't ship them romantically, but they're good as friends, esp if they get therapy

[stargazer-sims]

Journal Entry #58

Journal Entry #57 (part two) // STORY INDEX

Victor

Today, I walked my mom down the aisle.

Life's funny sometimes. Not in a hilarious way, but in an ironic way; a way that makes you realize the ideas and opinions you thought you'd always have about it can change, and that the things you feared because you didn't understand them really aren't so big and scary after all.

Last autumn, when Mom told me that she was going to marry Julian, I was upset. It wasn't because I didn't want her to be happy, but because I was scared of the change it would represent. I'd gotten used to it being just her and me, and I didn't know what would happen to our close, comfortable family dynamic if it were altered so drastically.

I didn't want a stepfather. The idea felt so much like a betrayal of my dad’s memory that I did not want to accept it, and I had to force myself to push through the cloud of grief and confusion in my mind to try and see the good in the situation.

When we talked about it that day, Mom told me Julian is her soulmate, and although I wasn't quite ready to see it at the time, I believed her nevertheless. Calling someone your soulmate isn't something you say lightly, and if Mom had found that with Julian the same way I'd found it with Yuri, I knew I had to make the effort not just to be okay with their marriage, but to say honestly that I was glad for them.

It was in January, when Mom and Julian came to Japan to be with me after my accident, when I really began to see the truth for myself.

When they first got there, Mom was a wreck, probably from a combination of travelling and worrying about me and Yuri. She was trying to hide it, but I know her too well for her to get that past me. It was pretty obvious she wasn't getting it past Julian either, but he didn't draw attention to it. I saw the way he supported her, the reassuring touches and the little looks that said I'm here for you.

It also wasn't lost on me how well he looked after me. He treated me with almost the same care as Mom did, like any good father would do for his son. In all the years since my father died, Julian had never tried to step into his shoes, had never once presumed he could replace him, yet he loved me as if I was his own son anyway.

Figuring that out was what really made it hit home for me. Julian had been in Mom's life — in my life — the entire time, but I'd been in denial about what we were all going through. I'd been hanging on so tightly to my memories of Dad, I couldn't see that Julian wanted to give me what I'd been craving all along. He understood my loss and grief, and he wanted to take care of me and let me know I wasn't alone.

Julian had been one of my dad's best friends. His pain at Dad's passing may not have been exactly the same as mine, but I think it was just as deep, and I think it tore out the same Thomas Nelson-sized hole in his heart. But, he never intended to make himself fit into that gap in my soul. He just wanted us to help each other heal.

Julian and I had some good talks while he and Mom were with us in Mt. Komorebi. I felt like I got to know him in ways I never had before, ways in which adults get to know other adults. It was the proper moment for it. He could never have shared some of it before because there are things that are just too heavy for a child to grasp.

My moment of genuine acceptance came when Julian echoed my mom's sentiment of several months prior.

"Grace is my soulmate," he said. There was absolute certainty in his voice. "I don't believe in love at first sight, but there's a point where you just... know."

"It's hard to explain, isn't it?" I said. "But, I know what you mean."

"I know you do."

"Mom said she knew you were her soulmate too, even though she was married to Dad."

Julian nodded. "She and your dad were already married when I met them. When I realized how I felt, I told Thomas about it, even though I knew what it might mean for me and for the future. I just.... wanted to be honest. Thomas was my friend too, and I didn't want to cause any problems."

"He trusted you," I said.

"He did, and I respected him. I promised him that nothing would ever happen and that I'd never interfere with their marriage, and I never did. I'm not sure if Grace even knows Thomas and I had that conversation."

"I don't think she does," I said. "She talked to me about this a while back, and I think she believes you tried to hide it or like, maybe you tried to pretend your real feelings for her didn't exist."

"Well, she wouldn't be wrong about that last part. I did try to talk myself into believing I didn't really feel that way about her, but that was practically impossible. All I was doing was torturing myself, so I made up my mind to just be grateful she and Thomas were both in my life, and to love her in the only way I could, as a friend."

If nothing else had convinced me Mom and Julian were meant to be together, that did.

What Julian did is the most selfless thing I can think of. I mean, you don't sacrifice your own happiness or your own dreams and desires for somebody you don't love. He could've caused trouble or he could've just moved on, but he didn't do either of those things. He stayed and he waited. Even after Dad died he waited until the time was right, and I think if Dad had lived, Julian would've spent an entire lifetime waiting and quietly loving her in his heart.

