#I'm historically very bad at this kind of thing because I take it too seriously but I still love them

[burnyourtrains]

SDV Bachelor/ette Headcanons!!

I was peer pressured by @jessibbb into posting these <3 (also I'm on mobile so if it looks bad no it doesn't.)

ALso divider credits to the lovely @thecutestgrotto and @saradika

Done in alphabetical order, because we're not playing favorites here

Bachelors:

Alex

I feel like he was into band when he was younger and in school, but he got bullied for it, so he switched to gridball instead. He loves gridball, but sometimes he wonders what would have happened if he stuck with the trumpet.

Jess thinks he's short, but I don't think he'd have as much arrogance/confidence that he does in game if he were short. I think he does the hands on top of the doorframe thing.

To me, he was one of those semi-annoying popular guys in high school who would interrupt the class of the younger grade and ask the teacher if she missed him.

Takes skincare seriously (ty Haley)

Helps Evelyn in the kitchen and around the house

Shockingly handy? He's good at fixing things (doesn't want to be a burden on his grandparents, and he knows George feels bad that he can't do maintenance around the house.)

He and Haley have matching friendship bracelets

Elliot

(To the Elliot stans, I'm so sorry, but I cannot stand his character. Initially I was gonna marry him but then he started talking and I just Couldn't. So here's how I thought he was going to be. (I try to keep it somewhat similar to how he is in game but I just,,,,,,,))

Very romantic

Comes on too strong at first, but once he realizes he apologizes and learns how to be one of your really close friends (unless you ever want to be more, obvs)

Loves the drama of a historical romance

Adores Jane Austen

I feel like the game suggests that he isn't very tidy, but in my mind he keeps himself and his space neat and clean. (He might have a depression pit when he's feeling morose or lacking creativity, but he gets it together after a shower or a walk)

He's not egotistical (I also feel the game implies some of this), but he's not entirely humble, either. Very self-assured, but that could possibly be to mask that he really worries about whether or not his writing career will take off.

Harvey

(Jess drew little hearts around my notes for this one lmao)

Actually very sickly as a child, which I think had a huge factor in driving him into medicine.

Likes when the farmer does his nails. It's nice to have someone want to dote on him. (He ends up taking the polish off when he has to work for sanitary purposes, but that just means you can do them again later <3)

Secretly had a piercing at one point, but he was relatively anxious about having it, even though it made him feel good about himself. Possibly anxious because it didn't fit his "image"; he doesn't have it anymore. (He was So crazy in college literally what was he thinking??????) (it was a bellybutton piercing btw)

His guilty pleasure food is ice cream don't tell

Podcast lover. (Mainly medical and aerospace)

Sam

Mans has a mullet. I will not be accepting arguments at this time

He doesn't have a favorite color, but he really loves bright ones

Definitely has ear and possibly facial piercings

Idk where I'm getting this from, it's kind of based solely on vibes, but I feel like he might be colorblind?

Loves having his makeup done

Wears minimal jewelry, but is always wearing at least one ring, whether that's on a chain or on his finger depends on the day.

Sebastian

He gets called emo but I get more punk vibes from him

When you meet him he's just starting on his second sleeve tattoo

He uses candy cigarettes when he's trying to quit smoking, partially because he thinks it's funny, and partially just because he likes the sugar

I think he feels very stuck in the persona the town has given him, so he kind of just gives up after living there for so long on trying to convince people otherwise

Ear and eyebrow piercings, at least. Very willing to accept constructive criticism here.

Probably has the chain belt thing

Rings rings rings

Shane

I feel like he's either very tall, or very short, and I cannot decide which one

Cleans up very nice after he gets sober

Raises Jas more than Marnie does (Concerning bc alcoholism, but I can't stand Marnie so. The lesser of two evils I guess?)

Regularly takes walks to ward off dark thoughts

Keg king back in his college days

Bachelorettes

These are more look-based, since Jess and I were trying to do a redesign situation. The men I was struck with sudden inspiration and clarity for how to flesh out their personalities more, but I'll have to update the character work for the women when the creativity strikes.

Abigail

I kind of get undercut vibes from her

I think she has gages, for sure

Facial piercings but idk what most of them are called. Specifically a lip piercing

She has a small stick and poke that she, Sam, and Seb designed together

The big overlined lips that were popular in 2020 (might still be popular now but I'm no longer chronically online God bless)

Tattoo choker that was popular in the early 2000s

Big shaggy wolfcut

Elevated HotTopic vibes

Emily

Mixed metal jewelry queen

Wears multiple necklaces

Hippie-esque style (they really did her dirty with her game design she looks like s clown but she's so sweet that it's Criminal)

Crystal girly (a given)

Definitely has some sort of altar set up. Idk much about witchcraft so very loosely assigning her as a crystal witch

Really likes incense

Alice Cullen haircut, y'all know the one

Haley

She has such pretty lashes, I just know it

Big yabos

Her nails are always immaculate. Despite thinking her sister is weird, I think Emily is the one who learned how to give her acrylics

Alex is definitely the person she's closest to

I don't really have that many ides for her I'm sorry :(

Leah

Very wispy, ethereal hair (1908s aogg vibes)

Former hairdresser. While she still lived in the city, she went into cosmetology since it had the opportunity to be a creative career, and her partner at the time didn't really support her in her art (I think the partner bit is canon). Ultimately, she came to resent her job, and she left the city for Stardew Valley. I think she still uses the skills and knowledge she acquired when doing her own hair, and occasionally the hair of some of the residents in the valley.

Howl's Moving Castle earrings

Honestly Howl's Moving Castle vibes overall for her style I think

Dresses masc. but in a way that still comes off as feminine, if that makes sense. Think billowy white shirt from the male lead of a period drama

Most likely covered in some sort of art medium, (acrylics, wood shavings, oil paints, etc.), in a charming way, not an unclean way.

Maru

Minimal makeup, if any at all

She has cute little stud earrings she got as a kid (they're stars)

Has an astronomy charm bracelet, but it's only worn on special occasions. I think she'd be wearing it when she shows you the telescope and tries to confess her feelings for the first time.

She's a silver girly

Little baby hairs. Give my girl Maru better hair

Lowkey loves Hello Kitty (idk where this one came from but I feel it)

Penny

Bumper bangs. In general I get very 50s vibes for style

Doesn't think she'll ever leave Stardew Valley, so she doesn't really have any huge aspirations for herself anymore.

She mostly invests herself in teaching Vincent and Jas to the best of her ability.

Would have loved to be a teacher if she were to leave, but she worries about her mother, so she's never left

I know there are some ideas on here that seem insubstantial compared to others, but this is the best I can do currently! I'd love feedback, since I'm relatively new to the fandom and the game, but I hope you enjoyed!!

[darcyolsson]

What's the ultimate ranking of all parabatai pairs in your intellectual tmi-spiral opinion

thanks for acknowledging the fact that tmi is making me a bit crazy 💛 without further ado, parabatai pairs from worst to best at being parabatai:

luke & valentine - they get some points for participating in a Parabatai Love Triangle (tm) which we all know by now is an essential part of all parabatai pairs but i think it's literally mentioned once that they were parabatai and then it's never brought up again. clearly this was the parabatai equivalent of an embarassing teenage relationship. 1.5/10

lucie & cordelia - they at least take the whole parabatai connected-souls things quite seriously but they forgot the most important part and thats that you need to actually be friends. 3/10

jace & alec - these two however absolutely did not take it seriously enough lmfaoooooo there's real love between them but they hate communicating, talking and speaking to each other SOOOO MUCH. however i kind of have to respect it? sometimes a joint parabatai slay is that they both dont actually give a fuck ab being parabatai. they were kind of real for that. 5/10

james & matthew - i acknowledge that they tried but they werent very good at it were they. i think they kind of suffer from the same thing as lucie & cordelia in the sense that they interact too little to come off as besties even though they both want to be besties. however they did have quite a few moments of unwavering homoerotic loyalty and i do love that. didnt live up to their potential though. 5.5/10

robert & michael - yeah they ended on bad terms but at least they gave us the drama and the completely insane intensity i'm LOOKING for!!!! like i said earlier, almost 20 years after his death michael was still the person robert loved the most in the entire world and michael literally came back from the dead to attend roberts funeral. perhaps robert failed to notice michael dying but thats iconic in and of itself imo do you know how deep you have to bury your emotions to not notice your parabatai's death?????? complete emotional rollercoaster i love it. 7/10 no wonder jace & alec are Like That

simon & clary - they rlly just became parabatai because they could. overhated and underrated parabatai duo i think they lack a certain je ne sais quoi that other pairs do have but i'm obsessed w their friendship so i love them anyway<3 have we considered that more ppl should just become parabatai with their besties simply because they can? besides at this rate simon will be a werewolf or something in 3 months' time anyway so we can't ever blame them for jumping on the opportunity! 7.5/10

jonathan shadowhunter & david the silent - literally invented the parabatai bond. bestie goals. couldve made it more feminist and included a woman though 🙄 8/10

emma & julian - do i even need to explain. they burned down a church. objectively awful at the whole parabatai deal though but in such an iconic life-changing culturally historically and aesthetically significant way that i dont even care. 9/10

will & jem - our souls are knit. we are one person, james. 10000000000000/10

[raayllum]

I know you love The dragon prince and that’s great. I binged the show after season three released. I listened to podcasts about the show . I listened to yours and felt really happy when I found people who also liked the show. Unfortunately I fell of during the hiatus between season three and four. I am patient person but three years was long. Also I watched the show for rallylum and through the moon just kind killed my love for them.Then I found your blog and was really happy. Then I saw how you felt about the owl house and it bothered me. As a neurodivergent person the show made me feel really seen. I know it’s stupid to be upset about an opinion. As a person who wants to be an English major how do find parallels between relationships and characters. You talk about certain ones and I don’t see them at all. Your probably more seasoned as a writer than I am so

Ps : sorry this is long and hope tdp ends well in your opinion

Few things:

1) I'm also neurodivergent (hi!) - specifically Autistic - and I have also largely wanted to be understood my whole life, much like Luz (according to S3). While a show making you feel seen can certainly be wonderful, meaningful, and sometimes even life changing, to me that's not enough to make it a Good (per my subjective tastes) Show. That's not to say TOH is a bad show - far from it - but it's one that didn't appeal to my particular tastes due to 1) too many characters and not enough screentime, 2) a lack of theme (which many kids shows don't have a ton of because they're, y'know, for kids), and 3) all of the characters have very black and white morality, and that's just less interesting to me.

