#honestly a brilliant idea if only i could execute it

[cowboyhorsegirl]

how do i send all my drafts to my queueue

[lightbluetown]

i saw some people say ed and zheng are master strategists while stede is just some guy with ridiculous luck, but i think that's unfair. sure stede's ideas are insane, but they fit the looney tunes ass universe of ofmd perfectly. they're mostly well-thought-out, well-executed and they showcase stede's strengths and growth! so allow me to talk about them:

1- ghost of the forest - 1x02

a fuckery™ before stede even knows what a fuckery™ is! this is amateurish and stupid in every way. he's not even threatening izzy with a real dagger-- that's a letter opener. does izzy actually believe that stede has a huge crew hiding behind the bushes? doubt it! but this weird little act is enough to establish stede as a (ridiculous) pirate figure to the legendary izzy hands and to accomplish his goal of taking a hostage back

2- lighthouse - 1x04

imagine coming up with the exact same idea at the exact same time as the most brilliant tactician of the seven seas! we don't know who came up with which parts of the plan (honestly it was probably mostly ed) but this is still bloody impressive

3- stark revelations - 1x05

stede's first big success! he uses his knowledge of the aristocratic world to get a shipful of rich assholes to destroy each other, but he's also showcasing what sets him apart from them: this plan only comes to fruition because stede talks to frenchie, olu and abshir as equals. as people he can learn from, as sources of inspiration

4- duel with izzy - 1x06

this one was absolutely unhinged, but its success was far from dumb luck. only stede could think of using a brazillian cherry wood mast and ed's weird stabbing lesson to win a duel, and that's what makes this plan so undeniably stede and brilliant

5- faking his death - 1x10

i love that he just had to "die" in the most dramatic way possible. a heroic fight (tiger), a realistic accident (carriage) and the most cartoony death in the book (piano)... not only is his triple-death able to convince everyone in barbados that he's dead for good, it also allows him to have closure with his family. it's filled with stede's ridiculous unique flair, but it's designed to be a fuckery™ through and through. ed would be SO proud

6- stealing jackie's indigo dye - 2x01

quick little stealth mission. did ricky manipulate stede into trying this out? sure. did ricky also ruin it? absolutely. but it was working until then! the swede isn't part of stede's crew at this point, but his respect for stede is what gets him to cooperate and risk his relationship with his beautiful wife. also, it's thanks to his love for fine things that stede immediately recognizes the value of "blue dirt"

7- prison break - 2x03

in my eyes no scene depicts stede's growth better than this one. knocking zheng's entire crew out with tea is the most stede thing out there, and this plan uses the cherry wood mast as well! this plan relies on stede's (unrealistic) tea knowledge, overly-fancy ship and ability to coordinate his crew. what makes it breathtaking is that he secretly sets this plan into motion while actively mourning the "death" of the love of his life. he's putting his life on the line to rescue ed's "killers" because he's emotionally mature enough to look at things from their perspective and forgive them

8- inciting a mutiny - 2x06

yet another brilliant plan that could only be executed by stede. this entire episode revolves around his idea of "turning poison into positivity" and here he, well, fights poison with positivity. stede captains his pirates with respect and care (best he can) which just so happens to be the opposite of ned. he exploits this and gently gets ned's crew to turn on him. he singlehandedly saves himself and his entire crew from a notorious pirate! oh he also literally invents walking the plank right after this

9- "it's only suicide if we die" - 2x08

okay, yes, this one didn't go that well (sorry iz). but it's not like ed, zheng or anyone else had any other ideas! stede's weird suicide mission, for the most part, worked. they needed to get through british soldiers to reach their ship and they did exactly that. if only they'd remembered to check if ricky had his gun... oh well, you live and you learn

sure, ed and zheng are legends and stede is a silly newbie with wild luck. but he's also quick-witted, creative, confident and brave! he's a damn good captain and he deserves to be recognized as a good strategist!

[spaceorphan18]

More thoughts on XM97 - because of course I have more thoughts...

Doing some more reflection, because this is what I do during hyperfixation, apparently.

It helps to write things down and get them out of my head, I suppose. Honestly, it'll be nice to get past the last episode, because then I can compartmentalize and just push the thing away until season 2 (if the finale gives me any reason to want to come back).

DeMayo went on another tweeting spree (I just keep an eye on these things because I get curious) and during this particular bout, I feel like I've got somethings clarified. And I think my own personal frustrations come down to - the ideas of writing and creating vs fan expectations.

Overall, I do think that XM97 is a solidly good (or at least entertaining) show. The animation is good. The voice cast is good. And the ideas they are using, in theory, are more adult and mature and nuanced than the original kids' show ever was (which, I'll give TAS some credit - dug deeper a lot of times when most kids' cartoons of the time didn't).

One of the biggest issues for me has been execution. First of all, the show is way too short for the amount they're trying to pack in here. It almost feels like they wanted to do everything on their wishlist because if they didn't, they wouldn't get the chance to do it. And it feels, muddied... They really needed a full season to unpack a lot of this.

The thing about Rogue and Gambit's story.... I get the 'kill your darlings' strategy of writing. In fact, I agree that good stories are messy and have conflict and you should always put your heroes through the worst. I feel like there was a better way to do the story (I believe) they're telling.

I don't think Magneto needed to be a part of it at all, and the triangle just feels... forced in a lot of ways. I understand that they went there to give Remy some heartbreak along the way, but I truly believe the two of them, with their own issues, and the two of them being in an undefined relationship with complicated issues over touch -- still could have resulted in compelling TV, and still would kept the devastation of Gambit's death.

Episode 5 is still my favorite, and despite my distaste for the whole Magneto side of it, I think the writing there was top notch, and still the best this show has been. I get, though, that they wanted to have Rogue and Gambit "break up" for the impact to hit harder, for Rogue to feel much more guilt once he died, for that last line to be even more heartbreaking.

So, the easiest route was to add the Magneto of it all. Episode 5 is brilliant in a vacuum. But in greater context there are other ways you can get there. And, no, Magneto wasn't ultimately needed. Rogue still could have had regrets, there still could have been heartbreak, there are always things you just don't say before a tragedy.

The thing about it, had they set this up correctly, and in a way that was more satisfying and didn't involve third parties? You may have gotten way more of the Rogue and Gambit fans on board. (And I'll get to the fan side of this in a second.)

See, TAS flirted with Rogue and Gambit's romance but never pushed it too far. Not only was it a kids' show, but Rogue probably would have never had her powers under control and it just was never going to go that far. Meanwhile, the comics have moved way beyond where TAS was. Rogue and Gambit's relationship has evolved a lot in thirty years - way past the tragedy, past the will-they/won't-they, past the break ups and reunions, and in the comics, Rogue and Gambit are a relatively healthy (for a comic book couple) couple of best friends and old marrieds. They're story is so far beyond what they once were that going back to TAS feels... odd.

So, the show starting in this place where TAS left off feels awkward in a lot of ways. There's a lot of expectations layered onto this show, but the show -- being limited by external factors, can't really handle all of it.

I don't think the first few episodes of the show did enough to show the sheer strength of Rogue and Gambit's connection and relationship. And part of that was time and part of that is because it's a sequel to a show set thirty years ago and part of it is time compression and part of it is the writing wanting to leave some vague open-endedness to the relationship so that Episode 5 could work.

And thus Episode 5 feels a bit jarring. It's way more a mature script. There's much more going on in those relationships that we haven't seen set up. Not really. And it's almost relying too much on - things that were mildly set up in the original and the heavy history of the comics.

Which leads me to what has happened afterwards. I think that in a world sans the Magneto of it all, you still get a Rogue who is absolutely heartbroken over the loss of her love. She would still go dark. She would still seek vengeance. She would still wrap herself up in that trench coat and wreck havoc on everyone until she ultimately succumbed to her own grief and eventually dealt with it in one way or the other.

(The part that I just don't agree with -- besides giving up the trench coat, which I know is symbolic in gesture -- is her running off to play Colossus in Fatal Attractions. Which, again, is why they did add the Magneto of it all, but I'm digressing.)

Anyway, this leads me to the fan expectations, and why it does feel so raw for a lot of us. Rogue and Gambit have never really had their time to shine. The films are full of mischaracterizations and limited (very limited) appearances. The other TV shows never let the relationship shine. And even in the comics it felt like forever for the X-Office to take them seriously.

This TV show felt like an opportunity to start fresh. To be excited about something. To get behind the characters we love and celebrate them. We can still break their hearts. We can still even kill them off. But give us a reason to care!

But instead of building that relationship with us fans, it went a different route. And now we feel heartbroken and angry, instead of just heartbroken. Gambit fans - who get shit on so often - get one bright of moment of glory before a death that feels somewhat hollow when you start to realize it was in purpose of someone else's story. Rogue fans - have the internet hating her with a passion. It feels like once again - being set up only to fail.

It feels hurtful, even when, I truly believe, that was not the writers' intentions. Make your characters go through hell - yes, but you have to have your audience on your side to make it impactful.

I don't really know where the show goes from here. There's either going to be closure or a cliffhanger. What I'd really like, though, is some sort of hope.

Because I get real life sucks. And I get that we often reflect in our fiction that it does. But we're talking about a cartoon about superheroes. We're talking about escapism at its finest. I love complicated and messy and nuanced and sometimes even heartbreaking stories -- but I also want something that makes it all worth while.

There is still one episode left, and I'm curious as to where it's going to go. Because at the end of the day, X-Men has always been about hope, too.

[expectopatronum18]

Let me just say it, jkr is brilliant at writing friendships and individual characters but absolute shit at writing romance. None of the main ships were well written, the side ones were much better, though probably because we don't have enough info for them to be ruined

Ships I like :

Bill and Fleur - 💯💯💯 second best ship in the books imo

Molly and Arthur - for some reason the fandom hates this ship. U need to be a solid team to pull off a family of 7 kids ( especially with 6 boys). They also clearly love each other, they even call each other cute nicknames. What's not to like?

Dumbledore and Grindelwald - this is going to bring me hate, but they're my fav couple in the whole series. I don't need a couple to be morally good to appreciate the pairing. Probably the only well written one because they're both fleshed out as characters. Their relationship only makes them more complex and interesting than they already are.

Ships I dislike :

Harry and Ginny - The protagonist's love story was a disappointment. Ginny could have been such an interesting character, instead she was made into the boring 'perfect girl tm' just to become Harry's 'ideal partner'. She's basically made into a female version of james without his flaws being called out. Harry's 'chest monster' was cringe asf, sounded like something tht could hv been picked out of Twilight 😂😂

Ron and Hermione - i like the idea of them, but i don't think it was executed well. That bird attack practically made its appeal non existent for me ( i love Hermione but wtf)

James and Lily - we know a lot about James's character but very little about lily despite the fact that they're both dead before the series starts. James hexing Snape behind Lily's back doesn't set a good precedent, seeing as they get married the very next yr. Lily almost smiling at Snape's underpants being exposed is never addressed when Harry's being critical about james. To me it honestly feels lyk shipping james with a ghost as we know nothing substantial about lily.

