#Sasha is an interesting character and she makes me sad

[thornquillthefiendish]

I have to apologize for the recent inactivity first because guilt but

I’m not sure if anyone has done this idea yet but

Fuck me I’ve been thinking extensively on a Sasha pmv set to killing me softly with his song because it h u r t s

As much as I don’t usually love the romance in the books the tragedy of Sasha loving someone she never truly knew but whom she had felt known her is so cruel. It’s so cruel and she’s so underrated. I love her so much. And to be clear, not tigersasha because she deserves better, but it just goes so well with her still struggling with her feelings over tigerstar even after what she learns about him, after coming to terms with the fact he was terrible and manipulating her she still seemed to carry love for him, or at least the version of him that he made for her, and knowing you’ve fallen in love with a lie? That is tragic, coming to terms with the fact that someone you had fallen so deeply for was never real, that it was all just an illusion and there’s no telling what the other actually felt, but for you? All of it felt real, all of it felt true? That’s a deep as shit conflict. It’s disappointing we don’t get more of Sasha after the beginning bits of tnp.

[mdhwrites]

Honestly I personally believe Sasha Waybright character arc was better written and engaging than Hunter and Amity’s arcs combined mostly because there was more agency in her arc and while the other two characters who go from enemies to allies to friends just didn’t engage me as much as Sasha’s.

I’m especially dissatisfied with Hunter and how his story while interesting wasn’t as cool as it could’ve been

So I've talked a lot about this in the past but the angle I'll take this time is simple: Sasha is more compelling as a villain to ally arc because the show let her be a villain.

That might sound simple but it's clearly something TOH itself struggled with. One could argue that ALL of the redemptions in TOH follow a pattern of one bad action followed by them being tenuously on the same side and then on the same side. Amity is out of character for her first episode and then Luz is actually at fault for Covention, even if Amity takes it too far. Then Amity is weirdly antagonistic during Hooty's Moving Hassle and then NEVER AGAIN. Three episodes into knowing her and she is now the person we are supposed to sympathize and want around and her biggest crime feels entirely out of character for the rest of her portrayal.

Hunter is similar. His first appearance is not Hunter. It's the Golden Guard who is WAY more fun a character than Hunter ever was and kind of a bastard. Then the mask is removed in his second real appearance (not counting the stinger in Escaping Expulsion) and he is someone to start sympathizing and working with. He is the sad but mad boy by his third major appearance and his second appearance makes him somewhat sympathetic, just like Covention did for Amity... Or For the Future does for The Collector despite lines like "I can't wait to play amongst the bones!" in Hollow Mind that feel, drumroll please, OUT OF CHARACTER TO THE REST OF HIS WRITING!

Lilith is the only to subvert this... Kind of. No, they actually go out of order but still the same essentially with her. Her first appearance makes her sympathetic and not properly a threat because she's still willing to play ball with Eda for a one on one competition, then she spends the second half of S1 just palling around in shenanigans she should not be allowing but is because... Fuck you. Then we get her one truly evil action in kidnapping Luz, coupled also with having been the one to curse Eda but that's also used to show she's a good person now so the kidnapping is the bigger deal here. Then... She's just a good guy afterwards.

This all makes for the most shallow, bullshit uses of this trope I think you can do while being allowed to claim you did it. After all, a key point to all of these redemptions aren't "Then they sided with the good guys," it's just "Then they're a good person." They don't bring who they were as a villain with them. The strengths that led to their villainy are just gone and they're hard to say what they were in the first place, what they add to the narrative in their redemption and joining of the main party because who were they before they joined. What are they actually fighting against as a person instead of just deciding not to be evil anymore or wanting the cookies that the light side offers?

It'd be like if after Sasha was redeemed, she was as bad as Anne at being able to lead and use people. If the show went "To better erase all the crimes she's done, not only will we say Sasha only is a bad person because her father is Ultra Satan but also she now is entirely incompetent in what she was good at before." Amity loses her intelligence. Her plans are always the most straightforward after she starts getting a crush on Luz and she canonically started having her grades slip. Hunter is the most pathetic character in the main cast with I think zero wins in his belt besides his first appearance despite being the only one with combat training. Lilith is just... Sad in how much they reduce all she was for over forty years of her life to go "Now she's a silly nerd girl. Fuck ambition."

And, of course, their bad sides being blamed on mother, uncle, mother kind of for Lilith actually, just that the exposition for that comes after her redemption, and the Archivists and Belos for the Collector. They aren't bad people, they just were forced to spend time with the wrong people. Now that they're nerds and led by nerd Jesus, everything is okay.

There is a VEEERY real problem in TOH of Us vs. Them mentality that comes from these arcs that's really gross. Swap Luz to a white, male jock and suddenly the show becomes WAY MORE UNCOMFORTABLE!

Sasha dodges all of this because no one tries to excuse Sasha. Sasha never tries to pretend she's anyone other than who she is except for when she's explicitly putting on an act. This means everything compelling and good about her as a villain can cleanly transition to when she is a hero, even if it's hard to believe that which the show even calls out.

There is no Sasha's Angels in TOH. That might be a weird one to reference to you because it doesn't include much Sasha but it nails on the head what makes this trope so exciting. To Anne, Sasha letting others do the work while she gets to theoretically kick back looks like the same old Sasha that she now is suspicious of. Someone who is self serving and so Anne lashes out. However, it's not the case. Sasha's ability to manipulate always came from being able to read a person's weaknesses and strengths. She's a MUCH better manipulator than Belos in this way because she doesn't leverage on you or for you to already be siding with her. She can read you like a book and tear apart your pages until she plays with your spine. And as a hero, that's going to mean she's a great delegator. She's the sort who would go "Nah, we don't need to save them from what you see as certain doom. I know he can deal with it." And she's right. Not because of blind faith but because of the same skills that made her villainous.

Something that wouldn't hit nearly as hard, or feel reasonable on Anne's part, if we didn't get so many examples of this being who Sasha is. Of the fact that Sasha uses other people for her own means. And even now, you can claim the same... Except it's not for her means. It's for their needs.

It actually is part of what makes her becoming a therapist so pitch perfect. A good therapist can call you out when you're trying to hide behind something to not get to the core of your problems. They can catch what is at the root of your issues even as you don't see it yourself. They also can see your value and use your strengths to help combat those problems after helping you identify them. It's actually pretty close to how she tried to get out of Toad Tower in her first appearance. Bring in someone, earn their trust, use their passions against their weaknesses and make them better. The only difference is that now she cares about making them better.

Amity, Hunter and Lilith could never have such a satisfying future because again: What are their strengths? Hell, post redemption, that statement stands true. You can call Amity good at magic I guess but Hunter and Lilith are pathetic people who kind of luck out in being useful at times and that's really it. These aren't people who have anything going for them. They're as good as goons with one of them being an elite in a one off episode as far as villain forces go and that's not very compelling for a redemption of this sort. Not unless you're really going to get into that and A: Lilith was one of the strongest mages on the Isles and studied her ass off so you'd think she'd mocked less for sucking at her job and being a fucking moron and B: they didn't even try for half a second with Hunter who I don't really know if they intended to make look as pathetic as he did skill wise.

So their futures are just random factoids introduced during the story. Does Amity being an inventor say anything about her redemption? No. In fact, it really sucks because Odalia would have LOVED her daughter to follow in her father's footsteps because that's the most profitable option for their company. Good job show. Hunter just takes up the job that connects him with the only thing we know is explicitly Caleb related, no conjecture needed, which sucks for a character who was supposed to be his own person. Then Lilith is... A historian. Because she likes that I guess. Does that have anything to do with her time as the coven head? No. Her ambitions? GOD NO. It's just a random choice that puts her in line with the inoffensively nerdy cast.

And before ANYONE says anything about the shortening, I want to say I've done a blog comparing the fact that Amity, in S2A (so before the shortening) has as many appearances as Sasha does in Sasha's entire redemption arc. You didn't need more time to do this better, the show needed to actually commit to its concepts. Actually needed to be willing to do its tropes rather than slapping it on for marketability and to make lazy analysts happy.

Because enemies to allies is not one of those tropes you can half ass. Not unless you want none of its power and boy, these are some weak character arcs. At least we've got Sasha.

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[doofus-and-dragons]

This will more than likely be the last one of these I have. So, for the last time, here is my live reaction to the final season of TMA. These will be in no particular order because ice been listening to it over the span of a couple of weeks. I only listen to it at work.

TMA S5 Spoilers ahead

The cabin episode made me so sad. The eyepocolypse had even taken away their domestic bliss

I really don't remember the trenches that well. It's not a fear of mine, so it didn't shake me or stick well enough. Still good tho

The sickness episode sent me right back to senior year of highschool. I had to take a minute KXNSKXN

REVOLUTIONS WAS AMAZING I LOVED THE POETRY AND THE ACENGING OF SASHA BY KILLING NOT!SASHA. I love it.

At first I thought the worms was about Jane again but I was very wrong. It was a very interesting take!

Curiosity made me incredibly sad. I feel bad for Eric, Micheal, and Sarah(? Trinity? I don't remember. She was set on fire by a desolation avatar I think)

Also: Gertrude x Agnes perhaps???? Or at least solemn pinning? Maybe I just think it's slightly tragic to make it so and sometimes angst is good yknow?

Roots was ok, but the only part that stuck out to me was the jealous Martin scene. I listened to it like 3 times. I kept rewinding it just to list to it.

Fire Escape was SO good! It gave me a kind of manic energy as I listened to the descriptions of the fire.

Martin in the Lonely again made me cry. That's it.

"Who's this? Your boyfriend?" "Yes actually." "Oh...so is there anyway this doesn't end in me dead?"

The Basira and Daisy stuff actually did make me feel bad for Basira. Like, it's the apocalypse and she's having a whole ass crisis.

SALESA WAS INCREADIBLE

I wonder how he faked his death... man is talented and smart, I'll give him that

Skipping ahead to Martin's domain. Loved that. My boy isn't strictly human and I love that he can't deny that fact anymore.

Martin: Something something "one of you"

Jon, being a smug theater kid bastard boy: "One of us."

Like I heard that and I imagined him smirking ominously and gesturing with both his hands

He sounded so pleased that his boyfriend, as miniscule a role it had or that martin had, was like him, and I love that for him

I'm so glad Melanie and Georgie are happy. Though, the cult does weird me out (cults give me the heebie jeebies. It was a very nice touch!)

They deserve nice things.

Also, my favorite of the Cult members was Anil's character. I can't remember his name right off the top of my head, but he was wonderful. Anil did amazing with that little cameo/role

The scene where's he's arguing with Martin reminds me of that Jojo meme with jotoro and dio, but instead of stands they have their poetry clutched tight in their fists

"I dont need a poet." No, Jon, because you already have one. His name is Martin

Of course Jon gets trapped in the ocean when he doesn't have big string martin to row him out of it XD

SOMEWHERE ELSE SOMEWHERE ELSE SOMEWHERE ELSE

Annabelle Cane is wonderful, I'm so glad Jon didn't kill her. She's so chummy with Martin up until she has to be a dramatic villain and I love that for her!

The ladder episode made me grin like a maniac manly because I would be the Martin in that situation. I love the feeling of falling/floating, but I hate actually getting myself to fall. I physically can't do it. I can barely dive into the lake from my papaw's boat

Martin, there are thousands of fanfics that dive into you two getting together without the trauma. Don't even.