Being upset about opinions is very natural, and it's not stupid, but it is also important to acknowledge that 1) you can't control how anyone else feels or interprets things and 2) no one else can control how you feel or interpret things.

2) I adored Through the Moon. Rayla's tendency to leave (and why) is always a hurdle I expected them to have to tackle at one point, and given that it's her main character flaw, I'm really excited and happy with the way it's been handled so far and how TTM kicked it off. The graphic novel also really resonated with me in Callum's place, as I too have loved many of my loved ones through incredibly difficult periods regarding their mental health, and the graphic novel felt very honest about the toll that can take on both parties in different ways, and how love/support can help, but ultimately isn't enough if the person isn't ready (or willing) to start trying to get better. It's not an easy pill to swallow, but it is a realistic and important one and I've enjoyed how the show has continued that storyline with Rayla (and Callum) into S4 and S5

3) Being an English major is not for everyone! I know many people who love to read and who are very good writers where an English degree would not suit them at all. It's a lot of reading (by my final year, there were some weeks where I was reading an entire 400 page book roughly every week, if not multiple at the same time). It is also a lot of writing (and my professors regularly chewed me out for my grammar). You also tend to kind of double being a history major as depending on what you're reading, you learn a lot of the religious/historical/cultural context in order to understand the language, references, and messaging intended by the author (and then whether or how much to disregard it, lmao). Being able to analyze — to see connections between characters and themes in particular, but other forms of symbolism and messaging — quickly is probably the main thing that saved my ass and let me stay on Honour Roll throughout my undergrad.

I have also been writing pretty seriously for a long time (I 'started' at age 10 but only really count age 12 onwards, cause that's when I first started writing 70k+ drafts every 1-2 years for original WIP stuff). A lot of what makes a good writer is being a good reader, taking your favourite stories (books or otherwise — movies, musicals, tv shows, etc can be gold mines) and figuring out what works in them and why, or why you like them (or don't like them), etc.

For example: The Owl House is a primarily character driven > plot driven story. In book form, it'd likely be Middle Grade to early YA. It's interested in character relationships among the main cast (any of the more villainous characters like Belos are never given the same amount of development or screentime) and some mild worldbuilding. It has some social commentary (mostly on the school systems through Luz and mental health through Eda) and an overall theme of "being different is good," breaking away from abusive systems/dynamics, and the importance of solidarity.

If I compare and contrast this to TDP, The Dragon Prince is far driven in equal parts by the plot (because it's wholly serialized) and by character. It is also very thematically driven — most notably how to break intergenerational cycles of trauma and violence, but also self-destructive tendencies, abuse, responsibility, power, grief, and concepts of justice and punishment. This is also reflected in the fact numerous villainous characters (Viren, Claudia, etc.) share close to equal screentime with the 'good guy' protagonists and heavily explores morality across a decently wide spectrum. It thereby has a more mature tone in its subject matter and would easily be YA in book form.

Which is to say: the best way to get better at analyzing is to break characters down to their basic plot structures (Character A does this, they want that, Character B does this, they want that, etc.) and see what pops up (for example, in Avatar The Last Airbender, Aang and Zuko both cannot go home, and duel Ozai when they're 13 years old, ultimately refusing to be violent against their opponent). You can also look at similar personality traits (curiosity, selflessness, carelessness, etc). Practice looking at the stories you love and figuring out what works and doesn't work for you personally — and then go beyond relatability to look more at subtext and symbols. Some of the best things I've ever read were books that had nothing relatable to my personal experiences in them (like The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini), and that was why I loved them because they got to broaden my horizons.

[sparvverius]

Can you please stop idiotic takes by ignorant people or trolls? Giving them more visibility even if you covered the name won't do anything good, a part from getting people angry, but this is not a good thing. Or at least add a specific tag so that I can blacklist them. Like, I get it that they can be fun to read, but not for the 8474848737th time, thank you.

i post that kind of thing because it's fun for me to pick apart (and yes to make fun of) and i frequently learn something in the process, even if it's just something about the way that the people i disagree with think and what exactly are the differences between my point of view and theirs. it can be something of an exercise, or some sort of whetstone for me to make sure that i both know what my rebuttals to the points in the screenshot are and whether i can articulate them in a way that i think is satisfactory. ideally this is what i would consider an ethical haterism--if i don't like a take i see, i want to be sure that i can say why i don't like it. i consider myself a rather competitive, argumentative person irl, not over petty things (...usually), but in the sense that i like to start/engage in long political debates. sometimes this is a bad thing and the other person gets stressed and starts thinking i'm mad at them when i'm under the impression we're both having a great time.

however--i can't deny that sometimes i do get a cheap adrenaline rush out of arguing online, and sometimes this makes me go overboard with it. this has been true of me historically and still is. sometimes i go too far and say something mean cause i think it's witty and that's not cool. i'm very sorry if i made you uncomfortable with the discourseposting and will try to be mindful of my own motives in the future, and i will tag it in the future with something--does #hall of shame sound good to you? please message me if it would or wouldn't.

sorry if this answer is a little long and rambly, i'm tired but i wanted to address your concern seriously. thank you for bringing it up!

[rollercoasterwords]

ok here's the cottagecore rant lol

i'm definitely not the first person to complain about cottagecore and like the 'cottagecorification' of lesbians but i've just been thinking about it tonight and i feel like the two main facets of what irritate me about it are like:

the way it mysticizes femininity. like...i am generally skeptical of any form of gender essentialism but especially this whole "divine feminine" sort of rhetoric that i've seen floating around the internet, which essentially acts as though a proper response to the gender roles created by patriarchy is to take the gender role of "woman" and shout really loudly about how good it is, which like...i understand the desire to take historically stigmatized aspects of femininity and reclaim them and push back against stigmatizing narratives, but mysticizing feminity does nothing but take us back to gender essentialism, which will always inevitably take us back to a gender hierarchy, so it's like....idk babe read some audre lorde. master's tools will never dismantle the master's house and all that. like there is no inherent goodness to womanhood and portraying femininity as this dainty pretty thing isn't actually really doing anyone a favor in the long-run. also -- i feel like this ties in to the ways that people will sometimes talk about lesbians and lesbian relationships like "wow women are just so beautiful and magical and amazing and lesbians are just so perfect and lesbian relationships are all just so perfect" where it's like...k. tell me u don't see lesbians as people but make it woke ig.

the way it sanitizes lesbianism. and like again i am not the first person to complain about this but anytime i see lesbianism portrayed as just like "omg uwu cute picnics and matching little fairy outfits and watching the sunset together" i'm just like...i'm not 5 years old??? like it almost feels as if in trying to avoid lesbians being oversexualized we've just decided to turn them into a children's picture book?? and it's like....idk babe u do u but if this is your impression of what being a lesbian is about then....yikes.

and the thing is like this combo of mysticizing femininty and sanitizing lesbianism i think leads to this weird anti-masculinity sentiment within queer and wlw spaces where people will be like "feminine = good and masculine = bad" and then we get all these "jokes" where people just repeat the same rhetoric about masculine lesbians being creepy ugly predators and it's like....i am literally going to rip ur spine out. i am. going to kill you. seriously the fucking "hey mamas" jokes and shit?? ohhhh i could go on and on maybe i just need to make a separate rant for that but yeah. making fun of masculine lesbians is literally only ever punching down and if you don't understand that then u have an incredibly warped understanding of like queer politics and also have probably never studied even a crumb of queer history.

ANYWAY at the end of the day all of this also just goes back to like. turning queerness into an aesthetic for the consumption of a broad audience and this is an issue throughout queer spaces i think because people don't actually want to accept queerness they just want to consume it as a form of entertainment but with lesbians specifically it just sucks that the palatable aesthetic is always going to be some kind of hyperfeminine conventionally pretty little package that is either completely devoid of sexuality or sexualized in a way that is very consumable for nonlesbians. and it sucks when people within the queer community buy so heavily into that aesthetic without seeing the ways that boiling a sexuality down to an aesthetic is harmful. like -- it's okay to enjoy or identify with certain aspects of "cottagecore" like shit man i like picnics too and if ur into cute dresses and shit u do u but if your queer identity revolves around aesthetics then there is very little that is actually queer about it and you will likely struggle to actually be in community with those who don't fit into your sanitized and palatable narratives of what it means to be queer. so. work on conceptualizing queerness beyond aesthetics maybe!

[einsteinsugly]

I'm sending this to three T70s blogs! What are your very most controversial/unpopular That 70s Show opinions? To get the ball rolling, I'll confess a few of mine since I'm on anon and can't be attacked :) 1. I always shipped Jackie/Eric to the point where they're a true OTP of mine. I have no idea why. Usually when I ship non-canon couples, it's because they're very close friends whose personalities seem incredibly compatible to me...but Jackie and Eric aren't especially close (despite being in the same general group), and they don't seem very compatible or even to care about and respect each other that much. (Though Jackie's "hero" line melts me!) Tbh, it probably just comes down to the fact that Jackie and Eric are by far my two favorite characters. I love analyzing, writing about them, and envisioning how they might have worked if I conveniently ignore 97% of canon. I'm pathetic :) 2. I wouldn't really like Hyde in real life and don't think he was a particularly good romantic partner at all. (*ducks*) I mean, he was an improvement over Kelso, but who isn't?! I just think fandom idealizes him a bit too much. It's a matter of taste, though---the super 'edgy, rebel, proudly rude, 'duuude, I shoplift and smoke a lot of weed and would rather set myself on fire than eat in a mainstream chain restaurant' kind of guys just aren't my personal type :) 3. Sort of related to the first two confessions: I don't think Jackie and Hyde would make each other happy long term. They had some wonderful moments on the show, but I really just don't think they'd give each other what they want. 4. I don't really get how some newer fans turn Laurie into this root-worthy 'girlboss' who's just misunderstood- she's supposed to be unrepentantly, hilariously terrible, and she is! Sometimes it really is as simple as that :) 5. (*whispers*) More often than not, I enjoy Kelso. Obviously as a boyfriend to Jackie, but as a character who - for me - really does add a lot of humor and energy to the show. i can't wait to read yours, and please don't hate me for mine!