PS: I also really appreciate the fact that Sirius was never paired up with anyone. He was far too broken and rebellious and traumatized. He had different priorities and I m so glad his character wasn't forced into one. Single characters for the win, they're such a rarity in fiction

[ariadnelives]

AMARU - A SHORT STORY

Author’s note: This story is to celebrate Pilar Spacebreather’s birthday, July 17th, 2605! The bulk of it takes place on her 19th birthday, some months after “Cryptocracy.” The ending takes place shortly before “Force Majeure.”

Pilar turned the pin over in her hand, running her finger over the cold silver and smooth, colorful enamel. At first glance, she’d thought the gift was to give her another gay accessory to pin to her jacket, but on closer inspection, the bright rainbow had what appeared to be a brilliant gold medallion shining in the center.

“What is it?” She asked. “The gold circle in the middle.”

“It’s the Cusco flag,” Beam explained excitedly. “I’ve been talking Baltimore’s ear off about this for weeks. It’s a bit personal, and it takes some explaining, so I wanted to give it to you before the big party. You know, sister to sister.”

Beam had always been an only-child, and this was Pilar’s first birthday since she’d adopted Beam as an elder sister, so she was excited to dote on her. Pilar could already see that Beam had two more gifts wrapped and poorly hidden behind her back, but she was in no rush to end this bonding moment.

The pin was beautiful, Pilar couldn’t deny, but she was nonetheless confused. “And Cusco is…?”

“It’s a city on Earth-- don’t make that face,” Beam said, before Pilar even had a chance to make a face. “It’s in Peru, the city where my parents were born. My aunts and uncles still live there. I may have grown up halfway across the world, but this is my home, and my family… and it’s yours too.”

Pilar smiled. She never thought she’d be happy to receive a token of a city on Earth. She’d been an unflinching red-blooded daughter of the red planet for all of her nineteen years, with no interest whatsoever in the planet they’d had to fend off multiple invasions from.

“Thank you, Beam, I love it,” she said, and hugged Beam tight. “You can’t know what it means to me that you’ve welcomed me into your family.”

Beam smiled. “But it’s not… just that, Pilar,” Beam said. “I mean, it’s not just yours because you and I are, you know, sisters now. It’s always been yours. You’ve had so much taken away from you, I just wanted to give you something back.”

Pilar smiled again. “When we met, I mentioned that my grandparents emigrated from a Unión Sudamericana.”

“And you said you didn’t know where, I remember,” Beam said, “but I did. I recognized something familiar in your accent, and I tried to fish for information, and when you told me you had no idea where your family was from, it… honestly, babe, it broke my heart. I’d never been in Big Sister Mode before so I didn’t even realize I was shifting into it, but god, I felt for you.”

Pilar smiled wistfully. She remembered having been a bit curt with Beam when she asked about her heritage, and she had assumed at the time that Beam had politely let the subject drop, she never expected her to follow up on it.

The truth was, it was honestly a bit of a sore spot for her. Her grandparents had all died when she was very young-- natural causes, nothing as traumatic as her parents’ execution-- and she’d been too young at the time to know to ask them for information. When her parents were killed, they were on Earth for business. She and Sasha were left without a home, and she suddenly realized how little she’d known about her family as people, and how she now had no way of ever asking them those questions.

A lot of Pilar’s life had been spent trying to find some connection to her past, her family, and her culture. She dressed and styled herself like her late father, and Sasha often told her she even sounded like him when she spoke. If pressed, she would even admit that this is part of why she was so staunch in her Martian patriotism. It was, after all, the only cultural identity she had left.

“So,” Beam said, “when we got back to Earth, I started on a little… project. You told me your original name. María del Pilar Aguilar Amaru, and then Sasha is Sachasisa Anita Aguilar Amaru. That cinched it for me that you guys were Peruvian, Sasha’s name being Quechua. I did some digging on those last names, and found immigration records matching those surnames, in the same decade your grandparents came to Mars.”

This stunned Pilar into silence. It had never occurred to her that there might actually be records on her family she could look into.

“It looks like your mother’s family and your father’s family knew each other before they moved to Mars.”

“It’s how my parents met,” Pilar said, “they grew up together, they were best friends as children.”

“You know how Mars is, there’s more Latinos here than in all of Latin America,” Beam laughed, “few hundred years ago, we saw another round of conquistadors coming and half of us got out of dodge, and the other half dug in their heels and said ‘you won’t get me out of my home without a fight.’ Those two groups maintained ties to one another, which is why Mars will always accept refugees fleeing Earth. The Martians sent any support they could to the resistance on Earth. There were strongholds, in the mountains, of Indigenous Resistance, independent from Earth’s control.”

Pilar loved the sound of this, but it was short-lived.

“Just before your grandparents came here, the last of these communities was located and forced out,” Beam said, “it looks like your family came here because they had lost their home, and faced death back on Earth. Mars welcomed them, and they built a home there. It’s what Mars has always stood for”

“They were Peruvian,” Pilar said, repeating the words three or four times just to celebrate the fact that she could. “My family… they were Peruvian.”

Beam produced the second of the three gifts, a small but heavy parcel. “Unwrap it,” she said, “I think you’ll appreciate this one.”

Pilar complied, she couldn’t wait to see where Beam was going with it. Inside was a small metal statue of a man with long hair and an intense gaze, resting on a book with a portrait of the same man on it.

“Amaru?” Pilar asked. “Is this a relative of mine too?”

“Túpac Amaru? I mean, that’d be awesome, but I doubt it,” Beam laughed. “He fought and died for the Indigenous peoples, to free them from colonial rule. inspired billions. You’ll read all about it in the book, my old history professor Dr. Maravi wrote it.”

Pilar ran her finger along the contours of the man’s face. The prominent cheekbones and aquiline nose, so much like her own. It felt like Beam had unlocked a part of her heart that she thought she’d forever lost access to.

“I’d bet your ancestors took on his name because he was a hero of theirs,” Beam said. “It might not be information on your family specifically, but it is their history, and their culture, and I hope it makes you feel connected to them, to us,anyway. And the book’s long as fuck, you’re not gonna run out of history to dig into anytime soon.”

“Beam, this is…” Pilar said, “this is the nicest gift anyone’s ever gotten me.”

Beam grinned as though she had been caught in a prank. “Well, give it a minute.”

“What,” Pilar said anxiously, “why, what have you got planned?!”

Beam produced the third gift, a thin, flat package.

“So, before you open this one, just remember, your parents owned a mom-and-pop grocery, and that most stores stay in business by advertising,” Beam said, “okay now OPEN IT.”

Pilar tore it open and was immediately unable to continue, as she began to cry almost immediately. Her mother’s face stared out at her through the tear in the wrapping paper.

“Here, I’ll help,” Beam jumped in, and pulled the rest of it away. In a sleek black metal frame, was a coupon circular for the NewMo Mercado, proudly advertising it as a family-owned business, with a photo of the precious family who owned it. Her father, looking like he was cut from stone, with his long hair tied back and beaming through a full black beard, his muscular arms exposed by his sleeveless shirt so you could see they were painted in intricate tattoos. He held the hand of a five-year-old Pilar, who was smiling so wide her eyes couldn’t stay open, and his other arm was tightly around the waist of her mother, whose flowing hair was tucked behind her ears, and it was amazing to behold how much the baby in her arms had grown up to look like her.

“Beam, I… Beam!” Pilar couldn’t get out the full sentence. She had no photos of her parents, they had lost everything when they died. She hadn’t seen their faces since before they died. The day-care center they had been left in for a week turned them out onto the streets, and they had no other family to go to. There wasn’t even anyone to hold a funeral for them. By the time they got back to their house, the bank had already staked its claim on it and sold their possessions to cover their parents’ remaining debt on the supermarket, which naturally, the bank had also repossessed ownership of.

Pilar had assumed her parents’ faces now only existed in soft focus, fading with every passing year from her and Sasha’s distant memories. It was now as though Beam had given them back to her.

She embraced Beam and squeezed her so tight it almost hurt, and she was sure she could hear Beam’s spine pop and began to openly sob into her shoulder, expressing her thanks over and over.

“That’s about what I thought,” Beam joked, “that’s why I wanted to give you this one privately. You don’t seem like the type who likes letting people see you cry.”

“How?!” Pilar asked.

“The Free Library Of New Moyamensing has an excellent records department,” Beam explained. “And that little girlfriend of yours was very helpful getting me and Baltimore over the border to page through it. Come on, clean yourself up, we’ve got a party to get to, and I want to see you make Sasha cry with that photo too.”

Six years on, Pilar sat awaiting Ariadne to be done preparing her new tattoo, and read the letter Beam had sent her that year. The letter was written in Quechua, which the two sisters had begun learning together on her 20th birthday. Beam’s mother, a native speaker, had been thrilled at this news, and ever since, they had begun speaking it conversationally among themselves, as well as practicing it in their letters.

Every year, Beam gave Pilar another gift that connected her back to Peru, to the Inca, to her family, and this not only strengthened her newfound love for her culture back on Earth, but her pride in being a Martian, as Mars had offered a lifeline that allowed her family and her heritage to persist even through the latest attempt to stamp it out.

Pilar treasured this connection to her culture and her identity, and being able to share it with family.

The letter informed here of the excellent news from Earth-- a new leader had been appointed to the Council of Sovereign Leaders of the gradually decentralizing government of Earth: the new leader of an autonomous Peru. Evidently, Peace Upendo had pushed for not only the autonomy and self-determination of the region, but also giving authority to the local Indigenous communities, and allowing them to select their own leader to send to the Council of Sovereigns.

She looked over at the framed image of her parents, and to a photograph next to it of herself, with the entire Beam family, both of her sisters and her young nieces, on her previous birthday, when Beam had organized a trip to hike the Andes, and see the ancient ruin of Machupicchu. She looked at the statue of Túpac Amaru on her bookshelf, and wondered what he’d say if he knew that his homeland was, after all these centuries, finally back in the hands of its native people.

“Sorry it took so long,” Ariadne came in, her hands clutching her tattoo gun, “even with augmented eyes, it’s a bit difficult to figure out how to work with invisible ink, on already-tattooed skin.”

“But think of how cool it’s gonna look,” Pilar said, “think of how meaningful it’s gonna be!”

“Yeah, yeah, you know I’m all in favor of you being cool and meaningful and whatever,” Ariadne says, “it doesn’t make it any faster.”