And Mom… I know she loved Dad regardless of him not being her soulmate, and I’m positive she would’ve stayed faithful to him no matter what. She could’ve acted on her feelings for Julian, but she held back because she must’ve known what it would do to his friendship with my father, not to mention the impact it would’ve had on Caroline and me. She loved all of us enough to protect us from the potential consequences of that, even if it meant she might never be more than Julian’s business partner and friend .

If people like them don’t deserve to be rewarded with happiness, then I don't know who does.

So, this afternoon, when the officiant asked, "Who gives this woman to be married?" I came forward without any hesitation or fear.

"I do, with joy and pride," I said.

Julian stepped out to meet us, and I placed Mom's hand in his. Then, I took my place in the line of groomsmen, next to Uncle Stephen.

I couldn't keep the smile off my face for the rest of the afternoon.

The day itself was practically flawless. The sun was out, and the air was warm and not too humid. It was the perfect afternoon for an outdoor wedding in Magnolia Park.

Mom and Julian had hired an event planner, and their people took care of all the arrangements like catering, decorating, flowers and setting up all the tables and chairs and everything. They even moved in a baby grand piano, which Mr. Okamoto later said was almost as nice to play as his own piano back home.

Mom looked beautiful in her white gown. She had her hair done up in an elegant style that Yuri said was called a French twist. I don't know much about hairstyles, so I had to take his word for that. All I know is, it looked amazing.

Something else I learned from Yuri — in advance of the wedding, fortunately — is that there's a tradition where a bride should have five things on her wedding day, for luck. It's not a Japanese tradition, so I'm not sure where Yuri found out about it, but I'm guessing it was from all the romance novels and movies he likes to read and watch. There's even a rhyme to help people remember:

Something old, something new, Something borrowed, something blue, And a penny in your shoe.

Mom's 'something new' was her dress. The thing that was both old and borrowed was my great-grandmother DeLuca's wedding tiara.

I hadn't known that Nonna Isabella and Grandpa Giancarlo were coming, and I'm not sure Mom did either. She'd invited them, of course, because who doesn't invite their own parents to their wedding? But, I was under the impression they'd declined, citing their age, and the length of the journey from Tartosa, and the fact that since Mom and Julian were honeymooning in Italy anyway, they would see them soon enough. So, when Leo called me two days before the wedding and asked if I wanted to ride with him to the airport to pick up our grandparents, I was surprised.

Apparently they'd decided last-minute, or as Grandpa Giancarlo put it, "Your grandmother, she change our minds the day before yesterday."

With Grandpa Giancarlo, it's hard to tell if he says stuff like that because he reached a plateau when it came to learning English, or if he's actually trying to be funny. Knowing Nonna Isabella, though, there was more likelihood it was a fact than a comedic fiction. I can totally hear her being like, "Giancarlo, we're going to Canada!" and then making him scramble to get ready to depart.

Nonna brought the tiara with her. She explained that her own mother had worn it, she'd worn it, and now it was Mom's turn. I didn't ask why she hadn't given it to Mom to wear when she married my dad. I'm sure she must've had her reasons.

As for the 'something blue' part of the rhyme, that item came from Yuri and me. My lovely Yuri had the foresight to bring the pocket square from my wedding suit, and he said I should let Mom carry it with her. Not even gonna lie about how much I cried over that.

Yuri folded and pinned the pocket square into a little fan shape, and we gave it to her together. Her flowers and the accent colours for all the decorations were pink, but nevertheless she tucked the little blue fan into her bouquet, on display for everyone to see.

The penny in her shoe was actually a one yen coin, supplied by Yuki because, "You can't forget the last part, Auntie Grace!"

In the evening, there was an after-party, where everybody got to congratulate the new bride and groom, some people drank champagne, and most of us danced. Yuri and Mr. Okamoto provided the music for the first two dances, but after that it was all recorded music for the rest of the evening. The party took place in the same event space at the hotel in Newcrest where we'd had Julian's bachelor party just a few nights earlier, and we had the same DJ from the bachelor party too.

Grandpa Giancarlo gave a speech that had everyone at the party roaring with laughter by the time he was done. Uncle Stephen and I said a few words, and so did Julian's parents and Ellie.

Mom and Julian had their first dance together, and then, when it should've been time for the father-daughter dance, Grandpa got up, bowed gallantly and swept a hand in my direction.

"You dance, Victor," he said. "You gave away a lot more today than I did."

I wanted to tell him that wasn't correct. Today, I finally, fully understood what I'd been trying to persuade myself of since last November. I hadn't given away anything, and I'd gained so much; a stepfather, a stepsister, the comfort of knowing my mom had someone to love and protect her, and a sense that one more piece of the grand puzzle of our intertwined lives had slipped into place. For the first time in a long while, I felt completely at peace.