Don't you mean, obviously not as a boyfriend to Jackie?

To your points.

1. Jackie and Hyde can work long term, to me. They're stubborn, but they give eachother what they want. Love and stability.

2. I do think Laurie was mistreated by her mother and was unrightfully slut shamed. However, she goes beyond this, and willingly home wrecks. Ultimately, she falls back into her old patterns whenever things get hard. She has potential to be better, but she is morally grey, if you will. She is willing to do almost anything to get what she wants.

*****

Okay, now mine.

1. I've said this before, but I think T9S is worse than season 8. If only because season 8 is way easier to fix.

2. I tend to regard season 8 as canon, if only because it logistically meshes (unfortunately). Both post-season 8 and post-season 7 verses are canon. T9S is not, since it logistically clashes with both, in a huge way (*cough* sixteen year old Jay *cough*).

3. I do not think Jackie can truly overcome all of her conservative biases via Hyde. She would really struggle to accept a child that seriously strays from the norm. It sucks. It's one of those things where she outwardly accepts it, to be politically correct, but it's obvious that it's not how she really feels. She'd ultimately accept a gay or bi kid, but it would take her years to accept a trans/gender non-conforming kid. And even then, she still wouldn't get it/understand it.

4. Okay, T7S takes place in the past. Blatant historical anachronisms, to adhere to modern standards, do way more harm than good. It leads some readers to believe things were better than they actually were, which is a fucking disservice. I strive to be historically accurate, not just in material things, but in attitudes too. It varies from character to character, but still.

5. Jackie, for the most part, would be awful irl. I've met good Jackies in the past, but a lot of bad ones, too (*cough* family members *cough*).

6. Only Jackie, and maybe Fez, would be a Swiftie.

[zealoussy]

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang

✨ Some sort of review

So, basically June (a white woman) is so jealous of her friend, Athena (a chinese american, queer), who seems to have it all, that when she suddenly dies, June steals her friend’s unfinished manuscript. She stole it, polished it so it aligned with her approach to writing, then published the story as hers.

Yes, she's insufferable. Yes, you have to deal with her for the whole book. So, make sure you prepare a snack, a tea, or anything that you can grab when things get frustrating.

As an unlikeable character, June is written too well, I think. When you read this, you will expect to hate everything that she says and does. Granted, there are a lot of things you can hate about June. But the thing is, RFK leaves enough room in the characterization of June for the readers to interpret what kind of character she is.

You see, in satire, usually you have this expectation that the characters will always talk in exaggeration, their behavior and worldview, you can’t help but expect the characters to be some sort of caricature. Yet often, in this book, the things that she says are the messages that RFK wants to deliver.

If you find yourself agreeing with this quote from June,

We’re just suggesting the right credentials, so that readers take me and my story seriously, so that nobody refuses to pick up my work because of some outdated preconceptions about who can write what. And if anyone makes assumptions, or connects the dots the wrong way, doesn’t that say far more about them than me?

may I remind you that in this context, June stole Athena’s manuscript about a WWI Chinese Laborers story? Well you’ll find more layers of irony like this in Yellowface.

That dissonance between how I perceive June and some things she said that I agree with, makes me reevaluate my thinking about what was said, who said, how it was said. (A lot of things said on the internet. It’s easy to lose my voice in the noise, sometimes I even forget to make my own judgment.)

Another thing about June is that she feels human in this book. Before you come at me, no, I am not a June defender. There are moments where you will see how June is slowly deteriorating. In those moments, you can see that June is capable of guilt and grief and fear. That, makes her human.

Although not for long you’ll be reminded again, how still unlikeable she is. What an asshole she is. Some people may not like this way of characterization where, after showing her vulnerability, you'll then be hit in the face with a reminder how bad she is.

For me personally, I like to be reminded that she is terrible simply because I’m an empath.

Aside from June's characterization, there's also the social commentary. Have you ever felt like you have so much in your head but it seems impossible to express what you think? Yeah, RFK spoke what I had in mind like how. This book is I think RFK's way to give words to the things that she has been observing. She's very thorough at that too.

Maybe it's because I'm chronically online. Or maybe it's because I'm always interested in media trends. But there are a lot of nuances in which RFK write the things that she wanted to show the readers.

For example, June thought that the way Athena approached historical fiction is "so hackneyed that they defy belief", although it was implied that Athena was trying to be as truthful as possible to the actual history.

For June, how Athena writes is not accessible, didactic, therefore makes it not a good craft. Meanwhile all this time the opposite has been said about Athena's books: brilliant, authentic, insightful.

Part of Athena's original draft that June's editor said to be "torture porn" was a literal story straight from historical record. That exchange between June and her editor is a good example of "the winner is the one who write the history" or whatever, that sentence, but in a bad way.

From this gaze, we get to see how power is an essential factor that builds the narrative. There's a big part in the story where white privilege plays a role in which they have more advantages over people of color.

SPOILER ALERT

June is misusing her influence towards a POC character which consequently ruin that person's life entirely.

SPOILER ENDS.

Talking about POC, RFK has got some humour in her. I love how Juniper is written being so delulu that it makes her look plain stupid.

"Diversity is what’s selling right now. Editors are hungry for marginalized voices. You’ll get plenty of opportunities for being different, Emmy. "

In booktwt specifically, it is not an uncommon occurrence where readers are debating about diversity. "Just because the book is diverse doesn't mean it's good," that saying is not unfamiliar among the readers. What is a good book, honestly? Pulling the thread from this scope, RFK tried to capture how twitter discourse looks like, what each sides are arguing about.

It's easy for people to dismiss the happenings on the twitter as, "It's just twitter", although in a lot of cases it's warranted that things are overblown in there, but there needs to be some consideration where people's life are depending on it. What does this mean is, it all comes down to the theme of white privilege again. June's career is depending on social media, mainly twitter. Being the June that she is, let's say, she's not nice to people, so there are consequences of her own actions, but knowing how deranged twitter can be, relying your career using that media can be debilitating. June is obviously overwhelmed by this. I like this part because this is where the social commentary shines light about the publishing industry.

But Twitter is real life; it’s realer than real life, because that is the realm that the social economy of publishing exists on, because the industry has no alternative.

I don't think I ever heard a book that tells a story about publishing industry this close. Readers are introduced to the behind the scenes of publishing industry with a sense of familiarity, using terms that readers use when they talk about the books they consume. Yellowface is an intriguing piece of literature that break the door to the source of the enjoyment itself and the way it is created in this profit-hungry society. Not only that, it also a neat composition of characterization, storyline, motif, worldbuilding, and a sprinkle of social commentary.

TLDR: Seriously, please read Yellowface! It's well-written, engaging, insightful, and overall an amazing book.

[lindwurmkai]

i have watched 8 episodes of faithful by now and it's still really, really good. seriously, i don't always distinguish between "i like it" and "it's actually good" when i talk about some new thing i love but this is both.

i've seen it described as a "revenge drama" as if that were some kind of established genre and idk, maybe it is? but if it had been advertised to me as such, i would have thought it wasn't for me. who cares about revenge? doesn't sound interesting. however ... nie huaisang quickly became my favourite character from the untamed. hmm 🤔

the premise of this show is that a girl (in historical china) who tries to bring her rapist to justice fails to achieve her goal and dies. in response, her friend spends 7 years hatching an elaborate revenge plan. we don't immediately find out how the girl dies, how that man is able to get away with his crimes, who exactly is in league with whom among his various enablers or why, and of course what the revenge plan entails - everything is slowly revealed in segments alternating between past and present. i still don't know how she dies. love this story structure tbh

the protagonist (dead girl's friend) is absolutely delightful and also very easy to read as a lesbian or aroace. however, in the flashback segments we see that she starts out with some rather understandable flaws and her quest for revenge is likely motivated at least in part by regret for not having done more sooner. you see that in male characters so often, it's refreshing to see a female character get the same treatment!!

other than that, the ACAB vibes are off the charts for now. we'll see how that holds up throughout the story, but one of my favourite things is that there's this "good cop" guy who's honestly more of a Slightly Less Bad Cop because his heart is clearly in the right place but he's lazy about it and too much of a realist to do anything most of the time.

he ends up in prison for seven years with a broken leg that never healed right because he was overheard bragging about totally having helped that girl way more than he actually did. yep. that's all it takes

(hilariously, he is now also hell-bent on getting revenge, but mostly for his leg. like, he's got a concerning obsession with finding the main villain and breaking his leg in return, even though the people who did it were his former colleagues - he can see the big picture, he knows whose fault that really was. absolutely incredible)

recently an Actual Good Cop appeared (young and full of idealism), prevented various horrors from occurring, and was beaten up for his efforts. 7 years later, he seems ... hardened but true to his ideals? i'm curious to see how he managed to keep his job!

anyway, lots of good stuff here. it's a super heavy subject, but handled surprisingly well i think. hopefully most of that will stay true for the remaining 17 episodes...

[redwineconversation]

there's a whole day between us and you called to say you're sorry in your own way (Lyon - Benfica Pregame Thoughts)

There's a few things to keep in mind for this game, so let's chat about them.

Does playing at Groupama really give Lyon a home advantage?

