#and i say this as a person who loves character driven stuff because i keep getting completely terrible recs for it

[sealwithfeels]

Sometimes I see someone describe a book/thing as 'character-driven' and I recognise it/go check it out and go 'bitch, what characters? Those bland cardboard cutouts who get bounced around by the plot?'

I'm seriously confused by your definition here

[hotdaemondtargaryen]

TOM GLYNN-CARNEY PHOTOGRAPHED BY MATTHEW LEIFHEIT FOR VULTURE MAGAZINE.

TALKING ABOUT HIS CHARACTER ARC IN S2.

Aegon is confident, politically savvy, and even affectionate with his children from sister-wife Helaena (Phia Saban).

“Showing that he has the potential to love was interesting to me. I wanted to investigate that.”

Glynn-Carney, who read the book after a season one conversation with Condal and Sapochnik about Aegon's overall arc, praises the development for its shock factor and the attention it gives to Saban, who says it is "sensational in all its forms."

There’s something about Aegon in his eyes when he admits: “I’d probably go a little more graphic about the gore. I could have done with, ‘Oh, I can’t look at that!’ The sadist in me needed it.”

TALKING ABOUT MUSIC.

The playlist he made for Aegon (he makes one for all his characters) helps get him in the right mercurial mind-set, he tells me at Rough Trade.

It includes some contemplative classical and punk rock like the Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers, and the Sex Pistols.

“Ironically,” he says with a smile. “fuck-the-patriarchy, fuck-the-monarchy stuff.”

In his own life, Glynn-Carney makes “lyrically driven, quite folky” music, citing Tame Impala, Bon Iver, and, of course, Garvey as influences.

He grabs a copy of Jeff Buckley’s Grace because he’s worn down his current edition from listening to it so much. He treats Chet Baker’s 1959 album Chet gently, like a holy object, when he tells me he’d love to play the cool jazz musician in a biopic one day.

“There she is,” he says, as if greeting an old friend, when he sees Patti Smith’s Radio Ethiopia.

“Anyone who says they don’t like music, you can’t trust them. Bodies under the floorboards, isn’t it?” he says.

OLIVIA COOKE TALKING ABOUT TOM GLYNN-CARNEY'S ACTING STYLE.

His acting style is instinctual, a function of his theater training that feels particularly well suited to Aegon’s own impulsiveness.

When filming their first scene on the show together, Glynn-Carney encouraged Cooke to actually slap him in the face:

“The first go, I did it really haphazardly. I only caught his chin with my fingertips, because I was too nervous. And he was like, ‘No, Olivia, just, like, really go for it. Just really go for it.’

“I went for it, and the ringing sound that came from the slap reverberated all through the Red Keep. Tears are springing to his eyes and his chin is wobbling.”

SPOILERS!! S2.

OLIVIA COOKE TALKING ABOUT A SCENE OF AEGON AND ALICENT IN S2.

In a scene they share in season two during which Aegon grieves the loss of a relative:

“He was throwing himself around the room in just the throes of despair. It sort of took me out of the scene a bit. I was like, Bloody hell, Tom’s doing well.”

ABOUT THE PERSONALITY OF KING AEGON II.

“massively bipolar.”

That emotional volatility, fueled by shame, guilt, and an obsessive need to prove himself, becomes a major driver of this season’s increasing bloodshed and brutality.

“Aegon wants to be loved and feared at the same time. But I think it’s a dangerous cycle.”

“We’re not going to get to the core of what’s going on. We’re just going to go round and round and round and round and round until everything burns and everyone’s dead."

ABOUT HIS SCENES WITH RHYS IFANS IN S2.

One of his favorite days on set this season reminded him of the live energy of performing onstage.

They were shooting episode two, when Aegon challenges his grandfather Otto’s decisions and remains steely and resolute in response to Otto’s insults:

“I’ve always wanted to do a play with Rhys, and that felt like the closest thing I’ll get to it for a while.”

“It was an empty set, a big room, like a stage. We were allowed complete free rein of the space.”

TALKING ABOUT HIS FAMILY.

He came from a creatively inclined family: His paternal grandparents were an opera singer and a choirmaster, and his mother sewed all the costumes for his sister’s ballroom and Latin dance competitions.

They were supportive of his acting dreams, he says, but urged a plan B — a suggestion he rejected:

“I remember being so precocious and being like, ‘If I have a plan B, I’m preemptively failing it.’ My mom probably thought, Little dickhead.”

“I always had my eyes on the prize, and sometimes you’ve just got to be like that, haven’t you?.”

[s1i9d]

I’m going to compile a quick list of things that I know from Archives in totality. Wanna make it clear what I do and don’t know so it could be interesting for perspective reads. [Spoilers up to Magnus Protocol E20]

Disclaimer: Aside from anything in this list, I do not know anything about Archives. I am listening to Protocol specifically devoid of Archives spoilers. So please no Archives spoilers. Also if I am wrong about something here, please do not correct me. I think it’ll be more fun that way if I’m not spoiled on these assumptions.

Celia is a character from Archives, and she’s aware of the Magnus Institute in her supposedly alternate timeline is definitely why she’s more genre savvy here. As for what the Magnus Institute did in Archives, or what role Celia had in Archives, I have no idea.

This one is more of a theory. I initially thought Celia was some kind of werewolf or creature transformation thing that was locked in the basement and that’s why she appeared on the side of the road in E11. I thought this because E10 ends with the thing in the Institute basement unlocking itself and freeing itself, and immediately at the start of E11, Celia wakes up so I thought there was a tie between them. [It’s still unclear if that’s what’s happening, but more likely it’s random teleportation.] I know the shapeshifter thing has a maybe(?) presidency of some kind in Archives. To what extent, to what’s happening, to what specifically, I have no clue.

I know Jon and Martin are the supposed main characters of Archives, and they’re in FR3-D1 as Chester and Norris respectively. They are gay for each other and Jon is ace(?) which I appreciate as a gay ace agender person.

Jon is also the person who sent Sam that email Sam showed Colin who freaked out back in E7. I suspect he/Martin are also the one who sent the email to Sam about the Protocol and Magnus Institute in E20. They seem to also be the ones in Fr3-D1 that are trying to get Sam to keep researching the institute every time he says he’s going to stop.

