#because theyre clearly dedicated to their cause

[cod-dump]

average konni group chat. excuse my terrible photoshop

HSHSHHDJHDJKKD PERFECT

[igottayellsomewhere]

From Episode 5

"sometimes when I try to look ahead, all I see is back"

back where sanji

like, you could think about this line on a surface-ish level and say back to germa and all that angst ect, sure, but then what is back? what could there possibly be to go back to that he'd want to go to?? and that begs the question, what is forward?

so, at this point in opla they show that he's getting increasingly frustrated with zeff and that is the conflict thats set up to be a push forward, but it also really feels like the characters could have been at this crossroads before. Like, this is a repeating pattern but it always ends the same, sanji is frustrated then zeff let's him back into the kitchen then creativity and the need to be Free strikes and theyre at it again. And because sanji has decided to dedicate himself to zeff and repaying a kindness he could never imagine *there's nothing to look back or forward to*. This is the best scenario. He needs to fulfill zeffs dream before he can think about his own and There's No Other Option. So what is back?

Back is repaying zeff. A debt he can *never* repay

And though they do share the same dream and sanji still wants, yearns, for the All Blue, he can never give himself permission to do so. So forward is Here, at the Baratie, and he daren't dream because it's impossible to wrap his head around why zeff would do anything for a person like sanji, scratch that *just* sanji.

And then you gotta take into account that zeff is purposely squashing sanjis potential at the Baratie cause zeff wants sanji to realize that that's Not the path for sanji. If zeff gave sanji the responsibility he craves that would be like zeff putting the final blow on both their dreams. Zeff is begging sanji to want more but for sanji thats unfathomable; again, This is the Best Case Scenario and he can't bring himself to believe there's more.

So thinking forward or backward is just a moot point, which is why it's so jarring for Luffy to come in and say both that he doesn't do regrets or 'complicated' cause that's what sanji's dream is. When presented with the idea that it could be so simple, when Luffy says join us, there's a long pause. The idea has sprouted but the roots must be crushed. Like always.

I guess here would be a good time to compare the live action and the anime, like, zoro's dream having a big part in the anime/manga, ect. It's true that the only interaction opla zoro had with opla sanji before joining the crew officially was the dinner scene but I don't think the influence of zoros dream on sanji is as lost as some might say.

Opla sanji sees the aftermath of The Fight clearly, sees how many lengths Zoro would go to. He sees Luffy defend Zoro's dream vehemently, when Nami asks why Luffy didn't stop Zoro. In this moment it's reiterated that a person's dreams are Important and that Zoro was *right* to go after them, was *right* to be selfish and try to take something he wanted. Nami's was the dialogue sanji has been telling himself all his life, keep those you care for safe no matter what, no matter if it hurts to do it. Luffy's was a dialogue of I will not keep people from doing what they want, no matter what. No matter how much is "owed" to someone, a dream is Worthy, even if it makes those you're close to disappointed and sad. Which. Is one of many things sanji has been trying desperately to avoid. There's the tiniest crack of light trying to shine through, that maybe one can follow their dreams and have people care about you.

If this moment between the crew had not happened I'm not sure opla sanji would have joined the straw hats.

In this moment, sanji sees someone (zoro) who is willing to go forward, no matter what, and witnessing there are still people that care for that person even in that decision (Luffy, Nami, Ussop). The last time sanji Left there was a severance and no one to help him. He was on his own. Mustering up that courage Again would be... well, it'd be impossibly difficult. Seeing that there were people *for* the fool who followed their dreams was just as important as seeing someone follow their dreams, but Zoro needed to have a dream in the first place. Not one that could be squashed down, but one he was willing to and nearly died for. Someone could do anything for a dream and still be, well, worthy.

So he sees this crew, sees a chance, sees a worldview he's never dared hope for. And it's kind of the perfect opportunity but he darent hope quite yet. All he can do for now is feed and take care of these incredibly kind people and appreciate who they are while theyre here. So he does.

And then the Fishman show up. Sanji is Needed and he Can't abandon his home he needs to be there, end of story. Then Luffy offers to help and the world shifts. Again, sanji is facing a kindness he can't fathom deserving and the guy offers it enthusiastically, without hesitation. Sanji allows this kindness cause maybe its a way to be even, to allow someone to be kind is a kindness kinda thing. But either way he's gotta Go so let's not think on this too much and help zeff.

In the restaurant, sanji keeps his promise. He fights for zeff without hesitation. But then he gets thrown into a table (ouch) and can barely move. What now??? It's probably Panic City but then Luffy is there. Luffy is *defending zeff's dream*. Sanji takes a moment to recover and then we don't see him until he dives into the water after Luffy. But can you imagine????

This random boy is going head to head for zeff's dream. The thing Sanji *has* to protect. The other two fishmen are standing watch at the baratie entrance but as soon as they're gone sanjis out there, and what is out there? This random boy getting thrown to his death. And this random boy has a dream. And if he can save this random boy's dream, maybe sanji can have a dream too. But not now, later. Now we gotta help zeff rebuild.

And so sanji faces a final Forward. Zeff can see how much sanji cares and knows he has to break this boy's heart. There's no other way. We don't explicitly see zeff hearing that luffy offered sanji a place on his crew but a bit ago luffy got right in zeffs face and defended sanji, told him outright sanji is the type of person zeff hoped he would be. If this is gonna be the final push zeff can push him to somewhere he knows sanji will be valued. So he does, in the only way he knows sanji can accept.

This makes their final farewell even more heartbreaking. We can see there's a moment where both parties consider not saying anything. Theres Too Much but also Not Enough. And then they do, they say "take care", sanji says thank you, "thank you for putting up with my shit" and "I owe you my life". There's a thank you for the Past and a thank you for the Forward. Thank you for what is about to be.

"sometimes when I try to look ahead, all I see is back"

And now there's Both. A past to fondly remember and grow from and a future to look forward to.

back where sanji? What is back now?? Forward. Ahead. Back to a life of adventure on his terms.

[smalltownw1tch]

I think it’s about time I start posting my thoughts/theories about ROTPL… so here goes

SPOILERS 🚨 Part One

Starting with this photo and the whole Nancy/Potato relationship..

My theory is that this is right after Nancy finds out that her parents were the ones to dedicate that song to her on Halloween and NOT potato like she currently thinks

So of course she feels defeated because now she thinks Potato was telling the truth and he isn’t keen on her and she’s thinking damn I was wrong. no boy likes me for who I am

BUT little does she know that Potato’s falling madly in love as we speak

Speaking of…

I can’t get over how overjoyed Wally looks for Potato in this photo ⬇️ he’s so happy that he’s about to drop Hazel 💀

More about Wally later in this post ❗️

The corsage that Nancy has on her wrist has to have been given to her by Potato right??? It doesn’t match her dress so I’m assuming it was his choice 😭 but AAAA THEYRE SO CUTE ALREADY

The poor guy is having an out of body experience while Nancys reevaluating everything she stands for

(Also I’d like to point out that Nancy has her own face on her skirt which makes me love her even more. Know ur worth girl)

pink ladies who hand jive together stay together :’)

It makes me sad that Cynthia isn’t wearing a suit too but there are a couple things I have to say about that-

1. Even though we all know she probably would’ve wanted to- wearing a suit would’ve caused a lot of trouble for her and even though that makes me sad to think about, it IS the 50s… so better safe than sorry

2. The dress is not a reflection of her character’s journey because clearly she’s having trouble figuring out her identity, plus there’s that whole does Cynthia become a T-Bird and a Pink Lady debate. But at least she looks like she’s enjoying herself!! That’s the least we could ask for

I am curious if Lydia is there though…

OK BACK TO WALLY

The fact that he’s at the Frosty Palace with Hazel when Buddy and the others are nowhere to be seen makes me think his song is about what Hazel said in one of the earlier episodes about whether he actually likes the dance/his friends even tho he’s known them forever

Plus he’s just watched her act her heart out as Juliet so he’s pretty much head over heels

We’ve been getting a lot of character development songs, esecially with Buddy in episode 7, and the fact that Wally’s singing in the rain? You can’t get much more angsty than that 😭

OKOKOK LOOK AT MY BABIES

If we don’t get a kitschy montage of the Pink Ladies and the T-Birds getting ready for the dance then what’s even the point tbh

They’re matching too 🥹 kind of

The scene where Richie gives Gil his blessing to ask out Olivia in the last ep gave me such huge relief I’m so glad we’re getting our bbg away from that vile criminal teacher

Also I see Shy Guy there in the background busting some moves so I’m glad he’s having a good time even if he doesn’t have a date

Is there anything I’m way off with?

