#I think I'd love to experiment more but where do I find the time ugh

[stil-lindigo]

hi! i'm currently taking a stab at a short comic for the first time and i was wondering — if you're willing to share — what goes into the “base” of your projects? your creative notes have been a HUGE help in pinpointing things i might want to outline in my own work before i actually start making the project, but i'm still incredibly curious about the initial work and planning that goes into the making of yours. love your art!

hello anon! first of all, congratulations on starting on a comic! I hope you find it very fulfilling, and a great learning experience. To answer this ask, I'm going to use bite of winter as the main example for my work process.

Text: More often than not, I start with the entire textual part of the comic finalised. This is kind of obvious, considering my comics are entirely built around it serving as a sort of narration substitute, but it stays true for comics that are just dialogue as well. Speech bubbles will always take up more space than you think. It's good to have all the dialogue finalised before you start so you can accommodate them in the thumbnailing process. --

Thumbnails: I make thumbnails for all my comics so that I can, at a glance, see if things are cohesive. I'll often spend a lot of time at this stage, since it's also the part where I wrack my brain for smart things I can do compositionally (sometimes I go into comics knowing what sort of smart things I want to do e.g the comparison between the open grave + the empty bed was the entire inspiration behind making shallow grave). Thumbnails are always quick and dirty for me. I know my own brain, so I always just do the bare minimum and know I'll be able to interpret it later. Here are the thumbnails I made for bite of winter.

note: the bright blue border on all the 'pages' is just to indicated where i should try to keep my panels.

it's extremely shitty but it's decipherable to me, and the whole point of thumbnail is that you're hopefully saving yourself time in the future by getting all this planning out now. --

3. Colour: Colour blocks are how I plan out how a comic's colour scheme should look as a cohesive package. Although I didn't used to do this for comics, I do it now ever since I wasted around 8 hours on patchwork canary just fiddling with the colours (ugh). I'll usually go into a project knowing what kind of tone I want to convey with it, which gives me a launchpad for what kind of colour scheme I'd like. For instance, RED, one of my best comics, only uses three colours (black, white and red) and that limited colour palette enhances the message behind it. I think it wouldn't be nearly as impactful if it was all standardly coloured - having that contrast pushes Red's impact as a significant character in the narrative by making her pop on the page.

In a similar vein, almost all of the sunset's emotional complexity gets expressed through its colour palette of red, blue and yellow.

Even though it might be more conventionally coloured with shading and whatnot, the choices behind making certain scenes darker/lighter and etc really sells the story more in my opinion.

These are the colour thumbnails I made for bite of winter. It's incredibly rough, but at a glance you can tell the comic doesn't have any particular page that is jarring or pulls you out of it.

As one more note: I'd advise doing all thumbnailing/colour-blocking at a much smaller size than the actual page is going to be. It keeps you from obsessing over fine details, and encourages you to just block in shapes and colours really quickly.

--

that's all from me for now. I hope this helped, and I wish you luck on your project. Pace yourself! Comics are more work than people ever say they are, and it's good to just take your time and enjoy the process.

[peachkage]

hi! can you do headcanons for Ace with a s/o that is a scientist? and like she just loves expirements n stuff? also she’s a whitebeard pirate right? so she’s actively trying to figure a way to make devil fruit users immune to kairoseki

(can this be au where ace lives please?)

My first request!! :3 soooo excited thank you for sending this in anon, It's such a cute concept!! I hope I did it justice, been thinking abt this all day ugh he's such a cutie!! I'd love to write more abt this :3 Ace brain rot continues!!

When Ace joined the Whitebeard pirates he was often told stories of a crazy scientist who was always causing havoc on the Moby Dick.

Their first meeting he was awoken by some foul smell seeping into his senses and was face to face with a grinning girl. 

The two grew close super fast due to Ace’s ability to cause trouble and land himself in the infirmary (which just so happens to be next to her little lab set up).

Both being trouble makers they bonded in pranks

She often dragged Ace into experiments, of course Ace would never say no to her. 

Getting together for them was inevitable, none of the Whitebeards were surprised. Infact Thatch even had a bet with some others on how long it would take!

She brought up her dream of being useful to the Whitebeards by nullifying the effects seastone prism would have on a devil fruit user a little bit after they started dating.

Ace understands completely where she’s coming from, she wants no harm done to anyone she loves.

Ace is always the first one to step up and volunteer for her crazy ideas

He always promises whatever she does to him would never hurt and makes sure to give her plenty of reassurance throughout.

He often gets caught staring at you while you geek out about some fancy new science fact and he is oh so in love with everything you do.

He may not look like he’s listening but trust him when he picks up on all the little things like how you really like the Nelumbo Nucifera or some of your more morbid facts like how easy it is to rip out a throat….

He also loves how eager you are to teach him all the fire facts you can find through your secret experiments!!!

When Ace is captured she can’t help but feel at fault that she was unable to finish her research for immunity to sea prism stone.

She is stressed the entire time constantly holed up in the lab, staying up day and night looking for anything to help nullify seastone.

She thinks she might’ve found something!

Marco, about to be bound by seastone prisms, flinches at the idea of the effect stopping him from saving Ace 

But the drowsiness never comes and the effects are super light, nearly nonexistent. She figured something out!

With Marco’s newfound immunity he’s able to help Ace escape.

Ace couldn’t be more proud when he recovers and find out all your hard work over the last few years has finally amounted to something.

He commends you, science is a long process of trial and error but you never gave up.

“I’m sorry I was too late to prevent your capture, it must’ve been hard” she would say while holding him close to her heart.

Oh how he’s so in love with you.

[onyxisnotuniqueenough]

i don't exactly know how to deal with this - I'm not a big enough person on tumblr to have ever been confronted to this type of comment :

but it still surprised me to see this when my experience on here has honestly been overwhelmingly positive and I've never really talked or met someone who'd comment something like that on here.

i don't honestly think it's wrong to put this person on "blast" (even though, let's be honest, me posting about it is less of a blast and more of a nice summer night breeze.) since they have commented this publicly for everyone to see - so i see no issue in answering in a just as public of a way.

anyway just wanted to say that I think it's kind of sad that you value fictional characters and people in general based on their physical appearance, and that you seem to forget there is an actor aka a real person behind that role.

and oops - guess what - whatever you think of the appearance of any fucking actor - that's not the part of their job that fucking matters!!

Now, let's try to see walk a few centimeters in your shoes. In your eyes, Foggy is ugly as fuck. So that means he can't get the girl, right? Is that how the story goes? Whatever his personality, his humor or his charm - everybody always only looks at physical appearance and there is not ONE person on this earth who cares, or should care, about what's really underneath.

now apparently, Hallelujah, Karen is attractive in your eyes so she deserves love. Ugh, but that is SO RUINED by the fact that she's ANNOYING AS HELL.....EW.....

There's 2 ways for me to take that Karen is annoying comment.

1 - it's the Skyler White Syndrome and any woman who worries, cares, makes mistakes or has any kind of character flaw is just a nagging annoying woman who's ruining your badass man show. like "guys? what the fuck? there's someone else than a muscular superhero dude or the very evil/murderous/manipulative/actually annoying guy that i somehow forgive on my fucking screen!!! hide that shit or else my masculinity will dissappear!!!!!!!!!"

Now since I don't know your gender or your background - this could be either internalized misogyny or plain old sexism at play. Couldn't care less. Either way it's stupid to think that a female character is either perfect or horrible, a mary sue or a bitch. and that you'll complain either way.

