#adaptations of his works don't always work because they try to make them less 'weird'

[hazelfoureyes]

Sending in anon because I'm a coward... 😩

I'm a new reader, and I just have to say-- your "a doe in fall" series is just... AMAZING!!

I could go on, and on and on about how much I love it. But what gets me the most is always Alastor's dialogue, because as someone who is also on the aro/ace spectrum, I just get it so much. Especially the subtle hoping that reader can like... Read his mind about how he feels for her, and the weird sort of stockholm syndrome we sometimes develop with ourselves after being alone with only our own company for so long, and it really is, lol, like you just get so used to being alone for so long because you know the idea people have of you, you can't truly live up to, so you don't want to "disappoint" them that you actually aren't like they are, so you just sorta... Keep them occupied at arms length-- Therefore you're forced to adapt to your company being the only love you have for a long time. it's like an obligation.

And when or if the special somebody who understands you comes along, you realize... "Wow, I've been living like this for so long, is this what it feels like to be loved and appreciated, in spite of my oddities, or maybe even in favor of them? Strange..."

Emphasis on the "strange" part because, when you're so deeply entrenched in your own soul, sharing your space for another almost feels more like learning how to swim rather than an instant "click", sparks, fireworks and whatnot. The excitement of the magical "other" has been long since drowned and snuffed out of you.

So, when this somebody who is similar to you, or just simply understands, doesn't try to change you or ignore you, but instead envelopes you and adores you, the appreciation is deep and overflowing. But there's a part of you always pinching your heart, a sort of awareness of something that isn't the case, wondering "Is this a dream? what if it is and I'll wake up and this is not at all what I was thinking?".

Haha... ANYWAY, sorry for the slightly morose and LONG read 😂 But I always think of how similar I am to how you write alastor and it's scary in a way, but comforting (especially since he's my first and biggest fictional crush) except in this case my profession would actually be burlesque. Especially since I work in the exotic dance world. It's fascinating being aro/ace in the SW world, I could go on forever- But yeah, I absolutely love your writing!! Makes me feel less alone in this world. Annnd surprisingly I always feel so sensual after reading, I love love love it!! Reading before work always gets me in the mood to dance and pretend I'm Y/N, lol!!

Much blessings ❤️❤️

*cracks knuckles* listen here babycakes, I eat this shit UP. Exploring Human Ace Alastor is my BREAD AND BUTTER. I go into ESSAYS in the AO3 comments in this 😂

you really understand, which makes me so happy and is confirmation I’m conveying him the way I want to.

Now I’m gonna ramble and echo you basically 😂

I really think Alastor (atleast in this story) feels that excitement and strangeness of how open he can be around Autumn (since she doesn’t have a proper name cuz she’s reader 😂). He’s a fish out of water despite the fact he’s actually being his most authentic self. Like you said, it’s new to him just to be … Alastor. To be honest and upfront. His normal operating mode has been so restricted for so long he’s struggling with how to be himself. And then that fear—- well what if I’m too much? What if I ruin this, when I finally have something worth keeping? He’s never gotten this far and the fear of losing that comfort is terrifying but so is the actual comfort itself. It’s new and foreign.

A deep uneasiness that’s if he fully embraces this he’s gonna just fuck it up and it’ll be his fault this time. Not a misunderstanding or misalignment of needs but a confirmation he wasn’t good enough anyway.

“it is better to have loved and lost than never loved at all” he would say that’s bullshit

and because of the situations he’s been in before, he’s never gotten to actually explore physical intimacy in a “safe” environment. He was always going into interactions because he had to if he wanted to keep people around. It was a necessity, not something he actually sincerely wanted to participate. So he tried to keep them happy with other means of affection and intimacy to maintain some safe distance but eventually, always, things would fall apart. At a distance or up close.

that’s why that most recent part was called Learning. Alastor is trying new things to learn more about what he’s okay with or doesn’t care for even offering in the future. Autumn is learning (that night, tho she doesn’t understand it yet) that he’s still figuring out how to meet her halfway (even tho she’s not even asking for that) when he’s used to being forced to meet people where they are. And Detective Brady, of course, is learning he may have found motive for Tommy’s disappearance.

I’m really glad you’re enjoying his portrayal and that you’re resonating with parts of him! That makes my soul hum! 💖 your line of work mixed with your Aro/Ace-ness sounds like such an interesting conversation if we’re honest! That’s a small aspect I love about Autumn. She’s in this field that’s (wrongly) considered to be hyper sexual and full of air headed wanton whores, but she’s the first person to be like “oh! You aren't into this stuff. Let me adjust my expectations. I’ll ask for clear verbal consent, not initiate, and I’m totally okay with never fucking again if it’s for your love and company.”

I work in the SW industry in a sense (Personal Assistant) and one of my biggest pet peeves is all of the shit people project on SWers.

sorry for the essay I could talk about this for ETERNITY

omg and THANK YOU! 🥺💖💖💖💖

Referencing:

A Doe in Fall (Human Alastor x Burlesquer Fem Reader)

Part 1 - Pretty in Red smut💦 Part 2 - Liar smut💦 Part 3 - A Tragedy smut💦 Part 4 - Enough Part 5 - Too Much Part 6 - Learning smut💦

[animeyanderelover]

Tw: Yandere themes, toxic relationship, possessive behavior, obsession, clinginess, manipulation, delusional mindset, clinginess, paranoia, abduction

Tags: @lovely-valentine7 @leveyani @chxxz

But you’re a guy!

Ciel Phantomhive

☕️Honestly, the situation is quite awkward even for Ciel because in society it is the norm for a man to always marry a woman later on in his life yet here he is, obsessing over one of his male acquaintances. The young Earl doesn't know how to even act around you anymore as his composure is always tested when he is in your company. He's much more stiff and awkward, even embarrassed by his own weird behavior all of a sudden. His demonic butler is loving the flustered and rigid state of his master though and never fails to subtly mock Ciel for his loss of composure around you. Honestly, the abduction was partially out of desperation because he knows that society would probably never really accept his feelings for you so he just decided to imprison you within his mansion where no one of his servants would even mutter a word about you because all of them are loyal to him. He gives you some time after the abduction instead of being instantly very controlling which is mainly because Ciel requires some time for himself to work his own feelings out because a part of him is still digesting the fact that he has feelings for another man.

Shu Sakamaki

🎵​Shu is as nonchalant as always when he finally acknowledges that he is romantically invested in another guy. So what? Really, it's nothing special. He has spent his entire youth listening to everything his mother told him and doing everything she wanted him to do even though he didn't want it. She probably wouldn't have approved of this but she is already dead. Shu is free to do what he desires to do now so he quite obviously abducts you after some time. He dismisses all of your protests that you aren't interested in him because he's a guy and instead just tells you lazily that he wants you to be quiet because he wants to sleep for a bit. He forces his affection and all his hugs and touches on you without paying much attention to your words and demands to the point where he makes you feel like you are just overreacting. He tells you as much sometimes too when he has had enough of your demands and your voice ruining his sleep as he warns you with a threatening yet still idle voice that he wants you to shut up. Just get over it already. Honestly, you feel like he is indirectly belittling you for your silly resistance.