I have more to point out so I might make a part two if people want to discuss theories??

[petrichoraline]

I binge-watched this into the dark hours of the night and I had a lot of points I wanted to make but I'll just vent (a bit spoilery)

this show is funnyyy, it had me laughing at points I wasn't supposed to (like when dome would appear standing in the distance out of nowhere like a horror movie character but sweet music played on top) and it also does endearing very, very well.

the main characters' dynamic is interesting. they're a very lowkey couple in a way, domestic and sweet but when the conflict is conflicting the tension is palpable. thorn can be very sassy and petty (kind of despite himself) and fah tends to need direct guidance - their fights remained consistent in nature and the conflict though frustrating made a lot of sense. these are young men with a lot of doubts about their future, their goals and relationships. theyre put in kind of impossible situations and acting out, saying the wrong thing, having trouble with controlling emotions are normal - it's difficult to watch but not because it's nonsense as is the case with a lot of forced conflict in media.

ai and saen had the best only one bed scene I've seen in A WHILE like I couldn't think of a better one, it had beautiful sound design, enough time dedicated to setting the scene and building the tension AND some lovely acting that made the switch in their dynamic so romantic and natural. they also had a cute development, even when softened up ai maintained that sharp tongue and saen kept looking at him with the same adoration and handling his comments with patience (the graduation gift reaction wouldve hurt me but not saen, that man is so used to it 😂)

dome and vee had me going crazy in the first episodes, I really enjoyed the tension but I was rooting for pan the whole time. i was yelling about girls in bls lmao like these dudes had me stressed for a girl I was so sure was gonna be sweet about it AND SHE WAS. at one point I was like "if you grab that empty beer bottle and take revenge I wouldn't be mad tbh", that girl was GRACIOUS. also "I told him that if he found someone he could leave anytime" girlll 😭💗

honestly vee didn't seem too remorseful at the beginning so his guilt really taking over in the second half felt a bit out of nowhere but also right. I think hes usually a playful guy and the consequences didn't really dawn on him at first, not to mention he didn't expect to actually fall in love. dome is a cutie but that man pissed me off, I think the reason he struggled his much being hes now into a guy made the conflict compelling and understandable but it still was so unfair towards his girlfriend, I was screaming BREAK UP on like ep.2 not because I cared about his rs with vee but because he clearly doesn't want to be with her and he should set he free (and ironically it turned out she was the one who tried to give him that type of freedom)

also the hyperventilating scene..I felt that, it was so good.

the colours, cinematography, music choices, humour and drama are really engaging. I started the show a while ago (quite a bit after i had decided to watch it due to good recommendations), stopped for a bit, got to the end of ep.3 and put it on hold for a while because tbh the first episodes weren't too much fun, they had this one single flashback happen like five times in an episode like they were making sure those kids got their exposure 😂 but it really picked up from there, i binged 9 episodes at once, i didn't skip scenes, used the speed up button only once and didn't feel the need to check my phone which is a lot lol

it's fun, it's sweet, there wasn't much basketball after all (which was good for me cause I wasn't in it for the sport, I thought it was a volleyball show 😁) but there was plenty of tenderness, the way characters display affection is so nice and thought out. there's a nice squad, the friendships are not really a main focus? but you can feel the support (glad we got an aii/thorn moment, I was sure those two would get along)

I recommend it even if the first few episodes are a bit on the dull side, what it does well it does really well and it's a worthy watch 💖

[chikkou]

What do you think of the critique that Lisa promotes gender essentialism?

to be perfectly candid, i think austin doesnt (or didnt at the time) know enough about trans people or gender politics for that to be intentional commentary. like when he was asked about how trans people fared in olathe he mostly seemed confused by the question and if i remember right, outright stated he wasnt very knowledgeable on the subject, so while i do wish hed been more read up on the subject i think that aspect of the story was unintentional

as for the gender essentialism question…. i think whoevers saying that doesnt know what “gender essentialism” means cause lisa goes out of its way to show you that this does NOT hold true, even when the odds have been stacked in favor of it (and they were, since yado deliberately set olathe up this way). on the women’s end, both lisa and buddy could really be considered a gender essentialist nightmare as they have almost no “traditionally feminine” aspects to their personality. theyre both clever, cutthroat, and will go to any lengths to protect themselves.

on the men’s side, there are multiple men throughout lisa who point blank refuse to participate in the witch hunt for buddy because they think its sick and wrong (like rooster and ajeet), or only join brads party specifically to help him out of respect/genuine affection, like shocklord or terry. hell, terry alone is a massive hole in the argument that lisa supports gender essentialism - he is very unselfish and dedicated solely to brad, is openly affectionate with him, and of course, has a much more feminine appearance and mannerism. hes also the first party member you encounter and definitely the one brad becomes the closest to.

also the whole beehive exists. one safe haven in olathe where the bees can simply be whoever they are, completely secure in themselves, and anyone who tries to start shit is swiftly dispatched. the bees were also clearly meant to represent the lgbt community since one of them says that theyre grateful “their community” has been able to thrive. being lgbt at all flies in the face of gender essentialism, and having a whole area dedicated to showing that their community is the only one doing well for itself is a pretty clear stance to take. so like. yeah im calling foul to this argument it literally holds no water LMAO

[blxetsi]

Hi there! I love your work!! So I know this sounds a little niche but, could we get headcanons for a reader in a polyamorous relationship with Hange and Miche please? Hope you’re having a really good day!

NO BEXAUSE IVE BEEN WAITING FOR SOMEINE TO REQUEST POLYAMOROUS STUFF OMGGGGG 😭 ty for your service anon it means a lot 😔🙏

hange and mike dating headcanons (canonverse)

zoë hange x gn!reader x mike zacharias

warnings: polyamorous relationship, and titans ??, reader is kinda innocent ?? like just easily wound up

also this is going to be SO fucking long and focused on hange for the first long bit sorry !

btw this isnt rlly dating headcanons so much as backstory, how you met, and shit leading up to actually getting together i went so fucking overboard and went the complete opposite way of what you asked ill do a part two with ACTUAL dating headcanons if youd like anon just tell me and ill do it

- i think you wouldve worked for garrison originally

- in season one when hange started the experiments on sawney and bean thats when you would've met them

- you had been a big fan of their research studies for a while, so being in front of someone you thought was so cool was a little nerve wracking

- you had just became newly appointed as a captain for a garrison squad, being one of the youngest recruits to get the position, which also meant some people thought you couldnt handle the job

- you were good at telling others what to do, and guiding them when needed, you took over the leader role very quickly, you had to if you wanted to keep the position

- although you thought you were a good leader, others didnt

- specifically older members of garrison who thought because you were so young, youd be naive

- and since you were a garrison captain, you worked closely with hange and moblit during their experiments

- any request they made for supplies or anything, went through you and youd get it for them

- they needed more help ? youre requesting three soldiers to the experimentation zone immediately. anything they needed you helped with, because you liked helping

- hange had quickly grown fond of you, they were so thankful that you were so willingly to have your squad help them. you remember the brunette grabbing your hand and saying "thank you for your dedication to this project and to science !" while bowing multiple times

- as unsanitary and childish as it was,,, you didnt wash that hand for a day

- hange saw how some members of your squad treated you, and it may have irked them a bit

- causing them to rant to moblit while writing down research data

- "hange." "i just dont get it, why dont they say anything ? theyre so nice so why dont people respect them like they should-" "hange !" "what ?!" "youre writing down captain l/n's name on your page !" "so what ?!- wait what" this causes a night of bickering between the two of them 😐🤚

- when sawney and bean died hange was devastated. you had grown to like the section commander as a friend and respected them greatly, so to see their hardwork and research all go down the drain was hard

- you immediately went into leader mode and started ordering your squad around "listen up ! i want this whole perimeter checked and searched for any evidence to help us find out who did this." a couple members groaned, and one man, who was in his early thirties made a comment about it. "theyre just stupid fucking titans. we're supposed to kill them, not keep them alive for some freak to experiment on them."