Pilar removed her top completely, and offered her shoulder to Ariadne.

“I remember giving you this spiral,” Ariadne said. “You were so sad you couldn’t remember what your dad’s real tattoo looked like, beyond that it was a spiraling shape. This was as close as we could get from memory.”

“Now I know what it is, and why he got it,” Pilar said. “It was for my mother.”

“I can just use regular ink,” Ariadne said, “turn it into the same basic design. You have a photo of him now, it wouldn’t be hard.”

“No,” Pilar said. “I don’t want to lose the reminder of what was taken from me, or the fact that even with my connection severed, I did my best with what I had.”

Ariadne eyed the special ink she’d had to write her old mentor, Blue, to get her hands on. It was infused with nanotechnology that could interface with Pilar’s nervous system, so that with a thought, she could make it visible.

“Your wish is my command, querida,” Ariadne said, applied the topical numbing lotion Sasha had given her a bottle of for tattooing purposes, and got to work carving the intricate designs into the same skin she’d put the spiral on when they were teenagers. When she was finished, she sprayed Pilar with Sasha’s topical healing spray, waited for it to take effect, and gave Pilar the signal to try it out. Pilar stood up, looked in the mirror, and thought about her father.

Taking the signal from her thoughts, the tattoo lit up a pale, ghostly white. Overlaid over the spiral on her shoulder, an image of Amaru, the serpent that shared its name with the legendary freedom fighter, her mother, and herself.

She smiled, and the tattoo faded back into its old black spiral, the one that had vexed her since she was a child with its only passing resemblance to what she remembered from her childhood.

When she looked at the new tattoo, she could practically feel her father’s strong arms around her, his bellowing laugh, the smell of his cooking. She could hear her mother’s lilting singing voice, the perfume she always wore a little too much of, and her soft hands cupping Pilar’s face.

She wondered how she could ever repay Beam for giving all of this back to her. She had asked her once, two or three years back, and gotten a loud laugh in return.

“Why would you need to repay me? We’re family!” Beam had said. “But if you insist, I do have a couple of hungry kids who I'd love to have a connection to their culture, too,” she continued, and that’s how Pilar had agreed to cook Beam and her wife and kids a large feast full of traditional Peruvian foods with Beam’s father, which is how she was able to convey Beam’s family recipes to Cookie, the crew’s chef, who would be in shortly to deliver a dish prepared special for her birthday-- Papa a la Huancaína, a dish she’d had many times as a child on Mars, but had only ever heard them called “Papas de la Patria.” She had no idea they weren’t originally a Martian dish.

But she was glad to know it now, and with each passing birthday, grew more and more excited for her elder sister to give her more ways to connect with the home and family she thought she’d lost forever.

[white-weasel]

Saw IV and V thoughts after my Saw Saturday movie viewing experience last night:

Really glad we got some new characters introduced into the series. It breathed a lot of life into things I feel like

Finally got to meet Hoffman and Strahm let’s gooooo! I knew that these were popular characters and honestly they did not disappoint

I cannot believe that John Kramer ate a fucking tape before dying. My friend and I were discussing how he did that so cleanly without gagging or choking and our only explanation is that he’s a throat goat

Rigg’s whole trial was rough man, but it was actually very interesting. Basically “You’re obsessed with saving everyone, so the only way you can win this gauntlet (and save your friends) is to let it go.” I think that this series of traps was MUCH more well done than the series of traps Jeff went through in 3 and they also did each feel like they were testing different aspects of the same “sin” so to speak.

Favorite of those trial traps was probably the one with the husband and wife and them being impaled. I thought it was clever in its theme and its conceit. Sometimes I look at some of these saw traps and go “okay so somebody just thought of the most fucked up thing they could for the shock value” but this was not one of those so I enjoyed that

The iceblock trap though? Amazing idea and execution on that shit. Just the concept of a melting block of ice slowly hanging someone while that melted ice water fills a pool that will eventually touch another person, thereby electrocuting them because there’s a current running through the pool? Very very cool. Plus the added mechanism that kills you if someone (Rigg) walks through the door. Very scary but very good

The puppet still makes me laugh. Him just sitting on the chair before (unfortunately) blowing up at Perez got me. My friend is convinced that I need a little Saw puppet for my apartment now, though I think having the actual thing and seeing it irl might freak me out

Not sure I *needed* to learn more about John’s past before his diagnosis and his descent into becoming Jigsaw, but I also didn’t absolutely hate it. I liked getting to see his ex wife at least and get an insight into his interpersonal relationships

I’m 50/50 split if I like John’s first victim being someone who personally wronged him and ruined his life. On the one hand, I think it does great to kinda show his own hypocrisy in all of this. He says it’s not emotional and these traps are meant to save his victims, and he does at least give him a way out, it did not seem like he really wanted to reform him and that’s interesting to me. On the other hand, I don’t think the movie presents this action or putting him in the trap this way so??? Yeah

My new motto for these movies is “If I don’t see you get murked on screen, you’re still alive somewhere.” Because I was *positive* Eric was dead before they revealed him, but, well, he’s certainly dead now I guess lol

The reveal this movie that it was all taking place at the same time as 3 and that Hoffman is Jigsaw’s apprentice was amazing. Absolutely brilliant, no notes at all

I really liked how Saw 4 and 5 basically felt like a TV show in that they were very obviously meant to be viewed together/feel like one continuous story. I’m assuming that production wise the studio knew that they had 4 and 5 guaranteed so they could leave some stuff for the next movie which I appreciated

(I’m assuming they knew they were at least getting a 6 too because we didn’t get any answers for what was in that box Jill got 👀)

Hoffman carrying that little girl out of the warehouse and being like “We were the only survivors :((“ only for Strahm to get wheeled out on the gurney literally seconds afterwards was so funny

Speaking of, I can’t believe Hoffman didn’t take Strahm’s pen from out of his pocket during the water cube trap. He took all his other stuff but it’s weird he overlooked that. Granted, I doubt that he knew that Strahm would perform a tracheotomy on himself but wow

I liked the backstory we got with Hoffman and how he came to know Jigsaw. The idea of a copycat killer designing his own “trap” but it really just being a way to murder someone he wants revenge on was marvelous. Then the whole part with John kidnapping him and teaching him his ways was also cool

(Hoffman tied up with the shotgun nestled right underneath his neck? Unfortunately kinda hot)

The trap gauntlet for the five people was fine. The first trap I was like “oh my god he’s telling you to all work together! Just go get your keys one by one or have someone get their key, unlock, and then get the next person’s after they’re unlocked” at least for that one though I can see why they panicked. The second one they had no excuses lol I literally said out loud “you can definitely fit at least two people in a cubby hole”. That one seemed sooo obvious, too obvious to at least not give it a try. I didn’t totally hate the set up though, just moreso me getting mad at horror movie characters lmao

And I get Hoffstrahm now lmao. Saw IV I was like “? They barely interacted what’s this?” And then we got the whole cat and mouse game in Saw V and went “Oh yup. There it is. Theres the dynamic.” Especially with the whole glass coffin bit at the end

Speaking of the glass coffin I loved that scene. Just the wasy Strahm shoves Hoffman into the coffin and you can see Hoffman start to gloat and taunt Strahm from behind the glass because he’s sealed his own fate? Amazing. No notes. I did have to look away at the end of the trap though because watching the Saw movies has taught me I cannot handle broken bones, especially when they are very prominent. As soon as I saw Strahm start pushing on the walls I went “I know where this is going” and dutifully turned my head away

Anyways Hoffman is an interesting new antagonist! I’m curious what’s gonna happen next in this little murder soap opera. Honestly, I hope that Agent Perez gets out of the hospital and fucks up Hoffman. She finds out that Strahm is supposedly Jigsaw, goes “wtf no I could never believe that” and starts trying to pursue the real killer

Current Saw movie ranking (giving this because I gave it to my friend after discussing Saw V and my thoughts on the franchise overall)

Saw (The og and the goat, don’t think anything will really topple this one. I was glued to the screen the entire time and loved how this one really focused on Adam and Lawrence, the people in the trap, rather than the killer himself. I feel a lot of future installments lack compelling trap victims which is kinda a shame)

Saw V (I liked the story of Hoffman in this and the cat and mouse between Hoffman and Strahm a lot)

Saw IV (This was a really well done trap gauntlet for the main portion of the plot and the ending reveal was so awesome. Lots of adrenaline pumping for this one, but it did get lowered because I’m still meh on a lot of the John Kramer additional backstory stuff atm)

Saw II (Saw II gave me so many issues ranking it because the final reveal was PHENOMENAL but the main game portion didn’t always work for me. I did like the idea of Eric’s game of just having to wait out the clock but I kinda count that as being a part of the final reveal and thus it can’t elevate the whole movie. There’s potential this and Saw IV could flip flop depending on my moods. This one just has higher highs but lower lows for me)

Saw III (I liked Amanda getting tested and the whole ending with the chain reaction of violence/death, but that’s about it. The main traps in this game did not do it for me, nor did the story connecting those traps. This one also just really felt that they needed to escalate the traps for escalation’s sake rather than to tell a compelling story, which I know is probably a dumb complaint for the gory trap horror franchise but idk I just didn’t like it)

[moonilit]

Master post for my favorite content I find about FFXIII

what would you find? discussions about the main game FF13, story arcs, the history of its development, why it is a troubled game, and what was it bad or a good game? basically, the tea, enjoy.

Right from the get-go let's address that FFXIII is a game with good ideas, but also almost completely fails at realizing any of them, Quoting Resonant arc on YT about the FFXIII experience "If you are more of an ideas person, and usually give some leeway to dialogue and cheesy performances, then you might still enjoy it. if execution is a big deal to you though, then you'll likely struggle to settle in and feel invested, especially through the first few chapters"

What u don’t know about the FFXIII cast

have to start with my favorite payoff in the whole game: Hope & Snow arc “A Long Rant About Why Hope and Snow’s Arc is Brilliant” by @spoiler-alert-andabunchofnumbers, its brilliant, they managed to put into narrative precisely what their conflict was, I just love how these two naturally conflict

Why the writing of Snow&Hope&Lightning arc was good writing “Hope is a Good Character, Actually” by Games As Literature on YT, again pointing out how the three dynamics set up is great, characters that add to each other's flaws and not just cancel them are just as interesting, and it's why I genuinely love the part where they were so dysfunctional more lol

Understanding the story and character dynamic between Sazh and Vanille, again by @spoiler-alert-andabunchofnumbers, easily second best payoff if not as good as Hope&Snow, the difference is while Snow and Hope were so opposite their negative behavior grew and spiraled out of it, Sazh and Vanille actually add into each other harmful behavior, they encourage each other to run away from their problems, they run away from facing their fate, until it catches up with them, its the so opposite to snow and hope and I just love it

Final Fantasy XIII Retrospective Review, 10/10 everything you need to know about 13, from its troubled development cycle to the response to its most heard criticisms

if you also have the time same channel Resonant Arc has a Final Fantasy XIII Discussion series where he talks about each aspect of FFXIII in length, a deep analysis of what made what fail, fail and why what could have worked didn't, its honestly amazing and incredible and oh, it's about 6 hours total :) just so you can see how much potential this game had lol

And only as a bounce, because these are just too funny:

Remember? When Hope Estheim, a genius at 14 had a great idea-

Shit Hope do

[doomed-prophetess]

Recently I inhaled all translated volumes of the Ascendance of a Bookworm light novels, and I realized that the full beauty of this light novel cannot be appreciated until one has consumed a truckload of shitty otome isekai manhwas.

