#LOOOOONG POST

[waywardsunlight]

I think Luz's trauma due to being an abuse victim gets ignored a lot in favor of other characters. Luz has an odd role in the fandom as this character who other characters rely on, or who isn't an abuse victim but is supportive of her friends who are, and I think that ends up missing a huge part of her story.

Belos compliments her a lot, which is partially because he wants to reach out to her and mostly because he thinks he can manipulate her. He does some backhanded compliments, telling her she's improved but she still has work to do to catch up to him. He also thanks her quite a few times. The way he thanks her intentionally triggers her guilt, especially when he thanks her for helping him with Hunter. He also compliments her to put other people down, like when he tells her she's "better than this" (implying their race makes them morally superior).

He also uses the same manipulation tactic on Luz that he does on Hunter, although it doesn't work as well on her. He tries to remove his own agency for his physical violence by blaming the Curse. The biggest example is in King's Tide, when he pretends he can't hear her as he's racing after her to try and kill her. He ends up cutting her face while pretending to be out of control and then in the same sequence has full control and clarity to talk to Hunter and the Collector. He gaslights Luz by trying to make it seem like it was The Curse causing him to act in the way he did.

He refers to Luz as "crazy" to invalidate her emotions and harming Hunter in front of her also is a form of abuse. He's obviously aware that hurting Hunter traumatizes Luz (and everyone else) but as his focus transfers from Hunter to Luz in Hollow Mind, he starts targeting her specifically by harming Hunter to hurt her (especially in TTT). Belos shifts the blame for events from himself to Luz and also attempts to make her feel guilty. Hunter seems to understand that Luz is also being abused and tries to reassure her that Belos is an abuser and she shouldn't take what he says at face value. Luz ends up taking that advice to heart after she's able to forgive herself and face Belos. She doesn't speak to him but is able to hear his manipulation tactics and just. stare at him bc he's full of bullshit.

Just because he 'only' hits her a few times and isn't her guardian doesn't mean he can't abuse her or that he didn't. It's not really a protagonist-antagonist relationship as much as it is "adult man nuking 14 year old repeatedly until she becomes god and kills him". The idea that child abuse can only come from parents and not role models or other adults in your life is odd, because he distinctly holds a position of power over her (literally an Emperor and an adult who intentionally isolates her and the other kids alone to abuse them) and uses it to emotionally and physically harm her.

Papa Titan has to reassure her that she's okay to kill Belos because he's literally a serial killer who's lying about his intentions. Luz still slightly falls for Belos's sympathetic line until that moment because he very intentionally tried to get her to feel bad for him and also feel guilt about herself.

This is also why I really detest any fandom takes where Belos canonically is supposed to care about her, or Luz owes him anything. Manipulation is not sympathetic. Belos committed premeditated murder and then used the remains of his murder victim to try to make a "Better Version" of his murder victim which was actually just a way to punish him repeatedly and keep taking out revenge on kids who had nothing to do with the original conflict. Belos is Luz's abuser also, and Luz doesn't owe him any sort of kindness or consideration and her anger is valid.

Luz is an abuse victim of Belos's in addition to Hunter and the Collector (and Vee/Lilith by extension), and she should be considered as such rather than her trauma being invalidated in favor of other characters.

[sallymew4]

hi guys

(forever) wips below are: scene redraw (that i actually started on way before posting mobsai here. crazy !), and teru in an outfit i saw at the mall once (denim dress. dress made of NOTHING but denim. it caught me off-guard but i think i was just being too harsh <3 he was going to wear those galaxy leggings all middle schoolers wear with it as well)

originally this post was just gonna be me posting pretty old wips that i never finished cuz ive been sick (i actually feel way better now tho) and lazy but then i started perusing some more of my older mobsai doodles and unfinished arts and decided to post those alongside the ones above :) i just think its fun to see how my art has developed grown and changed over a period of time, especially with the designs of these characters

if ur interested in lookin at suma those vv

thunder claps welcome

reminder and warning that a lot of these were me still kind of figuring out how to draw them so they will NOT be beautiful picasso

i think this was the first digital mob i ever drew..... he was born august of last year..wow

i was incredibly weak for father reigen if you couldn't tell [sarcasm]

i also didnt know how his suit worked. lol

soryr i was mean 2o u serizwaw sir. anwyays

various ritus (ft teru) vv i made him very hateful because i thought it was funny

v v supa unfinished (obviously) pre-mob teru stuff, just hanging out by roof railing

and then there was a looot of what might be my favorite genre of these, which were just goofy little scribbles

that last one i made in the middle of watching the last episode. i promptly teared up in the bathroom after finishing it

anyways thats pretty much it, for digital anyways :) i like looking back on art, cuz then im like "oh wow, improvement IS real" (i always forget). ill try drawin some moar stuff 4or yalls, i already gots sumthn in the works. oka bye thank you for looking !!11!

[samssims]

Hi Sam! I was wondering if I could ask for some advice on how to make simblr fun again? I love storytelling (it's how I have fun with the game) but lately with writing posts and even in game, I just find myself stressing over if it's good/interesting enough or if I took good screenshots, if my writing is good, etc. I love this game and sharing my stories with this community, so it sucks to feel like this. Thank you sm ♥

Oh Nonny, how I feel this pain. I wish I had a sure fire answer to this but sadly there isn't just one thing that will work.

I will put some advice below for some things that have worked for me in my experience if you're interested in trying them out to try to find that spark again!

Now I have been on tumblr sharing my sims since 2013 so I have seen the community change a lot. Things change, people come and go, it's just the natural way of things. So a lot of the time your community can change around you and so a few years ago sims storytelling was really popular and it was the thing everyone was doing. And I mean everyone.

But now things have sort of fallen off or shifted and there is no shame in that for those who moved onto other things and hobbies. Sims storytelling, at it's core, is a hobby. No one is making money off of it (unless you write it all down and get it published in which case, hell yeah go you!)

That being said, finding your spark again is going to be finding what YOU like about storytelling in the sims.

So here are some tips you can try out in the game to keep it fresh and exciting:

Play the Game

The game has changed a lot and added a lot. It came out in 2014. It's about to be 10 years old. With expansions still being added. Honestly having a family where you can just play through what the game offers you can offer inspiration on how to use in game things for story related things later on.

