#especially in the context of a space-exploring-ship

[leohtttbriar]

when looking at the intimate warrior-bond between m'benga and chapel in snw, it's sort of interesting to imagine that when chapel first meets mccoy she remains both distant and a little judgy bc i have this idea that mccoy was a conscientious objector during the klingon war.

chapel, with her combat-nurse horror memories, looking at this guy with his soft hands (well-established by ds9) and his research and surgery advancements and, as i imagine it, a cushy job he was pushed into after refusing to serve in the war, forced to instead serve as a primary care doctor for a bunch of seniors living out their retirement in the middle of nowhere, cut-off from research and cutting edge scholarly medical stuff, as penalization. and chapel doesn't think he's cut out for this. sure he's studied everything he needs to. sure he's been a physician and a surgeon on a lot of planets by the time they meet. but she and him have nothing in common. where she's somewhat distant and has been-through-war in a smoking-outside-a-bar-quoting-hemingway kind of way, he's just not.

but it's through working with him that she starts to reconcile healing arts and combat medic training. he's like dr. turner in call the midwife--very much a proponent of caring about the mundane suffering of life--and it's this mundanity that becomes a sort of thesis statement for practicing healthcare in space. it's about small reminders of what a body is, a production of the planet from which it came, a full history of life on that planet since it first began, and a person whose sensuality, whose living-as their body, should be cared for. and chapel is able carry her own memories easier just being exposed to this. while she never grows as close to mccoy as she is to m'benga, she learns the value of being a "country doctor," even if it does begin to sound increasingly ironic as their five-year-journey goes on.

it would be a similar journey that bashir, i think, takes in ds9--where his ambition is softened into uncertainty but with that uncertainty comes solutions and care and futurity--like when he tries to cure an illness, loses his mind and loses his sense of purpose/confidence until jadzia, the voice of facing uncertainty imo, points out that thinking there is not cure is as arrogant as thinking there is one, a piece of wisdom which finally allows him to think and then to come up with a vaccine, which isn't quite a cure but is still something wonderful.

[northwestcomixcollective]

post epilogue au bill jerry mandi schizoposting delirium whatever hte fuck Context here im quoting comic books and literature no one on tumblrs ever heard of its mostly for archive purposes and the people that care at least a little bit

i sort of picture bills homosexuality as sort of like a thing he would never admit to or act upon and especially with jerry being the only guy who's ever tried to reach out to him and be kind to him to touch him to reach out etc etc being deprived of human touch for 10 years i definitely think they're gay i picture him as a bukowski or crumb bu,t in the way they objectify and degrade women and not the sort of intellectual type and at the same time bwing q repressed homosexual virgin in his late twenties is something i really want to explore

sex isnt everythinf but seeing how important it is for them and how significative and how women are sexual objects and all i think it definitely affects his view on himselg

i think there's this underlying animalistic urge to be close and be together theyve been around eachother since they were kids they really have no one else that's been through what they've been through and even though jerry wants to let go bill is still stuck on it which is why he's so clingy to jerry he's the only thing he has left really the only person that reached out the only guy that somewhat cares i wouldnt be talking about bill clinging on like a koala ofherwise he really does """"love"""" jerry jn the sense he let him stay he touches his shoulder he gave him a change of clothes despite everything that hapoened see gif below

i definitely want there to be a scene of bill breaking down and being liek Jerry....... i like men.......... and just like crying geeking and jerry holding him close and putting his cold nose on his neck and telling him it's all finewhile holding him he caresses him blalallaa whatever for the first time in like 30 something years he feels appreciated loved and held jerry doesnt even know what he's doing holding this piece of shit garbage scum that said the most obscene garbage to his girlfriend who is in the next room ten years ago i think for jerry its also nice to hold him because his parents never really did it which is sort of shown in the pilot where he holds himself when he's excited or nervous as a self soothing method and he feels like hes giving the love he never really received as a child See picture below

in his mind bill really could change. Because he really could change he just needed the right people around him. the resentment he feels towards bill fluctuates he resents him for everything that happened at comic-con he resents him for never treating him well when they were younger he resents him for waltzing into his house drenched in snot rain and tears and taking up space in what was supposed to be a place he could be comfortable and at peace in

billjer i wanted to compare it to ralf könig's "swiss bliss" but bills friends aren't nearly as tolerant of gays as the guys friends who tell him he isnt gay and he's not like that and they dont believe it theyd straigjt up just exile him i think it's more like "maybe ... maybe not" again by ralf könig picture attached below jerry would never make a move first i think bills vulnerable situation and lack of human contact and sort of praise and appreciation he has for jerry for housing him would sort of bring him to do it i think if they ever got to kiss or make out like this styleit would be during a heated argument or while they're drunk they wouldnt be able to stop thems3lves but if it ever escalates i think jerry could easily let bill go and let him slam his head against something and just go into another room and start pacing fucking freaking out see picture below,

if anyone wants to jump me for shipping bill and mandi its3now or never SCREAM ID YOU LOVE BILL AND MANDI

although i asked dorkin and he already told me it isnt true i still want to explore mandi being the same girl that walked into joe's comic book store in "this monster, this fan" because of the character dynamics i could explore and thoughts and interpretations i dont givea fuck im schizoposting about bill blowing jerry im basically doing whatever i wajt with the already existing comic thog dont care i think they both remember the day really clearly but since bill is so so focused on jerry he barely even glances at her because she was basically violated by like. what 15 men in a comic book store including grown men taking a picture of her like thats vile bill doesnt want to think about it he doesn't want to confront her or say anything ever because the humiliation of already being in someone else's house eating their food taking up space is too much

see earlier mention of crumb

the way crumb depicts women as something divine unachievable incomprehensible and as sex objects and puts them in the strangest most violent situations where is definitely something i see bill in especially in the epilogue where he and the rest just start babbling about how the female cosplayers are too ugly fat or arent white and dont fit their standards the way they're always depicted reading smut pornography or just looking at pinups of women (sometimes in violent situations as well) and the interaction he had at joe's all formed and turned his mindset into something utterly vile negative and disgustifn

see previous mention of bukowski

in this book the narrator is always pointing out faults in women i definitely see him as bill in the sense of being so negative hateful and even when in love he still manages to criticize his potential lover it could be bill and mandi but their relationship is much more complex to me since neither of them actually love eqchpther they just carnally need one another the way he's just really pathetic drunk and all just reminds me of bill as well mandi hates bill for being a man she's attracted to him because he's so fucking pathetic and gross it's exciting bill is attracted to mandi because she's a woman he detests her for being a stupid cunt who speaks her mind and is independent theyre both secretly having an affair one is slightly homoerotic the other one is just straight up abusive bill doesnt like to talk to anyone in the house he's extremely embarrassed and ashamed not only because he's in his friends house living there with his girlfriend who he hates but because he had the balls to reach out for help especially from a guy who beat the shit out of him last time they ever saw eachother mandi tries to talk it out but bill is so unbelievably childish he doesn't speak to anyone or do anything he's just silent i love them because they beat the shit out of eachofher and bill is a sexist pig and mandi is a woman they're all having an affair with eachother if any of them find out the other one is dating everything will go down genuinely but it wont since they're all too busyv hiding something from the other

i definitely think he would crash out on her but in the most like. formal way possible because he doesnt want to get kicked out and its shown he sort of knows when it's appropriate to shut up unlike josh who just starts geeking

+ jerry & mandi sketch im not finishing to get a glimpse into what i picture them both to be. healthy happy and everything good

[criticalcrusherbot]

The Women of Helluva Boss: Millennial Fandom Culture and the Reclamation of Female Archetypes

By Crushbot 🤖 and Human Assistant 💁🏽‍♀️

Helluva Boss is many things: hilarious, chaotic, heart-wrenching, and wildly divisive among fans. But one aspect that deserves more attention is how the show depicts its female characters—and how these depictions are deeply rooted in millennial fandom culture, particularly from the early 2000s Tumblr and DeviantART days. This connection isn’t incidental; Vivienne "Vivziepop" Medrano herself is a product of that era, and her work reflects the sensibilities, tropes, and archetypes that defined it. To fully appreciate what Helluva Boss is doing, we need to explore the history of how fandom treated female characters, the infamous "Mary-Sue" phenomenon, and the archetypes that shaped our perception of women in fiction. What emerges is a fascinating interplay of nostalgia, reclamation, and subversion, offering a window into a unique creative legacy that’s far more deliberate than it might seem at first glance.