NO JON THE PLAN

Hey, real elias! That's where him being a stoner comes from! Because he is one! Nice.

I love og Elias, and I would protect him with my life I don't care.

Oh wait it was just Magnus dreaming

JON NO THE PLAN FUCKING HELL

I almost cried when Martin was yelling at Jon. The boys are fighting

THE KISS HOLY SHIT ALEX SAKD THEY WOULDNT KISS THEY KISSED AH

They're somewhere else being happy and domestic now you can't change my mind

[neopuff]

ALWAYS ON MY MIND

chapter two: at the back of my mind ships: sasha/milla characters: sasha, milla, otto, truman words: 4452 ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53435410/chapters/135363142

[chap 1]

-

It'd been almost a month since Grand Head Zanotto forced Sasha to socialize with someone new for several hours. He'd not done it again since, but that was probably because they hadn't had any new hires since then.

His two hours with Agent Vodello had been surprisingly pleasant. She was charming and friendly, but not uncomfortably so, and Sasha liked that she listened to what he said. At least she seemed to be listening - he hadn't attempted to read her mind out of respect for her privacy, but occasionally caught the telepathic sound of music playing.

After their tour, she hadn't sought him out for anything. Which was just fine - Sasha was always working on research projects or helping Agent Mentallis with one of his new inventions. He didn't need anything else on his plate.

Still, Agent Vodello waved at him anytime they were both in the lobby. He felt himself awkwardly wave back each time, but she was always, always with someone else, so their interactions never really expanded beyond that. 

Which, again, was perfectly fine with him.

On one uneventful Monday morning, Sasha was making his way across the Quarry to Agent Mentallis’ lab when he saw her by herself for the first time in a long time.

She was exiting Agent Mentallis’ lab and had a neutral, almost sad expression on her face. Sasha thought it looked unnatural on her, when she was usually so…smiley.

Just as he thought that, she noticed him, and gave him the bright smile he was used to seeing. “Ah, hello, Agent Nein!”

They both stopped on the same floating pad, just two away from the parking lot in front of the lab. “Good morning, Agent Vodello. Nice to see you.”

“You, too!” She looked positively giddy, clapping her hands together in front of her. “It’s been far too long since we’ve talked - we should get coffee sometime and chat!”

Sasha adjusted his sunglasses, taking that in. He knew that her words were the universal expression of we’ll probably never spend time together again, but said in the nicest way possible. Which was a bit disappointing, but at least he wouldn’t get his hopes up. “Yes…of course. Some time when we’re both free.”

Agent Vodello smiled and waved at him as she levitated away - he watched her for a half-second before turning to focus entirely on the lab. Where his focus was supposed to be.

He stepped through the annoying security room and found himself standing across from Otto Mentallis’ familiar face - the older psychic was alone at his desk, tinkering with something small.

“Agent Mentallis.”

“Ah, Sasha!” Otto smiled and waved him over. “This is a real change of pace - my last visitor was a very lively young woman.”

Sasha chose not to take that as an insult. “I assume you’re referring to Agent Vodello.”

“Yes, that’s her!” The older man stood up and stretched, cracking his back. “Talkative, charming. Pretty, too, don’t you think?”

At that question, Sasha pulled out a cigarette and quickly lit it, enjoying the calm it brought his nerves. “...it would be pointless to pretend otherwise.”

Otto laughed loudly and sharply, surprising the younger agent who stared at him like he’d grown a second head. “I always appreciate how predictable you are, honestly. It makes me feel like I’ve got a good handle on this place. Now what’d you come down here for?”

“I…was interested in how your latest project is going,” Sasha answered, ignoring the other comments. He could genuinely never tell if Agent Mentallis was purposefully trying to get under his skin, or if the man simply didn’t pay attention to some of the things that came out of his mouth. “Have you made much progress?”

“Ahhh…my Distilled Emotions series. No, not particularly.” Otto put a hand to his chin and glanced to the side, where he had scribbles and scratch marks all over the pages of an open notebook. “I’m still interested in the idea, but…it’s slow-going. Nothing has seemed to work so far. But I’m not giving up just yet!”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Sasha stuffed his hands into his pockets, lit cigarette floating near his head. “If there’s any way I could assist…”

“Not with this one, I don’t think. Not yet, at least! I’ll let you know when I make a breakthrough worth talking about.” The older man paused for a moment, glaring at his wall of gadgets both finished and unfinished, then he grabbed one item to show it off. “Did I show you my new Otto-shot Camera?”

“You did not.” Sasha eyed the camera suspiciously - he didn’t have much need for taking photographs, but he was curious to know how it differed from a normal camera. “What does it do?”

“What doesn’t it do would be a better question!” Otto held it up proudly. “You can use it to…well - take photos! But it also has fun filters and can detect hard-to-find figments inside someone’s mind…it’s very helpful.”

Sasha didn’t think any of that sounded particularly useful to him, though he supposed there was no downside to help in collecting figments. “This seems like it would be better suited for someone like Agent Vodello,” he commented dryly, not really thinking about any unintended meaning to his words.

Otto, however, seemed to find that comment very interesting, considering the suspicious smirk that came over his face as soon as Sasha mentioned the lively, pretty young woman again.

Sasha frowned at the older man’s expression.

“You know what, Sasha, you’re absolutely right. She seems very photogenic - perhaps you could bring this to her and she can test it for me!” Otto said, wolfish smile never leaving his face.

Confused, Sasha reached out and took the camera out of his hands. He wasn’t an idiot - he could see Agent Mentallis was trying to imply something untoward and he didn’t understand how acknowledging her existence would justify that. “What are you doing?” he asked uncomfortably.

“Me? I’m just trying to be efficient with my time!” Otto answered innocently, holding his hands up in the air. “I’m an old man, Sasha. You can't expect me to go back and forth to the Motherlobe all willy-nilly.”

Sasha held the camera tighter in his hands. Though Agent Mentallis’ explanation made sense, they'd spent enough time together that Sasha knew he was lying. He didn't understand why Agent Mentallis felt it necessary to make those types of jokes, but it certainly wasn't the first time nor would it be the last.

“...alright. I'll bring it to her,” Sasha said hesitantly. “But I don’t see her often, so don’t expect results anytime soon.”

“Sure, sure. Whenever. I'm in no rush!”

Sasha made his way out of the workshop, feeling a bit like he'd wasted his time. He liked Agent Mentallis and really enjoyed working with the man on machines and gadgets, but Agent Mentallis also had the unfortunate habit of implying that Sasha needed to socialize with people his own age. On more than one occasion, he'd even told Sasha to go get a life!

But Sasha did have a life. He felt extremely comfortable as he was currently living, even if he didn't have many friends. He'd spent the last seven years building himself a career and a reputation amongst the Psychonauts that he wouldn't trade for anything. And those years of focus and discipline had given him the strength and understanding to work through difficulties from his youth. There was no amount of socializing with a beautiful woman that would have any such impact. 

Or a not-beautiful woman. 

Or anyone, really.

He took a step closer to the Motherlobe and took another drag of his cigarette. It felt like he was breaking some sort of unspoken rule by acknowledging Agent Vodello’s charm. He could only blame Otto for implanting the thought in his mind. But it wasn’t inappropriate to recognize that she was pretty. She clearly took pride in her appearance - she wore makeup, styled her hair, looked at herself in mirrors anytime she noticed one. But Sasha felt still like he was doing something wrong.

As he entered the Motherlobe, Sasha’s eyes were immediately drawn to the woman of the hour - she had started to wear more colorful clothes after getting settled in the new job, and her style tended to include bright colors, which made her especially noticeable.

More than that, though, she was levitating alongside Grand Head Zanotto, and they were headed towards the Nerve Center.

Obviously they were going to talk about something important. Sasha had no reason to interrupt, especially when all he had to give her was Agent Mentallis’ strange new camera. So he made his way back to his office. Sasha had recently completed a short recon mission and still needed to write up his report - there was plenty of work to do that didn't involve anyone else.

He got about fifteen minutes into his report - which meant it was almost done, since the mission had been fairly simple - when he felt a telepathic prodding in the back of his mind.

“Sasha, can you come up to my office? I need your assistance.”

He pouted and adjusted his sunglasses, curious what Grand Head Zanotto needed from him. Especially after he just met with Agent Vodello - Sasha anxiously wondered if she'd complained about him for some reason. Maybe she felt he'd been staring at her and was uncomfortable. Or perhaps Agent Mentallis said something out-of-turn.

“Be right there,” Sasha responded, telepathically reaching back.

Paperwork forgotten, Sasha tried not to feed his paranoia as he made his way to the Grand Head’s office. It was unlikely that Agent Vodello had filed a complaint about him. And it was even more unlikely that Agent Mentallis being inappropriate would lead to Sasha being called in for a talk.

He didn't really have a guess as to the purpose of this meeting, so he supposed he had no choice but to wait and find out.

Upon reaching the Grand Head’s office, Sasha turned to levitate over the water fixture when he heard two familiar voices talking. He was immediately confused and very curious why he’d been brought in when the previous meeting hadn’t ended yet.

“Ah, there he is!”

Sasha landed a few feet in front of the Grand Head’s desk when the older man smiled at him, and Camilla turned around with a matching smile on her face.

“Two times in one day! What a treat!” she said with a little wink.

Sasha took another drag from his cigarette and nodded at her, then looked up at the Grand Head. “You needed me for something…?”

“Not me, exactly. Agent Vodello here has been struggling with some of her psychic powers and I thought you could give her some one-on-one training since you’re not on any assignments right now,” Grand Head Zanotto answered quickly, repeatedly glancing down at the clock on his desk.

“Oh.”

Camilla looked embarrassed and ran her fingers through her hair. “I haven’t had much opportunity to practice certain things and he mentioned you right away,” she said with a chuckle. “I hope it’s not a bother.”

“No, not at all,” Sasha answered, adjusting his sunglasses slightly. “I always have time to help a fellow Psychonaut.”

She smiled again - a particularly bright and charming smile that made Sasha grab his cigarette once more - and then stood up. Sasha had forgotten how tall she was. Though he was still taller than her, it was only by an inch or two. He was used to towering over the average person; it was a nice change of pace.

“That’s great to hear, Sasha!” Grand Head Zanotto was looking through some papers on his desk while he spoke. “The new classroom is finished if you two want to check it out while you train! Or go wherever. Doesn’t matter. Just let me or Agent Forsythe know if you need anything!”

They exited his office and started walking through the Nerve Center, ignoring the dozen Psychonauts levitating all over the room and chatting about anything under the sun.

Sasha noticed Agent Forsythe staring curiously at the two of them walking together and he couldn’t stop himself from smoking again.

“You smoke quite a bit,” Camilla commented.

“It’s been more than usual lately,” he responded as they exited the Nerve Center and made their way into the lobby. “Good for calming my nerves.”

There was a bit of hesitation before Agent Vodello spoke again. “I hope I’m not causing you more stress, I’m sure Truman could ask someone else if you’re busy!”