Answer: Not really. Lyon's record at Groupama under Sonia Bompastor is actually pretty bad. The only real standout performance was the win against PSG in November 2021 and, if you're feeling generous, the win against Juventus in March 2022. The rest of Lyon's performances at Groupama under Bompastor have been mediocre at best, especially this season.

And that's kind of an issue, because Lyon typically plays the big games at Groupama Stadium. In the old days, Lyon lived for that kind of shit. Big players show up in big games and Lyon thrived under that kind of pressure. With Bompastor, not so much. As I said, the performances at Groupama Stadium have been lackluster at best. The killer instinct Lyon prided itself on for so many years has disappeared under Bompastor, and I'm not super convinced it will be back tomorrow.

2. Lost: Ada Hegerberg

Look, I've said it before and I'll say it again, Lyon is better when Hegerberg is on the team. That's the main reason I want her to extend. She makes the team better. Her hatred of losing is so, so pure. A hatred of losing cannot be taught, either it was always in you or it wasn't. Lyon is better when Hegerberg is around for that alone.

But I am super sympathetic to the flip side of the argument: is Lyon really better for it this season without Hegerberg, considering the number of clear chances she has missed? My argument is: no. Lyon needs her if only because her presence draws two or three defenders towards her, which provides space for any forward whom isn't Melvine Malard or Vicki Becho.

Having Renard back is a bonus because like with Hegerberg, the thought of losing makes her visibly uncomfortable. But she is not ready to play 90 minutes, much less 45, so I don't know how much she can grab Lyon by the scruff of the neck and haul them over the finish line.

3. Found: Jessica Silva

It shows how many people are blatantly post-Euros / post-WC fans when they don't get why Jessica Silva is a player one should take very, very seriously.

She's a good player. It wasn't so much a situation of "Lyon made a mistake in letting her go" simply because she didn't fit into Lyon's style of play at the time. But she is still a good player. She's fast and she's technical. To pretend that Benfica is not better for it by having her on the team sheet demonstrates a shocking lack of historical knowledge.

It matters, too, because Silva will want to prove she is The One That Got Away for Lyon. She played lights out in the 4-4 draw against Barcelona. Imagine what she will do to the team she views let her get away?

[servin-up-surveys]

survey #197

What was the last bad thing that happened to your phone? I just got a new phone for Christmas, and I haven't had issues yet.

Have you ever been with someone while they were throwing up? No, I cannot be that form of support because I have severe emetophobia. If I hear vomiting, I'm gonna start.

Who was the last person you talked to on instant messenger? Tobey asked me if what she got me for Christmas fit.

Would you rather get pregnant at too young an age or never be able to reproduce? Quite honestly I'd love if I couldn't reproduce. I worry that with having the option to have a baby, I'll eventually go through with it and only regret it. I'd feel much calmer over the concept if I just didn't have the option.

Have you ever gotten alcohol poisoning? No.

Do you do your own laundry? I actually don't, but not because I'm unwilling or anything, my mom just finds it easier and financially reasonable to do our stuff together.

Do you currently have a hickey? No.

Ever had a near death experience? Well I suppose two, now that I've had an asthma attack that had the ER staff pretty hectic.

Have you ever kissed in the rain? Yeah.

What are you excited for? My birthday's in a few days.

Have you been to the beach this year? I haven't been in years.

Would you put your life on the line for anyone? There's honestly quite a few people whom I'd risk my life for.

Are there any bruises/cuts on your body? I have a few bruises from IVs and stuff at the ER.

What was the last app you downloaded on your phone? It was some photography sharing app with a name I can't remember. I uninstalled it because it was one of those with very specific dimensions and I hated it lmao

Have you ever been to any supposed haunted locations? Did you experience anything weird? No, but I would like to do this.

What breed was the last dog you saw? Cookie is a chihuahua.

Who was the last person to sleep in your bed? Besides myself, Girt.

What’s something you’re obsessed about right now? For the past year and a half my primary hyperfixation has been Rammstein. I'm also CONSTANTLY obsessed with meerkats (hyperfixations come and go, but I've been insane about meerkats since like age 9-10, that's no hyperfixation), and I will take any opportunity to talk about tarantulas, too.

Do you date outside your own race? I'm completely open to doing so, race means nothing to me. I technically did "date" a Hispanic for like, a day, but his race had nothing to do with how short-lived it was.

What are some of your turn-offs? Conservative, misogynistic, exceedingly raunchy, arrogant, not taking the relationship seriously and instead just wanting to "date around," etc.

Were you present at any major historical events (e.g. 9/11)? No.

How many chairs are in the room you’re currently in? Just this one desk chair.

Have you been craving any particular snack lately? Which? Yes actually, sour Skittles. Like crazy.

Can you recall the first film you ever saw at a cinema? I can't.

Who was the last person you had a good giggle with? I think Mom.

Have you had any news of any kind lately? Health stuff. Me having asthma being confirmed, learning my white blood cell count is severely elevated and I have no idea why (I'm assuming I'm going to be put on an antibiotic), and I'm getting a thyroid ultrasound.

How many times in your life would you say you've been in love? I once believed thrice, but now after having a proper, ultra-deep bond following relationship trauma, I learned I wasn't in love with Sara. I loved her, but it was absolutely not the same as what I once felt for Jason and how I feel about Girt now.

Do people hang up flyers around your neighborhood? Not really, unless it's a missing pet.

Are you an aunt/uncle? Would you like to be? I am. Only three of the kids are actively in my life, because my older half-siblings don't live here. I still love those not in NC, though.

Do you have raccoons where you live? Yeah, they're very common roadkill. Them and opossums.

Do you ever keep fresh flowers in the house? No, only if they're a gift for Mom or me. I keep WANTING to get into plants, I'm just pretty convinced it wouldn't go well.

Have you ever made graffiti? No.

Do you know anyone who has a hearing deficit? Yeah, at least one person; my sister's husband's grandmother is ancient and you have to speak up considerably for her. I'm pretty sure she does have a hearing aid, I just don't see her enough to have that memorized.

What makes a person physically beautiful to you? Smiles. I find a super vast field of people to be physically appealing, but someone's smile is always up there.

Would you miss winter if it never came back? Why or why not? Yeah; we don't get snow any other time of year here, so that means no snowy days. :( Visually, without snow, winter doesn't aesthetically appeal to me, however I also enjoy the chilly days it brings.

Does bad weather ruin your day? Why or why not? It won't RUIN a day for me, however cloudy/rainy weather CAN affect my depression.

How long has it been since you moved out of the house you grew up in? Oh jeez, almost two decades, maybe.

What color shirt are you wearing? It's a red tank top.

What was the last flavor of ice cream you ate? I actually had Ben & Jerry's Phish Food today, my favorite.

What is your favorite type of soup? I don't like soup.

What is your favorite board that you’ve made on Pinterest? I definitely don't have a folder of Rammstein pictures

What was the last thing you ate or drank that was blue raspberry-flavored? Mountain Dew Voltage a couple days ago.

What was the last flavor of tea you drank? I've hated any tea I've ever tried.

What type of fruit do you eat the most? Hmmm... probably apples?

Do you enjoy going to your local county fair? I don't go.

What was the last video game that you beat? It wasn't me that beat it, but I watched Girt finish another playthrough of Nier, his favorite game ever. It was the remake.

Do you like peaches? I like canned sliced peaches.

Have you ever had lice? No, let's keep it that way!

Do you believe in astrology? Not in the slightest.

Do you like Lady Gaga or does she try too hard? I like her and respect her as a creative.

Where did you last wear a bathing suit? At my family friend's pool this past summer.

Do you feel more comfortable with a male or female doctor/nurse? I am drastically more comfortable with a woman.

When’s the next time you’ll be drinking? I plan on ordering a sangria at my birthday dinner.

Did you know you wanted to be in a relationship with the person you are now when you first met him/her? I did consider the possibility of dating him, but then Jason and I got together and I no longer thought about it. If I wasn't with Jason though, I still could picture myself with him.

What if you found out your partner had a previous sex change? I'm pansexual, I literally would not care at all.

Have you ever dated someone in the military? No, I could never manage to do this. My anxiety would drive me entirely insane.

Do you know how to make origami? No.

How would you like to be proposed to one day? I'd prefer the traditional approach, but I definitely don't have this planned out. I don't want a large-scale proposal, though.

When was the last time you saw your brother? Years ago.

Do you like chocolate and mint together? Yeah!

Have you ever had chocolate-covered gummy bears? No, that doesn't sound good.

Think back to your most important relationship, was it all your fault it’s over? I don't like thinking about this. It doesn't matter.

Do you remember the meanest thing the last person you kissed ever said to you? He has honestly never said something truly mean to me.

What’s your favorite Coke product? Coke.

Which of the guys you’ve been interested in hurt you the most? Not everyone is into guys, but Jason.

Have you ever kissed someone who had a boyfriend/girlfriend? No, I would never do this.

How many presents do you usually receive on your birthday? ??????????? do people COUNT?????????????????

If you could change one thing about your appearance what would it be? I want to be a healthy weight.

If space were easier to travel, would you want to explore it? Absolutely, but only under the circumstances of it being a lot easier and quicker.

Describe the best thing about being inside. Temperature control. <<<< real

Describe the best thing about being outside. Animals and plants! The sounds!

Ever faked an orgasm? No.

Do you like the sound of birds chirping, or does it piss you off? I adore this, I completely cannot relate to people who don't like birdsong.

Ever wanted to be a vet? Yes, that was the second career I ever wanted.

Ever had an infection of any kind? Yeah, various.

Have you ever held a starfish? No. :( I've always wanted to find one on the beach. (I wouldn't keep it unless it was clearly deceased, btw.)

What’s your favorite thing from Olive Garden? It USED to be their spicy shrimp fritas, but they no longer have them, I believe. I'll be ordering something new for my birthday dinner there.

Do you use an instant messenger? If so, what is it? I use Discord, and I'll sometimes use Facebook Messenger.

Which of your exes is the best looking? Jason.