Reiji Sakamaki

☕​This is not going to be a pleasant experience for you. He has never suspected that he would be the type to fall in love with someone from the same gender and he struggles to adapt to this fact for some time. Differently from Shu he also values everything he learned from his mother even if he was the one who killed her and he knows that she had very traditional views on love so she probably wouldn't have been very welcoming to the fact that he loves another man. His conflict leads to him being much more controlling and you definitely feel this after he has abducted you. He's unsure how to act around you as he is still in the process of progressing everything but what he does know is that he can't have you acting up in any way. He scolds you for your claim that you don't want to date him because he is a guy and might even punish you if you push his patience. He probably sits down with you at one point and has a long discussion with you and he gets all philosophical all of a sudden as he asks you what love even is in an attempt to make you less suspicious around him. He's giving you a chance here. He can control this relationship if he has too but if you try to be more open, he might be a bit less overbearing.

Subaru Sakamaki

⬜️Subaru is wondering about his interest in you for a while too because he also didn't see it coming that he would be so utterly obsessed with another man. Ultimately he decides to not care about it either though because once he falls madly in love there is nothing stopping him. He's still very protective over you and that is one of the main reasons why he even abducts you in the first place. Your steady rejections because you are mad about the abduction though as you tell him you don't plan to date him because you aren't attracted to people from the same gender triggers him and his impulsive and aggressive temper. Your words hurt him of course but he doesn't possess the knowledge how to express this outside of violence so you are probably more than once shaken up when he punches a wall before storming out of the room to calm his temper. He wouldn't want to hurt you by accident. So you learn to be more careful around him in order to not trigger him. Your words have already done some damage though as he wonders if he really just isn't enough and this bitterness leads him to lash out on you. He doesn't mean any of those words but he is just hurt.

[hyatoro]

Okayy we saw househusband!franklin and we all enjoyed it EXTREMELY so how about househusband!minsu

Hwang Minsu

Househusband!Minsu is MUCH less competent than Franklin. 

It’s literally just a skill issue. 

He absolutely does his best and it’s weird for him to adjust to a different time schedule than he’s used to. 

Even when you two were dating he was still mostly used to only taking care of one person’s needs at a time. Whenever he’d do things for you he had a bad habit of disregarding his own needs. Which is part of the reason why you insisted on moving in and getting married, so he’d get better at that. 

Not having to worry about getting kicked out for missing rent and having food on the table does wonders for the poor man. Cries when you tell him that it’s his house too and that he’s welcome to put all his own things where he wants them. Specifically the important mementos his mother left him. 

He’s not ‘burns water’ bad at cooking, but it definitely takes a lot of practice to get good at cooking. Apologizes every time the food doesn’t taste good/wastes ingredients trying to figure something out. 

Swoons when you put bandages on his cuts from learning how to use a knife properly. Boosts his motivation greatly. 

Like his mom loved him a lot and did most of the cooking, which led to him not developing those skills when he was younger. And well. When she died he had other things on his plate aside from learning how to cook when he could easily eat the convenience store leftovers. 

He eventually does get the hang of things and excitedly shows you some cookbooks he’d want to check out and try things from. 

He was already decent at cleaning and stuff, but also got overwhelmed at the size of your new home since he was living in a dingy one room apartment before. Again, he does eventually adapt. 

Your love and support literally mean so much to him. 

Another guilty laundry sniffer. Doesn’t go as far putting on full outfits, but he definitely takes your coats/jackets/hoodies, and wears them around when he does chores. You can give them to him but he refuses. Something about how it’s better when they’re yours in name. But he’s also conflicted because it would be another gift to him… It doesn’t matter since you share closet space anyway. 

You have to scent mark him every day before work. If you don't he gets really fucking sad and is super clingy and pouty when you get home.

He’s needy and horny so sometimes he jerks off in just your hoodie. He got so worked up at the idea of you catching him like this that he cums twice, making a mess of himself by the time you got home. He always greets you at the door like a separation-anxiety-ridden-puppy, but it’s a lovely surprise when you see him that day. In just your hoodie with his cum dripping down his thighs, hearts in his eyes as he flushes at the sight of you. 

Again, he’s insatiable when it comes to you. He’s leaned up against the wall for support, rubbing his slick thighs together as he welcomes you home. 

(*´ ˘ `*).｡oO ( ♡ )

[all-pacas]

anyway i feel like p3's social links are a bit all of the place - later games definitely polish them better - but since i've been playing the remake i've been trying to figure out why.

tonally, they are all over the place, and i think later games do a much better job with tying the Tarot Theme to the storyline. all social links always require you telling the person what they want to hear, but p3 is silly about it. tell the jock to ignore his health and injuries! encourage the friend to break the law! -- between that and the tonal whiplash, it's just. weird.

but i think i figured out the theme, and i don't know why i even had to think about it, because it's the same theme of the entire game: Accepting Ends.

accepting change. accepting death. it comes up in every social link in one way or another. a character is living or acting in a certain way, and either they have to face a huge change, or they're living in reaction to it without accepting it.

Kazushi and Mamoru both want to excel in sports, and are in denial over the fact that for both of them, those dreams are ending. Kazushi's injury can't keep going untreated; Mamoru's family needs him to work.

Maiko is in the midst of her parents divorce, and doing everything she can to prevent and ignore it.

Bebe has to leave Japan, but thinks that if he works really hard, he can stay.

Keisuke is torn between the path he's expected to take and the path he really wants, although interestingly, the two swap places completely during his story.

Other times, the change has already happened: Bunkichi and Mitsuko have already lost their son, but are still struggling with it and clinging to his memorial.

Mutatsu lost his family, and is pretending he doesn't want them back.

Nozomi is drowning himself in food and denial instead of coping with his brother's (food related) death.

It's a bit more subtle here and there. Yoko's "accepting of change" is actually a positive (as fits the Strength arcana): she's discovering her calling, even if she's slow to embrace it. Kenji and Maya both think everything is going great, only to discover the truth at the last second and that the story isn't what they believed.

Akinari is actively dying and knows it, but is struggling with accepting it. He's more or less the thesis statement of the game in social link form: you WILL die, things WILL end, sometimes none of your dreams work out and you have to ADAPT. Make the best of it. Memento Mori!

[ichorblossoms]

for the ask meme can i get uhhhh yarrow + face, serena + motion, grimm + favorite

HI HELLO JANE!!!!! sorry this took awhile to get around to answering i wrote all the text and told myself i was gonna draw pictures for these and then i got distracted because i wanted to draw. other pictures instead :,D BUT without further ado !!

face: Describe your OC's face. What's their smile like? Are their orbs cerulean? What would someone notice first when looking at them?

i don't trust my writing skills enough to write a description. their face:

i talked a little bit abt their facial features in this ask, but yeah, the Bee Stuff is definitely what people notice first. yarrow's modification was an experimental one, so while most people are kinda used to seeing humods with fur on their faces or weird ears or maybe horns and whatnot, invertebrate features are rare and jarring. this does cause issues when you're trying to be discreet, so yarrow tries their best to wear bandanas or masks. even pre-modification they actually wear something to the effect of a bandana or surgical mask often; partially because They Are A Doctor and also because they live in a mining town that doesn't give a shit about how much dust is kicked up from the open-pit mining

pre-modification i'm not sure what people would notice first; they have a few small defining features like their dimples, yellow-gold eyes, straight teeth, patchy facial hair, and mole on their right cheek, but overall nothing out of the ordinary. i think it's less features people notice, and a general impression of openess? he's quick to smile, talkative, and expressive, so people usually feel like they can approach him

motion: How does your OC move? How does their clothing help or hinder their range of motion? Are they flexible, coordinated, clumsy?