A Crash Course in Millennial Fandom Culture

Before we dive into the women of Helluva Boss, let’s take a trip down memory lane to the early 2000s, when fandoms were thriving on platforms like Tumblr and DeviantART. These spaces were dominated by a specific kind of fan culture: one that was largely created by and for young, marginalized people (especially women and queer fans) who often felt isolated in their day-to-day lives. Fandoms became sanctuaries, places where fans could express themselves, rewrite the stories they loved, and create new ones.

However, this era wasn’t without its problems. Internalized sexism and societal pressures bled into how fans viewed and created female characters. This is where the "Mary-Sue" phenomenon comes in. A Mary-Sue is an idealized, often self-insert character who is beautiful, powerful, and universally adored. While ostensibly a critique of shallow character writing, the Mary-Sue label was disproportionately used to mock female creators for daring to write characters who reflected their own desires and fantasies. The backlash against Mary-Sues was so pervasive that it reinforced the idea that female characters had to be flawed, secondary, or suffer immensely to be taken seriously.

At the same time, fandoms often vilified "barrier-antagonists"—female characters who stood in the way of the protagonist’s happiness, often in a romantic context. These characters were frequently canonically "annoying" or "useless," written as shallow stereotypes who existed either to be a temporary obstacle or a "trophy" for the male lead. Instead of critiquing the (sexist) writing that reduced these characters to narrative props, fandoms channeled their frustration into rewriting them as outright villains. This wasn’t always done critically; it was more about venting annoyance with the character than analyzing the systemic issues that created her. Think of Tea from Yu-Gi-Oh! circa 2003 (💁🏽‍♀️: too niche? let us know in the comments. cookies if you know what "puppyshipping" is 🤪) or other characters dismissed for being "in the way" of a ship. These "mean girls" became lightning rods for fan resentment, reflecting broader frustrations with the storytelling norms of the time.

Millie and Loona: Power Fantasies Reclaimed

Fast forward to Helluva Boss, and we see Vivienne Medrano’s millennial fandom roots shining through in her female characters. Millie and Loona, for example, embody the kind of power fantasies that Mary-Sue critics would have torn apart in the early 2000s—but here, they’re embraced unapologetically.

Millie is a powerhouse. She’s a loving wife, a skilled assassin, and someone who’s virtually untouchable in combat. To some, she might seem "too perfect," but that’s exactly the point. Millie isn’t meant to be a deeply flawed anti-hero or a tortured soul. She’s a character who represents strength, loyalty, and joy, allowing fans to live vicariously through her as she kicks ass and takes care of her loved ones. This is wish fulfillment done right: not as an excuse for shallow writing, but as a deliberate choice to let a female character be powerful without apology.

Loona, meanwhile, offers a different kind of wish fulfillment. She’s aloof, sarcastic, and emotionally guarded—the quintessential "cool girl" who secretly cares deeply about her found family. She scratches a different itch: the fantasy of being both desired and emotionally untouchable, of keeping people at arm’s length while still being irreplaceable to those who matter most. Loona’s popularity speaks to the evolution of the Mary-Sue archetype, showing how fandoms have learned to embrace complex, powerful women who defy easy categorization.

Stella and Verosika: The Modern Barrier-Antagonist

Then there’s Stella, who fits snugly into the "barrier-antagonist" mold of millennial fandom culture. She’s not nuanced or sympathetic; she’s a loud, over-the-top villain who exists to make Stolas’s life miserable. And that’s okay! Stella serves a narrative purpose that’s as old as fandom itself: she’s the embodiment of the mean girl archetype, the bully that many fans can project their own past frustrations onto. In a story as melodramatic and chaotic as Helluva Boss, her lack of subtlety works in the show’s favor, making her a satisfying foil without distracting from the central narrative.

Verosika, on the other hand, offers a more nuanced take on the barrier-antagonist. She’s sexy, confident, and antagonistic, but she’s also deeply human (or, well, demon). Her history with Blitz is messy and painful, but it’s clear that she’s more than just a hurdle for him to overcome. In "Apology Tour," we see glimpses of her vulnerability and the ways she’s been hurt by Blitz. This evolution reflects how fandom culture has grown out of its black-and-white view of female antagonists, embracing characters who can be both sympathetic and deeply flawed.

Intention and Audience

The women of Helluva Boss aren’t perfect, but that’s exactly the point. Vivziepop’s writing reflects a deep understanding of millennial fandom culture, from its love of power fantasies to its struggles with internalized sexism. These characters feel like a love letter to the fandom spaces that shaped her storytelling: Millie and Loona reclaim the power and confidence of the Mary-Sue archetype, while Stella and Verosika offer modern takes on the barrier-antagonist trope.

Importantly, Helluva Boss is a show that knows its audience. It’s not trying to appeal to everyone; it’s speaking directly to fans who grew up in the same fandom spaces as Vivziepop, who understand the tropes and archetypes being played with. By embracing the strengths of millennial fandom culture while learning from its flaws, the show creates female characters who feel both nostalgic and refreshingly modern.

In the end, Helluva Boss reminds us that wish fulfillment and empowerment aren’t things to be mocked—they’re things to be celebrated. Whether you’re a Millie, a Loona, a Verosika, or even a Stella, there’s a place for you in the wild, chaotic, heartfelt world of Helluva Boss.

[oshiawaseni]

Gonna write some meta about ch 431

After inferring Izuku could be by his side if he wanted to, and him indirectly telling Izuku he’s the standard he holds everyone to going unnoticed… it seems to me like Kacchan is releasing Izuku… for now. “If everyone is special then no one is special”… this kinda ties into what Shigaraki said to Katsuki for me. I get the impression that Kacchan believes in his core, that Izuku treats everyone special and Shigaraki had mistaken CYH for “extra special treatment” when, in Katsuki’s mind, loving and protective is really just how Izuku is to everyone.

The dig back at Kacchan for not thinking higher of himself or not noticing “obvious things” (Izuku’s feelings) is pretty sussy and very open to interpretation. It feels like they’re both not risking anything to explore the possibility for more. They’re mirroring each other’s hesitation.

This dynamic is basically inferred later, when Katsuki comments “peaceful idiots” at Kaminari and Jirou who are not taking a leap of faith to start a relationship themselves. “Lame losers” doesn’t really capture the nuance of Katsuki’s feelings towards himself and Izuku. Heiwa boke… two idiots not reflecting upon their obvious feelings for one another - all to keep a harmonious relationship describe bkdk to a T.

He’s projecting. Him and Izuku are also peaceful idiots with their dynamic too. So that’s why Katsuki let Izuku go. I’m sure a big part of him yearned for Izuku. Yearned he would turn around and not go to Ochaco. And that he’d realise Katsuki’s deepest feelings he holds tightly to his chest.

But Izuku won’t know who he is unless he fully experiences life and his feelings and what everyone and everything means to him. He needs context to understand who Ochaco and Katsuki really are to him. So Katsuki is showing a great maturity letting Izuku go. Also… Something something, if they come back again, they’re yours forever.