Even though everybody was watching, Mom and I danced as if nobody was. The song she'd chosen for this moment was The Butterfly Waltz, and although I'd heard Yuri play it dozens of times, I wasn't prepared for how beautiful it would sound with Yuri and his father playing it as a violin and piano duet.

What a fitting choice of a song, I thought. We're all a little bit like butterflies, really. Each of us has changed in big or small ways, all emerging into the light as someone different than we were before. Change isn't always something to fear. In fact, sometimes it can be good, and the experience can teach us important things if only we stop and take the time we need to understand the lesson.

There were a million things I wanted to say to my mom as we spun gently around the dance floor, but I couldn't come up with the right words for any of them. So, I simply told her I love her and that I'm happy for her. I think she understood there was a lot more on my mind, and maybe she had a lot she wanted to say to me too, but the smile she gave me told me it was all right not to speak. There would be time later to say all we needed to.

This, her smile seemed to say, isn't a moment for deep conversation. It's a moment to feel all the love surrounding us and to celebrate it.

And celebrate we did. Some people will feel the effects in the morning, but I doubt anyone who was there will say it wasn't worth it.

[celestemagnoliathewriter]

I think one of the things that has puzzled me about Jegulus(insert obligatory “ship what you want” disclaimer here XD) is honestly just wondering why James would want to hang out with his best friend’s brother anyway lol. This could just be a me thing, but I have two siblings and I barely interact with my siblings’ friends(although tbf the age gap between me and my siblings is bigger than S and R’s age gap, so that makes it easier for us to not interact with each other’s friends lol) so I feel like James would probably be in that same boat where he’d rather hang out with his own friends rather than worrying about his friend’s brother. Not to mention Regulus was also a Slytherin so even we put aside the house rivalry, both boys would probably be more busy hanging out with people within their own house or at least within their own year. (Obviously Harry does together with Ginny who is Ron’s sister lol, but I feel like that was different, because they knew each other from Gryffindor House and Ron and they had already built up a good dynamic with each other before they started dating. Whereas there is no real evidence to suggest that it would have been like that for James and Regulus 🤷‍♀️)

(That being said I don’t mind stories where James and Regulus start to become friends-usually in stories where Regulus survives the cave, but I don’t see anything romantic between them unless one decides to drastically change the characters and then that gets more into AU character territory imo)

@puppyduckster you make a lot of the same points that I do. @toujours-prete summarized this in a comment on an earlier post: "I already know I'm basically getting fanfic for a fanfic of a fanfic. It's not the ship itself that bugs me, honestly! It's this really weird specific version of all the marauders era characters that I don't recognize whatsoever because it's not HP, it's an HP-inspired game of telephone."

HP-inspired is more like where Jegulus fits. It's not the canon characters at all, which is frustrating for people who do want to read about canon characters in a close to canon way, but Jegulus doesn't meet that (in my opinion).

I'm the same on the sibling thing. I'm one of three, wouldn't ever befriend any of my siblings' friends. They didn't befriend mine. My closest friends do not have overlap with their siblings' friends. it's not impossible, but as you pointed out, with Ginny and Ron, Harry was around both of them multiple times.

I see James and Regulus becoming as close as Ron and Draco after the war - it's technically possible that they became reluctant acquaintances, but no more than that unless we're going AU.

I suppose the ship and let ship thing works here, but like many others, my frustration is with the use of canon characters in a way that's so far from canon that they're mostly OCs. I like a good OC, but I'd rather know up front they're OCs rather than thinking I'll get a canon character acting in really un-canon ways.

And ofc I do like some un-canon stories, AUs, etc., but I tend to look for AUs that still feel like canon with a few exceptions.

[bedlamsbard]

Reread the Hydra Cap AU and I really enjoyed it once more; it fucks supremely. I know that you are not a huge Tony Stark fan, and that’s legit, and if he wasn’t a major player in that hypothetical fic, it would make sense, BUT. I do really enjoy what you’ve set up for him in the concept writing. What’s he got going for him without his Vast Fortune, yknow? Obviously, the trope of the genius inventor working his way up from nothing is problematic and a bit silly, but. Well-executed it’s fun, yknow

Thank you! I really do think about this one daily, though there are a couple of reasons it hasn't gone beyond concept writing. Chief among which is that it doesn't have a plot, just set-up, and part of that set-up involves running out all the events of Phase 1. (The sticking point has actually been Thor, since so many of the events of that movie are driven by factors that wouldn't be affected by the HYDRA-SHIELD changeup, but have pretty drastic consequences further down the line; if Loki and the Chitauri are still invading in this AU, it completely changes the dynamics and plot of the story. If they're not, then SHIELDRA's response back in Thor has to explain why not.) (And the way my brain works I can't just ignore it because it's more convenient.)

