#METAPOST

[nanitasheart]

the alex hirsch interview is making me crazy with the fiddleford characterisation (the timestamp for these is around 46 mins)

and this...

[tainbocuailnge]

this is a final fantasy fourteen dawntrail post. it speaks incredibly for the desperation of the people of alexandria in its decline that they both couldn't bear to remember the dead and couldn't bear the thought of the dead no longer being remembered, and thus created this contradictory system where the dead are only remembered by something other than those to whom that memory is meaningful. so crushed by collective trauma and grief that they directed every effort to eradicating awareness of mortality altogether and it's resulted in a paradise where everyone is incredibly blasé about dying because the dead live forever in the cloud until they run out of spare souls and are completely paralyzed with fear of their own mortality.

but even more than desperation it speaks of a naive sincerity that the scientists and officials behind the project just actually genuinely built and maintained this giant memory database to preserve the deceased at increasingly large cost, rather than just lie that they totally did that to a populace who won't remember those deceased anyway. they're not harvesting souls to power the war effort while using a recreation of the beloved princess as puppet figurehead, they completely sincerely recreate the dead from their memories and simulate them living happily ever after, started by a sincere desire to not lose their beloved princess. living memory is an eternal theme park that actively goes out of its way to facilitate letting people who remember each other fondly meet again. it's the manifestation of a childish wish for a world where there are no partings, only reunions. it's a theme park rather than an actual city with a dmv and shit like amaurot was precisely Because it's a childish dream. it's fundamentally an artificial experience, but one which sole motive is to bring joy and relief from everyday sadness.

and sphene is the first and most prominent victim of that naive sincerity. she's the mascot of this theme park, and because she's the mascot in charge of providing this artificial but kind experience she can't ever break character. the people of alexandria couldn't bear the thought of her being forgotten, so they created a memory of her that would last forever, but they also couldn't bear to actually remember sphene, so she's a mascot instead of a person. she loves her people, and they love her, but none of them can possibly understand the weight that love puts on her shoulders. the sphene we meet is fundamentally trapped by other people's deeply limited understanding of her.

it's so so so important to her character that she's a small dainty feminine woman that exists to take care of everyone emotionally and be loved by them for being so nice and sweet and loving, and when she tries to arrange some kind of secure future she ends up with an abusive husband who ignores her wants and needs for his own ambitions, and she is fundamentally unable to act outside this highly gendered framework. sphene reads like the commonplace tragedy of the straight woman to me to the point where making her in lesbians with wuk lamat is like. I can certainly understand wanting to grant sphene the sense of liberation and comfort that many lesbians themselves feel at the realisation that they don't have to marry men, so far be it from me to say anyone is wrong to do so. but it's kinda ignoring part of what her deal is for the sake of that comfort I think.

not that lesbians have never ended up in abusive marriages with men but sphene very explicitly does not have other options, part of the tragedy is that you fundamentally cannot actually grant her that liberation and comfort. cahciua explicitly says there's no way to know what the real living sphene would have done because this sphene is a recreated memory of the beloved princess whose job is to sustain living memory. their darling sphene who will always listen to all their troubles and is always nice to them and will always take care of them. she's literally trapped by the role society assigned her, and that role is essentially to be their tradwife mother. the living sphene may have been into women, but the people who recorded her to create the sphene we meet never even considered the option.

do you guys know that tweet thread where OP describes going to a funeral for a woman they didn't know who'd died young of a heart attack, and the husband spent most of the eulogy talking about himself instead of his recently deceased wife, and by the end of the ceremony OP had learned nothing at all about what this woman was like beyond being a wife and mother? everyone fondly remembers the princess and queen of alexandria, but nobody remembers sphene. and just like all OP could still do for this woman was go to her casket and acknowledge that she too had been a full person in her own right before the stress of swallowing everything about herself killed her, all wuk lamat can really still do for sphene is think of her as the full person she must have been.

we're not told anything about what sphene was like as a leader, what her policies were, how she actually did her work, her vision for the future of her country before she died and was reconstructed. they only tell us everyone loved her so dearly because she was so kind to them. we're shown her dying moments and it's her using her airship to shield a civilian, so we can assume her love for her people was indeed true. but none of sphene's history that we're shown and nothing of how otis (who knew the living sphene) talks about her tells us anything about what she was like outside her role as beloved princess. her memories from after her "revival" are dissonant and corrupted and possibly not even real, and her policy of preserving living memory no matter what is a wish implanted in her by the people who reconstructed her. we don't even get to see what she looked like when alive. the only sphene the people know is the theme park mascot of living memory.