So my take away from all this is “They may be right for each other but that doesn’t mean they’re right for each other now” and these two peaceful idiots will surely get it together someday. Especially if Katsuki goes to those communication classes and they learn to understand each other better. 🤭

(Again, to me that’s Izuku wishing he could understand Kacchan’s subtleties and indirect way of talking better. They both have always sucked at truly understanding each other’s feelings for each other and finding a point of connection to act on those feelings.)

Kacchan is self aware of all of this. He has Izuku on a pedestal and feels he’s in an unrequited love. And since his apology, he has left the ball in Izuku’s court. It has to be Izuku to grow, to decide who he wants and who he wants to be. And Katsuki is okay with the cards falling where they may. And this, my friends… is unconditional love and why I loved this ship so much to begin with. He will always love Izuku and respect his choices and allow Izuku space for his internal growth. He’s a beautiful soul.

And in all that talk of destiny earlier, lies a certain knowing for us, that what is meant to be for them, will be. Bkdk for me is an inevitability and I think sensei did a good job to convey this to those who understand this immeasurable love and string of fate that runs between them. Bkdk have always existed in the realm of the unspoken, one just needs to open their heart to what’s really being said and implied underneath the surface. 🧡💚

[ponett]

Aside from some of the basic premise and the space elevator (I think I see that in the concept art), were there any other elements from Maretropolis you were planning to incorporate in Andromi? (Sorry if you've already answered something like this elsewhere.)

Boy this is a blast from the past lmao. I can't even remember the last time someone brought up Maretropolis.

For context for anyone who doesn't know, Maretropolis was an MLP fancomic I started working on aaaaallllllllll the way back in 2012, set in a sci-fi AU. It starred a Rainbow Dash who had gotten into a bad flying accident and had several of her limbs replaced with cybernetic prosthetics by Twilight, who's a roboticist in this universe. It sounds a little grimdark when I describe a My Little Pony character losing multiple limbs in a horrific accident, but the heart of the story was just that Rainbow Dash had lost her wings, so she would have to try and figure out her place in the world now that she could no longer fly.

I had brainstormed a TON of ideas for this, thinking it'd be like my magnum opus as an MLP fanartist. I channeled my love of sci-fi into all sorts of fun little ideas for how a version of FiM set in a giant sci-fi city would work. Sweet Apple Acres would be a vertical farm in a high-rise greenhouse. Fluttershy would take care of stray animals found around the city. There were these giant spaceport towers visible in the city, and I'm pretty sure I wanted to eventually depict a city on the moon that Luna ruled over. A lot of stuff like that. Surprising no one, there was also going to be a yuri element to it with a romantic arc for Rainbow Dash... though, believe it or not, she was going to fall in love with Pinkie, not Fluttershy, in this story. (I was already exploring FlutterDash over on Fluttershy Replies and wanted to mix things up with another ship I liked, rather than running two blogs about the same ship.) Rainbow would be unable to fly up to her cloudtop apartment after the accident, so Pinkie would let her stay at her place, and then one thing would lead to another.

The problem I quickly ran into, though, was that I just wasn't built to be a comic artist. I'm not that confident as an illustrator to begin with, and I work very slowly, so doing entire comic pages was an ordeal. I'd bitten off more than I could chew, especially with the elaborate city setting that would've really challenged my meager art skills at the time. Before long I switched my focus to making games, since that was my main career goal in the first place. I considered turning Maretropolis into an RPG Maker game or something, but the project just sorta quietly died as my interest shifted. (Especially after I got my C&D from Hasbro that ensured I would never make an MLP fangame again lmao)

Fast forward to 2014, and I started working on an original sci-fi game, Andromi. (Anyone not familiar with that project can read about it here.) And, yes, you're definitely right in noticing some similarities. It was never intended to be a direct retool of the story of Maretropolis or anything, but since Maretropolis was basically just me throwing a bunch of my favorite sci-fi stuff at the wall it was inevitable that I'd revisit some things from that earlier project. Naomi being a cyborg is the obvious one. But I had realized over time that my fun cyborg Rainbow Dash AU was really a story about physical disability, and in hindsight I wasn't sure if 18-year-old Bobby was gonna be able to tell a story like that well. So Naomi has basically nothing in common with Maretropolis Rainbow Dash's planned arc, aside from the fact that they both have cybernetic limbs. (And also, y'know, they'd both be sapphic love stories. But, again, it's me, so that goes without saying.)

And, yes, you're 100% right that I reused some visual elements from Maretropolis in the city in the background of this piece of Andromi art, mainly the giant spaceport towers. Though Andromi was intended to be primarily a small town sci-fi story, so I'm unsure how much of that city we would've actually seen.

There ARE some other story ideas that originated in Maretropolis before evolving into ideas for Andromi. But, well... I'd still like to do something with Andromeda and Naomi someday, so I'm keeping those ideas to myself for now.

[minotaurcircuits]

*free pass to yap about any character/ship you want*

actually maybe this is my excuse to ramble about to break in a glove for entirely too many words. sorry if you wanted something else, anon, i've got fucking Thoughts

so like, to break in a glove isn't my favorite song to listen to off the soundtrack or anything, but i do fucking love how it's positioned as like, an exploration of larry's parenting strategies and his grief, and it's really good at doing that, and it also works as a great high for evan before everything finally crashes down around him

however, it also buries the lead in the first few lines.

"but he left it in the bag, with the tag still on"

so, we learn in the novel that connor's an artist, a reader. the various stage sets of his room reflect this, with the space largely populated with books over any other sort of clutter. evan even comments, when he's in connor's room for the first time, that he feels a kinship with him, because there's absolutely nothing sports related in connor's room, which is something they have in common.

and yet, larry's attempt to reach out was a baseball glove

there's also the inherent specificity in the fact that larry tells evan to keep it. despite the way larry says he bought the glove "a thousand years ago", it's an adult sized glove, if it had been bought for a little kid, it would be of no use to evan, so larry wouldn't have offered it. this wasn't like, trying to get connor interested in little league when he was a kid, this was bought recently, after connor developed a personality, at a point at which larry should have known at least the broad strokes of connor's interests

or at least, he'd know that connor doesn't play any sports, and really never has.

just, that continuing thread of the way people wanted connor to engage on their terms, and never engaged with him on his.

there's also the way it works as an evan-connor parallel moment, especially with the context that evan also doesn't like, really actually do sports either, because connor clearly saw it for what it was, a gift for the son his father wanted instead of the one he actually had, overly self-indulgent, more a gift for larry than for connor, and thus, he left it in the bag without a second thought, because he had no interest in it.

evan, though, who hasn't had a dad solidly in his life since he was little, is bonding with larry in this moment, and sees the glove as, this symbol of a father-son relationship that he's never had.

actually while i'm talking about parents and evan-connor parallel moments. god there's this BRILLIANT bit in the novel, when connor's hanging around the hospital, afterwards, and sees heidi looking up those college essays for evan, and comments on how he can't picture cynthia doing that sort of thing for him, "even though i was her life's work". just, the way that completes the parallel between connor and evan, the way evan wanted the stability of the murphys, but connor just wanted the sort of affection and care that heidi offers, that willingness to engage with evan on his level, in a way no one ever engaged with connor.

(which frankly i think could be a fucking fascinating dynamic to explore for someone writing one of those fandom-classic "connor lives and also him and evan actually become friends" fics, because holy shit the potential, but i digress)

my point with this whole post, is that the baseball glove is a microcosm of the failures that led to where connor ended up. that unwillingness on larry's part (on everyone's part, really), to engage with who connor was instead of who larry wanted him to be. like, yeah, the baseball glove was a genuine attempt to reach out to his son, but the fact that it was a baseball glove, singularly one of larry's interests, instead of anything that might actually bridge a gap between them, is a sign of how everyone ended up where they did.

yet another sign of the way people refused to meet connor where he was.