There’s a third character in FR3-D1 who voices Augustus named “Jonah”. I don’t know who the fuck he is, but my theory is that he is an evil villain of some kind who Jon and Martin are actively fighting against in the computer, since Alice mentioned Augustus is the rarest voice of the three, which I think is Jon and Martin trying to suppress Jonah by making out sloppy style with each other. I know that the three of them together form the .jmj error that Alice keeps getting.

Tea is some kind of metaphor in Archives, and the fact that Celia has tea consistently instead of coffee like the rest of our crew makes it clear that she’s from Archives.

Certain words are weird. I know they’re key words but I have no idea what they mean: Hunt, Compel, Avatar, The Eye. They’re just gibberish but they sound important. I do know Hunt refers to the statement about Lady Mowbray in E15, but I think there’s more context that was in Archives that isn’t in Protocol.

Georgie is voiced by the Magnus creator’s wife and is maybe in Archives? Unclear about that.

The alchemy stuff in E19 is NOT from Archives. That’s new stuff and plays an exclusive role in Protocol.

Worms?

The fire (at least in E7) can be interpreted as a ritual. Given that The Protocol™️ is anti-supernatural driven arson, I think there’s a chance it was not a ritual. But my friends reaction to E7 was that it was a ritual, so there’s a chance it could be.

Live music is apparently a big no no in the Magnus multiverse?

Influencer speak is not a thing in Archives?[I absolutely loved it, no lie. I satirically speak like an influencer sometimes but I died laughing first time I heard E15]

Protocol is far more digital, having use the audience listen through devices like phones, CCTV or computers via FR3-D1. The only exception is E10 and E15, where fucking tape recorders show up. Tape recorders are a main motif in Archives, and it’s very odd it’s here as an analog device compared to the digital listening devices.

Yeah, that’s all I got. I feel like I’ve scraped my brain clean of any details. If there’s more I’ll probably reblog this with more info. If anyone’s curious, feel free to send an ask and I’ll probably get to it. (No Archive spoilers in the asks obv.)

Kthxbyeeeeeeeee

[bigskydreaming]

#i know youre mostly a Dick guy but your tim. chefs kiss.#i dont even go here anymore and i had to rb @mollyhats

The great tragedy of Tim for me is I actually love 90s Tim and his dynamic with his YJ team and with Dick and many others. Its only post Final Crisis Tim that I don't really have much interest in, in terms of comic book canon, and I don't find anything really compelling about most depictions I see of Tim in fandom. Like I just mean, the vast majority of people don't seem to view Tim the way I do, or emphasize the same aspects of him, and Tim in and of himself isn't enough of a fave that I feel compelled to yell and expound upon my takes on him in spite of that. The way I do with Dick or even Jason when I have vastly different takes on them than other people seem to.

And I admit there definitely is an element of....annoyance, at play - like even though (as you know) I vehemently disagree with presumptions that Dick was an ass to Jason when they were younger, with that being a big part of the basis for why so many Jason stans hate him, I get that there wasn't a ton of material written about Dick and Jason when they were younger, showing a strong relationship that's to the contrary of how the fanon usually characterizes them at that time.

The difference with Tim, and how so much of his fandom seems to view Dick and their dynamic and history.....is that there's well over a decade's worth of material showing Dick constantly dropping everything to prioritize Tim when the latter needed him, no questions asked, and this STILL wasn't enough to keep fandom from characterizing Dick as this terrible, selfish, ungrateful brother who doesn't deserve Tim as of the first instant Dick DIDN'T default to prioritizing Tim above all others. And not even because he didn't want to, but because he had other people who needed him too, with conflicting needs/wants, and no one person can be all things to JUST one other person 24/7. Sometimes other people have to get to come first too. Sharing is caring, lmfao.

But yeah, the way Dick so often gets thrown under the fandom/fanfic bus in the name of propping up Tim, specifically in the form of being characterized as a shitty brother who never cared about Tim or EVER put him first, when there's like......dozens upon dozens of comics characterizing them to the contrary of that.....it grates, in a way that makes me just not want to engage all that much.

So all of that plays into why I'm generally....aloof about Tim other than posts or meta meant as course correction for stuff where fanon has completely overtaken canon and misrepresented huge elements of Dick and Tim's history, like with the Red Robin era. And why I'm not particularly driven to write about him in specific, in fic or meta. But when I do, especially when depicting him in fic or writing snippets, I don't find it hard to write him favorably, because I DO genuinely like him at a lot of points in the comics. Its just *waves hand* a lot of fandom bullshit that gets in the way.

Its not like we're not all aware that sometimes stans of characters can be their faves' own worst enemies. And I say that with full self-awareness and recognition that my own intensity or takes about Dick Grayson have most likely been as off-putting to some fans of other characters as I find them to be, lmao. Round and round and round we go.

But anyway.....my preferred takes on Tim, or default mental view of him, is as a chaotic, irreverent little shit whose sense of humor and tendencies to stir things up are not at all dissimilar to most of his siblings.....he's just more deadpan about it. Which is something many of the others play up at times too, but with them its just one of many angles from which they approach their own respective senses of humor, whereas Tim I see as someone who prides himself on never 'breaking' and keeping up appearances of stern or quiet or detached professionalism even while he's cackling about something on the inside. I see him as a big fan of plausible deniability, but not in any way actually humorless or anything like that.

[marabarl-and-marlbara]

hi mara-

ive been bedridden with a severe chronic illness for a little while now, i have very little to look forward to but your art and writing and the orsday programming has been a huge comfort for me during this time, i want to thank you

i also dont know anyone who has read as much stephen king as me except for you- have you read many of his short stories? i really liked the Different Seasons compilation

hi anonymous, drew this for you;

thank yourself! you:re the miraculous little machine that keeps going and finding new things to burn as fuel day-after-day -- for me, too: for some reason for me all my reason-to-be is trying out "new yogurt concoctions" i make for myself the night-prior to be had in the morning (tomorrows is trying to make it taste like strawberry funnelcake using minced pieces of pastry i don:t want to eat + strawberry yogurt i had on bogo and need to use);

or reading new books (i finished The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison last night (i really liked it; made me think of the big brained scientist yakub making a race of demonic imps, 'cause of how the encroaching whiteness is like this creeping little force with shining blue eyes that casts forth this RAY that eats up the land and the people with this dull rapture-spell that erases what-was and replaces it with demonic grounds and hypnotized demonic thoughts; like carpenter ants in the wood roof transforming it slowly on the inside, i thought "wow, i:m a demonic carpenter ant" but also "i:m really in love with the word-choice toni morrison uses to describe certain things and it makes me think about all the linguistic quirks stephen king uses (ex: his love of the description "full dark") that likely comes from the personality and the upbringing -- toni writes about watermelon heart meat and boiling blackberries and i think "that comes from life and you can:t replicate those little quirks and thoughts", but also i thought "wow toni morrison is like if joyce carol oates was a good author");

or getting sandwich on sunday;

all simple and dumb things that keep me living for dumb and simple reasons; i mean all of that to say: i think you are more amazing than me in this situation, much in the same way that i:d hope i:d be more amazing to myself than that sandwich i get on sunday--sunday sandwich can be replaced with something new, but me (and YOU) can:t.

