#and i could just!! write meta for ALL the things im into!! since im no longer latched onto dsmp the way i once was

[g0nta-g0kuhara]

holy shit finally someone else who doesnt want a dr4!!/pos

i always feel like people totally miss the point of v3 when they say that. not to say its not fair to want the series to continue bc you love and enjoy it n want more or whatnot, but narratively... god it kinda just destroys everything v3 worked up to.

tho i guess you could make a counterargument that continuing the series invalidates v3 gang's suffering and makes all their effort nothing and despair etc etc but i think its a perfect conclusion even with how open-ended it is!

also i love your analysis, it wrapped up everything i was thinking so concisely!!

It was so weird, I half-joked about wanting a DR4 all throughout playing v3 because I was having so much fun and didn't want it to end (plus being around for theorizing and initial hype mustve been Amazing for long-time fans). But straight up halfway through That Part of trial 6, I think when Shuichi was fighting against Kiibo as the audience's surrogate who didn't want v3 to end, it clicked in my mind that I didn't want another game. V3 was perfect enough ESPECIALLY with how they set up this ending

I love how open ended V3's ending is, and I'd be very happy to not ever get another dr game. I 100% agree that another game would cheapen one of the strongest parts of V3's ending

[itssideria]

okay what would you guys say if i completely revamped this blog and became like. multifandom (with lots of dsmpposting still!!!)

[todayisafridaynight]

YIPPEEEEEE I'M SOSOSOSO EXCITED FOR THE FIC I'm glad it sounds like you've had a pretty good day, it's well-deserved! :] I love Barbie aesthetically... I love Meta Knight...

OH BUT YEAH this was actually my third time watching The Deer King but it is JUST as good as the first... As I've Said I really love Tsutsumi's character and his little daughter and how their relationship progresses [Top Ten Most Doting Fathers Every Other Scene Makes Me Violently Clutch Whatever I Can Get My Hands On], BUT ASIDE FROM THAT the cast as a whole is very enjoyable!

Although it's a novel adaptation, it's also really intuitive to understand the setting and lore thanks to its decision to put personal conflicts in the foreground while the politics and major themes develop in the background, on top of some pretty well-utilized exposition and the movie's strong visual storytelling/direction/editing.

Visually It's Stunning, there isn't a single frame that's not SEAMLESS, but what stands out to me consistently throughout every scene is definitely how much weight there is to every movement [like The Physics Are Off The Charts, but it's also exaggerated to emphasize things in the way only animation can], and how strong the character "acting" is.

OVERALL. MAGNIFIQUE. I do Highly Recommend checking it out if you were interested :] Tsutsumi's character isn't the type to talk much but y'know... proud of him...

DON'T BE EXCITED YOU'RE SETTING YOURSELF UP FOR DISAPPOINTMENT but if i release it any time soon.. i hope you find some enjoyment from it.. but omg meta knight :)

THREE TIMES WATCHING well now i have to watch it if you've watched it three times: it MUST be worth its salt then.. 👁️👁️

[burr-ell]

Ppl are so fucking weird about narrative meta and it's solely bc it doesn't cater to ships. The ship isn't the center of the narrative and therefore when we talk abt the story in broad strokes they take any neutral writing observation and treat it like bitter screeing and crazy hate even though frankly speaking I don't think pointing out patterns is emotionally charged

So this ask is almost a year old and I am VERY sorry to the anon who sent it, but it's also interesting to me to consider how things have changed in that time. I got this a couple weeks after Imogen/Laudna became canon and I had been subject to some stan harassment because I disliked it, and after a bit of conversation about the whole thing I just shrugged and moved on. And yet for a not-insignificant portion of the ship's fandom, it feels as though everything that has happened between Imogen and Laudna since then has been just...quietly ignored. (I distinctly recall one of the hateful anons I received lecturing me about how "Im*dna is the heart of the campaign", and uh...how you doin these days, bud?)

Like, I've very recently blocked the majority of loud stan voices on Twitter, but it's telling to me that so many people proclaim to be these deranged fanatics about the ship and yet hardly acknowledge anything that's happened. And it could be that it's because prior to episode 89 nothing interesting had happened, but they still had moments; they had that dance on the pirate ship and the lap pillow and the comforting after the shard incident. But you'd hardly even know those moments happened—everyone's pfp is still a screenshot of Laura from episode 65, the bios all still read #IMOGENTEMULT: "can i kiss you?", and all the fanart is generic hugs or kisses and the occasional buff cowboy Imogen with damsel Laudna. So many emoji combinations include the ring when it's been referenced more often out of game than in it!

And meanwhile, the people who were vocally critical of the ship—many of whom, I think it bears observing, are queer women, women of color, neurodivergent women, or some combination thereof—have been having the time of our lives ever since 3x89 and especially 3x95. We've been asking for conflict the whole time and finally got it and surprise! We're enjoying ourselves! I think you'd be hard-pressed to find someone in this corner who's turned into a classic OTP-type shipper, but we're engaging with this narrative and are interested in where it goes because it finally gave us something to do. We're also focused on everything else in the campaign, because it has an intriguing plot, an engaging villain, fun worldbuilding, and five other interesting protagonists.

If you got into the campaign because you wanted to watch a good story, you may have had trouble in the beginning, but if you stuck it out you're probably having a good time vibing with the moon. But if you got into this campaign because you thought the most important thing in the world was making sure Imogen and Laudna end up in their skinnyass white girl cottage baking cookies and shopping for Zhudanna and exchanging the uwu softest of kisses and handholds? You'd probably like very much for the campaign to have ended in July 2023. But it hasn't, and I think the campaign rather forcefully demonstrating once again that it is out of the audience's control is a disquieting thought in those circles. And if you're the type of person who felt Imogen and Laudna's constant fawning and inability to have uncomfortable conversations was not only romantic but aspirational, you're not likely to want to sit with disquieting thoughts.

[bthump]

What do you think would happen if Griffith not only won the fight, but if the eventuality of his sword straying off the mark and killing Guts, that Griffith considers (and accepts...) before the fight, actually came true? could this be enough to trigger all the events of the Eclipse or do you think he could pick himself up from killing Guts more easily than from being abandoned by him and instead of following the exact same pattern as when Guts leaves, simply become more determined (and more ruthless than ever) to achieve his dream? bonus question: where would Casca be in all this? would she be able to stay by Griffith's side had Guts been killed by him and with seemingly no remorse?

question 2 (im almost done, i promise <3) - had Griffith won without killing Guts (provided Guts didnt try to leave anyway or at least wouldnt manage to sneak out again, since Griffith would probably keep him on a leash afterwards lol), do you think their relationship could still be salvaged or would there be no way for Griffith to forgive him for ever wanting to leave (and no way for Guts to forgive Griffith for forcing him to stay)?

huge fan of all your meta posts, you simply get it, you just get it, and ive been rotating that duel scene and all its possible outcomes in my head to the point of losing my goddamn mind, so. there it is. hope you have a good day!