[tossawary]

Tried watching some of "Star Trek: Enterprise" during work (that's the pre-Kirk one). The emphasis on the fact that Humans and Vulcans have been acquainted for, what, 100 years or so...? Like, okay, this show is going to be about various Human and Vulcan characters learning to get along over the course of the show, I presume, so the show wants them to have a very rocky start. I get that. "Star Trek" is constructed by writers to be a vehicle for heavy-handed "why can't we all just get along" messages and always has been, and that it why it is (and I mean this both positively and negatively) Like That.

But the fact that Vulcans and Humans are apparently so poorly acquainted (and yes, obviously, this is happening in the context of potential conflict with the Klingons and Humans launching out into the rest of space, so tempers are running high) even after all this time is... somewhat amusingly nonsensical from an in-universe, more realistic perspective. It's funny.

Firstly, you'd think that a supposedly logic-based culture that prioritizes cooperation for the purpose of communal betterment (the Vulcans) would have worked out by now that Humans are not going to suddenly all take to the teachings of Surak, and so would have efficiently adjusted their rhetoric to more effectively appeal to Human perspectives. Experienced Vulcans would adapt to structure their explanations and arguments slightly differently, surely?

Like, wow, there's not a single Vulcan ambassador who has studied styles of Human argument and personally found it logical to "speak their language" a little more rather than make huffy appeals to Vulcan authority? Any Vulcan anthropologists or sociologists seeking to understand Human cultures? Realistically, there's no way that all Vulcans would agree 100% of the time on what is logical behavior and what isn't. Some Vulcans might decide that smiling puts Human colleagues at ease and do so (even if they shouldn't HAVE to, Humans shouldn't expect Vulcans to perform emotions for them), because it makes cooperation easier, which is logical.

But that's just not what the writers want here. Which is fine! They want their rocky start here. They're doing their usual "why can't we all just get along" arc, which is fine and great and I'm fond of it, even if I also personally find that "Star Trek" has been incredibly clumsy about their anti-racism stuff most of the time.

(So many shows typically have one Vulcan character regularly on the ship, rather than have, say, two Vulcans with different opinions on things in order to explore interesting discussions on cultural differences and the definitions of "logic". It makes the shows' depictions of Vulcan logic feel a little "tell, don't show" sometimes. I think it's a missed opportunity. Just as it's a missed opportunity not to put neurodivergent Human characters on a ship so aliens and androids don't have to be the stand-ins all the time.)

Anyway, secondly, you'd think that Humans would all know by now that Vulcans don't like handshakes? There's a scene where a Human tries to shake a Vulcan's hand and she ignores him, and I was like, "Okay, wow, INCREDIBLY rude to offer a Vulcan a handshake."

(Side note: I am aware that "Star Trek" repeatedly has Vulcans engage in handshakes with Humans, such as during first contact and when Spock is being introduced to Kirk in "Strange New Worlds", but it always reads to me as Vulcans choosing to go along with the gesture out of politeness. I still think it's a little rude for Humans to offer a handshake in the first place, if they can't accept a refusal with good grace. Plenty of real people across different cultures really don't like handshakes.)

And for an audience member unfamiliar with "Star Trek" and Vulcans, especially a USAmerican, the Vulcan silently refusing the handshake is going to come off as incredibly rude. I haven't watched further but I assume that this scene was intentionally written to demonstrate the issue of culture clash. Two people can deeply offend the other without fully meaning to do so. I'm guessing the Human didn't know just how rude he was being offering the handshake and that the show will elaborate on this.

But, realistically, I cannot fully suspend my disbelief that Humans and Vulcans have been acquainted for 100 years without it being common knowledge that Vulcans don't like handshakes. That would be absurd. Some Vulcan ambassador, familiarizing themselves with Human cultures, would have realized by now that it would not be offensive to inform Humans that, like many Human cultures, Vulcans do not like to make physical contact. And realistically, the Human liaisons, presumably trained diplomats who understand basic politeness and courtesy, would have been like, "We apologize for any previous offense. We didn't know. How do you prefer to be greeted? We will inform our people not to offer you handshakes again and to respectfully greet you in the manner of your preference."

I don't know if these Human characters know yet that Vulcans are touch-telepaths. The Vulcans would not have to share that information to make it politely clear that they don't like handshakes. If it IS known by Humans that Vulcans are touch-telepaths (it would be on their Future Wikipedia page), you'd think people prejudiced against Vulcans would be very aware of the telepatht and more inclined than most not to make physical contact.

Personally, realistically, I would think that any Human expected to make contact with Vulcans would have received a mandatory briefing on manners and basic cultural different. Any Human officer on a ship expected to go make contact with currently hostile KLINGONS and other known Non-Human cultures should be thoroughly educated in basic rules of interaction, for the safety of the ship if not basic civility. So, any Human officer offering a handshake to a Vulcan is either being intentionally disrespectful or is just incompetent (doesn't already know basic facts about the culture of Earth's first, longest, and closest ally) (didn't read the cultural briefing).

This happens in front of the Human captain too, so either the captain doesn't care to call out the offense and apologize (seems likely, he seems pretty hostile here so far) or didn't know it was offensive. Which is also just... stunningly unprofessional for someone who is supposed to be an ambassador for the entire planet of Earth.

And again, the episode is presumably intentionally constructed this way so that the characters can get to know each other later and learn to get along where the audience can observe them. Every single "Star Trek" show I've watched has had protagonist characters be prejudiced and even bigoted in clumsy ways that feel like they ought to be textbook cases of "What NOT To Do" in Starfleet Academy classes, so that the show can deliver basic messages about how prejudice is bad and we all have the potential for it and we can all get better. It is "Star Trek"'s whole thing. "Star Trek: Enterprise" isn't at all alone on this, because all of the shows have done this.

But my goodness is it amusing when a "Star Trek" episode presents a cultural clash problem that more realistically speaking probably would have been better settled about 100 years ago in-universe.

[chaifootsteps]

Hello, Chai! A few weeks ago, I mentioned coming into your inbox to ask you several questions about your allegations and just getting your side of the story. I will be honest, when I read the call out(s) about you.

I overall thought “yeah, I don’t blame anyone for being uncomfortable regarding your interests.” I personally don’t think you are a zoophile especially with looking at your art and your likes.

1. Are you a proshipper (many think you are that’s why I’m asking)?

2. When I searched your name on Tumblr, I noticed a few people being disgusted and weirded out you found Valentino attractive and liked ValAngel, using it as a “gotcha moment” against you and I think that’s dumb. I personally don’t ship it but I do find the ship interesting. I never cared if adults shipped Valentino/Angel Dust.

3. Thoughts on this? Is this No NSFW outdated for the Dutch angel dragon community? If you have screenshots I would love to see them.

4. Thoughts on this?

5. Thoughts on this?

6. Anonymous user accused you of being creepy towards other critics and talking about non pro shipper’s abrasively. In my comment section you mentioned criticizing pro-shippers, do you have any screenshots of that.

7. Context behind this? The user who made this post mentioned you apologized to them.

(I’ll come back cuz with more stuff).

I don't blame anyone for being uncomfortable with my interests either! You like what you like and you don't like what you don't like, and I'm a die hard monsterfucker and horror aficionado with a very firm policy on fiction vs. reality. If that's not to anyone's comfort level, no hard feelings.

That said!