but i:ll do my best to keep writing :-))! (lately though i:m unsure what could be too uplifting considering i:ve just been writing about thought control from a dream; and the thought control in my dreams -- it comes coded with patterned contices; ex: think and the world 'shifts' and responds in a real, physical way: thoughts are being scanned lately, in a way that makes me think is unreal, but has to be obeyed; ex: i pray uncertain to do vows on the sabbath because i worry the environment has been contaminated with an etiquette breach and i:ll start to further foul the labyrinth i:ve built inside myself, then: a door opens and all the dogs run out; and i think: "here is god speaking" and i think further "my thoughts are inflamed and not mine, these thoughts are not mine, i have never been thinking and this voice is not me it is an alien and i can:t stop listening to it but i have to know it is not me" and then "i have to let the carcass do the vows and ignore thinking, and live on automatic discipline and etiquette and clean without thinking except chanting in my head repeated '1, 2, 3, 4 .. 1, 2 .. 3, 4 .. 5, 6.. 7, 8.. 1, 2, 3, 4..');

re: stephen king -- i love him; i started reading him last (?) year around october, with Salems Lot and 1) loved how much his writing reminded me of visual novels; they:re very character-driven and fun and King is an amazing "scene setter" and "story teller," in a way i can:t right well describe except that "it feels exactly like i am reading a novel adaptation of a visual novel." but i dropped Salems Lot because, though i was really enjoying it, i wanted to read other stuff and the book length were wearing me down;

then: i rediscovered a love for King via audiobooks and needing something to listen to while i was swearing off music and spending my entire days doing nothing but cleaning, cooking, exercising, and working; i:ve listened to:

Tommyknockers, Nos4a2 (Joe Hill but it counts; it:s like if King wrote Jojos Bizarre Adventure), It, Carrie, The Dead Zone, Cujo, Needful Things, Dolores Claiborne, Four Past Midnight, Desperation, The Regulators, Bag of Bones, From a Buick 8, Lisey's Story, Duma Key, Joyland, Mr. Mercedes, Revival, and Hearts in Atlantis; i:m listening to The Stand at the moment and nearly done with it -- really enjoying it.

He:s really become one of my favorite authors. King doesn:t have the best prose but i super adore his imagination and just how well he tells situations--this is dumb but lately when i play visual novels i just think "this is nearly in every-way worse than a stephen king book." he:s just fun and he translates so perfectly into audiobook format; only book of his i:ve read so far that i:ve disliked is It.

Regarding your question about his short stories: only Four Past and Hearts in Atlantis -- but i think these barely count as short story collections since they:re really just both four novellas collected; Hearts in Atlantis is amazing for "Low Men in Yellow Coats" which might be near the top of his stories for me; Four Past was really good, too, with Library Policeman being my favorite from it. I:ve been slowly listening to Night Shift whenever I finish an audiobook at work and still have some hours left in my shift, but I really dislike this because it takes me ~thirty-sixty minutes to 'anchor' myself in a story to figure out names for characters and locations, and typically the stories in Night Shift end before i really can follow the story at all--example: the story about the rats? i finished that without zero idea what happened, completely washed over me. i:ll likely skip the short stories if i never find physical copies of them.

i love king though! i:d like to read all of his works; i:m going through him chronologically atm.

anyways, take care king-reading anonymous

[animehouse-moe]

Chainsaw Man Chapter 127: Save The Asa

This if Fujimoto in his element, mixing parts and characters and approaches to create something that only he could. Lifting characters up with fancy words and emotional sentiments, only to have it come crashing down in the most hilarious and apt ways possible. Hardly a big chapter, but within the context of what's around it, certainly one that will be remembered.

⚠️Warning: Spoilers Ahead⚠️

A lot of the chapter focuses on Asa's attachment to life, as you'd expect. She circles the drain, remember her fears, her worst moments. She remembers just how much her life has sucked, how she's only kept alive to be used as a tool by a devil. It's all very outstanding, and is like an accelerated version of Denji's story because Asa is more aware of herself. It doesn't take the terrible moments for reality to break her, because she was never anywhere near the same rock bottom as Denji.

And that's what I love the most about it, Fujimoto's aware. Fujimoto's aware how terrible Denji's life has been, how brutal an existence he's been given, and rather than leveraging that against Asa, he uses it to subvert expectations and assert just what kind of person Denji is. An insane hybrid devil that is driven only by dreams. The kind of guy that can save Asa.

It's equally as ridiculous, because on the surface you hardly get what's really going on (cue the "Fujimoto fan making something out of nothing"). It's just crazy how Fujimoto is throwing out the dumbest stuff possible, but ends up cobbling together a far more realistic and approachable sentiment to suicidal thoughts. Who cares about the "big things" in life? Why would that matter to someone ready to end it all? It's the smaller pieces of life that they'll miss. Reading their favorite manga weekly, or not being able to pet another cat or dog.

And it just keeps going. It doesn't say "oh there's good stuff to life", or "I moved past it", because the last thing someone wants to hear is "it gets better". Because no shit, thinking it'll get better doesn't make it get better.

Instead, Denji steals the show with his idiocy, and proudly proclaims his dream. No longer is it something as childish, or lowbrow as "touching boobs". Nay, it's something more noble, something more lofty. Something that a young man would truly dream of.

And what gets me here is Asa's disgust, as if she didn't allude to the same thought earlier. Also, cute little symbolism of the pair of birds together. Simple piece about freedom and Asa finding someone, as the two birds join up with one another.