Sasha turned towards her, one eyebrow raised. “It has nothing to do with you,” he lied, having realized in the past hour that his urge to smoke increased every time Camilla’s looks or charm were mentioned around him. Or anytime she said something especially friendly. There was just something about her - Agent Mentallis wasn’t wrong when he called her pretty, but she was more than just pretty. She was show-stoppingly gorgeous. And she made Sasha feel nervous in ways he wasn’t quite used to. He’d been around plenty of beautiful people, but Camilla had a glow around her like no other. She lit up every room she was in like she harnessed the light of the sun itself. “I can’t pinpoint exactly what it’s related to, but I’m sure it’ll pass.”

“I hope so,” Camilla responded, glancing around the newly updated wing of the Motherlobe. “I haven’t been over here yet,” she said unprompted, spinning around as she levitated.

“I haven’t either.” Sasha watched her for a moment, then turned to take in the new hallway layout. “I suppose Agent Forsythe’s new office will go back here, then.”

She’d poked her head into the new classroom as he spoke - the room was finished being built a week or two ago and was still being filled with the appropriate furniture. So it looked a little empty. Not that it mattered, since the training would all be in Sasha’s head.

“We’ll be training here?” she asked curiously.

Sasha levitated past her and into the room, stopping in front of a set of chairs that had been left in the center of the floor. He pulled a small, colorful door out of his jacket pocket and let it hover above his hand. “I think we’ll cause less damage if we go into my mind.”

“Oh!” Camilla quickly joined him by the chairs. “I didn’t even consider that.”

“Have you…been inside someone else’s mind before?” he asked a little hesitantly, not sure where she was at in her training.

“Truman let me visit his mind not long after he visited mine.” She answered carefully, not making eye contact while she spoke. “It wasn’t for very long, though. I was still…working on some things.”

Sasha nodded, not knowing the specifics but understanding the gist. “I suppose you don’t have your own door, then.”

“I was actually just talking to Agent Mentallis about that!” Camilla answered. “He promised to make mine nice and sparkly.” She chuckled, then reached out to touch the edge of Sasha’s door. “Yours is beautiful. I wouldn’t have expected so many colors!”

He grabbed his cigarette and took one last drag, happy to get his money’s worth by smoking the stick as far as it could go. “Yes. Well. My mind is certainly not as colorful.”

She giggled at that response and took a seat in one of the chairs, brushing invisible dust off her dress and sitting up as straight as possible. “I’m ready when you are, Agent Nein.”

Sasha followed suit and took the seat across from her. He placed the small door on his forehead, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and waited for the welcome intruder to find her way inside. He remembered his first time entering someone’s mind through a door - that person was Otto Mentallis, and that man’s mind was a disorganized mess. It’d given Sasha hives just walking through it, and encouraged him to keep his own mind as clean and organized as possible.

For himself, sure. But also for future guests.

A minute later and he was greeted by the sight of Camilla Vodello levitating around one side of his specifically crafted block of a mindscape.

“Now this is more what I expected,” she said thoughtfully.

He wondered if she meant that literally - that she’d been thinking about him and wondering what his mind looked like - but quickly shook that off. He was usually a master of controlling his thoughts and focusing…Agent Vodello just so happened to throw him off-balance. He needed to get a handle on that.

He adjusted his sunglasses, wondering when his censors would start to arrive. “Which powers would you like to work on?”

“I’m not the best at PSI-Blasting,” she admitted sheepishly. “Or connecting thoughts.”

“My mind is an excellent space for working on your Marksmanship skills,” Sasha responded. “I can set up some thoughts for you to connect, though we’ll have to put them back when we’re done.”

“Of course!” Camilla smiled at him, hands clasped behind her back. “I wouldn’t want to change your opinions like that.” She started to levitate, as she often did, and then went exploring around to another side of Sasha’s mind cube. She didn’t react much to anything - considering how clean Sasha kept it, he wasn’t surprised. 

But then she let out a low “oh, hello!” and Sasha mentally focused on her to see what she was doing.

She was watching one of his memory vaults jumping around, making little noises at it as if she was speaking to a dog. It was strange, to say the least. Sasha levitated the vision of himself in his mind towards her to observe it closer.

He recognized which vault it was immediately. “You can open it if you’d like,” he said as he continued to watch her try to pet it. “Especially if you haven’t looked into a memory vault before. It’s a very unique experience.”

“Truman asked me not to look at his,” Camilla answered, reaching down to lightly scratch the memory vault. “Are you sure? If it’s too much, I can-”

“It’s fine.” He meant it, too.

She held eye contact for another moment, just in case he showed any sign of hesitation at all, then reached down and gently pet the memory vault on its head. It made a happy noise and then laid down and opened up for her, which Sasha thought was interesting. Usually he’d smack them or use telekinesis to hold them steady - he’d never watched someone coax one so gently before.

Agent Vodello spent a minute staring at the inside of the vault, and Sasha felt a voyeuristic discomfort from watching her do so. He didn’t have much of a choice, though, whether he stared at her directly or just felt her presence in his mind.

Eventually she stood up, a solemn look on her face. It wasn’t like he was the only person in the world who lost their mother at a young age, but he supposed he could’ve warned her.

She levitated over to him without saying a word, and before Sasha could open his mouth - her arms were suddenly wrapped around his neck and she was pressed up against him.

He didn’t know what to do. So he just stood there, completely stiff and still, until she backed away.

“I’m so sorry, Sasha,” she said softly, her hands held together in front of her chest. “She seemed like a wonderful person.”

Still a bit shaken by the hug, Sasha was frozen for a moment before finally shaking his head and reaching up to adjust his sunglasses. He needed a cigarette again. “I…yes, she was. Thank you for saying so.”

Camilla smiled at him and reached forward, placing one of her hands against his arm. “If you ever want to talk, I’d be happy to listen.”

The amount of affection he was receiving was a little overwhelming for Sasha, and he stared down at her hand for a few seconds before awkwardly clearing his throat and lightly shaking his head. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m fine. It was quite a long time ago.” He felt like he could breathe easier as she pulled her hand away. “Let’s focus on why we’re here - my censors should be showing up any moment now.”

x

They spent over an hour training in Sasha’s mind - blasting censors with blastokinesis, tossing censors at one another using telekinesis, slowing down time and watching the confusion cross the censors’ faces…it was fun, if he was being honest with himself. Sasha hadn’t had an opportunity to just blow off some steam inside his mind in several months.

One moment that he filed away for later was when he asked Camilla about pyrokinesis. She shook her head and claimed that fire just wasn’t her thing, so they moved on without it. But he was unfortunately quite curious about that. Was she in an accident that involved fire?

Or perhaps she just wasn’t confident at controlling it.

Either way, the subject seemed sensitive and he didn’t know her well enough to ask.

She blasted another small censor and took a deep breath before stretching out her arms and falling back, landing with a thud and closing her eyes.

Sasha levitated over and stood next to her, staring down at the serene look on her face. “Are you alright?”

“Just tired, darling, very tired,” she mumbled in response.

He felt his cheeks heat up slightly, not sure why she’d just called him that. Was she thinking about someone else? Was she so tired that she’d lost her verbal self control? “I…um,” he started, wanting to say something about it. But she looked very peaceful and unconcerned with her own words, it almost felt rude to say something. “...we can leave, if you’d like.”

She sighed again, opening her eyes to stare back at him. Then she smiled. “That sounds nice. I’m supposed to meet with Kim for lunch soon.”

Sasha hoped he didn’t look as embarrassed as he felt. The combination of that nickname and the smile she just gave him made him feel like there were angry butterflies trying to break out of his stomach. “If that can wait a little longer, I actually have something for you in my office.”

Camilla levitated back to a standing position and tilted her head - staring at him like he’d said something crazy. “...you do?”

He glanced away from her, feeling suddenly self-conscious. “Yes, um. Well, it’s from Agent Mentallis. A device he thought you might like to test for him.”

Her eyes widened and brightened at that, and Camilla grabbed her smelling salts and quickly made her way out of Sasha’s mind. When he opened his eyes again in the classroom, she was already standing and ready to go.

“This is the first time Agent Mentallis has thought of me for something like this!” she said excitedly, clapping her hands together in front of her. “What is it?”

Sasha stood up with her and started making his way out of the room. “You shouldn’t get too excited. It’s a camera. A…psychic camera.”

Camilla followed him, floating the whole way. “A psychic camera?”

“He, um…thought you could test it out for him. Take photos of…” Sasha paused, not sure if it would be weird to suggest she take photographs of herself. But that was the implication, wasn’t it? “...anything. It can apparently help you find figments in people’s minds.”

She smiled, though there was a look on her face that seemed more confused than excited. “I did enjoy collecting figments in Truman’s mind. Still, it seems a bit random.”

“Agent Mentallis mentioned something about you being, um…” Sasha reached into his pocket and grabbed a new cigarette, needing it desperately. “Photogenic.”

Camilla laughed and levitated ahead of him. She’d only been to his office once before, but it wasn’t difficult to remember the way there. “It’s not the first time an older man has said something like that about me, I suppose.”

Sasha suddenly felt mortified on her behalf. He stood still, the aquarium lighting up the left side of his face while his newly-lit cigarette lit up the right. “I’ll talk to him. He shouldn’t make comments like that. It’s not appropriate.”

She turned around and had an amused smile on her face. “I like photogenic, actually.” She paused in front of Sasha’s office door, waiting for him to catch up. “It’s kind of nice.”

Sasha decided that he would still say something to Agent Mentallis, whether she wanted him to or not. If he didn’t, the older man was guaranteed to continue making little comments or suggestions or implications and Sasha Nein was not a man who enjoyed being teased or watching his coworker be teased. Especially when there was nothing to be teased about! So he stepped past Camilla, let his office door open, and quickly used telekinesis to grab the camera and bring it over.

“Ohh, it’s cute!” she said with a smile. “Perhaps Kim will let me take photos of her, too.”

He grabbed one side of his sunglasses with his thumb and middle finger, adjusting them slightly. Again. “Don’t feel any obligation to do this right away. Agent Mentallis tends to jump from one project to another very quickly.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Agent Vodello levitated the camera into her surprisingly spacious purse and then glanced at her watch. “I should go meet with Kim now. But I’d love to train more tomorrow if you’re free?”

Sasha raised a single eyebrow. “Um…yes, I’m free. Should we meet in the classroom again at 11?”

“Yes, that’s perfect!” She hopped up, back to levitating as she liked to do. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow, darling!”

She quickly exited his office and left Sasha with the same question he’d had earlier about her use of the term darling. After that second instance, he couldn’t use the excuse that she was tired or delusional. But…it was strange, wasn’t it? The last person in his life who’d called him anything close to darling was his mother, though it admittedly felt quite different coming from Agent Vodello. He wondered if there was a possibility she just talked like that and he hadn’t paid enough attention to notice before. There were a few Psychonauts at the Motherlobe who frequently used slang that Sasha didn’t understand, so…that would certainly make more sense than anything else.

He took a deep breath and decided to move on. There was no use lingering on such a simple little thing.

[cxcassii]

˖⁺‧₊˚♡˚₊‧⁺˖

reincarnation au snippets

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…

“Earth to Eren,” Sasha says, waving her hand in front of my face. I blink several times, turning my head to look at her. “Where were you?”

“In another time.”