2. I give you the benefit of the doubt. You finding Karen annoying has nothing to do with your gender or what you think of women in media and entertainment and more with the fact that you honestly do find her annoying. What exactly has she done to be described as annoying? Is her dialogue bad? Is her story taking away from Matt's? Are her decisions stupid or irrational and you just can't take it when a character makes actual mistakes?

What exactly are you criticizing her for? Because since I've written my post about romantic relationships i'm willing to bet that your "Karen is annoying" thing is said in a romantic context and that it's just the way she speaks or her personality that you dislike, and this has nothing to do with what actually makes her character interesting or how her backstory has shaped her actions and behavior.

Now I get that we all have our favorite characters - and we have characters we don't like to see on screen. But I wouldn't say that Foggy "being ugly" and Karen "being annoying" qualify as legitimate reasons for you to think they don't deserve to have romantic relationships or that they. "TERRORIZE" MATT??

What kind of show have you been watching? Did you get a bootleg iron man dvd and get confused? where are you getting this from?

Are you saying that you take any conflict that Matt can have with his friends is terrorism? That they're ruining his life? That every time they say they're worried, everytime they tell him not to be Daredevil, because of their own love for their FRIEND, that's terrorism???

Matt cares about them just as much as they care about him, and I'd hardly qualify their overprotectiveness, or honestly, with Matt putting himself on the brink of death all the time, just protectiveness, as TERRORISM.

These "two bums" deserve to be on the show because they're an essential part of Matt's character development and Matt's life in general. He needs loved ones to protect, loved ones to worry about him, loved ones to encourage him, loved ones to call him out from time to time, loved ones that have been through it with him and have stuck with him for a long time.

And the two actors that play them deserve just as much of a chance to get to bring something new to their performance and get to share the screen with long-time friends.

you know.

in the reboot of a show that they were major characters of.

i think i got everything out. hope you're willing to expose yourself to a different opinion and that you read this whole post @nyxxhecate

also. your blog is pretty empty. you should get on that if you don't want people to think you're some spam account.

the end :)

[sincerely-sofie]

still cant get over travailshipping. i remember when you first tested the waters with it (which i believe was some time before the tpiag chapters started coming out?) and at first i thought it was pretty funny. ark slowly but surely falling headfirst for twig, who if she had a tagline it would be "if i could turn my feelings into weapons, mine would be a goddamn nuclear bomb", and her at first just being oblivious to it and thinking that the letters that expressed love and care that were written in cursive in her mailbox were just funny and she wanted to show them to ark with the guy just looking at her with the most "well that backfired in the weirdest way possible". but when tpiag finally ended i finally connected the dots as to why these two are just. augh. i wont go into detail here in your askbox but i wanna know is: HOW DID YOU DO IT. HOW DO YOU KEEP MAKING SUCH GOOD IDEAS FOR THE FUNNY DIGITAL ANIMALS. TELL ME.

(thinking to myself) "Ugh I should stop posting so much travailshipping stuff... It's probably so annoying to everyone who sees it. I feel bad for my poor followers. I'll check my inbox real quick and then commit to shaking up my content by—" *gets obliterated by your niceness*

Oh man. I remember posting that poll where I hesitantly described a possible Darkrai/Twig pairing in the tags while proposing Twig/Kip as an alternative route, despite it not being the direction I wanted to take the characters, because I was so scared of what people’s reactions might be. If I remember right, I posted it a little bit before I had just barely reached 5k words in the first draft of TPiaG.

I've been trying to write up detailed responses to how I come up with good ideas for travailshipping in particular, but there's one rule I use that defines everything after it and speaks for all of them: I have fun with the characters.

That's it. That's the rule. If I don't want to write a subject, I don't. I stick with what I find enjoyable and resonant. Does a joke make me laugh? Does a scene make me cry? Does a villain make me punch a hole in my wall? Does a cute gesture make me squeal? If so, then into the project it goes. I think people can feel when someone is having fun with their work, and that fun radiates out into their own experience consuming that work. It's like laughter— joy is something we're sharing with others as long as we feel it. Fun is contagious.

Also: when you don't force yourself to make things you hate, you attract people who like the same things as you. These people will find your work even more fun— because not only did you have fun making it, they're having double fun consuming it.

An important tangent I'll go off on is that I think that every creative project idea is a good idea. There's so many beloved bizarro ideas in the world, even the ones who try to be cool about how weird their premises are. There's this weird show where the main character works as a service industry worker in an underwater setting that's ruled by a Roman deity— he lives in a piece of fruit, and his pet gastropod makes cat noises. This show sounds like word salad garbage on paper and could be tossed out for its nonsensical nature, and yet SpongeBob SquarePants has made Nickelodeon over $13 billion dollars and is a treasured part of many childhoods. There's also a character who spends his time locked in intellectual and physical combat with a wannabe clown and wears a costume with bat ears while doing it. Batman's been an icon for over 80 years.

All of this is to say:

Ideas are always good ideas by virtue of existing. They don't derive their goodness from external sources. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Make more of what you love. Don't make things you hate making.

If you have fun while making the thing, people will have fun while they consume the thing's content.

I hope this makes sense. I didn't touch on idea generation as much as embracing existing ideas. Fingers crossed that was the right response. I'd just woken up from a nap as I was writing it, so hopefully it's not too meandering and managed to answer the question and—

— Oh shoot. Was that a hypothetical question??? Uh. Sorry if I went off on this rant when you were just trying to voice your niceness. Oops. 🫥

[polyhexian]

Ah okay I have an idea for Jasper's mental health journey in Eventually.

I've got two meta reasons for why Jasper should be mostly-mentally-stable. The first is Hunter, obviously; the kid's going through it, and he needs this new parental figure in his life to be, like, okay. As delightful as Jasper's breakdown in MH has been, it would be super bad for everyone involved if his mental health was anywhere near that point in Eventually. The second reason is CAMILA, who just became a mother of 6 and absolutely does not deserve to also be shoehorned into playing therapist for a grown man. I love the idea of Camila and Jasper being friends, and Camila deserves to have a friend who, while definitely traumatized, is also mostly on top of his shit. Once he's no longer unconscious on her couch I think Jasper would be a huge help around the house and with the kids and he and Camila should be the responsible adults supporting EACH OTHER, so we don't want him to be a hidden wreck or a ticking time bomb.

So the first few years after his "death" Jasper reads parenting books as a coping mechanism. It helps him visualize where Hunter's at in his development. Every so often he thinks "he's probably taking his first steps right now" or "he should be speaking with a few words per sentence by now" and it's sad but it helps.

But eventually the baby books run out (is there really much of a market for them past, like, age 5?), and also Jasper is well aware of the fact that he left his child in an extremely bad situation. He knows what Belos is capable of, and while he has hope his kid PROBABLY won't ever see his own spinal cord, he's not stupid enough to think that being called "nephew" will actually protect Hunter from all of it. Child abuse is a thing, and it's a thing that's usually perpetrated by, y'know, family members.

There aren't any books entitled How To Unindoctrinate Your Estranged Child Soldier, but that doesn't stop him. He reads everything he can find on the subject and learns about allllll the things. Physical abuse, emotional abuse, gaslightning, manipulation, CSA. (He hopes to the Titan he won't need to know about that last one, but then he wonders if it'd be preferable to, like, being beaten to the edge of death and dragged back from the brink with healing magic multiple times, and then he just feels awful that he's even trying to decide what the "better" sort of abuse to endure would be.)