Anyways, it's hard to really give this chapter its flowers when you read weekly. But when you put it into the context of the world ending, of Asa slipping deeper and deeper into depression, of her being driven to suicide, of absolutely nothing going her way, I'd honestly say it's the pinnacle of the arc. Purely because it comes in to mock it. It basically laughs in the face of a nuanced conversation on depression and suicide and says, "yeah it's sucks ass, but don't you want to have sex or pet dogs & cats or have ice cream whenever you feel like it?". It's a beautiful aspect of Fujimoto, and I'd honestly liken it to the finale of Fire Punch (though as a lesser form). His grasp of how people tick is incredible, and being able to stretch that understanding to fit the insanity that he loves chasing is amazing.

[doraambrose]

What do you think about Jason's relationship (platonic!!! Father and son stuff. Still can't believe this ship exists. ) with Bruce? Should they even interact at all if DC only makes Bruce abusive and cruel towards him? Or do you ignore whatever is on those pages like it was always meant to be and like a lot of the fandom does?

(Personally, Bruce shouldn't be the best dad but he should never have raised his hand against his kids, unless during sparring and fighting off mindcontrol. The only exception I would make is shortly after Jason died and Bruce, out of his mind with grief, hit Dick who had kind of tried to comfort him. But everything else? Laughably out of character.)

Hello! Thanks for the ask friend!

Bruce and Jason's relationship is vastly complicated, but I personally don't think they should be on the best terms.

Bruce is very similar to Jason in that he's been written either okay or horrible by dc writers, but actual good characterization in the last like 10-15 years is pretty rare.

In terms of characterization of Bruce, I'm not as well-versed as I am with Jason, but I have a pretty good idea of how he should be. Bruce is heavily flawed. He has some significant childhood trauma that never got truly dealt with,leading to the creation of the batman. I also sense he has bpd or at least bipolar or something like that, as well as a superiority complex. He's also very stubborn and set in his ways and his instinct is that he's always right and everyone should do what he says. He's controlling and a hypocrite. But he has the best of intentions. He wants to keep everyone safe, he loves his kids and he just wants to protect people, but it has to be his way. I fully believe that Bruce never actually intends to hurt his family, but mental illness mixed with a need for control and a lack of socialization can lead to hurtful actions. In gotham war, Bruce truly believes that what he did to Jason was what was best for him, despite how crazy and abusive it actually was. After Damian died, he loved and grieved so much but didn't know how to handle it. He couldn't live without him so he did everything possible to bring him back, hurting his other kids in the process, but he didn't think he was seriously hurting his kids.

Jason is also very stubborn and a hypocrite. He has some substantial childhood trauma that also didnt get proper attention. he's not as hot-headed as certain characterizations of him like to say, but he is a VERY emotional and emotion-driven person. He thinks with his heart more than his head at times. He has very strong opinions and beliefs. He also loves his family and wants to protect people, mainly children and women, and he also believes that his way is the right way.

Bruce and Jason both think the other is wrong and neither want to compromise. And Bruce has done so much to Jason. And jason doesn't understand Bruce's pov because neither of them can actually communicate with each other in a healthy way and neither of them have healthy ways of executing their beliefs and morals, their actions don't always do their intentions justice.

So I think their relationship is strained. They're too similar and too different at the same time. They both have too many problems and don't take good care of their mental health, leading to some really unhealthy Coping mechanisms. But I do agree that some of things Bruce and jason have done have been super out of character and totally could be erased lol

Thanks for the ask friend!

[fuckyeahdindjarin]

Behind the Seams: Part III

Welcome to the first instalment of Behind the Seams! Thank you everyone who has responded so positively to this slightly self-indulgent idea I had. I know I take so long in between chapters, this seems like a fun way to keep you guys in the loop, and also to keep myself motivated and productive while I work by sharing my thoughts as I go.

This time, I'll be rambling about focusing on the characters as I'm still in the thick of developing personalities and interpretations in the Seams universe, and I'd love to put all the thoughts that have been rattling around my brain into words to help me process it.

I will be tagging these posts as 'behind the seams' together with the chapter number 'seams iii' so you can filter this out if you don't want to see them! For those who are interested, let's dive in below the cut!

Current status: 3.2k written, fully outlined rough draft with most of the dialogue drafted.

Initial thoughts: This chapter wrote far more easily than I expected to so far. Each story is different, but I tend to find the 3rd to 5th chapters hardest to write, when you're building up the shape of the arc of the whole series.

I'm still keeping my options open with regards to what Seams is or can be, but I'm still thinking 'loose fit series' i.e. there won't be a solid, overarching story arc or ending to the series since it's not a plot-driven story. It will be interesting to see if my approach changes after a couple more chapters!

The challenge: The first two instalments were so hyper-zoomed in on Joel and Pin, I knew that the challenge for this chapter is pulling back the camera and seeing how they interact with each other outside the safety of the Outfitters, and how they fit into the wider community.

Joel and Pin: I was re-reading Threads in preparation for writing Part III, and what strikes me is that these two really don't know a lot about one another. They've barely had a fully formed conversation despite the forced proximity and some very charged moments in the last two chapters. I've tentatively written most of their dialogue in this chapter, and it's interesting that a couple of times, I've stopped myself and thought - is this too playful for a shy person like Pin? Is it too familiar with two people who are practically strangers, despite their chemistry? It's a balance that I'll have to find as I edit, and I'm excited to see how it turns out.

Tommy: For some reason, Tommy comes fairly easily to me, a testament to Pedro and Gabriel’s chemistry on screen. Without giving too much away, I'm really happy with the angle I found for Joel and Tommy in this chapter. There's a lot to unpack between the two brothers, but the happy occasion means that I can focus on the good part of their relationship for now. However, I am keeping the tensions in their history in my back pocket because I don't want to gloss over the very real and three-dimensional relationship we saw in the series.

Ellie: I've talked about how I'm nervous about writing Ellie. My Pedro boys are all lone wolves - sure they have their best friends (Teak to Palomino!Jack, Santi to Grays!Frankie, Pete/Rebecca to Consent!Dieter), but Ellie is Joel's kid, and she's part of his life more than any BFF is to my other Pedro boys. Luckily, I have found an in with Ellie that I think works well with the story in Part III, and also fits in with the broader direction of the fic. It's going to be nerve-wrecking, but I'm ready to write her into Seams!

Tess: I'm not in a place to say too much yet about Tess, but it's so important to me that she isn't erased from the Seams universe despite her not being there. I've been thinking a lot about Tess lately, about how she will fit into the story, how Joel will fit Pin into his and in relation to Tess. There are no easy answers, and it will be something to mull over in the next few chapters.