- yknow,, looking back on it maybe you shouldnt have went off on them the way you did, but you did because not only was the man questioning your authority and orders, he was blatantly disrespecting a section commander. "i am your captain. i am your leader. you will respect me, and you will listen to me. you either do i say or youll be suspended and taken off my squad immediately. and that goes for everyone ! do i make myself clear ?" you shouted. the man who had talked back raised his eyebrows, youd never once yelled or demanded things be done in a manner like this, and it clearly shocked him when you stood up for yourself.

- a bunch of murmurs came from your squad and you dismissed them, but not before stepping in front of your soldier in front of everyone. "between you and me ? you should be discharged for not only your blatant disrespect and defiance to me for months now, but also for your innapropriate and degrading comments about section commander hange. you wanna pull some shit like this in the future, not just to me but to anybody ? you should kiss your position in garrison squad goodbye, since youre too childish to keep your thoughts and opinions to yourself. now grow the fuck up and go do what ive asked please." the man looked scared as he stared at you, no one had seen you act like this before, his jaw clenched as he nodded and walked off, the rest of your squad dispersing with him

- you didnt notice hange calling your name until you felt their hand on your shoulder. you turned around and saw their sympathetic gaze on you. "thank you for defending me. are you okay ?"

- you rubbed the back of your neck and answered. "honestly ? i feel kind of bad, like i embarassed him or something." the survey corps leader tilted their head back as they laughed. "youre so kind y/n, but im proud of you." the comment, although lighthearted, struck a cord with you

- a couple days later you were requested to meet with not only the section commander but commander smith, as well as your superior, dot pixis

- the meeting only lasted about thirty minutes, but hange had boasted about not only your leadership skills but also your knowledge and ideas on various sciences. erwin decided to offer you a position to work under hange, and dot pixis agreed to have you transferred to the survey corps if you agreed.

- did your decision have to do with your crush on hange ? maybe. would you ever admit it ? no.

- pixis explained to you that youd be honorably disharged from the garrison regiment before being moved to the scouts' headquarters in trost

- you surprisingly got along well with others there. working in hanges squad was fun, and even though you were demoted from a captain back to a cadet you didnt mind

- hange had offered to share as much knowledge as they could with you, which led you to be in their office (as messy as it was) after work hours

- and thats where you met mike

- well, got to know him

- hange introduced you two when you first joined and the first thing the section commander did was NOT shake the hand you held out for him but to lean down and sniff around your hair and neck

- your face felt hot as you stuttered over your words, thrown off by his,,, unique, greeting

- hange and laughed and lightly pushed him away, before explaining to you that thats just what mike did

- back to being in hanges office

- for nights on end youd stay up together in their office, two chairs huddled beside one another while you read through books of research, not just from hange but from published scientists and anthropologists too

- mike had started joining you two only three days after you and hange started

- he would stay quiet, but would sit next to hange making them be sandwiched by the two of you

- after that you started to notice him more often

- down the halls he'd send you a small smile, which you brightly returned

- sometimes he'd be in charge of training that day, and he would wordlessly help you position your arms to properly block or punch when sparring with other members

- then he started bringing tea when he would come and listen to you and hange discuss different theories, articles and information together

- you didnt even know the two were dating until you accidentally walked in on them in hange's office

- they werent doing anything dirty, just giving each other a kiss, but you had walked in on them with a stack of papers captain levi told you to give to hange.

- you kinda,, stood there, slackjawed, while the two pulled apart slowly to look at you. hange had a mischievous grin on their face while mike just gave you a blank stare

- you dropped the papers. the stack of documents levi tasked you to give to hange. you dropped them. How Embarassing.

- your face began to feel hot not just from seeing them but also because youre embarassing yourself by dropping the papers and just standing there like an IDIOT

- "uh,,, i- captain levi said to give you those documents you requested." your voice cracked at the end making you wince

- "you mean the documents that are spread out on my floor now ?" hange asked. you looked between them and the floor, then at mike, then back to the floor than back at hange. "yes." you said, and you could feel that warmth in your face spreading to your ears now too. "im sorry." you exclaimed, your voice sounding strained as you quickly walked backwords and closed the door in front of you

- you started avoiding hange and mike after that, and became hyper aware of everything that they did. they were TAUNTING YOU 🙄 you could feel it

- instead of small smiles in the halls, after you started ducking your head down when you saw mike, he would now give you head pats when you crossed him

- hange would let their hand linger on your shoulder or side as they shuffled past you during meetings or experiments, and would come closer than usual when handing you documents

- mike would give you teasing smiles when you got your ass handed to you during sparring

- and finally you were fed up ! did this count as workplace harassment ? you didnt know but you wanted answers ! so you went to the source, hange's room after dinner

- you didnt bother knocking, you just walked in with your eyes closed

- hange giggled, "what are you doing y/n ?" "making sure im not walking into something i shouldnt be seeing, section commander." "by that do you mean the kiss mike and i shared ?" "yes." "well we're not kissing right now." they said, and you peaked one eye open to be sure they werent lying, and they werent !

mike stood up from his chair and slowly made his way past you, closing the door. you took a deep breath before throwing all of your word vomit on blond and brunette duo. "so i dont know why you guys think teasing me like this is fun, but it isnt. it makes me flustered and nervous and feel weird and im not sure if it counts as abuse of power but i dont like it so it needs to stop." you huffed in a big breath of air after saying all of that, and hange rested their head in their hands.

"y/n do you have a crush on me ?" they asked. their voice was soft but they still had that stupid smile on their face. you could feel your face getting warmer by the second. your mouth opened and closed but no words came out.

" i uh, im gonna leave now." you turned around but hit something hard, and looked up at mike looking down on you, a smirk on his face. he put his hands on your shoulders and turned you back around to hange, walking the two of you over to their desk. he gave you a slight push, causing you to put your hands on the desk and lean on it, while mike kept his hands on you to keep you from running.

hange leaned into you, your noses barely touching. "i only ask because, mike and i have grown very fond of you." they said. you nodded a little bit, the tips of your noses brushing against each other.

"yeah well, id be a little sad if my superiors didnt like me, that would be kind of bad." you replied.

"can i kiss you ?" they asked.

and now is when your brain really stops functioning. thoughts fill your mind of mike and his relationship to hange. are they actually together or is it a friends with benefits kind of thing ?

"i uh, i cant kiss you." you replied, a bit breathlessly caused by both section commanders.

"why not y/n ?"

"well i'm not a cheater, or a homewrecker. i mean i assume that you and mike are together so, im not going to kiss someone in a relationship." you stammered out. this was making you very nervous, butterflies errupting in your stomach. you knew they were just teasing you, goofing around to make you flustered, but a part of you hoped youd be able to kiss hange, and maybe mike for that matter.

they chuckled a bit, before their brown eyes looking behind you to mike's towering form. "honey, can you tell y/n its okay if they kiss me ?" they asked. mike let out a small laugh through his nose before leaning down.