cahciua was exactly as erenville knew her and was true enough to herself to be able to turn against the system, so we're not given reason to believe any of the endless were tampered with. but sphene was already dead by the time they even tried to figure out how to preserve her memory, her actual soul and memories definitely long gone by the time the technology worked. we're explicitly told that nobody in everkeep really cared who or what sphene was as long as she adequately fulfilled this role of loving them all so much. she can't even tell you her favourite food, none of the people who labored so intensely and sincerely to bring her back bothered to write down even her most basic personal preferences when they reconstructed her. she has to deflect the question with "when I think of the people who make the food I can't pick just one" because the only preference she's allowed is loving all her people equally. she's completely thrown off that wuk lamat would even ask.

and it's precisely because she is remembered only as this kind loving woman who gave everything for her people that she is weak and powerless to actually do whatever it takes to keep them safe. she does not have the freedom to assert herself, let alone to be cruel or violent or take extreme actions. society does not give her that freedom, because she is a small dainty woman and (therefore) the only role allowed to her is to be their tradwife mother. so while her desire to protect her people is as real and true as it can be part of her plan to lobotomise herself in order to become someone capable of violence and cruelty also reads to me as that specific female frustration of wanting to destroy the sweet babygirl image of yourself by doing something extreme. like britney spears shaving her head. but in sphene's case destroying the babygirl image amounts to destroying herself completely, because the babygirl image of her is all that comprises her. and so when all is said and done the only fragment of sphene that is restored and lingers just a bit longer after that image is destroyed is the sphene that wuk lamat sincerely wanted to get to know.

[clairelsonao3]

Where are all the stories???

Is it just me or is there much less fiction coming across my Tumblr dash right now (or altogether?) I still see a fair amount of short whump prompt-type things, which is great, but what I really want are some ongoing OC stories I can get invested in! Something romantic, whumpy, dramatic, angsty, or (even better) all of the above? 🙏

I know people are SO busy right now, but I know I'm not the only one who actually tends to do MORE reading this time of year! (Or maybe I'm just procrastinating on other stuff, but oh well!😄)

And of course, I may have just missed some great stuff, too!

So I'll tell you what: Please interact and send a link if you've posted something recently you'd like me to check out and I PROMISE to give it a look and reblog it! 🥰

ETA: If you want me to read something, PLEASE specify what it is or I'll never find it, lol.

[anpanman95]

God DO I have things to say about this one here…

CONTROVERSIAL REVIEW AHEAD

Last Twilight: why Day’s character is a major RED FLAG 🚩🚩🚩

DISCLAIMER: I do not have anything against him as an actor. He’s a beautiful sweet talented cutie pie that is doing such an amazing job it causes me to hate the motherfluffing guts of this character.

To make this easier I’ve broken down this to five points.

Day’s personality sucks: first of all, he is a rich, spoiled child (I hope all of us agree on this one) who’s clearly full of himself, and only cares about himself. This is demonstrated in several ways, but the most blatant one is in how he believes that his tragedy is the worst possible scenario anyone could be in, and fails to have a single ounce of empathy for anyone around him unless, of course, it has to do something with him. Yes. What happened to him was horrific, and traumatizing, but he is not the only human being in the world who has problems. Which brings me to my next point.

Having a disability does not give you the right to be an asshole. “Oh but every person deals with their own stuff differently” Honey, no. The whole point is that having a disability does not make you any less than any other human being. Question: Doesn’t Day want for people to stop feeling pity for him? to not treat him differently?. Well guess what darling: that implies you also still have to be and function like a decent person. Yes, again, I’m very sorry about what he has to go through, which is a horrible and unexpected experience, and I could never imagine what that’s like, but literally no one in his life wished this upon him. He acts as if everyone around him is to be blamed for what happened.