And pretty regularly he happens upon a paragraph that is, like, scarily relevant to his own lived experience and he needs to reevaluate some things. Maybe he tries to brush it off, but the more he interacts with Hunter, the less he's able to do that.

Book: Believing that love is transactional is, in fact, a sign of trauma, and not good or healthy.

Jasper: …haha, right, okay.

Hunter, at their next fight: I am LOYAL to Emperor Belos, I OWE him, and I HAVE to keep working hard so he'll LOVE me!

Jasper: Oh my Titan okay yeah this is really upsetting to hear and deal with, actually.

Sometimes after their fights Jasper has to just…go lay down and stare at the ceiling for a while before re-reading his self-help books and grumbling while he takes notes like ugh, FINE, they were RIGHT. He and Hunter end up working on their issues after their reunion because they see themselves reflected in each other and they HATE it.

Jasper: Look, I'M not important. YOU'RE the one who's important here and I WILL sacrifice myself for you.

Hunter: Dear Titan this is infuriating.

Luz: Now YOU know how it feels.

Hunter: Maybe it'd be better if I'd just died, that way I'd stop causing problems for everyone I love.

Jasper: *deep breath*

At some point in the Human Realm Hunter has a bad mental health day and locks himself in the basement, and Camila finds Jasper sitting at the kitchen table and she's like, you okay? And he's like, I've read a lot about this, but all my books and notes are back in the Demon Realm and I feel like I'm flying blind and have no idea what I'm doing. And she's like, actually that's pretty par for the course when it comes to being a parent. And he's like, oh really? That's kinda reassuring, thanks. I'll just wait and see if he wants to talk about it later.

omg.... eventually!jasper is like... he's so isolated, he doesnt have anyone he trusts and he doesnt have a single person he'd call a friend. he's fallen back on the same thing he did under belos in a way- there is one single driving motivation in his life and absolutely nothing else matters. whether it was serving the emperor or saving hunter, he HAS dedicated everything inside of him to one single person at a time. probably not great, but! he could be doing worse. also, MH jasper is having a lot of breakdowns, but its also been less than two years for him lmfao. for eventually!jasper its been sixteen!! hes had a lot of time to gather his shit together

im actually imagining the isolation is less like. immediately of a problem because hes fairly used to it. he only ever had one friend before and he didnt much trust him either, not with his secrets. so being alone is... well, just what hes used to. hes also probably like. deeply in hiding wherever he is. he doesnt have magic and his face is all fucked up and if word got back to belos about it, he would totally suspect if not outright know.

ive kind of got this mental image of- you know at the end of the time travel episode when belos goes into his little cave house and its. like. hes got normal house stuff in there. like he has shirts hanging to dry on the cave walls. sure theres like evil grimwalker stuff in there too but its the domestic items i find hysterical. so like. im imagining jasper has found himself a nice secluded cave to bunker down in but also hes had sixteen years to straight of domesticate that place. there are definitely couches in there. hes got a CB. hes probably got running water and hes stealing electricity from the neighbors. and cable. and then just books fucking everywhere. jesus christ. theyre everywhere. what else would he fucking do with his time; hunter isnt allowed out of the castle on weekdays. that is. so much time to just Do Nothing.

he probably does hang out with the CATTs on non hunter missions too, if only because some of them will fuck over belos which he actively wants, or has no impact on the hunter situation either way, but improving his relationship with the CATTs before he inevitably pisses them off again is always a good idea. also, its something to fucking do.

god yeah just. camila with this bizarre man in her house. hes not having breakdowns, he doesnt like not understand that other people have feelings, hes mostyl together, hes just fucking weird. he hasnt been around people for this long in basically his entire life. hes not wearing a mask and hes never spent so much time without a mask in his entire life. hunter is here???? hes spent 16 years trying to save hunter and uhhhh shit i did it. i am not entirely sure what to do now. turns out you can spend sixteen years planning out this reunion and then it all go out the window immediately. also hes been living in a cave and hes forgotten basic rules of being in a house sometimes. hes very POLITE and gracious to camila especially like, i imagine both him and hunter frequently thank her and offer To Do Anything She Needs and its like. so fucking funny to see them both just Like That.

omg hunter gets to actually meet hawk hunter. "haha yeah he saved my life. hes like three hundred years old and he cant talk. look at this gnarly scar hes got. he bites me a lot"

[vole-mon-amour]

I'm pretty chill about sex and especially about fictional characters having any kind of real affect on me in terms of an attraction and a physical reaction, but then Halsin enters the game. he is so. fucking. hot. both as a bear and a human. if anything, his shape-shifting, his experience with other bears (his scar, heh) make him even hotter. i love how his human form is to match his animal one, how tall and big he is.

like, with Astarion it's my typical let me talk to you, let me hold your hand, let me hug you. spending time together and talking is enough. sex is fun, but you have so much trauma, i just want to love, cherish, and comfort you. ngl, I'd like more options with him because his sex scenes are basically: offer him your neck, try to relax and trust him not to bite you, get those fangs away from me. and in the morning he's nervous. he will talk about his scar if you ask, but you can clearly see how uncomfortable he is. and as you progress his romance, the sex scene doesn't change. sure, there's a graveyard scene that i cherish where he says that he loves you and hold your hands and wants to have sex again after you haven't had sex in a while and he was self-conscious about it.

however, I think I expected more from him? he taught Sebastian how to kiss. he can be loving and gentle and passionate. he seduced so many people, he can be so different. he was even used as a sex toy. surely he can do so much more than we're offered in his cutscenes. the other question is whether he truly enjoys it and wants to explore it or if it's numbed to a point and he does what he's used to.

because when you look at sex scenes with Halsin, it's... so fitting to his character? he's had many lovers, he enjoys sex. he enjoys both receiving and giving. his "more?" while he's on his knees in front of my trans girl is one of the things that stuck with me. his sex cutscenes are BEAUTIFUL.

i do wish we had that with Astarion. and I'm not talking sex only, like him maybe biting your thigh or some typical vampire diversity. if he's feeling weird about sex, his body, his trauma, his scar, i want it to be portrayed in the game as we progress. instead of constantly going up to him to kiss him, let me talk to him. let me hug him. as we progress and if the sex scenes don't change, make new interactions the morning after. show us him showing our character more trust. show how he's maybe feeling safer now than before.

i honestly have so many thoughts about it. started with "oh yeah, I'd actually fuck Halsin irl", but then it turned into what i really care about, heh. I'm not looking forward to find a way to kill Cazador without destroying one of the spawns so Astarion can ascend, but Cazador is such a piece of shit and he deserves to be killed again, and again, and again. if only he had the memory of that torture. I'd make sure to make it slow. Astarion deserved and still deserves SO much better than 200 years of abuse and torture. at least I'm glad that in the end he is free from Cazador and other nonsense of his castle. when I think about it, I want to strangle Cazador with my bare hands. ugh.

[krenenbaker]

Stop the World - 3: Please

Pairing: Malleus/Cater

Warnings/Features: Angst with a happy ending, (somewhat?) possessive Malleus Draconia, questionably suggestive at the end... but that's COMPLETELY up to the reader's interpretation :)

Summary: Cater and Malleus have found a comfortable rhythm to their lives in their last year at Night Raven College. But as the threat of change creeps closer, their fears about the future do too.