I have found having a lowkey gameplay (for yourself or even for your blog if you are posting) is an easy way to stay active in the community while keeping things low stakes and casual for yourself while you work on finding your spark again.

Change Up your Post Style

Idk about you Nonny, but nothing gets me less motivated than having to edit photos. If I could just point, shoot, and post, I would have content coming out my ears. Which is what I started doing with my Princess Legacy. All I do is crop it. I add some things here and there but really it's all pretty much easy.

Now I have done it all.

Prose on photos.

Prose under photos:

Icons Only:

Gameplay Only:

And finally just cropped:

Now what is the best? That is personal preference especially for the project you are doing. However I have definitely discovered the crop method to be SUPER helpful.

It makes me not have to worry about the whole photo. Sometimes I have this SUPER awesome detail in the back of a photo but when I crop them I lose all that. Which is not good for storytelling lets be honest but does force me to focus on what is actually important in the shot.

Example: Here is the full cottage photo from above You can see that I cropped out a lot of the cottage in favor of being able to see the deer and swans as i thought that was more a cozy fairytale vibe than just the cottage itself. I lost a lot of this detail yet the point still came across.

TBH the paired crop photos also makes me cut out a lot of access photos if they don't have a pair. It's sort of made me realize how much I don't need to take screenshots of. Though I am definitely an overtaker of photos so I always have plenty to choose from. Sometimes I even queue them then look back and realize they aren't needed and delete. It's humbled me a bit.

I could break down every one of these posting styles but that's a whole other thing you didn't ask about.

TLDR of this section is to experiment with how you post. You can have a lot of fun with that.

If Something is Boring, Skip it.

Do you hate the infant stage? Age them past it. Do you hate the winter months in game? Set seasons to never have winter. Do you hate in game holidays ruining your plans? Delete them all from your calendar. Is it a crucial part to your story? Not anymore. Write around it. Or find some creative angles and dialogue to write over it.

Make the game fit you!

Follow the Inspo

Have inspiration to make a new sim in CAS? Do it! Want to make a whole new save? Have an idea for one scene that could start a whole story but you have nothing else for it? DO IT!!!

The game is supposed to be fun. If you have inspiration for a project, live in it. Have fun with it.

But Sam, what if only lasts 2 weeks and I never touch it again?

Me too, babes. Happens to me all the time. Own it. Keep it around in case you want to mess with it later. Have 10 million saves. It's your life and if it brings you a moment of joy to work on it, then it totally is worth it.

If you want to be like me: Be chaotic and post it too. Then private the posts later when you decide to never touch it again. Never delete tho. I always tend to regret deleted things.

Find Your Community

You should ultimately write and create for yourself, but find others who are doing it too! Lift them up as well! Use one day a week on your blog to give reblogs or shoutouts to your fellow creators and writers! It's all about lifting each other up and making friends who all have the same hobby as us.

Try New Challenges

A lot of my sims storytelling started from inspiration around legacy challenges. I loved to take challenge rules and figure out how to make a story around them. But remember: Rules are made to be broken. Especially in favor of a good story.

If you are working on a current challenge/story, find another to merge with it or to give yourself a heck of a fun plot twist. There are no rules!

Have Fun!

This is sort of the whole crux of it, right? And if you're not having fun then...

Take a Break

You are not beholden to your queue! Let it die out! Disappear for 6 months. Return when you want. Go play Animal Crossing or BG3 or whatever it is at the moment. Sims is a hobby. But it does not have to be your ONLY hobby. Let your brain rest.

In my case, whenever I leave the sims I am always filled with ideas and ready to come back in like 3 days.

This could also mean take a break from your save too. Maybe spend some time in CAS. Or in build mode. Or cleaning out your mods. You can still do sims things while letting your story brain rest.

TLDR:

There is no right answer for this, Nonny. I promise your photos are all gorgeous and your story is wonderful! But creativity like anything ebbs and flows so give yourself that grace to let yourself rest and just enjoy the game again, or enjoy time away from it! You deserve it you superstar creator!

[purplecyborgnewt]

“Great work, Cisco.“

“Oh, well. Takes a village. But every village needs a genius, and that’s me, so thaaank youuu.“

[mossbed-roots]

LU has me by the throat again, I'm working on some drabbles right now to figure voices out but heres an au idea i NEED to get out regardless if i ever make fic/art for it

modern LU ghost hunter au inspired by the "Wind sees ghosts" tag ans the vibes of 111 Winchester

Most Links have had a brush with a "spirit world" in some way or another so i feel like this is a hobby that could bring them together. everyone brings something different to the table

Wind sees ghosts (duh), has pretty much all his life. So does Spirit cause they're like cousins or smth. Wind wants to do an investigation on a creepy old house with lots of reported activity (shit's like haunted haunted, almost no one has been able to go inside). He figures he needs a team on this one and puts out a call on a paranormal forum he frequents. you'll never guess who responds

Four is haunted by the Colors as spirits that have attached themselves to him. They are relatively harmless, though they're kinda stuck to his soul and no one's sure how to feel about this. As far as he knows he's the only one who can see or hear them. they can posses Four one at a time but he really does not like suddenly not existing in his own body. Four's not much of a ghost hunter but he does know plenty about using metals and tools to dispatch evil spirits. He's in this mostly for answers about his own haunting

Legend and Hyrule are long-distance friends and the only ones to know each other before the investigation. Magic exists in this setting, but is not widely practiced, and Hyrule is VERY well-versed in magic (im calling magic practitioners "witches". Wild is one too) Rulie's very sensitive to dark and light energies, and has honed sigil and casting skills. Legend is on the more physical side of things, wielding artifacts and cursed objects from his large collection of...stuff. He's been cursed more than a few times himself. Legend also supplies some goofy ghost hunt equipment, but Twi has most of that covered

Twilight can step into the spirit world with Midna's help, where his spirit often takes the form of a wolf to protect him. He's got a sense for dark energies and can directly confront these malevolent creatures where others might have trouble perceiving them. Aside from that hes the camera guy. He brings the flashlights, the recorders, any equipment he can carry.