"only if y/n promises to give me a kiss afterwards." he whispered. he pressed a faint kiss to your temple, and you shivered from the contact. he was warm, very warm, and even though it was such a small amount of contact it did so many things to you.

you gulped before bringing your eyes back to hange. you looked to their eyes, and then to their lips, and continued that pattern silently in hopes theyd understand. you didnt want to be teased anymore ! you wanted something to happen.

hange got the hint and smirked, before leaning in again and lightly brushing her lips against yours. theirs were soft compared to mikes chapped ones, and the kiss was so slow, so innocent, it had you leaning in for more. it was a slow, lazy kiss, a kiss to test the waters, it helped calm your nerves, but also made your nerved explode with heat.

finally the researched pulled away, and put their hands on your cheeks, squishing them to pucker your lips, before giving a kiss to your forehead, nose and lips one last time. they let go with a soft smile on their face, and a blush of their own.

you could feel mike press his body down against yours, making your knees buckle slightly. he took his right hand off your shoulder to place it on hange's cheek, thumbing over the red pigmentation. he then turned your head up and to the side, before giving you a kiss of his own. this one was a bit more dominating, hard. his chapped lips scratched against your own but you didnt mind. in a weird way it made you feel at ease, having him take control of it, the same way hange did but his was just more, needy.

he pulled back with a shaky breath and looked at you before looking at hange. "so y/n," hange began. they stood up and made their way around the table, mike pulling himself and you up straight so hange could sit on the edge, pulling you in to stand between their legs. being sandwiched in between mike and hange made you so aware of them, and even though you were very new to something like this you felt weirdly safe and secure. "mike and i genuinely care about you, and we want to be with you the way that we're with each other. would you like that ?"

honestly, how could you say no ?

thats it again im sorry the anon who requested this you did not get what you asked for 😭😭😭😭 hope u all enjoyed requests r open stay safe

[bedrockbros-hell]

Ok my perhaps slightly processed thoughts on Tommy’s lore stream part 2 (/rp unless otherwise stated):

(Part 1)

Spoilers under the cut

SAM’S FIRST THOUGHT WAS RELIEF THAT TOMMY WAS ALIVE

God Sam. Sam is. Sam is such a conundrum. I think he’s an expertly written morally gray character. Clearly he still cares about people such as Tommy, but he’s also fallen into this dark pit keeping Dream locked up no matter what. I could write an entire post dedicated to this man but I’ll leave it at that.

Also TOMMY LISTEN TO SAM FOR FUCKS SAKE. DO NOT GO LOOKING FOR HIM PLEASE FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR OWN SANITY

ALSO JACK MANIFOLD??? That resigned “I’m just glad you’re alive” ASDFGGHJJKLL

Seriously my respect for so many characters has shot way up after yesterday’s lore (and there’s a bunch of other instances from other vods as well)

Oh yeah I also forgot to mention alliumduo in my last post?? Tommy giving ghostboo a flower like ranboo did when Tommy died I am so normal about this

I ALSO FORGOT TO MENTION ./HUG !!!

Ok but also that wall isn’t actually gonna do shit if Dream does show up at Tommy’s house. At best it’ll give Tommy more time to escape, worst case Dream uses the reference to l’manberg as something to taunt Tommy with

But I am glad it makes Tommy feel safe. I guess that’s what’s important.

THEYRE LISTENING TO THE DISC AND WATCHING THE SUNSET

wait I think that moment might be a serious highlight in the stream like obviously Dream’s escaped and everything is horrible but for now maybe things will be ok. The sun will always set and rise again tomorrow. No matter how alone Dream makes tommy feel, tommy has friends by his side who will sit on the bench with him and listen to music in silence for awhile.

Ive also realized Dream is now extra terrifying because before, I feel like he wasn’t so much focused on causing Tommy pain as he was keeping Tommy under his control. Now though, Dream is out for revenge. He wants to do everything in his power to to make Tommy hurt as much as possible.

Please Tommy please I know Sam has made bad judgement calls in the past but please listen to him and stay as fucking far away as possible from Dream please

Anyway goddamn i am just so incredibly impressed with this stream. Stellar performances all around. Special shout out to ccdream and cctommy for their acting. Fuck like I feel like I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since Dream was put in the prison, imagining ways the ccs might play it out. And BOY DID THEY DELIVER. I think this was better than anything that I ever came up with. Well done everyone applause all around

[fmdjoosungarchive]

【✧】━━━ ♥ w h x r e     e r a     a e s t h e t i c ♥ ━━━【✧】

i’ve made the terrible decision for sung’s whore era to end and a new era to make its rounds, so i wanted to make a post dedicated to the bad bih that is sung’s whore era. this aesthetic is half taking the piss n half sorta serious n i think it’s p self explanatory. he’s not as focused on the result of love because he’s heartbroken n just hoping someone will love him like he wants to be loved, but ofc his intentions are corrupt n therefore so are the mostly one or a few night relationships he struck up. very unfulfilling for him

date: december

word count: 409

tldr; wanna write about a couple moments to mark this time of his life. theyre both about the negative sides of it bc in the long run this isnt a lifestyle that suits sung n the negative parts of it sit stronger. this one is earlier on, when he slept w a friend and it caused tension in the friendship

---------------

“well,” sung said, and he could hear the touch of pout in his voice, “because we’re friends.”

his friend laughed. “wouldn’t us being friends mean i don’t want to date you?”

“i guess, but-” rather than being cut off, sung found himself at a loss for words. a hand topped over his, and he looked back to catch eye contact.

“but, what? it’s okay to just have fun.”

sung dropped his line of sight back to their hands while his lips pursed off to the side. it wasn’t the same as other people who rejected his affections. they wanted him gone immediately, and while it stung, he hadn’t the time to grow particularly attached. here, even though it was miles more gentle, it hurt even more. at a certain point, they must just be different people. clearly, what they expected going into this night was different, and how they go about relationships is different. yet, that didn’t stop his heart from aching any time he’d look back up at his friend.

he didn’t know how to compartmentalize his newfound feelings. in an uncommon fashion for nights like these, they shared a meal, watched a video together as they ate, and though his friend was laughing at the phone, sung kept finding his way to only looking at him. how could he continue on like nothing had happened? was there a book on how not to want to ride off into the sunset with your friend you had a one night stand with? could it be called a one night stand if no one was being stood up? the entire concept of the situation was confusing, and all he wanted was to lay his head in his friend’s lap, have his hair pet, and think about nothing.

a day before, he would have without a second thought. now, the action felt heavy. where was his line anymore? if it had tightened, he didn’t know how taut it stood. he only knew he was stand on the side opposite to his friend, and wasn’t supposed to cross the line.

on his way out, he kissed his friend, but it hadn’t been the same. he wasn’t rejected, there was no look of disgust on his friend’s face, but there wasn’t much of anything. the hint of smile he’d had was there beforehand and there after, and the touch was like that of any pieces of skin brushing. nothing of the night before.

---------------

date: march

word count: 421

tldr; maybe i’ll write more abt this era some other time but rn this para closes off the era, with sung’s thoughts that finalized him making the decision to move on and change his ways

---------------

when sung had woken up and snuggled in towards the person sharing a bed with him, he was shrugged off. half an hour later, a hand pushed his shoulder out the door as he continued to use whatever cuteness he could muster to ask for more time -a meal, a bath, anything- and the door shut behind him. in his car, his forehead laid on his hands gripping the steering wheel.

rarely did he ever feel good after leaving someone’s place. physically, tired, and mentally... he couldn’t even think of the right grouping of words. the sag in his shoulders, the sludge his mind trekked through, the grumbles that emerged when he was reminded of the lengths he’d driven for this and how the annoyance of getting out of the parking garage would end up being child’s play.

on the road, the thoughts came back around. sung missed when he had someone to drive him rather than having to deal with the annoyances on his own. he missed having someone that wasn’t eager to get him out of the door. being someone’s secret, it’d happened far more than he liked, far more than he would have chosen on the other side of the equation, even as a celebrity. he missed having someone at all.

ryoma wasn’t coming back to him. sung could try to convince himself that he was biding time until his love returned, willing to sweep him back up into sweet love once again, but he’d be a fool to continue to believe that by now. it’d been almost half a year, and ryoma seemed determined not to talk to sung.

in his teen years, sung had to put in a lot of effort and work in order to learn when to let things go, release. for many people, he could be overbearing, too much. with ryoma, maybe he’d always been too much, and now his muchness had doubled, because he had no rights to be such a way any longer. perhaps he was being too mean to himself.

sung may not be perfect, but he tried to be a good person who does good things and is good to people. this, though, how good could it be? even if he was the one who seemed the most pained at the end of the encounter, wasn’t he also at fault for encouraging it in others? he wasn’t making their lives brighter, nor his own. all he was doing was making his life harder.

what he needed was a relationship.