The Couple: Looking ahead, into the future

Notes: Finally, after over a month (oops!), this short fic has concluded! This was a good learning experience for me, and I had quite a bit of fun writing it. It ended up taking a slightly different direction than I had originally anticipated, but I like how it turned out here. :) I know that many of my lovely moots are more 'canon x reader' fic readers/writers, so I really appreciate your support on this 'canon x canon' piece!

Tags: @dove-da-birb, @inkybloom-luv, @silvers-numberonefan, @azulashengrottospiano (if you'd like to be tagged, or not tagged, in the writing I post, please let me know!)

Part 1 | Part 2 | AO3 Version (ft. all chapters)

After the sun dipped past the horizon, Cater glanced up towards his boyfriend. "What's running through your mind there? You look, like, super serious right now."

"Hm?" Malleus turned his gaze from the sky. "Nothing serious, I assure you.  You seem cold, we should head inside."

"Ehh, no, I'm a-okay rn!" Cater shook his head.  "But Mal, I've got to know. What were you thinking about?"

"I was contemplating our future."

"Ah."

Cater tore his line of sight away from Malleus' intense gaze, and the air seemed to grow still around them, even though the leaves in the trees were rustling audibly.

Cater then heard a quiet chuckle, before Malleus murmured into his ear, "You now appear deep in thought, Treasure.  Is there something troubling you?"

"Oh, I'm just... thinking."

"Well well, I'm not sure I knew you could do that."

Cater turned to face a small smirk. "Hey!" Cater laughed, with a gentle smack to Malleus' arm. "That was totes rude, Mal! I'm wounded!"

Cater's smile faltered, then dropped as he looked off into the distance again. "Malleus, what's going to... no, never mind."

Malleus gave his darling's hand a small squeeze. "Please, tell me."

Giving a gentle squeeze in return, Cater took a shaky breath. In as measured a voice as he could manage, he asked, "What's going to happen to us? Like, at the end of this year?"

Summoning up the courage to turn back to Malleus, Cater looked back into his eyes. "Listen, I don't want to get all sad or whatever here, but, I've been thinking... what if this was a mistake?"

Malleus's expression fell, a flash of darkness crossing his face. "Excuse me?" Does he think we shouldn't be together any more? Or at ALL?

"No, no, no. I mean... ugh, I'm terrible at this." Cater took a deep breath and ran his free hand down his face. "We've got our internships next year, right? And I thought, we probably won't go to the same place.  And I mean," he began to speak faster, "I'm used to moving by now, you know? Just going to a new place and leaving people behind and stuff.  It's become normal. But I just..." Cater paused, forcing himself to slow down, "I just feel like this time it's different... 'cause I'm with you. 'Cause I love you."

"What do you mean, Cater?"

He used my first name? "I mean," Cater swallowed thickly, "I don't want to leave.  I don't wanna leave you. "

Malleus placed his hand on Cater's cheek. "Do you think you must?"

"I...", Cater froze, then slightly leaned into the touch.  "I don't know. I don't want to. I just thought I'd need to, I guess, since we'd both be away from NRC next year."

"You're correct about that, I suppose," Malleus said softly. "But, what if... we could intern in the same place?" 

Cater's eyebrows rose in surprise, "Wait, pause there.  What?"

"I will go where you go. Or you can come with me. If it's alright with you, I want to find a way to remain together, because," Malleus drew his arms around his Treasure, Cater, before whispering, "I love you with my whole being, and I won't lose you. Not now."

Cater's breath caught in his throat. He'd come with me? He wants to stay with me? Nobody, in the dozen or more places he'd moved had ever wanted to stay with him; to follow him. This was new. This was... nice.

"Okay," Cater murmured into the dark fabric on Malleus' shoulder, before drawing back to look into his eyes. "I won't lose you either, Mal. We'll figure something out... together."

A soft breeze picked up a couple of fallen leaves in front of the couple, swirling them in a sort of gentle dance.

"Um, but first, Mal," Cater said, getting to his feet, "Let's go inside. I... actually am kinda cold." Cater held out his hand for his love (even though he knew he didn't need to).

Malleus smiled, taking his human's outstretched hand and standing up. "I thought you may be."

"Oh shush. You and your... what, intuition? Powers? I don't even know, babe. Anyways, do you want to come in for some tea? I think we have time before Riddle would call us out for it being too late," Cater said with a smile.

Malleus dipped his head. "As always, my dearest Cater."

Even if the school year was coming to an end, the love and support that Malleus and Cater found in each other would continue, however they chose to do so. For now, they would simply enjoy their time, their tea, and whatever else the evening had in store.

[xoxo-susu]

Coquettifying this semester ⋆。·˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧。⋆

Hello loves ♡

My first class of the semester starts this week, so I thought I'd make a lil post on my favorite school tips and tricks for Spring 2024 :)

Studying and homework ⋆。·˚ʚ 🩰 ɞ˚‧。⋆

🩰 White noise. If you struggle with zoning off while you work, white noise is exactly what you need. I personally prefer pink or brown noise because it's a little deeper and softer and white noise just makes me think of falling sand.

🩰 Stay on top of your assignments. In the beginning for me especially, it's so easy to let things slip. Do not do it. It will impact your grade for the rest of the semester. Trust me, I'm speaking from experience. Try and do your homework right when you get home. That way, you maximize relaxed time without worrying about assignments.

🩰 Keep your study space clean and cute. You're not going to feel motivated sitting at some grungy old cardboard box that smells like leftover pizza! Try and make your study place somewhere you enjoy to be. And keep it clean!

🩰 Pomodoros. I love love love pomodoros. They help me stay so much more focused because it's like a challenge to study through the whole time. If you don't know what a pomodoro is, this link explains it pretty well ♡

🩰 Find what works for you. I find I focus best in the morning. Some people feel like they're at their sharpest at 2:15 PM. Experiment a little with a low-pressure assignment and figure out when you work best. Once you do, schedule your assignments accordingly. The hardest go during that time, but the easiest go when you're least motivated. Also try and go to a coffee shop or the library! It's sooo motivational.

🩰 All nighters. These are great for romanticization purposes and nothing else. Get. Your. Eight. Hours. Of. Sleep! Unless you only found out about an assignment the night before its due and there's no other option, do not do it! You need rest for your brain to function properly. There was a study I remember hearing about where one group of students crammed for a test the night before and the others slept well, and the well-rested ones got higher scores.

🩰 Study groups. If you work well with other people, do this! But if you get too distracted, don't do it.

🩰 NOTION!!!! Notion is SUCH a great and aesthetic website to get organized.

At school ⋆。·˚ʚ 🎀 ɞ˚‧。⋆

🎀 Ribbons. Ribbons are such a coquette staple. Put them on everything! Especially your hair.

🎀 Take cute notes. Make them something you'd like to look back on! Buy yourself a new pack of pink highlighters, write in juicy black pen, doodle bows, use washi tape, whatever you think looks best. Even try and make your homework look pretty. My spanish midterm project was a coquette work of art.

🎀 Look your prettiest. Again with the ribbons--put them in your hair! Wear cute mary janes. Brush your hair. Take a shower before, if you can. Wear a vanilla or rose scented body mist. Put on some cute rings. If you have a uniform, wear a cozy scarf and as much jewelry as you can.