First off, there's actual worldbuilding. Praise be to the gods!

The following is... technically spoilers but I think it'll spark your interest and enhance one's appreciation for the author's brilliant execution.

The protagonist isekai's into a fantasy world, but doesn't really realize it's a full-on high fantasy world until she gets involved with the nobility because she was reborn into a peasant girl and peasants don't have much to do with magic and mana and all that jazz.

The protagonist, a peasant girl, gets adopted into nobility by her home duchy's highest-ranking nobleman (the archduke or “aub” as they're called, but don't let the name fool you— all rulers of duchies are called archdukes and her home duchy's actually somewhat on the lower end) but the process isn't all sunshines and rainbows, she loses her peasant family, they're alive but they're bound by a magic contract to never treat each other as family ever again— and it's heartwrenching because they truly, truly love each other and her family committed treason to save her (and she in turn was forced into the adoption to save her family from an execution). It's traumatizing.

The world is a fucked up place and the protagonist acknowledges it, and the dissonance between her own modern morality and the world's accepted customs make it hard for her to adjust, and she frequently comes across as an oddball or a threat/wildcard because of it instead of... I dunno, the modern protagonist taking over a reviled character's body and makes everyone love her by “girlboss”? (*side-eyeing Cha Siyeon* but ehhh it's not like she's the only one)

There's politics! Actual politics! And the protagonist starts off as a merchant apprentice and unlike so many otome isekai's that attempt to do merchant work this is actually... it's a world I can sink my teeth in and actually feel satisfied.

The first two arcs (or “parts” as they're called, the story's volumes are usually marked as “Part [#] Volume [#]”) are a bit more on the slice-of-life side with the world's darkness and politicking mostly in the background because the protagonist simply wasn't aware of the shit that was going on behind the scenes or outside her field of influence as she spent those two parts in the lower city as a peasant girl. And then she's forced into an adoption and shit ramps up.

The story doesn't allow itself to lull, there's always one thing or another constantly shaking up the status quo and honestly, I fucking adore it.

I can't quite vouch for the anime's quality as I haven't watched it (apparently a lot of stuff got condensed or cut out?) but I can wholeheartedly vouch for the light novels.

(it started out as a webnovel so I can see how it was written to be a deliberate subversion of the otome isekai genre as many korean manhwas of the same genre also generally start out as webnovels)

I remember Ascendance of the Bookwork! I must have watched the first few episodes when the anime first came out. Although I found the idea of a bookworm commoner protagonist refreshing I don't know why I didn't continue watching the series. It could be just like you said because they cut things and as a result of that the atmosphere seemed more lighthearted than in reality or it might have been that I didn't watch far enough and kind of forgot about the series as I often do with media where you have to wait for the next episode/season once you've caught up.

I had a totally different impression of the anime back then. I thought that the heroine would invent the letter press and start a book binding business. My interest dwindled when I saw a spoiler that she'd got adopted by a noble after her powers were revealed and mistakenly assumed that it would go the cliche route. I'm pleased to see that for once the adoption created a conflict and the real family actually cares about their child. (I think they discovered that she wasn't the real Myne but came to love her anyway? Which is great but must have come as a great shock to the family.) I might start watching the anime again. I don't know if I'll try the webnovel, because honestly I've never managed to fully enjoy a webnovel so far. Much to my regret, I want to feel what y'all are feeling. 😭 Why is classic lit a breeze for me but I struggle with webnovels?

Though can it be really a subversion of the Otome Isekai genre when the world is not a dating sim/romance novel? Is there something like an og hero/heroine protagonist who she runs into much later? When I think of subversion of Otome Isekai I think about stories like Surviving Romance and The Concubine Walkthrough.

[navree]

...at least it's not the snyderverse? i'm trying to remain optimistic. 😣

Confession time, I have ambivalent feelings about the Snyderverse. There's stuff I didn't like but there's also stuff I liked a lot.

For one, I think it had really solid casting. Cavill nailed the look of Superman, J.K. Simmons as Gordon is brilliant, Ray Fisher was really good as Cyborg, Jeremy Irons is brilliant in anything and God almighty I wish they'd kept him for The Batman as Alfred cuz I loved his Alfred, and Ben Affleck is a really good actor and he had some great moments and great looks as Bruce Wayne. The only duds were Ezra Miller, who's psycho, and Gal Gadot, because she's not a very good actress (most of the success of Wonder Woman, which I loved, came from Patty's writing moreso than anything intrinsic in Gadot's performance).

There's also some good ideas and good bones to Snyder's ideas for the DCEU. I like most of what he was trying to do with Superman's origin in Man of Steel, and honestly, Batman's motivation for his conflict in Batman v. Superman makes a lot of sense. Bruce is someone whose abhorrence of senseless violence is the cornerstone of his beliefs; his parents were killed in an act of senseless violence, and brutality for brutality's sake without a thought to consequences is something he fights against at all times. It is absolutely reasonable that Bruce, seeing not only wanton destruction from someone who is making no attempt to mitigate it, and has infinitely more power to do real harm than anything else Bruce has seen, has serious concerns and wants to at least be prepared in case he ever goes rogue, not to mention the movie does give us solid reasons for it to be personal with how he loses people in the destruction of the WE building (and also that scene of him running into the danger while everyone runs away? brilliant). I also like that this is an older, more jaded Bruce who has been distinctly marked by the death of his child and the havoc that wreaked on him (though I don't give a FUCK what Mr. Snyder says, that is not Dick Grayson, when has Dick Grayson ever been the dead Robin, that is Jason Todd, I accept nothing else, it's Jason who Bruce lost even in the Snyderverse). It's canon to the comics that Jason's death made Bruce more violent, more volatile, and actively changed him for the worst in a way that not even Jason's resurrection has been able to fully heal, so that being part of Bruce's issues in the Snyderverse works as well.

And I also want to acknowledge that Snyder has absolutely been shafted by WB. The director's cut of BvS does make more sense and have more to the story than the theatrical version. And then there's the whole mess with Justice League, even though I don't fault Snyder for leaving production due to his daughter's death, and I'm fine with the push to see his version that came out of it, especially given a) how bad Josstice League was and b) Joss Whedon being a shithead in general. And there's the fact that WB was clearly gunning for a DC MCU from the getgo, without understanding that, for all its myriad of sins (and oh boy are there many), that took time, and you really had to build up a lot of those characters individually before slowly mixing them into a shared universe that could be its own entity. WB didn't get that, so demanding a Justice League before we even got solo movies for any of the players besides Superman was always gonna be doomed to fail, and executive meddling can't be laid at Snyder's feet.

And I do want to mention that the Snyderverse had movies that weren't created by Snyder or had much input from him, both good and bad. Wonder Woman and Aquaman, I thought, were great, and those were made by different creatives, and Suicide Squad (2016) was atrocious (though I did like that Affleck was willing to make cameos to lend credence to the universe, and that it had Harley as a participant in the death of Robin, because most people don't really grapple with the fact that, even though Harley didn't exist when ADitF happened, any retcon to have her involved with Joker from the getgo is going to have her as a likely participant in the torture and murder of a child, and it's an interesting way to delve into her character and how her own agency intersects with her being a victim of the Joker's abuse).

But there are some serious, serious issues with the Snyderverse that did make it really hard to root for.

Most glaringly, Snyder has good ideas, like I outlined, but I don't think he's a very good writer. Take, for example, the much derided Martha scene. I get what he was going for, Bruce is lost in rage and Clark's focus on saving his mother not only reminds Bruce that Clark too has people he loves, just as Bruce does, but that he has his own underlying humanity, humanity that Bruce cannot ignore anymore and has to confront, that Clark is more than a threat, but a full person. It's a way to highlight how lost Bruce has become in this mission, and to show how humanity comes from who you are, not where you're from, and that Clark is good to his core in a way that's admired. That's the point of the scene, I get that, I understand it, but there had to be a better way to write it than that. I mean, Hell, just have Clark start talking about "my mother" as Bruce is getting ready to gut him, which can lead to confusion on Bruce's part because "your mother's an alien", which leads to Clark struggling to explain that his mom's in danger even as he's near death himself (and also idk why Lois is there, I love Lois as a character, though I wasn't overly fond of Amy Adams's version despite my love for her as an actress, but she shouldn't be there). But instead we get the Martha thing, and it ends up reading as Bruce realizing, somehow, that there are more people named Martha than his mom, and it ends up reading really stupid. This is what plagues a lot of Snyder's DC stuff, especially in BvS and with Bruce, which is that the ideas work but his execution in the minutia really doesn't and bogs the whole thing down. (I will say that I did like the writing of Bruce in the scene at Luthor's party, especially when he was being sneaky, that was good).

Snyder also is a good director in terms of visuals, very good, I like his visuals in a lot of his stuff. But I don't think he's a very good director when it comes to performances. He can't really pull anything stupendous out of any of his actors. And some people, like Ben Affleck, are good enough that you can still get good stuff from them irregardless, but some of them are not. And Henry Cavill, however much I love him in The Tudors, is one of those actors who does need a director to guide him to give a truly memorable performance, especially if he's as outside of his wheelhouse as he was with Clark. So Clark, who's our first introduction to the Snyderverse and also its emotional lynchpin a lot of the time, falls flat, because Snyder doesn't really seem like an actor's director, in spite of his visual eye.