Spoiled part 2: He has a roof over his head. A fancy one might I add. He lives comfortably. He has healthy, unlimited food, done by a professional chef, might I add AGAIN, and he does not appreciate his family and what they do for him, not even once. Does he not understand that his life could be much, much worse? I’m not saying he can’t be angry or depressed or deal with his trauma however he needs to be able to heal, but there’s a difference that he doesn’t seem to understand: being angry at a situation that is out of anyone’s control, and being angry or directing that anger to people who just want to help. Which brings me to my last two points:

Day’s crappy behavior towards his family: Lets start with the mother. She is, of course somewhat at fault for what Day has to go through. But only because she is being unreasonably overprotective, something that could have been solved anyway without Day being an absolute prick about it. (Also pick one of your children to give all your love and attention to and abandon the other? what is wrong with you). Now to his brother Night. Oh God. I don’t think you understand how angry I was when Day said “I forgive you for everything”. Bitch what the f? Forgive Night? for treating him like absolute garbage, as if he had never been your own brother? Like he planned the whole fiasco? He gets mad after the accident because his brother TRIES TO CHANGE for the BETTER. And accuses him from TRYING TO STEAL THE GOOD SON TITLE FROM HIM??! Be for real bitch. This circles back to point one: He only cares about himself. Night has been traumatized almost as much as Day because of the accident. It is obvious he blames himself and probably will never forgive himself fully for what happened. On top of that he gets an awful mother and brother? Nah. Count me out. I would have resigned from that family and go live with beautiful sweet Porjai to a small village and never be contacted by those people again.

Mhok: Oh dear. Oh dear. He is literally the greenest of green flags out there. Sure. He’s a little volatile. Sure, he has done violent things. But he would have NEVER hurt Day or any of their friends/family. My boy was just trying to do his job, cause, mind you, HE HAS NO MONEY OR FAMILY TO SUPPORT HIM LIKE YOU DO, DAY. The money and family you disrespect every single day. And what the f with telling him what to do with his life? Who the f do you think you are? Mr. Righteous? Mr. Perfect? More like Mr. Red Flag 101. Day basically broke Mhok’s heart because Mhok didn’t want to be away from him. So, first of all, I don’t believe for a second Mhok’s intentions were out of pity. Maybe they came from a place of WORRY and a little bit out of infatuation because he liked him so much and didn’t want to be away from him. But never pity. EVEN SO. IF Mhok felt “pity” for Day, the correct thing to do, as two fluffing functioning adults, is to TALK. Why did you have to go and tell him all this horrible things just so he’d leave? Why not tell him you’re proud of him, and ENCOURAGE HIM to take the job, ENSURE that it’ll work out between you? But nooooo, Mr. Red Flag had to go and break his heart cause he lacks basic decency and human empathy, only for Mhok, bless his heart, to come back after three years AND FOR SOME REASON, still manage to be in love with this awful person. And he tells him no? Break his heart all over again only for Mhok to have enough emotional intelligence for the both of them to actually come back after YOU GAVE UP ON SEARCHING FOR HIM AT THE AIRPORT LIKE A WEAK MEDIOCRE BI— ugh. If I were Mhok I’d gone and kicked his sorry ass and married a handsome Hawaiian.

Okay.

Also Day only coming to his senses after his mother tells him THE MOST OBVIOUS THING THERE IS.

“Oh Mother what was that? Loving means taking risks? It’s all about trust? and communication? Oh my, that would have never crossed my mind because I am such an idiot. Thank you mom I’ll go look for the love of my life now because you told me so”

like seriously what is up with these boys and their mommy issues? I swear the exact same thing happened in Hidden Agenda. Bro.

I love P’Aof, and his work. Loved Bad Buddy, loved Moonlight Chicken. I had super high expectations of this and, overall, the show is good. But I simply did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would, and it’s all because I couldn’t sympathize with one of the main characters.

In conclusion:

Fluff you Day, you do not deserve Mhok. sorry p’Aof I love you and will continue to support you until the very end.

oof. I needed to rant this out. don’t yell at me please I cry easily.

peace out!

[turnaj-taborovych-pisni]

Ahoj, čumblre!

Končí nám léto, tedy sezóna táborů, výletů, čundrů a jiných podobných událostí, ke kterým neodmyslitelně patří táboráky a písničky s kytarou (či jiným nástrojem). A co lepšího než poslat tyto písně do turnajového ringu proti sobě?

Nominujte, prosím, všechny vaše favority! Návrhy budu přijímat do konce září, bližší info bude v pinnutém příspěvku.