🎀 Books. Bring a book with you everywhere. It will make you look so educated and elegant. Some of my favorites are Little Women, Heaven to Betsy and Betsy in Spite of Herself, Jane Eyre, Sense and Sensibility, Sad Cypress, Death on the Nile, Anne of Green Gables, and Betsy was a Junior and Betsy and Joe. The Betsy books are perfect because each one is about a year in highschool, and they're so coquette and vintage and she's such a study icon and ugh.

🎀 Make good friends. Having a good group of people to motivate and uplift you is sosososo important. Get rid of the ones who hate to see you succeed. And it will make school feel like someplace you're genuinely excited to go to.

🎀 Don't skip classes. Just don't. It's not the vibe.

🎀 Be nice to your teachers. If they really suck then they really suck. But your school year will be so much easier if your teachers like you and know of you as a good student.

🎀 Try and find 'your place'. Not like that. Literally. Try and find a little nook you and your group can claim as your favorite.

🎀 Make your supplies as cute as possible! Get a cute bag or backpack if you can. Pretty stationary will help you romanticize so much. Get rid of the ugly neon yellow pencils.

Coquettifying ⋆。·˚ʚ 💌 ɞ˚‧。⋆

This is the best part!

💌 Watch GRWMS and coquette school vlogs.

💌 tie a bow on everything.

💌 Lipgloss, lipgloss, lipgloss! Pale pink and shimmery.

💌 Make a coquette academia pinterest board, like mine.

💌 In the words of our icon @coqxettee, "Study and work hard. Being intelligent is attractive, gorgeous and most of all, one of the keys to success." Read her posts too, all of them are just lovely for romanticizing.

💌 Take care of yourself. Face masks while studying, matchas on the way to school, gua sha before going to sleep. AND STAY HYDRATED!!!!

💌 Get a cute lotion for school. The glossier one is great but a bit on the pricier side. Bath and Body Works has a lot of great alternatives (but some of their stuff has been said to cause cancer so mb look into that)

💌 Cute little claw clips in your hair or on your bag. Emijay has an ADORABLE one, but there's also a really cute temu dupe.

💌 Find your signature scent, or make it seasonal like I do!

💌 Keep a diary. Fill it with sweet memories, funny pictures of you and your friends, deep quotes, and lipstick kisses.

💌 Mary Janes. Period.

💌 Get cute frilly socks and dainty jewelry.

💌 Shower every day.

💌 Go thrifting.

💌 Try and take a walk every day, even if it's just up and down your street.

💌 Keep a bouquet of fresh flowers in your room.

Okkkkk that's the end! I hope this helped out with any coquette issues. ily all smmmm byee! ⋆。·˚ʚ🍓ɞ˚‧。⋆

[lastoneout]

Hey there! Sorry it's kind of late, but I just remembered I said I'd send you a follow up ask about your dislike for the monster mom from Undertale when you had more time. But if you still don't have the time or just aren't feeling up to it, absolutely no worries! Hope you have a nice Friday!

I FORGOT ABOUT THIS

But yeah I really don't like her at all and it's maybe bcs I'm projecting some baggage onto her or smthn, but basically I went into Undertale completely blind bcs my friend told me I should experience it as fresh as possible, the only hint I got was "try not to kill anyone", so from my perspective here's what the beginning of the game was like(also forgive me if anything is out of order plot wise, I've only played the game once and it was seven years ago):

- Okay, the main character I'm playing as has clearly fallen into some sort of fantasy world, alright, games probably gonna be about us finding our way home then, cool!

- Oh, there's a goat lady?? Who's....acting like she's my mom??? Weird, I don't know her at all, and I super don't trust her bcs in fantasy stories like this you gotta watch out for characters who seem super nice but secretly want to keep you trapped "for your own good". It's a classic trope, so I'm :/ about her.

- Oh god she's being so overbearing and way too nice ugh I already don't like pushy tutorial npcs and she's def giving me bad vibes now, she's probably going to try to trap me here. All of this nice stuff feels culty and dangerous and weird, and there's this creeping dread, eugh...

- I hate butterscotch. I told her I preferred cinnamon bcs I don't like butterscotch, but now I have to eat it anyway, so she's not listening to me. So she's acting like my mom while creating an environment where my desires and preferences are not prioritized. This sucks.

- There were other kids down here maybe? What happened to them? Hmmm I think I'm in Danger.

- Eh, her house is nice but it's so empty...I don't like it here. She's refusing to talk to me about where I am or tell me how to leave, and she's kinda like demanding I just give up and live here with her and absolutely acting like she's my mom now, so yeah def trying to trap me here, I guess I'm a kidnapping victim. We gotta figure out a way to get the fuck out of here this place is culty and weird and too happy and I hate it.

- And she's trying to stop us! I knew it.

- And now she's kinda guilt tripping me! Wow yeah we REALLY need to leave.

- Fight time, but I'm not supposed to kill so I guess we just push forward? Eugh she's trying to make me feel bad for her but I don't. I just want to leave!

- Oh okay the fight is over? And she's telling me...that I can never come back?? This lady full on kidnapped me and started acting like my mom and now she's ditching me?? Bcs SHE'S too sad?? Oh my god, that's so fucking mean! I'm not even allowed to call her? Not that I wanted to, but she's just full on cutting me off?? Listen you either want to be my mom or you don't, if you're gonna commit, then fucking commit! You don't get to just act like you love me and then rip it all away! Jesus, this sucks. Okay, well fuck you too lady, I'm leaving, see ya never I hope!

And then I got really emotionally invested in everyone else and especially Asgore bcs I love a tragic king who is trying to do what's right even if it involves horrible things and losing every thing and everyone he loves, but hey at least he's being up front about it! And not lying to me or anything! I appreciate the honesty.

But then she showed up at the end of the game and I was just like oh god she's back fucking yikes. And she's acting like she's better than Asgore?? And he's listening?? Damn also she's totally okay with murder since she just told him he could have taken one human soul and crossed the barrier, so she doesn't even have the moral high ground on that, so she's a coward and so fake wtf, oh god now she's acting like my mom again, fucking great. I'm running as soon as the credits roll.

So yeah....I was VERY surprised when I went online and saw how everyone loved her so much, cuz to me she's just a rude weird control freak lady who tried to trap me in purgatory alone with her forever and then acted like I was the bad guy for asking to leave before Completely Abandoning me. And maybe it's due to some trauma I've been through or smthn, I think it probably is tbh, but I just cannot bring myself to see her as anything but a weirdo who pretended to love me and then abandoned me the second I asserted a single boundary.

And that's why I don't like Toriel.

[slytherinshua]

Hopefully they will get a bit of rest before the show! They definitely need it after the tour though, the schedule seemed brutal. I don't think I'd be able to cope if it was me lol. You'll have to let me know what they are like to watch live, I'm sure they'll be amazing!!

Play is such a comfort song! I have definitely cried listening to it as well haha, also haze. I really do love how they have a song for every mood lol.

I'm honestly so glad that I started to listen to them when I did. I found them at a time when I'm finally starting to think more positively about myself and seeing my own potential, like seeing that I can improve myself but also being kind to myself when I inevitably mess up. I think the messages in their songs are really comforting and make me feel seen. (Although I still remember the night when hug by seventeen absolutely broke me ahaha) Finding a talented violinist who plays music that I like has helped me want to become better in that sense too, although admittedly I have wanted to improve for a while, but Yechan has actually given me a goal which is nice. (I've started to try and learn boogie man and my respect for Yechan has went WAY up).