Thank you! Hope you also have a good day <3 Sorry this took a while to answer, I've been sleepy recently thanks to schedule changes.

What I generally think is that Griffith killing Guts in that duel wouldn't be a behelit-opening event itself, because I feel like there's a reason Griffith had to go through the torture for a year. I definitely think it could also lead to him sleeping with Charlotte and getting caught though, and it would be just as if not more devastating than Guts just leaving, because now Griffith believes that Guts wanted to leave him out of disgust/hatred/resentment/whatever, AND also he just proved him right in the worst way possible.

What I personally envision happening in this scenario is that Griffith gets cold and distant and wraps himself up in his dream to the point of losing all genuine connection with others. He'd also double down on the seeing himself as a monster thing and embody that even more, doing worse and worse things to achieve his goals. Basically becoming Femto and NeoGriffith in spirit, if not literally.

I see this because imo within the griffguts dynamic, Guts basically embodies Griffith's potential to give up his dream and all its associated negative shit like guilt and self loathing, and be emotionally fulfilled without being obsessed with a distant goal. So if Griffith kills him, thematically he's destroying all hope of growing as a person and he can only regress into all his worst traits from there.

As for Casca... this isn't based on any kind of analysis lol, but I think she'd stay for a while and maybe try to draw Griffith's humanity out, but maybe she would leave eventually, falling out of love with Griffith and understanding that even their friendship is over, and wanting distance from him. I don't think she'd hate him for killing Guts, since they're all mercenaries, but I think it would change how she sees him for the worse.

I'd like if she stayed because she has her own emotional investment in the realization of Griffith's dream, or at least her life as a soon to be knighted captain of an army, but unfortunately canonically she is only there because of her feelings for Griffith lol. If I was writing it as a fic though she'd stay because she's got a great life going in Midland, but she'd drift away from Griffith and fall for someone else.

Wrt your second question, I definitely think their relationship could be salvaged, and honestly imo it's a great jumping off point for canon divergence fic. There's drama, there's angst, but there's still potential for a happily ever after. They'd both assume the other hates him, they'd be polite and strained and awkward and only interact professionally, but eventually something could give and they'd realize that they've been in love with each other the entire goddamn time lol. Like if Griffith nearly died for Guts again, eg.

Thanks for the fun questions!

[v3x4t1on]

I followed for the one piece x homestuck meta lore

yk what, anon. as a treat ill explain what ive been thinking about earlier

(spoiler warning for up to wci, i think. its hard to remember what lore was revealed when, sorry.)

for the context of this world, devil fruits probably exist. or they can be psionics, but im honestly not sure which route i wanna go. celestial dragons are for sure fuschiabloods, no doubt. the alternian government is just the marines and are led by highbloods. alternia’s hierarchal system fits pretty well into one piece i’d say. the empress would just be imu, but there would be more than one fuschia running around. perhaps the world is a lot more flooded than alternia and theres different islands so the maps pretty similar to the one piece world. thus, its a bit harder for the troll marines to enforce their laws.

gol d roger was a limeblood who forever changed alternian history by telling people of his hidden treasure, the one piece. this led to a huge wave of pirates, and more open opposition against the empress. limebloods such as gol d roger to this day are still being hunted down by the government due to the threat they pose to it. the oppressive nature of the marines is the exact same as the alternian government, so i hope i dont have to explain it too much.

hancock’s been on my mind a lot lately, her tribe as well. i think they’d all be jadebloods that were once cloistered and now live on their own away from alternian authority. hancock and her sisters were enslaved by fuschias at a very young age, eventually escaping and forming their independent tribe. she has a strong distaste for highbloods.

i felt like jade fit very well for hancock as well as her whole tribe considering jadeblood culture. jadebloods are also pretty rare compared to other castes are are almost always born female. cloistered jades are also isolated from the rest of society to focus on their duties, and have much more pacifist views compared to the rest of the world. yada yada i think it fits perfectly. i also think hancock and her sisters would be rainbowdrinkers… that could be why the rest of the kuja tribe worship/respect them. rainbowdrinkers are regarded as myth in alterian culture, but are worshipped/romanticized by cloistered jades like theyre all twilight fans basically

big moms pirates just feel like theyd be a group of juggalos to me? a huge family of purplebloods obsessed with violence and food.

the vinsmokes… oh man. judge was an indigo scientist who strived to create the most cracked goldbloods; living weapons of destruction that can hold in immense power. goldbloods are often used by highbloods to power things such as ships, and are typically regarded as just living batteries. since goldbloods are known for their great psionics, judge wanted to combine their powerful psionics with the strength of a highblood, since highbloods tend to live longer and have more natural physical strength. sora is forced to participate despite her efforts to foil the experiment. since the vinsmoke children are a mix of goldblood and indigoblood dna, their blood is an odd shade of green/teal; because of this, sanji ends up disguising himself as a tealblood. his abilities are not unlocked until much later, but the genetic modifications done to his body explains his fire psionics and unnatural strength. the other vinsmoke children are some of the mutants permitted by law since theyre being used to benefit the alternian government and empress in the long run.

i will probably write more posts but im just trying to get some of my thoughts out while i still remember. please talk to me about this im down to talk about anything. i can also classpect characters and explain why i think that if anyone wants

also reposting this for reference. please ask questions!!

-??

[quaranmine]

I know I already commented this on AO3 but I literally cant stop thinking about this fic and I so want to talk someone's ears off irl. Cuz holy fuck. I just absolutely the characterization in the story. The voice and expression of Grian is just so palpable and well-written. You sympathize for the guy even as he digs himself deeper into the abyss. Like, I know from the beginning, from playing Firewatch, that there is no conspiracy, just circumstances. But you understand where Grian is coming from, you hope that he is in some ways right, that Mumbo is still out there (doesnt help that Im a mumbo main lol). At some point, part of you just believe the conspiracy along with him even as everyone else, including the back of your own mind, tells you otherwise. And the other part wants to grab Grian from the other side of the screen and shake him til he realizes. That fucking dread of in some way knowing the ending just created that underlying layer of tension when reading. And, as someone else has pointed out, Grian's agency in his search for Mumbo being like denied somewhat fits in so well and just hits home that, nothing is really in his control, that its all just an accident. Its that gut-renching punch and realization that is stuck in my head after reading chapter 11. And im glad that chapter 12 presents some closure and breathing room. Its not the ending, but its an ending and a start. The melancholy of the last chapter, of Grian's acceptance and him finally meeting Scar. All of it is just, GOD. Anyways, excuse my ramblings, I love this fic and its genuinely one of the best Ive read. You did an amazing job.