Wild is their Guy In The Chair bc he insists they need someone on the outside. I've decided his presence determines whether they get the Good or Bad ending

so turns out this place is like BAD haunted and oh no! Once the boys go in they can't find a way out

the house is a nexus, drawing in as many souls as it can and just feeding on them. There's also probably demons too but like the place itself is imbued with bad evil energy. Time and Wars are here but they are ghosts, drawn in and trapped for longer than they can remember. They are pretty much the only friendly ones here

Twilight finds Sky trapped in the Spirit World side of the house. think like he entered a Silent Realm and couldn't get out. Twi is able to pull him out bc of his weird dark world shit (on the outside Sky has been a missing person for months)

That's uh enough for now I think. enough of an outline for me to come back to. i am very normal about this fledgling idea

[seherstudies]

amazarashi 　ベストアルバム『メッセジーボトル』

Note: I recently go amazarashi's メッセジーボトル and from what I understood, every album of the band is accompanied with a short message inside the case. This is my very scuffed translation of the one in メッセジーボトル. It was a huge challenge for me because I suck at translating (poetry)... If there are some mistakes or if you think I misunderstood something, please let me know!

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

終わりから始まった僕らに　怖いものなんて何もなかった 旅路に宛はなく　ここじゃないどこかを探す 雨風にたゆたう　波間にメッセじーボトル

For us, who began at the end, there was nothing that could fright us. This journey has no end goal. We were simply looking for a somewhere that is not here. Messages in a bottle amidst the waves, drifting in rain and wind.

恒久的な欠落を　埋めようともがくあの日の覚悟。 あれから七年後　ようやく辿り着いたこの岸辺へと 正解でも　間違いでも　それがわかるのはどうせ未来。 そう言って託した未来に今立って　結局言えることなんて何一つなくて

There was a resolve on that one day, to try to fill up the permanent void. Seven years after that, I finally find myself at the shore. Whether it is right or wrong, only time will tell. But standing now in the future that I was entrusted with, there is nothing I can say in the end.

吐き出す度に磨り減り　抗う度に傷つき けど、それ故の気付き　書き留めるだけの日々 空白を埋める生き死に　手を差し伸べてくれた導き 手放した分の重み　背負い歩き続ける意味

I vomited and became worn out. I resisted things and got injured. But a realisation led me to write down messages day after day. For them, to act as a guidance that reach out to the living and dying to fill their void. Messages about the meaning of continuing with heavy burdens on your shoulders and about letting them go.

何か変わると信じて託した言葉　音の間。 過去から見れば　今日の僕が合わせるつじつま 五分四十秒答え合わせ　過ぎた時間こそ笑え 「間違ってなかった」という為の今日だ

When things change, believe in the words that were entrusted to you through the music. Judging prom the past, the you of today is just fine. You may have taken five minutes and forty seconds to compare your answers your journey has brought, but just laugh at the time that has passed. Today is the day to say, "I wasn't wrong."

逃げ道でもない　感傷でもない　凍る夜に　縋り付ける温み そういう記憶だけを思い出と呼んで　還らぬと決めたらまた旅路へ戻れ 今日だってどうせやまない雨　運命と呼ばれる全てを疑え 降らば降れと天を睨みつけ　どうか光へ進め

These words are not meant to be an escape route nor a sentimentality, but a warmth that embraces the freezing night. Call on memories like these only. If you decide to not return to your old self, then once again commence your journey. Even if it keeps raining today, doubt everything called fate. "Rain! If you must fall, fall!" glare at the sky and continue forward to the light.

Below are grammar and vocab notes.

【GRAMMAR】

Nだって: 'even'; the more casual version of でも Difference between でも and さえ: the first one is for adequate examples while さえ; for more info, this post is great

VようとV: 'in an attempt to do'; for more info about ～ようと～ check out and again, for more info, have this post

Aから見れば: 'If you look at it from A's point of view'; if A is a person, it expresses a judgment or estimation from that person's point of view. It A is a state or situation, it expresses a judgement based on that situation

あ- Stem + ば: ～らば means なら, except that it's an old pattern. Nowadays it's mostly used in very stilted speech and implies "Let it go" or "I don't care". Two common expressions are:

死なば死ね: Let them die if necessary; I don't mind if they/you/I die

笑わば笑え: If they laugh at me, let them do so (I don't care)

【VOCABULARY】

旅路 （たびじ）– route you travel on 宛 （あて）– recipient of a letter or gift たゆたう - to drift about 波間（なみま）- interval between the waves, gap between waves

恒久的 （こうきゅうてき）– permanent, perpetual, lasting 欠落（けつらく） - missing, lacking 埋める (うめる) to bury (e.g. in the ground); to fill up (e.g. audience fills a hall) もがく – to struggle 覚悟 （かくご）– readiness, preparedness 辿り着く （たどりつく）- to arrive at (after a struggle), to finally reach, to find one's way to, to finally hit on (e.g. an idea) 岸辺（きしべ）- shore 託す （たくす）- to have someone deliver (a message, parcel, etc.), to send (through someone), to leave (a message) with someone

吐き出す（はきだす） – to vomit, to spit out 磨り減る （すりへる）- to be worn down, to be reduced 抗う （あらがう）- to go against, to fight against, to oppose, to resist, to deny 傷つく （きずつく）- to be wounded, to get injured; to get hurt feelings それ故（それゆえ） – therefore, for that reason, so, because of that 書き留める （かきとめる）– to write down 空白 （くうはく）– blank space (in documents)；Lack of a part of a continuing thing 生き死に （いきしに）– life and death; life or death 差し伸べる （さしのべる）– to hold out, to extend (one’s hands), to stretch 導く （みちびく）– to guide, to lead, to show the way 手放す （てばなす）– to let go of, to release; to part with eg a posession, person 背負う（せおう）– to carry on one’s back; to be burdened with 辻褄を合わせる（つじつまをあわせる）- make sense. match the logic.