[axemetaphor]

augh i kept forgetting to post this because i kept wantgin to draw mroe for it but i really suck at emulating Animal Crossing Art Style so im just going to go on a rambling explanation about this under the cut but the basic concept is. they deserve a vacation. and whats more relaxing than animal crossing? probably several things but let me have this ok

id had a bunch of ideas for mroe drawings in this style but Clearly, i am not very good at it, and every time i sat down to Try Again it ended up shitty. this is from literally months ago by now lmao

my Basic Concept was just. take the 3 of them and dump them on an animal crossing island, cause while ive been sick ive been playing a lot of new horizons to try and stay stable, and my brain likes to mush together whatever 2-or-more things im invested in together all the time. here’s some bullet points!

-john really loves diving for sea critters and frequently pulls up those bigass lobsters and eels and shit, he’s got an unnatural knack for it. loves to startle the shit out of dave by just whipping an eel out of his pocket. no thats not an innuendo stop that-- -amy loves planting/watering the flowers but shes not like invested in getting All The Different Types (although that Would be neat) she’s just having fun building a large flower patch. it’s slowly overtaking the island. also dave likes to just kinda sit in the flower patch -speaking of dave he kind of doesnt do much, i think he’d like fishing with john and/or amy and maybe hed like digging up fossils but for the most part hes just chillin, as he deserves to be, -amy likes the DIY recipe stuff though and will frequently politely ask dave to go fetch stuff for her. this has led to most of the villagers/islanders/whateverthetermis, the animal citizens, to have their Main exposure to dave be him wandering around with an axe at 3am because amy’s out of hardwood -speaking of the animal citizens, because i just really like them as a concept, i have no solid concept of who-all would be on their island but whoever they are, john is “friends” with All of them (and by that i mean he says theyre all his friends; whether or not they find him obnoxious Varies,) and amy is genuine friends with most of them/has spoken to all of them at least, and dave rarely if ever speaks to them. hes not very social. most of the animals are a little scared of him until they Actually get to talk to him and then they realize hes just an awkward misanthropic bastard -also in case it wasnt clear id think the 3 of them would all be in one little cabin i mean you can upgrade the shit out of those so they could all feasibly have their own spaces. but also i like polyamory and id say they all 3 share a room because fight me they do itd be cute. also of course the decor of their cabin is absolutely bonkers like listen not only does animal crossing have some weird items but nearly any living space john inhabits most likely has some very strange decor in it !  -tbh actually i think john would do Most of the decor stuff cause like based on the way his house is described i think he’d go NUTS for animal crossing’s Theme Decor Shit i dont know i dont actually do a bunch of that but i sure do think he would! amy would help out esp since she likes the DIY stuff, and i think dave is just kind of ..... allowing this nonsense to happen. letting john be free. probably convincing him to not change the theme every day, maybe every week, if only because it’s a bit of a hassle to have everything Constantly Rearranged.  -hang on wait i just thought of the 3 of them wandering along the beach and picking up seashells and now im like emotional over it bro pls. lovely. -also i jsut realized if daves the guy who digs up fossils he definitely talks to blathers a lot and thats an extremely funny thing to contemplate. the dude who seems to not really liek talking to people and the chatterbox owl. fantastic. you know dave is probably too awkward to tell blathers he doesnt want to hear all thsoe archaeopteryx facts! (also tbh maybe dave would actually like learning stuff) -also. john catches bugs just to give them to blathers and watch him freak out just a little about it.  -john always ends up buying fake art from redd but it’s fine because he just puts it somewhere in or near their cabin. amy however has the uncanny good luck to somehow always find the real artworks! dave doesnt talk to redd, he doesnt really care. -this ones definitely projection because my animal crossing island is a mess (And I Like It That Way Thank U Very Much) but john definitely is the guy who will dump extra furniture at random spots on the island. too much shit in storage? don’t need that Harmonious Chair right now? holding it in ur pockets just because u dont know where else to put it? just dump it on the ground! uncannily, john fuckin Always remembers where he’s put that shit when he happens to need it again. however this does mean sometimes the animal citizens will just ... find a mysterious new chair in their front yard.  -i know that terraforming is a new thing in acnh but i havent done it yet because i dont care about the whole 3 stars rating thing like listen im jsut here to run around and fill the museum if i feel like it but mostly pick up pumpkins and hoard bells for no reason and let my island be taken over by wildflowers. if any of the 3 are into that tho its john or amy--john just for the hell of it, amy would actually like try to Make Stuff of it -their front yard (and back yard if their cabin is put somewhere to allow that) is full of unused furniture as well. and also sometimes random dropped fruits or something, if dave is already carrying a ton when he sees something to dig up. -i think im out of shit to say right now but i might reblog to add mroe so. yes. if youve read this far then holy shit youre dedicated or really bored or something but whatever your reason is i hope this was A Fun Read and if it gave you any ideas Please Tell Me my inbox is open im sick and still in quarantine and i crave human interaction from literally anyone who isnt my parents. thank u 

[ibuki-loves-you]

You have awoken meeee, the OC disaster machineeeee! Under the cut, cause I have wayyy too many- I'm keeping most of it short lol.

Ikei Kazuto

Ultimate: Seamstress

Backstory: He comes from a slightly poor family who owned a tailor shop. He was criticized for being "girly," for knitting and sewing. That created most of his insecurities and his self-doubt. Not very confident anymore, in himself or his capabilities.

Extra: Man is our protag! Our super insecure protag- He is bisexual, but more Yoshindo-sexual to be precise, preferring him over, well, everything-

Yoshindo Hiro

Ultimate: Technician

Backstory: N/A

Extra: Is actually like a programmer, hacker, tech fixer mashup. Is gay. Likes Ikei. Died for Ikei. Details can be given lol.

Akahiya Yoshimoto

TW: Rape mention, Homophobe

Ultimate: Heiress

Backstory: Need I say much? She was born into the Yoshimoto family, a higher branch similar to Togami corp. They were actually fiancees at a point in time. She was rap3d by her homophobic father so he could prove that if you have s3x with a guy, you're not gay. Which, clearly, caused her some PTSD and trauma.

Extra: She's secretly dating her bodyguard and no, it's not a cliche plot like they can't love each other. I mean, they can't, but no one is forcing anything on the other. Shizuo actually respects Akahiya's position and stands by, letting her love just sit there and hope they were in more fortunate circumstances.

Shizuo Nakajima

Ultimate: Bodyguard

Backstory: Her family has sworn loyalty to the Yoshimoto Corp for saving their lives from poverty. The Yoshimotos, despite raping their daughter, are somewhat kind? Unless you bring up gay relationships to the father, you'll be fine. Shizuo has dedicated her life to protect the current generation and the others to come.

Extra: Is willing to lay down her life for anyone else, regardless of status, wealth etc because everyone deserves to live, regardless of what they've done. Unless it's murder. Shizuo can't condone murder.