having trained in martial arts for most of her life, serena's very coordinated and flexible! she also has a muscular stature and she can make herself very difficult to move if she doesn't want to. she's aware of her size and generally has a slouch to her posture and walks with a bit of a trudge and lope if that makes sense? she has enough control though to where she can move almost freakishly quiet and it scares people on occasion

ofc she doesn't wear clothes, but she does have her prosthesis!

she's got both an everyday and a sport prosthesis, so while her movement isn't necessarily affected by that, she's less willing to run or do anything intense if she just has her everyday prosthesis on (that's the one i draw, i need to look more into sport prostheses for humans and adapt a design from there)

bc she's a congenital amputee, the only real adjustment she's had to do irt her leg is adapting to a new prosthesis every few years, so she has a solid sense of moving with or without it on. i've been trying to determine if she has smthin like an adapted wheelchair as well, but since dragons are quadrupeds and she's only missing part of a limb, it may not be necessary when she also has her tail and wings to help counterbalance during movement...? there's also the factor that she doesn't have a lot of money, so regardless of what she has to assist her, it's not always top-quality and she's learned to live with a certain level of discomfort and pain

speaking of wings, flying is something dragons can do, but it's a lot like running where most ppl can't do it for longer periods of time unless they train. it's not as necessary in modern society, so most dragons can fly for short bursts if needed/for fun. with the exception of a few who do things like, idk fly to work, most rely on transit bc it's easier. serena's ability to fly is Okay, she's accumulated some damage to her wings over the years (side effect of martial arts where other people have claws and horns), which makes her less aerodynamic and more easily tired out. she's got a good handle on her body and how it moves, so she's actually pretty graceful in the air and not aware of that fact at all. overall, she prefers not to fly, but still maintains a healthy habit of working out those muscles so they don't atrophy, which is a thing that happens with modern dragons.

favorite: Does your OC have a favorite article of clothing or accessory? What is it? What's the meaning behind it? Do they wear it all the time or do they wear it sparingly to keep it safe?

am i allowed to saw wrench here. i'm gonna say wrench

saying wrench is grimm's favorite accessory is actually a stretch bc it loathes wearing it, but adores wrench as a companion but if we are purely talking abt clothing here, grimm's not the sentimental sort, so it doesn't hold on to things once they're to worn nor does it worry about wearing things out. which is the boring answer

wrench is only worn as armor a handful of times in-story and in dire circumstances (that i. have not quite figured out yet <3). grimm fucking hates wearing it, hates the way it takes them back to their past, hates the way it doesn't quite fit their body anymore and hurts if they wear it too long, hates why they even have to wear it, but it's protection and a weapon in one, and they don't have many options.

i talked abt wrench a little bit when you asked abt it here, but wrench is both an artifact of grimm's past and a dear friend. as an animal companion/robot grimm does maintain wrench to an extent and it's a good dog that doesn't age like normal animals, they have a close pet/owner bond. when it comes to "wearing" it, transforming (so to speak) doesn't cause any wear and tear on wrench itself, since that is one of the purposes it was built for, but the situations in which grimm would don wrench may result in damage and there's also an element of wanting to keep wrench safe. aside from being armor, wrench can also do stuff like jam signals for short periods of time and sense heat signatures, so it does have an interest in preserving wrench for its own work and safety as well, but it's also a pet, yknow?

post-story i'm p sure grimm and yarrow would get something equivalent to married. yarrow's the romantic and the one to suggest it ofc, but grimm's like "hell, if i'm going to symbolically tie their life to someone else's it wouldn't be anyone but yarrow" and whatever sort of wedding band/necklace/wearable symbol they choose would become grimm's favorite, esp since it represents a version of themself they like being

[ambrossart]

I have trouble understanding how bullying works in Paper Man. Are the Bowers gang really a bunch of bullies or is that just their reputation?

Vic clearly doesn't like to fight, although he does when he has to, he clearly seems annoyed with all the trouble the gang brings him.

Belch the same, he seems nice and doesn't seem to fight when it's not necessary, he uses his reputation and his scary/imposing build to get people to leave him alone or get what he wants (like the burgers lol), but he doesn't seem like the type to bully (maybe I'm biased by my vision of the character).

Patricio is just carrying around his reputation as a weird guy who kills animals, so he's enjoying it, but is he actively a bully?

For Henry it is another story. We saw it the day he returned, he was ready to attack a freshman because he was dressed differently (Evelyn's legs saved the poor kid that day)

I really love your story, I jump on all the chapters as soon as they come out on Ao3, thank you for your work.

Are they bullies? I guess that depends on who you ask 😂

I think most students, especially the upperclassmen, view them as a nuisance, nothing more. Henry and his friends don't run the school. They're not popular. They have little influence over the greater student body. They're just... there, basically.

For example: Liz Mueller, a senior and the most popular girl in school, didn't even know who Henry Bowers was until she thought about it for a while, and even then he was reduced to: "The kid who always looks like he's gonna stab somebody?" Henry's not even on her radar. That's how insignificant he is.

See, Henry and his gang mostly target the underclassmen and the less popular upperclassmen (like Paul and Lenny, the geeks and the nerds). To these kids, they absolutely are bullies and they make high school really annoying, especially Henry Bowers. When he's in school, all the vulnerable students need to be on high alert. They need to watch what they say, what they do, because anything—anything—can set off Henry's temper. He's been compared to a landmine and I think that's pretty accurate. One wrong move and kiss your ass goodbye, right?

But do students spend their lives cowering in fear of him? No, because they're used to it now. This is their reality. Henry's not going anywhere. Nobody's gonna stand up to him and stop him. So all they can do is adapt and try to survive high school as best as they can. Some have even developed a sense of humor about it. They place bets against each other. They have streak records. It's almost like a game.

Now to answer your question more thoroughly, Paper Men takes place in the 1988-89 school year. The boys are a lot older now (15-17, with Patrick being the oldest), so they're starting to outgrow that schoolyard bully phase of their lives. They're less interested in bullying little kids and more interested in going to parties, drinking, dating, etc. I'll speak about each member specifically below:

— We see this the most with Belch. He's the one who seems to be trying the hardest to move on to the next stage of his life. Right now, he's working really hard to better himself. He's got a job. He has a girlfriend. He's doing everything he can to support his mom. Out of everyone, he's the most sociable (at least with his classmates), but he still slips into old habits occasionally, which is why we often see him stealing students' lunches (sorry, Donny). Basically, if he's not with Henry, Belch is an okay guy—not a saint, but not terrible—and he's very polite to all the girls. His mother would never forgive him if he wasn't.

So, yes, Belch has no interest in being a bully, at least not anymore. It's his loyalty to Henry that keeps him in the gang. Belch feels responsible for him.

— With Vic, I agree that his heart has never been in it. Bullying takes too much energy and he's tired enough as it is. Vic absolutely hates school. It's annoying and exhausting for him. He just wants to get through the day and go home. So is he violent? Not really (although he did punch Lenny Arkins in the kidney once, hard enough to make him piss blood), but he's still far from friendly. Vic is very moody and withdrawn, and he has a razor-sharp tongue. I wouldn't be surprised if some curious girls have learned that the hard way. He still has a lot of secret admirers, though. Next to Patrick, I could see him being the most popular among girls. Just saying.

Anyway, Vic had his reasons for joining the Bowers gang, sure, but we can definitely see his patience wearing thin. He has expressed this several times throughout the story. I think hanging out with Henry used to be fun for him (he speaks fondly about their past in Ch. 12, for example); perhaps it was even a little therapeutic; but now he's feeling incredibly empty and lost. Vic's deeply dissatisfied with how his life has turned out, but he doesn't really know how to change that. He's just... stuck.