(Písní je mnoho, každá tábornická tlupa má v repertoáru jiné, tak doufám, že by turnaj mohl fungovat i jako taková kulturní výměna. doufám že mě nezklamete čumblre. sláva jarovít!)

[ifuckingloveryoshu]

"So many things in this world presuming that they deserve to call themselves family."

These are just my personal thoughts about the Ryoshu quote relating to my own life and experince, no analysis or anything of public substance.

The family line of Ryoshu got to me. Ryoshu's dynnamic with groups relates to me as someone who's been in organizations build on group unity when I was younger. I was put into dance classes, piano classes, girl scouts, catechism classes, chior, a lot of others. All of these liked to promote themselves as a family. I didn't relate to no matter how much I tried to. Everyone seemed close. They always like to say they were a little family. It's common for group organizations built on bonds like that, no? I didn't understand and I still really don't. I know when I start thinking of a group as 'family', I start acting stupid and dumb.

Within my personal culture, or at least the culture of my biological family, the only family they recognize or aknowledge is drawn from blood. That's not the concept I jive with either as a firm beleiver of found family. Family is whatever you deicide and no one can take that idea from you. If it just so happens the ones your bonded with the most, great for you. If you need to spread out and find the ones you can unmask to are fellow comrades in a warfeild, that is wonderful. I think everyone needs to find their own family even if it takes a while, a long time, a year, a decade, the only time limit is death. As breif or as long as a family sticks with you, humans are natually social creatures and isolation doesn't do a person good, but we both over and underestimate what is a healthy amount of socalization to stay sane. Or im still too confused, I tend to be confused a lot of the time.

Im more prone to parasocial relationships actually, im doing it right now. To be vulnerable with strangers to try and make friends is a struggle. Communicating to people more openly is a giant stuggle, it does not feel good. Im alright and appreciate what I have now, the ability to come and go as I please. I'm having fun again, I hope. It feels fun.

Anyone who's still reading, im in awe, but I'd like to tell you, you don't need to be the most extroverted person ever to belong with people who accept you. Nothing is wrong with you if you don't seem to click with people right away because these things take time. A kinship may never even form at all. Don't feel the need to force it, but if you do, enjoy what you have in these moments. You are doing your best for what you can at this current point in life.

[loneheroofironjustice]

The Faker is NOT a Faker

One of the most well known and iconic nicknames for EMIYA is "Faker" referring to the fact that through his Reality Marble's ability to copy and forge the weapons and noble phantasms of other heroes, along with the fact that even his ideal is borrowed from someone else, the dream to be a Hero of Justice. So yeah, him being called a faker among the other Servants is pretty fitting... but at the same time, he is also the least fake among the heroes

Because if you were to dig deeper into him, and truly understand how his power works, and who he truly is, he isn't exactly what he may seem at first

Because he is pretty much the only hero, the only Servant out of every other, to be true to himself. And while every other Servant is a fake

Now why do I say this?

Well, for those who don't know, one must understand what a Heroic Spirit and Servant is.

Now at face value, both Heroic Spirits and Servants are the same, well that isn't exactly true, they are similar and tend to overlap. But are still not the same

A Servant is just a container that is used as a vessel, a medium for the living (ie. The Master who summons the Servant) to perform a specific role, ala the Servant Classes

While the Heroic Spirit on the other hand, is the personification of the Hero's Legends, Myths, and ideals

Now why is it important to know these. well for one thing. It helps explains as to why we have scenes like this

This is the reason why this scene, and other similar scenarios happen in Fate, because I've seen a lot of misconception that the Servants are weaker than they were at life. And that the flesh and blood heroes are stronger. And to that claim, it is false. Because a Servant IS stronger, it is just that, they are only strong against most humans and magi, but a servant would still absolutely rekt you.

But even so, like what was previously mentioned, A Servant is just the container vessel that a Master (usually Human) can use other similarily weak threats. But the Heroic Spirit themselves are stronger.

To put it simply, the Servant is the fragment, or a single aspect of that Hero, while the Heroic Spirit is the Hero entirely, along with any associated legends of them

So to help better clarify the power scaling between I'll show you. First would be the power scaling of usually human heroes (example: Artoria/Arthur, Beowulf, Sasaki Kojiro, Sherlock, Da Vinci, Medusa, Jeanne)

The Hero (Flesh and Blood/Alive) is weak to The Servant (The Container holding a fragment of that hero) is absolutely destroyed by The Heroic Spirit (The Hero in their entirety, along with all the Legends and Ideals of them)

This is the true power scaling, it is for that reason why some of the Servants seems weak, because they are just in a fraction of their entire power.