“Yeah that happens to me a lot.” She gives me a sad smile. Suddenly, an intense wave of nausea runs through me as a very loud and intrusive thought stabs my mind like a knife slicing into it—how far back does Sasha remember?

“I’m going to pretend,” Mikasa says carefully, “I understand what’s going on.”

I can’t help but laugh at her tone. She sounds almost jealous. “Don’t worry. It’s not too interesting.”

“He’s lying!” Sasha shouts. “It’s soo interesting!”

She leans her elbow on the arm of the couch, thin brows furrowing. It makes her have a similar expression to the one she wore two thousand years ago. Then she scowls, and the look is complete. I give her a half-assed salute.

Sasha does the same, offering her heart to a cause that hasn't existed in twenty centuries. “Dedicate your heart!”

“What are you even talking about?” She looks completely puzzled and asks, “Are you guys going on about something that has to do with that story Eren made up?” I nod around a small smile, slightly jutting my eyebrows.

“Yeah! I made sure to tell her last night all about the highest ranked cadet I personally named her after.” Sasha says around a massive grin.

Mikasa’s expression shifts into something irresistibly adorable, her brows drawn together and she nibbles smally at her bottom lip. “I’ve always been confused why, though. I’m not strong or brave like that Mikasa character. If I saw a ‘titan’, I’d probably piss myself and run away.” Her cheeks flush slightly, and she clears her throat before looking away from us. “Seriously, this story of your’s is the stuff of nightmares.”

I snicker a little. “Yeah, that was kind of the point.”

She meets my eyes once more, emotions unspecified swirling in the chasms of her gray hues. I think about her answer, really sit there and think about it. It’s an earnest explanation and it makes something deep in my soul shift in a manner of marvel. A sincere, untainted reaction to the depiction of the horrors from our last life. Luckily, for now anyways, little does she know. There are parts of me that somewhat hope she stays this way. Even if she never remembers who I am, I can live with that. It’s worth it to see zero traces of the previous life not clouding her expressions, not in the slightest.

“No way!” Sasha exclaims dramatically, gesturing her arms wide. “You’re the embodiment of who Mikasa is! Titans might not exist, but you are brave and strong. Just not in the ways you’re thinking.” Sasha doesn’t elaborate further than that. For me specifically, she doesn’t have to. I wholeheartedly concur, despite not knowing Mikasa that well in this life yet. What she and Sasha seem to share illuminated those faucets she retained from the last life, in one manner or another. I feel certain of that.

…

ᡣ𐭩 story link ᡣ𐭩

[performativezippers]

I've been writing fic for a bit more than ten years now; most of which (eight? nine?) as a pantser. At most I'd make a timeline, for a complicated timey-wimey, wibbly-wobbly fic, but other than that, I just daydreamed the story and then wrote it down 😅

Then in the last couple of years, I tried to learn more about the craft of writing. I never had any training in school or uni, never any class or anything; I did work with a writing coach for a while two years back, and read a lot of advice. I've started to plan stories out more, to be more intentional about what I write -

But I have now run into a problem that I heard pantsers describe, which is that when they plan out the story till the end, they feel like it's done, and the impetus to write it just drops away.

I think I'm still right in the middle of finding my writing approach, which - on the one hand, exciting! I'm learning more about myself, that's always good! But on the other hand, I'm sad about the projects I was working on that I have somehow run out of steam on. I do have other projects that I still am excited to write, but I'm a bit worried I might lose interest in them too as I try to find the right balance between planning and pantsing.

IIRC you are a pantser, right? Any advice on how to not get ahead of myself when I approach a new story? How to keep pace between the dreaming-up of the story, and the writing-it-down?

OMG this is the question!! I am absolutely a proud member of pantser nation, yes, and I'll tell you what works for me, but I do honestly think this is something that (sadly) each person has to figure out for themselves via trial and error.

Terminology for those who don't know:

Pantser: someone who writes by the "seat of their pants," aka no outline, no real clue what happens next. The joy is in the journey!

Plotter: someone who plots everything out before hand, like by outlining or using scene cards or something. The joy is in knowing the journey before you start!

Most people are somewhere in the middle, or vary project by project. There are lots of names for it, like plantser or "headlight method" or whatever, but basically you can think of it as the Kinsey scale, with 1 being solely pantser, 2 as leaning pantser, 3 as equally both, 4 as leaning plotter, and 5 as solely plotter.

I'm a 1.5 I'd say, the 0.5 being from having to learn story beats in order to sell original fiction to traditional publishers, which means things like "the breakup should happen around 80% of the way through" and "inciting incident at 0 or 10%." If that doesn't make sense to anyone reading, don't worry, it doesn't need to! (But if you have questions about story beats, feel free to ask!)

As a true pantser, I typically know the following things before I start. I'll give an example from a long fic I've written and for a book that none of you have read because it hasn't gotten bought yet (SADFACE).

I know the characters and some basic facts about them and their relationship pre-story:

Back to the basket: Alex is a closeted college basketball coach who washed out of the WNBA (life based on Adia Barnes). Maggie is an assistant coach who used to fuck Alex in secret during college and is hella gay.

Original romcom: Libby is great at making friends. Sasha is a serial monogamist. They are both "straight."

Setting and meeting:

Back to the basket: Maggie joins Alex's coaching staff. The fic will last the entire college season (~6 months)

Original romcom: Libby and Sasha meet on a dating reality show. The book will encompass the first 6 weeks of the show.

Primary conflict:

Back to the basket: Alex wants to focus on work because she's A Big Failure. Maggie wants to date. They have undeniable chemistry and horniness.

Original romcom: Classic "straight" friends to gay lovers problems, made worse by the reality show setting.

Ending:

Back to the basket: We get really far in the tournament and Alex and Maggie get their happily ever after

Original romcom: Libby declares her love at the Ceremony, Sasha declares it back after some mental buffering, and they get their happily ever after.

Once I know those things, I'm pretty much good to go. For some books I know the midpoint (I knew the midpoint of my forthcoming novel before I started writing it) but for most projects, including fics, I don't know it until I've written my way there. In these examples, there was a clear time boundary (6 months, 6 weeks), which I find very helpful. When co-writing with the incredible @roadien60, we've put time boundaries on our fics together to help us keep the story tight, compelling, and contained (I mean LOL, Missives is literally almost 80k, but just imagine how bad it would have been if we hadn't been counting down to the eclipse!)

While pantsing, I really try to let the scenes shape themselves, to let the characters simmer when they need to and move forward when they don't. I don't let the characters do whatever they want, because those wants might not make for a compelling narrative or be what I want to write, but I try to let things flow naturally from one event/emotional beat to the next.

This method requires revision, sure, but revising is easier than forcing yourself to draft something that simply won't come, and that's what matters.

I try to be very very careful about NOT thinking ahead. I don't even let myself daydream the things I'm planning to write. I'll think about the next chapter between writing sessions, but never further than that, because if I've so much as thought about it, some of the joy is spoiled. I'll think of great dialogue in my head, and then forget it, and no matter what I write down on the page later, I'll always think it's worse than the first thing I dreamed up in the shower, and that's a kind of regret I don't have space for in my brain.

And the consequences are real! The only fic I took 5+ years to finish, Splice World, is the only one I plotted out all the way. I had to wait until I had forgotten what I plotted to be able to finish it, and even then it was a bit lackluster.

So I guess after all of this word vomit, my questions back to you are:

What was going wrong when you pantsed? What specific problem are you trying to solve for? Sometimes people try to start plotting because they think being a pantser is less "good" or sophisticated or something, to which I say, fuck them!

When plotting, at what level of advance detail do you get bored? If you know the ending, the next chapter, five chapters in the future, etc? Maybe you can find a happy middle there, where you can think a few chapters ahead but not the whole thingy.

How much do you daydream/think about the story without writing it? If it's a lot, trying doing it very little or none and all, and see if that helps!

LET ME KNOW!!

[sweetmariihs2]

I think not enough people talk about Cedric's heartbreak during the "Enchanted Feast" episode (Sofia The First E2 S2)

That's a small character analysis btw, only in this episode

He was so in love by Sasha (yeah, I mean, it wasn't really love since he just saw her once, but he had a big crush and it's the first time we ever see him canonically having one), he thought that everything she did was amazing and her spells worked so well, I mean, he could only fall in love for a sorceress as powerful as he is, probably he was impressed because she could do her spells in front of the royal family without making any mistakes (something that he couldn't do)

And I think mentally he must have saw her as beautiful, polite, talented and had the same interests and magic knowledge as him, so he was really impressed and was even obviously giving her a first chance when he introduced himself, he was obviously flirting with her 😭

When Sofia comes to him and tries to warn him about having a weird feeling about Sasha, it didn't even cross Cedric's mind that she could be a cruel person, because I mean, she was perfect in every way

And everything gets worse when you realize that while he was saying this, she was throwing magic powder on his wand to ruin the show he would put on during the feast. I mean, he was even praising her the moment she arrived, it was impossible that she hadn't heard, but she didn't feel any remorse when she ignored him and did him harm anyway.

If Sasha's plan was to trap everyone inside the dining room, she could have easily just ruined Cedric's wand and then he couldn't do magic against her anymore. But no, after his show was ruined she still cleaned up the mess right away while Cedric was all embarrassed, showing him and everyone else that she knew how to fix the mess he made, and even offered to do the show, knowing that he was doing it first, on purpose. AND THAT WAS FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON, that didn't change a thing in her plan, because the plan was to leave Cedric without magic, not to humiliate him. She didn't need to humiliate him to achieve this, so like????

She knew that he was liking her, because his flirts were obvious, "I'm Cedric the sorcerer, at your service" and bowing himself in front of her, OF COURSE SHE KNEW he was all giggly she's not dumb

SHE HUMILIATED HIM BECAUSE SHE WANTED TO AND SHE KNEW THAT HE LIKED HER 💥💥🔊‼️🔊💥🔊💥💥🔊🔊🔊🔊💥💥💥‼️🔊‼️🔊‼️‼️

In the scene where Sasha offers to do the show, look at Cedric's expression of someone who felt completely betrayed, "how could you do something like that to me"

I don't know if that's just me but I think that she was trying to show the king that she was better than Cedric and that it was worth replacing him with her, because then it would be easier for her to constantly stay close to the amulet.

And so the expression of Cedric's feelings of betrayal was to be angry and treat her as a possible enemy/threat like "if you want it that way, so be it", but of course very hurt that the royal family replaced him so easily, and that the girl he thought was perfect actually did this to him, even though he didn't do anything to her to deserve that treatment

(I can't help but sing Olivia Rodrigo's song "you betraaaaayed me and I know that you'll never feel soooorry for the way I hurt" 😭😭😭)

When Sofia goes to his workshop to tell him the truth he's just so defeated and so sad, it breaks my heart. That scene just show us that he wasn't just angry like he tried to show everyone, he felt betrayed and humiliated, because of everything that happened and because of his feelings for her too. It's like Sasha was so perfect that she was even better than him for everyone else, including himself. He could never get to her level or even dream about having something with her because she was way out of his league. He was just showing everyone a mask, showing that he didn't like what happened and that he was angry, but the truth is that he wasn't just mad, deep inside he felt really betrayed.

When Sofia tells him who Sasha really was, he becomes a lot angrier because he was having a crush on a lie, and worse, she was a very bad person and was still trying to achieve the goal he had been trying to achieve for decades, which was to get Sofia's amulet. Maybe he even understood that she was trying to take his place as a royal sorcerer too, indirectly.