Tony was always intended to be a main character in the story (or maybe a secondary character -- Yonder level of involvement, anyway, not Horizon level), since part of the conceit was setting up the Avengers in secret. The AU's divergence point is back in IM1, during the Tony-Obadiah fight at the end of the film, with Tony and Pepper believed killed when the building collapsed. (Possibly Obadiah did not get fried by the arc reactor overloading? Specifics aren't important.) SHIELD -- which was still run by Fury at this point -- pulled Tony and Pepper out of the rubble, but Obadiah had already rushed a funeral and completed his takeover of the company. While Tony and Pepper were recovering, Obadiah sold the prototype of his version of the suits -- the Chessmen suits -- to Alexander Pierce (a.k.a. to Hydra), which tipped Fury off and started him digging, tipping Pierce off and resulting in an attempted assassination and a successful hostile takeover of SHIELD. Basically the SHIELD on SHIELD violence from CATWS but the bad guys won.

Tony was out of the fight the whole time, since he was still recovering from having a building dropped on him, but was at Fury's secret base when he and the SHIELD loyalists limped back after the end of that fight. (The named ones are Clint Barton, Maria Hill, and Phil Coulson, but it was a pretty significant number of survivors; other loyalists, including Natasha and Sharon Carter, remained undercover at SHIELD/HYDRA.) Since then Tony's been with realSHIELD (and has upgraded the Iron Man suit); at some point he was able to get in touch with Rhodey, who's still with the USAF and is still technically the liaison to Stark/Stane Industries, now doing the spy thing. Tony built him the War Machine suit but I don't think he's had a chance to wear it yet. I don't know exactly what he would be doing in this hypothetical story, but he would be in it, especially for a rematch with Iron Monger and the Chessmen suits. He's with realSHIELD, so he's not exactly working himself up from nothing in this scenario. It would still be a Steve and Natasha focused story, but he's there.

As for whether or not I'm a Tony fan -- I actually am; he is not my favorite character in the MCU, but he is a character I do really like. It is just not super obvious in my writing because most of my fic has set been set post-CACW and because I mostly write with a Steve and Natasha focus, Tony does not come out well from their POVs at this point in time. I know that the fandom is really polarized on the team Iron Man vs. team Cap issue; it is one of the few times when I have been stopped IRL by a stranger over Marvel. (It is the one time I've seen Marvel fen act like SW fen in terms of taking sides in a fight I wasn't aware I was having.) Within the CACW to Endgame timeline there's not really any way to write any of the characters involved without having it come off as taking sides and that ends up reflecting back as "the author does not like either Steve or Tony," which is not true; I write the characters like I see them in the films and during this timeline they are portrayed by the PTB as being EXTREMELY polarized towards each other. I'm not a hack; if I'm writing him at a different point in time, I'm not going to write him the same way I do during the IW timeline. If/when I go back to Reaches he'll be a viewpoint character there and that'll be Avengers!Tony.

[rei-caldombra]

Don't Mess With Me Nagatoro- One of the Best Romance Manga out there.

Yes, you are reading that right. There will be spoilers and I will be focusing on the manga, just briefly touching on the anime at the end.

My main focus will be their characters and romance. I’ll go into other things at the end. 

I do not have much defense for the very early parts, especially the first chapter. She is genuinely very harsh and that was legit bullying, not just teasing. I completely understand people being uncomfortable with the first few chapters. The beginning is not very indicative of the series as a whole. The tone and pacing drastically change part way in, especially starting in the second volume. For example, they make it explicitly clear that she comes to realize she was being way too harsh. A few chapters in we already see her apologize when she realizes she goes too far. Over time we get clearly shown that he comes to enjoy his interactions with her. Especially when she does get less harsh. 

There is a good amount of character development, especially for Senpai. You see how Nagatoro has done a lot to help him, primarily in making him stand up for himself and others. You could absolutely make the argument that in a relationship like theirs, especially considering the harsh foundation in which you could argue there is abuse, he feels forced to change. But I don’t feel that way. We see from the beginning that Senpai wants to stand up for himself. He wants to be more talkative and direct in communicating with people. Nagatoro helps him to go about those changes, by both being someone he needs to stand up to at times, but also how to best go about it. Their daily art room shenanigans do a lot to build towards Senpai’s growth, as well as be funny and cute. Then the moments outside of the school move away a bit from the routine shenanigans and offer nice dates between the two that generally progresses the characters. While there is a lot of content that can be seen as not dramatically progressing their relationship, I think it's important to stick to the fun casual interactions that are the basis of what makes the manga so good. Without those the very good comedy of the manga would largely be lost. These goofy interactions are core to their relationship and dynamic.