But of course there is an alternative case, (Referring to: Gilgamesh, Heracles, Cu Chulainn, Ishtar, Altera etc.) These heroes are examples in where the real life versions of them are definitely stronger than their Servant counterparts. This is true case for usually divine attributed or earth attributed heroes in general. In where as they become servants, they had to weaken themselves in order to be summoned. Think of it like trying to fill a glass of water, Servants, like King Arthur, Beowulf, Blackbeard, Tomoe Gozen, Nagao Kagetora, Sherlock Holmes, Medea, and Lancelot are powerful and strong, but the volume of their strength and being isn't too overwhelming that you can generally get most of them fit into the glass

But more higher tier heroes like Gilgamesh, and Heracles are like vast oceans, they are so powerful, their very beings so deep, that when trying to have them fit into the glass, you end up losing the vast majority of their power due to overflow

So in a most likely scenario, these higher tier heroes would absolutely dominate their Servant counterparts in a fight

Think of it like this

The Servant (a FRAGMENT of the Hero) gets REKT by The Hero (The Flesh and Blood) still gets dominated by The Heroic Spirit (All the Legends of the Hero and their entirety)

Now why does the Heroic Spirit still beats them if I say that they beat the Servant. Well here is where I clear the misconception of Servants and Heroic Spirits

The Servant is just a container holding a fragment of a Hero's power and being, relative enough in strength that they don't overwhelm their human master, but not weak enough that they can't defend themselves

The Heroic Spirit of a hero on the other hand, is not just the Hero, but also their Ideals, myths, and legends given form

What that means is that they are pretty much boosted from those legends, and gives them abilities and powers that they themselves never possessed in life. like take Sigurd for example

Now, for an ancient norse hero, his armour doesn't really look exactly how a norse warrior should. And well, that because he isn't wearing what is supposed to be a piece of nordic armour. In the lore, it is exaplained that the armour he wears is not from his time, but given to him as a servant. Now this isn't the first time a Hero was modified/given something that wasn't theirs in the first place.

Another good example would be Caesar, now I ain't much of an archeologist to point this out. But I am pretty sure the Romans didn't invented, nor worn a suit and tie in their days

So why they, and also other Servants wear other out of time outfits? (I don't have the time to post images of every Hero who wears an outfit that doesn't match their time period, so here is a quick list off of some: Cu Chulainn, Medusa, Beowulf, Artoria, Lancelot, Cleopatra, Kintoki, and several others I can't think of now) Well one of main reasons they wear such outfits is because it is due to the world's perception of them, like when people think of Gaius Julius Caesar himself, they must've imagined some sort of authoritarian general who can lead armies and earn the respect of the people. As such, he wears a red suit and tie, for suits are usually thought of to be worn by people of authority for formal purposes, such as your boss in your mega corporation, or a general in a US army. This makes sense, because Julius is thought as the greatest Emperor that Rome ever had, that many people even now seem him as a great figure (Shame FGO made him to be a joke)

But how does that explain him wearing that outfit in his life? Well it doesn't it only explains why he looks like that as a Servant/Heroic Spirit.

So with that knowledge, you can guess that not only the hero's outfits had been changed because of the hero's fame and reputation. But even their powers and abilities and tools were also changed because of this

Like literally. A Noble Phantasm is not just the trump card of a Hero, it is not just their special ultimate move. But is also their ideals, dreams, hopes, despairs, and legends given physical form.

Like take the Gae Bolg for example.

For those unaware, which I highly doubt, The Gae Bolg is a Noble Phantasm with two functions, a Thrust form, and a Thrown form.