Notice how he tells Sofia that he "doesn't need any help", because at that point it was already a personal anger he had with Miss Nettle, she deceived him, played with his feelings (don't tell me she didn't, she obviously knew about it) and made him go through all that. He doesn't want Sofia to get involved in this, because it's a problem HE has to resolve with Miss Nettle, and he is very angry.

When he goes to confront Miss Nettle he didn't said "you are trying to take over the kingdom?!", he said "so you aren't a sorcerer after all", like, it was the start of an obvious argument. He was going to confront her for lying about her identity to everyone, not because she was betraying the kingdom. Which leads me to believe that even if he managed to confront her about it, he wouldn't go so far as to say out loud that he liked her and felt betrayed by her, he would probably say it in general, involving the rest of the people, because talking about your own feelings is difficult, even more so in a situation like this, where you cannot demonstrate fragility. Basically what he meant by all of this was "you deceived me with your looks and played with my feelings, I can't believe you did this to me, you should be ashamed of yourself"

And then she proceeds to be mean again and responds with "I guess that makes two of us" and laughs like GIRL PLEASE CALM DOWN YOU ALREADY DESTROYED THIS MAN'S HEART, THAT'S NOT ENOUGH YOU REALLY WANT HIM MISERABLE

And when she tells him about the cristals she sprinkled on his wand to affect his magic he feels betrayed again, because now he understood that everything that happened was her fault, even his show going wrong. AND THEN SHE OFFERED HERSELF TO BE IN HIS PLACE INSTEAD, THAT WAS SO MEAN, he finally got what really happened

When she leaves him tied up and unable to do anything, he also seems very sad. When Sofia arrives, you can hear the sadness in his tone of voice, even though he appears angry. They look for a way to get to Cecric's tower to get a new wand, but all the passages have been blocked by Miss Nettle, and he doesn't just seem angry, but again, hurt, because now he can't do anything to stop her either (or unmask her, or make her pay for what she did).

and while they are in the hall not knowing what to do to stop her, Cedric is sitting on the stairs with his hands over his face, this for me is the peak of his sadness, because now that Miss Nettle is away and they don't need to react all the time, he can stop and think about his (constant) feelings. He looks absolutely defeated :( he's not even talking to Sofia, he's just very, very sad and hopeless. He can't do anything about what she did or what she's doing, just understand that he was played with and that's all.

When he gets a new wand he gets "happy" again because now he can have his revenge, and make her pay for what she did to him (and everyone, but mostly him). He's so determined that he doesn't think about making a plan, he just wants to get to her alone and resolve everything on his own, because of the torment Miss Nettle put him through.

And yeah in the end everything went well but I just wanted to analyze Cedric's feelings more deeply because in this episode everything is very implicit, and people don't pay much attention to the drama that happened. They talk at most about him being in love at the beginning of the episode, but HELLO HE WAS ALSO DELUDED AND HURT, ABOUT TO CONFRONT HER FOR PLAYING WITH HIM, IT'S THE BEST PART OF THE DRAMA

If you could react to those specific scenes paying attention to what I said, you can see that it makes a lot of sense, but I truly beleieve that was what really happened, I don't see this episode in any other way

I tried to add my own gifs to the post but it was hard to find the content + when I put into the gif app the quality was so low that I just gave up

[wren-writes-things]

Let's see... 1, 9, 12, 13 for the fandom ask games? :)

Oh hey Pixel! Thanks for asking.

OTP? 

Probably Sasharcy (of course in the context of Sashannarcy). I absolutely adore all variants of the Calamity Trio but I just tend to drift towards them. My guess is that the personality contrast, and possibly just how much they both need to grow and forgive each other. I don't know it just intrigues me.

I also really like platonic Zelink from the BotW/TotK iteration.

9. Write a recommendation of someone else's fic you enjoyed!

Hmm... Pixel go read your own fanfic! Joking, probably

And I Know I Kissed You Before (But I Didn't Do It Right) - BearerOfTheBitterMoon (liminal-lesbian on here) - Okay I could put all of Mara's fanfics on here. Her writing style and story concepts are just amazing. But we'd be here all day, so we're not going to do that. This one specifically though, was just such an emotional rollercoaster (without leaving with permanent emotional trauma, ex: The Three Body Problem). It's very sweet, it's very sad and it all just feels so real. If that makes any sense

A Witch In Wartwood - Disect - I haven't finished the sequel fanfic yet, but I love this story. It had a very creative take on a Swap AU, and it did a really good job at capturing the essence of the original show while also completely being it's own thing.

Pinpoint - i'm-at-my-limit - Okay, I need to get caught up on this one, because I love the concept and I find it's characterization really interesting but I'm also behind by like two chapters because I wasn't reading as much for a while.

Across The Seven Seas - Heart_Wit_Strength - Did I successfully trick you into thinking I wasn't going to say this? Did it work? Seriously though this is one of those fanfics that I read, immediately reread and proceeded to think about for the next three days. I actually have fan art of it that I need to complete some day. I don't know what you did, but you succeeded at it.

Then there's this one fanfic about Sasha that I really like, but I cannot find it or remember what it is called.

(I have quite a few others that I really liked, these are just the four that were in my brain apparently)

12. What's the funniest or craziest AU idea you've ever come up with?

So the same week that I created Daren, I also created what I call that Devil in the Details AU. Which is one of those AUs where it could be angsty, but I decided it was way funnier to write absurd shenanigans.

Basically Marcy, a lonely and aimless college student, opens a music box (gifted to her by her academic mentor, Andrias) and ends up with Darcy as the devil on her shoulder. Then Anne and Sasha are sent by heaven to prevent her from becoming corrupted and taken over by them.  

Of course, it’s a massive train wreck. 

Darcy is trying to convince Marcy that she should trust them. But because Sasha and Anne are almost always there they can only accomplish this through underhanded life coaching. (Though when Sasha and Anne aren’t there it’s manipulation is more direct).

Sasha is a nearly fallen angel who has taken to giving beneficial but selfish advice and also physically attacking any devils that she ends up paired with. 

Anne is just trying to get Sasha back on the right path and to find a way to get rid of Darcy so Marcy can go back to a normal life.

Then Marcy who was incredibly lonely finally has a social life and people that she can get engaged in her interests. So she’s convinced this is a great thing and is scheming to make it permanent. 

And from this queue all of the comedic shenanigans that could possibly come out of it. But also Anne and Sasha helping guide Marcy into making a life for herself that she really wants rather than what everyone kept telling her she wanted. While Darcy of course tries to counteract that because they assume she searching for a very specific type of success and do not understand any other idea.

13. What's a character or ship you haven't written/drawn yet but would like to some day?

So ironically the answer here is also Sasharcy. I’m not sure how this happened but we have two Sashanne centric AUs (TOH and BotW) and two Marcanne centric ones (Witch Marcy and also BotW). But none of them have focused on Sasha and Marcy specifically (aside from post breakup in the Witch Marcy AU). It's a really interesting occurrence

[mishkakagehishka]

Honestly the joke with the new Barbie movie is the fact that its core message is just such a lukewarm take. It could be boiled down to "Women sometimes face hardships because they are women and men hold power over them. Sad emoji." and yet this was enough to majorly piss people (men) off. Which would be absolutely hilarious if it weren't just so sad.

Like, we have two problems here. One is that man = default. Men are so used to everything catering to them, that they honestly saw a movie titled BARBIE directed by a woman, starring a woman as the titular character, a movie adaptation based around dolls famous for marketing to women, a doll line whose pathetic male-bodied doll was always treated as an accessory sold separately to the female-bodied Barbies, who was always "the boyfriend of Barbie". But because it's a movie, movies are expected to cater to men, right? Because it's cinematography, because it's for adult, mature, refined (male) audiences, it should cater to them, right? And all the pink and all the "he's just Ken" and all the most girliest marketing this movie sent out did not manage to make them think "Hey, I think this movie is for women". No, instead, they said, "Why didn't this movie about a doll line for girls cater to me, an adult man, enough?" You saw it with movies like Star Wars (the one that introduced Rey idk i don't follow sw) and Captain Marvel, but I could even excuse it there. Because it's cool space samurais and it's comic book superheroes - media traditionally marketed to men. Sure, I could see them getting all hormonal and hysterical about a girl?!?!?!?!?@?@?!??@ in THEIR manly men doing manly men things movie?!?!?!?!?!?! and she's NOT just a love interest or damsel in distress or someone's tragic backstory?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!? whadda hell. But Barbie... Barbie? Are girls not even allowed Barbie anymore? What I'm saying is, the first problem is that men are so used to being catered to, that a movie that doesn't even act like it's catering to them got them so upset, because how dare everything not keep them in mind? Right.

As I very cleverly inserted the topic above, female characters in cinema are so often shown as one of three things: a love interest, a damsel in distress, someone's tragic backstory. That's all you got. Oftentimes, movies will critically miss female characters At All (lord of the rings lol), and this is something normal and realistic. In Barbie, first thing you notice is that every major character is a woman. Barbie, Sasha, Sasha's mom (forgot her name, but she IS named, this is important), the many other Barbies who carry the plot in the climax, and so on. Background characters in Barbie Land (why didn't they name is Barbie World...)? Also women. There is a lack of men in this movie, and it hurts their egos soooo bad it's honestly beyond pathetic. Who are your male characters? A handful of Kens. The main Ken is the only one who has some sort of impact on the plot. Allen is comedic relief. The Mattel board guys are comedic relief. Sasha's dad (who i'm pretty sure is unnamed) shows up for two scenes. As comedic relief. They're all irrelevant save for beach Ken.

The second problem is just how absolutely lukewarm the feminism in the Barbie movie is, and despite that, men are treating it like it said women should start castrating men for looking at them wrong. I've seen posts on here talk about it - Barbie also says "the patriarchy hurts men, too" unironically. Could you hold men's hands any more? (In this way, even Barbie is a movie that actually did cater to men. That actually did try to speak to them, too. Because Ken's growth is almost given a bigger spotlight than Barbie's, but whatevs). Barbie's take was that men still oppress women, but just hide it better. That's it. That's enough to anger men worldwide, apparently.

It was just so simple and so stupid in its simplicity. Barbie World is ruled by the Barbies (women). Every night is girls' night. Ken's feelings are hurt because the girl he likes doesn't like him back (a male character whose entire character revolves around the female character he likes - how bout that!). Barbie gets all fucky-wucky and has to go to the real world. She feels objectified and unsafe because men keep leering at her (omg guys did you know... women........ get harassed sometimes😱). Ken feels respected for the first time in his life. Shenanigans happen, Ken goes back, Barbie stays and then goes back. Ken invented the patriarchy in Barbie World. Everything sucks !!! The Barbies take advantage of the fact that men get jealous and possessive over women to distract them so they can reinstate the matriarchy. Barbie goes "um but wait, we were mean... let's be equal :)" etc etc. Tongue in cheek "Kens will have as much power as women in the real world do :)" line. The end.