Where did your last ex ask you out? I asked her out over the phone because we live in different states.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

hi yes im still alive

DON’T MIND ME, I’M JUST--

HAVING A MOMENT TO PROCESS ALL THE LORE AND STORY CHAPTER 6 JUST DROPPED ON US, I CAN BARELY WRITE

AHHHHHHH, I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS 😭 kjdbbaufbiafafvoaybo LEMME PUT ON MY THINKING CAP AND THROW SOME STUFF OUT ASDYUBUASDLI;AGVUOQIB;VI You’ll understand why I used Leona’s face here even though it’s Idia and Ortho’s chapter after you read my thoughts--

***Chapter 6 (and other main story) spoilers below the cut!***

Okay, just to keep it simple, I’ll try to keep things in chronological order!

First is a bullet point list of my thoughts on chapter 6 so far, then all my questions and theories (mostly a biggish theory on Ace) are at the end of the post.

Expectation: Idia cowering in his room, Vil and Rook busting down his door using Epel as a battering ram, dead Ortho theory confirmed

Reality: SWAT TEAM RAID ON NRC, DORM LEADERS (sans Kalim) AND JAMIL GET KIDNAPPED

Admittedly, I’m disappointed to see that the injury Grim inflicted to MC was basically just a cat scratch and nothing more. I thought it would be a lot more impactful if MC had to deal with juggling the realization that Grim has betrayed their friendship and trust while also on the verge of death (or at least while being severely injured)... And given how MC reacted to the attack at the end of chapter 5, I would think whatever struck them was much more substantial than just a cat scratch. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say either the script got scrubbed by Disney, or the intent was that MC was still woozy from VDC / OB Vil, MC felt so betrayed that it shook them emotionally, or that MC was just that weak by default that they can’t defend themselves against cat claws.

Hey, Ramshackle’s finally getting renovated! Proceeds to immediately get destroyed again--

I feel like????????? They tried to retroactively explain why Neige won to try and mitigate the uproar over how VDC ended. There’s some dialogue between the VDC group about how they didn’t perform at their peak because of having just walked out of dealing with OB Vil, and how Neige’s fans were going to vote for him anyway because they resonated with his background. Honestly, I think they should have moved on from that sore spot instead of bringing it up again, even if how chapter 5 ended didn’t personally bother me.

BOOM, HERE COME THE TWST TERMINATORS--

NOT GONNA LIE, THOSE STYX GUYS LOOK HOT SO COOL

AAAAAAND IT’S KIDNAPPING MONTAGE TIME, KIDS

JOABSFHUPAUABDBADB CALM DOWN, RIDDLE??????? YOU’RE GOING TO COMMIT ARSON IN BROAD DAYLIGHT--

Okay, I know this chapter’s focused on Ignihyde and Grim, but the standout part to me (so far) has been the scene where Leona’s being kidnapped. Historically, Leona has not been a character that I like (excluding that one time I had to pretend to like him for a game). I feel like he’s one massive missed opportunity (he didn’t show up much in chapter 2, he’s pretty similar backstory-wise to his Disney counterpart compared to the other Dorm Leaders, he didn’t seem to learn anything or become a better person even a LITTLE after chapter 2, etc.). I’m not a fan of his lazy and arrogant attitude either (even if it is justified by his backstory). But here? THIS IS THE LEONA I ACTUALLY LIKE AND WANT TO SEE MORE OF. 

LIKE????? I CAN’T DESCRIBE TO YOU HOW MUCH I LIKE THIS SCENE???? Yeah, we have Leona fighting STYX at first, but as soon as he realizes who they are, he wises up and surrenders because he knows better than to resist arrest. AND NOT ONLY THAT, but he uses King’s Roar in a smart way--to turn the falling greenhouse glass panes into sand so they don’t hurt anyone nearby (namely him and Ruggie).

And after he turns himself in????? LEONA TELLS RUGGIE TO TAKE CARE OF SAVANACLAW FOR HIM!!! THIS is what a real leader would do. He looks after himself and his people, but he knows when to surrender, AND he leaves his “kingdom” (the dorm) in good hands while he’s away. THIS is the Leona I want to see.

AJBDUASHPFBUABFIABIYFBIPFAAFIAF I ALSO REALLY LIKE HIS SASS WHEN HE JUST THROWS HIS HANDS UP AND ASDBIASBIABAIODDAYOFAIPPADAIDB SAYS “I’ll go with you, but be careful while escorting me, okay? Despite my looks, I'm a precious prince. I’ll get sick/dizzy if you drive recklessly.” SARCASTIC SASSY SMARTASS??????? IF YOU HAD MORE LINES LIKE THIS, I’D LIKE YOU MORE

I love how Azul’s still talking about capitalism/how he can profit from Idia (apparently the Shrouds are like the TWST equivalent of Google??????) as he’s being escorted away by the agents?????? IF I WERE HIM, I’D BE PISSED OFF THAT THEY INTERRUPTED MY BOARD GAME????? At least let the man finish first--

Damn, everyone’s being tasered???????? And apparently all the STYX agents are equipped with anti-magic plates? I guess Bind the Heart can just eat shit then--

Lilia’s ringtone is cute, period.

CROWLEY CALLED STYX TO CAPTURE GRIM???? GRIM IS OFFICIALLY A SCP THAT NEEDS TO BE CONTAINED????

WAIT WHAT CROWLEY’S BEING KIDNAPPED TOO??????? Oh well, the school is probably safer in Trein’s hands anyway--

askhlbfbilhidbabbidasb RIDDLE WAKES UP POST KIDNAPPING AND HE’S USING LEONA AS A LAP PILLOW?????!

How does it feel to be held in a room against your will, Jamil? Yeah, don’t like a taste of your own medicine, do you?

OH HI IDIA, NICE YZMA MAD SCIENTIST GETUP YOU GOT THERE

Wait, what????? THAT’S IT?????? SERIOUSLY???????

MAN.

I have so many questions??????? Specifically about STYX and what they do, and how the Shrouds are tied into all of it.

So they say STYX is a specialized unit called in to quell serious Overblot cases. And if Crowley called them to deal with Grim... well, bad times ahead for Grim. STYX has also been studying Overblot for a long time, which is why (I think?) they captured Riddle, Leona, Azul, Jamil, and Vil. 

There’s been some allusions made between Grim and Stitch in a lot of fan art and fan theories I’ve seen, since their struggles have some parallels: that being them struggling to decide if they are “good” or “bad”. I don’t know if this was intentional on the part of the TWST writing team, but regardless, it’s a really good concept that plays into the themes of TWST itself. There’s no good, there’s no evil, no black and white--most of the characters we see may be BASED on villains, but that doesn’t MAKE them villains. They are good, and bad, in their own ways--and now Grim is dealing with that crisis as he fights to keep his sanity and avoid completely succumbing to Overblot.

Though Idia seems to be involved with STYX’s research, it doesn’t sound like he personally gave the order to retrieve those test subjects (or at the very least, he’s not happy about roughing up the test subjects), it sounds like the orders came from other people in the organization. His parents, perhaps?

They mention briefly that Idia’s parents are asking him to “come home”, so it must be for something urgent. Are they worried about his safety? But Idia’s lines at the end of chapter 5 lead me to think he is estranged from his family, since he straight up rejected a job offer linked to them (Olympus Corp is owned by the Jupiter family, and the Shrouds are a branch family of Jupier), and says something like “I’m not welcome anywhere”. Has Idia done something to disgrace him from the rest of the family? Or is it more of a self imposed/self inflicted statement, given that he always says he’s “cursed” and acts like he’s guilty of something that deserves scorn?

Why is Idia participating in STYX research, even if it means experimenting on his fellow students (and fellow board game enthusiast Azul)? People are speculating that he wants to use blots to fully revive Ortho (if dead Ortho theory is true), or that Idia actually has heroic intentions (he wants to know more about blots to prevent OBing from happening?), but at this point??? Literally anything could happen?!

In future parts, I’m guessing Pomefiore, MC, and Adeuce will team up to break Jamil and the Dorm Leaders (except Malleus, Malleus got left out again www) out? And HOPEFULLY we get to see Rook’s Unique Magic or at least more screen time, since I feel like he got so little in chapter 5... Another thing I’d like to see is Ace and/or Epel getting their Unique Magic, or at least starting to develop it. It’s really mostly Ace I want more details for.

A theory I’ve been holding onto for a long time is that Deuce getting his UM will spur Ace on to become jealous (since he has always seen Deuce as an idiot/”lesser” than him), and that will cause a rift in the friendship, or for Ace to throw himself into a dangerous situation to prove himself (he has done it before with Riddle)... and has his ass rescued again. This would make Ace even angrier, since he feels like everyone is treating him like a little kid or rubbing it in that he isn’t “as good” as they are. I don’t know where it would go from there (I’m sure TWST would get creative), but ultimately it would culminate in Ace making amends with everyone and rushing in to save them from either Grim or Idia OB.

I don’t think Ace would discover his UM in a similar manner as Deuce (Deuce had to embrace his own stubbornness and straightforwardness, but as the term “Unique” Magic implies, the way a magic develops and manifests is “unique” to the user). While Deuce has to learn to accept his own way of thinking, I believe Ace is already sure of his own way of thinking and has totally accepted it. I think what Ace has to deal with instead is coming to terms with his fickleness. We’ve seen him time and time again treating his loved ones kind of callously, from constantly bullying MC, Grim, and Deuce to ghosting his own girlfriend and flaking on people when they are counting on him to do a task.

The issue with Ace isn’t that he isn’t aware, it’s that he is aware and he seems to think this behavior is totally okay. He demonstrates little to no remorse in what he does and says, and he doesn’t seem to care about the consequences either (how many times does he get punished by Riddle, yet he keeps doing the same dumb things over and over?). Ace appears to operate under the mindset of always being in the right, or (if he’s in the wrong), he won’t really acknowledge it, or he will wave it off as “no big deal”--and I think that’s his greatest weakness.