Aki Miiyaro

Ultimate: Stunt Performer

Backstory: She's always been an acrobat since birth, before she became a stunt performer, she uploaded her parkour videos online in hopes of becoming a legit one. Soon because of her good looks and acrobat skills, she was hired to star in an action movie with a female lead! Her brother soon became a movie fanatic of her movies to cheer her on and ended up becoming enamoured with action movies!

Extra: Her brother and her act fairly different! She has a foul mouth while he is pretty polite. She's super hot-headed while he could wait days for someone to apologize.

Kai Miiyaro

Ultimate: Action Movie Fanatic

Backstory: It was only until his sister got a job as a lead stunt performer in an action movie that he became intrigued by them.

Extra: He recommends all his sisters' movies to his friends!

Ichiki Kazuhara

Ultimate: Doctor

Backstory: N/A

Extra: She is fairly short, making people assume her age, which she hates.

Tsukishiro/Yuuki Onishiba

Ultimate: Casino Dealer

Backstory: His father was a gambler who ended up in so much debt, that he was going to sell off his daughter. Yuuki, who loved his sister and loathed his father, had to prevent this. So, he started looking for a job, something to pay off the debt. He was offered a very job at the casino where his father lost all his money, coincidentally. But the money he earned wasn't enough so he was hired by the debt collectors. He was forced to kill or his sister would be given to them.

Extra: Man loves his sister so much, he would die for her. His alias is Tsukishiro because it means White Moon and his sister loves the moon. He uses his alias in the killing game to hide his identity as he doesn't trust anyone but himself.

Yuuna Onishiba

Ultimate: Cheerleader

Backstory: Well, this is Tsukishiro's younger sister.

Extra: After her brother got kidnapped, she ran away from home in search of him. She began attending a high school under the guise of a foreign exchange student from her brother's co-worker's help. She started cheerleading as a hobby and began to like it a lot.

Shuro Kakeru

Ultimate: Actor

Backstory: No idea yet ;-; Maybe something like he constantly had to hide his emotions for a reason and he got used to acting happy?

Extra: He is super rude and non-chalant. He acts like he would only want to profit himself but actually finds that he's unworthy of everything-

Ayuki Sasuka

Ultimate: Jester

Backstory: N/A

Extra: She's super bubbly and bright. She loves hanging out with Hibiki and really wants to break Hibiki out of her shell.

Hibiki Hanase

Ultimate: Florist

Backstory: Her parents owned a flower shop together and she adored flowers because of how pretty they were. She's always been timid and shy because she's not completely sure how to approach others.

Extra: She's my first canonly demiromantic character! She is also Ace!

IM SOBBING OMGGGGG

I NEED TO KNOW HOW HE DIED FOR IKEI AND I JUST- I LOVE HOW THOUGHT OUT YOUR CHARACTERS ARE!!! THEYRE SO GOOD CRIESSSSS - MOD IBUKI

[lesbiten]

🕷️

stillllllll thinking abt how cool a dbh prequel centered around the jericho crew would be......but i know it would never happen bc theres so many things they wouldnt be able to do

like they cant kill any of the main characters (their favorite activity) bc. like. obviously theyre alive in dbh. cant change any major world events (second favorite activity) because it has to be something thats already established in dbh/something that makes sense to lead up to the events in dbh.

plus, it would probably be a really short game in comparison to dbh. dbh is like, what? a 9 hour game? give or take an hour? in my head, a jericho prequel would consist of a chapter or two for each character to establish their own world/their past, a chapter or two dedicated to the events that caused them to deviate, a chapter each about how they found jericho, and a couple chapters of them meeting and establishing jericho as a safe space for runaway deviants. and maybe like a heist chapter in there somewhere bc they clearly got those inital blue blood packets and biocomponents from SOMEWHERE.

and this maybe sounds like a lot? but it really would be less action packed and less heavy than dbh. i really think it would only be about half the length if it wasnt stretched out more than it needed to be.

but i honestly would love to see josh, north, and simon living their lives before they deviated/before they formed jericho. (were they even the ones who formed it? maybe this game would tell us) josh as a teacher, simon as a household assisstant, north begrudgingly working at the eden club.

the only lore we really know belongs to north. she was going to a clients house one night when she disappeared and no one saw her again (the night she joined jericho, presumably.) josh has that he was beat up by a group of drunk students, but thats it. simon has not a sentence about his past. so clearly there is a lot of room to expand on these guys!!!! so much opportunity to really show the traumatic experience of eden club androids, the experiences of android teachers, and a more in-depth look on how different families treat household assisstant androids. (something something simons relationship with his family vs daniels relationship with his family etc etc)

and of course the game ends with markus falling ass first into jericho. he falls, gets up, shines his flashlight on simon north and josh, roll credits. boom.

[violentviolette]

hey, dunno how comprehensible this will be, but i've suspected for a long while now that i fit a whole lot of symptoms for npd. the thing is i have no idea if i'm just faking it or exaggerating what i do have to make my mental health as Interesting as i've decided it is if that makes sense. and i don't know how i'd get a definitive answer without approaching a medical professional and idk how the fuck i'd go about that or whether that would even be a good idea with a disorder like this [1/2]

[2/2] you seem pretty chill, and pretty wise about this shit, and i've followed you for a while so thought i'd ask if you have any tips or ideas or just anything that can shed light on the situation cause it's been weighing on my mind for so long that i feel like i gotta do SOMETHING to get me to move on

so first things first, if ur having symptoms to the point that they are disrupting ur life enough that uve begun to look into these things, than reguardless of what it gets labeled, ur clearly struggling with something and therefore not faking or making it up. even when people are initially wrong about what disorder they might have, they're always right about having something. mentally stable and healthy people don't fake mental illnesses. so I can say with a lot of certainty that ur not just faking or exaggerating, even if it turns out u don't have npd.

my personal advice is that since cluster b disorders are in part rooted in trauma, healing from that is never a bad place to start. id argue u can't manage a cluster b pd effectively long term without ever working through that trauma. things like dialectical behavioral therapy (dbt) and other trauma based programs are extremely helpful for this.

here are some links to the two basic/standard dbt workbooks for free download. they're a great place to start and an excellent way to start breaking down the disordered thought processes that guide our pds

https://b-ok.cc/book/2746487/b75746

https://b-ok.cc/book/2476018/68bc0f

this website also has tons of other free books for download that I highly recommend such as

adult children of emotionally immature parents: how to heal from distant, rejecting, or self involved parents

https://b-ok.cc/book/2739029/90a647

why does he do that? inside the minds of angry and controlling men

https://b-ok.cc/book/4512237/eb9bec

those last two seem like they'd be really unrelated but honestly I think theyre super helpful for npd.

as narcs our core issue is that we can't self validate. our sense of value and validation is completely externally generated through other peoples reactions to and opinions of us. the first book does a really good job of teaching u how to do those things and be able to validate urself and create that worth internally when u cant or aren't receiving it externally.

the second book does an excellent job of breaking down the disordered thought processes behind abusive actions. as narcs we have a very difficult time with interpersonal relationships because we struggle with understanding what healthy boundaries and a non self centered view even looks like, which can lead us to perpetuating abusive patterns of behavior even when we don't intend to. this book not only illustrates those patterns but breaks down why we do those actions. where that anger and entitlement and selfishness comes from and how it manifests so that we can recognize that disordered behavior and correct it. (when I say we I don't mean all narcs btw not everyone w npd has problems with anger but I definitely did)

I know thats a lot of reading but honestly ur options for recovery are therapy or a shit ton of reading lol

therapists have done all this reading for u and then package it down for u to be given during relevant moments and helping u relate these concepts to ur life. which is definitely very helpful and even if u dont seek an npd diagnosis just having a therapist to talk to and work these things out with is tremendously helpful

but I understand therapy isn't always an option for people for a variety of reasons and at the end of the day therapists are just people with knowledge and u can absolutely aquire that knowledge for urself if u are dedicated and committed to it.

sorry this got a bit long but hopefully u find some of this stuff as helpful as I did

[comicteaparty]

July 22nd-July 28th, 2020 Reader Favorites Archive

The archive for the Reader Favorites chat that occurred from July 22nd, 2020 to July 28th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

How have your reading tastes for webcomics changed over the years?

carcarchu

i think i used to read exclusively romance webcomics but now i'm really into the historical stuff. also i'm not so into the strictly straightforward stuff anymore, i need a really strong hook or something that makes it different enough to be enjoyable because i'm really tired of reading something that is indistinguishable from other similar webcomics. also i think i've gotten pickier when it comes to the quality of art and writing. there's just so much stuff to pick from now that i want to dedicate my time only to stuff that i really enjoy. i just don't have enough time to read every single webcomic i come across anymore

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

in the past I used to read a bunch of comedic absurdist humor comics (I still do) but it's been buffed out by romance . Same vein like Cara said, I'm just picking and choosing which comics I spend my time on but I do want to try to read as much as I can tho!