I have wanted to watch super and for ages!! I never knew where to find it though. I found out about it because I'd started to listen to Hoppipolla and then would watch compilation videos of clips from superband. It seems so fun! And the amount of talent would make me cry ahaha. I'll and Ha Hyunsang's voices in 1000x almost made me cry the first time I listened to it because they blended so beautifully. After getting into Lucy, I was kinda like, the bassist in the awesome cover of the Coldplay song (I can't remember what it's called lol) was Wonsang?! Yechan played viva la Vida?? With Ha Hyunsang?? That made me want to watch it more ahaha (although I don't know if I'll be emotionally prepared to see Sangyeop cry)

I'll let you know if I have any ideas haha, but definitely keep writing for Lucy! I really liked your style of writing and thought you wrote Sangyeop really well!

Enjoy the show!!!!

okay now that I’m back from the show lemme answer this 🥹🥹 I think they did get some rest beforehand they were rly energetic and excited :( moreso than me cause I was so sore it hurt to stand and I was struggling when sangyeop wanted us to jump sigh

You could rly just tell they went all out for their last show of the tour and it was just so special :( I was right by wonsang bcuz he’s my bias and I wanted to watch him up close so most of the videos I took are of him. Whenever I could see sangyeop or get noticed by sangyeop I would die internally idk smth abt him live is just way too attractive and charismatic and he needs to stop being so fucking fine istg??? But wonsang was so cute I was chilling standing by him <33

I swear I can cry to any lucy song cause even the happy ones have sad or relatable lyrics… the sad ones hit so fucking hard absolutely when I need to cry colourless is my go to…. Sangyeop ugh 👹👹👹👹 and when it’s a song like boogie man I just cry cause of how beautifully crafted it is cause I think abt how hard wonsang works on every song LMAO IM SO EMO KILL ME

I also feel like I found them at just the right time but like for the opposite reason. I was going through intense burnout and listening to stove while I worked on schoolwork was the only thing keeping me going :( (along w bambam ty husband <3)

I NEED TO REWATCH SUPERBAND IN FULL TBH CAUSE 😭😭 I went back to watch the lucy stages but I just need to experience the WHOLE thing again… anyway here’s the link to the google doc with the google drive eps for you <3333 AND YES ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME COVER!!!! Absolutely adored it sm I remember how everyone thought wonsang was selfish and trying to make himself stand out by only picking guitarists while he was the only bassist but then he got all 5 votes cause his arrangement was so beautiful and chilling and ethereal and I love him sm I always call him my lil genius :(

Dropping some photos from the concert hehe

[bearpillowmonster]

Are Nintendo's Licenses Suited For Film?

Zelda - No.

This opinion I’m actually going to use for a lot of them and that’s because with Mario, there were already cartoons and blueprints other than the gaming franchise, with Zelda, there was a little known cartoon and the CDi games but the main antagonizer here is the silent protag, I can't see him talking, you put yourself in his shoes and solve the puzzles yourself. You don't get that gratification from a movie unless it's like "Oh, that's clever" or the movie itself is a puzzle.

Metroid - No.

Taking that silent protag (for most games) to the next level with her really being the only human most of the time. They “could” potentially add Federation members like they did Other M but is that the true Metroid experience that we’ve been wanting? What about the isolation? I see it going every which way. Even if they keep the Federation out, I can’t see a celebrity voice play Samus, I just can’t and then making the aliens talk, some “could” be fine, like maybe Ridley but imagine Samus having an animated companion like a talking Metroid or Deemer with a deep voice. *ugh* 

Pikmin - Yes.

Imagine a mini man crashed on a planet where he has to learn to live off the land in huge proportions, learning to farm and take care of these strange aliens. Enough said, this speaks for itself, there's so many plots I could come up with. The freight company could want Olimar to bring the Pikmin back with him but that would be taking them out of their habitat. Just so good.

F-Zero - Yes.

Racing is pretty easy and I could see a lot being done with the tracks and speeders and tech and atmosphere. There was an anime that was well liked but this series was never popular enough with anything thus far. It doesn't even all have to revolve around racing that way though because most people know Cap from Smash Bros anyway, have some fights.

Animal Crossing - Maybe.

Simply because the characters are recognizable, therefore people will like to see them and their personalities. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot that I can come up with for that, if it was Harvest Moon even, I'd set up a compelling love story but this one is kind of beyond me as to a plot. It had a short little anime special but that's not really anything to go by. Maybe it's about crushing debt and finding ways to make money.

Splatoon - Yes.

I think it’s going to miss an essential value to the games but really, it’s a game of factions and that’s something that could work. One side maybe octopus and another side Squid, then balancing the line between kid and squid, aka soldier in a war of paint. I kinda love it. 

Kirby - Maybe.

It wouldn’t be hard to make it if they go the route the cartoon did, which has some fans, but I didn’t say it would be a good movie, I just said it wouldn’t be hard. Kirby is very simplistic and his games resemble that with their short length, I just can't see this story giving me anything I haven't seen before.

Arms - Yes.

One of Nintendos more recent IPs and while it has the sports flavor, that's kind of what separates it from the rest here. It has style. It has distinct characters. It has possibilities with its world and the different arms that they switch out, easily an anime one-up, imagine Megalo-Box but with this. It's almost their version of Street Fighter, like the day time Chun Li who takes on the role as a cop but goes off to participate in fighting at night. Min-Min the noodle shop worker trying to make enough money to keep her story open but not to damage her brand, so she wears a mask.

Star Fox - Yes.

These ones talk so we don’t have that issue, in fact I don’t see why this hasn’t been done already when it’s been rumored to be in the works time and time again in various different ways that all sound appealing. My only hope with these sci-fi franchises that have to do with spaceships is that they don’t try and do the Ratchet and Clank thing where we see an origin story where all the guy wants to be a great pilot or prodigy. Make McCloud cool from the get-go, it doesn't have to be a humbling story, just show off some cool tricks! Neat planets, heck, some dinosaurs wouldn't even be too out of the realm of possibility, could you imagine? Even a series would do this one good, making mini-ops to help the planets.

[rollercoasterwords]

i just want to say thank you so much for your post about even loving parents (and people) being homophobic bc this fandom lately is so so reductive towards those kinds of realistic portrayals, acting as if their creators are “wrong” when in actuality a majority of us live through these experiences and can find comfort in fiction that works thru them! as someone who grew up religious i ADORED your atyd sirius pov for exploring internalized homophobia so honestly. it made me feel seen and struck such a chord of truth. like yeah they’re wizards but also voldemort’s whole thing is hating people for things they have no control over so acting like inequality that doesn’t exist in the wizard world either is not the end-all solution some people think it is. anyway love you. ❤️

anon!!! thank u so much 💓

i think that parents post struck more of a chord than i was expecting it 2 strike lol like. i will say i think the majority of people in the fandom are like. normal abt letting fic writers write what they want etc but! it does suck that there is like. this small and annoyingly vocal portion of people who are just....really weird about homophobia in fanfiction lol.