逃げ道 （にげみち）– no way out 感傷 （かんしょう）– sentiment, sentimentality 縋り付く （すがりつく）– to cling to, to embrace 記憶 （きおく）– memorz, recollection; memory 還る （かえる）– to return, to return back to earth 疑う（うたがう）- to doubt, to distrust() 睨みつける（にらみつける）- to scowl at, to glare at

[auber-dee]

I know some of the reactions to Nona have seen it as a bit of filler, but to me it is such and important part of the series because it takes the time to really dig into the themes that Muir’s been weaving throughout the books so far. 

Like, there are really two parts to the book: Nona’s story, and John’s story. Both centre around the idea of learning who this person is and what they’ve done. They’re even presented in parallel to emphasize that similarity. And the central questions are the same ones we’ve been dealing with the whole way through: How strong is love, really? Is forgiveness? Are there some things that can’t be forgiven? That shouldn’t be forgiven? Are you forever defined by your trauma, bound by the mistakes of your past, the ones that made you who you are today? Is it possible to hold onto who you were and still grow beyond what you have been?

In John’s story, he says that once people have seen you a certain way, there’s no going back. They can’t unsee it and you can’t undo it. So really, he was right to edit his friends’ memories, removing their knowledge of what he’d done. It was the only way forward. And obviously that’s awful and wrong of him, but also… the protagonist of Nona is literally amnesiac, and is happy that way. Her lack of memory allows her to have a life filled with hope and love, with family and friendship, that she could never have had as herself. 

The only people who loved Alecto as Alecto were John and Harrow. Everyone who meets Nona loves her, the readers not excepted. And Nona only exists because Alecto lost access to the parts of her(?)self that knew who and what she was. She is, in many ways, proof of John’s point, and we love that for her. We’re sad when she loses it. Nona is innocence, and we mourn her death terribly. 

And then you have John, believing in “no takebacksies” firmly enough to manipulate every single person around him, and what does he actually want more than anything, even though he can’t accept it?

“I still love you.”

So is he right that it’s a kindness to relieve someone of the burden of their memories? Isn’t that the only way we get Nona? We love Nona. But is it truly happiness if you need to lose part of yourself to achieve it? … it’s all very complicated, says Nona the Ninth. But love is there, at the centre of it all somewhere, the good and the bad alike.

And really, that’s at the centre of why I love these books so much. They’re over here screaming “both can be true!” from the mountaintops so loud that you have to practically read them with your eyes closed to miss it. You can try to flatten these characters, reject their nuance, but they resist it at every turn. 

They’re the opposite of a morality play. No one is all good or all bad, always right or always wrong. They’re just people in situations, trying to figure it out like the rest of us. And ultimately, the books have said so far, for as long as you live (and perhaps beyond that) you will be presented with choices. Often, the options will be shitty, choices constrained by terrible forces beyond your control. You will fuck up. You will choose poorly, and you will hurt people. There is no avoiding that. But insofar as we have had heroics in these books, it has always been in those times where a character has chosen to help. 

It’s as simple as that, and it makes me lose it a little every time it plays out on the pages: Try to help the people around you, whenever you can, however you can. That’s what Nona does — who she is — and that’s what John loses sight of, in the end.

(And maybe don’t mind-wipe your friends when you fuck up, because they probably won’t appreciate it if they find out.)

[wprowers]

i want to talk about sonic boom characters.

Long post warning.

First of all i would like to say that i really enjoy sonic boom !! I think it has a really healthy and silly humor that for me it's always welcome, so i like this show and its characters. But don't take my opinion as something biased bc i don't really think it is, i can't be biased towards a piece of media that holds little to no value to the true canon mainline games.

I have seen people dragging this show to hell, and at the time it came out it recieved a LOT of criticism for VALID reasons, valid when it comes to comparing them to the actual canon personalities of these characters (which varies from media to media but its mostly the same concept, but you can't say they haven't fucked up in the characterization of certain characters in mainline games but thats for another day).

But neither sonic or amy or tails or whoever in boom actually have any meaning at all, do they have a backstory? a purpose? any serious fight? is eggman even their enemy? Absolutely not!!

BECAUSE THIS SHOW IS NOT MEANT TO TAKEN SERIOUSLY !!

If we are talking about knuckles, he is not smart !! he doesn't have a life mission to protect the emerald !! There's nothing going on for him !! he doesn't even remember anything, in one episode he suddenly realized he didn't have a family and started to look for one, getting manipulated into an "evil" complot and that's he most arc he has ever gotten in boom (found family trope at the end of the ep, rlly cute)

And i did see some worries about the franchise being influenced by the boom! characterization. Mostly for knuckles and amy.

As for knuckles i think that some of you watched the scu shortfilm and immediately thought that they were bringing boom!knux into the mix, i disagree wholeheartedly with this (if s3 comes out and it is like that well then...) i think that scu!knux is just someone who gets represented by his pure heart (as every good representation of knuckles) and lack of knowledge of his surroundings and the people who came into his life. He gets easily manipulated and doesn't know what icecream is, bc he has been a loner for so long !! and he does not know earth, that does not mean he's stupid in any way, and i dont think that's what they would go for in s3.

And for Amy I've seen the discourse that boom! generated around her, some claiming that it was the best amy, for her not overly girly attitude maybe or for the fact that her affection towards sonic was hidden and she didn't show it at all, even though it was stated that she liked him.

So I've seen people saying that due to this amy being well received, it has influenced on how they made her in modern media, which i don't think is that much of a true tbh??? Like besides twitter takeovers, i haven't seen much of boom!amy influence in any other thing, perhaps yes they took a different take for her in frontiers or other modern games, but she has always been true to what really her character is, sonic or not Amy is Amy. Its not about how they made boom! canon suddenly but what is the path they want her character to take while she is still connected to her emotions and love for sonic and everyone.

And no i don't think boom!amy is the best version of amy, i don't think any boom! character is the best version of themselves and they will never be, because there is nothing that conveys their true selves in this interpretation, so it's impossible for these characters to be that.

LETS NOT EVEN TALK ABOUT BOOM!SHADOW because that boy is not shadow at all, then again this is a character that suffered a lot of misinterpretations from his own creators so,,,

So im not making really any point in here?

just simply stating the obvious !! sonic boom is a show that you watch to have fun ! it does not have any action or true emotional moments, never has the team gone through a serious situation. You watch it because it's silly and you don't expect much else from it! Everyone is loveable in their own way if you look at them with the right eyes, so maybe you could enjoy this show without thinking about how out of character most things are.

love you sonic boom i will always defend you

[justarandomllamacorn]

Today, for the second time, I dreamt that my parents were leading a cult.

