#i couldn't really think of something to end this story arc properly

[sparklecarehospital]

been reflecting on my year a bit, and i was thinking about something. i think i know what the best thing i did for myself this year was.

making cometcare public. making the ask blog.

ive had this AU stirring in my brain since 2019, ever since i got really attached to doomi during the haunted arc. one reason i went so long without revealing pollarrydoomi as a ship to readers was because doom's crush wasn't public information until late 2021.

i had kept his crush a mystery for 3 years, but revealed it after a fun experience where people figured out who it was through guessing. i'm pretty sure i did a poll about it? asking people to guess who they thought it was, and uni won the vote, meaning everyone had already figured it out.

after pollarrydoomi was revealed and i started drawing art for it and people made fanart for it, i still couldn't post any of my AU art because ally wasn't public and she and howie were in the AU. in july 2022, for the comic's birthday, i revealed ally as a character to the readers. others around the time had started to notice characters i had in pfps and i ended up telling everyone i did have pollarrydoomi ship kids, but i didn't make them public.

in november 2022, i revealed eve on toyhouse. after her reveal, i would soon reveal sly as well in december 2022 on my birthday (revealing sly as a birthday present to myself is such a funny gesture now that you guys know how important he is to me). over the next few weeks i revealed cream, frosty, and marco as well. all of the main cometkids except chem.

then one day someone out there suggested that i make an ask blog for the cometcare AU. it was such a spontaneous decision, and i didn't even really know what i was gonna do with it at first. i was just kinda messing around. but when i made the blog i realized that if i wanted this AU to be experienced in complete authenticity, i couldn't make uni cis.

so i revealed uni being trans through the blog, despite the fact i'd gone so many years without ever revealing her identity. why did i do it? there's a lot of reasons. not wanting to make her a "dad" in the AU contributed, but also i felt like it wouldn't be detrimental to the story to confirm a character being trans. it also made me (and the crew in general) a lot more comfortable being able to properly refer to uni with her actual pronouns.

making the ask blog really changed me, because finally i could share this little family and comfort story i'd built in my brain with the world and make it real and make content for it and let people consume it.

but what stopped me most of all?

i've said it many times before... but i felt like it was cringey.

i felt like making an AU with 93985893844 fankids in a ridiculous complicated polycule wasn't something a Serious content creator should do, and i was really worried the reception would be negative or people would think it was stupid or something. i did NOT expect it to become as popular as it is. the blog actually has more followers than the MAIN ASK BLOG for the canon comic. it was received SO POSITIVELY and the fact it was just kind of blows me away.

it means so much to me. being able to share the most special thing in my life with people and for people to actually like it and have fun with me and want to see it, and for me to be able to not have to follow strict professionalism about spoilers and chronological storytelling, and being able to change and add in things whenever i felt like it. it's such a freeing experience.

when i was a kid, i used to make stories and OCs and i didn't take them as seriously as i do the sparklecare reboot. this kind of turned into my entire life and career kinda, so i had to take it more seriously. but making this AU honestly just makes me feel like i'm a kid again, it makes me feel like i can have fun and literally do whatever the fuck i want without worrying what people think or if it's realistic or if it makes any sense.

i know though, that some people don't like pollarrydoomi. and i know why. whether it's because of being attached to barruni (of course, they're the canon ship and main characters, i get it) or just having discomfort with the idea of shipping doom with anyone when canonically he hasn't experienced a redemption arc... i get it. i know not everyone likes it.

and that's okay! people are entitled to having their own feelings about content. i understand it. and i've come to accept that's always going to be the case with anything i do with these characters.

but i'm still going to do this for myself. i do this because it makes me happy to just have fun and not worry about being serious all the time. it feels good, especially when it's with characters that are really really important to me.

cometcare is genuinely the most special and important thing i've ever made for myself, it's such a huge piece of my identity and it makes me who i am. and being able to make this story public and share it with people and share these things that have been in my brain for so long with others means so much to me.

that's why i think it was the best thing i've done this year. it's kind of literally changed my life to be able to talk about them. it's made me happier than i've ever been making content. i'm not just making it to entertain myself alone anymore, i'm making it to entertain others like i do with other stuff. and the fact people actually like it still is unbelievable to me.