Pretty cool right. Yet except there is a detail that many people may have forgotten about it. It's that originally, the Gae Bolg only had 1 mode, the thrust form, the ability of it reversing cause and effect to always strike the heart. The thrown form on the other hand is basically more attributed to be Cu's and Cu's alone,

Now how did the Gae Bolg got influenced by Cu? Well, the thrown form is actually a crystallization of Cu taking on the entire army Connacht by himself, day in and day out, he single handedly destroyed Medb's countless soldiers, killing them all by himself, this reputation was so great that after being immortalized in the Throne of Heroes, Gae Bolg gained it's 2nd function "Gae Bolg: Soaring Spear That Strikes With Death" if Gae Bolg thrust is more so Scathach's np, then Gae Bolg thrown is Cu's

Now for another example, but not involving Noble Phantasms but with the Servant's skills. Let's use Cu again for this

One of Cu's most notable skills is Battle Continuation, which is a skill that most heroes possess, the skill itself is a crystalization of Cu's undaunting will and resolve, from again fighting entire armies by himself, but also most notably, is also in reference to his dying moments, in where he continues to stand despite fatal wounds, continuing to fight off the entire army of Connacht on bloody legs, with nothing but his own intestines strapping him to a rock to prevent his dying body to fall.

Another good example that isn't Cu is Lancelot. In his Berserker form, he famously has the Noble phantasm Knight of Owner, he also possess it as a skill as a Saber

Now I may not be a historian, but I am pretty sure that medieval knights can't use various firearms or operate modern fighter aircraft, but he has them anyway because it is based off of the story in where he was unarmed and needed to defend himself, so he took a branch and murdered his attacker with that tree branch alone. This is then further expanded as where he can just use pretty much anything as a weapon, from a metal pole, an SMG, to a fighter jet

And as such, as a Servant, he was granted the Battle Continuation skill for this

So with that all being said. How does all of this, the Heroes wearing clothes that are not theirs, to their very powers and abilities

Well, it is because it helps further my point that every other hero in the Throne of Heroes are ironically enough, the true fakers, whilst EMIYA is the only hero who is true to himself

Why you may ask? Well it is because of the fact that every single hero other than EMIYA are backed by their legends and myths

But not EMIYA

Like literally, from them either being Servants, a fragment or aspect of who they are, to a Heroic Spirit, the fame/infamy of a hero

Literally from their own looks, abilities, even down to their very identities is just based off their legends

Like many of their abilities, designs, and tools are either just based off of reputation, their fame, any rumours of them, supposed mythological heritages, cultural or historical impacts, or just straight up bs myths of them

Even Gilgamesh isn't safe from this, the King of Heroes, despite his pride in being the original, he too is a fake. The real Gilgamesh didn't had wealth magically appear before him (Only Heroic Spirit Gil), he didn't had a vault that contained every single np that man had (Only Heroic Spirit Gil) A lot of Gil's abilities are more so derived from the myths and reputation of him, but the real life Gilgamesh never had those, only his Heroic Spirit and Servant counterparts did. So yeah

they were all fakes

But not EMIYA

This is where the irony of it all comes to

Despite being "The Faker" EMIYA is ironically the only one who is genuine, he is the only hero who is the Truest to who he is

Like EMIYA's ability to perfectly replicate the abilities and weapons of others isn't bs, his red shroud and black body armour isn't an arbitrarily applied symbol assigned to him by the people of the world, his clairvoyance to see at great distances isn't just a class ability given to him by the class system. ALL OF THESE ASPECTS OF EMIYA ARE GENUINELY HIS

There is literally an entire visual novel that explores many of his abilities, several animes and games that showcase as to what he can do

And we seen it all for ourselves, Shirou and Archer's abilities are genuine and true, unlike every other hero's which are merely just based off of legends

EMIYA may be a "Faker" but he is more true than any of the other heroes

TL;DR: EMIYA is the only hero in the Fate Franchise is true to himself, everyone else are actually the real fakes with their abilities and even designs based off of legends and myths

[bazilisk]

I hope that the horniness I see for the various BG3 companions (I'll admit, especially Astarion, he's really the standout for this hope) will get more women, goths and queers into tabletop D&D and multiplayer gaming who weren't into it before. 🎲🧛‍♂️💜💜💜 the bigger the tent, the more fun the party!

[s-lycopersicum]

Exclusive, Unedited, Never-Before-Seen Footage of the Inside of my Brain

The actions in this video are in no way performed by a professional. Feel free to attempt at home if recreational use of Photoshop for Bocchiposting purposes sounds like a fun time to you.