They were about to have a ceremony that would turn my father into a Cthulhu looking humanoid, not affect my mother and turn their followers into zombie like monsters (their skin would turn ashy, eyes empty, only driven by a hunger for flesh).

Anyway, today again (this is the second time they have this ceremony in my dreams) I refused to partake in it so my father threw a handful of wasted rice in the room in which I planned to barricade myself so that the famished mindless monsters would attack me first since I was the closest to them.

We were in a huge complex made of shipping containers, in the countryside. And right next to the shipping container in which I planned to barricade myself there was a library full of old books, I went in and saw a guy who had come here with parents, I could see he had been bidding things in here but pretended I hadn't witnessed anything and started talking about literature. He left, and I picked some books to keep me occupied during the ceremony and it's aftermath. I cleaned up the room I would be using so it didn't smell like spoiled food and wouldn't bring the monsters to attack me and barely closed the front door in time for the beginning of the ceremony. The back was too heavy and wouldn't budge so I ran out as the sky turned to red and scaled up the side of the containers to get to the roof.

There I could see the ceremony unfolding. I went to hide on the other side of the complex, sat on a lower roof above a window, when a boy my age came over to me. I was surprised to see him as I was sure he was a loyal follower and would choose the transformation like the others as it was a great honour and a blessing to them. But he hadn't, he was kind, we spoke a little, he wrapped his vest around my shoulders, gave me a warm mug of milk and a chocolate covered biscuit, "my favourite thing to eat when I'm distressed" , he had said. He smiled gently, accepted to take back his vest and climbed down again, jogging away like in those romantic movies tropes.

Immediately, I stood up and climbed up again, he was a spy, a retriever, he would come back and capture me. My heart beat faster than ever as anxiety rose up in me but still I ran across the roofs, jumping to other roofs, I looked back and saw him pursuing me. I ran like a beast before a wild fire. Jumping and climbing higher still, but he wouldn't give. Over, to the left, I could see the ceremony had worked and they had all transformed into mindless creatures (aside from mother and father, of course).

Eventually I stood on a really high roof and couldn't get to any other roof so I started climbing down the walls, looking through every window if it was safe for me to get in. He was getting closer still, I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins, and finally I went in through a window. The small old lady saw I was in a state of dissaray and looked on as I rushed to her locked front door. I hid fast as I saw Him coming in through the window, the blood rushing in my ears drowned out everything they were saying. I saw in a reflection, the old lady coming to the door and unlocking it.

Yet as I made a move to get to the door discreetly, the old lady bumped into the big boxes, sending them toppling onto the ground.

Frozen in shock, I turned my head around and saw him looking at me, nonchalantly half sat on the table. He smiled darkly at me, ready to collect his prize.

The old lady had betrayed me.

[twolittledemons]

Sylvie: Pa showed us a “quote maker”–

Cecile: He said you can force people to say stuff–

Sylvie: Or something like that–

Cecile: So here’s some shit! Oh, and, sorry, there’s a lot–

——————————

Sylvie: ARE YOU-

George: Fucking.

Sylvie: KIDDING ME?! YOU-

George: Fucking.

Sylvie: IDIOT!

Laf: …What was that?

George: Cecile banned Sylvie from swearing, so I’m helping her out.

——————————

Laf: I'm cold.

George: Here, take my hoodie.

*meanwhile*

Sylvie: I'm cold.

Cecile: I can't control the weather, Sylvie.

——————————

*after George gets surgery and is loopy from the anesthesia*

Laf, gesturing to George: Sylvie, look what you did! You made Mom upset!

Cecile: Mom, please don’t cry, we’re sorry!

Sylvie: I’m sorry Mom... :(

George, near tears: I DON’T REMEMBER GIVING BIRTH TO ANY OF YOU!

——————————

Laf: Ducks are better than rabbits.

Sylvie: What? Rabbits are adorable. Have you ever been in a fight with a duck? Ducks are jerks.

Cecile: Duck is delicious! Rabbit is all gamey.

Sylvie: We’re not talking about flavour, Cecile!

Cecile: Flavour counts!

Sylvie: Who carries around a duck’s foot for good luck? Anyone?

George: You wrap yourself in a comforter stuffed with rabbit hair. I’ll wrap myself in a comforter stuffed with duck feathers! Who’s cozier?

Sylvie: Okay, but-

George: NO, NO, NO, NO. WHO’S COZIER?

Cecile: Then why don’t we take a rabbit, a duck, stick ‘em in a cardboard box and let them fight it out!

Sylvie: BECAUSE IT’S ILLEGAL, CECILE!

Cecile: ONLY IF WE BET ON IT, SYLVIE!

Laf: I- Jesus-

——————————

Cecile, Sylvie & Laf: *screaming*

George: *runs into the room* What's wrong, Laf?!

Cecile: Wait, why are you asking Pa that when Sylvie and I are also here?

George: Because Pa wouldn't scream unless it's an emergency. You two scream whenever you have the chance.

——————————

Sylvie: Pa, we're hungry!

Cecile: Pa! What's for dinner?

George: We're hungry, Laf!

Laf, frying a bottle of ketchup over the stove: *screams*

——————————

*Everyone is playing a board game together*

Laf: I will put 'A' down to make 'A'.

George: I will add onto your 'A' to make 'AT'.

Cecile: I will add onto your 'AT' to make 'RAT'.

Sylvie: I will add onto your 'RAT' to make 'BIOSTRATAGRAPHIC'.

Cecile: *flips the board*

——————————

Laf: Do you know the ABCs of first aid?

Cecile: A. Bone. Coming out of the skin is very bad.

——————————

George, throwing a pokeball at Sylvie: Sylvie, I choose you!

Sylvie, not looking up from her book and catching it: You need an Ultra ball to catch this Legendary Pokémon.

——————————

George: Laf! I can't do this stupid math!

Laf: What’s the math problem?

George: Well, we have to add the bed, subtract the clothes divide the legs, and hope we don’t multiply.