Over time their relationship blossoms into a very well-done romance. They learn to respect each other’s boundaries. They start to learn the finer things that make up each other and do things to make each other happy. They both learn to bring down the walls and move away from the routine. While Nagatoro primarily pushes the relationship in the beginning, later they are roughly on equal footing. Seeing them both pursue their passion and see how those pursuits affect their relationship. It’s very sweet seeing them learn how to support each other. This is seriously one of my favorite romances. You will see as you get further on how wholesome and endearing their relationship becomes. It consistently gets me smiling ear to ear. I am not saying people need to put aside their issues with bullying/teasing or any other content that they take issue with being portrayed in media. But if you can stomach the very beginning, I can tell you this relationship is worth getting through it for. At first their dynamic is just dom/sub but as it goes on their genuinely good chemistry together becomes apparent. And from there as they get more directly romantic, we spend a lot of time seeing how their chemistry develops and changes. At their absolute best Nagatoro and Senpai have an extremely sweet and supportive relationship. 

This will include spoilers for very late in the manga, hitting on stuff going on in the most recent chapters as of writing this. In my opinion people get too hung up over them not “officially” dating. In terms of their actual relationship with each other, they are in a romantic relationship in pretty much every sense. By where the manga is now, they have directly expressed their romantic interest in each other and have done many of the things people in relationships do. I actually really like that the writing does not get hung up on the firm status of dating and embraces them, taking things as they go and letting their relationship happen in whatever way they feel comfortable. They both end up having clear goals that they are using as part of their motivation concerning their relationship. They are waiting until the right moment to move forward, and both of them recognize that that is the state of their relationship. And that’s completely valid. They do not need to have traditional progression as they are not traditional people in a traditional relationship. It makes it more interesting as a story and promotes the idea that there is no exact way a relationship should go. I feel this aspect of their relationship fits their personalities and dynamic while also portraying a uniquely functioning relationship that is just as valid as any other. 

The amazing Nagatoro faces. If you’ve seen anything from Nagatoro without reading/watching it, its people using those faces as reaction images. That’s how I came across it. The author is great at drawing expressive faces. Many people who have never seen or read it know exactly what Nagatoro’s personality is just from seeing her expressions. 

There is quite a bit of fanservicey stuff, and obviously their dynamic is very much a dom sub intense teasing relationship. If you strongly dislike fanservice or don’t have interest in that dynamic, you will likely struggle to enjoy it. But the legit fanservice is not as common as every chapter or even every few chapters. And some scenes I genuinely do think there is some tastefulness to it and shows how their relationship has progressed (such as the nude modeling and their conversation in the hot spring). It sounds like trying to justify horny stuff, but I promise those two scenes are both incredibly important for the points I brought up previously.

I’ll briefly touch on the anime adaptation and say that it's good. Both Nagatoro and Senpai have very good voice acting and for the most part the art does a solid job mimicking the more detailed expressions. These two points are honestly the most important to me. The presentation is not great, with a lot of still shots and lower detail. Some people may also be bothered by how the studio changed for season 2 but I did not think these are major issues. The style of the manga, with how much emphasis it puts on dynamic frames, makes sense to not be adapted to be super fluid. It’s a bit of an excuse, but it kind of works. Personally, I would recommend the manga over the anime due to the art quality. I don’t think the coloring that the anime offers adds a lot in this case. 

I truly love this series. It's one of my favorite romances. I admit I started largely because the dynamic fit my tastes, but I have stayed with it for the wonderful relationship that came out of those initial interactions.

Thank you for reading! I hope reading this has encouraged someone to give the manga or anime a shot. 

[lovefromskyee]

10/04/24

I have officially completed the first week of my AS levels, and I'm not going to lie, things are going much better than I expected them to?

I have been very close to mainly one group of 3-4 other girls, and I told them I was bi today, and they all accepted me, which was really such a huge weight off my chest. I casually just mentioned it in conversation when one of them said that they never had a friend who was gay, so I just immediately for some reason replied with "well, I'm bi, so-" and then they all just stopped for a second and went "oh, that's great" and stuff, there wasn't much of a discussion to it which I appreciated SO much.

We also played badminton today, and it was so much fun. I became much closer to some of the new students with the game too, because we kept having to take turns and we were playfully arguing about if we were out yet or not and it was all so much fun.