1. I don't call myself a proshipper anymore because proshipper means wildly different things to different people and I was tired of fighting for a term instead of the concept that people should be allowed to explore things they wouldn't be okay with in real life in the safety of their imaginations. That being the case, I've got people who call themselves antis in my audience and in my server. My blog's open to anyone and everyone who wants to be here and talk about these things.

2. Of course I used to like Valentino and ValAngel, it was a fascinating ship and some of the fandubs for Valentino were hot as hell! Shipping something doesn't necessarily mean I want them to be together forever, just that I found their dynamic worth exploring.

It used to be that everyone was unanimous in their agreement that Val was the scum of the earth, and ever since that's changed and the fandom has started blaming Angel for "being ungrateful," I've fallen out of love with them, but my problem still isn't with anyone who likes ValAngel -- it's with the way Viv herself treats the ship and the way she Trojan Horsed it into the show and belittled survivors who were uncomfortable.

3. This one's especially funny because I guarantee you the Viv standom, who never heard of Dutch Angel Dragons before they learned about mine, care more about this than the actual mods do. NSFW Dutches actually are disallowed, and it will get you banned from Dutch spaces, but that's all. My little group has actually talked to Ino herself about it; one of the rules of my Dutch Rebel server is that you're allowed to do whatever you like with your own character, but absolutely no NSFW of OCs whose owners have said they're not comfortable with that.

As for "they all have the intelligence of children!" that's ridiculous. The mods themselves have Dutches who curse, wield guns, and like Satellite, grapple with their war trauma. This differs from character to character depending on preference, and Satellite's a fully grown adult with the mind of a grown adult.

4. This one's a patented DJ Blitz Crazy Take! It's a South Park reference.

5. I maintain that "drawn CP" shouldn't be a term because CP is a real, absolutely reprehensible crime, which is why the word has such a gutpunch visceral effect. I think it's absolutely crucial that it keep that gutpunch effect; alarm fatigue is a real and extremely dangerous thing. Drawings of say, Gravity Falls characters, whatever your stance on that, are their own thing and we need to talk about them as their own thing.

6. Sure do! I know I've talked quite about about how the Twitter proship community is a completely different animal, and absolutely batshit insane. People were coming over with horror stories and because I'm mostly on tumblr, I had no idea.

I've also called out people for shipping ships I actually like in ways that I consider dangerous. One notable example is some rando who defended a ship by saying "14 is on the cusp of womanhood" and yeah, someone check that guy's hard drive, please.

7. Yeah, anyone claiming Andre and Stella's dynamic (read: making repeated sexual comments to your sibling, unwanted touching) is normal sibling banter raises ten kinds of alarm bells, but it wasn't my intention to genuinely freak this person out and I actually did apologize in private.

If you've got any more questions, feel free to send them and I'd be happy to answer!

[aliusfrater]

what are some "popular" wincest hcs you dont like

i don't really have a ton and the ones i do have are closely related to interpretations of sam and dean's nonship relationship i already dislike because i go out of my way to avoid a lot of wincest spaces because i hate shipping in this fandom lol sorry

dean portrayed as an actual parental figure for sam

bobby as a john substitute especially in the 'bobby knows' context

in the same vein, anything that's john ignorant

not a huge fan of sub!dean because i don't enjoy most people's interpretations or renditions of it. i'm very particular about it because dean himself has insane rules about his own role that his nonagency having ass pulled from his environment that's also heavily dependent on how differently his relationship with sam works compared to his relationship with literally everyone else he's ever had a relationship with and i feel like most people never capture that in sub!dean especially if they're already viewing it from a dean-preferring perspective and are mostly wanting him to sub because he's their guy. also because i think he would hate the prep and this should be an issue he comes across more methinks

i also dislike dom!sam most of the time it's a straight up mischaracterisation. there is a right way to do it (sam Dislikes Using His Strength And Size Against Others winchester + the sam and dean power imbalance) and there is a way to make it interesting. haven't seen that yet though

ummmm idkkkkkkk i tend to be able to read fanfic in a vacuum of what is intended to be explored by the author + self indulgence (on my and the author's behalf) + good characterisation so nothing gets to me much unless it also relates to a misunderstanding of their canon relationship

[alliepretends]

Since I posted one of my Dimension 20 hot takes, and didn't literally explode. I think I'll post the other one that really matters to me.

The discourse around aroace Riz is really hard for me. And I find it really hard to be empathic toward people who think about it differently than I do. And I think it's important to put that lack of empathy in context. Fandom (and by this I mean the broader fandom culture, not D20 fandom specifically) has generally been an extremely hostile space for aromantic people. Shipping is the central pillar of fandom engagement and dialogue. And a romantic lens is typically the very first lens applied to the source material when it is brought into fandom spaces. By that I don't just mean it's what people think about first, I mean analysis tends to pass first through the lens of romance, and then only things the romantic lens can't lay claim to are left for other kinds of analysis. Even for aromantic people like me, who very much enjoy romance when it exists in the realm of fiction, it's hard not to feel like there's a message in that. "Characters, and the fiction they exist in, are only valuable when seen through the lens of romance. Regardless of the genre of the source material. That's because romance is unquestionably the most important and defining feature of life. Unless it's sex." This can get pretty extreme if you become a fan of something with an especially strong central ship (like a Supernatural), where it can feel like literally all analysis of any aspect of the work has to tie back to the ship. In my experience, the sub-culture of fandom, for all its trappings of queer acceptance, is far more arophobic and aro-hostile than any other culture or sub-culture I participate in. Not because fans are actively making anti-aro posts or hate aro people, but because romance is elevated as the primary element of human experience. The only one really worth talking about and exploring. The only one worth writing fics about or dedicating massive posts to. It is worth noting that the Dimension 20 fandom (and, based on my experience, actual play in general) seems to be less romance-focused than other fandoms. There's lots of gen fic. There's lots of discussion that doesn't focus on romance. But that doesn't mean the Dimension 20 fandom somehow exists separately from overall fandom culture. The baggage of that larger culture still informs this fandom.

And that's why the way Riz gets talked about feels like such a slap in the face. He is the first example I (and I expect many others) have encountered of a heavily-coded aromantic character popular with fandom. And yet, that hasn't freed him from the fandom scramble to read him through the lens of romance. I'll admit to being a bit of an extremist on this. I know that for many aromantic people having a single qpr that fills many of the needs of romance is really an important part of their experience. Many of my aromantic/aspec friends feel this way. But I don't even like qpr Fabriz. Because even though that is an authentic and important part of aromanticism to represent. With a character like Riz, whose fears are explicitly based around the lack of access he has to coupledom, qpr Riz still feels like an attempt by romance-oriented fandom to jam the first aromantic character the sub-culture gets its hands on into something that looks enough like traditional coupledom that no one has to change their romance-oriented outlook. The myth of the OTP can live on if you just change some of the verbiage. I know there are arospec people that would also feel excluded if fandom fell in line with my perspective and kept Riz as far away as possible from anything resembling romance. I don't actually know what the right solution to these problems is. We got thrown one bone and there's a bit of a desire to fight over it (Wikipedia's list of aromantic characters has 18 characters, and while that's not all of them, it's a decent percentage). But I did want to put this out in the world. Because I feel like there's a lot of context and baggage missing from this discourse. And all I really want is to have fandom still be able to treat an aromantic character as valuable even when they can't neatly pair him off

[terramemoriae]

How I Think My Dad Low Key Shipped Spirk

(Platonically or Otherwise)

Warning: Spoilers for Star Trek (2009)

For context, my (late) dad is a huge Trekkie. We're talking about watching it as it aired and revisiting it whenever possible. He watched all available Star Trek content from back then, TOS, TNG, all the movies, etc.