Cecile, covering Sylvie’s ears, while Laf smacks George upside the head: Not gonna lie that was hella smooth.

——————————

Cecile: My stomach growled super loud in French.

Cecile: I would like to clarify, my stomach did not speak in French. It growled during French class.

Laf: Bonjour.

Sylvie: Le growl.

George: Hon hon hon, feed me a baguette.

——————————

Laf: How late were you up last night?

Cecile & Sylvie, in tandem: Me?

Laf: No, not you two. You stay up late all the time.

Laf, to George: You.

——————————

Laf: This food is too hot... I cant eat it.

George: You’re very hot, and I still eat you.

Everyone at the table: *silence*

Cecile: YOU GUYS ARE DISGUSTING!

Sylvie: One dinner... I just want ONE DINNER!

——————————

Cecile: Good. Thanks, dad.

George: You just called Laf “dad”. You just said “thanks, dad.”

Cecile: What? No, I didn’t. I said “thanks, man”.

Laf: Do you see me as a father figure, Cecile?

Cecile: No. If anything I see you as a bother figure ‘cause you’re always bothering me.

Sylvie: Hey! Show your father some respect!

——————————

George: *tapping fingers on table*

Laf: *taps fingers back furiously*

Cecile: …What’s going on?

Sylvie: Morse code. They’re talking.

George: -.-- ..- .-. / - …. . / -.-. ..- - . … -

Laf: *slams hands on table* YOU TAKE THAT BACK!

[Translation: Yur The Cutest]

——————————

Cecile: LOWERCASE LETTERS ARE FOR THE LOWER CLASS!

George: And here we have a capitalist.

Laf: Did you just-

Sylvie: Let us all take a moment to appreciate that all of human history, human language, and the universe itself aligned to make this joke possible.

——————————

Laf: I give up. I am so tired.

Sylvie: Get the emergency supply!

George: *carries Cecile and places her in front of Laf*

Cecile: *smiles*

Laf: AND I AM BACK BABY, LET’S GOOO

——————————

*The girls are learning CPR on a test dummy*

George: So, assessing the situation. Are they breathing?

Sylvie: No, Dad. They are not breathing. And they have no arms or legs.

George: No, that’s not part of it—

Sylvie: Where are they? You know what? If we come across somebody with no arms or legs do we bother resuscitating them? I mean, what kind of quality of life do we have there?

Cecile: I would want to live with no legs.

Sylvie: How about no arms? No arms or legs is basically how you exist right now, Cecile. You don’t do anything.

George: All right, well, lets get back to it. ‘Cause you’re losing him.

Sylvie: *pumps frantically*

George: Okay, too fast. Everyone, we need to pump at a pace of a 100 beats per minute.

Sylvie: Okay, that’s uh, hard to keep track. How many is that per hour?

Laf: How’s that gonna help you?

Sylvie: I will divide and then count to it.

Laf: Right.

George: Okay. Well, a good trick is to pump to the tune of ‘Staying Alive’ by the Bee Gees. Do you know that song?

Sylvie: Yes, yes I do. I love that song. *clears throat, begins to sing* First I was afraid, I was petrified.

——————————

George: Why do you act like we’re three year olds?

Laf, exasperated: WHY?!?

Laf points at Cecile: YOU TRIED TO HYJACK A CAR!

Laf points at Sylvie: YOU NEARLY JUMPED 20 FEET OFF A CARPARK!

Laf points at George: AND YOU ATE MULTIPLE DRIED LEAVES AND ROCKS OFF THE GROUND!

Laf: AND YOU ASK ME WHY????

——————————

Cecile: *falls down the stairs*

Laf: Are you okay?

George: Stop falling down the stairs!

Sylvie: How’d the ground taste?

——————————

George: Subs are so fun to play with. All you have to do is hint at what you might do, back them into a corner with a look, or grab their wrist in a certain way and they're a wide-eyed mess.

Cecile: What the fuck kind of Subway are you going to?

Sylvie: Substitute teachers deal with so much shit.

Laf: Girls.

——————————

Sylvie: I currently have 7 empty notebooks and I have no idea what to put in them. Any suggestions?

George: Put spaghetti in it.

Sylvie: I am currently taking suggestions from everyone but you.

Cecile: Put spaghetti in it.

Sylvie: I am currently taking suggestions from everyone but you two.

Laf: Put spaghetti in it.

Sylvie: I am no longer taking suggestions.

——————————

Laf: Are you laughing at that video of Cecile and Sylvie fighting?

George: No.

George: I'm laughing at the comments.

——————————

George: Today at 7 am, Laf poured a Monster energy drink in his coffee, said "I'm going to die" and drank the whole thing.

Sylvie: I watched Pa brew his coffee with Monster instead of water. Three cups in two hours. I think he ascended into the astral realm.

Cecile: The survivability of the human race never fails to amaze me.

——————————

Laf: You were stabbed. Do you remember anything?

George: Only the ambulance ride to the hospital.

Laf: That wasn't an ambulance, I drove you.

George: But I heard a siren.

Cecile: That was Sylvie.

Sylvie: Sorry, I got nervous.

——————————

Sylvie: Time sensitive question how flirt boy.

Laf: Throw rocks at he.

George: Hot Dogs.

Cecile: Kill him.

Sylvie: Thanks guys.

——————————

George: For self defense reasons, I'm going to pretend to be a burglar and you guys have to act wisely.

Sylvie, Laf, & Cecile: Okay.

George: If you don't want to die, give me all your money.

Laf: Bold of you to assume I have money.

Sylvie: Bold of you to assume I don't want to die.

Cecile: Bold of you to assume I can die.

——————————

George: Yesterday, I watched Cecile try to eat a decorative rock from Sylvie's potted plant. Laf caught her, and told her she can't eat rocks. Cecile started whining something about no food being in the house before walking away.

——————————

Laf, watching Cecile and Sylvie fight: Are you sure they should be fighting? What if they get hurt?

George, not bothered by the chaos: It’s fine. They’re too evenly matched to hurt each other.

Laf: Then... who’s the strongest out of you three?

Cecile: Dad.

Sylvie: Dad.

George: Me.