I don't think this new class is better than our old one, honestly. The dynamics in our old class were genuinely the best, and all of my bestest memories were from there, but this class is definitely incredibly great and special in its own way. For one, we finally have more girls than boys in our class, and that is still so surreal. And the people from my old class who I was actually close to, I'm still in contact with, so I'm not in that deep of a state of mourning anymore.

Our studies have ramped up so drastically too, though! I have no idea how to even start revising for Biology, and we've already completed the first 15-20 pages with almost ten pages of notes, and a bunch of diagrams which I'm not quite sure what to do with yet. I'm just hoping I'll figure it out soon, and not actually fall behind my studies at any time. Fingers crossed!

I love sociology so much too! It's one of the new subjects I have this year, and I love the classes so much. Our teacher is so much fun, and I get to yap for 45 minutes every day, which is never going to be something I complain about honestly. We have to research on cults as homework for friday, and I'm researching on the cult of cybele, which is basically this ancient religious cult that predates the roman empire, and became infamous FOR how popular it became, where it was a threat to the actual roman leaders. If you can't tell already, I'm having a lot of fun.

I went through my Wattpad today too, and I found this old therapy book that I unpublished in the year of our lord 2023, which was originally just a bunch of motivational speeches for my very mentally unstable followers at the time. I kinda want to do something like that again, but I have no idea how. Maybe if I do, it's going to be private, but we'll see, I guess.

My favourite song right now is red wine supernova by chappell roan, and it's been on repeat for days now, so I will most definitely reccomend it to anyone reading this right now.

I don't know why exactly, but I'm really missing ninth grade these past few days. Maybe it's because my brother has just entered it, or maybe it's because it was the first year I had offline with the people who would become so important to me in just the span of a year or two, but random memories from 2022 are just playing in my head, but I'm not sad about it? I don't know, I'm a little glad I'm not the girl I was then, no matter how much nostalgia she's bringing me right now. She had a lot of stuff to work through, and she's gotten me so far, but this is where I have to leave her now, if that makes sense? I'm so grateful for all the progress she's made, but she's not there anymore, and I don't think that fact is something I mourn actually.

Even if I don't want to admit it, my personality has changed a lot with this new class, but in the best way possible. I don't have to be unnecessarily mean to be scary anymore, and I'm telling people I love them and saying compliments whenever they're at the tip of my tongue, and I'm smiling so much more now and laughing so loudly, and somehow, I've stopped caring how my teeth or my neck or my jawline look when I do so? I've made friends much more easier than I expected to, and they're all so nice and smart and funny and pretty, and I don't have to get them scared of me to listen to me, because they care about me and understand where I draw my boundaries anyway. It took so long for the people from our older class to get that sometimes (not that I didn't love them just as much), so it's actually kind of surprising how safe I feel with these people considering that they're practically strangers, you know? Maybe I'm just rambling now hahah.

Okay I really do have to get back to my sociology and psychology homework now, so this is where this entry will have to end. If you're reading this, I hope you literally have the best day ever, and I hope that your favourite person gets you flowers and you go outside on an annoyingly hot day only for it to start raining, and I hope you only have good hair days for the rest of your life. I love you!

Love from Skye <3

[shuttershocky]

It's deliberately misrepresented slander, but the way Parvis turns Saria's "Fine, I'll let things continue so long as Ifrit's safety is being considered, just don't make this a problem I need to disarm with fists" into "Yeah it's no problem if I turn the child into a bomb when Saria will disarm it with fists" is just, the epitome of how Rhine abuses her trust. Everyone in the company she built disrespects Saria's desire to protect people but banks on her protecting them from the fallout anyway.

Can I just say like 99% of the time drama coming from misunderstandings and miscommunication is SO fucking bad because everything would be cleared up if all the parties just TALKED to each other but the way Parvis manipulates Silence makes it make total sense. i LOVE how scary it is, because it's all done through dialogue that asks you to read between the lines.

Parvis leans on Silence and Saria's imbalanced power dynamic to manipulate her, primarily because it's in Silence's in-game profile that while she may be shy, she's actually willing and able to communicate openly for things dear to her heart. If Saria were to learn everything, Parvis would get his ass punted straight into the horizon, so it was imperative that he break the trust between the two.

That's why Parvis brings up Saria's position and responsibilities at all times, why he says, though never directly, that oh it's incredible that Silence and the Defense Director are getting along so well, but don't you think you're abusing the Director's generosity a little? He pressures Silence's own insecurities, uses the hostility she gets from her fellow lab members to isolate her, make her feel both like the office suck up who gets close to the bosses for special favors, and for being an ungrateful lowly worker who doesn't know her own place.