Something fun: Ok, all this character stuff is pretty heavy, so I want to end on a light-hearted note - Joel's tummy makes a cameo in a white undervest 😌

And that's it for Behind the Seams: Part III! I feel a lot lighter having found a space for all the things I have been thinking about while drafting the chapter. I hope this was a fun deep dive for you guys as well, I'll be hitting Google Docs hard this weekend to try to get all of the writing done for Part III so that I can start editing next week. My askbox is always open if anyone wants to chat 🥰

[dangermousie]

As the Russian saying goes, “a talented person is talented in everything” and so LX does an epically good job setting their relationship on fire.

I love this shot btw because he really looks like if he wasn’t leaning on the filing cabinet, he’d collapse.

The thing is, nobody can hurt you as badly as the person who knows you best and who you trusted with your weaknesses.

And I also love how realistic it is that even with him hitting exactly where it hurts (he wants to break up with her to both protect her but also himself because it’s easier to do insane stuff when you have no hope of happiness, there is certain numb peace in being back behind his walls) she refuses to give up right away, she keeps giving him chances and chances - it’s someone who she dated for three years! Who she talked marriage with! Who she started a business with and lived with and who until a few days ago put a blanket around her when she was cold and gave her temple rubs! It makes sense!

I love this shot!

This did crack me up if grimly. In his way, LX is by far the most driven by emotion character out of anyone in the story - the man is breaking up with the love of his life so he can go maim the man he holds responsible for his sister’s death in public. He’s throwing his entire life away for a moment of vengeance!

The thing is, I am not really spoiled for this drama much but I am spoiled that past time jump, she’s the one who takes initiative just as she did in college and I actually love it because it shows more than anything else could how aware he is that he wronged her. As I mentioned to @aysekira , it’s not just the social status difference (it was not great before but is insane now) but that he fully knows and accepts that what he did to her is unforgivable and in a way it would be an insult to her to chase her because it implies he’s owed forgiveness.

[localplaguenurse]

hii its amorette—can i just say i freaked out when i saw capillaries updated?? i loved the latest chapter so so much!!

i love how you characterize dottore and wanted to ask if you have any tips on how you write him / things you keep in mind while writing him, since your fic really inspired me to try writing my own! i hope you have a nice day :DD

Hi Amorette!!! Glad you liked it!

I saw this right as my first break at work ended and suffice to say, it’s been on my mind all day. You’ve opened a Pandora’s box, you’re getting a whole character analysis, because Dottore is actually a royal pain to write about so I have to REALLY study this bastard. The first half is going to be just purely on his canon traits, and the rest are my interpretations and headcanons.

So canonically, Dottore is very prideful and driven by the pursuit of knowledge. No subject is off limits to him, and he doesn’t care about how ethical or moral his research is. Whatever he needs to do, he’ll do it, the ends justify the means. He’s been obsessed with surpassing the gods since he was young, which is why he was ostracized by society. Sohreh’s notes describe him as initially “frigid,” but then she goes on to say she had a good time working with him and is looking forward to spending more time with him (Rip Sohreh). He created segments of himself from different ages as a way to surpass the limits of human cognition, and because they could offer their own individual contributions to his research. Omega is described as more selfish since he was the one to nuke the other segments for the gnosis, and Webttore/Beta is more manic and prone to mood swings. Also, none of the segments like each other.

That’s all the canon stuff. With that alone, you already have a pretty solid start for how to write him. He’s a man who views himself above the people who rejected him and wants to surpass the gods that ignored him. He doesn’t really care about keeping company and he barely gets along with himself. He’ll do anything in the pursuit of knowledge and doesn’t care if someone has to die for him to get it done. If Sohreh’s notes are anything to go by, he may have been antisocial but not completely opposed to finding connection, but that’s up to how you personally interpret her notes and subsequent death. He’s very calculating, and though he does resent the gods, he’s at least mature enough to hold it together for a conversation.

Now, onto my personal take on Dottore, which I’ve sprinkled through the fic already but it won’t hurt to share here :3

So the one key thing I have latched onto personally is his name. Zandik. By this point we all know it means “heretic” but really think about that for a second. That is the name of a man who was born in a world where gods are not only real, but they actually interact with the populace. Maybe it was because my bestie got me into Ethel Cain, but I started thinking about the implications/potential of religious trauma. What sort of homelife would a kid have when his own parents named him heretic when god is actually real? Certainly not a very pleasant life. Of course at some point he’d develop a hatred of gods when he’s been seen as a blasphemous monster since he was born. Of course he’d despise society as a whole, they’ve despised him from the start. This isn’t something he asked for, but it’s all he has. He did no wrong and yet all the world hated him for being born, what did they expect him to turn into?

As a result, my personal interpretation of Dottore is that he is still that prideful, cold and calculating scientist that hates the gods and isn’t afraid to do awful things to prove it, but he is also, deep down, motivated by validation. At the very least, that’s how this all started. At this point he’s become more callous, but there’s a part of him that wants to be appreciated, genuinely, by someone or something. This would have been especially prevalent in his younger self/segments, because he’s not as “mature” as he is now. If you cut through the 400 years of his callous cruel ways, you might find a little boy full of pain and anger asking what he did to deserve all of this. 

… TLDR: He’s very smart, very callous, thinks very highly of himself, and I write him as one of those “they treated me like the villain so I became the villain they feared most” characters with a splash or religious trauma for flavour.

If you want to, you're more than welcome to use some of my characterization if you ever write about him! Honestly, for as big a pain in the ass he is to write, he's really interesting to explore as a character! It's actually why my favourite chapters/moments so far are the backstory ones, or whenever he's reflecting on his relationship with widow. He's a bastard and I love him.

[beloved-child-of-the-house]

hi liddy! i saw the post you rbed about blocking liberally, which i’m very much on board with, and it reminded me of something i’ve been thinking about a lot lately and i’m curious about your thoughts.

i’ve noticed that the culture in fandom, maybe specifically the drarry fandom maybe not, is to not engage with things that make you upset, which i think comes from this same root of it feels like crap for everyone and is a self protective choice. that arguing on the internet is pointless and hurtful and it’s better to just look away and move on. but it seems like that turns into folks feeling like they can’t or shouldn’t call out real problems. whether it’s racism or ableism (etc) in fic, issues with modding or beta-ing, interpersonal drama, etc - if the culture is to block and move on, how do we address what does come up in order to keep each other safe? what has been your experience with this, if you’re down to share?

this is such a good question! When I reblogged the post I was thinking mainly about blocking people who post stuff I don’t like so that I don’t have to see it in the tags, essentially because it’s clutter to me. That’s not a particularly serious thing, more just personal preference. This got long so prepare yourself for loosely organized rambling.