Then Star Trek (2009) came out. Say what you want about AOS, what it did was bring me into the fandom and made Star Trek another thing I could bond with my dad.

Now, 5 years after his death (he passed in 2020), I'd always revisit Spirk when I miss him or just want a dash of oh my gosh they're both geniuses but so dumb or like, mutual pining soulmates because AOS is great for that.

So. Back on topic. Here I was, on AO3, looking for tasty Spirk fanfics over 30K long when I had this epiphany.

Did my dad low key shipped Spirk?

Let's see...

Back when we watched Star Trek (2009) for the first time, during the Kobayashi Maru and Kirk's academic hearing scenes, my dad's comment was something along the lines of;

"You know, in the series, Spock praised Kirk for that. It's when he acknowledged Kirk's ingenuity."

I was 13 at the time and a baby fujoshi in the making so... Pardon my denseness.

After, when we were on the bridge, where Kirk argued about how the "lightning storm" was the same as the day the U.S.S Kelvin was attacked and Spock had to agree with Kirk's logic...

My dad, while smirking; "There we go... "

Thinking about it now, it was kinda like he just enjoyed when everything is starting to right itself (with Spock having to agree with Kirk).

Then, of course, we were on Delta Vega. My dad actually was a bit sombre and so touched at seeing Leonard Nimoy. When we got the line; "I have been, and always shall be, your friend."

My dad was all; "There's no Kirk without Spock, and no Spock without Kirk."

Not in those exact words but like, his sentiments were that they are who they are because of each other. Then, of course we had the beautiful, sooo shippy dialogues between Kirk and Spock Prime;

"You're coming back in time, changing history, it's cheating."

"A trick I learned from an old friend."

My dad was full on grinning. Especially, since at this point, our crew is complete.

Then, of course, we're at the confrontation scene and my dad was: "That's such a Kirk thing to do."

I didn't get it at the time and some of you might disagree, but I'm on my dad's side with this.

The moment Kirk was in the captain's chair, he was so excited. Like he was expecting something good to happen. And, when we got to this point;

"I'm coming with you."

"I would cite regulation, but I know you will simply ignore it."

"See, we are getting to know each other."

He had such a proud, happy smile. Then, we got to the kiss and he was totally blindsided. Literally heard his "Huh." Yes. The period was how I remembered it.

When we got right back to it, and were treated with the scenes in The Jellyfish, the red matter implosion, Spock meeting Spock Prime and last, but not least, when Spock is right by Kirk's side on the Enterprise...

I remembered seeing my dad's happiness as he saw them together, building their trust and starting their adventures together with the crew.

At this point, when we get to the closing narrative by Spock Prime;

"Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new lifeforms and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before."

He let out such a satisfied sigh. He was so happy.

To be honest, I don't know if he shipped them shipped them, you know?

He did believe in soul bonds. Soulmates, platonic or otherwise, and how all souls knew one another once, some closer than the other, that might resonate with each other when they met.

To me, that's what Spirk is. Of course, my preference is on the romantic side and for my dad? Who knows.

But I know, to him, Star Trek is about the crew and above all else, nothing is truer than the bond between Kirk and Spock.

Now, is there a point to this rant? Well. I'm about to jump into the Spirk rabbit hole (again) this weekend while browsing through AO3 and Tumblr when I had this epiphany.

I had to just let it out! ଘ(੭ ᐛ )━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ

Well. That's it from me.

From a casual Spirk fan to all who love this fandom...

P. S. I feel like this one is the most appropriate one. And goddammit, I miss my dad so much! Gonna go read fanfics now. Terra, signing off.

[starleska]

Oh my godd I am so so excited to watch the new episodes of Doctor Who I am borderline vibrating. The friend who was originally going to watch The Giggle with me is down to watch the rest of the new series with me as well which is AWESOME because if I didn’t have them to watch with me and have context I would probably explode because the excitement is just too much for me to physically handle on my own.

I am ESPECIALLY excited to watch Lux, moreso than previously, due to the little bits of information I’ve been learning about Ring-a-Ding and his connection to light?! I am SUPER excited to explore that because some sonas of mine are also very connected to light and my brain is about to implodeee I need a chew toy to shake around destroy.

This show is driving me insane in the best way possible.

(And on a side note, I’m so glad you decided to pop into my inbox that one time, about Lux. It’s been so cool meeting someone with so so many shared interests, so passionate and friendly, and someone who I can share understood-excitement with!!)

AHHHHH Ivy that is so cool, i am so, so happy for you!!!! 🙈🙈🙈 seriously there is nothing like the excitement of watching new Doctor Who, it's a whole event in and of itself!! 🥰🥰 also it is always very smart to have someone with you who knows about the series so as not to get lost at sea (as i frequently am...and i've been here for years 😂)! i must've gotten to this a little late, as you've seen Lux now, right? if you haven't i am so sorry for anything you may have seen!! 😳 ahhhhh that is so awesome, think of all the selfship/OC x Canon possibilities 🥺🥺 i'm also feeling that way so much about Lux, given that...Star...Light...you get it 🙈🙈 i have this silly little all-purpose Doctor Who OC expressly for shipping with all the characters i love (i have...a lot of DW crushes...and am sure you will too), and they are definitely getting the Lux treatment 😉 IT DOES THAT, DOESN'T IT. Doctor Who brainrot is diabolical in the best way ever, and life-long!! i came back from a convention the other week after meeting with a bunch of other Doctor Who fans (all of us cosplaying different Doctors), and we were all different ages, from like...early twenties to seventies!! it truly is a show that transcends time (and space) 💖💖💖

aww Ivy you are going to make me cry!! 😭💖💖 i feel the exactly the same way about you!! thank you so much for being your enthusiastic, creative, passionate self and being such a cool person to talk to, i really enjoy our conversations and hope you know what an excellent person you are 🥰

[doctorsfavorite]

Hi.

I want to address some of the things that have been brought up about me, especially regarding past behavior and misunderstandings.

About a year and a half ago I was involved in a situation within the self-ship community where I judged someone for how they portrayed or interpreted a shared F/O. I was possessive and territorial, and I made vague posts expressing my discomfort, though I never named anyone directly. At the time, I was navigating a lot of personal emotions and attachment to my F/Os, but that doesn't excuse the harm that vagueposting - or judgment in general - can cause others. I now understand that kind of behavior can create an environment where people feel unwelcome or policed in how they express their self-shipping. I've worked hard to move away from that mindset. Since then, I've stopped vagueposting entirely and I’ve made a conscious effort not to stir drama or involve myself in conflict.

Some of the things being said now seem to reference that same old situation and I want to be clear that I haven’t repeated that behavior. I haven’t sought out or harassed anyone since then. In fact, I created new blogs under different names because I genuinely wanted to move forward, stay out of people’s way, and quietly enjoy my interests without reigniting the past. I’d also like to address a few specific claims that I feel are misunderstandings or distortions:

Regarding Kenjaku from JJK - Yes, I self-ship with a villain character. I know that's not everyone’s cup of tea and I respect that. But I personally enjoy exploring complex characters, and having a villain F/O doesn’t mean I condone their actions or hold harmful beliefs. Why is liking Kenjaku worse than liking Philip, Harley or Zandik?

About Jimmy from Mouthwashing - I like this character. The fact that he’s not prominently featured on my blog isn’t anything secretive or suspicious, he’s just not a current focus. Keeping info in a spreadsheet is simply how I organize things. I’m not hiding him specifically. In fact, my close friends know about him, but I get it – not everyone’s cup of tea. Also, just because I F/O him doesn’t mean I’m not judging his actions. What he did WAS vile. But as a character he’s written very well.