— With Patrick, I wouldn't consider him a bully, and he was never really, truly, part of Henry's group either. Yeah, he hangs out with them occasionally, when they're doing something interesting, but never for very long. He just sorta comes and goes as he pleases. He also hangs out with Martin Davers and his group.

Patrick had a nasty reputation because of what he did when he was younger, but now he's mostly known for his flirtatious/lecherous behavior. Patrick prefers it that way. Very much. Right now he's trying really hard to stay under the radar. So unless Henry is doing something deliciously violent (which Patrick would never be able to resist), Patrick prefers to quietly pursue his other hobbies. Bullying little kids doesn't interest him. He has better things to do.

— Lastly with Henry, I think we all know where he stands. He's a bully through and through. He likes to pick on people smaller and weaker than him because it makes him feel powerful. It gives him control. While everyone else is growing up and moving on with their lives, Henry seems to be getting worse. It's getting harder and harder for him to control his anger. Bullying kids isn't enough anymore. Hitting people isn't enough anymore. And I think everyone knows it's only a matter of time before he snaps.

tldr; yes they're technically bullies, especially to the underclassmen, but most of them have started to outgrow this behavior.

[cascadiums]

Ooh, come back here and tell me more about Quincey never needing to be woken up (I am 80% sure I am aware of the Thing with Quincey Morris)

(under a cut because I'm talking about the end of the book so first time readers, please skip. also forgive me, I got distracted and ended up on a wider thing of what the hell is up with Quincey in general)

I first encountered the Something Is Wrong With Quincey Morris theories in university. My seminar tutor was convinced that Bram Stoker had been to the US between drafts of Dracula and something happened to make him disillusioned with the politics of the country, and so he edited Quincey Morris to be more ambiguous and less heroic. Before that I hadn't noticed Quincey was sort of weird, but once it got pointed out, I couldn't drop it, and that led me to this:

Simmons, James R. “‘If America Goes on Breeding Men Like That’: ‘Dracula’s’ Quincey Morris Problematized.” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, vol. 12, no. 4 (48), 2002, pp. 425–36.

I don't have the pdf but jstor gives you free online access to so many papers per month if anyone wants to read.

It's not the first published text on the topic, but it's the first one I read that argued Quincey is a vampire. It's a very entertaining read, it sets up all the evidence like an Agatha Christie plot and makes Quincey seem really suspicious, for reasons such as:

There is no evidence in the novel that he sleeps because he's always patrolling for bats or happens to have already got up when people go to wake him

His transfusion doesn't help Lucy

It's never explained who drugged the servants in Lucy's house right before he coincidentally appears

He fired a gun into the house, what the hell Quincey

Why the hell is a cowboy here anyway? Seems suspicious, he must be undead

For me it veers between very compelling and verging on silly, but it's definitely fun. It sort of feels like the middle ground between literary analysis and a conspiracy theory. But let's face it, there is definitely something wrong with Quincey.

So many people don't even know he's in Dracula. He barely ever makes it into adaptations despite being the man who kills the Count. Arguably, the Big Hero of Dracula. The first guy to mention vampires in Dracula. He should be iconic. Instead, even a lot of gothic lit textbooks forget he's even there. He just sort of.,, falls out of the narrative. I don't know what it is, but something about the way Quincey is written makes him lose significance. His death scene is actually really fucking interesting too! Ties in with some major symbolic themes, is really sad, and yet doesn't make much impact outside of the text. Something is Weird with him.

Some of the theories I've seen include him being a double agent and he's Dracula's real assistant (I guess Renfield is just the distraction?), he's undead, he's a werewolf (okay, I can't find any evidence of this one now but unless it was a weird dream, I swear I read it somewhere), and that he's the result of a passive aggressive character assassination of the US by Bram Stoker because he fell out of love with the notion of cowboys.

I have to confess, I am obsessed with all these theories. I don't really think most of them work, but I am obsessed with them regardless. Because whatever is going on, Quincey Morris is an Outsider. He's like the Count and Van Helsing but in some ways moreso. They get so much more dialogue than him to give you an idea of their mindset, so however separated from the other characters they are, the reader can access them. But Quincey is laconic. His past is ambiguous, his necessity to the plot is apparently debatable, and his actions are kind of baffling. The story treats him very strangely, and theories like that try to bridge the gap.

I don't know, I guess this is sort of reader-response theory? For me it's less about the content of the theories and more about the existence of the theories. Something Is Wrong With Quincey Morris is evidence of some weird stuff going on in the text with the narrative not knowing how to treat him. The novel simulated a battle between historic Europe and modern Britain, and somehow America won, which nobody realised was an option and so the whole thing folded in on itself and erased the cowboy from our collective consciousness.

[magnuficent76]

Uuuh hiiiii for the oc asks!!!!! So, how old, best memories, hobbies and gender+sexualitt for uuuuh Archer Mary and Luis but you can do more. Or less. Or pick and choose. Have fun!!!

[ From this ask meme ! ]

HIIII !!!!! OKAYSSSS :] !!! tysm for the QUESTIONS !!!

🌼 How old are they ? [Or approximate age range]

🎹 Do they have any hobbies ?

❤️ What is one of your oc's best memories ?

💚 What is your Oc's gender identity and sexuality ?

[-> Archer

🌼 Caede Tales characters give me a tricky time to answer this, because the story is told over the course of their entire lives, but by the time the story really starts going (Aka, Archer is joining Maliwan), he's about 29 while Joey is 25 !

And for the last time he's seen, he's around 40 something.

🎹 No <3 [/hj] But for a serious answer ! Archer isn't someone who has a lot of hobbies, he's usually too busy with work to really have his attention dispersed, but when he is stationary for a certain amount of time and work slows down, he likes writing poems in post-it notes and then bringing them home to collage em together. He says it's just to make time pass faster, but he does genuinely enjoy writing and reading. Otherwise, he's usually just working.

❤️ One time, when Archer was a kid– no older than 13– he and Jonah were out and about for a little mission with their dad, but they couldn't go back home right away, so they had to sleep on a tent outside. Their dad fell asleep pretty fast, so for most of that time they were together, playing and talking and trying to tire themselves out. They eventually got to lying down, and seeing the stars so clearly above them, with only the other brother to keep them company now, was really kind of a foundational experience. They both promised that no matter what, at some point, they would make it to those stars, and they'd both shine just as brightly for other kids in Pandora to marvel at, so maybe a few of them gets inspired to change the world too.

But you know, silly childhood dreams.

💚 "WHAT? [Clearing throat] I mean. I don't know what either of these mean, so who the hell are you to ask that? Both of those sound like very private business, if I had to guess, so I won't be taking further questions. Get out of my office." [He is NOT Cishet that's for sure]

[-> Maria

🌼 Maria is about 54! She ages very gracefully in the sense she's happy about growing old, since so many people in the planet don't get that luxury most of the time. She dies at about 71, not long after Lucio, but at least she didn't die alone like he did.

🎹 Oh Maria has plenty of hobbies, that you can be sure ! Gardening, weaving, playing violin (usually with her kids), cooking, anything to keep the hands busy and the brain focused in a task. It's not wise to leave yourself unoccupied when your head is full of thoughts Constantly, and Maria is all too familiar with it. Thankfully there's always something that needs doing in the house and in the town in general !

❤️ One of the most special memories in Maria's life is getting to escape her old clan, leaving with Lucio in this special, once in a lifetime romance with someone she was sure would bring her happiness, seeing the world she used to know expand its borders so much farther than she thought they could... it was a weird adaptation, but it felt like her life actually had purpose now, that she would get to help people elsewhere, and bring some good to the otherwise very violent wasteland she called home. It was a choice for certain, and one she never regretted.

