#even if i like the aesthetic well enough too i just think its silly to use that as a descriptor

[callixton]

can i say as a self confessed enjoyer of ‘dark academia’ books i think it is fucking stupid to refer to it as a genre rather than like. a trait

[mtkay13]

Gonna post TWO hoboxus today because I CAN! (still desperately trying to catch up with my twitter posts LOL help I'm terrible at this)

From a meme based on art by KOTTERI, the author of Veil (among amazing other things). Find them on twitter @_K0TTERl_!

More musing below, as per usual! (Be ready it's a LONG one again)

I really hesitated with how I wanted to do this. The original had this gorgeous red poster that seemed like a perfect fit for WKX:

(@_K0TTERl_)

Either I went for the imagery of ZZS wistfully gazing upon the mysterious and eccentric WKX, which would definitely have been more aesthetic and undeniably fitting, or I went the semi-humorous route of channelling the "WKX fell for that ugly hobo and his gorgeous shoulder blades" meme-ified side of their dynamic.

Well, clearly that's where I ended up going, but I feel like explaining a bit.

For me, this picture was three-folds:

First part is the meme; it's kind of funny, kind of ridiculous, and sets the tone of what TYK starts off as; rather absurd, with its reasonable dose of dark humor, and the (at first seemingly improbable) meeting and love story between a silly dying hobo and a strange, suspicious, hedonistic gentleman. It felt thematically appropriate for TYK to twist the original image and put the obviously uglier one on the poster since TYK relies heavily on genre subversion to begin with.

Secondly, there is WKX. So, controversial opinion (/jk) but I don't think WKX was necessarily convinced or even really thought that ZZS was "a beauty" underneath his alleged mask. It was probably a mix of various feelings and teasing/provoking which lead to this joke. First, everything he expresses throughout the book and in extra 4; the fascination for this man who seemed too hide great strength and was of no known identity--who was probably more than what he seemed.

(I'm gonna push it just a little bit ((but isn't that the fun of literary interpretation)), but the "beauty under the mask" is not only physical. It could be a way to say, I think that beneath your raunchy, ridiculous attitude, beneath your gross appearance, beneath the pretense that you're a nobody, that you're a peasant, you're probably someone of great importance and great accomplishments, someone much stronger than you pretend to be--someone like me, perhaps, even. The shoulder blades references are, besides of course WKX *actually* noticing them, the observation of how ZZS moves, of how agile his body is, etc...)

Anyway-- the entire point of this intro is to say that to me, this isn't actually referring to that whole side of their dynamic (or not entirely), but rather to that passage that I am STILL OBSESSED WITH where Wen Kexing recognizes ZZS just from the way he's sitting in a restaurant, and that makes him feel things not entirely positive:

Zhou Zishu stepped into an inn alone. He chose a seat by a window, ordered a few side dishes and a jug of mulled rice wine, and drank it slowly while soaking in the sunshine. As soon as Wen Kexing walked in, he saw Zhou Zishu from behind. He didn’t know why, but he thought that this view was quite special—he could always pick it out of a crowd. Zhou Zishu did not sit with his back straight. Most of the time, he lounged indolently at an angle that looked exceptionally comfortable. Wen Kexing thought that it seemed as though nothing weighed on him; seeing him was enough to ease the heart. Wen Kexing unconsciously halted his steps. He stared at Zhou Zishu’s relaxed silhouette for a while, with no trace of an expression in his face or eyes. His heart swelled with some strange feeling—strange, in that it was no feeling at all. He felt as though this man was mocking him with this wordless posture; he who rushed around for one thing or another, who was burdened with so many cares, yet obstinately put on a devil-may-care persona. Zhou Xu—as carefree as duckweed, he thought, with a body like willow catkins. In all the world, with its boundless perspectives, where could you find someone who walked their path alone and never allowed anything to trouble them? Yet he was not apathetic—he had his joy, his anger, his sorrow—and they came in a flash as quickly as they went. Within the blink of an eye, he had forgotten it already.

(Tian Ya Ke, chapter 18, TL by Lianzi) (have I quoted this already??? If not I should have I love this passage so much)

AND THEN QUOTING ANOTHER PASSAGE (LOL), TL by me this time:

From the moment he'd noticed his shoulderblades, felt this rush of excitement, to when he'd started liking who Zhou Zishu was, when he'd thought——so this is the Commander of Tian Chuang. Suddenly, he'd felt as if he'd met his other self. Both of them, lone wolves caught in a hunter's trap, struggling for freedom to no avail, until they had resolved to coldly gnawing off their own legs in the end. He'd felt compelled to follow him around, watched him, until he suddenly realised—if Zhou Zishu could live like this, then surely, so could he?

(Full passage in this other post LOL)

So yes, THIS. Those two things. That's it. Need I say more? HAH OF COURSE I DO I ALWAYS HAVE TO (help)

More seriously--the way WKX is captivated by ZZS' apparent carefreeness and freedom, all the different feelings (or absence thereof, as he puts it, which I interpret as so distant from what he's used to feel that it almost feels like nothing at all) is what I was going for here.... By not showing his face at all LMAO

The envy, the frustration--the impression of being mocked, but also the longing, how it inspired him to follow along and try to be free like he was.

-cough- yes, so that was point 2 out of 3.

Now lastly, about ZZS himself and my representation of him as hoboxu. I think (?) I've written enough about him that I think I can keep this succint. I love how priest often makes a point of expliciting, in the book, how he's so often smiling, and how he's always incredibly energetic in the morning, as if the night of pain had never happened. I like to think that hoboxu is both a carricature of a ridiculous character that ZZS has fun embodying---but also a liberated expression of his deeper self.

WKX feels like he's mocking him, but ZZS is also mocking himself relentlessly, when he feels like the outside resembles the inside finally, when he feels ridiculous in these new robes, when he allows himself the most outrageous behavior---and then there's mocking life itself, mocking jianghu, mocking everything that he nonetheless deeply cherishes. It's almost... gently mocking, affectionate mocking of everything because his own life has become a joke yet he's still going to enjoy it to the fullest--drinking to his heart's content, rolling in the mud and visiting touristy sites (or so he intended).

In the end... the world is still in his own hands. He chose everything, chose the way he lived, the way he (would have) died and still has the power to dissappear at will--but he stays. Stays and endures what he pretends annoys him, because he can't help himself, because he's ridiculous and is aware of it and may as well have some fun while being so.

I can't seem to ever have enough of this, of this vibe. I wanted to have him laugh at and with WKX, at and with the people seeing him, at and with himself, at and with the narrative.

SO YEAH HAH THATS HUM THAT'S IT. You know what they say, it's only a fun meme if there's an essay behind it (noone says that help 😭😭😭😭)

I hope you had fun reading it and have a nice weeked 🤪

[thewertsearch]

TT: Are you saying that I will succeed in the mission to destroy the sun? […] You seem rather keen on acquiring a fortune from me considering you are the one with the crystal ball. […] I myself do not care to be an oracle. But I can graciously supply you with one. […] An eager consort has brought you one of my seeds. It appears you have amassed followers who wish to please you. How fortuitous.

If each cueball is a 'seed', then each cueball can probably be developed into an instance of Scratch.

I have a horrible feeling that our Scratched session is going to feature a cueball-headed doggy - which, admittedly, is still a step up from the cueball-headed Cal.

It will accurately answer any question a curious girl can pose. Provided she can see through the surface to read its reply. […] TT: Is that possible? […] Given your title and all the tools of prognostication at your disposal, it seems to me I should be the one asking you the questions. TT: How can I see through it? It seems you weren't listening, so I will state this again in the form of a question. Don't you think I should be asking the questions from now on? […] Don't you think a clever person should be able to acquire information from someone who only asks questions? […] TT: Ok, so what you mean is I should continue humoring your leading questions until you happen to ask certain rhetorical questions that contain information I need.

Really, there's not much else you can do. He's going to steamroll the conversation either way, so you may as well just fuck around.

How does a Seer see? […] TT: With a crystal ball? TT: I already considered that. I don't think I can get the focus of the ball to "zoom in" tight enough on the cue ball's enclosure to read the answers.

Damn, and it was a good idea, too.

Jade has an affinity for Space, and could probably do better, but you're choosing not to involve your friends in any of your machinations. After all, they might try and stop you.

Vriska, famously, can see into these cueballs - or, at least, she could when she had her eyepatch. Convincing her to help would be a challenge, but Rose has been talking up her powers of persuasion lately. Time to put your money where your mouth is, Lalonde!

TT: Should I use magic? Do you believe in magic? TT: Magic is real. TT: I've been using it. Are you sure? TT: Use whatever word you want to describe it. I have magic wands, they are very powerful, and they allow me to be magic. Your questions are silly.

Silly, and a little strange, too. Rose's wands clearly have supernatural abilities, but they're not any more supernatural than the rest of her alchemy gear. They certainly appear more magical, because their supernatural effects have a magical aesthetic - but everything else is magic, too!