THANK YOU!!!! I love this review of my work so much, as well as your AO3 review :)

I like that you bring out that having played Firewatch clued you in on the lack of conspiracy. I know the game's ending is controversial, but I actually like it a lot. I love the way the game makes you paranoid and how the remoteness of the setting reinforces that. I love how it's just a story about broken people running from their problems. Whenever I think about the game, I think about this Medium article I read (massive game spoilers.)

And so with this story, I didn't want to do the same thing as the game's plot, but I wanted to harness some of the same themes and explore them in my own way. I think the fic works well alongside the game because it sort of complements it, neither requiring prior game knowledge to read nor spoiling the game--but having game knowledge makes it even better.

I worked backwards knowing I was going to have an obvious ending. It's obvious because it's the most realistic option. But there is also an interesting extra level of writer-reader meta to play with, which is that nearly everyone is primed to sympathize with and believe the pov character. Everyone is also generally primed to expect better ending, or to expect that impossible will somehow happen because it's a fiction story. So I knew that readers would start off with a similar hope to Grian. And I knew that as the story went on further and further, I could direct readers toward the real conclusion. At some point, the very length of the fic itself and number of chapters left with make readers realize they're running out of time for things to happen. At some point, the reader is going have an objective picture of events and realize how irrational some of Grian's actions are.

I'm glad it worked to create a lot of tension! I also think the way a lot of other characters interact with Grian creates tension, because most of them are sort of "scared" to be direct with him since they know it'll upset him. And the way every one of Grian's actions keep adding and adding until the potential consequences grow greater and greater continue to add to the out-of-control feeling of this story. My goal for his character was always to keep pushing him to see where it led. It was a sad story to write, but it's a fun one to analyze for me.

I'm glad you liked chapter 12. I wanted it to try and resolve some of the things that needed to be said still, and provide a little bit of rest from the last three major action-filled chapters. The story is really 11 chapters of getting Grian to the first step in healing, and chapter 12 is that first step. It isn't the last one. Just the first.

Also my condolences for being a Mumbo main, I really need to get my blorbo rights revoked. I've been privately joking for the past year about fridging the poor man 😭mumbo ily i promise

[dailykatnep]

Yeah, KatNep didn't sail canonically, but at least Homestuck's nature as a meta multiverse story that treats fan stories that don't happen in canon as valid due to its nature, with some Lord Englishes that want to destroy those alternatives and just wants his Alpha Timeline stuff to be the only thing. In the endless realm of possibilities, how would you write them starting a romantic relationship with each other? I'm pro'ly tone-deaf and too serious in asking a blog that posts funny-but-somehow-oddly-warm drawings something like this. Or maybe there's fanfic of this ship you'd recommend?

It's very easy for me, a fan, to do a "how it should have ended" style thing. Homestuck is just that series where whenever a discussion is brought up, even with idealistic passion, it will always turn into a rant about how it should have gone.

But ignoring all of that, here's how Katnep could work.

(this is very rambly because im a very rambly person heads up)

The two main things is that they both need to get over themselves. Karkat works on himself a lot throughout the series, letting people in his life, learning to enjoy the company around him without screaming profanity at them, and realizing what he takes for granted. Nepeta is never given that opportunity since she has like 7 whole conversations and then dies.

If she were to survive (which would have to rewrite Murderstuck) then she would have to either get over her silly crush and see Karkat as, y'know, just a person OR she would have to decide to be confident and decide to talk to him, trying to become his friend & then romantic partner.

Karkat brings up in a conversation with Eridan that he does see her as a person, and not the "kitty cat shipper cave girl" but he avoids her because he's 13 and doesn't know how to let her down easily.

If Murderstuck were to still happen, Karkat could console her through the loss of a friend, trying to make amends for how he treated her through her pain. He would have to decide to stop avoiding her and have to help her out, like a responsible leader.

Since Eridan is dead, Karkat also would not have anyone to gossip about relationship stuff with (which was a thing he and Eridan had) so Nepeta could easily replace that conversational hole that Karkat has.

I feel like end-game Katnep would be-

Nepeta no longer holds Karkat on a pedestal, not an infatuation but a friend (romance can happen later but right now she would need to see him as a person and not a cool endgame red romance)

Karkat grows up and stops excluding Nepeta just because he's afraid of the awkward eventual conversation between her and him.

Karkat would start roleplaying with Nepeta and Nepeta would read Karkat's tomes of romantic literature, they could even get into petty arguments about which character deserves which character.

There would be cool motifs between the Blood Aspect and the Heart Aspect. Like could you imagine?

Cool Sufferer Disciple art while Karkat and Nepeta fall for each other, as if they are fated to be together (even if Karkat doesn't care for the ancestor shit.) and yeah idk

[aforrestofstuff]

Chapter 173 Expert Review: The "Hey, my boyfriend saw you across the bar and we really dig your vibe" Edition

The cover makes me so uncomfortable it's like I'm at a party and said something weird just as the music went quiet and everyone heard and they're all looking at me and everyone hates me and I'm so anxious and

Welcome to the Chapter 173 Expert Review! I have completely lost count of how many of these I've done. If you're coming here for a well-thought-out meta-commentary on the hit series franchise anime manga One Punch Man, then look elsewhere because I put a grand total of ten minutes of thought into this post that took me 45 minutes to write.

I hope you're all well. If you're new here from Twitter then yes, I'm really always like this and I apologize. I don't know how to segway to the actual commentary, so um......... here we gooooooo.....

I don't know what I was expecting. Could I have predicted that Murata would yassify Bofoi? Probably. Do I ever want to come to terms with the fact that he did? No.

Shut up I'm not saying anything. I'm not saying anything. I'm not. He looks like he's wearing those really oversized dentures at Party City. His head looks more like an egg than Saitama's. Why does he still look kinda.... no I'm not gonna say it. I'm not. I'M NOT. GET OUT OF MY HEAAADD RAAAAAAEERERARAAAAWW

I'D FUCK HIM!!!! I'D FUCK BOFOI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M TIRED OF PRETENDING HE'S NOT AN ENDEARING SORT OF UGLY OK IM SICK OF IT!!! I'M GONNA DESTROY HIS OLD MAN CERVIX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WANNA FUCK HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How many enemies has Saitama made just by existing already. Is this number three? Sonic, God, and now Bofoi? Oh, well, I guess Saitama did fuck up his robots but that was self-defense 100% and it WILL hold up in the court of law.

Oh, okay. Now we have a better idea of the timeline since Saitama became a hero.... only two months???? Dude, I've had packages lost in the mail for longer than that.

I kinda thought he'd been a hero for at least six months. I guess what Garou said about coming back to fuck up the heroes after six months at the beginning of his arc was only a sort of red herring to make it seem like he'd be the world-ending Shibabooby prophecy, but in relation to how long Saitama's been a hero, turns out my guy only fucked shit up for like, what? One month?