so, i guess my outlook for next year as it comes is to continue to stop taking everything so seriously. i can tell my stories however i want to. i hope others can realize they can do this too.

please make whatever you want, whenever you what, as much as you want, even if it doesn't make sense or if it's "cringe". you will be so much happier when you realize as a creator you DON'T have to take all of this so seriously. the comic still exists and people read it even if i'm doing this. You Can Do Whatever You Want And Nobody Can Ever Stop You. the only person who can stop you is yourself when you let your inhibitions get in the way of your ability to create things for yourself.

have fun! life is too short to take everything you do seriously

[vegasandhishedgehog]

Seeing a lot of upset posts about how the show ended with Boston and feeling like something really went over a few heads. Do I also believe Boston deserved better? Yes. But let's be realistic in the way Jojo and Ninew approached this.

Boston and his promiscuity have been the target of harsh judgements from episode one. And the writers have stated that he has a moral code, it's just very different from others. I was never expecting him to state it outright, that it would just be a thing worth paragraphs of speculative meta, but he does!

Boston stated his definition of boyfriend. If he wants to be exclusive, that's for all the emotional bonding that he desires with someone special, but does not deny him the ability to fulfill his physical desires with whomever he wishes. That's not just polyamory, it's a very specific kind!!! And it's entirely different from the traditional sort of relationship society has accepted. The thing is, he wouldn't have discovered that possibility without knowing Nick.

Boston did genuinely fall for Nick. But how could he have handled that properly when he has no experience being loved and has never learned how to love someone back? Moreover, how could he come to the conclusion that he likes being exclusive in one way but not another without absolutely fumbling the bag with someone who's on a different page? It's not exactly Nick's fault that he prefers physical affection to be exclusive as well, that's just how he is. There couldn't have been any discussion about this, it was a discovery in the making.

The truth is Boston would still have a hard time finding happiness in Thailand due to the political climate, especially with his father being a politician. He's gay and that alone makes achieving his dreams more difficult, but being as promiscuous as he is means even a majority of the queer community will shut him out. He's better off moving to the states where at least he has rights and better acceptance for who he is. And that's what happened.

Because having a sexual or romantic appetite outside of monogamy is still looked down on. I still see it in the BL fandom. I see it just in general. 3 Will Be Free is so often cited as a must-watch, but how many people stick to their comfort branded pairings?* How many people have made or heard jokes about the "Seattle polycule"? How many romantic aces and allosexual aros get othered and excluded and judged for their identity?

Jojo said there was no intended message, but that doesn't mean there isn't one to be found. Boston's arc is a prime example of how slutty queers get treated even by their own peers, even by people who care about them most. It's a cry from the cold and lonely dark that if we think these people deserve better, we need to change existing paradigms and find how we can give them that!

Nick wasn't prepared to do that because he is still hurting, and that's also okay. Not everyone has to change themselves to make the puzzle pieces fit. Boston and Nick's story centers around that so much. Nick being jealous and trying to copy Top, Boston trying to be what he thinks a boyfriend is - they only hurt each other because the parts that don't fit are digging in.

I hope we get a second season, but if not friends, remember Boston. He represents such a particular demographic that gets hated on and ignored constantly, and they deserve a chance. They're not easy, but that doesn't mean they're not worth it. Remember Nick too. We all have a Nick in some manner - someone that made us want to try, but no matter how much we cared for each other it just wasn't going to work. Family, friends, partners, whoever.

Instead of being outraged with the show, be outraged with society. Do something about it. Be kinder. Community is important, now more than ever. I cannot possibly overstate how much we need community, especially among minorities.

*this isn't meant to be judgmental toward fans who prefer branded pairings or aren't interested in that particular show. I know watching anything requires time and energy and scratching a certain itch at the right moment. It is, however, a concern that so many fans complained about numerous aspects of OF to the point where the creators went to the effort of explaining themselves on a weekly basis and editing certain parts to avoid backlash. I mentioned 3 Will Be Free because it's another example of Jojo's work. Many BL fans have heard of it, but only a small portion seem to have watched, and that can be an indicator of certain biases. This is not to imply anyone who hasn't seen it has said biases and is only intended to encourage reflection if needed.