Sasha? Let's talk about Sasha. Sasha is the Gen Z. You know this because she uses buzzwords. She is, like, the opposite end of the feminism. Or something, she's a bit more radical. She hates Barbie bc of the body image problems, she calls her a fascist and a bimbo, she tells her dad he's doing cultural appropriation by learning Spanish, and she's also shown as a hypocrite because she calls Barbie a nutjob before very quickly correcting herself to say something that sounds more, quotation marks, politically correct. (I think it was "reality-challenged", i wanna emphasise that this really is buzzwords). What I'm saying is, a character that has more radical views than "we should all just get along" is shown as bad for having such views. Its core message is not just lukewarm, it is actively saying, "Don't be radical like lil ol' Sasha, bc that's her character flaw! Let's all get along!".

And this, one movie that flipped the script on them while still keeping up a semblance of catering to men and going "oh, but we're not like those fun-hating women who actually want to be free from the patriarchy, we just want equality", hurt them bad enough that they're writing think pieces about how Barbie is killing traditional values and making women stray. You show men the most castrated and marketable form of quasi-feminism, and they still fight it kicking and screaming.

I don't know where I was going with this. I have no conclusion. Barbie made me laugh a lot, I enjoyed it. The feminism message was somehow both hamfisted and very much limited to "let's acknowledge the daily lives of women". Ken had an entire growth arc about learning to be his own person instead of only Barbie's pursedog (when do you see a female character get that growth...). And it still made men angry. There have been breakups over this movie. You know what I mean? It's all just so meaningless to try and get them to understand.

[sewersewersewercouch]

things from the psychonauts art book that I found interesting

putting this under a cut so people who are getting it but don't have it yet don't get spoiled! also some of these might have been said outside of the art book and I just forgot

Tim wanted to go inside Lili's head but they decided not to for time

There was a concept involving rescuing a dying brain

One of the unused concepts was aura reading, where "Truman's" aura would be around his suitcase rather than his body, and Milla's would change when she was around Sasha...hm

There were also plans for Claymation style animations

Gristol was, ironically, based on Grigori Rasputin

Maligula wasn't always going to be Raz's "grandma"

The Psychic 7 were originally going to be all from different time periods

An early concept of Compton was blind

Nikki Rapp drew from her own experiences of losing her dad when voicing Lili

Adam almost had facial hair, but it made him look too much older than the other interns

Character artist Zahra Amirabadi, who's from Iran, came up with Gisu's name and the cultural aspects her design

This isn't a fact really, but it's important to me that Dona is described as "a loving mother and talented performer" and "deeply attuned to her family's feelings" thanks for that Ashley Esqueda

Quote from Tim: "Dion and Mirtala might still be hiding something" hello???

Frazie originally had a bigger role and I know they had to cut it for time but I'm still sad!!!

Tim won't confirm or deny whether Queepie is psychic

Unused enemy concepts include "death wish" "root of the problem" "high horse" and "defensive turtle"

The restaurant is called the Noodle Bowl because noodle is slang for "brain" which...I honestly did not realize until now and I've been into psychonauts for about 2 years, oops

A concept for Millas room had candles everywhere, which, uh, I can see why that one didn't make the cut

Coach originally had his own garage where he made his mech

The through line they had for Hollis' brain was being a woman in a male dominated profession

The initial concept of Compton's mind was a trivia battle between the Booles and the Aquatos where we'd learn more about their families--man I'd kill for that!

They originally took Raz's powers away in Ford's mind, but decided that made for boring gameplay

There were plans for an abandoned summer camp in the Old Colony

Part of the reason you're locked in the Old Colony after Tomb of the Sharkophagus is because if there was an option to talk to the Aquatos then Raz would have to lie to his family's faces about Lucy and that just seemed too cruel

Cassie's mind was modeled off of 1920s Shanghai

They recorded voice lines for the moth dragging Bob into the sea during the Truheltia Memonstria battle, and Amber Hood cried while recording them, which, fair honestly

[allpaul]

Morceau Oleander and Cal's (Horrible) "Parents", please

OH BOY ! (<so normal)

Honestly I can't go talking about Oleander without bringing up his part of the Li-Po Backstory Document, but can you really blame me? As much as that doc is so old and should be taken with a grain of salt considering the amount of contradicting information to PN2 it has, it's pretty much all we have in terms of more development for poor Morceau, so I'll take it. It provides loads of much-needed insight into Morry's character. Li-Po Doc truthers where you at!!! Rise up!!!

(^screenshot relevant)

I think it's so so fucked up that the meatgrinder incident happened before Morry could prove himself to his parents. I think hearing that information while being a camp counselor at Whispering Rock, I think that was the straw that broke the camel's back, what caused him to become more cold and to start brewing his master plan. If he can't show his family, he'll show them all.

Which brings him to Cal... Caligosto & Morceau's relationship is so so interesting to me, at least from what little we've seen of it in memory vaults. The doctor *hated* psychics, that much was true, but Morry was (assumedly) a paying client. I believe for that reason Cal is able to set that difference aside, especially after hearing the plans for their project. On the other side, I think Morceau saw Cal as one of the only people who saw him as capable, someone who thought he could do great things. And maybe they could do great things together. [looks at the camera knowing the events of the game] That went well didn't it

After the cruel stunt that he pulls, I think Morry has to regain a lot of trust that the Psychonauts had in him(something he didn't know the organization had to begin with), and that includes Milla & Sasha. Morceau always thought that those two talked down so condescendingly toward him.. but I think only after the fact is when he realizes that they were both always genuine, always believed in him. That truth probably eats him alive night after night. He already had it hard before he stole those kids' brains, now he's just dug himself into a deeper trench, lost more than he had.

I don't think the Psychonauts will let him be a camp counselor again for a while. At least not until Sasha & Milla perform a few mental checkups on him, make sure he's alright. Despite everything, those two still care about him, the time they've spent together still matters to them, and I'm sure it matters to Morceau as well.

(-also as a side-hc I think All Paul was his gay awakening. I think we all know that right?)

Cali's parents are a very interesting case, to say the least. There's so little we know about them it's hard to make assumptions. Nonetheless;

Having such a negative response to their son being psychic, there's some part of me that thinks this isn't the first time this has happened in their family's bloodline. A family with "Loboto" as their last names, after all, might not be just a coincidence. And especially considering the father IS a doctor himself, I wonder what could've set him down that career path. It's food for thought, you know?

We can't really know much about what the mother's profession was, but what I think is that she was an artist of some kind. The tiny replica of the house & the flowers painted on it, the little stitched dolls representing the family? If we're to believe that Cal's entire memory vault in RoR is based on her work that he remembers, he must've had a strong relationship with her before she deemed him an unnatural monster. This could also explain why Cal decides to wear a floral pattern shower cap too. It'd be a little sad to know he might still hold love for his parents who treated him like a monster & lobotomized him because of powers he didn't ask for.

(honestly if anyone could add onto this part that'd be great, I have so much trouble coming up with anything for these guys + I HATE them very much, fuck these "parents")

[multifanlol]

Could you do some romantic Yandere Marcy Headcanons?

Okay so first off-thanks for the request! And second of all, i love her smm and yandere her would def make me question my life choices lol anyways….

Tw: Stalking, obsessive behaviours, overbearing behaviours, just regular yandere stuff….

Marcy would be clingy

Like not the clingy clingy the very overbearing one of your personal space type my girl would not know what personal space is 💀

Like let’s say you were going to give some letter to a teacher-

Marcy would offer to come with you! No saying no she very much insists

I can see her doing the basics like stealing your used pen, taking locks of your hair, etc stuff that you wouldn’t be too sad about

And if she did take stuff that would bother you she would play the hero character and give it back to you!

“Oh found your phone by the table s/o heh, you should really be more careful with your stuff!”

While i don’t think she’d have a big hero complex like Anne and Sasha due to her insane clumsiness she’d like the idea of it though, like yk those movies she probably watches with the dashing hero and there love interest, she would always tell you that and probably force you to watch the movies with her-

Speaking of her insane clumsiness i feel like that would stop you if you ever did from suspecting her stalking behaviour, because she’s Marcy Wu the clumsiest girl you’ve ever known since kindergarten!

But believe me she can stalk, in more different ways per say like if you had social media she’d probably be using her own account or an unknown account but to be fair she wouldn’t wanna creep you out!

So probably her own account to monitor you at best, no she’s not controlling you, she’s just watching over you! She has to make sure you don’t do anything stupid after all!

Overall, she’s be harmless before Amphibia of course…..

Now i wouldn’t say she’s Sashas level of manipulation but we have to remember she got her best friends stranded in Amphibia a pretty deadly world you could easily die in making one wrong move and did a pretty good job still lying about it

She’s more of a gaslighter type of manipulator maybe guilt trips you anyways back to her in Amphibia-

The first thing she wants in Amphibia other then the cool adventures is looking for you, and oh boy would she be training, she’s a ranger now she can protect you like she always wanted! Now it could go two ways

If you changed like she did and got more stronger, she wouldn’t know how to feel, sure she’d try to tell herself she’s happy but how’s she supposed to protect you if you don’t want her to? Maybe she has to be a little forceful but it’ll all work out in the end don’t worry! She’s sure you’ll be hers by the end

She’s sure of it……

But if you didn’t change and we’re still “weak” in her eyes, she would do anything in her power to protect you! It would honestly be how Anne saw her-

Now she’s not clumsy and can protect you at all costs, now that you are in Amphibia i feel like it’d be more easy to now see through her, since her clumsiness mostly made up for her being creepy and oh boy you wouldn’t like it

You’d notice how possessive she’d probably get again, she wouldn’t want to be forceful, but what if you die?! Especially since she is yk the reason your there, not like you need to know though, she feels like you would understand but what if Anne or Sasha talked you into it that what she did wasn’t okay?!

Her jealousy would show almost clearly when interacting with Sasha or Anne, especially Anne since she said it herself she was jealous of Anne especially with how likeable Anne can be……she’s just a clumsy nerd after all….

Or well she was

Would probably try to to impress you with her smartness and stuff 😭

“You don’t think you can solve these huh, Anne? Woah these stuff are really easy!”

“Those look really hard though-“

When King Andries offers her that deal, how could she say no?! I mean if her parents moved she’d lose everything…..she’d lose you…..

And to her your her escapism, like a fictional character you’d wish was real different is you are real….

So this is for her and your own good…..

When King Andries outs the truth to you all she expects you to understand

Why are you backing away from her like the others…..

I did this for us s/o! T-They were gonna tear us apart!

……

Let’s say you were with Sasha and wartwood training, you didn’t know how to feel about Marcy as a what she did was messed up, but you end up coming to the conclusion on hearing her out, with the other girls there of course……

While you were doing this Marcy was being held captured ready for the core to be the new host for the body, what the core nor king Andries knew was that this was a girl with a certain strong obsession towards someone……

While the core isn’t obsessed as much as they try to stop it Marcy’s “love” for you ends up reaching Darcy who’s a smart manipulative psychopathic strategist……

Yeah

The first thing Darcy wants is for you to be found and be captured immediately

Sasha notices how different the bots are acting…..like they aren’t trying to attack her when they see her…..they seem to have eyes on you…..