——————————

*Laf is in the kitchen and he hears a crash from the living room*

Laf, running into the living room: WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED HERE?!?!

Cecile, looking at the broken TV screen and the remote on the floor: I was trying to throw the remote onto the TV stand!

Laf: And Dad didn’t stop you?!

Cecile, pointing at a sleeping George: He’s been asleep for the past three hours.

Sylvie, walking in, oblivious to the situation: Hey guys-

Sylvie, realizing: Wait, is the TV broken? Why?!

Laf, pointing at Cecile: She threw the remote onto the TV stand.

Sylvie: Come on! That’s the 5th time this week and it’s 2 in the morning on a Tuesday!

George, waking up to see the situation: *yawns* How long was I out?

George, seeing the broken TV: OH GOD NOT AGAIN! CECILE, I TOLD YOU NOT TO!

Cecile: You were asleep! And I always take a window of opportunity when I see it!

Laf, George & Sylvie, in unison: But you broke the-

Cecile: My work here is done. If anyone asks, I was never. *dashes out of the living room*

——————————

Police: You’re under arrest for trying to carry three people on a single motorcycle.

George, with Cecile and Sylvie behind him: Wait, what do you mean THREE?!

Police: Yes…three.

George: Oh, my God— What the fuck!?

Police: Wha-

George: Laf FUCKING FELL OFF!

——————————

Laf: You are now one day closer to eating your next plate of nachos.

Sylvie: That's the most hopeful thing I've ever heard.

Cecile: But what if I die tomorrow and never eat any nachos?

George: Then tomorrow is nacho lucky day.

[spkyart]

I am so normal about them

[purplecyborgnewt]

[lovewillthaw-j]

Such a pretty film!

Frozen II

[brucewaynehater101]

Tim should be traumatized, it’s like enrichment for him

That kid has so much trauma packed into his 13-18 ages that he wouldn't know what to do without it (which is fucking devastating, my lords)

[feelo-fick]

WELCOME TO PHIO'S EXTREMELY SELF INDULGENT AU HOUR!!!

"Oh, FINALLY, another visitor! It's so quiet in here, it's unnerving..."

—

This AU was meant to be posted on halloween but eh.... Happy Thanksgiving? HAHAHHA

still dont have a name for it, but basically, back in october i was suddenly hit with the need to have a halloween au, so now we have ghost-ified prismo and vampire/witch-ified scarab :D ( although didnt finish the scarab reference spread in time because uh, school and i lost motivation unfortunately )

au synopsis and rambling below the cut!!

the premise of this au is simple : scarab is a real estate agent whos known for his manners ( never barges in, always waits to be invited! though it is a little weird how he keeps asking to be let inside even if they already agreed that he was going to come over... ) and efficiency at his job - that is, convincing people to buy high-end housing for a good price. although his social skills need some... work, his ability to persuade people isnt something to be laughed at.

unfortunately for him, persuading the higher-ups is a completely different story - which he learned the hard way after flunking something big for the company. they dont choose to fire him, no. instead, they put him through a trial, assigning him to sell their most unprofitable property : the mansion in a small town locally known for being haunted by an "evil spirit". if scarab manages to sell it (for good profit) within six months, he is excused and is able to go on with his job. if not... well, best not to think about it, yes? after all, he'll succeed with ease - all he has to do is dispel any worries about some fake "ghost" that only exists as a result of filthy rumors. maybe clean up the place. not too hard, right?

meanwhile, stuck inside said mansion is an extremely bored prismo. hes been hangin around this place for like... how many years now? forty? a hundred? meh, all the same, lately the place has been quieter than usual. i mean- of course people dont just walk into a creepy mansion every day, but there would usually be at least a few bold kids or vloggers coming in now and then for him to entertain but even then they wouldn't stay long ( for obvious reasons ). and now, just some unbound spirits or dumb animals would pass by and thats about it. a guy can only entertain himself for so long, yknow?

that is, until today. when some posh-looking business man entered the premises and started snooping around ( whats the deal with that, by the way?? ). must be prismo's lucky day!! this is the perfect chance to pull out all the stops and play the FUNNIEST prank ever! hah!

... oh. looks like things've gotten a little out of hand.

—

WOOT WOOT WOOTTTTTTTTTTT!!! im so so happy to finish this because ohhhhh my god this has taken ages for no reason other than the fact that ive been really dragging myself to make presentable art JSNDJSJXNSJX.... i realize that i have never worked in real estate ( or at all ) which means i have probably fucked something up but uhh um ill deal with the backlash later :"D im also realizing how many odd unanswered bits and bobs this au is going to have in the future, which... i am ignoring for the most part for now, but there are SOME things that i DO have figured out like ghost lore... but thats for another time, for now i leave you with this >:)

[parentsday]

Hiii! Since you asked about headcanons/analysis stuff:

There's a common interpretation on the fandom about Max's treatment of David in the early episodes coming, at least partially, from trust issues regarding adults/authority figures. And I've seen push back against it, too. People who say it's just because David is annoyingly positive. Nothing else.

And sure, I can see that. But Nikki also acts in a cheerful manner and mostly enjoys camp, and Max doesn't treat her with the level of rudeness he treated David in season one. This could be due to her being his little partner in crime, but idk. I always interpreted it as him thinking that David is some fake nice adult who will just let him down if he allows it.

And, while I was thinking about this, I realized how this interpretation of Max's behaviour towards David adds another heartbreaking layer to Parents day.

Max's perception of David started changing after Order of the sparrow, specifically after the "Somebody fucking has to" moment. For just a moment, the annoying, overly positive persona drops, and Max is able to see a nuanced human being. And it's clear that he starts understanding David a little more, because in Cult camp (literally the next episode), he allows himself to be brainwashed and trusts that David will save the camp (btw, we as a fandom don’t talk about this aspect of this episode enough).

So yeah, his perception of David changes for the better.

But then, parents day happens.

And David spends most of the episode being an absolute jerk, even if he doesn't realize it.

He pushes SO HARD to try and make the day perfect, basically ignores Max when he states that his parents aren't coming, gets way too serious about playing the role of Max's dad for the day, forces Max into the activities and then, at the end of a day that was already shitty for Max, he yells at him.