Was this just obvious to everyone else except me. I really should've never learned how to read dawg.

THANK YOU Amai Mask for being the "Please explain the plot so readers with the comprehension skills of fourth graders can know what's going on" character in this because I swear to fucking god I had no clue what anyone was talking about.

Also, Ninja Leader makes an appearance as Blast's totally super platonic partner. Supposedly they were "searching for a mysterious cube" together. People these days make up such weird euphemisms for skipping work to fuck each other in a ditch, I swear. 🙄🙄🙄

A couple of things:

Is Blast wearing the Ninja Leader's glasses in the present? Oh, so they really were super platonic, huh.

You mean to tell me bro aged THIS MUCH in two years? 700 days ago he was late-twenties rager at Planet Fitness and now he's a 57-year-old salt and pepper daddy at the gay bar?

I guess it could have something to do with his powers, manipulating space-time and all that. Blast teleports through something that is basically a copy-and-pasted black hole, which could explain why time flows differently for him, but doesn't time slow down near a black hole? So he should be aging slower if anything.

So, did God age him? Is this even the same Blast that came in contact with God? Something something uuuhh time travel something something...

I don't fucking know. This could also just be a case of "Murata doesn't know how to draw people that look their age" although he's been getting better about that, at least... Just seems ODD to me that Blast has aged like an avocado in a manga where characters only seem to look younger as time goes by.

Very noble that he's fighting God alone with the Interdimensional Justice League and their Pocket Dimension Pool Table to protect everyone else. Something still feels fishy about this, though........ especially since he's a deadbeat ass dad in the webcomic. I don't trust a GODDAMN thing this boy has to say. I DONT CARE IF HE'S HOT!! And I think that is so brave of me.

Forrest has a theory and everyone's gotta hear about it a million times until he's proven otherwise.

Y'all already heard me say how God has one-sided beef with Saitama because Saitama broke the limiter God had placed on him, and I suppose that alone is still a decent reason for God to be pulled to Earth, but I still think God's full body (and power) is imprisoned in the dimensional seal Blast was screaming about as Saitama was fighting Monster Garou V2.

And Saitama's habit of fucking shit up as collateral for saving the world is further eroding God's jail cell, so he's unknowingly helping his enemy get closer to him. This fucking goober.

It makes sense because the massive body in the seal looks like a fully-formed person, whereas whenever we see God free, he's always a sort of unfinished skeletal figure. He's incomplete.

Is this another one of those things where it seems painfully obvious to everyone else except me. Y'all are free to hop in my inbox and call me a dumbass if you want.

Final thoughts because this review is already too goddamn long and I wanted to shitpost a bit more but I guess I can do that on other posts because I'm TIRED.

All in all, we really needed a good expo-debrief chapter to put everything in perspective because the Monster Association arc was a load of reveals with not a lot of resolutions. I think the ending was still very anticlimactic because, although we were introduced to a lot of shit like God and Blast and whatnot, none of that was really tied up in a satisfying way, nor left on an interesting cliffhanger. Just more and more questions. Even Garou's arc hasn't ended really, and all the development he and Saitama had gone through was forgotten (for NOW, because of Genos' core, but I digress) so it almost feels like... not much really happened at all. Nothing really ended, it was just a collection of more plot threads beginning.

I wish ONE waited a bit longer to really delve into God and Blast because I think the Monster Association arc could've been a lot more comprehensive and well-paced if it had just been (mostly) contained to what was happening between the heroes and monsters. But I can appreciate how comprehensive the plot is now after the fallout, just... the road to get here was rocky. I lost all the tires on my jeep.

I'm excited for Psychic Sisters.

In conclusion: if you were at the Whole Foods down the street and took a blue bike tied to the railing then you're a fucking bitch GIVE IT BACK!! THAT'S MY FUCKING BIKE!!

GIVE BACK MY FUCKING BIKE!!!!! YOU STOLE MY BIKE!!

p.s. -- I'm still waiting for the Zombiedad and Child Emperor Get Milkshakes Together omake. Murata, pls. Also give my bike back.

Thanks for reading. Please, I need my bike.

[stormyoceans]

The dark season is nice for some, but quite hard for others.

To tackle this, we're launching once again this year's "Secret Helpers" and everyone is invited to join in!

How does it work?

It's very simple!

Choose 5 fan works. It doesn't matter whether they are gifs, video edits, fanarts, metas, analyses or fanfictions. Do you have something that has completely changed, inspired, destroyed or touched you? THAT'S what you need!

And now it goes on

Step 2: Write feedback to the creator of your favorite. No matter how long, how short, no matter what language, no matter if anonymous or under your official account, write what you liked and why. Jump over your shadow and let them know that this work of theirs has given you a good time.

Step 3: Spread "Secret Helpers" anonymously to others. No matter who you come across on tumblr or elsewhere on the internet, whether mutual or random, send them the instructions and let them keep spreading good news.

A lot of things are not going well lately. So we try to let those who give us a little break in the chaos know that we're glad to have them.

FAQ:

I have only seen one fan work that I liked. - No problem, write to the person anyway.

Isn't that weird? - Nope. (We are on the internet. Everything is kinda weird and ey, you don’t have to use your official account to send the feedback)

There. Are. TOO MANY! - 5 is a minimum number. If you have the time, write to as many as you want, everyone will be happy to get some compliments on their work!

The creators I like are all totally unknown - Especially for fanartists who don't get much feedback yet, each of those is worth its weight in gold. The fanfiction is amazing, but only has 2 comments? Become number 3! The fanart has 36 likes, but looks like a fucking work of art? Write that to the creator! Motivation is all babeyyy, regardless of whether it's the fandom favorite or someone completely new.

Have fun and good luck Secret Helpers!