I’ve found that fandom’s attitude toward conflict is extremely avoidant. This isn’t specific to drarry or HP, it’s something I have seen in basically every fandom I’ve participated in. Some folks are really uncomfortable with conflict, and it seems to be considered polite not to say anything negative about fanworks and tropes you have a problem with and especially not to publicly take issue with other fans, even ones who are managing the fan experience for lots of people, such as mods.

to some extent, it can be a good thing not to be public about disagreements. The entire fandom doesn’t need to weigh in and take sides on every personal disagreement. That would be a really unpleasant atmosphere and people would leave or be driven out and all that would be left is people who like to fight.

BUT on the other hand, I think there does need to be significantly more tolerance for like. Friction? This anti-conflict attitude favors the status quo, and like. The status quo is kind of steeped in the ableism, transphobia, racism, fat phobia, and even homophobia and misogyny of our larger culture because like. It takes focus and research and constant effort to shed those bigotries, and we are all at different stages in those journeys.

Personally I would feel way more welcome and accepted in fandom if it weren’t seen as like. Impolite to discuss how fandom can do better around things like race in particular. Fandom has turned drarry into an interracial relationship which I love, but sometimes the fannish handling of Harry’s character as a man of color is kind of racist and it would be great to be able to talk about it. once I saw someone say they specifically depict Harry as white because it’s too much trouble to sort out the details of his identity as a person of color and I thought that was SO hurtful and insulting to fans of color. The veneration of Aurors in fandom makes me kind of uncomfortable as a Black fan (acab??) and the treatment of house elves is a fucking mess (your SLAVE character is comic relief?? Really??)

In our particular fandom, canon is SO messy that fanworks seem like a good opportunity to address its messiness. On the other hand, some people don’t care about addressing all the problematic isms in canon and would rather just read and write and draw for sexy reasons or fluffy reasons and aren’t especially interested in taking the source material seriously enough to pull it apart and fix it. Or maybe some people don’t feel like. Informed enough to fix it. Putting yourself out there and sharing your work or even your taste in other people’s work can be really scary. Maybe people feel strongly that more barriers to entry are inherently a bad thing.

Maybe that sense of vulnerability, like we’re all doing something that’s on the edges of socially acceptable that makes everyone so afraid to hear criticism. I don’t see things like callout posts (I recently learned that calling someone out used to mean challenging them to a duel like swords and pistols style!) (Hogwarts era snarry? Pistols at dawn, you villain!) and blocklists anymore but they are not very far in the past. I was going to say we might be overcorrecting but did callout posts and blocklists actually make fandom safer or more moral?

I think a big part of the issue is that fandom is a fucking enormous group of people, united by the fact that we read some book series and we want to make and enjoy fanworks about it, and that is not a lot to have in common. We are going to differ significantly about what constitutes harmonious cohabitation. And of course most people find a little corner of fandom they like the look of and only engage with a few dozen people at a time. That’s much more manageable but like. You still have to be able to talk honestly to people about How We Want To Be (and then sometimes you find out someone doesn’t consider themselves part of your We at all and don’t care how you want to be as long as you leave them out of it).

To me, participating in fandom is about creating relationships and connecting with people, even more than it is about engaging with the source work or enjoying fanworks. It feels very strange to me to be trying to build relationships in an environment where I’m supposed to be unnaturally agreeable. How are they going to know who I even am, if I can only talk about things I like?

But even that is a matter of personal taste! Not everyone enters these spaces wanting to make friends, and there’s nothing wrong with just quietly enjoying the art and keeping to yourself. In which case, maybe conflict in fannish spaces feels more like shouting in the library than healthy relationship maintenance.

All this to say that building relationships and sharing space with other people is always messy and contentious and acting like you can avoid the mess by only saying positive things is self deception. Imposing that standard on the whole group is just. So unhealthy!!! We need a basement for how we treat each other so that people can feel safe that they won’t be damaged by other fans for either making a mistake or drawing attention to an issue.

But how do we establish rules like that so that everyone knows about them and agrees to them? How do we enforce rules? If we successfully establish community standards, how do we share them with new people as they enter? Being a group of humans who want to share things with each other is very fucking messy. These aren’t the kinds of questions you can answer once and be done with it. You have to keep answering them over and over again.

I don’t have a conclusion to this rambling and I have errands to run, so I will leave it here. I appreciate the question!

[lillified]

I do just love reading your long posts about your continuity or like, breaking down the themes and stuff of the official material in such an interesting way. I've been a transformers fan since I was a child and seeing someone with such fresh takes and such interesting character explorative takes! Like oh my god I've been wanting just someone to sit down and look at these characters in all the complexity they *could* have for so long. Especially the decepticons which official material always starts to get into but never gets too far (I feel just due to the nature of transformers being the action series it is denying it the time to really build up a character driven narrative sometimes)

Needless to say I am so excited to keep up with your work and thank you so much for sharing it inspires me so bad!

thank you!! that is a very sweet thing to say :)

while I think it is easy and fair to look at franchise media and the state of what art is allowed right now and get a bit sad, I think it's important to remember that the art and artists themselves are not the part that is bad--it is the idea that all art can only exist as content, to be the emotional, public facing identity of a brand. Instead of characters and ideas existing as tools to tell a story they are things that have to be arbitrarily consistent, as if they are real people who exist and have to satisfy a checklist.

All characters have to be good and bad in perpetuity, because each individual character is somebody's favorite, so no piece of media can ever commit to exploring deeper moral questions without doubling back on itself--for that reason, every time the art tries to be more sincere to itself it never commits, because it will inevitably have to double back on itself, lest it reconcile with the fact that the characters and their actions are reflections of real people and real world problems instead of objective facts.

that's one of the major reasons I encourage people to be more personal with the media they engage with--even when money, business and executives are pushing for art to be LESS personal and more sanitized, every individual person has an experience that deserves to exist as art. your voice matters and deserves to be represented! once again, thank you for the extremely kind words: this was my once monthly excuse to wax poetic about this topic because it is something that is very important to me, if you couldnt tell

[schmergo]

I've recently done a little bit of research for some stuff adjacent to the production of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes that I'm in right now and, in checking whether certain scientific institutions and inventions would have existed during the time of the play, I discovered something kind of interesting: many of the ones I've looked up were coincidentally established within 5-10 years of the setting.