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

I feel like I used to read LEGO comics a lot lol... I'm not sure how many of them still hold up. In terms of genre, the only comics I struggle to read are ones that are more realistic, or darker. Historical comics often fall into this, as do most horror comics.(edited)

RebelVampire

For me, my tastes haven't necessarily changed in terms of the what I like. What has changed is what I dislike. As the years have gone by, I've really been more open to at least giving comics a try before deciding they aren't for me, especially in the genres I consistently don't like like comedy. So I've gradually disliked less comics. Not to say I like them either or they're for me, but it's a step up from dislike since now I can appreciate what the comics are trying to do more. I think the bigger change for me was art styles though. While I still do have a specific sort of art preference, I've also been more open to giving certain art styles I don't normally like more of a try as well and I've found the styles I dislike (personally, not objectively in terms of talent) to be a much smaller pool than it was before.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Oh man, I'm the opposite. I feel like I've gotten pickier

varethane

I can't tell if I've gotten pickier or if the bar has just gotten high enough now that if I only have the bandwidth to read X number of webcomics (let's say 20 as a random example), and I'll be picking from among those which stand out to me, those 20 comics will be on a totally different level than the 20 I might have found 10 years ago

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I think I've also gotten pickier

The biggest change, I think, is that I've gotten way pickier about storytelling

While I used to be able to read a comic with subpar storytelling. I drop comics in an instant these days if the story doesn't speak to me pretty quickly(edited)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I think it's because when I started reading comics, everything was new and novel. Now there're more tropes I recognize? And more problematic things that bother me, when before I would not have noticed

Deo101 [Millennium]

I dont think I've gotten pickier, per se, I think I just have very specific tastes and many things dont fit them which feels picky? but i can enjoy all kinds of genres, I kind of go into something 1: not wanting to think 2: not wanting to be offended and 3: wanting to laugh a bit? which isnt exactly a high bar to pass, but not many things will do that for me, which isnt because I'm a picky person, its jsut cause a lot of things arent made for peope like me?

varethane

I'm not consciously looking for 'only the best quality' by any means-- if there's anything I'm really looking for, it's a sense of passion and uniqueness, that feeling that the author is having a blast with the thing they're doing. But I feel like it's gotten harder to draw my attention (and readers' attention in general) without having a certain level of skill involved

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Oh, same. As my art gets better so does my eye for it

varethane

....and, yeah, I guess I've also gotten tired of certain tropes. Once I read 2 or 3 webcomics that do kinda the same thing, I'm less likely to pick up a fourth with the same general premise, even if it looks like it's well-made.

(sorry isekai....)

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I just absorb a lot of storytelling in many forms, so if the story doesn't grab me right away, I feel like I'm wasting time reading something, where I could be fulfilling my desire for more worthwhile storytelling elsewhere

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Oh true, there are so so many comics out there now

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Art quality plays into it a bit for me, but it's honestly primarily the storytelling

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Everything I read I could be reading 100 others of similar quality Really, why does anyone read my comic at all?

varethane

"good art will get readers to take a first look, good writing is what makes them stay"

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Art quality is very important to me but I've still read and loved a few stories will amateurish art

varethane

for me personally, the art's just gotta be good enough for me to not be distracted by it while I read

Deo101 [Millennium]

idk I think a lot of people stay through bad writing even if something looks good

also yeah i feel the same, about not wanting to be distracted

"does the art serve the story?" is all I really care about

varethane

art serving the story is the most important part. Art can LOOK amazing, but if the body language or expressions don't fit the story being told, it can make the writing seem worse lol

a friend of mine once referred to it as, like watching a well-written screenplay but with terrible miscast actors

Deo101 [Millennium]

mhm, cause the only words we get are dialogue, the art has to be all the descriptive language. so if theyre not describing well, a lot is missing.

varethane

yeah

Deo101 [Millennium]

or I guess some comics have narration, too

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Narration can't do ALL of the work

varethane

yeah haha

Deo101 [Millennium]

yeah, one of my professors said that a rule of thumb of his about comics is "if you can read me the words and I know whats going on, it's not good comics."

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

The art definitely serves the story (or is supposed to), but if the story is bad from the beginning, I don't care how good the art is.

varethane

I have complicated feelings on that one, because I feel like it's actually pretty rare for me to consider a 'story' bad (at least insofar as we're talking about the core ideas of the plot). Most premises (if they're not actively offensive/poorly thought through), if written out as just a skeletal outline, could work just fine. IMO bad writing is a problem of execution, most of the time, rather than concept. (hedging my language here because there's always exceptions lol)

Deo101 [Millennium]

I would say I agree with you. I think writing and story are different concepts. There is also sort of a macro/micro element to writing, as well, and either one can be messed up

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Yeah, I misspoke, what I mean by "bad story" is more "bad storytelling/writing"

but yes

carcarchu

a friend of mine once referred to it as, like watching a well-written screenplay but with terrible miscast actors

@varethane oh i have read stuff like this. like the art was INCREDIBLE really detailed renders, very consistent and technically fantastic art but so often it just devolved into shot / reverse shot talking heads and the characters didn't really emote beyond changing the position of their eyebrows so it kinda felt like watching dolls interact with each other

RebelVampire

I mulled over the fact I took the opposite route as everyone else. XD For me I think it's three factors. First, I was actually ungodly picky in my youth across the board with everything, not just comics. As such, I've missed out on a lot of things other people love. Second, with each passing year, I've come to appreciate more the work people put into their indie projects. And for me its like a show of respect in a way to acknowledge that hey, you worked on this thing I may not like, but I'll try it because you clearly love what you created (or I hope you love it). Third, and probably the bigger factor, I stuck myself in a positive feedback loop. The more I opened myself up to things and learned to not initially dislike things or be as harsh, the more I ended up finding a gem I really loved. In fact, while this is across diff industries, I'd say this has been the biggest influence for me with webcomics because so many webcomics I was like "Well I'll try it gotta be open and not just dislike it," and then I came away going "Wow this is a diamond in the rough!"

[theexecutionerssong]

So happy to see someone else who watched The Society! I feel like the only one! I originally watched it because I kept seeing gifs of Sam and Grizz but then I ended up really liking the show. I agree some parts were kinda slow but I still loved it! Plus it seems Netflix has noticed how beloved Grizz (they posted an entire video dedicated to him) is to the fans so I’m fairly positive he’ll be a main for the next season if we get one!

I saw Netflix on ig and Twitter taking notice of the love for Grizz so I do hope if it gets renewed (it needs to, clearly there are still so many stories to tell here, loose ends and plot holes), he will have a bigger role. #GrizzForMayor

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kathryn is so good in the society! allie is such an awesome character, she’s so complex. poor elle broke my heart in every scene and kelly’s arc from the quiet girlfriend to saving lives and delivering babies was epic, although i’m not really a fan of pregnancy / baby plot lines in general. i really hope there’s a season two. it looks like grizz would be team allie. and campbell is vile, but the actor is really good, so i think there’s potential for great scenes between him and allie.