THIS IS SUCH A LOVELY PROJECT!!!!!!!!! it's so important to spread positivity, especially to content creators who often have to deal with a lack of feedback and their works getting stolen, so im glad you gave me the chance to do this by sharing it with me, anon, thank you!!!!!!

i think that to follow the rules of the project i should probably write to the creators in private or by sending them an ask (?), but to try to give them more visibility and help them reach new people who maybe aren't familiar with their works yet, i thought i could talk a little about some of my favorites here (not that i have that many followers but you know. also for the two creators who aren't on tumblr i WILL make sure to leave them a nice comment too), so here we go!!!!!

in no particular order:

the entire vice versa web weaving series by @daymork. i tell you i wish i could have all these edits collected in one of those fancy ass art books with a hard cover that cost almost a hundred bucks just so that i could flip through it at any given moment to contemplate the beauty of said edits and cry myself to sleep holding it to my chest as i think about puentalay. i have no idea how jessi did it but every single quote she used for these is so perfect that no matter how many times i reread them they never fail to reduce me to a sobbing mess of a woman who is in dire need of receiving mental health care provided by professionals in an institutionalized setting. my point is. i love them. i love them a lot.

the quote by ocean vuong last twilight edit by @morkofday. i could literally put any of vish’s vice versa edits here because it’s like they’re all specially crafted to deal as much emotional damage as humanly possible to me personally, but in the end i decided to pick this one because, to this day, it’s still my favorite last twilight edit ever made. there's just something about it that stayed with me since i first saw it a whole year ago (im not even kidding when i say i think about it an average of twelve times per day) and even if it was done based on the mock trailer alone, vish was somehow able to perfectly capture the spirit of the show, not just by using that particular quote (which is incredibly spot on like when day and mork were talking about tenderness in episode 4 i thought of this edit right away and had to go punch through a wall to cope) but also because of the colors and the pictures that she chose.

the the man who can't be moved puentalay gifset by @seatawinans. you think episode 11 of vice versa has already reached the pinnacle of life altering emotional devastation and cathartic experience, and then you see this gifset and suddenly you find yourself decaying into subatomic particles to cope, committing grand scale larceny and arson to deal, and doing daily affirmations like 'this is affecting me a normal amount! :)' in front of the mirror every morning to survive. truly i have no words to properly express just how much the 'thinking maybe you'll come back here to the place that we'd meet/and you'll see me waiting for you on the corner of the street' lines over the glasshouse scenes make me sick in the head, it's the parallelism romanticism soulmatism of it all and somehow cassi managed to make it worse (read: better).

the underneath the stars by the cure morkday fanart by twitter user @bleu1te. i honestly love all of bleuité's puentalay and morkday works so much, there's just something so soft and tender in the way this artist draws them that every time i look at their art it gives me the same feeling of safety and comfort that i so deeply associate with these two pairings. i picked this one in particular because i fell in love with it as soon as i saw it, i love the colors, i love the starry sky behind them, i love their expressions, and most of all i love the hand placement. idk how to explain it, but i think the way they're touching just really conveys how much they adore each other.

the enchanted by taylor swift morkday video by twitter user @jimmyseagatitos. you know when someone punches you in the stomach and it hurts so much that you just start laughing hysterically? this is the closest description i can give to try to explain what this video did to me on a psychological emotional spiritual mental and physical level. and because apparently im a masochist i've been rewatching it only like 92649626 times in the span of three days. i also think it's pretty damn genius to end the edit on the 'i'll spend forever wondering if you knew' line of the song because it leaves everything unspoken just what mork never got to say.

this is obviously very far from being a comprehensive list (especially since my memory is pretty bad and my main interests are currently very limited ;;;;), so for the next couple of weeks i will try to reach out to my favorite creators (in private this time, i promise) and give them some love!!!!! and if anyone sees this, please consider doing it too!!!!!

[cenvast]

hi hi! i stumbled across ur kabru x toshiro stuff when browsing one of their tags and im sooo hooked now after reading ur explanation post that i gave ur fanfic a read too, love it!! ur story and posts about them made me have some questions, i hope its not too much!

the fanfic mentioned kabru in a kurta when toshiro thinks about their hypothetical wedding. is there a certain type of wedding u imagine them having?

on the same note: would they end up having one? or would they rather stick with a close relationship?

would they think about adoption? is their statuses keep them from adopting because they would be busy?

would toshiro notice kabru spiraling over the thought of utaya and what happened?

srry if this is a lot, i just love this pairing now!

Tysm for reading my writing!! I'm so honored that I got you into Kabshiro <3 And dw, I'm more than willing to answer any questions about my kabshiro meta or "debts and delusions" (this fic is 18+/nsfw)! The fic is a capsule of many of my dunmeshi hcs, so I can always expand on it hehe

I'll put my answers under the cut and divide them into sections for readability!

On Marriage

I think since both of Kabru and Toshiro had traumatic upbringings, they'd be less inclined to get married or have kids quickly, but they would eventually get married.

From my understanding, feudal Japan normalized sexual relationships between samurai, but marriage was an arranged political move between a man and a woman, at least for the upper classes. Toshiro understands marriage as potentially romantic, given his interactions with Falin, but since he lacks models of same-sex marriage, pursuing marriage with Kabru would stump him at first. I think Laios and the others would clue him in that marriage can literally be whatever he and Kabru want it to be, and after a while, he'd make his peace with that.

When he becomes more secure in their relationship, he wouldn't feel the need to marry Kabru out of insecurity anymore. He would continue fantasizing about the domesticity and commitment of it all. He'd also have to work through his trauma-based fear that he'll cheat on his spouse before being willing to marry Kabru.

Toshiro would propose at around year five of their relationship. He'd recognize that he can't imagine a life without Kabru and that all the best things in his life are because he took the initiative to hold onto and voice what's (and who's) important to him. Laios would be a large contributor in encouraging their marriage with his constant reassurances of "Yes, I'll marry you two in Melini :D." Because romantic proposals weren't really a thing in feudal Japan, Toshiro's proposal would be a very agonized-over question — but just a question — he poses to Kabru in private.

I like the idea of Kabru and Toshiro attending Marcille and Falin's wedding, and their marriage being the catalyst for Toshiro deciding that he needs to marry Kabru immediately. Kabru would sense what was going on with Toshiro but give him time to approach him on his own. Out of the two of them, Kabru would be more content with not officially recognizing their relationship via marriage, but he'd still be very excited to marry Toshiro and giddy over the fact that Toshiro wants to marry him.

I imagine their wedding would be a combination of customs from Utaya and Wa and elven customs. Kabru would want to honor his mother and his hometown, and Milsiril would probably want some elven elements. The Wa customs are self-explanatory from Toshiro's end. They'd hold it in Melini with Laios officiating. I also think Toshiro would cry at their wedding because he'd be a little more healed from thinking that crying is unmanly and he'd be overwhelmed by Kabru /pos.

Here's the excerpt from the fic that you referenced:

In Toshiro's wedding fantasy, I included elements from both Indian and Japanese wedding customs. According to my quick research (which could definitely be off, so please correct me if needed), silk and/or embroidered kurtas are considered appropriate wedding attire, and Indian weddings generally involve a lot of dancing. The sea bream, red rice, and daifuku are foods traditionally eaten at Japanese weddings. There's more specificity for the Japanese customs since it's from Toshiro's POV, and in this scene, he's drawing the Indian wedding elements from conversations he's had with Kabru. Obligatory moment of silence for how ridiculous they are for discussing their cultural wedding customs while pretending like they aren't down horrendous for each other 😭

On Children

Toshiro

Prior to being with Kabru, Toshiro expected to have children; he thought he'd inherit his father's position and produce an heir. But he's always been terrified by the idea of actually raising a child because all his parental figures — his father, his mother, and Maizuru — failed spectacularly in raising him. Right after canon, he wouldn't be able to articulate where they went wrong because he's still repressing most of it, but he knows that his father's treatment of him as a failed investment or discarded amusement did not benefit him. Likewise, his mother's neglect and Maizuru's overbearing, terrifying parenting style, coupled with her expectations that he'd take his father's position one day, were not ideal.