like my post was specifically abt portrayals of parents but there does seem to be a vocal minority (although mostly not on tumblr thank god) who act as if choosing to write about homophobia when u could choose instead to write a fantasy world where it doesn't exist is like...morally depraved bc it's "unnecessary"

and i definitely got like. a lot of that sentiment when i was writing atydsp!! which is obviously just my personal interpretation of the character and not meant to be taken as anything more than that, but like--i'd always read sirius as a deeply closeted gay man with intense internalized homophobia in atyd, and that's part of why i wanted to write abt his character in the first place. for me it was incredibly meaningful to explore the story of a character raised in a homophobic environment by homophobic family, who struggles with internalized homophobia in ways that are messy and sometimes even hurt the people close to him. and it was honestly really disheartening to get so many comments along the lines of "ugh sirius is being so stupid and annoying" bc i was just like....this is all very real to me. and largely based on personal experience. and it sucks seeing people brush it off and go "but they're wizards why can't u just make him accept that he's gay!!!"

and it's also like. i understand why someone might not want to read about homophobia, and that's totally fine! u can seek out fics where queerness is totally accepted and filter out homophobia and do what's best for ur own mental health, y'know? but for me, personally, i actually tend to avoid stories where homophobia is just magically erased. and again, that's down to personal preference (i am by no means saying one type of story is better than the other; i think they are both equally valid + i'm glad both types exist in all their variety on ao3) but even if i'm reading about magical made-up universes, i think that like.....for me, so much of my experience as a queer person has been shaped by the homophobia of the world around me. and i'm not saying i think that's all that being queer is (of course it's not!!) and i'm not saying every queer person will feel the same (and like....if ur a queer person who's never really experienced homophobia in ur personal life then that's awesome!! happy 4 u!!), but that struggle has been such a fundamental part of my queer experience that i really have a hard time relating to characters who don't share it. reading about characters who never experience internalized homophobia and whose family + friends are totally accepting honestly just makes me feel worse bc it's so far removed from my own experience, whereas reading about characters who do have homophobic family/friends/environments/etc is actually something i'm able to find comfort in.

anyway this turned into a whole essay but!! i'm happy 2 hear that my post (+ my portrayal of sirius) resonated w u 💕 and i do think the majority of the fandom understands + is supportive of people exploring homophobia however they want in their fics; sometimes we just need 2 bitch a little bit on tumblr abt the annoying people who aren't lol

[22degreehalo]

Actually speaking of which

So, the library I'm volunteering at opened up applications for a casual library officer!!!!!

This is the same place I've been helping out for like?? Two years??? More????? at this point???? But last year when I applied they didn't even give me an interview. Like I was literally doing almost the exact same thing I would be doing if I worked there, and I hadn't had any complaints, but they wouldn't even consider me.

I was REALLY bummed and considered giving up this path altogether, but thankfully I did get hired by another library, where I'm working right now!!! And I found out afterwards that another guy who was also volunteering alongside me ALSO applied for that other job where we were volunteering and ALSO didn't get considered (and now ALSO got a job at this new library, thankfully).

I talked to the librarian I'd been assisting and she was really mad on our behalf?? Said she'd heard something about how they were looking for people with retail experience specifically, which is... strange. Like, are they TRYING to run it like a business instead...?

I've still kept volunteering with them, though (albeit I quit part of what I was doing because the schedule turned out to conflict with my new job too much; it was very sad tbh), because they need people, and it's an important role that apparently doesn't get many volunteers, and it's only two hours every other week, and it's still my local council so. It's the most convenient to get to and all. I still hoped they might reconsider hiring me.

And, as I began this all, now they've opened up applications again. So I applied.

But. I don't want to *stop* working where I am; it's genuinely a really great place and I've even become a bit attached to the other people there!! (not something that happens easily hahaha)

Apparently it's normal to have multiple casual library jobs at the same time. So that's been my goal for a while.

But... could I really do that? I'm already not the most organised just with my one job... I know it's normal, but I am neurodivergent... I need to remember that that is a true thing about myself that I can state as a fact...

I don't know. Obviously I could just keep working at this current place until I can get a permanent position somewhere... Though I still don't really feel qualified to do any of it... ugh.

Is it really okay if things just stay as they are...? I've said before that this is an okay minimum, or something like that. I don't *desperately need* to change anything. But is it okay not to even especially try...?

I could go back to TAFE... but part of me thinks that I should go back to uni instead and study cataloguing, because that'd definitely help me get a position, and I'd love to have a part in shaping the non-fiction sections specifically... (god, just walking through the non-fiction shelves is soooo refreshing to the soul <33) But that'd be really expensive, and I already have two degrees I'm basically not doing anything with...

Ugh. Again it feels like giving up on the goal of moving out. But there are already a lot of question marks around that.

Welp. They might not want to hire me anyway. If that happens, I might just finally give up on the volunteering... or at least consider volunteering somewhere else. My library hires people to do the thing I'm volunteering for there (in fact, *I* am one of the people paid to do the thing I'm doing as volunteer at my local library!!); they should consider that, too, if they can't find anyone after me.

idk sorry this is such a long post. I'm not sure how to feel about it all right now...

[outrunningthedark]

i've been following u for years now and i love ur blog! but i wonder if u feel like ur getting less enjoyment out of 911? i ask bcuz i feel like the posts and asks i see from u about the show seem overwhelmingly negative, and i just wonder if maybe...u haven't noticed? which sounds dumb but i've definitely gotten into the "habit" of being a fan of something and not realizing until way after the fact that i'm not actually a fan anymore? i'm sorry if this seems presumptuous!!

Reasons why my posts are probably coming off as negative (which is not the first time I've heard this, lol): - I choose to respond to "negativity" rather than delete it because the opinion is usually coming from a place of confusion or frustration, not just trolling for attention. I like to let people know that their feelings are understandable even if not everyone agrees (ie the 'baiting' discussion - is it textbook qbait? nope. but they're also not doing anything to halt the speculation) And tbh, someone else's interpretation has no impact on my own feelings or my experience with the fandom. Negativity that isn't related to real life (excusing ableism, for instance) isn't thought about beyond the few asks I may get in a day when there's more difficult things going on as soon as I sign off. If someone not liking my favorite show was the catalyst for a bad mood...I'd consider my day pretty successful up to that point, lol. - I ship Buddie and want to see the Buckley-Diaz fam be a real thing because of Christopher. I'm not one of the fans who say "ngl idc about Buddie, I just want my fave to be gay" - that's cool, do you, but I want the chemistry and the story more than the "representation". Limited or no Buddie means my interest in the show will take a hit. - My favorite individual character is Chimney. The one that was written out for most of 5A without explanation. I started thinking differently about the show back then, and how he's been handled upon returning has not changed my opinion of the show runners re: undervaluing his presence. - How the show writes Maddie pisses me off because (as an anon talked about the other day) she's *still* disconnected from nearly everyone. It doesn't bother me if "all she does is cry" because I get that Jennifer has a knack for it, but I *do* understand how some could find it tiresome to see her emotional so often. Give her something funny! Let her have a one-on-one convo with a friend where she gets to relax! Make people have a reaction other than "Ugh, not this again" because, I'm sorry, not EVERYONE is gonna love your fave character upon first meeting them or connect to their story. You have to give them a reason to care, especially as the seasons go on. Show a different side, something else someone might be able to relate to! - Idk how anyone can get (genuinely) excited for future episodes of this show when there is a clear divide between how the fandom feels about certain characters and their arcs vs. how the people actually making the decisions approach the situation. Yes, being in a fandom will result in "taking things too seriously" because some people make their fave piece of media their entire personality, but having a show runner be like "lol, we have this running joke about Buck's abandonment issues" or admitting that she struggles to fill in gaps in the story is not going to make the fandom - the people taking the time to read these comments and react on social media - feel like she gives a shit about any of this.