In the scenario I described earlier, I mentioned that Ace’s jealousy will cause a wedge between him and his friends, and I think this will play into him realizing the error of his ways. When he has finally driven away all of the people that supported him, what will he have left? Nothing. Then maybe Ace suddenly finds himself relating to Idia, or to Grim, who have Overblotted and are in a similar emotional state as he is. Confused and lonely... and that energizes him to pitch in again, even if all he has is wind magic up his sleeve. Everyone could be shocked that Ace has returned, and in that moment, he could finally realize his true potential and unlock his Unique Magic!

(Maybe that’s too specific, but that’s a scenario that I’ve had playing in my head for a long time!)

... Buuuuut given that Ace has gotten little to no spotlight so far in chapter 6, I’m not sure if they’ll lean into him developing his UM yet (unless they pull a chapter 5 and really start addressing Ace in the latter half of the chapter like they did with Deuce). Seeing as chapter 6 is dealing with a lot of heavy topics (death, Grim lore, Overblot lore), I’m thinking maybe the TWST team will push off Ace’s UM development to chapter 7???? The only way I can see it happening in chapter 6 is if the chapter is SUPER long, or if the writing is REALLY good or really bad. 

Anyway, I’m keeping my fingers crossed!!! I’m so excited for the rest of chapter 6... I hope that we don’t have to wait too long for it!

[icarus-suraki]

firework and dahlia?

firework: have you ever had a supernatural experience? I fucking wish. The closest thing I can think of was when I saw a "shadow person" run across a friend's backyard late one evening. I was supposed to go collected my brother's bike (or something like that) from our friend's backyard and I was standing at the top of the hill that sloped down into their backyard and I thought I saw this gray, shadowy man run from the trees on the right into the hedges on the left--a ways ahead of me, not immediately in front of me. At the time it reminded me of the 1990s Ninja Turtles when they would try to disguise themselves in trench coats and fedoras (such was the era and my age), now it reminds me a little of Peter Lorre in M. Just this…shadowy man, with his hat pulled low and his shoulders hunched, hurrying across my friend's backyard.

It did scare me, but mostly because I thought it could be a burglar or murderer--a very corporeal Bad Guy, you know? I wouldn't go get the bikes without a grown-up but I also didn't want to say what I'd seen because my parents were always telling me that I worried too much about this or that or the other. I'd say I thought I heard something and they'd just sigh and say with so much exasperation "What did you hear?" or "What did you think you heard?" So telling them "I think I saw a robber in [friend]'s backyard!" wasn't going to go over well.

The whole "shadow person" thing didn't come up until a few years later when I was in my early teens and got really into paranormal stuff (and, I am sorry to say, some New Age stuff). I figured my Peter Lorre ghost could be called a "shadow person," which does work as a nice kind of shorthand when talking to people who know paranormal lingo.

Oddly, only a year or two ago, I told my mom the story and we had a good laugh and she said that she'd seen The Hat Man (what she called him; not the same as The Hat Man from sleep paralysis) walking down a side aisle at church once. Our descriptions matched and everything and we had a good wonder about what it is in the brain that makes people see this fedora-wearing figure--whether it's cultural or physiological or suggestion or what (nothing supernatural/paranormal because we're both skeptics). I told her story to some fans of all things paranormal and they were a bit baffled. "I've never heard of him going into a church…" Yeah, well, now you have.

Anyway, I guess that's the closest I've got, unless you count me asking Saint Aidan to hold back the tide just long enough, just long enough, so I could get to Lindisfarne because I would have to get there that afternoon or not at all and I actually got there. (Did I leave a decent donation in the box at the chapel despite being nearly broke? Yeah, I did.)

Oh, and except for all the times I was trying to get a cosplay put together in time for a con and I kept hollering at one of the main characters from the series to "help a bitch out!!" when shit was going wrong and that seems to have helped. Does that count?

I hear about other people's supernatural and paranormal experiences around here on Tumblr and I'm just like damn, I want that. "Oh yeah, I see the Fae all the time. It's cool." TEACH ME YOUR WAYS, DAMN IT.

dahlia: describe your ideal house / apartment This is so hard because it changes all the time. No, seriously:

Sometimes I'm like, yes, I want a tiny little cottage in the woods. And then I'm like, actually, I want a super-contemporary apartment. And then, actually, I want a super-cheap, possibly-haunted $90,000 traditional-style house in Japan (how cool would that be?). And then, wait, no, I want a weird hyper-modern Kerala-style house. Wait, no, maybe something totally PoMo--a house or an apartment, either way. A tiny house cottage would be neat, if it’s large enough and not on wheels. Or maybe a cottage that deserves to be on a historic register, something with half-timbers. Or I'll take a 1970s faux Tudor, if it suits me. Maybe I do just want a house like the one I grew up in. Or maybe I want the actual house I grew up in. But that would require me to take care of a yard, so maybe a funky renovated factory-turned-apartments with exposed brick and Edison bulbs so everyone knows I'm fucking hipster on the inside. Black-and-white minimalism appeals to me sometimes but then so does balls-to-the-wall maximalism. Occasionally I'll see an Italianate-style house (accurate or not) and I just fall for it--we've got a handful of Italianate, Spanish Colonial, and French (Normandy and Provençal) style houses around here and I love them. I have a mental list of favorite "ugly houses" in my area that are just…weird in some way that makes me love them. There are a few of these oddly dark brown houses with green shutters in some of the 1970s-era neighborhoods that I didn't like until I went to Switzerland in 2004 and suddenly I'm like "Swiss house yessss." Sometimes I see fucking…movie sets and I'm like "yeah, that's my house."

Like, even McMansions have their charm because they're so fucking awful. If you just lean into the fuckery, it becomes camp and kitsch. Stop pretending it's Fine Craftsmanship and just embrace the Weird.

But all of that is architecture and style. My Ideal Place to Live is a place that's mine. Ideally, it gets sufficient natural light that I can make it through the winter and has AC and is close to the places I need to go. But, really, I'd like a place that I can mess around with--paint walls or change floors or emphasize something weird about it.

But seeing as I'm a Millennial, I won't have to worry about any of this :)

Summertime asks!

[teaveetamer]

I know 0 about Warriors games but I am genuinely interested to hear your comparison to 3H characters.

Ok I'm doing my best but honestly the girls are murder to figure out because KT's track record for writing women is absolutely abysmal. There's only, like, five female characters in the entire series that have anything going on for them besides "is girl" and "has husband"

And the interesting ones seem to map onto male 3H characters much better than female 3H characters, and most of the male DW characters don't map that well onto female 3H characters either.

Disclaimer: This is comparing their fictionalized depictions as presented in the Dynasty Warriors games. This has nothing to do with the actual historical figures.

But here's what I got so far:

Edelgard - Cao Cao (Wei). They're just the most obvious leader parallel here. Associated with conquest. Cao Cao almost always takes the stance of unifier in DW games, with his ultimate end goal being to bring all of China under his rule.

Hubert - Sima Yi (Wei/Jin). The smartest MFer in the room. Adores his leader (Edelgard/Cao Cao), but will probably tell Edelgard’s grandkids to pound sand and take it all for himself in a few decades. Yes, that's why Sima Yi is associated with two factions. He gets his own faction when he says "yea I'm sick of this shit, I'll just do it myself".

Caspar - Ma Chao (Shu). JUSTICE!!!!!!!! But also has some extremely questionable morals and actions when you look under the hood.

Petra - Zhurong (Other). Badass queen of an autonomous tribe dragged into your bullshit. Will cut you.

Dimitri - Liu Bei, Wang Yi mashup (Shu/Wei). This pains me because I hate Liu Bei, but Dimitri definitely tracks onto Liu Bei’s more idealistic, man of the people schtick. Wang Yi for the revengeful edge (she's obsessed with killing the man who murdered her entire family). I was actually just going to go for pure Wang Yi at first (and no it wasn't lost on me how fascinating it is that Dimitri maps best onto a female character) but since she's mostly a side character not focused on a lot, she's too one-note to really encompass all of Dimtiri.

Dedue - Zhou Tai (Wu). Quiet retainer type. Not really much to say here.

Sylvain - Guo Jia with a little Jia Xu (Wei). Guo Jia to allude to his intelligent and into women characterizations. Jia Xu to allude to his cunning side.

Ingrid - Zhang Xingcai (Shu). I am grasping for straws a bit here, but they both have the sort of duty driven bent, and take protecting their homelands very seriously.

Claude - Fa Zheng and Liu Bei as well (Shu). Probably the closest I can get at least. Fa Zheng hits the crafty schemer opportunist thing. Liu Bei hits on his idealism a little better, though (in 3H at least).

Lorenz - Zhang He (Wei). Kind of flamboyant. Intelligent, well mannered, etc.

Raphael - Xu Chu (Wei). Likes food. Yes, there is also a Dynasty Warriors character whose entire personality is just "likes food". I hate both of their stupid faces as well, so there's that.

Lysithea - Also a bit of Guo Jia (Wei). The intelligence again, but also the frailness of their health.

Yuri - Fa Zheng and Diao Chan (Shu/Other) Again, Fa Zheng for the crafty schemer thing. He hits a little more on Yuri’s willingness to do shady stuff to get ahead, though. For Diao Chan... he has the femme fatale thing going on a bit.

Balthus - Gan Ning (Wu). Meathead who likes to fight. Declares himself king of the something or other. Often shirtless. Bad hair.

Rodrigue - Lu Meng (Wu): Honestly like yeah they have some surface personality stuff in common, but I just think y’all should google “Lu Meng Dynasty Warriors” so we can talk about how he deadass just looks like brunette Rodrigue. Y'know what, no. I've been holding onto this for too long I'll do it for you.