If pinned down about it, he'd say that he'd want his child to be raised with proper emotional support — for them to feel loved unconditionally rather than valued for any position they may eventually take up, but overall, he feels ill-equipped to raise a child. Since Kabru would never pressure him into having children, Toshiro would realize that having children is an unwanted expectation his family and society placed on him. After realizing this, up until maybe his forties, he wouldn't even consider having children again because he'd fear traumatizing them like his parental figures traumatized him, and more importantly, he'd be content with his life as it is.

Kabru

By the end of canon, I don't think Kabru has had the mental space to consider having children. He'd be of the mindset that bringing a child into an unjust world would be irresponsible, especially if he's yet to accomplish his goals of equality between the races and sealing off the dungeons. But in his position as Laios' advisor, he'd feel more empowered to improve their world and raise a child in it.

However, if someone seriously approached him about having children with Toshiro, Kabru would probably have a traumatic episode. His associations with having children of his own are:

His trauma regarding monsters eating his mother and other children from Utaya

Milsiril as his adoptive mother and her inability to fully understand and meet his emotional needs due to not conceptualizing short-lived races as equals and her career rooted in elven imperialism (Sidenote: Milsiril does push back against the societal position she's been placed in, and she raised Kabru with good intentions, but impact > intent. She was still raised in elven society and an active participant in imperialism for many years)

The elves' horrible, dehumanizing treatment of Rin

The thought of having children would send him into a panic because he'd fear being killed by monsters and unable to care for his children, his children being killed by monsters, his children being mistreated by those more powerful than him, and being an unsatisfactory parent to them. Not all of his fears would be rational since he lives in Melini where Laios is a living monster repellent. But since he hasn't unpacked all of his trauma, these thoughts would come up.

After processing more of his trauma, Kabru in his thirties would be open to having children if Toshiro wanted them, but since Toshiro doesn't, it likely wouldn't happen.

If we fast forward to their forties or fifties, that's when Kabru and Toshiro might consider raising a kid. Their lives are stable. They've unpacked a lot of their childhood traumas. They have a support network and a reliable method of travel between their homes. They could do it. I still don't think they'd feel the need to have children, but if a child tumbled into their laps (I'm thinking of how Izutsumi appeared for the main party), they'd have a long, serious discussion about it and ultimately decide to raise them. Similar to Izutsumi, I could see them raising an older kid.

TL;DR: I don't think Kabshiro would adopt/have children, but after they hit middle-age, if a child fell into their lives, they would raise them.

On Utaya

I'm so glad you asked about Utaya because I wish I'd been able to explore Kabru's trauma more in "debts and delusions." He deserves an in-depth analysis of his past and to begin healing from it.

The short answer is: yes, Toshiro would definitely notice Kabru's trauma surrounding Utaya. Toshiro is fairly observant, Kabru's already opened up to him about what happened in Utaya, and when Kabru's trauma manifests outwardly, it's actually not very subtle, so it's a little shocking more people haven't tried to support him through it before. Or maybe it's unsurprising since he tries very hard to project being emotionally secure and stable.

The next step in Kabru's arc is beginning to heal from Utaya. Now that he and Toshiro have established what their relationship is and can correspond and visit each other regularly, Toshiro would have the emotional bandwidth to address Kabru's panic and nightmares and aim to support him by talking with him and encouraging him to lean on him. He'd want to return the favor of Kabru supporting him through his difficult times. He'd also feel guilty for complaining about his concerns over Falin, considering everything Kabru has gone through, but that guilt and negative tendency towards comparison could be something Toshiro works out with his other friends.

After learning to depend more on Toshiro and hopefully, on his other friends, Kabru would recognize that he should take his own advice about voicing one's wants and needs. He'd eventually have an honest conversation with Laios about his feelings on eating monsters and where those feelings come from, and that would open Laios up as another person he can be emotionally open with about his past. Because I am a strong believer in Kabru and Marcille as friends post-canon, she'd also be another person for him to lean on. Her perspective as a half-elf would be valuable for both of them. (Unrelated, but I also strongly believe in Kabru helping Marcille let go of her comphet.)

I'd also hope that with time, Kabru would realize how he's taken Rin for granted. They could actually talk about her feelings for him and unpack their traumatic upbringings together. Talking with Rin would probably be the most healing interaction for him, but it'd take a lot of work on his part. He'd have to apologize to her for being sexist, rebuild their trust after years of him shutting her out emotionally, and uncover the most difficult parts of his past with her, a friend who knows it intimately. Realistically, Rin would be willing to support him even without an apology because she suffers more than Jesus, but for the sake of her sanity and mine, he should definitely apologize to her first.

If there was ever to be a sequel to "debts and delusions," it would focus on Kabru and his healing!

₍ᐢ. .ᐢ₎ ₊˚⊹♡

Thank you so much for sending this ask! I'm always willing to yap about DunMeshi and/or my writing. If you have any of other thoughts on the fic, hcs, or more questions, feel free to send them my way <3

[podcastliveblogging]

Okay so I’m a bit late to the fandom (lol) but I HAVE to share my thoughts on The Magnus Archives so far. I’m on episode 100 (season 3), and first of all ALL of the plot twists have rocked me as they happened.

At first everything felt a bit episodic (which makes sense given the nature of the podcast) but as things progressed you could just TELL it was building up to something big.

I LOVED the parts where recordings were being made of action in the Magnus institute in real time. I was expecting something like that based on my experiences listening to a bit of “Welcome to Night Vale” but I was not prepared for all the cool things!!! But that’s not why I’m rambling here.

While listening to the podcast originally I had some critiques about the style. I’ll just say that I LOVE the aesthetic it’s going for with the VHS tapes and the background music (that I know is not canon but used for the effect). However, I was just a bit disappointed because it was clear each statement, written or recorded by the witness directly, had a very distinctive style.

I had thought it was because I’m American that I noticed all the ways people paused in their statements or stuttered in a specific way, but as time went on I was sure it was just Jonathan Simms’ (sorry for my spellings of names by the way, I’ve only heard them spoken so far) style that had all the statements feeling so similar.

They had almost formulaic structure in the way they laid their stories down in a perfect narrative, starting with maybe an anecdote about their childhood or their job and giving great context for how they ended up in supernatural situations. The vocabulary used was way more advanced than was plausible in every statement, even in those who did not have much of a formal education or in direct spoken statements (which in-universe should have been made up on the fly). Especially in the spoken witness statements I was disappointed because people don’t just tell firsthand stories like that.