💚 "Oh, I don't know much about that... I don't know many of the terms! Is there some kind of guide? I figure I could tell you better if there was!" [Cis Biromantic !]

[-> Luis

🌼 In a quantifiable, human-adjacent age ? He's been stuck in his 30's for a while. In actuality ? About 3 Million and some, but in this reincarnation he's around 328.

🎹 Working out, and anything that includes moving his body (Parkour, hiking, running, you name it). Luis is the kind of guy who hikes the everest without any gear and then returns home a month after like "wow, that was refreshing". He's extremist and won't hesitate to remind you several times by running around in the woods in the dark for fun. Otherwise he usually either cooks or plays videogames with his housemates.

❤️ <3 That's A Spoiler And I Won't Tell You <3

💚 "Who's askin', the pride police? Unless we're gettin' to business you ain't gotta know." [Bisexual and Cis... Probably.]

[vivilove-jonsa]

Hello,

Since you've published a book I was wondering if I may ask a couple question?

Does it feel different from writing fanfictions?

Do you find your self relating to GRRM's pace of writing like the long years between books?

How did you like your covers for your original works? Did it take long to pick out?

This is just crack question but any chance there's a minor red headed character with her dark haired partner? You know as a little Easter egg jk. But in all seriousness we always knew you could sell your works and I'm glad you took the chance!

Hello!

Wow, I'm flattered that you want to know this stuff so thank you for asking! I'll happily answer each one below the cut :)

Does it feel different from writing fanfictions?

Yes. The joy of writing is still very much with me but there's some major differences and things I've had to adapt to when looking to sell books as an unknown author versus writing fanfic for a pairing that people are seeking out. The biggest is the wait for validation. Can't post a chapter of an idea, see how people respond and start crafting a story from there. You write the whole damn novel with little to no input from anyone else and then put it out there for critique before publishing.

It may sound weird but I've found more freedom writing original works in some ways and more restrictions in others.

The restrictions involve more planning, outlining and plotting. I have to stay on track instead of indulging in Side-Character B's backstory or a secondary romance, etc. Also, I would hop from genre to genre with my AUs and, while there are authors doing that I'm sure, it's not a safe bet for a newbie looking to make money. So, I found a niche in contemporary romance that I enjoy reading and writing and I dove in. I'll probably tackle another niche with a new pen once I've got ten or so books under my belt with the current pen name to try it out.

The freedoms involve making my characters whoever they tell me they are. No one will scream 'that's OCC!' because these are my characters. There's no trappings of canon or expectations in that sense either although romance readers tend to have favored tropes, etc and they expect you to stick to the 'formula of romance.' Also, I miss talking fic with other writers and fans of my Jonsa works as there's more distance between me as an author and people who read my books. Don't get me wrong, I love interacting with some of them who have reached out but the gap is there and it can feel lonelier.

Do you find yourself relating to GRRM's pace of writing like the long years between books?

No, lol. This is a side hustle for me but a romance writer would starve going at his pace unless you had that miracle hit right off the bat (which is soooooo rare) and even then you need to keep producing product to keep from becoming obsolete. I started my first novel February 1st last year. I will have FIVE completed by February 1st of this year. I'm shooting to average a book every 3 months this year at least. It takes me roughly six to eight weeks to write it and the remaining time goes into editing, formatting and submitting for ARC reviews. Quality AND quantity are the name of the game to earn money. In GRRM's defense though, my books average 75k words and one of those five was a novella at 40k words. And my books are romance centering on two individuals which are far less complicated to tell than his enormous fantasy opus with a cast of hundreds.

How did you like your covers for your original works? Did it take long to pick out?

Yes, I love them! The cover of your book is the single most important part of your passive marketing and you want your book to be as to-market as possible to attract readers in your genre and niche. My niche involves hot guys in suits on the covers and my dear friend made them for me except one which I paid a graphic artist $75 to do an illustrated cover for. Anyway, we would tinker and talk about the color or font, the placement of the title, etc. but, for me at least, this was a simple process. Some self-published folks spend far more time working on theirs or might pay hundreds of dollars on them but mine seem to draw eyes just fine. Maybe once I'm making bank more steadily I'll consider farming this out to a pro.

Any chance there's a minor red headed character with her dark haired partner?

Absolutely!! In fact, my first book includes a pairing that looks suspiciously like Jonsa (I changed the eye color for her and gave him Kit's brown eyes though). Partly, that's because the original idea for the book was going to be a Jonsa story until I decided to switch gears. My third book has a guy that fits Jon's description and my novella includes elements of Sansa's love of songs and such in the female lead. It's fun to have bits of the characters I love in my books even when they're my own creations.

Thanks so much for this delicious ask! Lots of fun to answer <3

[fuckyeaharthuriana]

The Winter King episode 1

First of all I need to add this small warning premise: I read Bernard Cornwell's novels so far ago, and I have been too in the grasp of my adhd to be able to focus on much, so rereading them would be impossible for me at the moment.

I guess this means I will talk about the show from a "ignorant" perspective, without talking too much about the differences between the novel and the actual show. I will judge it for what it is, ignoring that it is part of an adaptation.

Still, I remember a little, so I can confirm that the show starts the same way. Arthur is a bastard, when his father accuses him of having caused the heir's death, he is exiled, thanks to Merlin's intervention. There is also Arthur's sister (no name yet) who pleaded for mercy. Arthur saves a young Derfel and then we are jumped in a timeskip.

The rest of the episode sees some vague establishing of what "the gods" are and Avalon is. It is not clear at all, just the usual "we follow the GODS" (which gods?? who knows). Derfel is not a young adult, and he is in love with Nimue - who suddenly has to choose between the gods and that guy.

It is all very dramatic, she cannot "deny her past", but given we had known these characters for less than 20 minutes, it all falls flat. The episode RUNS, runs like the wind, trying to introduce all the possible plots around Derfel. I barely had the time to breath and understand what main plot the episode was trying to establish, the truth being that I still don't know.

I fully believe it would have simply been better to start directly with Derfel, sees him as a kid, let us know him in the classic way "past-family-what he went through" and then see Arthur save him, and introduce his conflict between wanting to stay at Avalon and wanting to be a warrior, just like Arthur.

The plot instead rolls and rolls - suddenly Queen Norwenna is in labour, Merlin and Morgana rush to her side - and for some reason they ask Derfel to come for the extra help (what extra help is not clear). Merlin has a horrible vision of the future when he holds the baby. Uther is happy to have a new son, but Merlin warns him that the child has a twisted foot and a twisted nature (?? the need to offer both at the same time... weird, very weird). Merlin says he saw the end of the whole of Britan in this kid, but Uther ignores him and cuddles the baby.

I know we are supposed to root for Merlin, and see that Uther is foolish for accepting this baby and not Arthur, his other son, but the truth is - the baby is a baby. I don't think the tv show convey the danger, or managed to get me on the side of Merlin because that baby is so SMALL? and innocent? And the show is so fast we never had the chance to trust Merlin, to see him struggle or actually care for Britain, we do not know much of what he cares for (the vague gods).

Suddenly - so fast - Merlin leaves for Arthur, and Derfel says he is gonna stay there while Nimue goes to Avalon. Derfel found a job (in the span of a night?? few days??) and decided (after a nightmare/flashback) to want to become a warrior. The sad music almost made me laugh, I have to be honest, while looking at Derfel leave Nimue behind, as the show spends zero attempts in trying to making us invested in their relationship.