The first bunch of Sherlock Holmes stories, the source materials for this play, came out between 1887 and 1893. The Natural History Museum? Opened fully in 1883. The Prime Meridian? Officially established in 1884. Tower Bridge? Built between 1886-1894. The Tube running northwest from Baker Street? 1880. London's first electrical power station? 1882. Those are just the ones I happened to look up. Telegrams are common in the Sherlock Holmes tales, and by the later Sherlock Holmes stories, he's using a telephone and even automobiles are mentioned.

Reading the Sherlock Holmes stories with that context of a world full of rapid changes and advancements, I feel like it comes across differently. It seems to say, "There's a scientific answer for everything." His unique detecting style, based on simple observations, made it seem like the age-old problems of crime and criminals could be defeated by logic and reasoning. I think there's a level of idealism, that even the most difficult crimes are solvable and bad actors are no match for modern scientific knowledge.

Reading Sherlock Holmes cases often gives the comfortable feeling of order and justice being served. I think that's the same reason true crime content is so popular today in another age of rapid digital advances-- and if we guess the solution, it's doubly satisfying. It's also why Sherlock Holmes is so easily translated to modern day.

But that also makes me think about another book and another equally iconic character that came out around that same time period: Dracula, published in 1897. And Dracula takes a lot of the same themes and seems to say the exact opposite.

I think one of the biggest things that surprises first-time readers of Dracula is how modern Dracula feels and how much technology is used in the book. Like the Sherlock Holmes stories, it was set in roughly 'modern day' when it was written. The 'good guys' use trains, telephones, typewriters, and even blood transfusions. But when Dracula, an old-world monster, arrives in their modern newfangled city of London, all of that technology is useless against him. And so is any ability of theirs to deduce a simple scientific explanation for what's going on.

When Dracula starts sneaking into their friend’s house and sucking her blood each night, the signs are obvious, right down to the puncture marks on her neck. The reader and audience knows what’s up waaaay before the characters do. It’s infuriating! You want to jump up and down and yell, “A VAMPIRE IS KILLING HER!” But why don’t they see what’s right in front of their faces? Because they’re thoroughly modern upper-middle class British people who live in a scientifically advanced world and believe in reason.

The chaos of true evil is more powerful than logic and reason. To defeat him, they need to get on his level and use superstition and religion and folklore. It's the polar opposite of a story like "The Hounds of the Baskervilles," published five years later.

All that said... I would love to see a Sherlock Holmes and Dracula crossover. How long would it take Holmes to deduce that he had run into a real vampire? Would he make all the correct observations and keep coming to the wrong conclusions? Would he be able to accurately predict the patterns of Dracula's behavior when his opponent has superhuman abilities and can transform into multiple different types of animals?

Or, given Holmes' somewhat addictive and adrenaline-driven personality, his superior attunement to his senses, his surprising revival from the dead, and his innate instinct to 'catch his man' at any cost... would he himself make the most dangerous vampire of all?

[gabrielsbubblegumbitch]

Why hello,Hera here. I saw your Carmilla ramble and just wanted to say that I 100% agree. However,I feel like she makes sense somehow? Let me explain! We clearly see her as this respectable (yes,Velvette stay put) fairly modest woman, but I surmise that's a clear “don't judge a book by it’s cover” type of thing. And..yes,I would put photos but I cannot do that in anon...anyway.

Let's look at her. She is PERFECTLY portrayed as a hypocrite. Yes. Obviously there were some..character writing issues to say the least but she IS a hypocrite. Not just because she sells weapons; what does a hypocrite do? Say stuff and do otherwise, to their own advantage. She does everything she does to save her daughters and herself, saying to not cause war but outright attacking Vaggie AS SHE SET FOOT inside her chambers. She couldn't care less about other sinners,and that's WHY she sells weapons. She's a bad person, she sells guns to make other sinners outright attack eachother. Why? To bring more Sales of course. If you know you're in danger then..let's just say, wouldn't you sell your soul for some security? People have sold them for far less after all.

Secondly, notice how she's outright manipulating Vaggie,maybe Zestial even? She does absolutely NOT care about them. The only thing she has ever done for Zestial for all I remember in the show was stop Velvette from causing problems during the meeting,and when she felt like she was losing control over it — as someone manipulative would do — she shuts her down sending her away. She understood she f-cked up and TO NOT RUIN HER FACADE she literally admitted everything just to keep the strings stretched thin. And that's the thing about the final stretch: It can keep stretching for however long she wishes it to. After keeping it from people you must either speak up about it or let the situation fall into the hands of fate which isn't really reccomended when you're trying to guilt-trip someone with a heart wrenching Song,no?

ABOUT SONGS CAN WE PLEASE SPEAK ABOUT OUT FOR LOVE? that song is absolutely screaming: “I didn't tell you this for my own advantage but I'm trying to distract you by telling you to fight for who you love yes whoo totally cohesive with what the main trope is!”.

Last and probably least, we take english as the official and outmost canon language in which the show is written. However, in certain translations DURING the overlord meeting — more specifically while velvette sang respectless — she said “I warn you that sooner or later you will pay for it, If it were up to me I would kick you out of here!”. Now, I know this is probably to actually make it rhyme but IT'S NOT JUST THAT. Because if we take a little more objective view we understand that she is exactly the type to be so aggressive. She sells weapons,attacks Vaggie, Stays behind closed doors when she could've HELPED her, and look at what information she actively chose to withold versus what she said up until out for love? . Think about it,She cares for herself and for her daughters..which brings me up to the first point.

Now, you're probably right and she's Just badly written but THERE'S STILL HOPE! I hope-

Ah you are certainly onto something. I also noticed that she basically confirmed Velvette's words by shutting down the meeting just to not ay it directly. Like, it was a terrible choice. She's obviously not as strong and wise as she poses if one (1) loud lady was able to disarm her so quickly. She's as short tempered as Vox or Val considering that Vaggie she attacked for no reason. I honestly agree with everything that you've written because it makes sense. I'm sure her being just a hypocrite wouldn't bother me that much if it wasn't for the way the show frames her. I can't really describe it I feel like it insists, I should see her in a positive light. That's not the case with any other Overlord. Even Rosie is explicitly shown to be profit-driven and manipulative (don't get me wrong, I would die for this woman but she basically told Charlie "here's how you can convince my people to die for your cause without telling them that they will probably die"). But Carmilla is just fierce, protective, supportive and reasonable. Dunno, I hope they will fix her somehow in season 2 since she's probably not going anywhere.