Im very much a stickler for the details, and things like “how could this story have been written and submitted to the Magnus institute” and “is this really what a person in this position would think/do” and just logistics in general are always in my mind.

Yet despite the writing style poking through, I felt like any other semantics I could have brought up were answered very well by the detail given in the statements, so I was satisfied enough to suspend my disbelief. It wasn’t too hard anyway since the stories were so well-written and captivating. I know it’s really hard to tell a good story while making sense in a meta way, so I just accepted it. The story was very ambitious anyway and I was otherwise loving it!!!!

Something remarkable about episode 100 is that Martin takes his first statement direct from witness. I had to stop listening a few minutes in because something clicked. The statement was super stilted, comepletely different from any of Jon’s taken statements. Martin, instead of getting a story from the witness, had to press for details and got maybe a sentence from each question. There was no story, no context or background, just questions and awkwardness.

In all of Jon’s statements there was never any pause in the story (unless it was interuppted by another person) even though it was a real person reliving the events. It was seriously a narrative. And around this point in the podcast we’re finally revealing the extent of Jon’s powers under the Eye.

Obviously we’ve gotten hints before: a constant feeling of being watched when in the Institute, Jon saying he can feel what the narrator in each statement feels (I also distinctly remember a comment in late season 1 about Jon feeling like he gets sucked into the story until he finishes it, like he loses control of himself. Which in hindsight is definitely an early version of what Jon now experiences), Daisy giving a statement despite being very much against spilling any police secrets or her past.

And now we’re getting strong manifestations that are clearly supernatural: Jon being unable to NOT demand answers of beings that are very much dangerous, the audio recording getting distorted when Jon compels people to give information.

And that last bit specifically, you can just feel that supposed style seeping through into their words, and it’s like the words aren’t completely their own. The context is there and it’s very descriptive.

And that brings me back to Martin. Clearly Jon is privy to these powers as the Archivist. Martin has no power to make people’s statements more useful and it ends up being a mess.

This is a very subtle aspect of Jon’s powers but as soon as I noticed it I was up and jumping around because it was an epiphany. The evidence has slowly been building up to this and it’s likely that this theory was discovered many episodes before 100 as they were coming out, but I just feel like a genius for noticing this, especially since I have always been very keen on details like that. It’s just so satisfying to realize that this aspect of the storytelling wasn’t just a writing quirk but an actual PART of the plot!!!!!

[furymint]

2023 Creator Reflection

ffxiv.

1. dance me to the end of love

this one was fun! i always like merging a character's outfit with the bg so i liked doing that again. picking the colors for elliots outfit was also enjoyable. ive wanted to make smth w that cover for a while

2. shame was still the tyrant of his life

i only wrote two nol and eli things this year and neither of them are finished. the first was a continuation of a scene where nol kisses elliot against the blue stained glass in his room--i once posted it but then i deleted it bc it made me feel woozy for its allusions to sex. i wanted to rebuild it and take a shot at it now that im comfortable writing n reading sex, but i never got very far. theres actually lots of nice parts! i just like nols dumb angsting the best!

3. valentine

i really wanted to focus on nol's eye here, but also not make it too obvious lol. i used a ps filter like a schmuck but i wanted it to be darker without making it even more difficult to see, so i took away their bodies and limited the colors to make it what it is.

4. amateur cracksmen

the second nol n eli wip, which doesnt have many interesting lines rn, was a raffles-inspired story where eli drags nol as his valet to a rival artist's house and tries to steal back the brooch that he bought from an underground dealer feat. much babbling abt the state of societal responsibility that war is supposed to bring

ffxvi.

1. herz an herz dir

i wrote some reflections about this one already here. i honestly was very (distressed voice) cant believe im writing pure fanfic for the first time in over ten years and lacked a lot of direction when i started bc uhhhhh terence has 8 and a half mins of screen time. i tried to convince myself that it's not much different than me stealing brucemont for my own evil devices, but the unique perspective of seeing quite so much fan content def influenced my interpretation. i wanted their relationship to be much more imbalanced from the get-go initially--dion using his power unintentionally and terence barely passing a thought abt it until later bc he's just so accustomed to obeying--but i ended up giving terence a lot more sway & ammunition in their argument. the breakfast bed thing is also smth im rly fond of.

2. mund an mund

there's also additional meta for this one here. i made a silly doodle abt it also. dion kept picking fights here! it honestly turned out how i expected. when i first started this fic, i was gonna have dion start out right in oriflamme and meet ter and kihel there, but i booted them to northreach so i could have this stretch of conflict. i think it's like. Bad Pacing. technically. if i still believe the conflict introduced in the next chapter is the core one, that is. which i sorrrrta do. but i dont care bc i rly like the visual of kihel laying in dion's lap and getting to put a gun on the wall w ahmed.

3. eines atems

its been two months since the last chapter and this chapter is humiliatingly not written. i have all my scrambled notes and scenes that i jotted down in between the first two chapters, so i have a full direction, but it's been really difficult to write lately. ive been devoting all my time to trying to recoup my mental health and work on my teredio secret santa. ill start next year with this wip as a priority, so for now i only have the photoshop edit for it. kihel is holding terence's hand--it's his pov turn.

overall i didnt like this year very much. i didn't read, create, research or do a lot even though i tried to. i became really disconnected from all of my friends bc im too tired to stay for rp or hold online conversations. at this point, i dont play ffxiv at all except the few times i managed to rp a little. i moved into nanny's house and have my own space, but don't have the presence of mind to do anything about my pc, books, and so on, although i did make a lot of progress rewrapping my books w fresh wraps and some other things. my plans for next year are to reach out to a couple of my friends, build my pc, relearn + rebuild + relaunch my queer lit blog on open source code, survive school, and rediscover the productivity ive lost the past few years.

teredio has helped me a LOT to find community, inspiration, and art in my loneliest year yet. im very proud of my fic and grateful every day to the ppl who have reached out to me about liking it. even if im sorry about my productivity rate in comparison to how many extraordinary writers there are in the ship's fandom, i know i have to be easy on myself to relearn how to write, create a writing schedule that works for me, and stop punishing myself when i cant get the words out.

past reflections:  2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022

[dnangelic]

i just wanted to send some positive words your way and let you know that i absolutely adore the way you write both dark and daisuke. it's clear you put a lot of thought and love into both of them, and your posts have always brought a smile to my face. i'll never forget the shock i felt when your blog popped up in my recommended and, i was on call with my boyfriend at the time, he hears me go 'NO WAY, ARE YOU SERIOUS?' before i slapped the follow button LOL d.n.angel holds a special part of my early teenage years and your blog brings the warmth and nostalgia i felt all those years ago. i almost feel like that 14 year old again, giddy over a silly anime and kicking my feet with excitement every time i see your posts c: thank you for being such a joyous presence on my dash