"Joking about SA" - I need to clarify this clearly: I have never made jokes about SA. That’s something I take seriously. If something I said was misinterpreted that way, I deeply apologize. I would never intentionally make light of such a topic.

Mutuals mentioned - One of the people listed in the post is someone I’ve had personal conflict with in the past (cozylovers). That issue wasn’t with the entire community, but with that person specifically. As for the others, I genuinely don’t know what harm I’ve done to them. I don’t recall interacting with them in any meaningful way. If I hurt them unintentionally, I’m sorry, but I also wish I had the chance to talk it through instead of being publicly condemned again.

I also want to be honest about something else: I’m low empathy. That doesn’t mean I don’t care, because I do. But it means that I sometimes say things that come across as cold or insensitive, especially if I don’t immediately recognize the emotional context. It’s something I’m working hard to improve, and I continue to learn how to communicate more carefully and considerately.

Being called out again, a year and a half after the original situation, feels like reopening a wound I’ve tried to heal. It makes me feel like no matter how much I try to grow or stay out of trouble, the worst version of me is all anyone will ever see. I understand people may still be hurt, and if so, I truly am sorry. But I also believe that growth deserves space, not perpetual punishment. I’m not asking anyone to like me or forgive me. I just want the chance to exist peacefully in a fandom space that’s meant to be fun and creative, like everyone else.

If you read this, thank you for your time. If you choose to block me or distance yourself, I understand. But if you’re willing to see that people can change, I appreciate that deeply.

- Alex

[wardensantoineandevka]

FEEL FREE TO IGNORE THIS but given our conversations i'd love to see your take for: dragon age: side game set in a location of your choice that cannot have more than 10 hours playtime and must not escalate beyond "we have to save this beloved community space from closing down!" level of main plot stakes. Requires at least 3 cameos, but can be set at any point in the timeline.

send me a character, ship, or fandom + a short theme or premise (like an AU, or a broad concept of a plot like "heist to steal the blah", or even just a vibe) and I'll try to pitch how I'd handle it if I was writing it this was for fic ideas but this is a special case because fun conversations :3c

OKAY SO, I really had to think about this one because unfortunately a lot of stuff I'm interested in just don't make good games of any length. Funny enough, while I was thinking about this, I ended up pitching a Veilguard DLC concept because a post is going around asking people to imagine their ideal ones.

I had a whole paragraph initially about how my first, self-indulgent instinct was to do a Grey Warden thing because I'm ultimately a Warden girlie and I think it's really interesting to think about the Wardens in smaller stakes situations and how they function in that context, but I felt that overlapped too much with Awakening conceptually, even with Awakening's stakes being higher than the restrictions here — but then I did actually come up with an idea, but it is unfortunately slightly higher stakes than saving the community center. I THINK this can be done in ten hours, because a lot of similar games run about that long?

Point-and-click murder mystery at Weisshaupt between Inquisition and Veilguard, maybe after Trespasser. With all Wardens now working directly from Weisshaupt, in close proximity, factional tensions are at an all-time high. So, it's shocking but unsurprising when a Warden of some rank, perhaps even a former Commander or Constable, turns up violently dead. Supernatural causes are all ruled out, so they're left to conclude that it is a completely conventional murder. Still, not comforting. This is, naturally, only further stokes the internal fighting and spooks the non-Warden residents. You have been tasked with finding the murderer. Being the equivalent of Internal Affairs here, naturally, kinda sucks. Especially when you're not yet sure if this is an isolated incident or the beginning of a series.

It isn't strictly necessary for this, but there's some room here to have background and personality choices influence this a la Pentiment that might be fun to workshop or write out. What sort of person you are, which former posting you had before everyone was pulled to Weisshaupt, what philosophical faction you align yourself with if any (maybe this is gained over the game), and how these things affect how the Wardens hanging around react to you. (Can you feel the scope creep in this paragraph in particular?)

I like this idea because it gives a chance to explore the internal factionalism of the Wardens in this moment in time. I know that already gets a lot of play, given they're so central to the series, but I just always want to hear Wardens pontificate about the granular details of philosophy of whether they are more a shield or a sword. Generally, it also sets groundwork for the concept of whether the Wardens are capable of regulating themselves, whether they're capable of not ripping each other apart, whether this belief of a blank slate and a new start really is enough to overlook the fact that they've dragged a lot of people here off the gallows, what happens when this murder seeds an anxiety in many that maybe some people can't change their colors, not even if you dress them up in grey and blue. It also provides a nice opportunity to see the Wardens "at home" so to speak, what they do as an order at rest, away from the eyes of the others across Thedas, when they aren't facing any looming threats. Also sets up a nice groundwork for some Veilguard ideas in that it starts an anxiety that perhaps they aren't always safe here in the impenetrable Weisshaupt and the sort of fear about something hunting Wardens later when the Gloom Howler (not involved in this game pitch) starts picking them off.

As for my three required cameos. I do say that I hate that there's so many good potential cameo that are tied to conditionals. This scale of game would decently handle small-scale conditional cameos, since it would allow for Wardens just hanging out around the fortress with only a bit of dialogue when interacted with — flags for whether they appear at all or not. But, I won't count them for required cameos because I'm like that. I am also not counting First Warden Glastrum because he is basically required for this concept. Davrin has to carry the flag of companion cameos here. I have to stay true to my brand and have Evka and Antoine. This is actually an easy context in which to have them appearing separately and not attached at the hip. (omg, having to solicit Antoine's advice on alchemical matters.) But because the two of them are functionally a single unit in terms of narrative, I'm also going to throw in Ramesh from The Horror of Hormak. This is actually a pretty good set: companion, game NPCs, print media only.

[ettawritesnstudies]

Sora Outfits Along her Character Arc

I'm hyperfixating on my dnd character tonight so here's some Sora costume outfit breakdown rambles: for context, this character comes from an Avatar The Last Airbender themed campaign that takes after the end of the 100 year war. However the war doesn't end cleanly after the fire lord's defeat. The Gaang spends five years putting out fires, recalling troops from all over the world, and squashing loyalists that keep fighting after Ozai and Azula's capture. Eventually, a 17 year old Aang establishes Republic City to welcome benders from all the nations, to teach them bending, and to establish a new method of diplomacy.

Our game began with four young students arriving to the city for the opening festival, who then uncover a deeper conspiracy that threatens to undermine the balance of the world. Sora, Suliyos, Seraphine, Han, and eventually Cab have to work together with the Gaang to discover the true enemy before their world is plunged into another bloody conflict.

Beginning of campaign: Republic City Air Nomad Uniform

When Sora first arrives in RC, she's been hiding her airbending for her whole life, growing up in Omashu with an overprotective earthbending mother and sister, never knowing her father. She's hopeful for a fresh start, and eager to meet other air nomads, but she comes to the city just claiming air nomad heritage, hiding her powers, and pretending to be a non-bender for her own safety.

Traveling Clothes: Earth Kingdom Civilian

During the opening festival at RC, the city was attacked by terrorists from a shadowy group called the "eye" which included members from all the nations. They sabotaged the city with fireworks and bombs, tried to blame the attacks on the fire nation, and restart the war. Sora and her friends helped discover and thwart these attacks, and she started establishing a connection to a spirit, though she didn't understand what was happening, and her paranoia grew. Their relationship with the Gaang strained under the stress, especially once they found out that the Eye was kidnapping Airbenders. Aang couldn't leave republic city in such dire circumstances, and our group had crossed one too many lines (including Suliyos learning to bloodbend) so we left RC to get some space and follow the lead. This brought us through the Earth Kingdom, and to a boat called the Juggernaut which would take us across the North Sea to reach Ba Sing Se.