Also I cannot really judge actors, I am not that good at catching who is a good actor or not, but I could barely hear what Nimue was saying, she always seemed almost drunk.

Luckily, among all characters, Derfel seemed to have the best actor to be able to do quite a lot with little. He had a boyish naive quality that made me believe he DID find work overnight, and he did decide to become a warrior just because Arthur told him. I will definitely try to continue watching, as I am curious to see how they are going to make this Derfel into the Derfel I vaguely remember form the books.

Other positive comments I have for the show would mainly be about how well it convey the arthurian feelings of a historial novel like Bernard Cornwell's. I cannot speak about how historically accurate the clothes, weapons and buildings are, but for an untrained eye like mine they all did a lot to world-build, to give me the idea of a prosperous kingdom on the verge of wars.

[vro0m-but-not-cars]

Okay @sweatyflytrap asked for my final opinion on the one piece live action and I have a lot of things to say as always so I'm making a post.

Light, unspecific spoilers, but well.

First of all it's not bad. But also it's not good. I don't feel excited about it, but I didn't have as much of a hard time watching it than I thought. Except the first episode. I spent the first episode messaging all my friends about how ugly it looked.

About the story adaptation :

Some changes they made I understand, because the East Blue Saga is overall pretty rough in terms of rhythm and also kinda unthetered to how the story develops later on. Of course, it's very important and necessary as far as world building and putting the crew together go, but none of the more long term plotlines are there yet, or at least you don't know that they are, and that doesn't really work with live action tv shows or it makes them look like sitcoms. They had to introduce some more middle- long- term stuff to let people see that there are bigger things happening that are worth keeping up with the series. But it feels kinda weird when you've been reading and watching the manga and anime for fucking ever. Spoils some stuff that were big moments in the original story. But again : understandable.

Some other changes I just. Don't. What. Some were weird, some confused me, some were uncalled for and honestly kinda pissed me off (re: Usopp, iykyk).

One thing I was happy about is that there is, just like in the manga, some clever, more or less obvious, foreshadowing. Well played.

About the characters :

I saw a lot of people being very happy about the cast, I... Have doubts. I'm kinda sad some of them lose important character design aspects although I understand it would have been difficult to make them look like they're drawn. Usopp without his long nose is ??? I mean it's inherent to who he is so taking that away takes away from his characterisation for me. Also is Sanji really Sanji without the curly eyebrows? I like Nami, I think she's played by a good actress as well. She's the one who felt the more solid to me. Zoro looks okay, I kinda hate how they turned him into some edgy vocal-fried annoyed teenager but well. Hopefully he'll gain more depth as we go. Hopefully they all do. We've barely seen them yet.

Now Luffy... I mean it's tricky, obviously. I just don't understand his character in the LA tbh because he's supposed to be super naive and carefree and not very smart, and sometimes he is, and at other times he says elaborate things that don't match up. Seeing him more or less seriously plan and strategise at times is intensely OOC and really took me out of it. Also it would always have been difficult to translate in LA but I find his smile very sinister at times. Overall, because he's sometimes smarter than he's supposed to be and because of that smile, you get the idea that he's acting stupider than he actually is and it gives the impression he's more calculated and manipulative than happy-go-lucky. I can't really read him well. He feels weird.

And I sure hope they get a better wig and lenses budget in the future but seeing how the Witcher characters look in their third or whatever season I highly doubt it. Seeing them with shitty synthetic dry AF hair really really takes me out of it. I cannot possibly take Shanks seriously when that's what he looks like. Don't even get me started on Mihawk. Also I've posted about this before but why in hell did they turned tall glass of water future daddy Ben Beckmann into a short jowly pot-bellied 50yo? I'm sad. AND don't try to convice me that Alvida is ugly because what the hell. Please take me on a date, I will definitely tell you you're beautiful. Also not a problem but why the fuck is Garp Welsh?

Another issue I have discussed with friends is Sanji's characterisation. Obvi they couldn't make him as creepy as he is in the manga and anime where he's straight-up harassing women but this very central aspect of his personality is almost completely lost in the LA which makes him seem very weird. It makes it difficult to understand how he acts towards Nami at times, when they're supposed to be one of the most well-matched duos in the crew. In parallel, LA Zoro and Nami have sexual tension for zero reason. Their chemistry works much better than Nami and Sanji's at this point. It's fixable in the next seasons but in this one it's kinda weird when you know their characters.

About the production :

Okay so one thing I will say without any further "but" is that Sanji's and especially Zoro's fighting scenes look very good. They're well choregraphed, and badass, and dynamic.

Luffy's fighting scenes are bad though. The gomu gomu fruit abilities look bad. He barely uses them most of the time (I guess it's costly and difficult to create visually). He looks weak, and slow. The rhythm is terrible. Also it's difficult to see him sometimes use gomu gomu to be rubbery and thus fully flexible and sometimes see the actual actor jump and bend like a more or less normal person, thus lacking the elasticity Luffy is supposed to have. It's like sometimes the rubber ability is activated and sometimes not and he just becomes a normal human being. I fully understand that it's not realistic to half animate him all the time to make it fit but again, it was very noticeable to me.

I also struggle with the overall vibe of the LA. Some things feel overly childish, like all the discourse around dreams etc. It is there in OP though, it is generally key in shōnen, no problem. But at the same time, it's quite violent and sinister at times. Buggy is scary af, he feels incredibly creepy. Which is also fine, the OP world is violent and weird. But it doesn't look that violent and weird when it's drawn. The juxtaposition of the child-like, naive, idealistic themes and the creepiness is a bit confusing to me. I'm trying to think who's the target for this aside from the obvious OP fans. It seems a bit too grotesque for children, and it feels a bit too "✨the power of friendship✨" for teens and adults. But well. It was the case in the manga as well initally and it got darker and more serious with time so whatever, I'll reserve judgement.

Conclusion :

I still don't know what to think because I started with loads of questions and now I just have even more. Mostly about how they intend to adapt the rest of it. Are they gonna buy their wigs and lenses elsewhere than Claire's? What the fuck is Chopper gonna look like? What about Brooks? Are they gonna make Ace and Law ugly as well? Because if so I might burn Netflix's headquarters for ruining them for me. Is Luffy gonna get better at fighting or do they intend for Zoro and Sanji to do most of the work forever? Is Bon Clay gonna be extremely offensive or are they somehow gonna manage to make him tasteful without ruining him? Is he gonna be there at all? I mean I could go on and on.

Anyway, as I was saying it's not bad, but it's not good. I think it works much better for people who haven't seen or read OP yet.

[thethistlegirlwrites]

WIP Questionnaire

Thanks for the open tag, @verba-writing !

I'll do these for Thief of Hearts since it's my Camp Nano April WIP!

What was the first part of your wip that you created?

So, fun story, I actually came up with the base premise of this idea almost 10 years ago. My freshman year of college (2014-15, *gasp*) my roommate and I binge watched Criminal Minds, and we got through episode 3.02 and my brain apparently decided to take 'what if stealing hearts was a little more metaphorical than this but more literal than the usual meaning', wrote down a title and tagline, then forgot it for the next nine years until I found it while spring cleaning my Google drive.

If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

I want to say "Jar of Hearts" by Christina Perri just because it's too good to pass up how specifically it works, but I also think "Things that Stop You Dreaming" by Passenger really fits the whole world of the story really well, so either of those two.

Who are your favourite characters you've made? Why?