There's also the killing thing. For one, just off the bat (heh), Batman shouldn't kill. Ever. It is the antithesis to who he is on every level, and there's a reason why he sticks to it so rigidly in comics canon and why any attempt to make him a killer, even via inaction (cough Nolanverse cough) rings false and hollow. For two, Superman is a killer in this universe. Not great, but Superman has killed in the comics too. But somehow, this doesn't really seem to bother him. Clark is, indirectly, responsible for a lot of civilian casualties after Man of Steel, and BvS really should have shown him grappling with that continuously, in a serious way. He's standing as a symbol for hope, he wants to help wherever he can, and there are now scores of people who've left behind grieving loved ones, because of him. It should affect him a lot more than it does, drive a lot more than it does, especially as we watch how those deaths harden Bruce, and yet we don't really see anything from him, and it affects his character. Not to mention it makes him a hypocrite when it comes to Batman. "Oh the Batman branded someone while stopping them from sex trafficking young girls, he's so terrible!" you have literally snapped someone's neck, shut the fuck up. And also, yeah, Clark killed Zod. That should also affect him a lot in the next movie, not just because of how killing and loss of life should affect him in general, but because Clark, a Kryptonian orphan with no connection to his homeland, no people like him, has just decimated the only concrete connection to his home that he has. If BvS wants to highlight Clark's solitude, Clark's loneliness as an alien and how that affects him AND the people around him along with the general populace, his feelings on having to cut off a Kryptonian connection to save human lives should get a lot more screentime.

And, while I do laud Snyder having good base ideas, some of the base ideas didn't work. I understand wanting to shift Lex into being the kind of billionaire most people in the 2010s would recognize as "classic billionaire", make him more of a Zuckerberg or an Elon Musk, but the way they went about it didn't work at all. Doomsday coming in last minute didn't work, having Death of Superman this early didn't work, making Batffleck an angry Batman rather than the sad Batman he was born to be didn't work, Jonathan Kent's death didn't work, etc. And honestly, having it be a Dark Knight Returns adaptation really didn't work. Even beyond the general cultural stuff that influence TDKR, and my issues with it as well as Frank Miller as a creative, the Batman against Superman stuff didn't work in the Snyderverse, because Snyder doesn't seem to get why those stories hit so hard. They work because Bruce and Clark are friends, best friends, closer than brothers, they love each other so dearly and would risk so much for each other, put their lives on the line for each other no matter what, be there at their lowest (there's a World's Finest issue dedicated to Clark trying to help Bruce with the aftermath of Jason's murder, it's really good). Seeing them at odds, seeing them fight, it hurts because we know what was once there, and seeing it fall apart into enmity and violence is painful. Longtime friends turning on each other hurts to witness. It doesn't work if Clark and Bruce don't know each other and don't have any personal connection, because that takes away the edge that makes those stories tug at our emotions.

Like I said, ultimately I'm ambivalent. There's stuff that worked, especially in concepts and in broad strokes, and there's stuff that didn't, like Snyder's writing decisions once detail had to get involved. And between that and the ten million behind the scenes issues, like the studio constantly meddling in everything, like Ezra Miller's issues, like Amber Heard having the nerve to be abused by her husband which got everyone real mad at her because he was popular twenty years ago, it ultimately made the whole thing a giant mess that was doomed to fail, even if Snyder had been flawless (which he really wasn't, but the outside stuff that kept coming up in every single installment certainly exacerbated everything).

I'm hoping the studio backs off Gunn, and that he keeps up his good writing streak that we've seen with stuff like Guardians, and that the decisions I've seen that are worrying me turn out fine (or are at least rectified and dealt with in pre-production why is the FUCKING FLASH DIRECTOR in charge of Batman why God why?????? and also again please don't have the starting Robin be Damian I have strong feelings about that even though I love my dear boy), but it's early so we'll see. Fingers crossed.

[maya-matlin]

Hi! I would love to hear you talk more about Lucas being insecure? I'm not sure I saw him that way, but to be fair I have trouble understanding his character so would love to hear your analysis! You're really brilliant, by the way.

Hi! <3 Aw, you're way too nice! 😊 I'm honestly not. I just have a lot of opinions :p

I see what you mean, because Lucas isn't a character I spend much time analyzing. I feel like he's both misunderstood while also someone that tends to get away with a lot depending on which pairing you like best for him. But in terms of Lucas's insecurities, obviously it all goes back to being abandoned by Dan. Lucas is raised solely by Karen with the help of Keith. It seems like Lucas always knew Keith was his uncle, but not necessarily that he was Dan's brother? According to the pilot, Lucas didn't find out Dan was his biological father until playing in junior leagues. I'm not really sure what age Lucas would have been at the time. I don't know anything about sports, but it seems like this is offered from ages 5-12. I'm going to cautiously assume Lucas and Nathan were around 9-12 at the time. So, Lucas was forced to deal with the fact that Nathan was his brother, meaning his father was willing to raise one son while (as far as he knew) wanting nothing to do with him. This would probably fuck anyone up, but unfortunately Lucas's father was Dan Scott. Dan dealt with his demons, guilt, and complex feelings by lashing out at other people, particularly those weaker than him such as his sons. At a certain point, Dan became aware Lucas knew he was his biological father. Rather than handling any of this delicately or even ignoring Lucas, Dan seemed to double down, going out of his way to make sure Lucas knew he was a mistake, should have never existed, and was inherently lesser than Nathan, his favored son. Any time Dan saw Lucas being successful or even getting along with his brother, Dan did all he could to take that away from Lucas. He repeatedly attempted to undermine Lucas's brotherly bond with Nathan. While both Keith and Karen did what they could to reassure Lucas he was loved and brought them nothing but joy, Dan's constant remarks clearly left Lucas feeling very unsure of himself. Most importantly, unloved and unwanted. This isn't executed especially well considering their nice home, but Lucas and Karen are clearly supposed to be struggling financially at the beginning of the series. There are times when the bills aren't paid in time, meaning Karen is literally forced to wash the shampoo out of her son's hair. Nathan, in contrast, lives the life of luxury with Dan and Deb, never having to worry about money or necessities, knowing his parents will get him whatever he wants. Lucas has no idea that Nathan's life is nothing to envy. Nathan isn't making it known that Dan is a toxic, physically and emotionally abusive parent. Even after Nathan opens up to Lucas in 106, it's clearly still difficult for Lucas to let go of his preconceived notions of Nathan's life. Especially when Nathan has already spent copious amounts of time trying to put Lucas in his place, reminding him that his existence was a mistake and while Dan is successful, Karen is not. Again, debatable since the Lucas/Karen financial strife never comes up after the first season, but the writers were going for a class differences thing in season 1.

I'm sure this is a massively unpopular opinion, but I genuinely think a lot of Lucas's feelings for Peyton early on relate back to the fact she was Nathan's girlfriend. I know. It's a small town, meaning there are only so many people to crush on, but what are the odds? Later seasons establish that Lucas had crushed on Peyton since middle school while Nathan and Peyton had only started dating around their sophomore year. However, so much of the conflict and the Lucas/Peyton connection is wrapped up in how terrible of a boyfriend Nathan is and how Lucas wants Nathan's life. Lucas has this idea that he sees Peyton and understands her in a way Nathan doesn't. Listen, that's not fucking difficult. Nathan treated Peyton as a sex toy for large stretches of their relationship. He was so fixated on himself and his needs that he apparently never noticed all the sketches on her bedroom walls. Most guys would have treated Peyton better than pre-series/early season 1 Nathan. Throughout the first season, Nathan and Lucas are constantly compared to each other. Which one is good? Which one is bad? Which brother has the right to feel more slighted? At the beginning of the series, Lucas is comfortable with the knowledge that while Nathan has the privilege, Lucas is the better man. Only, as the season goes on, we see Nathan going through a tremendous amount of character development while Lucas gives into his worst impulses, becoming a lesser, much more selfish version of himself. Peyton directly calls this out towards the end of the season. "Who knew that you two would switch places?"

Obviously, Lucas didn't intentionally "become Nathan" or a lesser version of himself. It's something that gradually happened once he started making terrible decisions re: his love life. In fact, many OTH fans would say that while Lucas is a great friend, son and brother, he's a terrible romantic partner. Why is that? Unlike Nathan, Lucas had much better influences in Keith and Karen. To me, it all comes back to the "unloved and unwanted" thing. Lucas repeatedly chases down love, desperately craving the validation of a woman's affections because he can't seem to find self love within himself. It all starts with Peyton, Nathan's then-girlfriend who Lucas felt could do so much better. In my opinion, Lucas craves validation specifically from Peyton because of this fantasy of winning her away from his brother. But Peyton has her own feelings and trust issues, so she rejects Lucas. And Lucas is not the greatest at dealing with rejection specifically from Peyton. His ego more so than his heart can't seem to take the rejection. This is complicated because I truly feel like Brucas's bonding in 108 following Peyton's near rape was genuine and kind of a precursor for their season 2 friendship, but at the same time there seemed to be a part of Lucas who wanted to punish Peyton for turning him down. Even after Peyton went to Lucas two episodes later, telling him she wants a real relationship, he chooses to stick with Brooke. It's hard to explain, but it comes across as so petty and unforgiving. It feels like a lot of nice guy bullshit to me. Thankfully, by the time Lucas and Peyton have their affair and hurt Brooke, he seems to be somewhat humbled by the whole experience and is less butthurt over Peyton dumping him. Following Peyton's declaration that Lucas has now taken Nathan's place as the "bad guy," Lucas vows to change his ways.

Season 2 Lucas is off to a much better start. Rather than getting caught up in good vs bad (minus Dan, but that's a massive, other issue) or chasing down romance, Lucas seems to go out of his way to work on himself. To me, the most selfish thing Lucas does in season 2 is probably lie about his HCM results. But in that case, I don't blame him. Lucas is a kid, and at this point in his life he's very attached to basketball. He doesn't want to give that up or deal with the ramifications of having that condition. Otherwise, he's an extremely supportive person, spending a lot of screen time emotionally showing up for Nathan, Brooke, Haley, Karen, Keith, Peyton (although it should be noted he shows up for Brooke far more than Peyton this season), Anna, etc. He doesn't always make the right call. For example, he probably should have told Keith the truth about Jules. The fact Lucas is mainly romance-free means a lot of his more selfish traits don't show up. Back to Lucas's Dan issues. Following Dan's heart attack, he seems to want to make amends with Lucas. Lucas reluctantly allows Dan to be part of life, though not without understandably keeping his guard up. Dan does nothing of substance to be a father figure to Lucas or show true remorse for his behavior for most of Lucas's life. So naturally, Lucas and Dan don't seem to grow much closer aside from in superficial ways. On some level, Dan is using Lucas to get under Nathan's skin. Nathan has successfully gotten away from his parents, choosing to support himself while following his heart by marrying Haley. Dan hates that there's nothing he can do to control Nathan, so he focuses his attention on Lucas. Halfway through the season, it becomes clear that Lucas and Dan are in some bizarre, mental battle where the two repeatedly test each other, doing what they can to manipulate the other. It turns into a whole thing where Lucas is literally searching in the ceiling for a bag of money. I love season 2, but some parts of it weren't my favorite. This was one of them LOL.