Like, come on. Everyone’s been flying around the Medium with rocket-powered devices that never malfunction, burn their passengers, or run out of fuel. What’s that, if not magic? Dave literally made a Frostblade, and it doesn’t stop being magical just because there’s a jpeg of Snoop Dogg on it. You could argue that some of these objects are channeling the kids' own Aspect abilities, but most of them have powers completely unrelated to the element their Player wields.

Hell, we don't even need to point to Sburb to prove magic exists. Aradia was a freakin' necromancer!

[smeddiemunson]

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

The Harrington house is big and it’s nice to look at, or it would be if Gareth was into the boring minimalist style, but there’s no warmth to it.

That’s all he could notice while he was pulling off his jeans and neatly folding them up to place on the top of a chest of draws in a guest bedroom. The walls are white and the accents a single shade of brown. Even Gareth’s oppressively suburban home had more character than this.

And it just didn’t seem to fit with Steve. Steve, in Gareth’s admittedly limited understanding of him, was more suited to a smaller but still nice house, with appliances that made funny noises if they weren’t used the right way, and was always full of people. A house that had character built into its very foundations.

He met Jeff and Grant back in the kitchen, trying his hardest not to stare too long at the single family portrait hung at the end of the hallway. Jeff was wearing red shorts and Grant was wearing blue ones. It seemed that only Gareth got the memo about wearing black and committing to the Not-Cult Cult aesthetic.

“What’s the plan then, Gare-Bear?” Jeff asked as Gareth sidled up next to them.

Gareth grabbed a can off the side, it was fresh out of the fridge and had condensation trickling down the sides. He assumed it was alright to take it. “I’m gonna talk to Buckley, feel out how to go about this.”

“And what should we do?” Grant asked.

“Make sure Eddie doesn’t do anything stupid?”

Grant scoffed. “Dude, you’ve met him, be serious.”

“I am!” Gareth replied. “I want this to work out for them and that means keeping Eddie’s foot out of his mouth.”

They all paused to remember the many, many times that Eddie’s inability to shut up had gotten them in trouble. He was great at talking himself out of trouble as well, but it was always preferable to not be in trouble in the first place. 

“So make sure Eddie doesn’t say something stupid before he can confess his love and get a pass for all the stupid shit he says?” 

Gareth allowed himself to chuckle. “Yeah, something like that.”

He led them all back out to the garden, cracking open the can as he went. The cold liquid felt good sliding down his throat; it wasn’t quite the peak of the summer and it was only going to get hotter, but Gareth didn’t think there was much point in not enjoying the smaller things in life. 

Eddie was perched on the edge of the pool, kicking his feet gently where they were submerged in the water, as he spoke to Steve. Steve who was in the pool but had pulled himself out enough to rest his crossed arms on the poolside and use them as a pillow for his head. They looked like they belonged in a movie; so caught up in one another that they didn’t react to the screaming from the others playing chicken (Nancy on Jonathan’s shoulders and Robin on Argyle’s). 

Gareth was shocked to see the way Steve was looking at him. He knew Steve was into Eddie, that much was obvious, but until that moment he had just thought it was a little crush.

This put a bit of a spanner in the works of his original plan of getting everyone to play enough party games until they could get Steve and Eddie together in seven minutes in heaven.

“Eddie!” Jeff shouted, “Did you smoke all the weed while we were getting changed?”

Eddie gasped dramatically, clutching at his heart. “Would I ever do that to you Jeffy?” 

“Yes,” Jeff deadpanned. 

Steve laughed delightedly, bumping Eddie in the knee with his elbow. 

“Fine, fine,” Eddie threw his hands up in surrender. “Stevie said we aren’t allowed to smoke and swim so we didn’t light it.”

“I don’t want you to drown,” Steve said quietly, a haunted look crossing over his face that left as quickly as it came. 

Eddie reached out to squeeze his shoulder, something unsaid passing between them. “I’m still here.” 

Steve nodded, then shook his head with a small smile, as if he knew he was being silly. 

Gareth shared a glance with his band mates, Eddie pointedly avoiding it. Another thing that would never be explained to them.

Luckily the game of chicken came to an end with Robin crashing down into the water, her legs pulling Argyle with her, to the tune of Nancy and Jonathan yelling in triumph to break Steve out of whatever spiral he’d fallen into.

Steve turned towards them with a smile. He patted Eddie’s hand where it was still on his shoulder then pushed off from the wall to join his friends, calling for his turn. 

Eddie’s hand hovered in the air for a second before falling back down to his side. 

Robin broke off from the group, stating her intention to grab another drink as she furiously tried to push her now wet hair out of her eyes. Argyle eagerly called for Steve to go against Nancy this time.

Gareth nodded to Jeff and Grant. “Go cheer him up. I hate it when he looks like a kicked puppy.”

“Guy doesn’t know what he has with those eyes, I swear,” Jeff mumbled as he and Grant moved to sit either side of Eddie, both bumping shoulders with him.

Gareth waited until Robin was digging through the cooler and muttering to herself to join her. 

She jumped slightly as she turned away from the cooler and realised that Gareth was there, evidently having not heard him approach. 

“Buckley,” He greeted. 

“Emerson.”

Gareth winced. This wasn’t supposed to be some sort of Mexican standoff. So he changed angles. 

“Eddie says you know about him.” 

Robin’s features softened. “Yeah and I know you’re protecting your friend, but I promise I will never ever do anything to hurt him. None of us will.|” 

Gareth smiled. “I wasn’t worried about that.” 

“So what can I help you with?” 

Gareth rubbed his hands over his face. He was suddenly faced with no idea how to word his questions. 

“Have you noticed that Eddie has a crush?” 

Robin laughed loudly, waving away the bemused glances thrown her way from the pool. “Yeah, I have. I’ve noticed Steve’s too because I know that’s going to be your next question. They’re kinda unbearable to be around sometimes.” 

“Oh,” Gareth chuckled, a weight lifted off his shoulders. “Good.” 

“Why? Are you planning something?” She sat forward, a manic smile on her face and clutching her can so hard there were small dents in the aluminium from her fingers. 

“I was thinking seven minutes in heaven but...” he sighed. “They’re too into each other to have their moment be during a stupid game.” 

“You really care about Eddie, don’t you?” Robin asked gently. 

Gareth narrowed his eyes on her. “Of course I do, he’s my best friend.” 

Robin held her hands up in surrender. “I’m not judging you. I feel the same way about Steve.” 

“Good. That’s good” 

They both fell quiet as they watched their friends. Steve, on Argyle’s shoulders, laughing at Nancy and Jonathan arguing as they strategised. Eddie was squashed between Jeff and Grant, batting on their chests to release him. If it weren’t for his hair not being tied back, Gareth knew he would have thrown himself into the pool to escape. He knew Jeff and Grant knew that as well.

“So what are we going to do?” Gareth asked.

“I don’t know,” Robin said. “But we’ll figure something out.” 

They spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool. Gareth and Eddie made a great team for the chicken tournament, but Argyle won the biggest splash competition they got going. It was funny to just act like teenagers, no school to worry about or crazy religious types out on witch hunts. 

Steve handed them all towels as the sun began to go down. Their fingertips wrinkled and dry as Eddie finally got to light the joints to pass around. They laughed and shared stories; Gareth even got to share his favourite about Eddie calling him from a phone booth in the middle of the night so Gareth could steal his mom’s car to go get him since his plan to hitchhike his way home failed. 

At some point, pizza was ordered while they lazed around. The joints had long since been smoked down to their cherry and discarded on the floor to clean up later when they were less drunk or high. Steve had told them not to worry about it.

Gareth spent his time watching Steve and Eddie pass tapes back and forth, heads leant close as they discussed the music on them, occasionally stopping the tape playing so they could switch it out for whatever song they were agreeing or disagreeing about. He made eye contact with Robin who just smiled gently, so fond of her friends. If he was able to see himself, her look was probably reflected on his own face.

The doorbell rang, heard out in the yard only because Steve’s parents had a device installed that rang a bell outside in case they weren’t inside to be able to hear the actual doorbell. 

Steve jumped up to get it. 

“Eddie go help him,” Robin said, pushing her toes into Eddie’s arm in a half hearted shove. 

“Stevie’s got it,” Eddie moaned, clearly not wanting to move from his spot. 

Robin shared a conspiratorial grin with Nancy, then both chorused, “Don’t ya, big boy.” 

Jonathan and Argyle looked just as confused as Gareth felt. He never got the full story from Eddie about what happened over spring break, Eddie was alive and that was enough for him, but sometimes he wished he could know just so he understood what the fuck was going on. 

Eddie flushed bright red all over his body. “Shut up,” he hissed. But it was evidently enough to get him to jump and follow Steve into the house.

Before Gareth could even attempt to ask about it, Nancy swung her legs around off the sun lounger and clasped her hands together.

“So,” She said as she pushed her sunglasses up into her hair. “We all saw that right?”

“Saw what?” Robin squeaked.

Gareth didn’t bury his face in his hands at her lack of subtlety.