YOOOO YOU FOUND ME FROM TUMBLR RECCS???? that's so funny... i always thought that thing was useless but i've been proven so wrong LMAO. I'M REAL THOUGH. I'M SO REAL!!! *DOES A JIG* I'M SO GLAD MY BLOG CAN MAKE YOU FEEL THAT WAY TOO 😭🤧PLEASE IT MEANS EVERYTHING TO ME. dnangel is such a weird series because it feels like everyone's at least -SEEN- or heard of it at least once but then it's still weirdly niche?? like there's not really anything for it esp anymore and nobody talks about it esp now that it's finally finished (manga-wise) after 30 some years but it's still like. most popular/easily recognized niche series ik off the top of my head JJGJKFKJ TYSM FOR UR COMPLIMENTS OVER MY PORTRAYAL TOO!!!

making this blog was such a good exercise in my own growth because going back to it sugisaki had such BANGER themes that i didn't even notice or totally grasp at first when i myself was in middleschool, so i feel like i'm lowkey compensating and paying proper attention to everybody now that i have. well. better critical thinking skills and media literacy DFKJKJGKJKJ even going back i was kind of surprised how it dealt with such dark topics like grief and death and the consequences of Playing God or sins and cycles when like.......... it's also a silly little dramatic rom-com about middleschoolers and immortals but it still never leaves you feeling hopeless or lonely, which as also sugisaki's intention with the series!! it's so nice!! i really wanted to be able to emulate the overall messages of her characters and loving art esp since it ends up so meta for us writers. i'm just happy to write!! doesn't have to be perfect or even exact, since i do take a tiny bit of creative/hc liberty with my own inspos and portrayals for dai n dark! but i'm always having sm fun interacting with everybody, AND I RLLY APPRECIATE U TOO!!! 🙇🙇

i'll probably be around for a looooong time bc dai n dark r just as much treasured and influential for me (i was also one of those 14 yr olds, i have embarrassing dnangel merch on top of piles of manga laying around, im certifIED REAL FAN /J) but it makes me so happy my posts bring u joy. im glad bc i know i can post/talk ooc a lot before i get the time to actually properly sit down and Write but that's just how it is for a lot of us kjgkjgfb anyways, thank u again!! things like this rlly help my confidence since actually at the start i had no idea if i could do like... a protagonist (daisuke)/'popular' (to me. dark/dnangel is popular and legendary and overwhelming in the eyes of the tumblr populace to Me-) chara any justice, but im put at ease any time i get such warm feedback like this!!! 💐💐💐FOR YOU! u get even more flowers this time straight from me!!! go buy urself a treat for being so nice!!!

[yuukei-yikes]

hi gang. this is a second manga route (lost days arc) hate post 💖 it's implied in the seventh novel that haruka&takane ending up in the same highschool is all part of saeru's plan being perfected route after route, like placing the mekadan everywhere it needs them to be right?? for haruka, since his dad was a colleague of kenjirou's, it would've been easy for saeru to be like hey u should enroll ur kid in this school!! but for takane's grandpa to suddenly start insisting on that school is a mystery. how the hell did saeru have any influence in that..??

second manga route lost days arc is stupid as shit and i hate it and it doesn't exist to me❤ like if haruka and takane were gonna meet and both die on august 15 and both get an exception of “dying alone but still gets a snake” anyways, without saeru's intervention what's the fucking point lmao.

like it COULD HAVE BEEN that with saeru's intervention, what differs is that instead of one snake per 2 people's deaths, it gets 2 snakes out for each person dead, both haruka and takane. does this make sense? like since the daze needs TWO people to die to get ONE snake out, haruka and takane (and ayano) have always been a ridiculous obvious exception with no justification since they die alone and get their own snakes anyway. second manga route HAD the opportunity to explain WHY exactly saeru needed to intervene with haruka and takane at all. like, if in this initial route both die but only one gets a snake! so saeru can be like OK i can grab these 2 people and, with all the "experimenting" on haruka and takane serving as some inference to how it happens, that’s how saeru gets two snakes out in one day to go according to its plans since it needs as many snakes to come out as soon as possible.

but second manga route STILL ignores this and gives both haruka and takane their own snakes even though they die alone (and ayano but im not talking abt her though it still applies in second manga route when she dies with her parents making it THREE people not two but whatever IM TALKING ABOUT HARUTAKA)(and in main route ayano also has her own bit like this but on the contrary, she just opens the daze by herself and stays. as if she had any jurisdiction over who stays or not in the daze and it doesn’t keep or spit out whoever it chooses)(like this all also applies to ayano but her case is different to haruka and takane’s intertwined cases so she’s a different subject ALSO ayano gets a pass because she gets AN AMAZING arc in second manga route as opposed to haruka and takane’s... WHATEVER THAT IS)

it's SO ridiculous, by all means bad writing with plot holes and i can excuse it in a main route because i know kagepro is the kind of thing that's just written as it goes and it's made by 1 person and to be honest all this nonsense stuff is infinitely charming to me and i love getting annoyed about it and dissecting it because it’s fun. but THIS...!!!! WELL I STILL LOVE DISSECTING IT AND IT’S STILL FUN BUT IT DOES MAKE ME ANGRY TOO.. come on. u didnt plan it at all!?!? and by the time second manga route started coming out kagepro WAS a lot more grounded on what it was yknow!! like come on. it's stupid as all shit also takane is so painfully ooc. maybe that’s the reason i wanna attack this route with hammers but all the other stuff is also true. like i keep saying lol second manga route I HATE YOUUU

like ugh the whole retaining eyes backstory IS SO INTERESTING and I DO LOVE LOVE LOOOVE ayano’s arc and the exploration of her being abandoned by the trio and being such a failgirl, and kagepro getting more meta than ever and having her realise she’s a supporting character. how it goes in depth about saeru’s motivations is so awesome too and oh my god shintaro and ene crying and calling each other a best friend my dude this route has so much going for it but. it still sucks so bad because it does my faves dirty. takane would never fucking kill herself. thank you.

[lucrezianoin]

Hi! First i wanna say thank you for all your meta posts!! Its such a treat to read through them and get a better understanding of Astarion and his writing. 😁

I havent seen any videos or posts on it so is it ok to ask you to record/show the script decision tree thing where Astarion and tav talks about Sebastian and the others? Im curious as to what he'd say regarding tav almost being one of his victims. (I'd really appreciate it if you could do a video instead since some things hits more when voiced, but I understand if you chose otherwise since it will be more time consuming for you)

Ohh i would love to do an all options of the post sebastian talk!! And I agree, hearing it is completely different than just reading it or seeing a gif.

I should be able to post it today! If it gets lost under my posts just check my YouTube it's arthurianmaiden