I think the context of Max's opinion on David finnaly becoming more positive makes this episode so much sadder.

Because it ceases to be just about Max's neglectful parents.

Now it's also about the closest thing he has to a trustworthy adult making him uncomfortable, ignoring his feelings and then yelling at him and telling him that he "has a bad attitude" and "brings everyone else down instead of trying just a little bit to have fun".

(Which are things he must have heard from adults before, if he behaves the way he does at camp in school and other places)

Remember in Friends like these when he said "Life's just one dissapointment after another. I can't belive I let myself forget it"? I think he might have had the same train of thought here: "I can't believe I let myself forget David is an asshole that only cares about impressing Campbell and making this stupid camp look good". Or: "I can't believe I let myself forget that every single adult thinks I'm a bad kid and a lost cause."

And I know it gets fixed quickly, with David apologizing shortly after, but still. I think the idea of Max being dissapointed at David in Parents day, even if it was just for some moments, is so good.

I also think this is the episode that comfirms to Max that David is genuinely a good person trying his best. He spent the entire day having to think about the fact that his parents suck, and then there's David, who is kind, apologizes for upsetting him and takes him to eat pizza and have a little heartfelt talk.

When was the last time his parents apologized to him, or cared about what he wanted/needed, or talked to him so gently?

The contrast between his parents and David is so big, and I think that's what makes Max finnaly go "Yeah, this guy isn't actually that bad."

(Sorry for rambling, omg.)

hi first of all thank u for an ask and such insightful one at it too !! this was an incredibly pleasant read and a lot of the stuff you say i personally find very good analysis of the show and agree with, however i do have some stuff to say abt it soo here we go ^-^ (this will be a long one so sorry about this in advance)

as i said in some previous reply, max is an incredibly peculiar guy when it comes to the way this show treats his trauma and the way he himself behaves as a result of it, and that’s by design! a lot of the thing he says and does in the first two seasons when it comes to david are there for reasons of narrative set up, and are later masterfully recontextualized by parents day later, leaving very little room for interpretation when it comes to how and why he operates. im gonna go out on a limb and say that i don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that most of his actions towards david in the early show stem from the childish born-from-trauma need for attention and also from his need for societal reinforcement of his own ego’s right to exist. when it comes to the first one i see most people agree (bc it’s a basic child psychology fact), but turn their noses in reference to the second one.

contrary to popular belief, max being in need of constant affirmation that he, as a person with little self value, deserves to exist next to other people is something that we see examples of constantly and is not a terrible part of his character that needs to be ignored. max is a neglect victim who from our knowledge is given very little attention by his parents, as a result of it he is a pessimistic asshole kid whose ego suffers from the very thing that made it this way. its in his strained relationship with nikki and neil, its in him arguing with david to put himself in the position of an adult, its him putting himself above others when it’s not needed and its in him putting his own egos safety first when time comes to accept that things are moving forward (two final episodes from both s3 and s4 are good examples of this). its not an inherently positive trait, but it is one okay for him to have by the virtue of being a young abused child with no support system, and denying it will leave him devoid of this characterization. in freudian (ugh) terms, we cannot separate his character’s superego from his id in a way that won’t harm the way he was intentionally written. Id, ego and superego are all influenced by our relationship with our parents, the amount of nurturing of a child's emotional and psychological needs parents does will result in the child’s psychological state forming a certain way, max as a character who is heavily reliant of his lackluster relationship with his parents is not devoid of this and it affects his relationship with david too. and the reason i’m saying all of this is exactly due to this.

david, when put in most simple terms, is a character who’s an adult figure present and mature enough in max’s current social position that it allows him to treat max as a child, something max is not used to. not used to to such an extent that it puts a strain on his ego in the process. david feeds his need for any form of attention, positive or not, just as much as he clips away at max’s need to be seen as socially important and in a position of an adult. it’s arguable if both of these are good or not but the main thing they are in relation to is obvious: max feels that being an adult who meets both of his psychological needs in ways that are unfamiliar to him makes david an untrustworthy person, thats exactly where you interpretation comes in clutch.

max and his behavior towards david cannot be separated from david being an adult, that is made clear with the way he treats nikki as an equal just because she is a person his age, despite her sharing a lot of david’s traits. going through the episodes you mentioned, order of the sparrow episode lets max see david perspective for the very first time. max is allowed to peek into the reason why david acts the way he does, however it alone doesn’t make him see david in a good light, if anything it makes him appear genuine in his actions. it also lets max have something for david that he didn’t have before: trust. it ends up being used in cult camp as a confirmation of it being something david can live up to (you are absolutely right, we really don’t talk abt this episode and it’s narrative weight enough). all of this has been adding onto the way max himself perceives david, parents day, however, lets both of them internalize the sentiment of mutual understanding towards each other together. parents day does this by lampshading max and david parallelism, making this whole episode consist of max seeing his parents in david just as much as david sees himself in max through the whole show and putting them in each others shoes by the end of it. the episode ends with david choosing max as a priority, he is still acting selfishly (once again david is an asshole) but choosing to do so towards max because the situation allows him to understand max the way s1 finale let max understand him. and with the final turning point in their dynamic, max understands that both his ego and need for attention can exist without them being reinforced by an adult treating him like he is an adult too. max was chosen as a priority for the very first time and that alone made him feel of more value than the treatment he initially yearned for would have. above all else parents day makes max see david as someone he can look up to as a person in emotional way, not only in a life or death situations, the shot of david from his perspective in the end making sure that we don’t miss it.

most of this is not me disagreeing with you, on the opposite i think a lot of the arguments you make are nice and are mindful interaction with the media. gold star for enjoying meta analysis to both of us i guess ⭐️. my main problem is, however, the fact that using all of this to basically say ‘maxs parents suck so he has a distain for david because of it’ is a heavy oversimplification that you somehow go against in your initial statement too and that i, personally, just don’t enjoy. this alone does not make your interpretation wrong though, if anything just reinforces your general idea into a more concrete argument rather than a collection of bits and pieces of evidence pointing to it. hope all of this made sense

tldr; man idk no summing up this one as to not take away from the overall statement im making with this. read the post 🫶