[nanitasheart]

this is a bit rant-y feel free to skip

i'm a bit tired of being in fandom spaces where people constantly generalise and make black and white takes about the characters... i know it's not like a massive deal and i can just block these people (and i'm not saying i don't do that) but its just a bit annoying yknow?

i think it just gets under my skin as a writer + looking at characters from a writer's viewpoint that the main point of watching a show is to see character conflict and how the characters (work to) resolve that and seeing characters with one-dimensional personalities or relationships makes for a boring show so why reduce them in long posts in the same way?

not sure if this is a crazy take but with morally grey characters saying "xyz character is so cute and can do nothing wrong"/woobifying them is just as much of a disservice to their character and the people that wrote them as saying "xyz character is irredeemable and saying they can have good moments is bad and they should suffer 24/7" because the whole point is theyre morally grey and don't conform to being "bad" or "good" constantly in their show, even if they have a majority of one trait

also i see often people let their personal takes and experiences influence their opinions on a character which is fine but when this extends to policing how people view/interact/interpret a character it also gets a bit jarring to look at ... (i understand the irony behind saying this though LOL but to clarify i'm not saying you have to interpret characters a certain way/can't generalise their character for the sake of simplicity or something but going on long tirades about how awful a character is when they do have at least a few redeeming qualities just seems a bit pointless imo)

anyway my point is: look at characters with nuance! acknowledge both their strengths and their flaws! it's more often than not that a main character in a show isn't 100% "good pure angel saint" or 100% "bad irredeemable satan spawn of hell" and going on big rants about one or the other while disregarding the aspects of their character you don't personally like/want to focus on to bolster your narrative of a character is annoying to read /lh

[tainbocuailnge]

I wrote an article comparing fordola and yotsuyu's arcs you should read it❗

[gayocats]

Friendly reminder: These cats say TRANS RIGHTS

[clairelsonao3]

ETA: Thank you so much to the person (people) who already bought me a Ko-Fi. You are true gems. 💕

So, my bank account is down to $0. I just got unceremoniously dumped from the freelance job I was hoping would get me through the month. I'm at rock bottom, behind on my credit card payments, and really sad and scared that my life has come to this.

I also have an MFA and have been a professional writer, editor, content marketer, journalist, and ghostwriter for nearly 15 years, and I am actually very good at what I do, not that you would know it.

My clients tell me things are slow this summer, as if my rent and bills somehow also take a vacation.

The worst thing of all is that the prospect of soon self-publishing my book is the only thing that's keeping me going right now, and I'm starting to get scared that I won't be able to afford to do it when the time comes. I can do it cheaply, but not for free, at least to any quality.

So: I can beta read. I can edit and proofread your stuff. I can ghostwrite nonfiction and fiction. I've never done writing commissions before, but why not? All for low/negotiable rates, say .003/word for editing/beta and .08/word for writing.

I also have a Ko-Fi.

So yes. This is a request for work, tip money, kind words, and reassurance that I don't, in fact, suck.

Also, please reblog if you can. I would really appreciate that.

And it's a thank you. I would never normally do this, but I've gotten a lot of support from this community, so I've decided to take a deep breath and put myself out there in a way I can't with my IRL friends.

And to anyone else struggling: I'm thinking of you and here for you. You don't suck, and this is temporary. 💕

[atlas-hope]

AZIRAPHALE'S PLAYLIST (6)

Since I’m joyfully suffering from an immense amount of Good Omens brainrot, I’ve been collecting all of my Thoughts™ regarding the list of songs that Prime gave us before Season 2 came out. Now that these songs (and the events of S2) have been churning around in my brain for a few weeks, I feel like I’m able to put my thoughts into words. This will be a series of posts!

Angeleyes

Oof. OOF. That summarizes most of what I have to say about this song choice. OOF. I’ve had to gather my thoughts together for WEEKS on this song. Before Season 2 was released, this was a pretty quirky and goofy choice of song, given the fact that it’s a peppy Europop song (and Aziraphale is not the half of the ineffable duo who is known for their striking eyes). AFTER Season 2 was released, this song choice is UNNERVING (and more than a little painful).

A lot of the verses don’t seem to directly apply to Aziraphale, like the ones below:

Last night, I was taking a walk along the river, And I saw him together with a young girl. And the look that he gave her made me shiver, 'Cause he always used to look at me that way. Then I thought maybe I should walk right up to her and say, "Ah-ha-ha, it's a game he likes to play."