For this story? Definitely Emmett and Rory. Making me choose between them would be like making me choose a favorite child. They're both delightfully flawed, morally grey, and just trying to make it in a city that kind of wants to kill them. Emmett has a knack for making the worst possible decisions without realizing that's what he's doing, Rory is ruthless and probably would have been described as heartless BEFORE Emmett actually stole her heart, and they've just generally been very fun to throw together, force to work on the same side, and watch the sparks (and occasional knife) fly.

What other pieces of media do you think would share a fan base for your story?

I think oddly enough this one is going to appeal to dystopia lovers as much or more than pure fantasy readers. I just read a Korean YA novel in translation, Snowglobe, that basically was an inverted version of the perpetual winter city in TOH, and really felt like that was a fairly close comparative story. Aside from that, I'm not really sure. I like a plethora of weird things that shouldn't go together so I'm not sure at all of what a shared fan base looks like. I'm always cobbling together my projects out of bizarre combinations of inspiration sources and I have zero idea where they will land or what will be a hit with anyone besides me and the few people who get to listen to me bemoan the writing process and read the chaotic early drafts.

What has been your biggest struggle with your wip?

Timing of the plotline. I've been constantly changing when things happen because all the action is crammed into a 48 hour window but ironically that's turned out to be MORE time than I know what to do with given the pace the plot needs to have, so I'm finding ways to flesh things out and frustrate some of the characters' plans so that it's not all over TOO fast.

Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

Rory has a pet magical pigeon named Blizzard. He's been affected by the magic that floods the city of Rime, and while he's adapted to endure the extreme cold and see in the perpetual dark, he's nearly flightless because of one wing that is more or less just a warped stub. He's going to be fun to flesh out as a part of the story, and he's sort of Rory's answering service when she's out making a messenger delivery, since people can leave messages they want sent in a little pouch he wears on his back while he's on duty. It would be nearly impossible to have more than one generation of animal in the city without them mutating because of the magic, so most people don't even bother. Small animals that pose minimal risk if their descendants develop magical powers or strange features like foot-long fangs are the only regularly kept animals in Rime, and since most people can't afford to feed themselves and a pet, there's very few domesticated creatures at all.

How do your characters get around? (ex: trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

Mostly on foot, or by ship if they're leaving the city by the port. Keeping large animals in Rime would be costly and that's prohibitive for most people, and the large animals that can manage the winters are mostly the local caribou population, which have been affected by the magic much like Rory's pigeon. Someone might be able to ride them, but it also might end very badly.

What part of your wip are you working on rn?

Drafting. I've gotten the main plot points knocked out, but I'm filling in the gaps and trying to plot a daring rescue right along with my characters, so that's fun. Mostly I'm just following them around with a clipboard and pencil trying to take notes and keep up and getting whiplash from watching them argue about any and everything.

What aspects (tropes, maybe?) of your wip do you think will draw people in?

I'm hoping the worldbuilding is a big draw because that's always the part of a project I go crazy with. I hope people find the idea of a magic-warded permanently winter city where daylight is basically a version of the northern lights appealing enough to be curious. My other big draw is the characters, because I personally love them very much and I hope other people do too. I do have a few fun tropes but a lot of them are skewed slightly to the side, like the kind of chaotic enemies-to-coparents arc and sharing body warmth but also half convinced the other person will kill you when you fall asleep.

What are your hopes for your wip?

Honestly, just that people get to enjoy it and fall in love with the characters the way I did. I would genuinely love to log onto Tumblr and see that someone had made fan art of them, or a moodboard, or to realize a fic category had appeared on AO3 (one of my draft beta readers @nade2308 already wrote a soft cute slice-of-life future fic after bingereading what there was of the draft to see, and I'm genuinely just floored and gleeful about that fact). I'm also sort of lurking like a gremlin ready to watch people lose it over my 'strong female character' choosing to parent a child as the culmination of her arc. Yes, Rory can kill you about ten ways but one of those is to mom you to death. And like the menace I am (and having seen the discourse on Tumblr) I am doing the evil hand rubbing waiting for the response to that one...

No pressure tagging @catwings-writes-things , @nade2308writes, @telltaleclerk, @the-one-and-only-valkyrie, @imbrisvastatio and anyone else who wants to hop on the train for this one!

Questions are:

1. What was the first part of your wip that you created?

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

3. Who are your favourite characters you've made? Why?

4. What other pieces of media do you think would share a fan base for your story?

5. What has been your biggest struggle with your wip?

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

7. How do your characters get around? (ex: trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

8. What part of your wip are you working on rn?

9. What aspects (tropes, maybe?) of your wip do you think will draw people in?

10. What are your hopes for your wip?

[sleepynegress]

If you finish the Kindred series, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts. I have finished the first 5 episodes and am massively disappointed so far. It doesn't seem to do the novel justice. I wanted to get more of the perspective of the enslaved people and Dana's introspection. I didn't mind the modern setting, but I didn't like that Kevin and Dana were no longer a married couple with shared intimacy and history. I recall a scene from the novel where Kevin says something along the lines of the conditions of the enslaved people not seeming as bad as he would have imagined and the ensuing tension that caused between the two. It seems like Octavia Butler's fantastic material has gone to waste. I can only hope future adaptations of her work are better.

It really felt like the producer set out to translate or make the material more understandable/digestable to a viewing audience, which came off to me as dumbing it down...(which is always a mistake, or the reason why animated movies for kids written to grow w/ you instead of being written down "to kids" end up being classics) Because that's literally what he did... And now, the logic, which was so tight in the novel (Butler was notorious in keeping the plot tight) suffers in the series. Now... It gets spoiler-filled and yelly... apologies, ahead of time. The connection/audience investment the producer sought, was already there in the growth & connections of the characters, right along w/ the readers being in Dana's gaze in her empathy and helplessness in trying to help people in a futile and spectacularly soul-destroying system (HOW DID THE PRODUCER NOT GET THAT?!). The fact that the centered characters Dana interacts w/ most, start out as children and we watch them grow to adults; shift and get shaped in that hellscape of systemic slavery IS THE DAMN HOOK!! The characters (Rufus, Alice, Nigel, Sarah...and even Kevin being there so long....) is all he needed and that's where his focus should have been.

Instead he tried to answer questions nobody asked and ended up creating more questions...i.e. He tried to explain the time travel with some kind of generational power by adding Dana's mom to the plantation. But that doesn't make sense because you're telling me Dana's mom never felt her life threatened ON A SOUTHERN PLANTATION for over ten years... You're also telling me she materialized there SLAVE PASS-LESS and somehow ended up being free...itsjustnotrealistic.gif!!! Kevin and she just had a vague connection via ride home/Tinder hook-up in this Hulu iteration, and you mean to tell me he stuck around through all the weird yelling and dematerialization?!! THERE IS A REASON why Butler had them married and that investment being believable is a big one!!! I mean, sure whiteness lends a kind of reckless curiousity but NOT THAT MUCH, DAMN!

Now that the producer added the complication of the mom going forward in time after touching her BUT ENDING UP SOMEWHERE ELSE (a thing that really happens in this show lolwtf?!), that big life-changing ending for Dana, won't make sense. All of the connections w/ the enslaved characters don't feel substantial enough, because this man wanted to spend time *fixing* the fucking time mechanics instead...Nobody cares why the zombies are zombies in Night of the Living Dead!! They care about the characters, their connections, and how they survived or didn't.