[crimeronan]

re: your empathy posts. As someone who probably has higher than normal empathy (I used to ask people around me how they deal with sympathetic distress in common situations that occur in a job and only got blank stares) you're so valid!! The lionizing of this random subconscious process called empathy is so useless! It says nothing about the person and their values! As your other commenters suggested, people disparaging you may just be trying to boost their own shaky feelings about how their own emotional stability is deeply tied to their people-pleasing tendencies.

If anything, I think learning to function "normally" in society with "empathy" makes you more messed up. I understand this person's distress. I acknowledge it, and know how my actions will make it worse. I make them feel worse anyway, because that's the organizationally approved behavior, causing more pain for both them and myself. All the while I must behave as if I am cheerful and unbothered. Internalizing that hurting others and yourself to achieve your goals is Fine is necessary in order to stay sane. This is counter to everything people say they believe, so lying also has to become a virtue.

Buying kindness from the store seems like a really kind thing to do tbh. I am passing you on the street as I am schlupping over to pick up some callousness.

this last sentence made me giggle a lot. but YEAH!! a lot of this is spot-on to stuff i've been thinking about lately. like, "normal" empathy levels seem to be socially defined as "you care about people and want to help them, but you don't care so much that you'll harm yourself in pursuit of that" and it's all just..... i dunno. so much pathologizing of how we think and feel and whether we're Human (TM) about stuff. it's all so Weird

like..... i keep thinking that my lack of empathy gives me certain advantages in social situations. but in a similar vein to the ppl worried about sounding like tiktok empaths for being hyperempathetic, i worry that this makes me sound like an alpha male influencer writing youtube essays about why emotions make you weak, or whatever.

it's not that emotions make people weak or that having less empathy makes me like, a Cold Logical Calculating Math-Loving Strategist. i'm a writer who focuses solely on character-driven stuff, u probably wouldn't expect that from a stereotypically sociopathic person. part of why i LIKE writing character-driven stuff so much is BECAUSE i've had to actively teach myself how other people think, how they feel, how they struggle, etc

a lack of empathy means i can choose not to get invested in other people's feelings or lives, i don't feel guilty for emotionally disconnecting, i'm not afraid of being disliked. but i still know how to act like a decent human being. there's that one post about how stupid it is not to realize being nice gets people to be nice back, and fuckin. YEAH!! it's astonishing to me to read about cases of """clinical sociopaths""" (who are just people who didn't get the 'pretend you give a shit, moron' memo) manipulating and gaslighting people and whatnot. everyone in the comments will always be like "ooo so scary... they didn't feel bad at ALL... so terrifying that people who don't feel guilt exist..." and i'm like.

IS GUILT THE ONLY THING THAT KEEPS YOU FROM COMMITTING ATROCITIES???

BLOWS MY MIND. IT'S LIKE..... THE LEFTIST EQUIVALENT OF SAYING EVERYONE WOULD BE MURDERERS IF THEY WERENT SCARED OF GOD. LIKE. YOU ONLY AVOID DOING BAD STUFF BC IT MAKES YOU FEEL BAD??????

good LORD. at least having no empathy means i've had to grow my principles organically. oh my GOD.

anyway what brought these thoughts up today was that i was thinking about gansey and luz noceda, since theyre extremely similar characters & on my All Time Faves list. and i've said this before but the things i love about them (the kindness, self-sacrificing shit, anxiety, etc) are things i don't see in myself. but Wish I Did. like i wish i was kinder on the inside than i am.

but i know that i admire ppl with luz and gansey traits both in fiction and in real life. so i simply just..... emulate the luz and gansey actions. not always successfully, esp because i have a temper and very little patience, but like. i try to be kind where i can bc i wish i was someone who tries to be kind when they can. so i'm just going to be. u know??

[pietrodart]

I dunno if I'm right or wrong bout this but I feel like Emily and Pietro had an opposites-attract thing going on. Emily is extremely sweet and cheerful while Pietro on the other hand is more critical, smug, and boastful.

Monet is definitely a person closer to his personality and it's really nice to see. However I think there's something so fucking adorable about a nice gentle person falling for a more blunt brash person and I've seen it happen so much in stories and even real life. For some reason (I don't know why) I love opposites attract. I don't know if you get what I'm trying to say.

I don't know if it was you or someone else but I got another ask recently with something similar, so, warning: I don't want to come off as rude, but after this specific ask I'll avoid answering things that I have already answered.

But yes, I do get it. Opposites attract is a nice trope, but I don't completely agree with Emily and Pietro being that; sure, they have different personality traits, but they aren't complete opposites, and though Emily is sweet and more cheerful and optimistic, those are traits that are only really noticed because everyone else around her...are not. She's actually quite similar to Pietro. They are both paranoid(Emily worrying about Cable while the team was celebrating Red Skull's defeat) and very protective of the people they love(Emily wanting to reach for Wada when he was in pain even if she shouldn't).

Emily was also quite violent. Cable did go back to the past just to stop her from killing her literal grandfather, who apparently raised her and who she lived with and was really close; she also learned how to control people's minds so she could make them shoot themselves, and she wanted to kill the people responsible for Johnny's death. So while Emily was more of a "do without warnings" kind of girl, Pietro is more of a "warn but don't do" guy, since he constantly said stuff about killing others or threatening people but we don't get to see him do that(or at least, not as brutally). They worked because they were similar, in a way. Sure, not fully, but most of that difference came from Emily not being as socially awkward as Pietro and having a more stable home growing up(apparently). I think your point of view is nice, but I also think Emily shouldn't be stripped of her flaws and anger; her character is driven by that.

About Monet: I like her and Pietro. Sure, they are similar, but they also have different approaches to things and different life experiences, and from what we saw until now Monet is very sweet and silly around Pietro and he definitely needed someone with attitude -- Emily was perfect and I definitely prefer them, but she was very delicate and Pietro is kind of slow about those things if we're being honest. Again, I get what you're saying and I hope I'm not coming out as condescending or mean, but I also don't like stripping Monet of her silliness and kindness.

Both of them work pretty well, I guess(though I miss Emily a lot). Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me! And I'm sorry if this post is long, I just felt like it was nice to explain my point of view since I was keeping it very short in my last posts.