[drowninginredink]

I find this discussion really interesting, especially because it is always nice to see people being critical of the media they enjoy. Already wrote some of my feelings in your comments, but I am entering the soap box now to throw out my 2 cents.

Firstly, before I start, I have to mention that I am a big believer that anyone can joke about any subject. I think we should only look at the message of jokes, their meanings, what they transport outside, etc. That's how I judge these things. So yk what I am talking about.

I do think sometimes with the characters, it lands it territory that I disagree with morally. But I also think overcautiousness with jokes, even at the expense at (minority) groups, can be harmful in itself. Because it leads to the othering of those groups in a sense. That may sound counterintuitive because jokes against groups of people - coming from a place of hate and disgust especially - is one of THE tools to other a group. I do think it works the other way around as well.

For example, if you were in a friend group that constantly roasts each other, but for some reason, people are really scared to roast you, excluding you entirely from that dynamic. I think that's how I could explain it best.

So I do think a good handful of smosh characters make fun of ND people, but not all of that is actually bad, in my opinion. Especially when the comedy comes from a place to make fun one oneself/past self, etc.

A good example for jokes at the expenses at groups usually comes from inside said group. Which makes sense. Most of the time the basic respect needed is there, and it comes from a good place. Once someone from the outside does it, the track record becomes worse, but I also don't think we can/should make this a blanket rule. Especially because the inverse can also be true. For example most of the jokes trans people do about trans people on 4chan. They come from the inside and are mostly absolutely vile.

This all is my opinion ofc. People can find more unmoral/ be more uncomfortable with certain jokes. But we do be living in postmodernism, so anything is subjective and an opinion. So I do stand by my opinion. Lol this end paragraph is a mess, I just want people to take my words in good faith that's all :3

Ugh I wrote half a response to this and then it all deleted. Take 2!

I am a terrible judge of what's "acceptable" because as a psychotic person you just have to give up. It is so exhausting to call people out on ableist things and then have them ignore you. Which, I will say both times I've done that in this fandom people were fantastic about it (I even got a post edited, which was very nice and appreciated), but that's so not my prior experience. And even when people listen... I still just got to see how little people even consider the existence of psychotic people for certain jokes to seem okay in the first place. They wouldn't say those things if they thought about the actual humans who experience these things.

Like, there's this one podcast that's my comfort podcast. And the guy does occasionally fall into the kind of humor that can be summarized as "haha this guy is cr*zy" (granted he's grown out of it a bit, but you can still see the remnants of those sensibilities in his work) and like, I've called him out for misusing psychotic on twitter and he was just straight up like "yeah no, not unless *you* have a better word in mind, but I think it's very accurate." And like... Being psychotic is hard enough without giving up things you like. You can't give up stuff from anyone who's ever seen people like you as less than human because that's everyone.

Anyway. That's not about The Chosen. The Chosen very much is fine and just has some implications and subtext I don't love. That's more just me venting. But I feel like personally i don't have the luxury to care about where the lines are and what's acceptable. I wouldn't be able to watch anything and I'd be writing call out posts all day. So I respect your attitude, and I respect people with harsher standards than you as well, and I'm just kinda... Here

[septembersghost]

Which memphis mafia members do you consider reliable sources when it comes to Elvis?

this is a tricky question because i know opinions vary and accounts have notable discrepancies...it's difficult with everything surrounding elvis because it often feels like, to one degree or another, everybody was looking for a way to exploit their connections to him (not necessarily in a malicious way, though some definitely have done that, but just insofar as everybody relying on him and their stories and experiences with him financially and for other assorted reasons, as comments in this thread mention), and did so especially once he died and had no say in any of it. i have a lot of qualms with the total lack of hesitation in sharing intimate details about his life with the general public that go a bit far beyond explaining his character and experiences, and yet at the same time of course there's an insatiable curiosity and market for it because people want to know about him. it makes me think of the preface shared from june's book: “There have been lots of books written about Elvis Presley, of course, with probably as many personal memoirs among them as have attached to any other cultural figure or entertainer in history. Some have been spurious, a number seem to have been written out of little more than personal rancor, motivation has ranged from love to money to self-adumbration..."

i'm rambling, but sometimes it's difficult to sift out the people still looking after e and his personhood versus those using him for their gain. jerry i would count easily as one of the former, perhaps the most obvious choice there. maybe george klein and billy smith? perspectives range all over the place on charlie hodge, joe esposito, marty lacker, lamar fike, the stanleys, and even larry geller (despite elvis often being open and vulnerable/trusting with him in particular), to the point where i feel like we have to take everything with a grain of salt and be circumspect about individual subjectivity and agendas. red and sonny i struggle with for *multiple* reasons, and given what they did to him (and whoever the third one was involved with that book. god el i'm sorry sometimes i cannot keep track of all of your people...), i think it cut him to the core, from which he did not recover (and he didn't have time). but i also respect elvis' inherent generosity and kindness and forgiving qualities that he extended to the people he loved, even when he was hurt.

tl;dr ugh sorry this is not a particularly helpful answer because it involves so many factors and complicated people. tbh i'm probably not the best person to ask this because my little introvert self that cares more about elvis' humanity and artistry than some of the noise and chaos around him is way less informed about each of those guys as individuals. i do think they all loved him in their own ways, to one degree or another, but their usefulness and incentives in sticking by him could be mercurial. and e was far from perfect himself and i'm sure many aspects of being in that group were not easy, he was responsible for many of his choices, but he also had a retinue of people clinging to his lifestyle. it can be painful to observe how he had this mix of enablers and dependents around him as constant companions and everything still unraveled the way that it did.

edit: i went to the sub to see if i could find you a better/more comprehensive response quickly and still turned up a lot of dispute, but this comment speaks to some of it (also funny how some of the comments here use similar language to what i'd already written, i appreciate seeing those thoughts from others): Each has told their version of their story and of course each person is the hero of their own story, and many paint themselves as Elvis's One True Best Friend. Some, as you mention, had proper jobs, others were really, truly sycophantic hangers-on, some were true blue friends and brothers, and some would barely qualify as part of the "Memphis Mafia" at all - they just happened to be in the right place at the right time and latched on to what little time they had in his periphery. For most who care, I think it comes down to an individual by individual basis...Personally, I think more attention should really be placed on the artists, songwriters and creatives whose influence impacted Elvis's actual creative and commercial achievements and legacy. But people like hearing celebrity gossip, and Elvis fans have always been voracious to consume anything and everything they can about him. People also like picking sides and being in opposing tribes, even over the most petty shit. In our collective cultural grief over the loss of Elvis, trying to grasp onto anything and everything left that we could, we gave them all attention to hear them say nice things, and the media happily gave a platform to those who were willing to help tear Elvis down off the pedestal his fans put him on, too. I think, at the end of the day, people are looking for understanding about what happened. Many would like to take their sides and lay moral judgment on all of them and everything they've said or did, as though talking about who was or wasn't at fault for what happened would change things or help us understand what happened any better. But we weren't there, and never can go back and be there. Some were good, some were bad, some just happened to kinda be there because Elvis wanted or needed them for whatever reason. The only sure truth is that Elvis died regardless of all of them - which is a tragedy. And they're all just background characters who've taken up too much time on center stage. And now that most of them have left, I think it's about time to bring the curtain down.