Also! Kevin not being a history teacher made them more bumbling than believable to other characters in that space, and his lack of anything beyond that tentative first surface connection to Dana makes him being left less tragic and investable... and how Dana acts toward him REALLY STUPID in that era!!

*sigh* That said...I thought the casting, effects, and that spare synth track was okay.... The writing and plotting/direction just sloppified, what Octavia Butler made *incredibly* tight. It should have been a limited series focused *hard* on watching these characters change and devolve because of the system they existed in. Not a mystery about why this family has time travel powers. The producer really couldn't see the forest for the trees. I'm just... How did he mess this up?? It was so easy to get this right, if he actually liked the fucking novel. *smh*

[9w1ft]

Hi, 9wing. This is a bit of a weird ask so I'm sorry, I'm at my wits' end...

Do you have any advice or words for someone who's just unlucky? For the past several years, nothing in my life is going right. I work hard and sincerely, my resume is very polished and my grades are excellent, I've always been a top student. Yet none of the job offers I get are good, I'm not happy with my current job since no one respects me there, I'm not even getting to go to the university of my dreams, I'm having to settle for something less because of my financial conditions. Yet I see my peers going to better places.

I try to be grateful, I try to see the bright side, I try to manage my expectations despite my ambitious side, I try to adapt. But is it too much to ask my destiny for at least one good thing to happen in my favor?

I'm worried about my future. I'm heartbroken about the possibility of my years of hard work, dedication and capability go to waste. I don't know why my prayers aren't heard, it's as if I'm not just destined for greater things in spite of my best efforts.

oh anon, i’m so sorry you’re having a rough patch.

i remember when i was applying for universities and when i applied for my first long term job as well. i didn’t get what i wanted either time and each rejection hurt so much.. and i remember feeling this overwhelming sense of inadequacy, and many years of seeing my peers seemingly pass me.

but if i look back on my life so far and what i might tell 18 year old me is that, the path you take will bring things (people and experiences) your way that one day you will become so grateful for and wouldn’t want to exchange for the world.

for if i had gotten into or gone to a different college, i wouldn’t have met the love of my life. if i hadn’t gotten that first job, as stressful as it was, i may not have had my children or, i may have had different children as they would have come at a different time. these are easy examples i think. but also like, i finally understood taylor’s music after being reintroduced to it at an incredibly weak moment in my life, when it buoyed me, and curiosity pulled me in. and in turn that opened my mind up to see the world in a whole new way, and opened up so many wells of energy and creativity that i didn’t know i had in me. all the things i thought were misfires at the time brought me here and have made me me and i would not take a single thing back now.

in other words, you may not have secured the next steps that you were setting out to achieve, but you have secured more time for life. know that even so time goes on, and this season of life for you will bring new opportunities your way just as any other path would have, and some of them will shape you in ways you will never regret. time will help you out even if you don’t see how now. so keep your heart open and recognize that these experiences are yours and they are making you you!

also a sidenote, feelings of not being valued at work are the worst and it can be stressful when you feel that you cannot leave that situation. definitely talk through your situation with friends and family or career counselors even, and allow yourself to vocalize your frustrations. putting it into words helps a lot to frame your thoughts and feel more secure in your read of your situation.

there’s a saying in japanese called ishi no ue ni mo san nen which translates to something like “give it 3 years even atop a rock” and it means that even the coldest stone warms up if you sit on it long enough. i think it’s easy to say get a new job! but life sometimes isn’t that simple. if you don’t think you can make moves, just rest assured that changes to even the chilliest environments can come with time.

[struggle-but-its-all-ocean-floor]

Am i the only one left who stlll hasn’t get used to Seven? I swear I try to like it but it just doesn’t work for me I keep skipping it after 30 sec of so when it comes up in my playlist.. it feels so weird because I’ve always liked Jungkook’s solo songs but this one I just can’t. usually when I don’t like a song after a while I get used to it and can even enjoy it, you know with some songs it takes a bit of time to warm up to it. I really wish I could like it.. I see how happy Jungkook is about the song and I feel a bit bad for not supporting him. it’s not that deep just a matter of taste but still, I love him and it’s a bummer I don’t like this era :/

I get you! Tbh, I used to skip Euphoria and L&R and only got used to them recently after helping stream Jungkook to 1B on Spotify lmao. I do like Seven, and would like it a lot more if it didn't have the parts I don't like haha. Between Jungkook's talent and the instrumental, it had so much potential. It's frustrating how bad I find the execution, but the song itself is honestly the least of it. I relate to how you feel seeing Jungkook so happy but not understanding why he's so happy about the song. I feel a bit bad for constantly dissing this era, but just like Jungkook does what he wants, we can do what we want and feel how we feel. This era was disappointing, but tbh I'm not disappointed anymore. I've adapted and like it for what it is and achieved now - not because my thoughts about any of it have changed, but because overall I accept the positives and try to ignore the negatives, despite what you may read haha. It didn't make me love Jungkook more or less, or look forward to his career though, which is sad... If anything, it lowered my expectations. I don't expect his album or solo career to match my past expectations in any way now.

I'm sure a lot of Armys feel like you and can't get used to the song! That happens a lot with me!

Thanks for the ask!

[thaumatology]

7 ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)

Putting this under a read more partly cause it does get a little more serious on nsfw topics than I normally get on here, but mostly cause it ended up really long.

Generally speaking Colin is in favor of sex, but the actual nuances of his relationship with it get a little complicated stemming from several different points.

Point the first: Colin's sex drive is pretty adaptable. When single or with a partner who isn't often interested in sex, He can (and does) generally go without for quite long periods of time without really hurting over it, though he will mostly accept when it's offered. When in a relationship with someone who has a higher sex drive, his usually speeds up to match, and he initiates a lot more frequently. Part if this is due to point two that I'll get to in a bit. These changes do take time though, and especially when he has just come out of a sexually intense relationship he will have trouble adjusting for a little while.

Point the second: He generally prioritizes his partners pleasure a little bit over his own, especially when its an ongoing thing . this is partly a trauma thing, as a result of his subconscious feeling that he is slightly less of a person than everyone else, but mostly its just because he enjoys making people he likes feel good.

Point the third: He has commitment issues. these largely stem from the same "less of a person" feeling making him feel like he's not really an ideal choice for his partner and that if they spend too much attention on him its a waste of their time. This can be overcome by someone who is very clear or intense about the fact that no, they really do want him, but he never actually asks for that so usually it doesn't happen and so he ends up being sort of evasive around the idea of serious commitment until the relationship falls apart. One result of this is that he's very casual about sex, because if he wasn't he wouldn't be having that much, and also because its a band aid to thinking about why his more serious relationships never end up working out.

Point the fourth: He has a lot of little rules about who he has sex with and under what circumstances. These stem from various reasons, and usually aren't followed that well regardless, but they do add an additional wrinkle into trying to fuck him. Examples are things like 'don't have sex with a client you're currently working for cause that's unprofessional' 'avoid having sex with vampires because it always ends with them drinking your blood and that makes things messy because your blood can be addictive' and so on.

Point the fifth: I've mentioned this throughout this post, but really a lot of his behavior is colored by his past trauma. One of those ways is that it gave him simultaneously an inherent distrust of authority figures and a completely conflicting unfulfilled need for expressions of approval from perceived authority figures. This is a large part of the reason for his submissive tendencies, because the bedroom is where he can actually feel feel comfortable letting someone order him around and tell him he's doing a good job without his natural suspicion ruining it for him.

TLDR: He's a little screwed up in the head and has a lot of feelings about sex because of that, and this isn't even getting into his weird and often unhealthy for him preferences in partners.