“Steve and Eddie are very obviously flirting with each other,” Nancy said slowly, deliberately.

Jonathan hummed in agreement. “Yeah, it’s not the first time either.”

Robin opened and closed her mouth like a fish as she tried to come up with something to say. Obviously she couldn’t say anything that would out her best friend, but if she denied being able to see it then she ran the risk of being committed to a mental institution. She looked scared.

“And is that a problem, Wheeler?”

Gareth couldn’t be sure where the venom in his voice came from, he was sure that Nancy Wheeler was a nicer girl than her pinched features sometimes made her appear, but seeing Robin flounder and the thought of Eddie facing even more bullshit  than he already had made something protective flare to life inside of him. 

Nancy sniffed disdainfully. “Obviously not. I would die for those two, I just want them to be happy.”

A tense silence fell over them. 

“They don’t know that we know,” Robin said quietly.

“So we can’t be obvious,” Jonathan replied. “Doesn’t mean we can’t encourage them in the right direction.”

Argyle, his eyes trained on the stereo still playing a Queen song, a thoughtful look on his face that looked completely alien. He turned to where Gareth, Jeff and Grant were all sitting together on the same sun lounger. “You’re in a band right?”

Shit. Argyle was right. Gareth mentally cursed himself for not thinking of it sooner. Eddie had learnt Steve’s favourite song, they were going to play Steve’s favourite song as soon as they got it down; the drunks that usually watch them would probably appreciate something more country-rock than metal. 

“Argyle, you’re a genius.” 

(Part 5 (final))

[ashirisu]

hey, everyone!

My name is Ley (pronounced like "Lee," she/they) and I'm a fiction writer/editor based in the PNW. I haven't done a proper writeblr intro in a while, so I figure the new year is a great time to reintroduce myself to the community!

— about me

An important thing to understand about me and the way I talk about writing is that this stuff is literally my entire life. Even outside of work, I don't think I have a single interest or hobby that doesn't relate back to storytelling in some capacity. I'm an avid media consumer and critic, and will hyperanalyze just about anything that catches my fancy for more than a minute.

I love science fiction and fantasy, and my goal as a writer is to take all the genres I loved growing up and create stories that are a little more diverse, inclusive, and queer.

— about the blog

I came to writeblr mostly to share my work, but also to find an active community where I can get excited with other writers and talk shop. Marketing is obviously a really important part of the publishing industry, but I get tired of having to filter every thought I have about my work and experiences through the lens of aesthetic micro-trends just to put it out in the world. Sometimes I just want to pop off about scenes I'm proud of, you know?

Above all else, I really just want to connect with more writers like myself, ones who got their start in fandom spaces and are working to take their writing from a hobby into a career. I see you, I am you, I love you, let's be friends!

You’ll definitely see me posting and reblogging a lot of stuff that isn’t necessarily related to writing, so be ready for that. My art exists in the context of my personality and the world as a whole, and I simply do not have it in me to maintain a whole separate blog for silly nonsense and memes. Just consider it a way to get to know the writer as well as the writing!

— about my writing

I write a lot, though most of it is disconnected nonsense. Flash fiction and short stories are where I really thrive as a writer. I don't tend to commit to long-form projects, but I have a few projects that I'll occasionally share details about!

I like to describe my style as "earnest and character-forward," which is a fancy way of saying that I like driven protagonists who think too much and are emotional to the point of it being a character flaw.

My goal is to share more of my original writing moving forward, so hopefully you'll get to see all of this for yourself. If I'm totally honest, though, you'll probably see more of me discussing my work than actually writing it.

— about my projects

Here are the things you'll most likely see me posting about:

Agnomen: A sci-fi retelling of Hamlet and Coriolanus, currently in its very preliminary stages. It is literally my Roman Empire, except it's set on a moon of a planet that I'm calling Jupiter as a placeholder (but please note that it isn't actually Jupiter, as Jupiter is a gas giant and therefore a scientifically impossible setting for large sections of the plot).

Alter Ego: A superhero fic in which not-so-mild-mannered reporter Drew Derrick fights for mutant rights and can't seem to get his act together when it comes to keeping the complicated parts of his life separate.

Untitled Fantasy Project: The very first project I ever wrote, and the piece I return to every so often when writing is feeling more like a slog than a fun hobby. I set a lot of one-offs in this world and follow a few key characters around without them having a real plot.

D&D: I write a lot about Baz, my Wild Magic Barbarian. He's a regency noble with a lot of problems, and I care about him very much. I also have various other settings and characters, but he's my most active PC at the moment and therefore gets the most attention.

Short Stories: Sometimes I write these, and sometimes I like them enough to share!

— tag directory

ley rambles: my (often wordy) opinions about things

ley writes: not necessarily my writing, but talking about my writing

my writing: stories, blurbs, and other content I've written

not my writing: reblogs and creative writing that I liked, shared, and sometimes commented on

[andy-wm]

How to explain JK & JM and their endless coincidences?

Easy really, none of them are coincidences.

I'll admit that I'm not the quickest at reacting to what's going on around me. My poor ND brain takes a while to absorb it all and put the pieces together, but then I can't stop thinking and thinking and thinking about all those puzzle pieces.

Gotta get those thoughts out of my head to make room for new ones LOL... so here they are.

Everything is not a coincidence 🎶

I hear Jimin singing this in my head.

No, of course its not.

We've seen how intricately they plan their cocepts, outfits, stages and releases. We saw it in detail with the Artist Made Collection and the Photo Folios. The processes they went through were thorough and thoughtful. They considered everything.

For Jimin and Jungkook, aligning their message is nothing new. For years they've been coming out in matching clothes, jewelery, and accessories - including the cute and silly matching Pororo bandaids at the puma fansign in 2016 when neither of them had an injury (JK's idea, according to JM).

Sometimes the matching outfits are identical...

Other times the alignment is more subtle....

But it's so frequent, we barely comment these days.

When they aren't matching, they're swapping. Their shared wardrobe is legendary - especially for someone who doesn't like other people wearing his clothes (JK) and someone who has assured us they have different clothes (JM).

But I digress....

The gist is, we know they pay attention to the mesage they send with their clothes and styling.

AND...

They know WE we pay attention too - they know we notice it all. Every.Single.Thing.They.Do.

AND...

They tell us they know all the ARMY jokes and memes. They do and say things that correspond too closely to ARMY's conversations on socials to be a coincidence.

Everything is not a coincidence 🎶

So with the visual themes of their solo releases being so astonishingly similar, anyone with eyes in their head (and a moderately functional brain and heart) can't think it's accidental. And JK and JM can't possibly think they're being subtle either.

And I honestly don't think they're trying to be subtle. Not at all.

I think they are demonstrating very clearly that even when they're apart, they're together. They're always aligned*.

They share ideas, they work together (they certainly don't work in secret) and they agree on what they, together are choosing to show.

Everything is not a cooincidence 🎶

We know they've shared ideas for this because at no point has either of them shown suprise at seeing the other wearing a similar outfit, holding a similar pose, or adopting similar aesthetics. They're hyping each other's music and promo work, and sharing their pride and enjoyment with us. (JM posting on insta to celebrate JK's #1 on the hottest 100 was NOT for JKs benefiit. It was for ours 💜)

It's not a matter of who did it first or who copied...all of this they created together.

They're showing us their individual strengths and telling their own stories, but using an aesthetic framework they've planned together. The visuals overlap is enough to to unmistakablly link their narratives together without restricting their self expression.

It's genius really.

They're living their 'I am you, you are me' dream right now, but in such a way that they are also without a doubt independent individuals as well.

Personally I love this. I love them.

I love that they can contribute to one another's creative processes, each produce something wholly unique to themself, and still have visually connected stories.

One day this will become their shared history. With a brief glance, anyone who looks will be able to see how much they supported and cooperated with each other, and that they chose to reflect their personal relationship in these works.

This would be a very conscious decision - to be visibly connected, not just for the few months their solo work is on the charts but for as long as the record of BTS's existance remains.

And that will be a long, long time I am sure 💜

*They're always aligned, i believ, with regards to their goals. For their work but also in terms of their relationship.

I think they trust one another implicitly, both professionally and personally. I think they're honest but kind, and they have each others backs. They are each other's highest priority and I hope it will always be this way for them 💜

[the-s1lly-corner]

You points

I'd like to hear some of your general headcanons for itward! Any and all headcanons you can think of >:)

General Itward hcs!

I got too silly guys

This is gonna be long so buckleup

Side note, my silly little goofy baking marathon has begun, so requests are REALLY gonna slow down today and tomorrow and likely Tuesday as well

I current have multiple pies in the oven as we speak <\3 (note from the future i was typing for so long the first batch of pies finished and the second group just got put in)

My bodies gonna hate me for this but imma get paid (yaaaay!!!!)

Love to think that itward is self sufficient. He grows his own stuff and scavenges for any metal parts he needs what whatever (his ship, a project, ect)

As such he also builds and maintains his own stuff; the ship is the most obvious thing! But I like to think nearly everything in the ship itself was either made by him or found abandoned !

Its canon that he loves forks, both stated in the character sheet thing KMG posted as well as the copious amounts of forks decorating the main area of his ship! I mean he literally has a wall covered in forks! I can easily see him having even more forks stashed away somewhere

Torn between headcannoning him to just have them in a jumbled heap in a drawer somewhere... and headcannoning that he sorts them by size, material, color, and style... both seem so in character for him.. hmm..

I can say for certain that he has a box somewhere full of random stuff hes collected and it's not at all neat and organized. Rocks, gears, bolts, sticks, glass vials, jewels, and so on! The "oo pretty I think I'll keep this and use it for later (never uses it for later)" mindset! I like calling those lil trinket boxes "crow boxes"

"The one many children talk about", as said by the man himself. So fran and the twins arent the only ones who have interacted with him... dad of dozens of children

I was gonna go somewhere with that previous point but I genuinely forgot what I was gonna say

Has made stuffed animals and dolls at least once for all of his kids. And yes, that includes Clara and Mia, at least before they tried to kill him... reluctantly makes bunnies for kids who ask

Speaking of bunnies, since it's been proven that itward wasnt bluffing or lying about his fear of them (KMG made a post showing off a type of Kamala that basically makes you addicted to their candy, making you eat them til your guts explode) (which... is horrifying and makes me wonder, did itward see that happen to someone? Perhaps one of his kids? A friend? Or did he not and the concept just scares him so much?) It's a little funny that itward has a bunny plushie on his ship

Sad hc but I like to think it belonged to one of his past children and as much as hes afraid of it he doesnt have the heart to give it away

While we're on the topic of sad stuff, I dont think itward can shed tears. So in place of them, his bones start to rattle a little

While I also headcannon that his bones rattle when hes nervous or flustered, and perhaps on the rare occasion that hes angry, it does happen when hes sad enough

Okay no more sad, I like to think his hat steams when he gets real excited about something or embarrassed. The top of it just. Pops open and theres the steam billowing out

I dunno I think it suits him and his aesthetic...

Stole this idea from someone else but he can purr; it's mostly involuntary imo and if you listen close enough you can hear his bones vibrating and clacking against one another

His eyes glow in the dark! Not too bright, it's fairly dim, but it's enough for him to see around and for you to see where he is in a dark room!

Creaky bones. He is OLD! probably VERY OLD! So it would make sense his bones click and make noise thanks to the general age.. wear and tear you know? Especially prominent in his spine and ankles

Has a habit of clacking his teeth/jaw when speaking, as well as when hes just. Not doing anything

Prone to fiddling with his rings (!! Will get to that in a second!) As well as the accessories on his coat; and sometimes, even his hat!

Okay the rings! I like to hc that itward makes his own accessories too ! That includes the gems and chains on his coat (heck, hes probably made his own clothes!) And I like to hc that he sometimes wears rings !

Sometimes sells his stuff; more likely to sell shoes and clothing, as well as his machines and services! Sure he mostly lives off stuff hes found or grew, but theres some stuff that he cant just find or grow.. plus its generally a good idea to have some money somewhere

I'm pretty sure hes good friends with palontras and ziar (given him and palontras work together to help Fran and the painting of ziar in itwards ship) but I also like to think he is friends with the wizard and cogwind!

Mostly because I wish we got more stuff for both of them... also him and cogwind can bond over their interests!

Does not stay in one place for long, given that KMGs labels him as a wanderer, but assuming he keeps Fran around to raise her I think he anchors down to one place... well not ANCHOR but like, cutting down on traveling at least a bit, especially in the beginning so fran can fully come to terms with everything shes learned (the truth of her parents death, the grieving process, learning she may or may not be part of something larger if memory serves me right, it's been a while since I played the game, as well as being shot.. like yeah she was healed physically but like imagine how shes gonna feel when that fact she was shot mentally sinks in) ... cant have her bouncing between different realities and the spaces in between them constantly

Ponders

Listens to Antonios (giant old ant dude) old music, I think! Probably has a bunch of old vynlls laying around somewhere

Frequently has to clean his hands, especially his fingers since hes always working on SOMETHING, he doesnt wanna walk around with gunk in the grooves of his fingers. Very yucky very gross and very un-gentleman..ly...

I keep trying to wrap this post up but I keep remembering hcs/coming up with new ones

Anyways COMMITS to the bit when hes playing a game with Fran, or really any kid hes looking over. Tea party? Hes gonna bust out his very best manners. Yes he will wear a tiara if its offered to him. It will go over his hat, of course. Playing doctor? Oh he'll moan n cry about how sick hes feeling, please help him! Ect ect, things like that!

Sometimes makes shadow puppets and tells stories. Both in the form of little shadow theatres, but sometimes he will use his own hands and project the shadows onto the wall!

Very good at coming up with stories on the fly

Also very very good at comforting people, I think. Hes been around for a while and he just OOZES comfort

So if you have a nightmare or struggle with anxiety, itward wont let you just suffer and be scared, hes gonna do what suits you best to calm down; distractions, holding, taking, quiet, grounding, ect ect ect anything you need

[pasta-in-the-pudding]

nina, jane, jeff and clockwork with a scene! s/o? :3

scene kids >>>

Also i feel like you picked some of the most perfect creeps for this prompt

Thank you so much for requesting!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nina

I feel like she would be a mix of scene and emo

Mostly scene though

So she adores having a scene s/o!

You borrow each other's hairspray and teasing combs and accessories, etc

She steals your shirts sometimes if it goes better with her outfit

She always returns it....

....after she covers it in her perfume

Hair dying dates are very much a thing!

Whether shes dying yours, youre dying hers, or maybe you both do each others!

Another common date is making kandi together

She's made you bracelets that say her name, say both of your names, and say silly things like "fart"

Someday, she wants to go on a concert date with you

The two of you, wearing matching outfits and partying all night long to the music

It makes her heart flutter!!

Speaking of things that make her heart flutter, she gets butterflies when she hears your clothes jingle

She doesn't quite know what it is about it, but she loves it so much

If you are someone who wants to get married, she constantly talks about how she's gonna get gerard way to play at your wedding

She also loves doing your makeup!!

Her favorite part is the lipstick

In her opinion, it brings the entire look together

Though, you'd look gorgeous no matter what

Jeff

This guy is an absolute metal head

But in his younger years, he was a emo kid

We're talking sode part, too many belts, a strange amount of mcr t-shirts, the list goes on and on

So when your relationship with him begins, he will most likely give you all of his old gear

You will have to wash most of it because lord knows this boy does not shower

Maybe if you asked nicely enough hed dress up again for you

But he would refuse to go out like that

He would like to go shopping with you though!

A date i think he'd have fun with is going to the mall together, getting boba and just walking around buying clothes and accessories

Which is something he can do now, since he spends most of his time in the underworld

You'll just have to hope that you don't get caught up by the paparazzi

Which is almost never the case, especially with him being JEFF. THE. KILLER.

If you do manage to have a nice time with just the two of you though, congrats!

Jane

I feel like Jane doesn't really enjoy the scene aesthetic

She's a very toned down person, so all of the accessories and loud music just kind of overstimulates her

But, its not like shes gonna make you dress any way

If you like the way you dress, then thats your choice and she respects that

She would like to watch you style your hair and do your makeup though

Shed find it intriguing, and she enjoys seeing how your styles differ

She might let you style her hair as well, but it would take a lot of convincing

She is very particular about her hair, and seeing all of the hairspray you put in yours, it would really make her uneasy

But if you did convince her, she'd be pleasantly suprised!

She'd want you to style her hair more often, because she discovered that the way you style it actually flatters her face shape very well

I feel like shed be open to going to a concert with you!

Just dont expect her to really do much

She'll be very busy just enjoying the music, she wont drink or really even dance much

If you are shorter than her, she will hold your hips and sway side to side with you to the beat

If you're taller than her, then she will stand in front of you, with your hands around her shoulders

Clockwork

I feel like she wouldn't really care that you're scene

In the nicest way possible

Like she just doesn't really care what you dress like, she loves you and thats all she knows

But if you wanted to ramble all about your fashion or music, shed be happy to listen!

Shed be the most willing (besides nina) to let you dress her up

She feels super cool once she gets all of the belts and chains around her waist

It gives her a sort of nostalgic feeling

She wasnt necessarily scene when she was younger, but she had the classic bangs and she wore mostly baggy jeans and band t-shirts

She is willing to let you do basically anything to her

If you wanna practice makeup on her, she will let you

If you wanna see how an outfit looks, she'll model it for you

Shes the most chill with doing whatever you wanna do

Like she will literally say yes to anything

[skaruresonic]

Hey! I just read your post about creating visual novels (this one: https://www.tumblr.com/tartrazeen/759072677603524608?source=share)

I'm trying to make one right now. I'm not too sure which tool I should use - I was thinking RPG Maker so I could use the little sprites - but I figured I could do stick people or something as placeholders for actual artwork.

No matter what tools I use, how exactly did you go about "writing" it? Did you script your story out first and then learn how to program it after, or did you need to know how the program worked to tailor your story to that?

I learned to code in tandem with writing the story. It's moreso the case that the writing evolved in the process of learning how to code, began to mold itself to the medium, if that makes sense. Personally, if I had to do it over again, I would take the time to acquaint myself with RenPy's particular scripting language, as it might have made the process a lot faster and less... growing pains-y. I would recommend learning to code first, but again, it doesn't make much sense to make a test VN without a story to support it, so maybe make something small for your first test project where you get to grind for XP commit mistakes in a space where your art isn't riding on it. People make silly test VNs that never see the light of day for the specific purpose of teaching themselves coding, so don't feel afraid to do that. Writing VNs differs from writing other stories in a way that's difficult for me to explain. You have extra tools in which to deliver the story, and it takes time to learn those tools - telling stories not just with words, but with timing, animation, audio, and images as well. You'll find that it isn't enough to simply have images pop up onscreen; you'll want to make them appear with a flourish, and those flourishes also tell a story. The UI tells a story. How you make elements appear and disappear contribute to the overall story. When you think of everything as a potential contributor to the story, that opens up a lot of possibilities and gets you thinking with portals creatively. In that vein, I'd say depending on your angle (because some VNs are just straight-up text, which is valid too), VNs can function somewhat more like movies. They can benefit greatly from an understanding of cinematography.

This might sound weird, given how we naturally tend to think of writing as the most important element - and it is important, just maybe not the only important element - but I think one of the most important things you need to establish right away, even before setting down any words, is a strong aesthetic. As one half of the medium, the visual part of a visual novel cannot be neglected.

What angle are you shooting for? Romance anime? Comic book? Gritty film noir? What are your visual motifs? In addition to helping you decide how to market your VN, the aesthetics will inform your storytelling, give you some concrete image or symbol to latch on, and can serve to subtly reinforce both theme and narrative. For Doki Doki Literature Club, it was the heart and a pen. You'll notice its motif of writing is reflected in the way in which the title resembles a scrapbook:

You and Me and Her has a cell phone as its main McGuffin and so technology becomes one of its motifs. Its textbox resembles a cloud; the text also moves rather slowly, to make you stop and soak in its story. The dreamlike interface later changes into something that resembles an old-school computer UI when a character decides to manipulate your route, reflecting the artifice of the game:

Worldend Syndrome had the pinwheel as a recurring symbol for narrative purposes and is color-coded to represent each of its characters. In addition, it bears a feel-good early summer vibe that I absolutely adore.

The novel I've been reading sporadically on and off over the past year, Hashihime of the Old Book Town, reflects a 1930s Japanese aesthetic, blending traditional Japanese art and literature with Western influences. Note the juxtaposition of traditional and modern elements, like the film reel beside an ink drawing of a koi fish:

It's also brilliant imagery because the game's plot centers around the MC's frequent breaks from reality; the film reel represents exaggerated realities, while the fish reflects how he "jumps" through various parallel worlds through puddles of water.

Everything sort of "trickles down" from there. It doesn't make sense to have a UI befitting a Resident Evil game if you're writing a cutesy otome game, for instance, unless you're aiming for cognitive dissonance.

For OaS I decided early on that, because it was going to be a slapstick comedy in places, the sprites should be more cutesy and cartoonish than the subdued way Sonic characters are usually drawn:

The goofy exaggeration only served to heighten the story's comedy. A "bounce" animation I found and later tweaked served as the basis for a running gag where Sonic gets hurt and "boings" like a rubber ball.

I also liked the Advance series' checkered tiles and wanted to go for a watercolor manga-cover-esque flavor... which, in turn, fed the ridiculousness of the story:

That's a far cry from this current project's aesthetic, which is slower, moodier, more somber, and more, I guess, "erudite," as it's based on Welsh literature and a little on history. So the aesthetic has to match.

Not to say aesthetics should be the only thing going for your story, of course, but because this is a visual medium, it is significant enough to warrant my huge wall of text about it lol. If you're just starting out, I'd recommend grabbing placeholder sprites and backgrounds until you can procure ones of your own. It's perfectly fine to use stick figures, although eventually you will have to start working with finalized pieces since the individual dimensions of your pieces will impact how your code functions.

If it wasn't clear already lol, I work with RenPy. Despite my frequent moaning and complaining, it's probably the easiest program to learn for coding, as it uses its own framework built atop Python. Once you go through the process of learning the syntax, you can pretty much do anything you want with it, as it's infinitely customizable.

Some auxiliary programs I use are FireAlpaca (a free art program that works just as well as MediBang or Photoshop, and even supports animation), Audacity (free audio mixing; can also convert mp3 files to OGG, which is a must since RenPy only recognizes OGG file format) and Notepad for coding.

Btw, all of this stuff you can do for free. Anybody who tells you that you need to pay for fancy programs is trying to sell you something. Don't fall for it lol. As for actually making the thing... My creative process is messy and probably shouldn't be emulated. For lack of a better term, I call it the "dumping everything out on the table" method. First (and note that this step isn't always "completed", it's an ongoing process) I gather all the "raw materials," and then sift through them and play with them until the final product becomes something coherent. The material-gathering includes art, music, and sound effects, which will take some time. I count writing as a "raw material" as well since it can be edited.

From there, the writing and the coding sort of feed into each other. I have to be able to experience the story as the player will experience it, as it's a different experience than when you're staring at a word processor. What will the player feel at this juncture? Does it Hit Different(tm) when I use different wording, or change the song that's playing in the background, or employ a different sprite, or tweak the timing, or use a different animation?

The general rule I try to abide by in this regard is that if it isn't working for me, it probably won't work for the player, either. Put yourself in their shoes, because they're the ones going to be playing it.

Even something as simple as the way you present choices to the player conveys information. Should I offer a choice during this particular scene, or let the moment play out linearly? How many choices should I offer? Do I stick them in a false choice? An infinite loop? Do I hide choices, making the player feel clever for finding them or powerless to stop the narrative? Do I assign variables to choices? Do I disable rollback for choices so the player has to stick with their decisions? If I do have rollback enabled, will I do something with that? What are the consequences of making choice A first, then choice B, if at all? Many things to consider. Sometimes the sheer volume of work can overwhelm you as a solo dev and make it difficult to maintain motivation. Especially since you can't really show off a buggy game the way you would a story excerpt or a rough sketch. Making to-do lists, especially towards the end of the development process when it seems like a million things are screaming for attention, helped me stay on task and break them down into smaller, more manageable chunks. I might not be able to bang out a 20,000-word route in a week, but I can certainly fix a bug that duplicates a character sprite. This is a medium where you have a lot to keep track of, and small details do add up in the end. Crossing tasks off your to-do list provides small wins that add up over time. That's why I decide that certain days are dedicated to specific kinds of work. Some days are for writing, others coding, etc. (Also, RenPy comes built in with its own list function called TODO, although I haven't personally played around with it yet.)

Although OaS technically features choices, thus making it not a kinetic novel in the strictest sense, it's still a very linear novel with only one branching path. There weren't any persistent variables other than the flag which determined your route placement, and it functioned much like an on/off switch. Which is why I have no idea how Random managed to bypass it. xP

This new project, on the other hand, is much less binary in its structure. It tracks seven variables for three different characters and calculates ending eligibility based on the accumulation of those variables. Which, just in terms of sheer coding, is A Lot(tm) to keep track of. I struggle to scale back the scope creep out of fears that a more standard visual novel experience will bore the player. It's likely that if you're playing a visual novel, you're not expecting a hack-and-slash, but ofc that won't prevent the monkey brain from clapping its hands at you like "Your game NEEDS more interactivity or you're gonna lose them!" That's the devil talking. Ignore him.

So then you're gonna be weeks into implementing a QTE, only to realize that the version of RenPy you downloaded bears a glitch that forces repeat interactions at inconvenient times and you might have to scrap that and do something else entirely.

Based on a true story. xP

[steampunkforever]

The sin of self awareness in film has so often been focused on films hedging their bets with Marvel Movie insincerity so they don't come off as silly, but I think we forget the more prevalent failing of films that try and predict their own future. So many films clutch at the title of New American Epic (looking at you, Mr. Costner) when they should focus on thematic integrity first and foremost.

Lisa Frankenstein is guilty of both flavors of self-aware iniquity: it lampshades the fact that it's a horror genre while also trying very hard to be a cult hit, all in spite of the fact that the best way to ensure you're not a cult hit is trying to be a cult hit.

This is really my chief gripe with the film. It tries too hard and isn't genuine enough in its effort. This is Diablo Cody's fault. She got her taste of cult horror fame writing Jennifer's Body and she'll do anything to get that rush back. Except for write dialog that isn't physically painful to behold, apparently.

The atrocious dialog is the very worst part of the movie. The way its written and delivered makes Don't Worry Darling's dialog look like that of A Lion in Winter. It's not even that the overall writing itself is bad. The plot and general premise are clever enough for what the film is, and the cast has enough talent to carry the weak parts of the story. It's just that every word in the script spoken in the film is stilted, hollow, and not even bad in the way where you wonder if they're doing it on purpose or not.

That said, the film is visually ambitious, with some sequences I was a big fan of, despite how sick of the manufactured 1980s nostalgia aesthetic I am right now. It's been 8 years since Stranger Things came out, after all. Even so, the film did a richly stylized 1980s justice in the set design and costuming, and I won't hesitate to say I enjoyed it.

Diablo Cody, whose IMDB About page reads like the autobiography of a rockabilly-styled elder millennial who writes for buzzfeed/runs a booth at an overpriced antique mall, knows how to write a good film. Or at least one pretty good film that poisoned the well of discussing horror with Panic! At The Disco fans for a decade at least.

I wasn't expecting Lisa Frankenstein to be an artistic triumph by any means, but the terrible dialog was certainly a surprise. Diablo, you can do better than this. This may be Zelda William's first film but it's clear that no amount of directorial inexperience can cover the travesty that is this dialog. You wrote Juno, Diablo! Good luck with your jaded powerpuff girls reimagining.

Maybe if they'd made it a silent film it would've made cult status. Either way, I enjoyed it.

[cosmicatta]

One Piece Live Action: a very brief, very personal review (spoiler-free)

So I've just finished watching all 8 episodes of the One Piece Live Action.

And I loved every single second of it.

I don't even know how to express how much I enjoyed OPLA, I'm—! I just feel very strongly about this, I'm so emotional right now that I can't even type properly. I was screaming and giggling about so many little details the whole time, I can't even begin to count them.

The show is super charming and lively and fun, the characters are great, the essence of One Piece is there, it has the soul of the original series. The characters were also all full of personality, and I really liked the interpretations of each one of them.

One of the things I appreciated the most about OPLA is how colorful it is. Most live action adaptations of animated shows try too hard to appear "edgy" or serious, and they end up taking a lot from the spirit of the source material by darkening everything (both visually and plot-wise). This was not the case with OPLA.

It's full of life and color, the world feels very alive and it mantains the "weird-core," bright and vivid aesthetics of the anime. Similarly, the goofy and whimsical vibes of One Piece didn't get lost in translation, and I think that's one of its biggest wins. It's very hard to navigate the thin line between "too cartoony for a live action" and "not silly enough for One Piece," but I think they did it very well. I was worried that some visuals and specific bits of humor that make One Piece what it is would feel awkward in live action, but everything was very well executed. Some things feel or look ridiculous because they are ridiculous, and I think that's always been part of One Piece's spirit.

And, while there are quite a few changes in the storyline, I'd say I only slightly disagreed with one or two of them. I think everything flowed very nicely the way it was written, and for the most part the differences do make a better narrative for a more cinematic medium. The changes also made it feel new and exciting for us old fans while still mantaining the essence of the story; I often found myself thinking "well, I know what's going to happen, obviously, but I'm intrigued about how it's going to unfold with these new additions!"

And still, the emblematic core moments that we all remember and cheer for are there. Not only that, but they're brought to life very faithfully, to the point that even some gestures and camera angles are made to resemble the source material.

Overall it's been an amazing experience, and I'm dying to know if we'll get a season 2, because I can't even begin to imagine what more we will be gifted with if it happens!

TL;DR,

I'm not saying it's perfect (it's not), but it is definitely so much more than what I ever thought we would get, and so much more than I ever asked for. I'm happy that I trusted OPLA, because it is a love letter to One Piece. You can tell it was made by fans for fans, with care and passion and respect.

I'm grateful for this wonderful experience that let me become an 8-year-old little girl again, meeting her favorite characters for the first time, the characters that would stay by her side and watch her grow for about 17 years (and still counting).

Thank you, One Piece. And thank you, One Piece Live Action.

[dizzycoffee]

hiii ! First, english is not my first language so I can make some mistakes. I would like to request a romantic hazbin hotel matchup please :)

My pronouns are she/they and im a demi-girl, im pansexual and don't have any preferences.

I tend to be shy when I first meet someone but when I feel more comfortable and safe around them Im louder and make a lot of jokes. Im very creative and love to draw and write stories. I love helping people and im a great listener for them to talk about their interests or their problems. I love watching kids shows and reading. I also love horror in general especially on internet. I really likes animales too and I do horse riding. On a more negative tone I tend to have self destructive thoughts and acts because of depression even if I try my best to get better. I dislike when people don't understand me or at least don't try.

I don't have a specific aesthetic but I think its would be a mix of indie and dark academia.

I hope this will be enough for you to make something, its my first time requesting something hehe ^^

Thanks in avance !!

hiii !! hope you’re having a lovely day <33

You’ve been paired with …

Husk !

At first when you two first met, you didn't think you'd be close with him

little did you know

His bluntness and your quietness clashed a lot at the start, to the point that you two would rather avoid one another

That was until the day Husk sort of just called everybody out on who they were and when he got to you, you were surprised that he read you pretty well

From that day forward, you both tried to put in a little more effort into each other's relationship

You were pleasantly surprised how well he understood you, and he was pleasantly surprised that you didn't take offense to it!

Whenever your self-destructiveness seemed to weight heavier than usual, he stuck by your side and helped you through it

"We're in this together, so don't hide it and make it worse."

He also loves your company!!

Loves to clean the bar while you go and tell your silly jokes, it makes his day go by smoother <3

The relationship you two have is one of pure understanding

You can tell the most batshit crazy joke and everyone would just go "???" but Husk would still laugh at it

Everyone's like "how'd you get Husk of all people to understand your jokes??" and his only reply to that is "They're the only one who understands my humor."

When it comes to dates, it doesn't matter what you end up doing, he just wants to be close to you

You two could be running from a turf war or something and while he will totally complain about the circumstances the two of you are in, you can always catch glimpses of him smiling whenever he grabs your hand to run off somewhere else.

[whiskersz]

hi! saw your match ups were open and wanted to send a request if that's ok! im a woman and my pronouns are he/him. i don't have a gender preference or a type. i'd like romantic if that's alright. as far as aesthetic goes, i'm not really sure what to call it. i work as a receptionist so i'm generally just always dressed smart. i'm not really one for dresses, trousers and shirts are my go to. i wear a lot of jewellery though, at least one ring and one bracelet on each hand. i always wear glasses bc i cannot see at all and i've got long reddish hair. as for personality im quite a quiet person. i always help people where i can. i've got a dry sense of humour and have a tendency towards cynicism but at least i'm fun with it. i'm a very organised person. confrontation is not my strong point. i'm not afraid to stand up for myself and others, i've done it before but i will shake the entire time and i wish that was an exaggeration. i know its bad but i love a good gossip, its fun. i've got a few hobbies and interests, i love reading, mainly crime fiction. that ties into my other interest of true crime, i actually have 2 degrees in forensic psychology. i'm a very music oriented person. not only do i listen to it a lot, but i also play piano and sing. i engage in a lot of genres but i've been balls deep in an inescapable musical theatre phase for about a decade. i used to be in a society for it, definitely better at singing and dancing than acting, and i also did a lot of backstage stuff. i was even stage manager in one production (never again). my job and my degrees required me to be quite tech savvy in the sense thay i needed to know how to use a couple data handling softwares which i somehow managed. things i like - books, animals, sunny weather, warm white lights. things i dislike - people that don't have manners, loud overlapping noises, being rained on, insects. i don't have any characters that are a hard no. i hope i've done everything alright, you're such a talented writer and thank you :)

Hello! Yes, you’ve done everything perfectly and provided me a lot of information which I appreciate ;3 also, thank you for calling me a talented writer, I appreciate it a lot :((

Now, prepare to be sssurprised, as I match you with...

Sir Pentious!

Yes, him! Allow me to explain: you said you’re a cynic, a person distrustful of human sincerity. Sir Pentious is the exact demon who would prove you that some people, in this case him, are sincere. He’s a genuine individual, somewhat ingenuous if you will, who likes the simplest of things such as drinking good tea and having friends.  

Described as a wussy fighter by Vivziepop herself, he really needs somebody who will stand up for him and you seem to be the right person for this job, as you’re not afraid of doing so. He actually quite admires your courage, as even he can notice that you’re nervous when you stand up for other people, and yet he wonders how you manage to do it either way. He thanks you profusely each time this happens, and promises to look out for you in return.

Your job and degrees requiring you to be a quite tech savvy person makes me think that you’d somehow end up getting asked for help in some of his inventions; he trusts that you’re somewhat of a quick learner and smart, plus he simply loves to include you in his hobbies just as you include him in yours (more on this later!), so having you around him and the Egg Boiz is quite the pleasure every time.

Despite being a little silly, Pentious can very well be a gentleman, too. You dislike people with no manners? He’s more than willing to hiss at them if you ever come across any. You hate loud noises? He’ll make sure to invent something, anything that could help you with that. Don’t like being rained on? He will remove his jacket to hold it over your head if he has to. And rest assured he will remind Niffty about the gross bugs circulating in the Hotel if she doesn’t clean well enough.

Sir Pentious is not the most courageous demon around, we’re all aware of this. But! For you he will make an exception, and watch all those true crime videos and read the crime fiction you seem to be so passionate about. After all, you join him in his hobbies, so him participating in your is the least he can do. He’s also not afraid of gory situations themselves, so that’s something. He unexpectedly finds himself enjoying the time spent with you, especially reading, and he definitely interrupts you at least once each time to prepare a cup of tea for both him and you, if you enjoy it.

I can also see him being mesmerized by your skills each time you sing or play piano, and he would definitely try to learn how to sing/play along! He comes up with all these silly little tunes, it’s quite endearing on your side actually, and he surely wants to hear the most modern music you can play for him.

Pentious doesn’t really care what his lover is wearing at all, he will compliment you no matter if you’re dressed classy, cute, edgy or if you’re just getting ready to go to work. To him, you’re the most gorgeous person around, and while he’d be a little more on the shy side at first with compliments, he’d definitely go all out once you’ve been in a relationship for a while. He quite enjoys your liking for jewellery, and will remind you how pretty it looks on you whenever you’re putting it on.

 All in all, I feel like you two would be the cutest representation of ‘opposites attract’!

[thewiddershinsme]

Finished Once Upon a Broken Heart! So about Part III: Chaos…

-deeeep breath. First things first, gonna get this out of the way. My opinion on OTPs is this: it’s silly to expect anyone to have one OTP ever, it’s like only picking one type of flower to ever smell. I think of it more as “what is the pairing that speaks to you the most in this specific work”. One OTP per fandom if you will. That being said, I liked Scarlett/Julian…I liked Tella/Legend…I liked Tella/Jacks in the unrequited kinda way. But Evangeline/Jacks is officially my OTP for this fandom. The mausoleum scene sealed it for me. Them just talking to each other about Tella and Luc, Evangeline knowing Jacks well enough to KNOW that he is leaving some disreputable details out, but making sure he doesn’t turn into a vampire cause he had said how much he would hate being one, Jacks getting between her and Luc and fighting not to drink her blood and holding himself back….there was tension and emotional connection and I am all here for it. They may not be in love yet but I am going to enjoy this. I want them to become a bit feral for each other, not gonna lie. Cause at the end of the day, you know what they both want? To love someone and be wanted by them in return, and both have (and probably still will) take it to extremes. And yes, Jacks has been manipulating Evangeline. Evangeline is 100% correct to not trust Jacks. It’s a great enemies to lovers set up.

-is there a collective name to refer to this Caraval/Once Upon a Broken Heart universe?

-I did not expect vampires to show up in this series, but it worked better than I would have expected. Again, I feel like the author just wanted to throw Jacks in different genres and AUs. But this universe runs on vibes and aesthetics, and I’m enjoying it, so not gonna nitpick world building or cohesion.

-LaLa being a Fate was a surprise! I remember the Unwed Bride being mentioned before, but never would have connected it to LaLa. It was nice to see a pleasant Fate working around her compulsions (by designing wedding dresses!). And it brought up the very important point of magic things or people being compelled to do what they are made to do.

-I feel like there is a lot to unpack from Jacks’s study that could be caught on a re-read. An encyclopedia on “E” (Evangeline?), a study about the color blue (he dyed his hair blue), the time travel books (reason for the Valory Arch?), and the fairytale of the Archer and the Fox. That story and its lack of ending is obviously gonna be real important later.

-I hate Marisol. So. Freaking. Much. As soon as she called for the guards to arrest Evangeline….gahhh that girl needs to fall off a cliff. But feeling vindicated on Evangeline’s behalf cause SHE WAS RIGHT LUC WAS CURSED. Trust your instincts Evangeline…sometimes (like maybe not telling Marisol the truth right then and there). Evangeline’s empathy is one of the things I love best about this character, even as it sometimes leads her to make foolish decisions (but honestly, rarely too stupid ones, there’s usually logic or emotional reasons behind most of her choices which I appreciate).

-oh yeah, we finally saw Luc. Liked him about as well as I thought I would, which is not. But he’s a full vampire now, so bound to show up again.

-why can Jacks and Evangeline communicate telepathically? Is it a connection due to their deal? I don’t remember Jacks talking to Tella like this.

-Apollo is only mostly dead! Nice. So Evangeline is still technically married which adds another layer to things.

-I like the callback to the prologue with the bell ringing to help Evangeline find a place to hide

-got The Ballad of Never After today!

[spidermarkisreal]

In between the jam-packed hustles, rose-colored wine, and winding down.

It's a rather silent night now as the time docks 21:22 CET, my baby's dozing off already, and I'm tucked on my bed, head engulfed with thoughts of her while simultaneously battling a hit from both dreams and reality, striking me on how time has flown like racing cars at its speed limit.

I realized it's been a while since I signed in here to greet my folks and told you how I have been coping with my life, so here you have me, again.. Spidermark lying bare, with no suits on, no cobwebs (just a web-site ready to be launched), no heroine mask to cloak his silly-goofy ass, just him in his raw, true self.

And since you already hold the key to my undisclosed pages of life, there's no use of hiding anything right? Not even the messy midnight scribbles that I have in my head about this girl whose hair I'm currently threading my fingers through. So, Spidey's dearest fan and online followers, make merry for now you're handed the privilege to read the drafted letter I wrap for my MJ.

Precaution: Simp content coming through, proceed at your own risk.

"500 days has it been since I caught you in my arms, and I still do not plan to loose my grip for a million more days to come."

Hey MJ (Miss Jimeow), for 500 days you have seen me for the best and for the worst, and it still amazes me how insistent you are on flying through time and space with me, holding on to my arms for your dear life despite numerous heavy bumps and life-threatening situations of me tumbling about and failing our flight. Have you no fear of falling down and facing the fate's wrath?

Cause it's still beyond my capacity to gist how crazy you must be to stand me, my quirks, and our not-so-pleasant whirlwind of a little life together for this long.

Anyways, I know you have a long week before you and I doubt we can squeeze in just enough time to read each other's daily log the way we used to on our free days, so, let me fill you in with mine.

Picture this as something we would talk over dinner, one hand interlaced with yours, the other scrolling phone gallery to show you how Osaka had been holding me.

📲 @SpidermarkIsReal wants to send you a few photos!

First off, yeah, pre-concert jittery and boredom drove me to my silly mood, hence the random 'scratches' I did on the poor mirror. Do you think I nail the Spiderman's face well? That mirrors my rage whenever you downplay my tiger attributes and regard me as a cat!

Second, Osaka dates with JW. Just so you know, Japan is not really Japan-ing without you to accompany me for each light night strolls, but don't worry I got about.. 8 people as a Plan B, and today my spinwheel picked the unlucky Jungwoo! It's a fun one. Ramen's fine (but you're finer though).

What else uh.. there are random cool signs that I stumbled upon on street. I just thought it would look good as my IG-feed-aesthetics. And you think so right? I know I can always trust my little content creator's taste, so please say that I do not fail you!

And look.. a cup in a size of you! I'm thinking of putting you inside for a warm bath, I'm sure you'll fit in just perfect.

Now before I draw a close on today's log.. I have this one last content that I really want to post on my Tiktok account, I feel like bragging something cute to my followers' dry asses but, you need to answer the query written on it straightly before I proceed. Can you promise me? Yes? Absolutely? Oh, I'm glad! Now let's head to the main part:

Happy 500 days of being tangled in a web of life with me, my forever Valentine. Can I call dibs on you for this year's Val's day too?

Yours truly,

Spidermark

[being-of-rain]

A torrent of random thoughts from my Classic Who watch, this time the first half of season 20.

I don’t know what fandom wisdom says abut Arc of Infinity (fandom wisdom isn’t something I give a lot of credit to anyway), but I’m not really a bit fan. The story structure is so weird, having a plot going on in Amsterdam and the Gallifreyan Capitol that don’t converge apart from the odd phone call until the final part. That said, the scene were the attack on the Tardis is intercut with the boys sleeping uneasily in a crypt was delightfully gothic. But apart from the production team once again taking as many opportunities as possible to show off their overseas location filming, most of the story was some rather dull Gallifreyan politics. It definitely felt like the Doctor should’ve ended up on Earth sooner. Nyssa almost feels like a new character with all the focus she’s forced to get when she’s the Doctor’s only companion. I don’t think she was written or acted as emotionally before she is when the Doctor is in danger on Gallifrey. Plus, it was cool to see her go on a killing spree (or stunning spree, whatever), which is a visual which sticks out in my mind when I think about this story. It’s cool to see Tegan investigating things on her own too, and cute to see the two companions happy to meet up at the end, even if the Doctor is hilariously but obviously annoyed at her rejoining them. That adds to my theory that he kinda left Tegan behind on purpose last story, an action that for some reason goes unaddressed and unexplained, but honestly it was probably good for Tegan to get some time to grieve Adric without the Doctor forcing her to repress everything. Do I just not like the Fifth Doctor? No, I think I just don’t like it when main characters have flaws that go so blatantly ignored. It’s nice to get a Leela reference and a Romana reference! I know the Doctor must have friends on Gallifrey, but it feels weird that Damon and Hedin are treated almost like characters we should know. Maybe it feels particularly weird because the story goes so unnecessarily hard on the ‘good guys are actually the bad guys’ fake-out. Also, some truly weird and unbelievable statistics are pulled out about the Time Lords. I know it feels extra weird now with all the EU content out there, but even for just the show thus far they felt silly. A Tardis recall circuit has apparently only been used twice before in Time Lord history. A Time Lord has only been destroyed (legally executed, presumably?) once before. And Borusa says “You know that capital punishment has long been abolished here in Gallifrey.” Didn’t the Doctor literally get put on death row previously in The Deadly Assassin?? Any other random points? Well, I don’t like to nitpick- no that’s not true, everyone likes to nitpick. I don’t like to let nickpicking ruin my enjoyment, but if a story brings up so many small points that it doesn’t satisfactorily answer, it starts to weigh it down. What exactly is the Ergon? How does the Doctor know about it and its name? What does the Ergon’s gun do to Tegan- teleport her dramatically? If so, why doesn’t it do the same to the Ergon later? The Ergon in general just looked funny enough to kind of ruin the aesthetic of the crypt scenes, sorry, which is a shame because the crypt aesthetic was one of the only things the story had going for it for me. I don’t know where ‘the spacetime element’ is an interesting or bad name for a piece of the Tardis console. Similarly, I don’t know whether I like the title Arc of Infinity- it’s a good title, but the arc is something that isn’t explained very well and doesn’t really have a large part in the story. Is there a little cafe on a walkway of the Capitol? Fun. And everyone talks about “No not the mind probe,” but nobody talks about the even flatter delivery of “Impulse laser?” near the start of this story from a guy who is about to be shot by an impulse laser. Finally, Omega himself looks great when he takes off his mask- gotta love Peter Davison in a black turtleneck. But things take such a turn in the last 10 minutes of the story. Omega has a quick scene where he simply enjoys some organ music and the view of a canal. It adds such a (sudden) tragic element to him, of a man who just wants to live in the real world again. Which is amplified when his final scene is played (again suddenly) extremely gritty, with the Doctor having to shoot him and cause his apparently agonising death. The last-minute tone shift is even more jarring when the show feels like it immediately chickens out on it, with the Doctor almost immediately after saying Omega might not be dead then ending the episode on a light-hearted note. I don’t often criticise the genius of author Nev Fountain, but I can’t help but feel he missed some obvious hooks there in his sequel audio Omega, in which Omega suddenly wants to return to his antimatter universe and leave the real one behind.

Snakedance! I think it’s not quite as good as Kinda, but it’s still really good! The way it creates a very believable and relatable world is so neat (maybe helped by my own interest in archaeology and ancient history studies which is represented in this). There’s always very realistic dialogue and acting. The plot is a little slower and more meandering than Kinda, and it’s a shame Tegan isn’t in it more (a downside Kinda shared). I don’t really have as much to say about the themes of this one like I did with the previous Mara story, though I’m sure they’re there. I’m left with just things to list off that I liked about the story. Part one has another fantastic cliffhanger, made better by the Fifth Doctor theme tune. Some of the Mara moments are genuinely unnerving, like Lon talking with Tegan’s voice. Lon is a great character, and I wish he was in more of it without being possessed tbh. But I did like how sometimes the Mara possessed people, and sometimes it likes to play on the temptations of people in order to manipulate them. I also liked the creepy moment that the carnival man is standing still in the dark cave to surprise someone, with the added irony that that’s what he suggested Tegan do at his hall of mirrors earlier. There’s a lot of altered states in this one; dreams, the sound machine, the snake poison, possession. And the use of sound could be very striking. The cutting between the noise of the ceremony and the calm of the Doctor meditating with Dojjen is very striking. And the same things with the fucking killer ending which goes from the intensity of the Mara trying to manifest to the silent horror of everyone recovering from it, followed by the end credits screaming in before you barely get a moment to process it all. I’m still not sure if I love it or not, but it sure as heck leaves an impression.

I spent ages looking for Mawdryn Undead and Terminus without the optional CGI special effects that were included on the DVD, because for some reason they’re hard to find online. I don’t know why people would prefer those versions: to me the old practical methods and less sophisticated special effects are not only part of the charm, but part of the original production and storytelling. It’s the same reason I enjoy the original versions of the Star Wars films rather than the many re-edits. Not so much because I’m a purist (at least I hope not), but because I like watching these things as products of their historical times as well as for their stories. Besides, the added CGI effects can often break my suspension of disbelief more than bad practical effects (even if it’s good CGI, which is not guaranteed) because it simply doesn’t look like it fits with the rest of the show. Also, literally who would want to watch Mawdryn Undead without the eye-wateringly horrendous original ‘80s training video effect behind Turlough and the Black Guardian when they make their dark deal. The new effect is the most boring thing ever and actually looks halfway good. Get that shit outtahere.

ANYWAY. Mawdryn Undead is a story of many different tones for me. This bit will mostly be me listing off random things in the story in roughly chronological order. The first episode almost felt like it could be a pantomime, though that’s probably mostly because of the Black Guardian in all his crow-headed glory, and the sometimes hysterical background music. If you haven’t watched the scene in the first few minutes when Turlough steals and then crashes the Brigadier’s car, please god look it up. Bloody iconic. It’s hilarious watching how quickly and thoroughly Turlough throws Hippo under the bus for stealing the car, but very satisfying for me personally who wants more deeply flawed and antagonistic companions. Also, my longest-running DnD character is called Hippo, so hearing the name bandied about felt so weird jsldkfj. It was kind of surprising how rude the Brig could be to students, but maybe that’s just what you’d expect to hear at a British public school. Considering how the Black Guardian pretended to have pure intentions, it was also kind of surprising to hear him shout “In the name of all that is evil!” at the end of the episode, but again maybe that’s just what you’d expect to hear at a British public school. I started vibing with the story way more than I expected when it became the Brigadier recounting to the Doctor the events of 6 years ago, which was when the Doctor’s present companions met him, and for the audience both plots were unwinding simultaneously. I love that kind of plotting in a time travel story. Makes it extremely satisfying to follow when the plots effect each other and weave together (eg when the Brigadier says he remembers the Tardis leaving without him, when actually his past self didn’t see that happen until part four). I also liked how the Doctor figures out something’s up with Turlough very quickly and takes a moment to show that he disapproves, but still keeps him around anyway. I imagine it’s a mix of wanting Turlough where he can see him, and wanting to help him. Speaking of what Turlough has going on, is it just me who thought it wasn’t made very clear that he’s an alien in his first story? There’s maybe a few lines that suggest it, and it was obviously the plan from the beginning since the following stories reference it, but honestly if I went into this not knowing he was an alien I’m not sure I would’ve figured it out by the end of this one. Why would Tegan and Nyssa assume that the burnt figure they find is the Doctor? It’s a kinda fun mistaken identity plot that adds to the many moving parts of this story, but obviously the burnt figure was imagined to be a lot harder to identify in the script. But I don’t mind too much when it’s followed up by Tegan’s healthy scepticism in the face of Nyssa’s panicked belief, and the Brigadier’s hesitant attempts to keep both sides happy. Tegan’s honestly very on point in this story. Watching through her episodes make me feel like she gets flanderised a bit in the audios as an argumentative woman who can’t follow a sci-fi plot. As time goes on, she’s shown a lot to be an extremely competent companion in the face of the Doctor’s adventures: see also Earthshock. The backhalf of the story gets a bit bogged down with everyone wandering around Mawdryn’s spaceship. Makes me feel like this would’ve been a very tight three-parter. But it is hilarious that there’s like half a dozen different factions with their own goals, and literally all of them want the past Brigadier to leave. So he spends ages getting shuffled round and out of the way, but he still ends up doing exactly what nobody wanted him to do at the end. The brigadiers creating their own temporal energy is a clever way to end the plot, but the fact that they coincidentally do it at the exact microsecond they needed to feels a bit too contrived. It feels like this could’ve been one of the best plots in Classic Who with just a few tweaks. Finally, the moral dilemma in this story is very interesting, but the Doctor’s response to it is even more so. It’s never brought up that killing Mawdryn’s crew is what he objects to, only that he doesn’t want to sacrifice his own future regenerations. He repeatedly objects to that aspect, and specifically phrases it as the end of him as a Time Lord. Could you say something about the Doctor preaching against the superiority of his people but then hesitating to give up their benefits? Maybe link it to this Doctor’s rather old world British aesthetic? I’m sure there’s other ways you could look at this situation too, since it’s such a complex moral issue.