During season 2, Lucas realizes he has strong feelings for and wants to be with Brooke instead of Peyton. While the initial reveal of Lucas's feelings and the setup for them could have been better, there's something so genuine about Lucas's love for Brooke in season 2. Lucas seems to acknowledge his feelings to himself with the awareness he can't act on them. After all, Lucas had his chance with Brooke, and he blew it when he cheated with her best friend. Because Lucas keeps his feelings to himself with no expectation for Brooke to reciprocate, his actions and words come across as much more selfless and specifically what Brooke needs from him rather than trying to come across as the good guy. And funnily enough, history is somewhat repeating itself with Brooke, like Peyton in season 1, dating her own asshole in Felix. Lucas has even made an enemy out of Felix, much like Nathan. But unlike with Nathan, Lucas doesn't seem to feel any sort of envy towards Felix. So when Lucas goes to Brooke the night she starts dating Felix, the two things have nothing to do with each other. Of course, Lucas does eventually confess his feelings to Brooke. He also waits an entire summer for her, even though Peyton is physically right there and single.

This has gotten ridiculously long, so I'm going to stop recapping Lucas's entire life and just stick to the relationship/insecurities part LOL

Lucas enters a serious relationship with Brooke in season 3. Yes, one of his biggest desires is still love, but his connection with Brooke still feels very real and related to something he feels in his heart rather than specifically needing validation from dating her. Shit happens. Lucas and Brooke battle Brooke's insecurities for the entirety of season 3. Even though Lucas repeatedly reassures Brooke that he only wants to be with her and that he's all in, Brooke still has doubts about Lucas's past with Peyton. Because sadly, that's exactly where the story is going. Even though Lucas doesn't seem particularly interested in reuniting with Peyton or even entertaining her potential feelings for him (317), the fact Lucas shared a kiss with Peyton during the shooting and Peyton confessed her feelings to Brooke means Brucas 2.0 is doomed. On that note, it somewhat makes sense to me that Lucas finds it easier to confide in Peyton than Brooke at times. Again, he's not the best romantic partner. Part of him struggles to be vulnerable not because he'd rather be with Peyton than Brooke (or Lindsey), but because he just can't go there and has so much stuff to work through in therapy.

Brooke eventually breaks Lucas's heart when she ends their relationship, claiming it's because she stopped missing him. Half of season 4 seems dedicated to tearing down Brooke and showing us how unworthy of Lucas she is compared to Peyton. We get dream sequences that show elderly Peyton at Lucas's grave and heavy handed subtext that LP's love is like Whitey and Camila's, the same way they're later compared to Keith and Karen. Because their love is so epic that unlike Naley, they can't stand on their own and have to be compared to other, better couples. The point is, Peyton is a sure thing. Unlike Brooke who had trust issues specifically because of Lucas's past actions, Peyton has no such baggage in regards to Lucas. While Lucas had come a long way from season 1 Lucas by season 4, part of that little boy who envied his brother's life never went away. And why not? Maybe there was a small part of Lucas that still had feelings for Peyton. Not enough to actually choose her over Brooke, but enough that if Brooke was out of his life for good, he could potentially go back to Peyton. So Lucas conveniently realizes his childhood dream girl, the sure thing, is the one he wants. It helps that college and Lucas's future are looming, meaning he's probably more insecure than usual and finds being with Peyton comforting. They were so close during early 4 that going from friends to boyfriend/girlfriend was probably an effortless jump. Not to mention, Lucas doesn't have to try as hard with Peyton as he did with Brooke. Like, at all. I'd talk about the Lucas/Dan of it all in season 4, but I don't feel like there's enough to analyze. There's an awkward moment where Lucas calls Dan "dad", but it wasn't earned at all. Unlike Dan with Nathan throughout season 4, I don't feel like Dan spent any real time bonding with Lucas or growing close enough to him that I'd buy Lucas would ever in a million years genuinely call him that. Whatever. Dan's a murderer. Lucas nearly kills him. Lucas understandably never forgives Dan. Those insecurities regarding his upbringing remain, but they don't feel as prominent after Dan's incarceration.

Season 5 shows us a Lucas who has massively regressed. This is season 1 Lucas, only worse. You can't blame his teenage naivety or ignorance regarding other people's feelings. In the flashback episode, we see that Lucas is reminded of the day the Ravens won the State Championship when Nathan's team wins their game. Lucas observes Nathan with Haley and Jamie. Obviously, Lucas specifically thinks of Peyton because of the similarities with a team winning their game as confetti falls. But at the same time, Lucas is once again envying Nathan's life. This inspires Lucas to propose to Peyton with little regard to her current life or what she wants. Lucas is first and foremost a romantic who craves love, but his reasoning for popping the question seems to be to fix what he perceives as wrong in their relationship. Lucas and Peyton barely see each other due to living roughly 38 hours apart. At nineteen years old, Peyton isn't an instant success? So Lucas thinks she needs to give up her life and be his wife. Tellingly, Lucas wants Peyton to know that Nathan and Haley were a lot younger than 19 when they got married, so he and Peyton will be fine. Peyton doesn't give Lucas the answer he wants, so he shuts down and grows cold, much like he did back in season 1 where it had to be all or nothing. Not only that, but Lucas pulls a season 1 Lucas and runs straight to Brooke. He spends the night running around town with Brooke, pretending to be an engaged couple. Their night ends with Lucas initiating sex with Brooke, which she rejects. Not long after this, Lucas starts dating Lindsey. Three years later, Peyton returns to town and becomes the sad version of herself where her biggest goal in life is marrying Lucas. But this is about Lucas, so I'll stop. Lucas's motivation in season 5 is intended to be that he's either in denial about his love for Peyton (again?!) or is so devastated by her rejecting his proposal that he's unable to let it go and as a result, feels the need to keep punishing her for it. Somewhere in here, Lucas tears into Peyton for supposedly not believing in his success as a writer. So season 5 unveils a new insecurity of Lucas's. Following the release of his first book, Lucas is afraid he won't be able to write a second. Lucas takes this out on Peyton, accusing her of not believing in him when we know she's one of his staunchest supporters. She supports him to the point she wastes a lot of money buying every physical copy of the book she can find. Lucas can't seem to help but make terrible decisions in his love life, so of course he cheats on Lindsey with Peyton. Lucas never admits to Peyton that he still loves her, just excuses himself, saying he needs to see Lindsey. We don't know what Lucas was going to say to Lindsey, but he proposes after Lindsey promises Lucas that she loves him for him, not because of his profession or success. So clearly, Lindsey's words meant a great deal to him and superseded whatever was going to happen between Lucas and Peyton. Once again, shit happens. Lucas and Lindsey don't get married when she realizes Lucas's new book, The Comet, is actually a love letter to Peyton. Sure, whatever. Following Lucas's breakup with Lindsey, there's some toxicity when he literally assaults a teenager after finding out Lindsey has started dating again. But overall, unlike with Peyton, Lucas is patient, handling her rejection like an adult rather than lashing out. Around this time, Brooke and Lucas seem to grow closer. Everything between them is in the subtext. They're both single in Tree Hill. They find themselves taking care of Angie together. Brooke hasn't loved anyone since Lucas. Lucas wants to be the guy Brooke calls when she needs something, particularly emotional support. But neither one of them ever speaks of (IMO) their mutual feelings. Lucas's subconscious is aware of them, though. Otherwise, Brooke wouldn't be an option when he's fantasizing about possible futures with his three love interests. Oh yeah, and then Lucas tells Peyton he hates her.

[honeymochibubbletea]

Eeeyy, i really liked your headcanons about Phantasmo and Charlie so far! And that dating one? Muah! Perfection!

I was here thinking: could you write some dating headcanons about Phantasmo with a chubby person? And also if they like to talk a lot? Like, a LOT? (And one with a very shy one?)

My oh, oh my, why thank you for the compliment! ;D

You know, usually i would ask to send one ask at the time separately but… since i don’t have THAT many ideas, i’ll let it slide~ ;)

(Image above was made by Fluffpillow, Dr. phantasmo belongs to Fluffpillow)

☆~Dating headcanons for Phantasmo with a chubby darling~☆

If they’re talkative:

when Phantasmo kidnapped you for his nefarious plans he surely didn’t expect you to talk so much for someone who was going to turn into an experiment. Sure, he would expect you to beg and cry, heck, even curse him or threaten him. But very strangely, you were being really friendly and chatty with him. And then, an idea popped into his mind to make you shut the hell up so he could continue the procedure: he would ask you one question and you would answer it and you could ask him one question and obviously he would lie but you wouldn’t know, so whatever to him.

He smiles with himself for being “this brilliant” and executes his plan. You two were having a… “interesting” conversation of questions and answers, honestly he was getting quite drained of having to listen to your long answers whenever he asked you something, but eventually, he asked you why you talk so much and… your answer genuinely surprised him: you said you only talk this much because it helps you to calm down and put your chaotic thoughts in order, you know you’re considered “annoying” for talking too much… and then, you start sobbing and crying…

At first, he was feeling a little awkward about making you cry and not knowing what to do now, but then he eventually sighed tiredly and undid your restraints.

After he (very unsuccessfully) tried to cheer you up, he offered you to work for him… and from then on, you two started to fall in love with each other.

He calls you his little chubby lab mouse

He loves squeezing your cheeks together and hugging you from behind so he can squeeze better your belly

He will murder ANYONE who DARES to insult your weight or call you names

He WILL lay on top of you sometimes and call you his favorite pillow~ ;)

If they’re shy and a little more quiet:

You met Phantasmo at a cemetery, why you would be in a cemetery? Because you had a fight with your parents and wanted to visit your dead grandmother/grandfather for some consolation after said fight…

You were sobbing when you heard a deep low voice asking why you were so sad, when you turned around, you saw him: the ghost himself, Dr. Phantasmo.

You’ve heard about him before, especially from your parents, saying terrible things about him… but seeing him in person… he was sure damn scary, but man, was he also just as handsome and breathtaking!

Phantasmo: what an adorable thing like you doing out here, all alone~?

Y/n: . . . *looks away shyly and scratches head sheepishly*

Phantasmo: Hmm, you are not a talker, are you dear?

Y/n: *nods head*

Phantasmo: Well~ how about i take you to my place and… serve you some tea?

Y/n: . . .Y-yes. . . I… guess that would be fine…

Phantasmo: Splendid~! *brings you closer towards him with his ghost tail* Then… shall we go, my darling~? *extends hand to lift you up*

You knew it was a trap, you knew that he was trouble… but… you also wanted someone to vent to… even if you don’t talk that much…

And so, you went to his place with him, God, you didn’t even placed foot on his doorstep. He whistled and then a pair of robotic arms wrapped around you and he was laughing maniacally:

Phantasmo: buahahahaha!!! Did you SERIOUSLY thought that i would help you feel better? HA! Don’t make me laugh! I was only bringing you to a trap! And you fell for it just nicely~ Now, scream for me! Beg!