Do I think Aziraphale will show up with a new best friend/romantic interest in Season 3? Will Crowley have to witness the angel bestowing his affections upon another? NO, I don’t think so. That’s why I don’t think these verses are meant to directly apply to Aziraphale.

HOWEVER, I have a small theory. If you stretch the metaphor a bit, the lyrics appear to connote that Aziraphale is more duplicitous than he seems. 

Let me explain! After the ending of Season 2, we could be tempted to immediately assume that Crowley has the role of the singer in this song. After all, Aziraphale seems to have performed an immense betrayal. No matter his good intentions, he’s left Crowley on the Earth alone. 

I’m here to suggest that the singer COULD be someone else, in this verse specifically. Could the singer be the personification of Heaven's opinion of Aziraphale? He’s certainly infamous Upstairs. Even Muriel, a 37th Order Scrivener, knew who “the Traitor” was, and about his relationship with “the Demon.” I’m saying that there might be a certain amount of mythology around Aziraphale and Crowley up in Heaven, post-ApocaNope. After all those years of fooling the heavenly host, there has to be a great number of angels that gawp down at the ineffable duo’s relationship, marveling at the deception that they had managed.

That being said, I DO believe Crowley is the only feasible singer for these next lines:

Look into his angel eyes, One look and you're hypnotized! He'll take your heart and you must pay the price. Look into his angel eyes, You'll think you're in paradise! And one day you'll find out he wears a disguise. Don't look too deep into those angel eyes.

Need I say any more? This face says it all:

Anyways, back to the lyrics.

Sometimes when I'm lonely, I sit and think about him. And it hurts to remember all the good times, When I thought I could never live without him. And I wonder, does it have to be the same, Every time? When I see him, will it bring back all the pain? Ah-ha-ha, how can I forget that name?

I believe that we will see the ineffable duo mourning the demise of their relationship in Season 3, on both sides. I can’t wait to see what will happen when they finally see each other again. It’s definitely bound to be painful.

On a lighter note, let me reiterate that I still think it’s utterly hilarious that a disco Europop song was put on Aziraphale’s playlist. Somehow, even though I didn’t expect it to, it totally fits his vibe.

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[writeinspiration]

Hi there!!

I am BACK!!

I have had some very frustrating and odd mental barriers these last several years.

One of those is that my dad died in 2020. My family has always spent a lot of time with each other, so it’s been an incredibly difficult adjustment period.

It also didn’t help that I began grieving years before his passing. I’ve basically been in a tornado of suffering since 2016. There have been easier patches here and there, but the barriers are slow to come down. So, that’s a work in progress.

I’m really trying to start living my life again. Very few people have made the effort to reach out to me after I didn’t respond to them through my grief. I can’t blame them.

But that’s why I’d like to give a MASSIVE shout-out to @jfictitional for regularly tagging me in posts meant to cheer me up and let me know that I was being thought about.

I cannot understate how thoughtful that has been. It really means a lot to me. So, THANK YOU, jfictitional, for believing in me and thinking about me when no one has. I’m literally crying as I write this.

But that’s enough about my feelings for the moment.

Something else that slowed down my ability to post is that I had my fingers in too many pies. (Is that a phrase? I sure hope so.)

One exciting development is that I got a job working with a small publisher. It’s basically contract work, so it allows me time to do my own writing and to spend time with my loved ones. In addition, I’m resuming doing freelance editing because I finally have the willpower to do so.

Regardless of my outside work, I fell into a trap many other bloggers have: the second I decided to try making a book of my best content, I fell off the face of the planet (I’m looking at you, @textfromdog).

Thus, I need to get back to my roots. It needs to be fun again. While I don’t know what exactly this will entail for all of you, I am just looking forward to this being something for fun that doesn’t have any pressure attached to it.

Well, I started this blog roughly a million years ago. If you’re still around, THANK YOU!!!!! You are amazing, and I salute you.

So, welcome back to “Why Aren’t You Writing?” Thanks for reading, and I love you so much. You are so valuable and awesome and loved.

And if you need a sign to stay alive, here it is. Sending all my love to each and every one of you.

[turnaj-taborovych-pisni]

Díky že jste zavítali na tento blog!

Jak to funguje:

Pokud jste ještě nezaznamenali jiné turnaje na tumblru, tady je stručný popis.

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