I loved her character and how she played her, it really did feel like watching a teenager with how bratty she could get at times with Cassandra in the beginning, but she also showed real maturity with time. Kathryn is amazing. My girl is growing up :’) I LOVE Elle’s character, what a complex, heartbreaking situation. I believed at first Campbell was just a jerk but then I thought “holy fuck that guy is a psychopath” and scolded myself for thinking like that but then turned out he actually is??? And nobody thought to check on Elle for months and left her with him?? The actor is so good it’s terrifying. Not a huge fan of Becca but that’s mainly due to the baby storyline, I’m always meh about pregnancies as plot devices too but Kelly was epic like you said. Don’t know if it’s realistic but her evolution didn’t feel far stretched to me. I don’t want to feel anything for Harry but I think I actually pity him. I was bored with Helena and the Guard boys, I don’t even remember their names whoops

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As a deaf lesbian, I literally cried when Sam was introduced. I never see representation, and if a show has a deaf character, theyre almost always played by a hearing person, so a real deaf person playing a deaf character AND it not being his Defining Trait is so important I cant express it enough. No matter how bad the show gets, ill watch it as long as they keep Sam.

Ahh this makes me so happy for you! The only completely deaf characters on TV I can think of at the top of my head that were played by deaf actors are Bonnie in Jericho, Eileen in Supernatual, and Megan in Weeds and all three were played by Shoshannah Stern, which, as good as it is for her (and for me ‘cause I love her), it’s sad there aren’t any more deaf actors casted and even worse is that I can count the characters on one hand. Sam is not defined by this and he is not defined by his sexuality either though both are featured as important parts of his identity in the show and that made me so so so happy to see. We don’t get enough of this. Representation matters

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(putting all these together otherwise this is quickly going to turn into a The Society blog lmao)

[alienlifeform]

i saw a post that asked what discourse you would cause as a fictional character and i think im going to dedicate the rest of my night to answering this question for myself.

cis women would definitely call the nonbinary storyline homophobic and misogynistic. a few people would tweet that they thought i was a trans man and theyre disappointed that im not. i can also see people saying my first year at college was unnecessarily depressing and use it as an example of media trying to seem realistic by making everything negative. every cishet white guy who listens to npr would secretly think im annoying and should be written out or killed off but only ever hint at it in public because theyve seen a lot of thinkpieces about how im a realistic representation about what it means to be a [marginalized adjective] [marginalized noun] in 2019 and deserve more screentime and know it would be badly received. 

this all only applies if its like, a prestige drama on a streaming service or premium channel though. if its a genre or comedy show i would simply be the underrated side character who is clearly more interesting but doesnt get nearly as much attention as the protagonists. like when stans are writting those “why you should watch [blah]” id be the character thats described as “AND THERES AN ADJECTIVE ADJECTIVE ADJECTIVE ADJECTIVE NOUN WHO VERB AND ITS ALL EXPLICITLY TALKED ABOUT IN THE SHOW”

[transhawks]

Hawks of course! (Or Shiggy if you've already done him!)

oooh. Okay time to perhaps lose some followers?

HAWKS

I like: I like his dedication, his ability to see the thing needs to be done. I love how driven he is and yet he’s not driven by fame or prestige. He’s heroic but he doesn’t exactly enshrine the ideological naivety that many heroes seem to have. I like that despite all the fronts he presents, he seems to be a genuinely good person struggling with himself and his desire for freedom and to make his own choices.

I dislike: His inability to let others help, to slow down, his ‘do it myself’ nature. It does read as dismissal/ego to others, but it’s far more complex, borne of old wounds. He’s a perfectionist and I think this might be what might end him. Also, his inability to say no to a task when it comes to his life, to his freedom, his willingness to let himself be a sacrificial pawn (and for what? Why him is what I want to know? What allows a man to be okay with being used as such? What happened to him that his self-worth is in the hands of others?).

“A society where heroes have more free time than they know what to do with. I will make it a reality, as fast as I can.” - My favorite quote

Tokoyami&Hawks, Natsuo&Hawks, Mirko&Hawks, Fat Gum&Hawks are brOTPs, and I might ship him with Fat and Natsuo. 

DabiHawks, ShigaHawks has grown so fast on me, ShigaDabiHawks as an ultimate OT3

For NOtps, anything with the kids, even if they’re aged up to 18 because I’m currently an RA with a six year difference myself and that’s a huge gap in maturity and generally experience. I don’t care for En//awks (but I don’t wish to bother fans in the tag so)

Random Headcanon: Hawks has a nictitating membrane! That’s the thin membrane birds and reptiles have that protects their eyes, especially for birds during flight. I think his goggles are probably better protection but also shield people from noticing the fact his eyes just got covered by a semi-transparent film. I’m sure it’d be unnerving for a lot of people, a not so ‘cute’ mutation, and not work in favor of his image so he hides it.

I don’t think he’s anywhere near as sexually active as the Hawks standom seems to think he is due to his workload. My unpopular opinion is that he’s probably had several sexual experiences with mostly strangers, and probably never been in an actual relationship. but he sad and lonely thirsty tho. Also I don’t think he’s actual best buds with Miruko. I don’t think he’s allowed himself to have many friends tbh.

Domesticated Animals by Queens of the Stone Age is another song I associate with him.

favorite picture of them - I have too many! But here’s this one I made my background:

SHIGARAKI

I like the fact he has shown so much character development. I know there are people who seem to think that he hasn’t, or he’s very much being cunning for his members, but I strongly feel that Shigaraki is growing in emotional intelligence - I’m excited to see what sort of villain he’ll be by the end. I also do find the man-child thing hilarious and watching him throw tantrums is wonderful. Also the scratching thing - but I’ll get to that in Headcanons.

Yet I didn’t care for him when I got into the manga in May. I thought he was immature, lacking conviction and ideology (which he did and still somewhat does), and that annoyed me - not the type of villains I generally cared for. But he’s grown on me. I guess I dislike the perceived lack of self-reflection when it comes to his own upbringing (or what we can gather given AFO).

“I’m angry at this world that categorizes the same violent acts as heroic or villainous, deciding what’s good and what’s bad. “symbol of peace?” Ha. you’re just a device to repress violence. violence only breeds violence.” - My fave quote

brOTP - shigaraki x LoV!!!!!!

OTP - Shigadabihawks!! and the pairings that make it up : 3

nOTP - I feel like ShigaHaul would be a bit too much neurosis in one pairing lmfao, it’s not for me. Any ships with the kids or Toga. I think he’s in his late teens/20 but he clearly differentiates between himself and the children when he talks about them, so even if there’s a three or four year difference, I’m very ‘no’.

My head-canon is more an explanation of canon behavior: Shigaraki clearly has Dermatillomania, a type of Body-focused Repetitive Behavior. BFRBs are not exactly OCDs but appear like them and there’s no conclusive cause - I have several BFRBs and I’ve heard the theories go from genetic components/neurological disorders to links with PTSD and Anxiety and back to neurological reasons. Seems to be a mix of both, lol, and we’re given antideps for treatment. But yeah, his skin picking/scratching is named Dermatillomania and I wouldn’t be surprised if he made his face scarring worse with it. But it’s like the first time I’ve seen BFRBs in anime, so I find this cool!!!! (should I make this a separate post??)

Not sure if this is unpopular, but here’s an opinion:. While I don’t think he’s exactly the nerdy loser, no matter how much I want to joke about basement-dwelling, I do think he’s never had sex?? i have no opinion on him being a top or bottom, I just think the closest he’s gotten to any sex is 2-D and on the screen, so far.

Vicarious by Tool

Okay, every time Hori draws him in detail is magnificent. Hori should have been a horror mangaka. But also this: