#everyone can have very wildly different interpretations of every character

[happy-tori-friends]

Which HTF headcanons are you the most excited to feature in Oblivion? :)

another good one... i only now remembered i made a doc for headcanons and notes, put some family situation notes there, put it in a discord channel in my personal server, and then forgot about it and started shoving things in the channel rather than the doc. other than that, as a professional Thing Winger, most of it is me protecting onto the faves or just making shit up. but theres on thing i rbed from the treetownconfessions blog (one of these days i will 'confess' something) on main about the twins' tails puffing up when thry're upset and i really want that to be a thing... i also want to show some more autistic traits in them eventually...

i do have some ideas in my silly little brain for the twins and flippy though (i cant think of anything for the superbros atm sob sob)

lifty + shifty: their ac and heat dont work well, so they tend to sleep next to each other and huddle for warmth when it gets cold. they also hug their tails sometimes. and they do have a lot of trouble sleeping (theyre just like me)

flippy: i think he has a garden, and that he really likes animals. he's a sweetheart i love him.

outside of the main cast of oblivion i still want to come up with the funniest name for disco bear to be named legally (he thinks disco bear is so much cooler but its still sorta lame). the current contender is still bartholomew. theres just something about it thats so funny to me. but he also doesn't look like a bartholomew at all. he looks like disco bear. which makes it a toss up if i'll even go with this idea.

[emmitaaa4]

I want to preface this little rant by saying that I am all for ship and let ship—at the end of the day none of this has any significance, and we should all get to enjoy our silly little ships to our heart’s content. Me personally I just want Elain to do whatever the hell she wants and be happy in the end. That being said, rn I just felt like getting something off my chest.

From what I have seen and understood, most of The Other Side believes that Azriel feels entitled to Elain. That he sees her as a sexual object, or at the very most as a rebound he doesn’t truly care for, nor respect; he does not think of her beyond what he can get from her sexually. They say his attitude towards her is toxic in its ‘possessiveness’; he doesn’t consider her an equal, for he sees her as a perpetual damsel in distress he must save; his attraction to her / feelings for her are a symptom of some twisted trauma response.

We know that they believe that. We’ve heard it. Over and over and over. Since 2021. Hell, everybody’s momma probably knows it, too, with the way that rhetoric is spread. But Elriels have made it plenty clear that we have a very different interpretation of the text and do NOT agree with those assessments of Azriel (nor half the things the poor man is diagnosed with, bless his fictional soul), considering what we do know of Azriel’s character and his relationship with Elain, based on the books--and yes, the bonus (see this, this, and this post). Otherwise—i.e. if we believed him an incel x fuckboy hybrid (probs the first of his kind!) who is only interested in getting her in is bed—we would obviously not be shipping them together: most of us (99% I’d say lol) care about Elain more than we do Az, or care about them both just as much.

So it is getting pretty tiring to see us shippers—the actual humans behind the screen—labelled as having a toxic/immature view of what love is, of being “too young/naive” to see the supposed red flags, of mistaking lust for love because we have not experienced a healthy relationship (?), of actually promoting toxic relationships & advocating for toxic masculinity (which someone told me on tiktok just now)(stay away from tiktok, folks). Those generalizations are wild to me, not only because they are wildly untrue and condescending, but because Elriels are a colorful bunch, you know—when you’re speaking of the fandom Villain™, you’re speaking of people of every demographic, speaking of daughters mothers grandmothers, depressed uni students (pardon the self-insert), etc... I need to get thicker skin, but those statements can get pretty hurtful in the long run. And I’m tired of feeling the need to justify myself as if we’re wrong for shipping two people who MUTUALLY want one another and lets be serious, no its not “just lust”.

I know I know, I am probably being dramatic. But it’s just weird to see a ship being so demonized and its shippers along with it, all because louder portions of the fandom disagree with our opinions and insist on toxifying ours. Just to be clear, I know that many have had unpleasant experiences/interactions with Elriels, just like many Elriels have had the same with Gwynriels and/or Eluciens. I condone none of the disgusting behaviour I’ve seen from some shippers, and in fact I abhor it. As everyone should.

To end this on a good note.

Elriels, I say we run with it. Az wants Elain for himself. He is jealous and his mind is plagued by thoughts of her. Her presence is too much to bear, for he can’t stand to be in the same room as her and pretend like he feels nothing. He is ready to beg on his knees for a chance to worship her, and it took Nesta one look to see it.

AZ IS OBSESSED AND I SAY WE EMBRACE IT.

[necroromantics]

Ticci Toby + Bipolar Disorder

Partially an educational post, partially a how-to-write guide.

(check out my how-to-write aspd/psychopathy here)

What is bipolar disorder?

Bipolar disorder (shortened to BD, not BPD), is a mood disorder that causes a person to experience extreme fluncuations in their moods and energy levels. These episodes swing from depressive lows to manic highs. Despite popular belief, bipolar episodes last a long time (1+ weeks), and typically have a period of stability in between them. It is NOT the same as borderline personality disorder, they are two very different disorders.

Does Toby canonically have bipolar?

Sort of. His canon reference sheet shows 'bipolar' as one of his personality traits. This is just an error on the creators part, since they were young and didn't know what real bipolar disorder is. Bipolar isn't a personality trait, and the mood swings in the disorder are not quick switches. The way it's used on his sheet is more like borderline personality disorder than it is bipolar disorder. So if we're talking about whats canon, I'd say it's up for interpretation.

Do you headcanon Toby to have bipolar?

I do, but mostly because I have BD myself, and I like to project that onto him. Theres no characters in media who have bipolar disorder that I enjoy/know of, because honestly its kind of a pain in the ass to write. I rarely include it in any of my stories involving him, even though having untreated bipolar disorder is something that would effect him every day of his life, and severely. I would rather people not write him having bipolar at all, than to write it as BPD or other misinforming ways.

How to properly write Toby with bipolar?

A bit of this can also apply to any other character. First, the obvious, is to do research. Bipolar is something that needs to be treated, because manic highs and depressive lows are so life-altering, damaging, and cause a lot of harm to the individual. Since Toby is a killer on the run, he most likely wouldn't have access to proper treatment, which means his entire life would be a series of intense highs and lows. This is why I usually don't bother including his bipolar symptoms in my writing, cuz it's a hassle incorporating him going wildly manic at random points, even though its the harsh reality people with bipolar disorder face. So if you're going to write Toby with BD, you will need to be prepared to write how inconvenient the disorder is for not only Toby himself, but everyone around him.

It would interfere with his work as a proxy, it would greatly impact his relationships with the people around him. It might even end up with him getting caught by the police, or thrown into a psychiatric hospital (most people with bipolar end up in a psych ward at some point). If you do want to write him being treated for his disorder, you'll need to look into medication. One of the most common ones is lithium, but did you know some anticonvulsants (the medication Tim takes in Marble Hornets), act as a secondary treatment for bipolar disorder too? Carbamazepine is an example of this. You could incorporate that as well, since in Marble Hornets anticonvulsants are used to potentially lessen the effects of The Operator.

What do manic episodes look like? How would they effect Toby?

Manic episodes are very intense highs in mood and energy. Despite what people say, real manic episodes are only experienced in people with bipolar disorder. Other disorders such as ADHD and BPD can mimic mania, but they are not classified as true manic episodes. So if you want to write mania, the character needs to have bipolar (or schizoaffective).

Some symptoms of a manic episode are racing thoughts, lack of judgment, feeling untouchable or overly confident, no consideration for consequences, talking a lot, jumbled words from speaking too fast, jumping from one task to another. It feels like a constant surge of energy going through your body, and its so overwhelming you can't stop to think about anything you're doing. You just feel absolutely euphoric, and capable, and like nothing can bring you down. A very real danger of manic episodes is that some people experience co-occurring psychosis alongside their episodes, such as delusions and hallucinations. Another issue is that people with mania are so full of energy, they don't sleep for days on end. These highs can also lead to dangerous acts due to the recklessness and lack of proper judgement on whats safe/smart in that moment. There is also hypomania, which is a lesser, more mild form of mania.

For Toby, it completely depends on how you view his character and circumstances. But for me, I think that in a manic episode, Toby would cause many issues in his relationships with the people around him. He would be much more irritable, paranoid, he would go on rants and talk a lot, jumping from one rant to another. He wouldn't sleep for days, he would become increasingly reckless and grandiose. Toby would fight more with others, go off on his own a lot more, do a lot of risky things, and with his CIPA he would most definitely get himself hurt a lot more and more severely. When you're manic, you don't stop to consider the risks of the reckless things you're doing.

What do depressive episodes look like? How would they effect Toby?

Depressive episodes may come directly after a manic episode, a crash, or they can come on randomly after a period of stability. They typically last longer than manic episodes, usually about 1+ months. They're periods of an intense drop in mood and energy levels, which are often pretty severe.

The symptoms of depressive episodes are similar to regular depression, but not quite the same, and typically on the more severe end of the spectrum. Utter hopelessness and bleakness, suicidal thoughts, oversleeping, lack of interest in anything, sadness, difficulties concentrating, slower thinking, social isolation. Bipolar lows feel like energy and life is being sucked right out of you. All you want to do is sleep, nothing feels interesting, or you don't have any energy to do things that used to make you happy. People are disappointing, you don't want to talk to anyone. The lows feel very heavy, very tiring.

When Toby is experiencing a low episode, I can't imagine he gets out much. He would probably disappear for a bit, to be left alone, because he doesn't want to be around anybody. He would spend his time sleeping as much as he can, and then the rest of his time doing proxy work, and then going back to sleep. He probably wouldn't want to be awake with his hopeless and bleak thoughts.

What are mixed episodes?

Hell on earth. Mixed episodes are when someone with BD experiences both manic and depressive symptoms in rapid succession or at the same time. This can look like feeling super energetic, but also horribly hopeless and depressed, or being on top of the world one minute, and then wanting to off yourself the next. They are very intense, and dangerous. It feels like you're losing your mind, and you can't catch yourself. You just have to sit there and let your mind take you on the worst rollercoaster of your life.

What are some things to avoid when writing bipolar disorder?

For the love of GOD stop mixing it up with borderline personality disorder. Bipolar is a MOOD DISORDER, not a personality disorder. The mood swings are not quick or volatile, there is no fear of abandonment, or unstable emotions. The mood swings are more like intense changes in energy that effects the mood, and they typically last over the course of a week+. Toby canonically does have volatile, rapidly shifting and unpredictable emotions, but that would not be a result of his bipolar disorder (besides maybe during a manic episode).

And the obvious, don't demonize the disorder and make him out to be a crazy person because he's bipolar. Toby is nuts, but not because he has BD.

If you have any more questions, Google is free, but make sure to find reliable and professional sources. But also, if you want to DM me or send a question in my inbox I'm free to answer with my personal experience, and headcanons, about bipolar and how it may present in Toby.

[rxttenfish]

Asking because I’m extremely curious about this, how did MonProm’s writing get different over time? I remember you saying that the lore and characters feel different, and that it's missing sincere character interactions, too. I know almost nothing about the lore and I’ve only seen a few people mention the characters, so I’d be interested in a rundown of what aspects you think got worse in the series

I wouldn’t mind a very long response since I’m not that active in the fandom, I need to catch up on what happened

sorry for taking so long to answer this! i kinda waffled on it for a long bit, mainly because i started doubting myself again, and whether or not this was me simply overreacting or being tinted by nostalgia or simply being extremely picky and choosy in what i like (the last of which is true, i seldom get into fandoms at all for this reason and stay away from most popular media, but i wasn't sure if it applied here). i've posted about it already, but i'm in the middle of a psychotic episode where i can't feel a lot of pleasure to begin with + most things i do experience ending up solidly in the "very bad" category, so as you can imagine, i really didn't want to mislead and check that i was actually in objective reality.

as it is, this is also when a lot more screenshots started to be posted in the monster prom tag, and that helped me bridge the gap back into returning to the games themselves and feel like i was making a more accurate judgement. if you're one of those people who have been posting screenshots, i sincerely thank you, and i appreciated seeing you in the tag greatly.

for those not in the know — i've been in the monster prom fandom since it first released, prior to even the first additional ending to be added (the "Punch the sun" ending, and i recall the minor fandom drama that happened at that time due to it). my impression of monster prom is very much influenced by this, as what got me into the first game was the fact that the characters genuinely seemed to care for each other and were friends with each other (not merely tolerating each other's presences nor dressing it up, they sincerely thought of each other as friends and were open about that fact), on top of the wide variety of small details and statements that, if taken at face value, could create compounding complexity in the lives of each and every character and had wider implications for their lives.

no, they were not necessarily explored nor even necessarily "real", with so many conflicting events and statements, but i liked this too, because it meant a wider flexibility in what you could imagine, helping to create a more tailored experience for everyone who thought about these characters. this was what i liked about the early fandom too. what was baseline "canon" was so vague and minimal that you could have wildly different interpretations of the same characters' histories and relationships with each other. you would have radically different perspectives on what the world itself looked like, what it was like, that there wasn't really any wrong answers so long as their personalities remained the same. this is where you got the old headcanon of polly and liam being childhood friends who knew each other as humans, or that the world of monster prom was post-apocalypse where humanity itself had gone extinct or only existed in tiny pockets, or my personal headcanon that both monster and human society existed right next to each other and had minimal crossover for petty cultural reasons. this was also prior zoe-as-ro, and there were wildly different interpretations of zoe's personality, with most going for a far more disquieting creepy-cute than the deep nerd we got.

this is why you get stuff like the timeloop theory, where everyone is repeating the same weeks leading up to prom over and over, and are perhaps vaguely aware of it but broadly unconcerned. this is also why it felt like the joke that, the characters were still in high school but were all fully legal adults with most in their 20's, best landed, because it was absurd and strange and didn't quite make sense, but the world itself was inherently absurd and semi-malleable to begin with. realistically, i felt like everyone understood it was making fun of the trope of having adults play teenagers in american sitcoms and wildly casting outside the age range, but for more in-universe explanations it wasn't any different from the way that you would have a large, dramatic ending in which everything changed, but then you'd restart and everyone would be right back at the beginning with nothing different, or even having conflicting events in the same run. it was a dream-logic that fit with the tropes and, thus, diagetically made sense.

to be clear, i don't mind canon having a set, well, canon on which it refers back to itself. i don't mind expanding that or including more things which are set in stone. but there was a perceivable shift in how the games handled this over time, becoming a lot more... bitter, it felt, towards all of these different branching ideas and concepts that, yeah, the people making them knew wouldn't necessarily be "canon" because "canon" already liked to contradict itself so much. most people weren't even sold on any one idea, and there was a much greater sense of enjoying and appreciating all the varying ideas people would come up with even if you personally didn't share them. making the characters be out of character was the real crime, because then it didn't diagetically make sense in the same way, didn't wholly fit.

(again, this is not to say fanon didn't happen and characters weren't smoothed down into a simplified personality that fit these varying fan-interpretations instead of the game itself. certainly damien love/lust was just as bad as it had ever been, and everyone loved to mangle his character into a more stereotypical "bad boy with a heart of hold" all the time. but it certainly felt less set-in-stone about it than it does now, with any deviation from the norm being considered strange and odd and even broadly shunned from the wider fandom.)

all of this is setup for establishing what the writing, lore, and characters felt like in the earlier days. the characters were the strongest part, with their relationships to each other being equally as important. the lore played it fast and loose and was far less interested in setting anything in concrete because that wasn't the important part. the lore wasn't the important part, which was what made it all the more intoxicating to think about, all the more fun to play with.

montrip is easily the biggest offender when it comes to setting everything in all-or-nothing terms and demanding absolutism from the world. broadly i blame the hitchhiker conversations for the worst of it, but i think ultimately the way they handled the entire premise of the game is where this problem stems from. it's not really an exploration in the same sense that you might explore the first game, discovering different perspectives and different people with different relationships to each other. it's an exploration in the sense of a sequel that over-explains the monster, that takes the most boring option out of all those that were possible and floating around and settles on something that was blatant, obvious, typically rejected not because of how novel it is but how trite and par for the course it is in the rest of the genre.

yeah, okay. humans know nothing about monsters and there's a "monster dimension" that exists separately from the human dimension. there's no crossover between the two of them. of course there's a big grand-scale fight between the eldritch powers that zoe used to be a part of, from which not only are slayers the main organization against them, but also the merkingdom has some horse in this race too. it's an urge to make things so universal in explaining them, in revealing connecting threads which unite everything that's ever happened in here, that makes the worldbuilding and lore immediately much more boring than it ever was before.

and it didn't have to be this way! nothing in the first game contradicts any of this too explicitly (see the above, the first game loves to contradict itself), and i would even be happy if this was basically canon but never stated or confirmed to be the big overarching everything going on underneath it all. i believe you should probably know these things about any world that you create and have them in the back of your mind. the difference is that you can know these things and keep them in mind, even focusing on things where its very relevant, and still not reveal them. this is why you have lore bibles, after all. every horror writer knows exactly how their monster works and the full underlying reason for everything that happens, but that doesn't mean the audience will see it or possess this same information too, and leaving it intentionally obscure will make far better stories.

which, this is bad enough, but it wouldn't be the breaking point for me if this was all there was.

but the worst thing of all has to be the slow decay of the very same characters that sold me on this world, this lore, this game in the first place. monster prom is nothing without the characters in it. it's a dating sim, it has nothing but characters to get you to play, and liking these characters are the entire reason anyone would pick up monster prom in the first place.

and the first game pulls this off extremely well. it's all in the tagline: be your worst self. they are, indeed, all terrible people. yes, even that character that you just thought of right now. they all have points in the game where they commit atrocities, where they kill or hurt people, where they do inexcusable things that could not be ignored in a more serious setting.

but that's the point. i think there's something very powerful in creating a character who not only do you love and love their personality and the way they interact with the world, but who also are inapologetically terrible, and to have the humor and the charisma be so good that you don't get bogged down in the "this is awful". likewise, it never feels the urge to really go out of its way to justify what's going on. this is not to say theres no discussion of if someone "deserved it", but usually there's still the sense that the joke is on them, that this is still an extreme reaction specifically for comedy and not necessarily something that can be justified. you can have damien set leonard on fire and have it feel earned, without prompting the needed reaction of what it's actually like to watch someone burn to death.

this is what sets the prank masterz ending apart from the rest of the game, and really establishes it as the first real "bad ending". because nothing that you do or happens in the prank masterz ending is any different from anything else that happens in any other run. you summon evil beings from other dimensions as a throwaway gag on how visiting one location raises your stats. you kill other people and damn them to terrible fates. you watch as body horror happens. the only difference is that, in the prank masterz ending, the laugh track doesn't play.

the rest of the game and the writing echoes this philosophy, this careful interplay of tropes that keeps everything tongue in cheek and yet sincere enough to make sure emotional beats still land when they're needed. the characters feel true to themselves and their own emotions, even when the world is extreme and excessive, when everything else runs on comedy logic.

this is also what i noticed failing first as time went on.

like i said, fanon has always existed and there's always been very specific ideas as to what characters are like in the same way fanon always flattens down characters into the same tropes over and over. scott is stupid and innocent and doesn't know what sex is. damien is violent and hot and too cool for anyone else. miranda is the idiot girl character. repeat over and over and over until you get sick of it.

but it's been an issue as time has crept on that canon has started to approach fanon and began to merge with it. now, scott is so innocent that he can't even curse. polly starts being mean to her friends and saying things that would be very hurtful to hear. the merkingdom isn't really super evil and fucked up, it's just miranda that's like that. they become simpler, easier to digest, streamlined for social media posts and mass-sharing. they become less and less subversions of existing tropes and moreso just another example of them, something else to add to the collection, not their own individual stories.

even further from this, what more complex traits they had are now stated and not shown. polly is stated to be smart and clever in a way that her party girl persona doesn't imply and to be sincerely rather down to earth with the people she cares about, but we seldom ever see this anymore unless its the game specifically trying to make a point about it, in which case it won't let her do anything that implies cleverness and moreso will just outline it in the narration. vera is stated to care for people in a very genuine and heartfelt way, but seldom will get a chance to do so, and every opportunity for her to do so to their faces is missed while she will just outright state it later. it does not feel consistent, it does not feel like any of these are intended reads of their actions. it feels like the devs have something they want to do but no idea on how to actually do so. and forget it if you want these traits to manifest in small ways that show up in unrelated moments and scenes.

the dialogue becomes harder and harder to tell between each speaker, if you are just looking at what's said and not at the pictures attached to it. the characters' distinct voices have been eroded away, so that they speak more and more like each other, relaying the same terms and ideas in the same words. perspective becomes a suggestion, instead of a must.

this is something that started back in monster camp too, as all of the endings in that game felt ultimately the same as every other ending. it's very hard to place or define the full reason why, why there feels like there's no emotional stakes nor investment, why everything feels moreso like selecting different coats of paint and trying to find all the different ending pictures rather than being interested in exploring the characters as characters.

stranger yet, the series that started with the tagline of "be your worst self" has experienced a kind of... softening, for lack of a better word? what i mentioned about being able to handle the balance between terrible people who do terrible things and the light tone of the game starts to change, as abruptly the same characters who were down with violent murder in the first game start to lose their nerve, acting more and more on more typical morality. it's one of those things that feels like it's starting to damage the tone, as abruptly it's not as absurd as it used to be, demands less suspension of disbelief which could buffer and support the rest of the setting on it. there's even a part in one of the endings in montrip which involves current-polly and current-scott looking back on their monprom selves and reacting in horror at how violent and careless their pranks are, in a way that fundamentally felt like it was undercutting and disparaging all the things that felt fun and made monprom what it was.

which is odd, really, because more and more i feel like the characters in these games like each other less and less. the friendships and genuine enjoyment of each others company that brought me to this game in the first place has gone. now they don't mention each other as much, don't care for each other's feelings and reactions as much, aren't as willing to support each other. they are more and more found on their own, relied on their own, seem to seek out contact and interaction with their own friends less and less. it feels like they're all separating out into their own worlds, but also feels like they wouldn't willingly want to interact with each other if they weren't already forced together by some other outside contrivance.

if anything, i'd compare it to every other dating sim out there, where you, the player, are the most important person in these characters' lives, and they only feel ambivalent or antagonistic towards every other character. which, again, is not why i picked up monster prom or why i liked it so much in the first place.

and it's because of this that it feels like the current state of the series has to focus on its increasingly weak worldbuilding and lore, trying to form a more serious foundation without character relationships being so tightly bound together, without the characters themselves being more developed and rich, without an aspect of absurd humor to rely on.

more and more i've noticed monprom has to rely on referencing other series to make itself funny and create humor, which, again, it's always done. it was just easier to ignore back then, if you didn't know what was being referenced, because there was always more going on in the exact same scene to bolster it and give context clues as to the setup and punchline at play. it feels like the current games are much more dependent on you knowing pop culture references in order to have any fun with it, and i'm someone who, again, is very picky in what i like or what i'll seek out. i'm not interested in a stream of references about other things that i would much rather be doing than playing through a game that feels like it hates that i like it at all, when i could, again, just be engaging with the thing that takes itself seriously and knows what it wants.

[primus-why]

Jazzwave anon, I know I want to know how you I interpret the relationship sorry for being too vague lol

OH! Lol that's makes more sense adfjghkwl

See, what I love about shipping is that you can take a crumb and mold characters into however you see fit. There are soooo many continuities across Transformers, each with their own interpretation of characters. Sometimes I get specific, but sometimes I operate in continuity soup...

With that in mind, I generally like to see them as master spies. To me, they are experts in their field, which makes every interaction-- both with each other and with other characters-- dubious. You end up having to ask yourself: how much of Jazz's smile is genuine? What is Soundwave omitting from his recollection of an event? That sort of thing.

So as a fan of the pairing I get to play with those interactions depending on my mood... are they lying to each other all the time and I have to read what's between the lines to understand their true intentions? Or could the other mech be one of the very few people that sees through the facade, a mech who offers security and honesty? Perhaps it's a mixture of both...

I imagine the inability to trust is pretty inherent to their nature, deep down. They have to be skeptical of everything, their job never really ends, so to entertain a story where they grow to rely on one another is just *muah* 👌 Plus there's the added layer of interfactional angst! Like aaaaaa there goes the one other person who could possibly understand what it's like to be in your position, only they're on the other side of the war.

I generally see Soundwave as pretty reserved with a bit of dry snark here and there, while Jazz is definitely more outgoing and talkative but even less predictable. On the surface Soundwave is measured, Jazz is paradoxical, yet both are ten steps ahead of everyone else (and always keep some contingencies in their subspace.)

You can create stories where these seemingly polar opposites actually find some understanding and get along rather well. But you could also go full angst and make it so they feel they are unable to trust others and properly exist in peacetimes, so they end up being in each other's lives out of convenience-- because at least then they won't be alone. You can make it so they briefly crossed paths pre-war! Or maybe you'd like to see them try to one-up each other like rivals.

Something else I can appreciate due to their lines of work-- the fact that over time they're able to see all sorts of sides to their leaders, making them more disillusioned than some of the other hardcore fanatics/loyal soldiers. Like they still care about their respective causes, but they don't view Megatron or Optimus as perfect. Meaning they're more than happy to bend a few rules to do whatever they personally want to do-- stuff whatever the leader says.

I'll sum up cuz this is getting super long (sorry!) but literally the characterizations are wildly different, so you can create all kinds of arrangements. In my mind there's a basic structure, but beyond that anyone could take it from there lol!

Also! We can't forget... music. Personally I like to imagine they have very different tastes but are able to find appreciation in many musical expressions. Jazz definitely plays an instrument or five, and I am kind of torn on whether Soundwave might. He definitely would have the discipline for it, but perhaps his playing style is stilted? Or maybe he's excellent, and shockingly good at improvising to mix things up! Or maybe actually he doesn't like music much at all. And honestly however you interpret music in their relationship is likely to be a metaphor for the relationship itself...

TLDR: I love seeing them flirt like in those classic spy movies where the main concern was to have some thrill while solving an investigation/finishing a mission, and to look cool and get some while doing it. 😂

[galacticlamps]

actually ascension needs its own post since that's the one with the most details to speculate over and im starved for soho talk so i will talk to myself if need be

First the cover again, because I kinda can't get over it:

my only thing is that I had been hoping we might get Lizbeth on a cover again since she's never been on one of the boxsets before, despite being the 2nd person credited on all 4 of them (even if that's just alphabetical, still, she's the only one of the four main characters who never makes the cover)

But letting that go...

I know we already kinda knew the brief for this one but damn I didn't expect it to go quite this hard. Maybe that's just because the Parasite & Ashenden covers were (comparatively) similarish to each other and I was so pleased with Unbegotten's, and then got so used to it as the placeholder for Ascension while they kept postponing it, I wasn't expecting anything this colorful or detailed or with what I can't help but register as Fun New Outfits even though these are still like, pretty damn basic as far as costumes go. Still, it's a different vibe from everyone in suits and trenchcoats on every cover, technically. (Oh the woes of being an audio fan such that two characters owning sweaters actually does qualify as new information)

On top of just being visually delightful though, I know we knew religion was gonna be a fairly big part of this one, but I didn't actually expect to get quite this much of it - though I'm glad of it for a number of reasons. The BF twitter already made the ineffable joke so I don't have to, but also yeah I did very much spend all of season 2 episode 4 of good omens half convinced Samuel Barnett & Dervla Kirwan were about to pop up around any given corner (if you will go around being gay supernatural and horrible at your messy bureaucratic jobs in midcentury soho then I'm sorry, this is where my brain's gonna go) - so, fuel to that fire. But in terms of actual important things, at least one of my Soho wishes looks to be being granted because we have a Rev Edward Folgate on the cast list, which must mean we're finally meeting Norton's father, even if his mother & brother don't appear (which they could, technically, I've definitely seen BF not list all the doublings on their cast tabs before). Religion, domesticity, and the nuclear family are all things that absolutely fascinate me when it comes to Norton's character, so getting any amount of story involving his father & his church is something I've been actively hoping for for a long time now.

(I will say I'm a tiny bit bummed Saffron Coomber isn't on the cast list to play Mia again, but I kinda figured she wasn't going to be since Greg Austin's Armitage, who's making his first recurring appearance after originating in Unbegotten, was listed ever since the boxset was announced - presumably if she was also returning, that would've been handled in the same way. But since Unbegotten ended with Lizbeth and Mia going on a date, I still held out hope. Who knows though, maybe things did go well for them and Lizbeth just has a better work/life balance than Norton so she can date someone without them getting dragged into every scifi plot. I know that's not a very common accomplishment for any Torchwood agent, but a gal can hope)

At this point I know I'm completely in the realm of speculation & even wishful thinking, but I'm really really hoping we get some more clues as to Norton's overall timeline in this one, and I have a feeling that even if there's nothing as direct as dates given, the events of a plot like this one are going to heavily influence my personal interpretation of it.

To say that life & death are major themes for the soho crew feels wildly reductive, but even by Torchwood's standards and taking into account its origins as a piece of media with Jack Harkness & his newfound immortality at the heart of it, the living/dead status of this bunch has always been fantastically up in the air to me. Obviously Ghost Mission introduced Norton as kind of a ghost before revealing more obvious ghostly characters later on to which the title might have been referring, but his being from the past did beg the question of his survival into Torchwood's present era all the same, which Outbreak later alludes to much more directly, and his habit of showing up via hologram in multiple stories only further obfuscates any certainty we might have about where & when he definitely can be said to be alive and well. Then you've got Lizbeth and Gideon both being effectively 'brought back to life' via paradoxes that prevented them ever having died in the first place. Again, they are very very far from being the only Torcwhood characters this happens to (for a sprawling EU, it's really rather impressive how often & in how many different ways Torchwood as a whole manages to circle back to being about like. chaotic undead queers at the end of every day. though I suppose that consistency is part of why I keep falling in love with its different iterations again and again). That's without even getting into the question of Norton's dubious fate in God Among Us - and I say dubious because I know some people take that to be his ultimate death, but I personally think that reading something as vague as that as having any kind of finality rather goes against the spirit of this whole world/series, not just because I want him to live. (There are obviously other ways to make him survive/reappear, but I don't see this as a River Song scenario where we can safely assume one of his earlier-released adventures had to happen at the end of his personal timeline). But wherever God Among Us falls for him, he does very much meet God in it - or at least, a god, since the sentinel in Unbegotten is also described as a god of sorts, and even if he doesn't ultimately have the status of the god Jacqueline King is playing there, Unbegotten is still full to bursting with ghosts/undead/came back wrong/echo characters to continue underscoring that life/afterlife theme.

So all things considered, even allowing for the fact that we know Norton's twin hobbies are lying about himself and abusing time travel to suit his own ends/ever-shifting alliances, I find it difficult to believe we could get through a whole 6-part boxset about religion & death without something providing some kind of compelling evidence about where this adventure fits in among his other run-ins with apocalypses and gods and ghosts and dead-but-still-here characters/creatures, so I'm very much looking forward to any further exploration on that front.

And lastly, and least intellectually, I really want to know what the hell 20th-century Torchwood's obsession with Reginalds is. Reading through the cast list, I had to do two separate doubletakes over the character 'Sir Reginald Peebles' - firstly, because I had Reginald Rigsby on the brain, this being Soho (and the other Troughton brother being so active on BF's releases for this same month) - and secondly, because reading this in conjunction with the announcement for the July monthly adventure in which the new main Torchwood guy of the 20s is apparently called Sir Reginald Dellafield, there was a brief moment where I took that monthly release to be a tie-in with Ascension. I don't expect it to be, but damn. was it really so popular a name?

anyways, catch me thinking about those stained glass windows for the next couple months I guess (and knowing Torchwood Soho, for a long long time after it comes out as well lol)

[vmures]

Thinking about Teen Wolf and it's funny (funny-strange, not funny-haha) to me how vicious some of the meta and discourse gets and how defensive people get over their favorite characters. Then you add in fanon and fandom creep with a nice dash of "this is how I understood that scene and that is the only way it can be understood (aka my headcanon is canon)," and you get a hot mess of ugliness.

Of the episodes I've watched, pretty much everyone on the show is a dick at one point or another, which tracks because they're teenagers and I remember the horrors of puberty and emotions all over the place. I find most of the fully adult characters worse because they don't have the excuse of youth--with its general lack of experience and fluctuating hormones. But there is not a single person who doesn't have several scenes where you go "wow, that was a dick move." And if you really look at the actions and words of the characters, there isn't anyone particularly nurturing either.

Stiles has those he considers his and he'd probably burn the world down for them, but most everyone else he can care less about. We do see moments where he does go out of his way to help someone not necessarily his (the scene in the library with the kanima and him running over to check on Erica comes to mind). Scott does try to look after others, even strangers, but also has moments where he blatantly manipulates those around him for his own gain (he blatantly uses Danny at the dance in season one to keep Finstock from kicking him out of the dance and the implication, at least to me, was that he knew Finstock wouldn't make a scene about kicking out Danny's date for fear of seeming homophobic). You can find examples of kindness and assholishness from each and every character is this show and the tendency trends towards asshole for all of them. Different types and varying levels of assholes, but still assholes. But you know what? That is okay. They're very human characters in that regard. Every single person on the planet has someone who thinks they are an absolute dick. Their complexity makes them fun to write.

But just because they're all assholes in their own way, doesn't mean I have to like them all. Just like shows that are comprised of characters that flip this metric (mostly nice with moments of dickishness) can have characters that just don't vibe with you. Just like in real life there are foods you don't like, music that isn't to your taste, and people who just grate on your nerves for one reason or another. It's just a matter of personal preference. The world would be very boring if we all liked the same things and reacted the same to everything.

So some people like some characters and focus on those points of view and their takes on the characters may be wildly divergent from your own, but it doesn't necessarily make them wrong. Where it gets even more tricky is the fandom creep and headcanons as canon additions. Because if you are willing to debate the merits and behavior of a character and you cite something that doesn't ever happen on screen, some are going to get frustrated because they don't see that as canon. We all have to add conjecture about what happened off screen to make a story make sense, but that is still conjecture and it's going to vary widely from person to person since everyone views a story through their own experiences and issues.

Sadly we seem to have culturally misplaced the art of debate and the notions of civility. In particular the "agree to disagree" notion where each side acknowledges that they are unlikely to persuade the other side and people move on to other things rather than rehash the same material over and over or devolve into outright harassment and suicide baiting. Muting tags and blocking people who frequently have takes you can't stand is so much better for your peace of mind.

So that's my take. I do not think this is the only way to interpret things, but it is one of the ways you can interpret it and it's what shapes my headcanons when I write. You can have different takes, but I am not required to agree with them and you are not required to agree with mine.

[pr1ncesspopstar]

As of tonight I have watched/read/played every piece of media in relation to the base story of Persona 4 and here is just a random grab bag of thoughts from that experience. Spoilers abound, mostly for the animation and manga.

-the best way to experience the story outside of just playing the game, if you want to do what for some reason, is reading the manga then watching the Golden anime. The OG anime is a lot of mediocre to bad with pockmarks of good, not worth a full sit down.

-that said if you want to watch some of the OG anime go with all the episodes up to Yukiko being saved (1-4), mitsuo’s dungeon and the summer vacation duology right after (11-14), the justice and hierophant focused episode (18), and then all of endgame (21-26).

These episodes either do a really good job expanding on what was already there, introduce new ideas and scenarios definitely not possible within the constraints of a video game, do a super solid job covering and even improving upon iconic and memorable moments in ways only the medium of an animation retelling can provide, or just have fun or funny bits. My fave is def episode 13, where Nanako becomes a little detective trying to investigate Yu’s hectic life.

-I really appreciate how each version of Yu is wildly different in these medium’s. P4A Yu is kind of a dick and lame at many points, but has the capacity to be open hearted. Manga Yu starts as cold and distant but eventually becomes an emotional and expressive individual that fights for his feelings. And P4GA Yu feels the ‘manliest’ of the bunch with very strong convictions and a level-head with no fear to speak his mind or thoughts. A lot of tiny differences to enjoy.

-there is the consistent fear of abandonment and loss of friends in Yu’s character each series captures so differently but uses nonetheless. P4A Yu also abandons the truth because of his fear and even develops a shadow that represents that. Manga Yu goes between acting rashly and angrily or withdrawing and hiding his hurt when confronted with the possible loss. P4GA Yu gets emotional and trapped in the idea of what’s the point if he risks using everyone, feeling a burden of needing to protect those bonds at all costs.

-also the fact Yu is 100% ride or die for any wild scheme, even the ones he knows won’t work is a trait I’m glad exists in every version of him. He’s just happy to be involved.

-Also Adachi, the supplementary material really made me finally appreciate Adachi as a character. After interacting with him in the game I was never too sure how to feel about him, but the anime(s)/manga finally helped me grasp his character and how I feel about him. As well as why I see the various interpretations of him that I do.

-Marie being included in more things in the Golden animation was sorely needed and a welcomed addition. When the Investigation Team was saying how Marie is also their friend I could not help but think how the team as a whole had only met Marie around 5-6 times at most through her social link. By putting her in more major scenes this actually made her feel like an unofficial member of the group and I believed they were friends.

-I very much enjoyed the way P4GA handled the unification of Izanami’s two halves. I’m probably just a sap but I very much love concepts of accepting the rage and hate-filled parts of yourself and that binging them joy and peace, quelling that fury. Izanami can be quite the tragic character from interpretation to interpretation, so to see them take a stance where it’s not a fight but a comforting hug given by Marie to Izanami that defeats her, I’m a sucker for it.

-Yu needing to free Marie from a bamboo forest and the ultimate Persona associated with Marie being Kaguya is Good Symbolism and Foreshadowing™.

-while it was definitely only done for cool factor in the manga/anime, but within the context of game mechanics Adachi being able to control and get aid from multiple Reapers in his dungeon is mortifying.

-I have come to the conclusion Yukiko and Rise are mini-gremlins in two different fonts. Yukiko will do and say the silliest to the wildest things because it brings her joy. Rise is attention seeking in a pampered cat kind of way. I cannot expand on this sadly but I hope the vibes can be expressed.

-Naoto being very perceptive but socially oblivious and one track minded is actually quite funny and charming. This is best illustrated in the Christmas episode of which I will say no more, it’s a fun little experience.

-the ‘ame-no-sagiri’ in shadow Teddie’s head’ contributed nothing to the plot/story though. Kinda actually takes away from shadow Teddie tbh but that’s more a nitpick than anything.

-the anime shadow fights are good, but they are GREAT in the manga. They feel so much more personal and productive than ‘beat the thing so it goes back to normal so you can accept it,’ while also carrying they same wonderful flow and dynamics you can see in the animation.

I might post more thoughts if I have any later. I could do an analysis but tbh I would just be repeating what a lot of people have already gone over. I’d rather focus on my own projects because this means now my research is done and I can start writing my fanfiction! I’ll talk about that more later. Can’t wait to share it~

[snuffgurll]

one of my main issues with warrior cats is how the clans are just . the same. The earlier books had this down pat since we had the singular, outsider perspective of Fireheart, but since every perspective since has been from a clan cat who was lived and raised in the clans, and we’ve had multiple (some from different clans), it’s the case that the warrior code (even the newer version) is just kind of outdated. warriors and a lot of it’s concepts would work so much better if the clans were just more visibly different from eachother. so i am proposing a change. not so much to the series itself, that’s too difficult to implement without a reboot set in the far future or some sort of alternate timeline, but just like. a way to get my thoughts out about this and how the clans could be more individual and make drama stronger. Thunderclan is still sort of the moral compass clan, it’s the clan that is the clan and it sure does clan. All of the clans used to have a sort of defined personality to them, leaving Thunderclan as the sort of main character, but now, due to the deterioration of the writing and also because this series is older than it’s target audience by at least a decade, it still remains the moral compass clan, but the rest of the clans are now nuanced and have their own perspectives, meaning the monotany is worse. Thunderclan benefits, I think, from being the most morally ‘good’ of the clans. Like, classic heroic values. Thunderclan should value power. They would believe that everyone in the clan has their place, and that newcomers can prove their place. They adhere to tradition strongly, and are tightly knit. Elders help out around camp, even after retirement. I think that even this basic characterisation, if paired with other, unique factions to be up against, would help greatly. This doesn’t mean I want them as perspective, just sort of a general how they view themselves, and how the warriors within it would act in accordance to the strong, moral principals of the clan. Shadowclan, in the first arc, were the villains. They were a bunch of slapdash, shady, and eeeevil kitties. But even with this reputation wearing off over time, they’ve still retained their sort of antihero status. Shadowclan cats, then, would be the most secretive of the clans. They do not share much information with outsiders, and they probably value stealth and privacy. Depending on who’s in power, the disposition of the clan can change greatly, but typically, they are seen as a quiet but powerful unit of cats. They value tradition, but have been known to go against it. Probably known to the other clans as somewhat standoffish, but not necessarily cruel. With more hostile leaders, their tactics can get underhanded and brutal - more brutal than any other clan, historically. They are not bound for evil, obviously, but this is like, reputation wise. Riverclan is the most interesting of the clans, in my opinion, since these are cats that swim, and cats dont do that. But in the books, they are background noise. They serve no narrative purpose other than being this clan that exists to fill out the factions. My interpretation of them is probably the most wildly different from the books, plainly because we don’t have anything to go off of. Riverclan cats have a strong sense of community. They have a tendency to shun those who aren’t as social, or didn’t originate in the clan. They are probably also the healthiest, and are very spiritually connected. They have traditions, but these traditions largely do not seem to be shared with the other clans. Obviously, all the clans have their own, unique cultures and traditions, but Riverclan cats are notable for their festivities and beliefs. Riverclan cats tend to come off as prissy and vain to outsiders, but they don’t really value the opinion of outsiders anyway. Windclan is fun because like Shadowclan, they actually have a personality to work with. In the first arc, they were really nice and sweet and great, and always seemed wise and helpful, if a bit cowardly. Now? They’re like what Shadowclan used to be, if Shadowclan was replaced with a bunch of weasels who live on a hill. Windclan are the most religious of the clans. Like, so religious. They value wisdom, and think that the other clans do not adhere to tradition enough, or are stupid and brutish. That said, Windclan cats have to be cunning and fast to avoid the hawks that swoop down onto their territory. To other clans, they come off as rude and snide, or snooty. They probably have a pretty good relationship with Riverclan, because both clans practice spiritual stuff. Finally, Skyclan. hghh. Kill me now. Skyclan is probably the least traditional. They encourage expression and are soft on punishments for breaking the code. They are not very unified, but are excellent at using their environment to enrich their lives. Because of a varied perspective of cats; some of which who are kittypets or loners who come and go- Skyclan’s belief in Starclan varies from cat to cat, and it’s not a big deal to them if you don’t believe in it. They have the lowest bar for entry, though generally, you need to at least have some sort of use. Other clans generally view their openness as stupid or naive, though Thunderclan keeps a friendly relationship with them. I also think the religion of each clan should vary a little and their traditions are based around it. starclan shouldve never been so centralised. they should be mysterious and otherworldly and cat religion has been ruined.

[gaphic]

answer all of the artist questions or u a coward

WELL FUCK. OK

1. Art programs you have but don't use? Medibang Paint is the only one I can think of- everything happens in Procreate now!

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)? definitely left, but right/front aren't too bad

3. What ideas come from when you were little? I'm not 100% sure I understand this one? My fairy fixation goes way back tho

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw? Boys.

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself. Probably a 90/10 split, tbh? At least 80/20. I don't post much of my art

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it) I feel like I don't really experience this with drawing? With writing and character creation definitely, but I feel like I'm conscious of all my biggest drawing inspos

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate? Hmmm. Legos

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in? Camp Cauldron

9. What are your file name conventions?

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw? Probably swishy skirts!

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what? Just my regular music

12. Easiest part of body to draw? Arms, probably

13. A creator who you admire but whose work isn't your thing? I'm also not sure about this one? To me admiration goes hand in hand with liking... I respect a lot of artists whose work I'm not into though

14. Any favorite motifs? -patrick voice- is gender a motif?

15. *Where* do you draw (don't drop your ip address this just means do you doodle at a park or smth) At home mainly, sometimes at work or just wherever I happen to be. I'm trying to spend more time in Third Places

16. Something you are good at but don't really have fun doing? I can't think of anything? I'm getting better at enjoying every part of art

17. Do you eat/drink when drawing? if so, what? No? I use my hands to draw

18. An estimate of how much art supplies you've broken? Not that many tbh! I've always been very careful with my art things. A handful of pencils, surely

19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw (food, nature, etc.) Probably plants!

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy? HANDS I love drawing hands

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways? Art styles unlike my own are my favorites! Jamie Hewlett, @tanglefootcomic, @ampreh, and @maruti-bitamin to name a few

22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing, if any? I always do some light warmups/hand and arm stretches

23. Do you use different layer modes? Yes ofc, great shortcut for shading and lighting

24. Do your references include stock images? I don't have like, a set reference folder, I just google what I need. So yeah, that usually includes stock images!

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by? Scott Pilgrim

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended? I don't post enough for this to happen to me B)

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with? I warm up with spirals, connect the dots, and snake in a basket

28. Any art events you have participated in the past (like zines) nope :\

29. Media you love, but doesn't inspire you artistically? Oxymoronic. Everything I love inspires me

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated? I DON'T POST ENOUGH FOR THIS but my color study self-portrait was really good

[just-your-average-cryptid]

I feel like the reason some fandoms get so hostile and cannibalize each other over ship wars and callout chains is that they’ve stalled their “complex media analysis” growth.

I mean think about it. Most kid’s shows deal with pretty simple concepts like “sharing is good!” and “lying is wrong!”, very black and white takes on very easy-to-understand issues. There’s some notable exceptions, especially in more teen-focused media (ATLA being a prime example for genocide and the complex reality of war,) but generally speaking everything is surface-level escapism with easy morals.

Compare that to more “adult” media and the mindset is wildly different. The themes are way more complex, the morals are grayer and blurrier, there’s symbolism and metaphors and all that good deep-level stuff.

Crucially, though, the latter requires you to engage with it beyond observation.

If you’ve been in online fandom spaces, especially on (shudder) Twitter, you’ve seen the damage of “the curtains were just blue!” So many people just refuse to engage with media beyond the surface level. Everything is escapism, because what other purpose do stories serve? And in that mindset, anything complex or gray means you support those actions and ideas, because you’re escaping to a world where this happens. Media is supposed to turn your brain off for a bit, not force you to grapple with the horrors of our society and question the views you uphold. Analysis is to find the One True Interpretation and lord it over everyone else.

In case you couldn’t tell, that last bit was sarcastic.

So you have a bunch of people only looking at the surface level and only engaging with the material as entertainment, as something you watch for fun and nothing else.

This isn’t to say this is all of fandom - for my fellow good omens fans, please keep analyzing every second for more devastating fascinating details. But I’ve seen enough secondhand complaints from people I follow and screenshots to know this is a real issue for a lot of online fandoms.

No, a character doing a Bad Thing does not inherently mean the author/creator supports the bad thing. Yes, even if the protagonist does it.

Neither characters nor real people are purely good or evil. Stop trying to make that true, it never will be.

On that note, sometimes very nice-looking people do horrible things and still act nicely to others. Sometimes people who seem very cold are the kindest you’ll ever meet. First impressions are not the full picture, in fiction or reality.

(Abusers are very, very good at seeming like such nice people to everyone else.)

Yeah, some stories are just brainless entertainment. But you should still be critical - actually critical, not criticizing, there’s a huge difference - of what you see and what you think. Sometimes it IS that deep. And writers love when you notice the breadcrumbs! It means they did their jobs well :)

If you’re not sure where to start, try stuff like this:

What visuals or ideas are repeated? Could it be a symbol or motif?

Why does this action seem “out of character?” Is there anything from their past/background that might provide context to what they did? (Tbf, this one can just as easily be “we don’t care about continuity, this is a Marvel movie”)

What is the arc for this character? How do they change or evolve? Alternatively, why don’t they change?

What real-world issues could this be a proxy for? What does it say about the creator’s views?

[wander-wren]

one thing i’m really excited for in Three of Swords (po3 rewrite) is figuring out how to balance fanon and canon interpretations of characters. especially since i have to choose which fanon interpretations to use!

i got into warriors around what i’m unofficially dubbing the middle age, bc i like naming things, it’s fun. this coming after the golden age of the fandom, yknow, firestar doesnt like waffles and sss warrior cats and emo scourge and cringe ocs. to my eyes, the fandom culture after that was focused on improving art (better animation and art and fanfic overall, i remember a ton of guides on how to avoid common fanfic mistakes) but still had a lot of the same trappings of early fandom. especially in the opinions about characters—remember everyone hating dovewing and loving ivypool?

then in the past few years its like things have shifted. the demographic as a whole feels older now, but maybe that’s just me—i don’t know how popular wc is with the current eleven year olds. but i’ve seen a lot of “x character deserved better” and “i was wrong about y character” type sentiments (i was one of them! sorry, dovewing). some of the same topics keep being retread, but the consensus on them has changed. there’s probably an essay in there somewhere.

but back to Three of Swords. i haven’t actually reread po3 in a while (it’s on my list, lol), so all my own thoughts are also colored by nostalgia and years of fanon. i have a lot of space here to explore breezepelt, since the story will be windclan-centric, and i have to decide what to keep from canon and from fanon, as well as deciding what role i want him to play. i want to make the Three a little scarier, more powerful and more mystical, really set apart from their clanmates, but i don’t want to lose too much of their canon personalities.

even starclan could go several ways. are they malevolent, benevolent? powerful or incompetent? with crowfeather now being the three’s mother and nightcloud being present but not directly a parent, how does that change their characters? i still think crowfeather was absolutely unprepared to be a parent to breezepelt, but the circumstances are wildly different now.

and what about onestar and firestar? with the three in windclan and firestar still receiving the kin of kin prophecy, how long will it take to put together, and what does that do to clan relations? what version of onestar do i even want to write, with how inconsistent he is?

and i’ve said it before, i’ll say it again: what the hell am i supposed to do with sol? i definitely want him to play a bigger role, but i’m still throwing around ideas as to how to do that and how he ties into the larger dark forest plot.

the final thing i’m really adamant about is portraying these cats as, well, young. nightcloud, crowfeather, leafpool, and squirrelflight all started the new prophecy as apprentices. in my rewrite, by the time the Three are born they’ve only been warriors (or medicine cats) for 4-5 moons. that makes them adults for a little less than a year by the time the Three are apprenticed, which is when i’m thinking of starting Three of Swords unless i can think of something interesting to do in their kithood.

they’re very young and have had really tumultuous apprenticeships/early adulthoods, and that’s not stopping anytime soon. the Three are incredibly young, and every individual thing they deal with would be a lot, but all of it? i know the fandom view on hollyleaf specifically has been shifting from this sort of badass murder queen to the scared, confused kid making bad choices she was, and i want to write about that. and give lionblaze a character beyond “fighty man goes dark side.” and give jayfeather a character other than “grumpy snark. also is blind.”

annnnd this got away from me oops. happy anniversary. i have a love-hate relationship with po3 because it’s got SO MUCH happening but also NOTHING happening.

[bookwyrminspiration]

i am thinking about the fifth season too now. man i would love to experience THAT book all over again... i think i read it last year and it immediately became top 3 alongside gideon the ninth and a place for us (by fatima farheen mirza) just because. the sheer. everything of it all. those three books changed the ENTIRE game for me in what is possible in stories, in the ways they're told and what they're told about. it's--also SO off track here and i do not mean to add more books to your tbr 😭😭 common experience any time i read a book i will pull out ten more books and be like WOW JUST LIKE ALL OF THESE but--it's about earthquakes, and fear, and a world where everything ended and nothing exists anymore but the people and earthquakes and fear, and cycles and love and probably imperialism etc etc. i could probably talk about it forever but mostly i just want to read it again i am slapping it onto the train in my brain with a sticky note. it's such a powerful story, and everyone and everything is so flawed and that is what makes them so beautiful, i genuinely don't know how else to describe it. anyway yes. stories that play with timelines are SO MUCH FUN when you do it right and i have not gotten far in this one but they definitely seem to be going in a very good direction, and also stories that are confusing are even more fun if you let yourself get swept up in all of it so i shall be doing that! who needs to understand things when the evocation of feelings exists 👍 will definitely report back as i go!

No no you don't need to apologize, I specifically started a section of my books spreadsheet so that my TBR could grow wildly out of control, you're more than welcome to continue adding to it. Because those kinds of books are exactly the kind I'm looking for--of course I still have fun reading other series, but every so often you want one that just hits. That challenges how you understand and tell stories. And a chorus of dragons and black sails both did that for me. It was like wait a fucking minute we can do that?? And then when they challenge how you understand and see the world...Babel has changed how I interpret and understand the impact of other books on me it's like I gained a new color. And then there's also the kind where you kinda just exist alongside the story, and it's nothing huge and dramatic but it's profound and it holds its hand out to you in a peaceful offer to wander through it...Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto was such an experience. I make no promises, but the fifth season is on my radar now :)

if I think about the stories that stand out too hard I will explode (In a good way). But anyway! Back to timelines and acod! I think the series goes in a wonderful direction, though the timeline switching I think is best in book 1. It doesn't really do that later in favor of switching between povs of different characters instead, which the variety and intrigue of the characters makes up for it, I think.

And yeah!! It's one of those stories where you just wanna let yourself be swept up in it!! if you try and dissect it too hard immediately you'll just give yourself a headache because there's so much and also. You don't have all the information you need to do that. I found that just going with it you figure out like 95% of things--sometimes I had to back up and be like okay wait let me read that again. But the author does a pretty good job most of the time of subtly but clearly explaining things to you if they're likely to slip under your notice. Summarizing things and laying things out when needed, reminding you of things you might've forgotten. And with time you understand things that would've turned you in SO many loops in the beginning. Though I must confess it wasn't until I finished the series i realized usigi was a style of underwear. So you might not pick up on everything

anyway! I am So tempted to reread them just to experience it alongside you again but also. I know I have so many other books to read. but also...a chorus of dragons...they make me FERAL god it's like my brain shuts down AND goes into overdrive

[fang11803]

Wrow Colleen i sure am glad you reblogged that artist questions list three times today. I'm sure all of your followers and mutuals have already flooded your inbox with numbers, because its really easy to just click on a blog and type a single number into someone's ask box and hit the submit button, thus giving you the illusion that you aren't screaming into a void, but i just GOTTA KNOW what your answers would be for EVERY QUESTION, please.

Golly random anon, I'd be happy to do that. In fact, this will be the only ask I'll answer out of the windfall of messages in my inbox, because it's so convenient to have allllllll the answers on one post instead of many individual posts. How helpful of you.

1. Art programs you have but don't use: I've had a program on my computer for a while that lets you draw only in hexagons. It's neat but has limited uses.

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left, right, or center: Left.

3. What ideas come from when you were little: Well, Fang is my oldest oc, so anything having to do with her. I had a lot of cool ideas about werewolves when i was 12.

4. Fav character/subject that is a bitch to draw: I like plants a lot, especially Weird Plants(tm). The issue is when it comes to making a bunch of foliage for a background, i end up making everything look too samey or too busy.

5. How much of your art do you post online vs. Keep to yourself: I keep 90% of it to myself now for two reasons. 1) little to no feedback on pieces i worked hard on. 2) number 2 is personal but related to number 1.

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously: music, probably. Music affects my mood which affects what i want to draw.

7. A medium of art you dont work in but appreciate: Anytuing related to sculpture. From ceramics to metal work that stuff is cool af.

8. What's an old art project idea that you've lost interest in: when i was about 22 i had this idea for a comic series that was just me illustrating dreams from my journal. I didn't get very far because i didn't think people would enjoy it.

9. What are your file name conventions: up until I save the final draft it's called whatever, but after I'm done I usually do title_year_intendedUse

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw: Jackets. Or those skirt things i made up for world building purposes.

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing: Sometimes, usually music.

12. Easiest part of the body to draw: Hands.

13. Skip. Unnecessary drama starter.

14. Any favorite motifs: i love celestial bodies and floating crystals. And eyes.

15. *where* do i draw: at home. On my bed or at my desk.

16. Something you are good at but don't really have fun doing: Clouds imo. They sure are there. In the sky.

17. Do you eat/drink while drawing: No thats messy

18. An estimate of how much art supplies you've broken: ive worn out two drawing tablets and dried out much acrylic paint.

19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw: jewelry

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy: architecture and interiors in perspective. I don't bother most of the time, but i really enjoy it when i take the time. It's like a puzzle.

21. Art styles nothing like your own, but you like anyways: pixel artists are Next Level Coolness

22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing: i do wrist stretches

23. Do you use different layer modes: yes? Work smart party hard.

24. Do your references include stock images: if i can't draw the thing i google it and upload all the results directly into my brain and then hopefully i can draw it afterwards.

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by: one time someone saw a picture of Bill and asked why I drew a genderbend of that green haired girl from code geass, which I had never heard of at that point.

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended: have you ever been part of an art pipeline where you hand your drawing off to be digitally inked, and the other artist completely misinterprets the facial expressions you gave the characters, because this has happened on several occasions!

27. Do you warm up (etc): No oh my god.

28. Any art events you have participated in in the past: ive participated in a zine and a few game jams.

29. Media you love but doesn't inspire you artistically: most podcasts. I don't really draw anything for podcasts.

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated: i once did a big painting of Korra and Raava in a field of stars that i thought was beautiful but nobody else seemed to like it. I want to get it framed someday.

[tunedtostatic]

just saw your recent post, I'm so sorry things are awful. sending hugs if you want them ❤️ in terms of podcast asks, go through your Spotify and assign characters to your fave songs? if the mood takes you, you could also explain why x song equals x character? 💕✨

another podcast ask - explain your song choices for your tscosi playlists (which I fully intend to check out), if that would be distracting? 💕

Thank you ❤️❤️

I’ve been thinking about these asks when I listen to music this week (distraction indeed!)

Okay I’m going to go in reverse order because question one is harder (in a fun way!). Tracks that remind me of a character usually get popped right onto a fanmix, so I'll need to think more creatively about The Vibes of other music I'm listening to when I get there.

~

So far I’ve finished posting five TSCOSI mixes - three for the three canon ships, and the first two in the series I'm doing for each of the Rumor crew - plus I’m going to include the next character mix because I actually finished the cover and got it onto Spotify/YouTube the other week! and just haven't had a chance to put things together for its post for Tumblr yet.

I'm going to pick a couple of tracks from each of them, and either flail about the "How was this not LITERALLY written about blorbo from my shows" of it all for the more literal ones, or write about what I was thinking for the others.

Campathi

Murder Of Birds (Undressed album version) - Jesca Hoop and Guy Garvey

I’m not a bird, I’m a murder of birds Shifting my shape  When your tongue forms the words

Most of the tracks I put on this mix apply in a very, uh, literal way to the contrasts between Sana and Campbell (Head in the Clouds by Krameri has “I’ve got my head in the clouds/And you’ve got your feet on the floor…”) This one is more of an attempted deep cut about Sana, and it's one of a couple from this one I put on my fanmix for her as well. Sana is, as we know, one of the less transparent characters in the show, despite her captainly sleight of hand making her seem open. She's warm, and strong, but there's also a lot of mystery and mess going on under the hood. Getting close to her probably is like watching a flock of birds shift and merge into different shapes, like the narrator of the song.

Plus, a lot of the other lyrics are back to being very literal Campathi vibes...danger and home and home-baked bread and twisted thread…

Home to Me - Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

How dare you love me like you’ve never known fear You’ve got more troubles than minutes in the year

[gestures wildly at them]

Brian/Krejjh

Nowhere to Go (Acoustic Live Session version) - Hurricane Love

I recommended this song to a friend (independent of anything fandom-related); friend had also osmosed just a little about TSCOSI from me and the internet. When I mentioned that I was putting the song on my fanmix for a TSCOSI ship, she immediately was all "Yessss, folk music for a space fugitive couple on the run!" In other words, it definitely has the vibes.

I particularly like it as a track for Brian/Krejjh since, without this necessarily being the only interpretation, the lyrics have strong overlap with Songs About Closing Time At A Bar ("And we got nowhere to go, as the fire's burning low/I can see it in your eyes you want to leave"). Since Brian/Krejjh meet on Neuzo where Brian is a bartender, I like that this track has a combo of "Dramatically on the run? Closing time at a bar? Both??"

With You - Valerie June

And if I should fall so deep and true And if I should fall so deep and true May it be with you

🥲

Vikady

Outlaws - Lizzie No

I had a dream we were on a sinking ship Laughing at the black water while everyone was jumping in I woke up happier than I'd ever been But I, I wished I knew you better Better than I did

This is a song I want to shove forth every time someone on Tumblr complains that There's No Outlaw Country/Folk These Days. (I have a family member who waitressed in a country music bar decades ago; can confirm that conservative pop country has never been outlaw country! Look beyond pop country radio, people!) Coincidentally it also works Really Well as a Vikady song.

You hold a gun like a fist in your right hand Cause it kept you company across the sunken lands But you say it's no good for a man to be alone Walkin barefoot on the logging road Turned you to stone

It's Cool (We're Cool, Everything's Cool) - Lula Wiles

But I don't even really like you Which makes it weird that I love you

But it's cool! And we're cool! And everything's cool!

That early Vikady vibe. 😝

(I'm also inordinately pleased with the combination of If She Ever Leaves Me with I Get The Feeling near the end of the fanmix since I'm still smug about what I did there. :)

Sana

Sinking Ships - Krameri

And all this time, I have been losing grip On sinking ships under blue seas And all this time, I was swimming all alone In the darkest ocean

It's sad about Sana o'clock. :(

I Don't Like You Or Your Band - Kate Rhudy

Your cigarettes, your leather shoes You, your friends, and your middle-class white boy blues You've become something I can't stand Don't even miss holding your hand And I don't like you or your band

Needed a Ricky Q shoutout in there somewhere. :)

Arkady

100 Rooms - Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

And if I had an evil plan To make you want me and let you down I wouldn't do the things I did Got all wrapped up, now I can't get out

LOL. LMAO. LOL.

Stolen Roses - Karen Elson

Spotify randomly recommended me this when I was already a good way through making Arkady's, and it's one I now think of when I see that "When you're listening to a song thinking 'How did they get all the references to blorbo from my shows right'" post, because…wow. Only thing that could possibly make it moreso would be if the ""reference"" to the Rumor was "where the stolen mint grows" rather than "roses." I suppose one can't have everything. ;)

There once was a time when I was a girl That darkness hung in my sky I was old before I learned to be young Stone cold til I learned how to cry

Brian

Miri It Is Whil Sumer Ilast

Take it away Wikipedia:

Middle English [M]irie it is while sumer ilast with fugheles song. oc nu necheth windes blast and w[ed]er strong. Ey ey what this nicht [is] long. And ich with wel michel wrong soregh and murne and [fast.]

Modern English Merry it is while summer lasts With fowl’s song. But now nears the wind’s blast And weather strong. Oh, oh! How this night is long! And I with very much wrong Sorrow and mourn and fast.[6][7]

"It is one of the oldest songs in the English language, and one of the few examples of non-liturgical music from medieval England.[1] The manuscript was found together with two old French songs in a book of Psalms in the Bodleian Library. It was rediscovered at the end of the 19th century and made accessible to experts in 1901. It was arranged and published in a modern form for the first time by Frank Llewellyn Harrison.[2]

"The text and melody are incomplete on a single, damaged manuscript page, which, together with the somewhat ambiguous notation, makes it difficult to reconstruct the song in whole. It is unclear whether the song originally contained additional lines or stanzas, which Harrison considers probable,[3] nor can the final word be conclusively determined.[2]" - Miri It Is Whil Sumer Ilast on Wikipedia

Apart from the obvious (Medieval Dwarnian's nonexistence notwithstanding I can put Old/Middle English tracks on there!) I picked this one to be the first track on Brian's mix because, when you think about it, Brian is the only human member of the Rumor crew to have experienced multiple years of relatively stable adulthood before the war and the IGR. I think that really jumps out in his early conversations with Violet, where he's horrified on her behalf that she was a college freshman when everything started happening.

It also works as a tiny reference to "So when do we worry" "Oh it'll be clear when :)"

The Parting Glass - version by Henry Jamison and Darlingside

But since it falls unto my lot That I should rise and you should not I'll gently rise and I'll softly call Good night and joy be with you all

When I was putting together Brian's fanmix it hit me for the first time that the core of Brian's season one arc is his grief for Alvy. For me it's easy to pull to mind his first conversation befriending Violet, his relationship with Krejjh, and how central his vocation is to the whole nanoswarm-language-communication plot and theme of the season. But Brian's own emotional throughline is really about processing his grief for his friend, isn't it?

I figured his mix needed a focus on grief, and at least one track explicitly about grief. That was surprisingly hard to find, since most of the songs I could find were explicitly about the artist's grief for a specific person, so those would have felt tacky to put on a character fanmix.

Finally I realized that as a folk music listener making a fanmix for a podcast with folk music, it was right in front of of my nose - okay maybe not everyone knows The Parting Glass but it's pretty well-enduring. I was originally tetchy about adding it because of the "And all the harm that e'er I did/alas it was to none but me" lyric, since over the course of the show Brian helps with a lot of murdering without seeming to regret it, including in vengeance for Alvy's death (I never said his grief processing ended well), but filing that under "not every track has to fit the character perfectly."

Brian also fills the archetypal role of the heart of the crew in so many ways, so seems like it especially fits to have a historic drinking with friends song on his mix.

[eirianerisdar]

The Silm fandom (esp on Tumblr) diverges WILDLY from canon. From various ships (Russingon, Silvergifting, Angbang, etc) to the general woobifying interpretations of characters (Sauron, Feanor, etc), this 'discourse' is downright lauded in the same circles that now decry the specific story beats we're getting from the Rings of Power show. Why do you think this is?

I'm sorry, anon. But no.

Fandom is quintessentially divergent. A ship doesn't have to be canon; people can ship whatever they want. They can ship Celebrimbor with a personified ring of power for all I care. There are reasons some ships are squicky, but the good thing about fandom is you can just...not read or interact with the things that you find squicky.

As for woobification, nearly every writer or artist has their own interpretation of a character, not to mention AUs. Everyone knows what Sauron is like in canon, but though I personally find the Sauron and Celebrimbor ship squicky for manifold reasons, I don't think it's too difficult to step back and let ships be ships, and for the bending of certain character traits for it to happen. Nobody seriously believes that canon sauron as Tolkien imagined it loved Celebrimbor in that way. But making an AU, reworking, is what a transformative work is.

And that's just it - FANDOM. TRANSFORMATIVE WORKS. FANFICTION. FANART. All of it is different from canon, and any person producing it is aware of that fact.

The reason why specific story beats of the new show are being decried is because Amazon marketed this as a portrayal of canon.

We were not asking for a documentary, no, as the heads of the show so flatteringly portrayed us in the Vanity Fair article; but we wished that, within reason, certain character traits were kept, and certain aspects of Tolkien's lore would be respected.

If they had marketed this as an inspired story or alternate universe, it wouldn't have been an issue.

Every fan who writes an AU declares it so.

But would seem Amazon is producing a show that is very much an AU, and prefers to call it a liberal interpretation instead of the truth, in favour of cashing in.

So no, Anon. It is not hypocritical in the least for AU-writing, non-canon shipping fans to decry Amazon's new series.

Am I disappointed to some extent? Yes. But will I be watching it? Yes. Am I still somewhat excited? Also yes.