Y/n: *looks away from him sadly, but not surprised*

Phantasmo: Hey! Look. At. Me. *grabs your face tightly and forces you to look at him*

Y/n: *looks at him feeling afraid and starts shaking*

Phantasmo: Yes! Yes! I want to taste your fear, i want to savor it! You know… you really look really cute like that~ having your cheeks squished up~

You know what? Maybe i have some… different plans for you~

And with that, Phantasmo made you his maid/employee: he would make you clean his mansion, sometimes help with his experiments and you (not voluntarily but you are too shy to stand up for yourself) would let him squeeze your cheeks. He calls you his little stress toy.

It would surely take a lot of time for you both fall in love, but eventually, you two did: maybe your shy nature and your chubby face charmed him? Perhaps.

All the same from the “if they’re talkative” above + he would do anything to try to please you when you two got closer: want some sweets/treats? You’ll find it on your headboard. Your parents were being too harsh on you? (Consider them dead, because Phantasmo will kill them :) just kidding, he knows you love them, so he’ll just scare them and threaten them to keep you forever away from them) someone is “joking” about your weight? (Spoiler: you’ll never hear from them again) :)

[licncourt]

I agree with the post you reblogged about how they bungled Lestat's death scene! They couldn't have filmed a more different version – both in action and meaning – even if they tried.

But, in the context of the show, the story they insisted to tell, I can't ever imagine Lestat's death scene playing out like it did in the books. It doesn't fit. (And I'm upset they deviated so much from the core relationships that it doesn't fit anymore).

They have destroyed Lestat's relationship with Claudia from the very beginning. In the show they tolerate each other at best, and they hate each other the other time. All the things Lestat taught Claudia with love and enthusiasm in the books, he does it out of desire to manipulate/placate Louis in the show. Not to mention that he threatens to kill Claudia 🤢 and hurts her even in the last episode where he waits for Antoinette to kill Claudia 🤢. There is no way he could fall for a genuine attempt at reconciliation in this context, so they have to paint Lestat as on to her plan.

Regarding Loustat, since they have escalated the violence in their relationship to such a degree that never existed in the books, they had to give Louis a more active role in the death scene, otherwise he'd pass for a sad wife-beaten victim with Stockholm syndrome. They had to give him some agency in this instance. His hesitancy/indecision translates here not in passivity, but in reversing the course and ultimately saving Lestat (or at least hoping that his actions saved him cause according to Claudia's diaries, he is still convinced they killed him). Otherwise there would be no catharsis for the public.

Though, the choice to have Louis cut Lestat's throat perplexes me when I think about what is supposed to happen in Paris. THE TRIAL! How is that going to work since Claudia isn't the one who ultimately killed Lestat. She didn't even touch him!! She planned it but she isn't the one who killed him. Like, why is Louis still standing and not Claudia? Or will they have Louis throw Claudia to the wolves to save his skin?

That's why I'm thinking that the entire Lestat death scene didn't happen at all as Louis described it, not just the aftermath. I'm thinking Claudia did kill Lestat/cut his throat etc like in the books and Louis did stand by and watch helplessly paralyzed. Then Louis cried over Lestat's body etc and put Lestat in his coffin, ultimately saving him. So when Lestat pops up in Paris and Claudia is executed, Louis has to face the reality that by saving Lestat he condemned his daughter to die...and he can't take it. It's trauma on top of trauma and he starts to tell himself a kinder story : one where Lestat told him one last time he loved him before dying, one where Claudia didn't stab Lestat with glee but he's the one who did it tenderly, one where Claudia was unfairly murdered and his actions didn't doom her. And I'm sure Armand was only glad to help with this version of the story and reinforce it. Honestly, I think Louis doesn't know yet that Armand orchestrated Claudia's execution.

That's how I think they could save the mess they made in this episode (and how they could use tvl to give a more rounded picture). Though they could end up with the same problems regarding Louis' agency.

Okay I fully agree with the first part, and I love that idea for the story if that's where they choose to go with it. The specific storyline of the AMC show, whatever my personal feelings on it, would come together very nicely if things played out that way and it's really a brilliant theory. I don't have a lot to add because you connected the dots for us, but I think this would be great TV and a very effective use of the memory theme that they haven't utilized much yet. It makes the most sense to present it in this sort of context, combined with trauma and abuse (as long as it's done with sensitivity).

[ageofpiracyrp]

OPLO YK ERVJOP

Pronouns: He/him

Position: President of the Theme Park Club of Tarrk

Age: 130

Romantic and/or Sexual Preference: "I only have eyes for my wife"

Species: Carrek

Home Planet: Sturn

Faceclaim/Humanoid Appearance: Dan Povenmire

True Appearance: Oplo does not resemble any particular Earth species, but resembles a lot of different lizards. He has warm gray frills on his head in place of hair, very textured gray scaly skin with occasional speckles of pastel colors, brown eyes, regenerate-able limbs ending in blunt claws, and a tail tipped in silvery-gold spines.

Information: (cw for child neglect and implied gore)

Oplo is a happily married man. He has one son named Bekl whom is currently attending a fancy boarding school on Jehk that has a great athletics program. Oplo talks about how much he misses Bekl every day. He also talks about how much he misses his beloved wife every day too because she is almost always at work. Oplo's wife Jane works long hours as a business executive, commuting back home for three out of every 10 days.

Oplo's wife has a younger sister, Junyi. Since Junyi's parents did not want to take responsibility for the child, Oplo and Jane essentially raised the younger carrek. He knows but would never admit that he is not the best at minding children. He has done a little bit better bringing up Bekl than his younger sister-in-law, but it is honestly just luck at this point that Oplo's line of carreks can regrow fingers.

Oplo's family owns a chain of exercise equipment manufacturing and distribution. None of the other club members are sure exactly what Oplo does as employed by his family's company, but he lives comfortably and has his picture all over the company's promotional materials.

It has always been a point of great tragedy for Oplo that he could not visit his favorite place in the universe that he could never visit: Universal Orlando Resort. He was devastated to discover that Blue Man Group would no longer be performing at the best place on Earth. He started the Theme Park Club twenty-six years ago and has unanimously been voted as president every year (except 2017, when he voted for his wife, who did not want the position at all). After scattered acquisitions here and there, Oplo and his club members came up with the brilliant idea of scouting out an entire pirate crew to visit everyone's dream parks, experience it all on their behalf, and bring back merchandise to cherish.

MARY JUNYI CIRTU

Pronouns: She/her

Position: Member of the Theme Park Club of Tarrk

Age: 56

Romantic and/or Sexual Preference: Pansexual

Species: Carrek

Home Planet: Kurrk

Faceclaim/Humanoid Appearance: Song Yuqi

True Appearance: While she freely enjoys her sformer, she has shockingly vibrant patterning resembling a tokay gecko but seafoam green with gold spots. Her eyes are dominated by a bright amber scelera.

Information: (CW for child neglect)

Junyi was the result of a one-time liaison between a wealthy recently widowed woman and a high-ranking Galx official. The Galx official wasn't married at the time, but he apparently decided he had enough children from his previous marriage and entirely ignored his youngest in all manners except fiscal. Junyi's mother also stopped caring about bringing up a second kid after a decade, so her sister Jane (and later brother-in-law Oplo) brought her up.

It can't be said that Jane and Oplo did a fantastic job teaching Junyi manners, but she's endearing in her own way. Unfortunately, she has little regard for the comfort of others, and is terrible at apologizing when it is due. It can be difficult to get Junyi to stop talking if she takes a liking to someone, and she has little awareness of when she irritates others.

She goes by her middle name because her first name is after one of the worst characters in Pride and Prejudice, she doesn't like how her mom says it, and she likes to have her name started with the same sound as her sister's.

Both of her parents send her money regularly (out of guilt?), even if she is already an adult. Junyi wouldn't have to work if she didn't want to, but she has put some of that money toward advancing a career in doing what she loves... designing dollhouses big enough to fit people. Or as other people see fit to call those: houses. Her early career is going surprisingly well.

Junyi loves collecting things, and is the biggest Disney fan out of the club- beyond just the parks. She has a particularly very large Tsum Tsum collection. Visitors to the clubhouse may find Tsum Tsums hidden in locations where Tsum Tsums should not dwell.

TOQJUN "QJUN" GVUGGL

Pronouns: He/him

Position: Secretary of the Theme Park Club of Tarrk

Age: 111

Romantic and/or Sexual Preference: He is honestly obsessed with calling himself "MLM" but pronounces it "Mlem"

Species: Carrek

Home Planet: Sturn

Faceclaim/Humanoid Appearance: Mika

True Appearance: Qjun closely resembles an armadillo-girdled lizard with cascading scales and a flexible body, but pale blue.

Information:

Kjeuk and Qjun's families have been close for generations, helping each other grow their own wealth. Much of the families' occupations revolves around using money to make more money. Qjun thinks that investments and gambling are quite fun.

By far, Qjun is the most socially apt out of the leadership of the Theme Park Club. Unfortunately, Qjun is only good in social situations if he is presenting information. If you ask him enough questions, his eccentricity comes out. He's fun, and odd people gravitate to him, but Qjun's family thinks that he's kind of a loser.

Qjun is equally comfortable going by his full name "Toqjun" or the nickname "Qjun". Since Kjeuk uses the nickname, the secretary is usually "Qjun" to the club.

While Qjun likes theme parks, he is genuinely more interested in watching videos and having the merchandise than actually going to a park- and risking Galx coming after him and his sweet sweet money.

Qjun's weak spot is karaoke. You can persuade him to do anything if you do karaoke with him first. It's been bad for business.

While he is the secretary of Theme Park Club, Qjun enjoys the social aspect of the club more than anything. It's nice to be a part of a community of people that enjoy things and care so strongly about it! He likes to listen and do his part to keep the club going. Also they serve really good food at the club.

[folkloristico]

I tend to forget myself when it comes to ask games so here's a whole bunch of numbers - 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 19, 23, 24, 28, 33, 38

No problem, actually, thank you for the ask!

7. Your favorite Ao3 tag.

Emotional Hurt/Comfort — that’s the Good Stuff™️

9. Thoughts on cliffhangers?

I love them! As a writer, I don’t think I’m that good at executing them (it’s something I’m working on), while as a reader, I love them! Sure, they make you suffer badly, but many times it’s what keeps me going. Not being able to put a book down because you have to know what happens next is the best feeling ever.

10. Top three favorite fic tropes.

Already answered it here. 

13. Rate your world-building skills from 1 to 10.

Honestly? I’d say 4 or 5. I haven’t had the need to really work on world-building yet because I have never written original stories—though I do have tons of OCs—and I’ve mostly written one-shots. I actually think Winx Club is proving to be the most challenging world to write in so far because the combination of magic with sci-fi elements is such an interesting concept which wasn’t always executed well in canon. I do have a bunch of headcanons and ideas to fix the world or at least make it more coherent (mostly stuff for a potential rewrite for the future, but there are other WIPs I’m working on at the moment so who knows about that), but I would hardly call it ‘being skilled at world-building’ because the world is already there.

19. Share a snippet from a wip without giving any context for it.

I was hoping someone would ask that 👀

“Are you busy?”

“Yes.”

“That makes two of us, then.”

With a smile, Daphne placed her book on the table and sat in front of Griffin. As soon as she’d spotted Griffin in the library, she had chosen a book that wouldn’t draw attention to the real reason she’d gone there, careful to not opt for something that would make Griffin suspect she was hiding something—which she was.

Symbolism: How Whichcraft Redefined Magic Through The Use of Runes was the first title that had caught her attention. Daphne had always been fascinated by the different approaches to magic one could have, and one of the few bright sides of having so much time to herself because of the war was that she could focus on researching beyond what was required for her studies. Oritel wouldn’t be pleased by her growing interest in whichcraft, but Daphne found solace in the knowledge that her parents wouldn’t notice—they barely noticed anything these days.

“That’s an interesting choice.”

Daphne looked up, surprised Griffin would even talk to her. She surely must’ve known her ways around Symbolic Magic, Daphne thought, but as much as she wanted to ask her, there was another matter she urged to discuss with Griffin. 

Daphne just hoped she wouldn’t notice her fake attempt at sounding casual.

“Are you and Hagen still working on the sword for Father?” she asked, nodding to a book that addressed the best ways to make a metal resistant to magical fire. 

As soon as the news had slipped Marion’s lips, Daphne had been sure it had been Griffin’s idea. It was brilliant, really, to take advantage of the Dragon Flame to make their weapons more effective against the Coven.

If only they would let her—the actual keeper of the Dragon Flame—in.

It’s not really edited, but trust the process, right?

23. Dialogue or description? Why is the other one so hard?

Definitely descriptions. Though dialogues can be tricky as well. 

Why are descriptions harder than dialogues? Granted that dialogues aren’t easy, I think that when describing something, you have to know when to stop. You have to let the reader know where the characters are and what they’re doing without exceeding. I still have nightmares from reading Anna Karenina.

24. Thoughts on flashbacks/flashforwards.

I love them! If well executed, they’re fantastic. Flashforwards can really catch the reader’s attention. I can only think of Berserk—when I was reading the first arc, I was dying on the inside because of anxiety. I think flashbacks can be trickier if they tend to slow down a story too much.

28. Any writing advice that works for you and you feel like sharing?

Actually, I might have those. What has helped me a lot is building a routine and staying organized. I struggle a lot with staying consistent to the point I never thought I would find a way to focus on a story longer than 10k words, and I still can’t believe I found a way. To me, it’s just a matter of knowing exactly where you’re going but still allowing yourself room for improvisation and mistakes. 

I think the more you avoid writing, the more it gets scary. So write anything that comes to your mind. Literally anything. My first drafts are a huge mess, you can go from slightly decent paragraphs to paragraphs that read like the ramblings of a maniac. Chopped sentences, words that don’t mean what you think they mean. Awful, awful prose. But having something to come back to it’s so helpful. I think the myth of the first perfect draft needs to be abolished. 

With that in mind, I can manage to write something everyday. Mind you, it’s not good. It’s not polished. It’s not even solid. But it’s something. Of course, stressing it too much won’t help. I don’t have a daily wordcount goal because I’m not a professional writer and I don’t have time to write everyday. But I try. Even if it’s just one word. I might get lucky and get something done, or I might not write a single word because my mind is blank. It’s fine. I just close the document and move on to something else. 

Honestly, I understand the need to write down the most perfect, god-like prose known to heart, I really do, but realistically, it’s not something that I can manage. A badly written story is better than a non-written story. Plus, I enjoy editing, so there’s that. 

Granted, everything I said it’s something that works for me. Everyone’s brain works differently, so I guess it’s just a matter of sifting through multiple options until you find the thing that works for you.

33. Give your writing a compliment.

Already answered it here.

38. “This never happened” fix-it fics or “This happened, but” fix-it fics?

“This happened, but…” fix-it, with the ‘but’ part being, ‘but I will cherry-pick only the silliest things I like and change everything else to cater to my specific needs’. (That is exactly what’s happening with my SotLK rewrite tbh.)

[mish-tique]

How do you come up with all the brilliant ideas? And also how can you write non stop (and spare your daily activity) especially for this kinktober that needs commitment…

hi love! thanks for dropping by <33

for kinktober the ideas are kinda easy? Because anons already helped with input, sometimes i only have to execute it or find a plot to make certain tropes work

for things like post race pack fics or other race related fics: sometimes i just mentally review a race and decide what could lead to smut or what could lead to fluff

for the og fics: i have a lot of friends that come up with amazing ideas, but i also have an amazing groupchat with ao3 users bonotje and multi21 where we just talk a lot. thank them for the increase of happy endings to my fics

sometimes i just need to get rid of my own mental thoughts? like a lot of the fics have been me projecting on max

and re: commitment and writing non stop:

for kinktober up till now i've mostly written one day in advance. so like, today (13th) I write tomorrow's (day 14) kinktober fic so tomorrow morning when I wake up, i can easily post it and then focus on my chores / plans / the fic of the following day. I also try to preplot. and honestly? i think it really helps that im motivated, which is mostly due to the massive support and feedback i have gotten for kinktober which is overwhelmingly nice. and, if im being honest, i talk a lot about it with my parents so they leave me alone to write. like, they got no clue about what or why but they do know "that I'm doing this daily writing challenge" and they respect the creative grind so that gives me time.

for other fics: ever since i have abandoned a few multi chaptered fics, i try to write the whole thing before posting. but for the grindr fic, i did post it chapter by chapter. it was a birthday gift for multi21 which was already late but did motivate a lot, but i also had like 3 red bulls per writing session so that's. that.

other than that i don't really have any patterns or things. my dad did tell a friend of him once that "the moment Missha finishes watching a race, the laptop gets opened and she writes away on her laptop". he thinks i write blogs but what he doesn't know can't hurt him.

Feel free to drop by and ask me anything about writing <33

[ear-worthy]

Hobo Code Audio Drama Debuts: There's No Place Like...Riding The Rails?

When any genre of art or media is described as "different," there is a logical next question. Good different? Bad different? Weird different? Breathtakingly different?

That last description is the one I'd use for Hobo Code, which is a four-part limited "magical-realist" series about two hobos (an acerbic rambler and a self-ordained monk) and a young girl with a best friend who lives in a coffee can. It's a journey spanning from the Roaring Twenties to the Great Depression, all the way to the Great Recession of 2008, that examines human cycles - whether it’s generational trauma or economic crises.

If that isn't different enough, the audio drama also features an ancient, blind, half-senile/three-quarters-feral hobo mystic. Even without description of dramatic chaos and entropy, this audio drama is funny, endearing, sharp-witted, and an acerbic commenter on the human condition.

This superb audio drama stars Becky Poole (Strange Planet), Corey Rieger (Out of the Furnace), and Jake Robertson (The Sound of Liberty) and features Bill Pullman (The Sinner, Independence Day, While You Were Sleeping) and Susan Ruttan (LA Law, Sprung). These are esteemed and talented actors, and they display their acting chops with a ferocity that can hypnotize listeners.

The music acts as its own character in this audio drama, with an original score steeped in folk/Americana music made by Maesa Pullman.

The audio drama was written by Paul Pakler and Emmy-nominated screenwriter Shane Portman, who comes primarily from the animated kids world. Hobo Code was independently funded through Portman's production company, Hammer Canyon, in collaboration with executive producing partner David Switzer.

Portman explains: "The idea for Hobo Code sprang from an idea that Paul Pakler and I were carrying around for a while. The concept revolved around these three characters; a displaced young girl with a mystical friend in a coffee can, an acerbic gadabout, and a self-ordained monk. We didn’t have a story for them, but we knew we wanted to place them in the 1930s. So, while building out the character’s backstories, we also started delving into research of the time period. And those two avenues converged into the idea of exploring the cycles of generational trauma and economic crises."

Perhaps Portman's unique childhood had something to do with his distinctive artistic voice. Shane Portman was born at the New London naval submarine base hospital in Connecticut. Just three months later, his father was transferred to Norfolk, VA. He grew up in various homes in Norfolk before moving to Leesburg, VA and, then, finally winding up in Windsor, OH.

 Shane Portman is also the director of development for Bix Pix Entertainment, the award-winning stop-motion animation studio in Sun Valley, California.

When I asked Shane about the comfort level of the actors with audio-only acting, he answered, "Our fabulous sound engineers -- Kevin Cleland in LA and Erik Nyquist in NYC -- were able to create setups so that our actors could record scenes together in real time. On top of that, a majority of the actors already had voiceover experience. So, the record sessions were intimate and connected."

The sound production of Hobo Code is inspired and technically brilliant with One Thousand Birds (OTB), an award-winning Los Angeles production studio, creating the sound design.

Shane adds: "We wanted Hobo Code to be as immersive and lived-in as possible, and OTB took that note and really elevated the series in equally vast and subtle ways."

I asked Shane about the use of the word "Hobo" which is not well known today and reflected a world long gone.

"How did you overcome that generational distinction?" I asked.

Shane replied: "That’s a great question. Honestly, the mystique and folklore around hobos, the Dust Bowl, and the 1930s in America are topics that really fascinate us. This quintessentially American idea of escaping to ride the rails is filled with such a sense of adventure and independence. We also love Woody Guthrie! Maybe Paul and I just have weird historical obsessions…"

Shane continues: "The writer William Faulkner said, 'The past is never dead. It’s not even past.' Our goal was to create vividly interesting characters and steep them in this rich setting, while simultaneously punching holes in that mythology to expose the deeper historical and emotional truths being glossed over. And while people might not have an awareness of this specific subculture or name, the emotions, themes, and experiences will be (hopefully) universal."

Podcasting is no different from any other medium. Copycatting is often the most frictionless way to success, exerting the least amount of creative effort. Podcasters want to be the next Joe Rogan (aim higher), Alex Cooper (aim much higher) or the three Smartless celebs (appropriate mentors).

Hobo Code is an audio drama that breaks all the rules, mixes and matches genres and generations, and transforms familiar themes into proto-magical mythologies that define us. Since when is a coffee can an imaginary friend?

It is a trailer and four episodes of pure creative effort. Listen. Be different in a good way.