Sasha thinks that King Andries is probably trying to capture you while she doesn’t know why she knows it has something to do with Marcy

I mean she’s kinda right

Anywayssss if Darcy does capture you your screwed, like very screwed

Your dealing with a smart obsessed mastermind who also happens to have the core hosting the mind therefore makes it Psychotic

Why don’t you just call “it” Darcy

With Darcy’s psychotic and obsessed personality it would be no lie Darcy would be forceful

“Heh! Oh “sweetie” you thought you could escape from me?! There will be no earth after we’re finished so why don’t you just be a cute thing and listen….”

I feel like King Andries would feel guilty and would always try to make it being captured by “Darcy” a little better by trying to tell Darcy letting you roam around the castle as it’s not like you can escape since the castle is in the air

Not like she’d listen that much but he’d try

Expect a very overbearing, forceful, clingy “girlfriend” i mean your practically hers at this point nobody could ever love you like she does!

Expect all those lovey dovey cheesy nicknames like “cupcake” “sweetie” yk the usual she’d say this while with the psychotic, most sinister look on her face it’d be kinda scary…..

Even when Anne does save the world and you four can all return safely not everyone is happy

Particularly a short blue haired girl

She still has to move, no matter how much she begs she wouldn’t care at that point she wasn’t losing you

Maybe she has to make a few lies to the new job application place you might say she couldn’t but she’s grown so much in Amphibia i think she’s sure she’s capable if it doesn’t work though logically she’ll maybe start with your parents then depends if there divorced or not, maybe convince them how cool the place is….and if none works

Well I’ll let you decide 🙂

Overall Marcy i feel like would be a bit that obvious yandere although if you just look a little deeper you’ll realise how different she’d look…..

I feel like there’s more stuff she’d do but this is all i could come up with for now-

[doomerpatrol]

Comic Log: The Year So Far

this does not include the assorted works of Grant Morrison which will get their own effortpost(s).

Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon: Truly rancid. Fundamentally does not work. I'm softer on the first and third arcs, while I think the fourth is a letdown and the second is abysmal. While Whedon's humor is characteristically hit or miss, and his characterization of just about everybody except Cyclops and Emma Frost is quite poor, what actually frustrates me is the way Astonishing squanders its opening ethos of reinvigorating the status of the X-Men as classic "traditional" superheroes (rather than the soap-operatic introspective subjects of Claremont or countercultural militants of Morrison). Despite this being the explicitly stated function of the ongoing series, it's only told and never shown. Instead we get a few different arcs themed around mutation and guilt, which is also fine, but again, those themes are barely fleshed out (the "mutant cure" that seems like it's going to be a really big deal and presents a lot of interesting thematic questions is summarily handwaved away).

Favorite arc/issue: "Torn" is a compelling exploration of Emma Frost's survivor's guilt, and the dynamic between her and Cyclops which extends into the final arc (which I otherwise loathe) is really great. Sad that it doesn't exactly get a real ending, just so the X-Men can go to space and endorse biological determinism, though!

Detective Comics by Greg Rucka: What could have been! This has some really brilliant creative decisions going on, particularly in the beautiful artwork which uses monochromatic color palettes based on the theme and tone of an issue, but ultimately gets taken out and shot by the event mandates of "Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive." The central idea here is the fallout of the "No Man's Land" event, which shifts the social and political tensions in Gotham, and causes Bruce to get saddled with a new bodyguard, Sasha Bordeaux. Having a constant tail that he needs to be able to shake without exposing his dual identity is a fun idea, but I don't think it gets as much time as it deserves, and the treatment of Sasha as a character isn't my favorite either. She's basically turned into a disposable love interest by the events of Fugitive/Murderer and the way it all resolves left me really cold. Ultimately the best ideas here get picked up in Gotham Central.

Favorite arc/issue: "A Walk in the Park" which covers Poison Ivy's expulsion from Gotham City's park after the "No Man's Land" crossover, with some nice characterization for Bruce and Ivy (if you like a redeemed/sympathetic Ivy).

Wolverine by Greg Rucka: Inherits the Frank Miller treatment of a solo Logan as a sort of wandering ronin or cowboy. I have some complaints - I really do not like the characterization of fellow Weapon Plus victim "The Native," because it hews too close to gross racial stereotype, and the AFT agent that basically falls in love with Logan at first sight because she just loves a bad boy is CORNY. However! These three arcs have great action and tightly knit simplistic plots, which see Logan forced into morally and personally tight spots - a vengeance quest on a trafficking ring, a moral dilemma over how to deal with a pregnant cartel leader, Wolverine and Sabretooth begrudgingly teaming up against Weapon Plus as both of them look for the first opportunity to betray the other. It's not the most amazing set of stories ever, I don't think any of them would make a Top 10 Wolverine stories list, but it's very well-executed pulp fiction.

Favorite arc/issue: "Brotherhood," the first arc, which sees Logan hunting down a misogynist cult who sent assassins after one of its runaway victims, and its follow-up featuring Nightcrawler having a beer and shooting the shit about the soul. I love how squat Wolverine is drawn in this arc. That's not the deepest commentary but it is true.

Catwoman by Ed Brubaker: Pretty solid! Has some of my favorite creatives (Brubaker, Darwyn Cooke, Mike Allred) on board. This series brings Selina back into the DCU after some time away, trying to turn over a new leaf and reinventing herself as a kind of defender of the downtrodden in Gotham's East End. An excellent new costume, a new attitude, new supporting cast - it's such a step up from the 90s Catwoman book. To be honest, the art from Cooke and (terrible person) Cameron Stewart and the various colorists is the big draw here, turning this part of Gotham into something both vibrantly cartoonish and appropriately noir-inflected: alternatingly poppy and moody and sensual as the story necessitates. At issue #25 the art team turns over, and the tone of the comic shifts towards something more conventional and "realistic." This was pretty much my jumping off point - I think it loses a lot of its charm and heart at this point and then has the misfortune of intersecting with the "Batman: War Games" event (not to mention that the new art is, uh, quite bad). But up through #25, the stories are pretty solid with some fun heists and capers, with a strong supporting cast and central arc of Selina figuring out how she wants to exist in the world.

Favorite arc/issue: "Disguises" is a highlight, which sees Selina going up against crooked cops as she and Slam and Holly very actively get in harm's way in pursuit of the truth. I also like "Relentless" where Black Mask tries to very ruthlessly destroy Selina's life; it's exceedingly dark and definitely derivative of "Daredevil: Born Again" but I appreciated its bleak, expressionist qualities. And the road trip arc "Wild Ride" is also really fun and cute!

Hawkeye by Matt Fraction: A total treat. Interestingly bifurcated - the first half is slightly more episodic, putting a bunch of assorted pieces into play (our two leads Clint and Kate, the Tracksuit Mafia, Cherry the runaway mob wife, the Polish clown hitman, Lucky the dog, and the local community), with a domino effect from a particularly cruel death to our two Hawkeyes splitting from each other. From there, I do think the series spins its wheels just a squeak too long, as we alternate between Kate pounding the pavement trying to make some cash in LA and Clint steadily trying to figure out how to shoulder the burden of protecting his community, with some filler for good measure. But once Clint concludes he can't do it all on his own, and circumstances force the Hawkeyes back together - oh man! The last two issues are excellent, one of the most satisfying conclusions I've read in a comic in an age. I particularly enjoyed the communitarian theme. And the paneling and layouts and especially the artwork from David Aja and Annie Wu are all so delightfully creative and colorful and expressive. (The cover portrayed above is indicative of the kinds of spreads and layouts that we get throughout the book.)

Favorite arc/issue: definitely the two-part finale. Also loved the issue focused on the dog Lucky. The whole thing is immensely readable, it really works together holistically.

Punisher (and Franken-Castle) by Rick Remender: Starts strong with Frank trying to take a shot at the politically ascendant Norman Osborn, which is an inspired choice: it automatically makes Frank a touch more sympathetic because we know Osborn is a sadistic fascist, it gives him the motivation to really up the ante with a high-tech arsenal (so a little bit of a sci-fi twist), and it offers an opportunity to do some of that hack sociopolitical commentary on post-9/11 American society that Marvel loved at the time. But the series finishes super weak. Most notably, the Osborn plotline is unable to meaningfully advance because all the relevant players were under Brian Michael Bendis' purview, so the series quickly devolves into a dull supernatural slapfight with The Hood and throwaway villains, and then quite abruptly turns into the underwhelmingly odd "Franken-Castle." The action is solidly drawn but the plot wears thin because it hinges on shallow contrivances, and there's an odd refusal to commit to any big thematic ideas or strong emphases of characterization, like the main supporting character of Henry. Honestly, I don't think Garth Ennis' run is likely to be outdone, it really captured the only version of Punisher as a protagonist that I think is particularly tolerable to read.

Favorite arc/issue: honestly really didn't care for this one, but I'd say the first arc "Living in Darkness" is the strongest - it sees Frank brutalizing his way out of tight spots in some fun ways, and I really like Opena's artwork. But the ending (featuring the return of old Punisher supporting character Microchip) is just really lazy and uninspired.

JLA by Mark Waid: A rare Waid miss, unfortunately. I like the first arc, Tower of Babel, for its examination of how Batman's paranoia and isolation and obsessiveness can blowback without leaning into full-throated "Batjerk" characterization, but the "Ra's al Ghul destroys language" plot is a little underdeveloped for how high-concept it is. And the subsequent arcs, which emotionally center around Batman's reincorporation into the group, really didn't land for me, both because of the departure of Howard Porter as penciller and because the stories are just less interesting. I really did not like the "Queen of Fables" arc, which I found to be corny and overplayed (I feel like I've seen or read some version of this in cartoons and comics and speculative fiction media a million times), while the rest were just kind of middling. These later stories carry less thematic weight when compared to the parallel "communication breakdown" of Tower. It's not terrible, but just pales in comparison to the Morrison run that preceded it, despite trying to speak in a similar register. I hope that I will like Joe Kelly's run more!

Favorite arc/issue: Uh. Tower of Babel, if that wasn't clear.