Once she's nervous and unsure about her safety in her own workplace, then comes breaking her trust in Saria entirely. When Silence gathers enough courage to go behind Parvis' back and realizes that they've been making Ifrit into a human weapon, Parvis first reminds her about her own complicity ("But silence, you were the one who put the originium shard in her"), then attacks Silence's trust in Saria by telling her about Saria's real work of defending Rhine's corporate interests and PR, implying she did some real dirty things to do it. With one lie by omission by telling Silence that Saria chose the safety of Rhine over Ifrit, he was ready for the kill.

He tries to challenge Silence's faith then when he says "Do you really think Director Saria would choose you over Rhine Lab's interests?" which he could only have done after drawing out her insecurities, but still ends up failing when Silence insists that maybe Saria would not choose her, maybe she was nothing to Saria, but the love that Saria showed Ifrit HAD to be real. Saria would fight for Ifrit.

So Parvis changes his approach and attacks that by showing Silence that Saria's signature was on the approval form for the designs of what would be Ifrit's weapon.

That's what finally does it. Silence won't be open with Saria anymore because she can't. in Silence's eyes, Saria was in on it from the start, and that Silence believes only she had Ifrit's welfarein mind all along.

And STILL, out of some lingering hope or wish, she still tries to ask Saria about it when they're alone. But Saria's own wishy-washy answer, trying to toe the line between keeping Kirsten happy and protecting Ifrit, only fed the growing distrust Silence already had for her.

That's what led to Silence taking drastic measures and putting up a plan to temporarily kill Ifrit with a heart-stopping drug, then smuggle her out of Rhine that ended up causing the disaster. Even if she didn't have a single fighter's bone in her body, Silence is both courageous and crazy enough to do something really stupid (which she does AGAIN for Anthony's sake in Mansfield Break)

[slushiebunny666]

I'm a smidge worried about the new Velma show coming to HBO max.

I'm all for representation, hell I have definitely enjoyed when Velma was shown to be of asian descent in previous iterations of Scooby-Doo movies. But it feels like Mindy Kaling is balancing a few too many plates.

There are beloved characters with rabid fan bases and Velma is one of them. She is taking the franchise into a darker and more gritty place, okay. Are the characters recognizable? Let's just hope. People are already upset that she's changed something as minor as her ethnicity, but if the personality is even a little bit off on Velma or any of the gang, this shows going to bomb.

What's sad is I really don't want it to. I love when Velma is quirky with a little bit of dry humor, maybe she doesn't exactly understand what's going on socially, but generally she's used as a plot device to explain to kids what's going on. And since the child aspects been removed I don't know what's going to be left of her personality. The closest example I can think of would have to be Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated, where we appreciated the representation with Velma being a closet gay. But her skeptical nature often made the show a little too depressing with Scooby-Doo being an emotional support half the time and being a dick the other half. However the gang had a good balance with an even better story making up for its faults. Since they plan on removing Scooby, the comic relief is going to be very minimal, but I guess that's what she's going for. This might offset the dynamic of the group drastically. It feels like the only personalities that might not change would be Fred and Daphne. But Daphne doesn't even have one solid personality that she's given in every iteration, we don't even mention how Fred doesn't even have one (aside from traps and driving but the mystery machine won't be there either so oop). My only speculations for the dynamic would be Fred and Shaggy having a bromance/really strong friendship to keep the tone at least breathable. A friendship with Fred might also keep Shaggy from falling into that terrible stoner personality type where his entire personality is just "I smoke weed but we can't say that because this is a kid show". Due to the nature of the show, I'd have to think that Fred and Daphne might be in an on and off relationship where you know they care about each other but they just can't seem to work it out. Velma's relationship to Daphne is entirely dependent on which personalities they give the two girls. In other iterations they're like an opposite attracts best friendship, or they're constantly at each other's throats because of how different they are. With a strong female producer, I hope she'd be empowered enough to let them have a good bond. Also, just leave Velma gay, let Velma have a nice girlfriend (hotdog water) who joins her sometimes on the adventures with the gang. Better yet, if Daphne and Velma have a positive relationship, when the supposed girlfriend comes along to help on an episode she can give Daphne a little bit of advice with Fred so that they can seem like they're like actually friends that don't hang out that much. That'd be great for world building as well as flushing out characters to make them feel less one-dimensional or archetypal which usually happens with Scooby-Doo. I'm not exactly sure on the age range for the Scooby gang but with what we do know, my best guess would be just finishing high school/early college. (the angstiest time in a young adults life!)

Please get it right, God I'm so excited for this, just fucking God please.

[kitkatopinions]

🌹💚💤💦💣 :3c

Ship that you have as an OTP: 🌹

Ironwood x Qrow is probably my top ship in RWBY, but I wound up loving Mercury x Whitley too, which sucks, because it's so niche. XD And also, lately, I've been torn between Freezerburn and Weiss x Pyrrha as my top Weiss ship. I can't decide which one I like more.