Literally "what if we made Rodrigue in 1080p graphics" (Or I guess more like "what if we made Lu Meng in 360p graphics" since Lu Meng came first)

[demonslayedher]

I'm glad you reactivated the questions, here are some flowers for you: 💐 Seriously speaking I'm sorry that because of a question I asked you a few weeks ago you watched a series of videos of psychopaths 🥲It made me laugh at first but then I felt guilty 💔 it's all Muzan's fault for leaving us all with curiosity (imagine his parents' reaction once they realized there was something wrong with him even as a human)

Yay, flowers (which I shall kill with my black thumb)! And no, no, it’s fine, I had hoped it came off funny! I like listening to stuff like that while I draw anyway because I’m a nerd anyway and I found it very interesting.

Speaking of being a nerd, you have innocuously unlocked the following essay about Heian period nobility and wisteria flowers: There is nothing to state so in canon, but I find it highly reasonable to say Muzan might had been of the very powerful Fujiwara clan. Step inside my office, Anon.

Okay. So. The Heian period, simply put, was a time of cultural flourishing and beautiful pastimes, the origins of a lot of Japanese style aesthetics, and a romantic courtly like of romancing everybody else in the court. This is assuming, of course, that you were at the very, very, very, very top of society. Otherwise, the vast majority of people were poor and sick and starving and ew, in young Muzan’s world, we do not wish to associate with that. In the Heian court, Kyoto basically is the whole cultural world. Even though there were other cities that could rival Kyoto, the emperor was there, so it was essentially the cultural center of the country. The nobles who lived there got money from owning land in far-flung provinces, but actually having to live in those provinces? What a drag! Having to live away from Kyoto for work, even if it wasn’t an official banishment, often felt like a punishment to the nobles and their families who were used to the social scene at court. And, like affluent courts around the world throughout history, understanding all the intricacies of style and “Heian Rumors” was key to having social clout, and popularity was power. And yeah, nobles would be vicious to each other. While clan dynamics and history are complex and not something I’m getting into here (I don’t consider myself well-versed in it enough), the Fujiwara clan is a BIG DEAL.  Basically, in Heian times, children were typically raised in their mother’s home, thereby heavily influenced by their mother’s clan, so besides a young man’s parents, his in-laws also would had been hugely influential in his life, as they will have a long-felt influence on his progeny. The Emperors typically married Fujiwara daughters. This, in addition to other positions of influence of the Fujiwara clan members usually held with influence over the Emperor, means that politically, there was no messing with them. Now, just because I say Muzan might had been a Fujiwara clan member, I don’t necessarily mean a member of the main branch of the family. Often, due to inheritance management, different branches of various noble clans might be given different surnames. The Fujiwara clan does have different branches, some of which did go one to have close ties with the imperial family even after the fall of their power at the end of the Heian period and all the way through the Taisho, and some branches carry some impressive family legacies but otherwise live like normal or high-class common folk in modern-day. (I know one such Ojousama from a renamed Fujiwara branch; she’s a sweetheart and never brings it up herself but every time I hear other people say things about her family, I’m like, dang.) We can venture from Muzan’s likely expensive medical treatment, multiple marriages (meaning other clans sought to be connected with his family even by marrying their daughters to a sick man), and even preparation for cremation as a baby that he was of a very, very high status. 

Being the sick son of a prominent family may have warped his personality in multiple ways: first, he was probably already used to a culture of popularity equated political power. We see in Muzan’s dealings with humans in the Taisho period that he can be exceedingly charming to get what he wants (a psychopath trait, haha), so he was probably pretty aware of the complex ways of socialites in the court. But, even being aware of that, it probably frustrated him to no end that he was too sick to take part in the social pastimes where he’d gain clout. It’s also possible that he was a bit of a bargain husband for his wives’ families who were seeking to a make ties with his family, as they must not had been politically useful enough to be married off to other powerful matches. This may be some of why he was so ruthless to them, for he never saw them as useful to him in the first place. This probably got a bit worse once he became a demon. Now to be lewd, but he probably got more vigorous in his pursuit of more powerful lovers, and knew how to slay the women’s hearts as he liked (you know, popular Heian pastime, everybody had lots of lovers, it was the norm, though political marriages and legitimate children were still important). That new sense of power probably went to his head. But, ultimately, he must had been limited in clout since he couldn’t take part in any daytime activities, thereby limiting his access to more powerful spheres of influence. His reputation from having grown up sickly must had followed him too. It’s anyone’s guess how much affection his parents had for him and how happy they were about his health at first, and if and when they might had noticed his changes. He was a full-fledged adult by the time he turned into a demon, so who knows how closely they even associated with him. They likely had healthier children who they devoted more care and attention to, and invested more family resources in while assuming Muzan would probably die young.

Who knows what the final straw was in Muzan leaving court? Was it frustration at not being able to walk in daylight that made him flee to the Kanto area in pursuit of the blue spider lily (from near where the doctor lived) long before Kanto became politically affluent? Or was it the rumors at court about how he didn’t age, and that he was eating people?

Of note, a lot of the early legends of demons in Japanese culture take place in the Heian period.

In his book “Japanese History of Demon Slayers,” retired Shizuoka University professor Tetsuo Owada capitalized on the success of Kimetsu no Yaiba to dive into a lot of ties between the series and what it may pay homage to throughout Japanese history and culture. While this was published last September and a handful of his theories have been disproven by the second fanbook published last February, and while I think a lot of his theories are stretching a little too far to make strong connections, it’s still deeply, deeply interesting stuff. He goes into some specific comparisons of demons, like Minamoto-no-Raiko and his posse of four big bad warriors taking on the Tsuchigumo (giant spider demon) terrorizing the mountains north of Kyoto harkening to the case of Rui’s family (and, ding ding ding, this was the primary focus of the official Kabuki/Kimetsu crossover last November), as well as takes little questions left in canon and dives into them a bit deeper. One such question is, why were wisteria lethal to demons? According to Prof. Owada’s research, there is no historical basis for this. Some of the talk online is that: 1. Wisteria are in fact poisonous, and consuming too much of them would cause vomiting and diarrhea (though I’ve also seen people make jam out of them because of the fragrance, so, like???) 2. Beans are thrown around at Setsubun to ward off demons (like so, Feat. Muzan and Kimetsu Beans), and wisteria are of the bean family 3. Wisteria like sunlight, so perhaps like Nichirin, they soak up some of the sun’s properties that are lethal to demons 4. In the language of flowers (Hanakotoba), wisteria symbolize kindness, welcomeness, refusing to leave someone’s side, being drunk with love, being straightforward and truthful, not losing the humanity in one’s heart, thereby containing a lot of meaning contrary to the conduct of demons Interesting, but some of its kind of a stretch. While still finding it a stretch to apply it to wisteria being poisonous to demons, Prof. Owada goes on to say that since ancient times, while the wisteria has some negative connotations of how it was sometimes written with characters meaning “doesn’t heal” (不治) and growing downward with smaller and smaller flowers like symbolize the slow downfall of a family line, it conversely also carries positive connotations of longevity and flourishing family due to the fact that its vines grow upward.

Now, you might picked up at some point that the Japanese word for wisteria is “fuji.” Not to be confused with Mt. Fuji (that’s written differently), it IS the same fuji as in “Fujiwara”: 藤.

Prof. Owada goes on to explore the association with the use of Wisteria crests in Kimetsu no Yaiba, especially on the houses of supporters of the Demon Slayer Corp. His recurring thesis is that the pandemic is partly responsible for Kimetsu no Yaiba’s popularity since demon legends have long since had origins in epidemics, and he supposes the Wisteria crest has a protective effect on the houses, similar to a talisman used in a lot of real life rituals for warding off illness and then often displays in or on the entries of houses to protect the family every year (I have one such item gifted to me, it stays by my doorway, along with a couple sticks of charcoal (but the culture of charcoal is a post for some other day)). The talisman is in reference to a god of Hindu/Chinese origins being treated with hospitality by the So clan, so although other families perished in disaster/disease, he promised to always protect the So clan descendants, so the talisman says “Descendants of the So Clan” so that any household may try to claim that divine protection. The gratitude-exchange of hospitality and protection and sure sounds familiar! Prof. Owada isn’t done yet. While the crest design used in Kimetsu no Yaiba isn’t an actual family crest in in real life, there are lots and lots and lots of family crests that use a wisteria design and have the character for “wisteria” in the name. Any time you hear “—tou”, like Satou, Saitou, or even Gotou, you can typically assume it’s 藤. It’s very common nowadays, but the first family to be granted the use of this name was the Fujiwara clan, when one of the pre-Heian and very powerful emperors granted their clan head this surname, which was a major honor, and it marked the start of the Fujiwara clan’s political dominance (there was already influence leading up to this, but meh, we like clear-cut stuff to simply centuries of history, don’t we?). Furthermore, although we often think of the Fujiwara clan for their influence at court, and we might think of the Minamoto clan for warrior heroes who fought demons, Prof. Owada concludes his argument of wisteria’s protective influence by pointed out a long list of Heian period Fujiwara warriors who also were the heroes of demon slaying legends, stating that their name has also long been tied with demon slayer culture. SO!!! Let me go on with my theory here. Muzan is from the same family line as Ubuyashiki. At some point (I assume after Muzan is long gone from Kyoto), the family is told while their children keep dying, and they accept their mission to bring an end to Kibutsuji Muzan and clear this curse on their family line. My thought is that their ancestor was a full blood sibling of Muzan, one whom was more invested in than sickly Muzan. While perhaps already an off-shoot of the Fujiwara Clan and thereby not entitled to the same sorts of inheritance, they probably maintained close ties with them. But, as it was already not direct by that time, the other Fujiwara clan branches were not affected by this curse. To further spare the clan the effects of this curse, this was probably when that sickly branch took the name Ubuyashiki. (And yes, I have things to say about this name and its possible mythological origins which I find a highly, highly interesting connection. Prof. Owada supposes it is tied with Izumo Taisha Grand Shrine and that is why there are nine pillars, but as much as I love Izumo Taisha and its giant pillars I base my argument in separate Shinto (but also Izumo!) mythology and accept that there are not always supposed to be nine Pillars specifically and Gotouge simply chose that number based on the number of strokes in the kanji for ‘Hashira’ (柱) BUT I DIGRESS). So, the Ubuyashiki Clan is it’s own thing, but is sort of like a cousin to the other Fujiwara branches and thereby continues to enjoy Fujiwara support throughout the Heian period, like some of the Fujiwara warriors going out there and slaying some of Muzan’s early demon experiments, and using their influence to bring in other warriors to the demon slaying cause (pet

theory: Genpei War warrior Kumagai Naozane was a member of the proto-Corp and using Kasugai-garasu was in practice since at least late Heian period). While the Ubuyashiki Clan probably already their own inherited land (and funds that came from it), throughout their history, their cousin clans might also have provided financial support to the Ubuyashiki Clan. But, they probably distanced themselves from the clan due to the curse and not wanting to be tainted. When you bring back in the wisteria associations this puts the contrary associations with a flourishing and dying family line in a new light. Furthermore, the “not healing” way of writing “fuji” also means a lot more in the context of Muzan’s, and later the Ubuyashiki clan’s illness.