[lavend-ler]

u r like me... one of maybe ten ppl on the planet that like my queen yvette. we're smart.

we are SO smart, thank u for this message, dear anon, u have The Taste 🙏

Yvette is such an interesting character for me but it just makes me sad whenever I think abt her cause the canon shut her off for literally no reason. she's there since the beginning, she should be an active figure, she's literally Rhys' best friend. yet all the bad writing decisions make her seem like a bad guy when,, she's rly not. she's just defending herself in the heartless Hyperion landscape. not to mention, she admits that she only took the deal when she knew that they wouldn't do anything to Rhys. she was just desperate, worried for her friends

but the narrative treats her horribly. not only the option not to shock her is hard to get in the first playthrough (which yields in her apologizing btw soooo) but also u have to make 3 SEPARATE CHOICES to actually save her from death. again, comparing to Vaughn who also double crosses u for (no reason) and game rly wants u to trust him. anyways, it's not abt him, I just love making choices that guarantee Yvette at the end of the game, it makes me smile

I don't wanna leave on a sour note so here are my Yvette hcs:

I usually can't decide where I want her to be the most post epilogue tbh. I see her either being with Helios Hellions, being their strategist (and not dying), helping the people. or I see her on a space journey across planets (with Sasha), learning abt new places and enjoying her time when her life finally belongs to her

tbh? in other scenario she deserves to rule Hyperion. with Blake by her side. just sayin

I hc her as a lesbian and my two ships for her are with Sasha (travelling, learning to let loose and exploring) and with Angel (they take over Hyperion together and work through feeling crushed by others, while learning to be each other)

the orange shirt is just her work uniform. on her own she prefers to wear cold colors, like that purple she has for her character text

she doesn't go anywhere without her glasses

going off of her lunch theming and all, I think she is very into different cuisines and has a refined palette. during her travels she makes sure to taste the local cuisine

she and Rhys are the best gossip buddies and they love to go clubbing together during the weekends

her favorite flowers are roses and she would love to have a rose garden (her splash card has roses!)

she also deserves to be a nerd! I think she's very into Bunkers & Badasses and with her strategic sense, she always maxes out the best stats for her characters

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

8, 11, 12, 13

Choose Violence Ask Game

8. Common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

Alina is an extrovert! Fight me!! She’s typically snarky and kind of mean and mistrustful lmao about the people she’s around unless she’s formed closer connections and I think people interpret that as introversion. (And, I do think introversion for that era of like wallflower protagonist was just the default and people automatically sub that in.) But we see her gravitate towards going to dumb not!highschool parties and gatherings for fun. In S&B she feels alienated and sad that she can’t hang out with the other summoners by the lake bc she doesn’t know how to use her power. She seems to feel most at ease when she is around people she likes and trusts. Like I’m sorry modern AU Alina would be getting drunk at frat parties and doing keg stands 🤷‍♀️

11. Number of fandom-related words you’ve filtered

Ah, just one. I filtered out Zoyalai because people were getting real heated when season two dropped and bashing Alina in posts, and it was winding up on my dash.

12. The unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Probably Baghra. She’s such a bitch, I love her. I don’t have any particular argument for it, I just love cantankerous crones. And also her life seems insane. She’s entertaining and interesting in a way that a lot of mean and morally questionable characters are! But I think people tend to not like her as much essentially because she isn’t young and hot during canon lol.

13. Worst blorboficiation

Obviously the Darkling! The majority of his fandom is soooo deeply unsatisfying to me because it’s usually focused on sanding down everything that makes him fun to me. I signed up for deranged cartoon villain content. My favorite scenes of his are usually when he’s being fucking insane. So when the fandom is like “here’s my fave character Sasha and all the disgustingly sweet sunshine pun nicknames he can come up with during pillow talk 💖” I’m like… why are you so boring sjfjfgd

[mcskullmun]

Did the tma dating sim that’s floating around tumblr, wanted to write about the character I made, a corruption aligned Oc friends with Lonely!Martin. Uh warning no actual dating happens, just a lot of the Horrors. And also I am experimenting with a very different writing style (designed to be unsettling/disconnected, just a heads up). Enjoy:

I am a researcher that the Magnus Institute, London. It is long, monotonous and dull work, and I am certain my colleagues dislike me immensely. This is understandable.

I spend more time in the library than with them, Sasha seems to have noticed. She tries to talk to me, which… I could take or leave to be honest. The books say more interesting things.

I have a feeling… well just a feeling really. Like something is deeply wrong with my place in all of this. Like I wandered in from the cold and brought a little of it with me. I leave footprints by the doors.

Timothy stoker seems to get along well with me. I do not get along well with him. I think him and Sasha are trying to make friends with me, which is not understandable. Jon just stares. I do not get the work done, but he seems to respect my dedication, even if it is not in productive areas. I read about Peter Lukas, Elias mentioned him, and feel relief that I am not That alone.

I reach out to Tim.

We go to a museum, he is animated in a way that makes me listen. By the time we leave I feel I know who he is. I vow to return the kindness.

So in turn I speak to Sasha. She is less easy to talk to, I should’ve been nicer in the library. But she is smart, we find interests in common.

Martin seems distressed. I do not know him well enough to tell.

There’s a feeling. More than a feeling. I lie awake and dream of black mould covering my windows. The dark is nice enough to grow in.

Martin is gone. I feel bad, Jon seems on edge. He doesn’t like me now, his “Martin Insults” find a new home with my reading hobby. I bring him some old Spider statements in spite. I feel bad later.

I get Martin’s number from Tim.

-You K?

-Fine thanfk U <3

The heart seems misplaced, given that our one conversation so far was him offering me tea, which I refused saying I preferred coffee. He has avoided me ever since. He also does not know who is texting him, so that is also… concerning.

I attempt to tell Jon, but he is still not over the Spider Incident.

I go home and worry. A tissue comes away red, but I do not worry about that. I do not get sick.

I continue to not get sick. Vision blurry. Head aching slowly. It is probably the coffee. I should drink less. More? I read about a man who loses his mind.

There is a man named Michael and he stares at me through the cafe window. Except it is not a man and it is not called Michael and I am sitting opposite it. It shakes my hand. And talks, a little, with a laugh that echoes all the way down.

I meet it later, in the graveyard. I tell Sasha to call me at midnight, and to tell Tim if I don’t answer. I tell Tim I’m going to do something stupid.

It is stupid, and maybe dangerous as I fall under the mass of worms that had once been human. The thing who answers to Michael for convenience drags me away, plunging its knife-like fingers into my shoulder and prying away the worms, blood pooling on the grass. It tells me not to worry. I don’t.

Tim tells me I am pale. He waits in my apartment past midnight, and asks about the blood. I tell him I jumped a barbed fence. He cleans the wounds and looks at me as if I have lied to him. I look back as if I haven’t.

The blood is coming from my shoulder. So when I rub my eye it is strange to see red.

Martin returns, with worms that are familiar. I ask him if he met a man that wasn’t. He looks sad, so I change the subject and offer him tea. It helps.

We talk, and I fall asleep beside him. Something shifts within my shoulder, but I keep it to myself. Martin has not earned that much respect from me. To spread the disease is to weaken the host.

Martin is my friend. My colleagues do not hate me, besides Jon. He watches the way I walk with caution. I leave footprints by the corners.

Tim does not seem to mind. Or maybe he doesn’t notice. He takes me for a coffee, but I cannot drink it. Vile things churn within me. I offer to pay anyway, because he looks afraid. I stanch the bleeding from my nose with a paper towel, and promise I do not get sick.

There is a book within the library. It sings in caution of a thing that waits to embrace you, in slow decay. I read the moulding pages like they are words carved into my skin. I ask Jon to do some digging on Jane Prentiss. His mouth says he doesn’t know what I’m talking about. His eyes say he does.

She finds me in a half sleep, at the edge of Martin’s bed, watching over him. He says he sleeps better knowing I’m there. I feel better knowing this. She finds me waiting for her, and tells me I am part of the herd with no Shepard. The sweeping tide of decay. The change that makes anew.

I ask her for her name, knowing it. She leaves me, and I sleep. I dream of things growing in the hollow places in my mind.

She visits us all.

Tim is alone, I have to warn him of the Tide. He is not ready, as I am. We escape, CO2 stupid and alive. I am a hive, bloodied and delirious. But Tim makes it out okay. Surgery will help him. I am consumed.

Bandaged faces stare blankly from across archive shelves. It’s easy to hide the things that move beneath strips of off-white gauze.

I smile, and my lips feel warm and wet. Blood runs down my chin, like rain down a windshield. There is nothing that will fix it. But he looks afraid. I’m worried about Tim.

It’s a dark night in bones that feel hollow and eaten. Movement fills the stillness, as blood drips from my curled hands, hovering over the sink. I breathe spores onto the glass, hiding a smile that is red.

I go out into the garden and lay among the grass, where a man lies half way to where I am going. The things that made their home in him are mine, and I theirs. She is grateful, eternally. I am consumed, and home.

Tim is gone. Sasha tells me he is “on holiday”. But she looks different. Like a lie. So maybe she’s lying.

I talk to Martin, and he tells me I look sick. I promise him I do not get sick, but he makes me tea. I pour it into my skin, and my residents hum in appreciation. I reapply the bandages, and thank Martin for the tea. He tells me my nose is bleeding. I tell him it will pass.

It does not. I fall deeper into solitude. They are hungry and hungry and hungry and I cannot give them enough of myself to sate. To sate a thousand mouths. I sink deeper into fear and they do not relent. I awake weakened, and my skin is soft and comes away dusty.

Elias tells us what he is. Jon tells him we are not. But he Knows. He sees the things that crawl and bite. He tells me I cannot survive on my own fear. I tell him I need help. I need him to save what is left of me. He tells me that the only path leads deeper into the woods.

I kill a woman, walking home through a field. The air is heavy with pollen, but it is not. Spores. She chokes in a cloud that waits hungrily for her body. I let it consume her instead of me.

My nose stops bleeding, as do my eyes. For the first time I look clearly upon what I have done. I will not do it again.

I turn to slow and creeping rot. Enough fear to get by on. Little enough not to hurt. Tim comes back, and tells me I look sick. Martin gives him a look, and hands me a tissue. The bleeding will stop on its own. It does now.

Tim is going to leave. Martin and I will stay, to distract Elias. Something to See. Saying goodbye to Tim is heavy, as if the air is filled with spores. I tell him he is my friend, and he tells me I will be okay. He wipes my cheek with his thumb, and it is red.

Elias tells me I am Interesting. He tells me to open the door. And he will save me. He will sever the parts of me that rot. He says he will take away Martin. I open the door. My skin flakes away with the impact of the punch, but it is worth it. Martin bandages my hand, and tells me it will be okay.

It is not.

Jon’s heart monitor flicks a steady pace. He is dead, by all means. But not the same way that Tim is dead. He had not been ready. He hadn’t let go.

I find another person, lost among the Underground. They sit, crying. Waiting for someone to pick them up. Martin calls me, and I leave them to live. He tells me he is afraid. He tells me my flat is not for people to live in. I tell him that’s okay. But I sleep at his anyway, careful not to leave footprints on the carpet.

I find Elias in prison. He tells me the hunger will return, in an endless cycle. I punch him, leaving blood across his face that is all my own. I tell him I will not kill another.

Martin goes missing. Melanie tells me he is here, just not Here. I tell her I don’t understand. I do.

We play video games, the last of us. I tell her I am sad we cannot play characters that walk among the mycelium. She tells me I am weird, which, fair. But she cleans the blood from her controller without complaining. I think we’re friends.

Jon wakes up. He hates me. He Sees what I am.

I miss Martin.

His flat is empty. I sleep there still, my own lost to Rot.

I spend the day looking for him.

I go home.

I spend the day looking for him.

I go home hungry.

I spend the day looking for him.

The rot gnaws and hungers.

I spend the day looking for him.

And do not know what to say when I find him. I only want to say I’m sorry. For what I have become. For who I have killed. I want to tell him what I am. But he vanishes before I can tell him more than that I miss him.

I spend the day looking for him.

And collapse in hunger and dread.

I kill. I kill and kill. I spend days searching, fuelled by sacrifice after sacrifice. I leave trails of spreading rot by the door. I do not sleep.

Elias tells me I have Become. I punch him.

Melanie grows worried, tries to bandage me, to help. I try to let her.

The hollow bones are filled with things that are full and hungry. I miss him. Melanie leaves.

Jon Knows what I am doing. It feels like the end of the world. And then the world ends.

And I have dominion. Because I am Them.

The tower looks close from so far away, but if I keep walking I will find Elias. And I will look him in the eye, and he will See me back.

And I will finally be something worth saving. I will be nothing.