Ship that you secretly like: 💚

Okay, so I haven't talked about this, and I really hope the RWBY fandom doesn't kill me for it, but I've started to like the idea of AU-Only Blake and Adam. I absolutely hated this ship in any context for a very long time and it made me feel uncomfortable to see it even in AUs and re-writes. But while I was trying to think about what I'd do with a re-write, I started to enjoy my version of Adam (who I would drastically change and probably redeem at least a little bit,) and enjoy the possibility of him and Blake's dynamic including their romantic past. It's still one of my least favorite canon ships though.

Also one of the early ships in RWBY that I enjoyed that I've never really stopped liking the concept of is Yang x Neptune. It's not in the list of my favorite ships for either character, but I actually really enjoyed their working together scenes in volume 2, and I thought they could've been good together.

Ship that is canon but you don’t ship: 💤

Renora is the only ship that has reciprocated feelings on both sides that is canon that I don't like, I think. I used to love it, but I hate how it was done in V7 and V8 so much that it's colored how I view even their interactions in the earlier seasons. Also, I don't think Harriet and Clover is quite canon, but I absolutely think this ship on its own is badly done in the show, and not enjoyable at all for me even outside of it. I don't mind Harriet x Clover if Marrow is thrown in there as a poly ship, but on its own, I really don't like this ship.

Ship that is taboo: 💦

Outside of the already mentioned Alternate Universe Only Blake x Adam, I don't actually have very many ships that I like that I would consider taboo. Before anyone knew Neo's official age, I thought she and Ruby might be cute together if she turned out to be around the same age as Weiss, Yang, and Blake, but I never really got into it. Most of the ships I like that are policed are only policed in this fandom. Like Oscar x Whitley would be considered 'taboo' by some members of the fandom who think Oz being in Oscar's head means Oscar can never have crushes on people. And Mercury x Whitley would be considered 'taboo' since Mercury is probably nineteen in canon and Whitley is 'anywhere from fourteen to sixteen' in the show, despite the fact that my sister and I started shipping the two of them after A. having been writing for the characters to have started the show at sixteen the entire time because MKEK hate timelines, B. having already headcanoned Mercury as actually fifteen at the start of the show, Cinder having had him lie about his age to get into Beacon. And C. Us having written volumes 4-6 to only take up a logical time period of *less than a year,* landing Merc at just sixteen to Whitley's assigned fifteen by the time we had them meet. Also, I've started liking the idea of Elderburn, Marrow x Jaune, and Marrow x Weiss even though not really in canon and only in fanworks, and I still have no idea how old Neo is supposed to be and I only know she's an adult, but I honestly don't hate the idea of her with Emerald. Shipping 'ambiguously young adults' with nineteen year olds is only taboo in this fandom, I swear.

Ship that pisses you off: 💣

I've already talked at length in other posts about my severe dislike of Blake x Yang as a ship and my newfound dislike of Renora, so... Here are the other ships that piss me off. Cardin x Velvet. I get that people change him for re-writers, but this ship still makes me feel even worse than Blake x Adam ever did, because of how horrible he was specifically regarding her Faunus traits. Anything that's Jaune with more than one woman at a time or Jaune with any of the villain women. The Jaune Harem writers ruined even the concept for me. Qrow x Summer doesn't always piss me off, but if I see it in a 'and that's why Qrow is Ruby's dad' context, that instantly takes me from 'not my cup of tea but cute enough' and into 'I should block this tag' territory. Robyn and Qrow is a ship that I absolutely hate. I can only stand Salem x Oz when it's 'in the past she used to be better,' but most of the time, this ship makes me want to kick something into the sun. Honestly, most Cinder ships, but especially Emerald x Cinder and Neo x Cinder. Hazel x Oz is the worst. Scarlet x Sun or Scarlet x Neptune (both boys deserve better than Scarlet.) Umm... Oh, definitely Coco x Velvet. I'm sure the ship can be done well in fanworks, but boy howdy I hate it so much especially in canon. I have my problems with Velvet in the books, but she deserves so much better than Coco. I would pair her with Nora, Ruby, Blake, Sun, May, Octavia her temporary partner in Before the Dawn (I never read After the Fall, so if Octavia is worse in that book, I don't know about it,) or pretty much anyone else before I would ship her with Coco. Oh, another one that I really don't like is Robyn x Any of the Happy Huntresses, but I especially hate Robyn x All of the Happy Huntresses. They all deserve better.

Thanks for the asks! <3