[wingodex]

that speech analysis for tog was super informative and in-depth! thank you so much! i feel like i've never done this kind of thing or read it before. also, it felt like you were writing for an american audience who understands what aave refers to. i'm not that person unfortunately. could you explain a little more if you have time?

Oh that was totally oversight on my part, I can’t believe I missed that. AAVE gets talked about a lot in online spaces so I just kind of assumed people would know about it? Anyway, I can give a bit of a rundown here. I do wanna preface this by saying that I'm white and also not from the US.

AAVE or BEV stands for African-American Vernacular English/Black English Vernacular. In academia, African American Language (AAL) or African American English (AAE) are usually used when talking about the dialect, while AAVE itself refers to a specific informal vernacular variety, but online most people use AAVE as a catch-all (that's why i used it in the analysis bcus it's what most people are familiar with). For the sake of this discussion, it’s more useful for me to focus on AAE, but I’ll talk a bit about AAVE as well. AAE is a dialect of English that is primarily spoken by Black people in the United States and in Canada. While the exact linguistic origins of AAE aren’t known because of a lack of documentation due to historical racism (and there’s a lot of debate about this), it’s well established that it was created and developed by African slaves in the American South during the 17th and 18th centuries. As Black people migrated North during the 19th century and The Great Migration, they brought the dialect with them, and that’s part of why AAVE is associated with urban metropolitan areas. The continued segregation in many northern cities, as well as a strong sense of cultural identity has made it so that AAE is still widely used today.

As with any dialect, AAE is systemic and rule-bound, although that’s something that’s not largely understood or appreciated by both white and non-Black people due to racism and also the concept of prestige in sociolinguistics. AAE is considered a “nonstandard” dialect, which means that it doesn’t have institutional support or sanction. It has not had standardization (hence… nonstandard). It’s not used in formal education, or higher academia and it’s not used for public communication or in government. It’s only recently, within the past 60 years, that there has been any linguistic research into AAE. Until even more recently than that, it didn’t have standard spelling as it was primarily a spoken dialect rather than a written one. It’s often viewed as being grammatically incorrect or “bad English” which isn’t true. It has its own syntax, it’s logical and it’s internally consistent and coherent, which is why people who aren’t fluent in AAE frequently misuse it. As I mentioned, there are multiple varieties of AAE and these are often, but not always, based around socioeconomic class. There are regional variations of AAE too, but they tend to share a lot of the same rules for syntax and grammar, and the greatest difference between them is pronunciation and lexicon. The phonology of AAE is quite diverse and there are upwards of ten distinct accents. The most well-known and most studied variety is AAVE, which is the one that’s primarily used by the working class. Unfortunately, in sociolinguistics, vernacular can have multiple meanings, but with respect to the way that most current linguists use AAVE, vernacular refers to informal style rather than a nonstandard dialect. This distinction acknowledges that AAE can be used in settings other than casual and informal. While this is something that linguists can talk about, it’s not really reflective of broader white anglophone society in the US and Canada, who frequently don’t take AAE seriously regardless of whether it’s formal or not. That’s why code switching between AAE and Standard American English is so common, because it’s something that’s demanded of Black people to avoid discrimination and judgement, and to be taken seriously in any capacity. Black people frequently encounter racism related to the way they speak and AAE is very stigmatized.

There’s been a lot of discussion online about the appropriation of AAVE, as a lot of people consider it “internet slang” without any knowledge of its origin, or if they are aware of the origin, they use it without any real regard or respect for that origin. Non-Black people who are not fluent in AAVE frequently misuse it, or deliberately co-opt Black language in a way that is exploitative, performative, and racist. The language that people use and the way that they use it can be harmful, whether it’s intentional or not. White people are allowed a freedom of language that is simply not afforded to Black people about their own dialect. That’s a big reason for why I do kind of go on about using caution when writing Nile. It’s important for us to 1) recognize that AAE is its own distinct dialect with its own syntax and vocabulary, so you can’t just wing it and hope for the best 2) be aware that the misuse and appropriation of AAE can lead you to make racist fanworks 3) be aware that writing in AAE comes with a lot of specific racist tropes and 4) recognized the privilege that we have with regards to our ability to use Black language and to give that the thought and consideration that it deserves.

[theplanetprince]

Fanfiction Review

I can already tell this is gonna be super confusing bc I've been writing fic since I was 12 but have since gone through so many identity changes. But let's play anyway!

Thanks for the tag @redead-red

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

My current library is 8. I don't actually write fanfic too often unless a specific idea intrigues me-- or something in the fanon just doesn't line up with me. I do have at least 4ish more stories planned and maybe a revised version of an ancient story from when I was young. 2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

166,451! Pretty neato!

3. How many fandoms have you written for, and what are they?

Uh, in no specific order,

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (lost to purging)

Doctor Who (you ain't gonna find these)

Sonic

NiGHTs into Dreams

Dead by Daylight (<3)

Danny Phantom (my beloathed) Supernatural (my other beloathed)

and uhhhh, I think a bunch of various other video games I can't remember. For the sake of brevity I'm gonna put the rest under the cut.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

This is actually pretty funny bc I have so few fics released. I only get emails for certain ones all the time, so I wrote this part out by guessing, but I ended up not needing to change it. (also, don't read most of these; they're old and bad)

1. Schrodinger's Adolescent, 337 Kudos (Danny Phantom)

2. Teen Years and How to Survive Them, 97 Kudos (Secret Trio)

3. Two Fake Feds Come up the Laneway the other dayyyyyy, 56 Kudos (Letterkenny/Supernatural)

4. Brother's Keeper, 40 Kudos (Halloween, DBD)

5. Beginner's Guide to Destroying the Moon, 37 Kudos (Sonic)

5. Which of your fic do you want more attention for?

I'll be real here, I still enjoy most of the work I did for both Beach House Bummer, and Beginner's Guide to Destroying the Moon. I just wish I got more love for the latter bc I might be inspired to finish it lmao.

6. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I really try to! I love the long rambly comments I get on Schrodinger's because I can feel those people are giving me the same passion I put into my work-- Though most of the time I get the generic "post more" or "update plz" which I dunno I'm grateful for the interaction. Still, I don't really want to repeat like "I'm trying my best, dude." about 12 times a day.

7. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I'll be real I only have two completed fics rn-- but I can tell you I had this one fic that I wrote when I was fourteen where the ninja turtles had to burn down a lab full of half-born mutant embryos, and like I remember writing that and then going to middle school the next day like "They don't know I'm a literary genius."

8. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Probably the Letterkenny/Supernatural crossover-- I feel very strongly about SPN and how people take it way too seriously, so when I found out it was filmed in Canada. It used famous Canadian actors from the show Letterkenny, it felt way too good to pass up. I do hope to write in that space again when I'm feeling less depresso-espresso.

9. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yeah. It's probably a big reason why you'll never see the tmnt fics for a while. I also used to write a lot of OC stories, and this was back in 2014 so like those were def hit the hardest. I'm glad to say it's like... subsided for the most part. I don't get hate as much as I just get really confusing and creepy comments, which don't hurt my rejection-sensitive-ass as much.

10. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Hahahaha, no.

I am kind of bad at writing it, and I don't really like writing it. Which yeah that makes sense. My friends sometimes when they find out I write fanfic as a joke they'll send me some of the worst examples smut they can find and to test my talent I'll try to rewrite it to make it some kind of titillating-- but alas it just isn't my forte. The cons of being an asexual I guess.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Uh, yes and no? I think I had one of my older fics stolen, retranslated, and then retranslated again to English? That was so long ago tho.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I'd love to give it a shot sometime.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Honestly, it's sonadow. I know it's cringe but I'm free, dammit. Outside of that I guess my favorite dynamic is jock/nerd, which you've probably gleaned from my resume here fhsdkjf.

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I've been working on Teen Years and How to Survive them since I was 16, I only started making headway on it when I was 19-- so I feel like that speaks for itself hskjhg.

15. What are your writing strengths?

It's been told to me that I'm very funny and I write convincing dialog that captures a character's voice. Which is extremely flattering despite the fact that I feel like I'm tricking you all.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

probably scenery and landscape, if I'm honest. I also accidentally keep creating scenes just for the dialog instead of action or environment.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I think as long as I can guess what they're saying from context clues, and the writer is courteous enough to include body language and the like, then it's mostly harmless. I love including a bunch of references in fic whether it's cultural, historical, or just like a quote from a movie or something so I have a bunch of tabs open regardless it wouldn't be too inconvenient for me to fire up google translate or something.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

19. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Probably Schrodinger's Adolescent, it really opened up a lot of doors for me in the DP fandom and I got to meet a lot of cool people because of it. It really cheered me up from a dark place. And despite me writing it initially out of anger and spite its grown into this soft thing that really means a lot to me.

20. What fic are you most proud of?

Honestly, I can't pick. I'm both embarrassed by them all and yet glad they bring people some form of comfort.

Uhhhh who to tag-- I don't really know

@ten0rreaper is the only one I can think of-- whoever else I guess can have at it. I'm not very good at these things lmao.