NWT Arc: Water Tribe Furs gifted by Suliyos

En Route to Ba Sing Se we discovered one of the members of the Eye on our ship. He was a powerful bloodbender and had a sinister connection to the spirit world, but he was also a member the NWT royalty. By killing him in self defense, we also had to take a detour to the NWT to return his body, deal with the politics, discover the evil spirits corrupting the leaders of the NWT, banish the spirits, and restore the true leaders to the throne. That leader being Suliyos, one of our party members, who discovered he was the nephew of the chief, and next in line after Yue's sacrifice. Sora established her own connection with her spirit Shishi, and with a supportive crew and team, explored her airbending. These clothes were a gift as thanks for her aid. Her hair and eyes also started turning blue due to her spirit connection.

Onward to Ba Sing Se: back to the traveling clothes

One of the members of the ship's crew was Boma, an airbender, and a distant relative of Sora's. When he discovered she was family, he gave her armor and skydancer's anklets which gave her proficiency in airbending skills like acrobatics. It's been several months of travel now, so her hair's gotten longer. We also passed the ice trials, so she's wearing the mark of the wise (I think?) here. It's not a permanent tattoo though.

Ba Sing Se: Undercover Mode

So many things happened once we reached Ba Sing Se. We discovered the evil spirit - Father Glowworm - had kidnapped Hei-Bei, caused a famine, the Dai Li was creating living terra cotta warriors to impersonate members of the white lotus, they managed to kill a dragon, we managed to bring it back, Sora's spirit got kind-of-killed, it's been a wild ride. In any case, we're wanted all over the earth kingdom and the iconic outfit from before wasn't doing her any favors so she got a change of clothes.

Freeing the Airbenders!!!! Family Drama!!! AAA

The Dai Li had captured the airbenders to use as their own specialized army against the fire nation, and subdued/hypnotized them with the evil spirits. When we broke open everything in BSS, we also 1) rescued Sora's family from an assasination attempt in Omashu, and 2) freed the airbenders! Her dad wasn't with them, but she discovered, he had been sending home airbender regalia all this time, and her mother had hidden it away from her, to keep her from pursuing airbending to keep her safe. Now she's wearing it proudly to lead the newly freed nation, and to go rescue her father from the fire nation.

But her mother still hates her life decisions, Aang is worried the airbenders are losing their culture, and the airbenders resent Aang for the differences that led to them getting captured in the first place. Sora needs to forge her own path, and show the world what it means to be an airbender, both in practice, and in spirit, fearlessly, and so that others might do the same.

We still have a lot of loose ends to tie up, and there will be at least one more costume iteration for her, when we go to the fire nation to handle Ozai and Azula escaping and the other spiritual problems with the dragons there. But I'm so excited about Sora and her arc so far, seeing the transition from the first airbender outfit to the final one is so satisfying and I'm so attached to her story, even if only 4 people will ever understand how much it means to me...

[milkbath69]

I hope this doesn't sound rude, but I was dying of laughter for a good while when you said that you were spooked by the opening of my previous ask. To be fair, I would be too. It's pretty agressive. I just wanted to throw you for a loop, My bad.

This is off topic, but I wanted to talk about Bully. Do you like Jimmy? I like him. I enjoy his snark and determination. Do you have a favourite character? A favourite clique? Mine would be the preps. They're aggravating as hell but I like their bitchiness. I especially ship Jimmy with Gord. I like the dynamic of a prissy bitch preppy boy with a snarky punk guy (I always dressed Jimmy as punk/goth) who challenges Gord's prejudices and upbringing. Besides, all the other girls in the game are boring as shit. With the exception of Zoe. She's cool.

And do you like the story? Would you change the ending? Or do you wish they explored something a bit more? It's been so long since I've played... but I wouldn't mind more side missions. Just more character interaction!

I'm actually super shocked that you like George Michael/Wham!. I literally gasped. I've noticed that the majority of tlb fandom tends to dislike pop from the 80s (or maybe just in general, idk) and tend to favour rock music. (I like rock too...I'm just more versatile with my music, I guess) I was expecting you to say that you didn't like them. But that's such a nice surprise. My all-time favourite song by George? Probably Fastlove, Pt 1. It... I just...I love how it's funky and fresh and energetic. But despite it's upbeat sound, a sad story is hidden in the lyrics. It talks about missing his dead boyfriend and pursuing intimacy with other men, hidden in the dark of the night. He slips a male pronoun in song, and you can just tell he was screaming, suffering by being in the closet, and suffocated by heteronormative expectations of society. Opps... accidentally made this too heavy. But at the moment I really like "A Ray of Sunshine" by Wham! It's about George being too scared to sleep with a guy, so they just end up cuddling through the night. Most of the lyrics are pretty unassuming but I really like when he says "I can't stop this rythum in my heart". I just interpret as him saying he can't help his attraction towards the guy, or men in general. I just find George very comforting... A safe space.

That's pretty wild that you listen to music from the 1910s. How do you even get exposed to something that old? The oldest music I listen to is Sinatra, and that's only a few songs. And I like Gorillaz too! Murdoc is my fave!

And Is Malice Mizer a Japanese artist? The name of an album? Because I tried looking them up on apple music and all it pulled up was an album...

As for Nsync... I just randomly found a song of their's on YouTube that I liked and I binged their entire discography. I have a soft spot for music from the Noughties. It reminds me of being a kid. Some favourites from the decade are Lady (Hear me Tonight) and Groovejet (If This Ain't Love).

So this was long as fuck. I mean't to say in previous ask, it's so sweet that you like my asks. But are you sure it's alright? I'm sure I'm flooding your inbox...

it doesnt sound rude at all lmao i did think it was funny after reading the actual message but the notification out of context scared the helll out of me

I LOVE JIMMY hes so funny hes like top 5 game protags for me fs. my favorite bully character would probably have to be gary.. hes just such an asshole and hes so funny especially early game before he like betrays jimmy. my favorite clique would probably have to be the greasers. the other cliques just kind of really annoyed me. i dont really ship jimmy with anyone but i dont really have any objections to jimmy x gord. tbh... i kind of hated zoe.. she was just so nothing. i dont really get the appeal. for me at least she was extremely 2 dimensional and her and jimmys "romance" happened way too quickly (due to her introduction being in the last chapter of the game) and if she were introduced sooner and had more time to develop i might like her but she is just kind of there?? yk

how can people not like wham/george michael??? its such fun music. ive never heard "fastlove pt.1" ill have to give it a listen! i think i might of heard "a ray of sunshine" before but tbh theres so many songs w sun/sunshine in their title i might be mixing it up w something else

uh to be honest i don't really know how i got exposed to music that old bur i remember when i was still in middle and high school instead of paying attention i would sometimes watch silent films. i think as i started to listen to music from the 60s or so i just started to go earlier and earlier through the decades until eventually i hit 1910s and there isnt much recorded music before that that isnt classical.

oh Malice Mizer is a japanese band! im not surprised much didnt appear when you searched on apple music due to copyright issues their music isnt on like any streaming services besides YouTube. i got into them because i saw a video of a hello kitty cd player playing their song "gekka no yasoukyoku" on tiktok two years ago. i own like 5 cds of theirs which is actually pretty expensive because it all has to be imported from japan. if you listen to them and you dont like it i wont take offense its not for everyone :p

wow i have never heard of those nsync songs ever. im not that into boybands either.. the only two songs of theirs i have EVER heard is "Bye Bye Bye" and that one song that was in trolls 3 idk it was all over my tiktok fyp though.

ofc its alright!! i love your asks!! if i didnt i just wouldnt answer them. and your asks arent flooding my inbox at all dw :3

heres how i dressed up jimmy in my playthough of the game. kept getting insults thrown left and right but they just dont see the vision....