[theflyindutchwoman]

Hey! How are you holding up? Just finished the episode and I haven't really recovered. I am sad, I am frustrated, I don't really know what's happening? I thought they were mature and Tim is so dumb right now, I can't even.

And Lucy? I can't even start to imagine what she's going through. She has been so badass for the 5 seasons and this season she just gets fail after fail and loss after loss and doesn't even get a good job storyline.

So sorry I didn't reply sooner but I first wanted to take a little step back in order to fully digest the episode. As much as the waiting is killing me, I actually appreciate the hiatus for that. I imagine your feelings may have changed a bit as well since then… or that was the impression I got from our different conversations here and there. How are you feeling now? A bit better or still frustrated?

I'm going to start with Lucy. I was rewatching the beginning of season 5 and this is hitting even harder now. Not because of the pining era. But because the narrative was already showing her isolation back then. I couldn't quite put my finger on why her storyline in season 6 felt so familiar but now I get it. This is merely the continuation.

As we all noticed, the scene of Tim breaking up with her had a very similar vibe to the one at the end of 5.02. But think back of when she went to Nyla for advice about going to UC school, when she was trying to confide to Aaron who was too caught up in his own drama to hear her… or when she spent hours locked in a freezer because no one realised she was missing - besides Tim, that is. And then, there was the whole Rosalind thing where Lucy had to push through her own trauma to help Chris deal with his and help Bailey stay calm. But no one ever took the time to ask her how she was doing with all of this (on screen). They all had good reasons, by the way, this isn't me trying to paint them as the bad guys. But this still has an eerie similarity to what is happening right now. Only there has been no payoff for any of this. Yet. It didn't seem to go anywhere. Until now. Same with her career : she nailed UC Academy, something that was supposed to help her standout come promotion time… She helped the FBI on a raid, she was asked to be the acting Watch Commander, she was told that the whole station had her back… And yet, none of this paid off either. Yet. So this is a great opportunity to finally connect all the dots that have been dropped for the past two seasons and give Lucy the amazing arc she deserves. I sincerely hope this will be the case.

As for Tim… Look, the reason why I didn't want a breakup (besides the fact that I dislike this trope so much), is that I was afraid that it would cheapen the whole "worth the effort / worth the risk" speech. You can't say that and leave at the first difficulty without downplaying the whole story. So I'm glad that the writers were able to find a way to circumvent that issue by showing Tim completely unravelling. Because this isn't about him thinking Lucy is not worth the effort or the risk… This is about him thinking HE is not worthy of her. And that changes everything. For me, at least. I still get the frustration. I still wish this storyline would have been done with them sticking together and trying to work through it. But I can understand his perspective, why he thought this would be better for her. And I can see how that could make them stronger in the end. So, just like with Lucy, I hope Tim's arc will be treated properly and carefully. I need to see the payoff, the progress… I need to see them heal. Separately and then, together. It's always hard to see where a story is going when it is still unfolding… But for now, I choose to remain optimistic and hopeful. Does that help you even a tiny bit?

[stellanslashgeode]

I'm happily educating myself on all things Barriss via your wonderful blog. If you'd ever feel like unpacking more of your Wrong Jedi thoughts/intrigue, I'd love to hear more of your analysis.

Oh my, you've put a quarter in the machine now you have to hear the whole song.

The arc is very divisive with Barriss enjoyers because her character veers so far from her Legends depiction. She was a pretty prominent character in the original Clone Wars multimedia project and was a caring and selfless healer. And the arc doesn't do much to explain her motivations for turning.

Another thing that vexes me is because it is essentially a police procedural (they even hired a writer from Third Watch for this arc) so much occurs off-screen. So, we do not know quite what happened but have to infer.

Let's start with motivation. In her very few post The Wrong Jedi appearances they've tried to hint at Barriss falling mainly though post-traumatic stress disorder. And that's sort of a good explanation? She was at Geonsis at the start of the war, and was one of two Padawans we know of IN the arena who lived and the other was Anakin! You have to think this is a healer, someone who was trained to be a pacifist, and the battle was so sudden and frantic that she had to witness other Padawans she knew in the creche die all around her and she was too busy defending herself to do anything. So that's trauma and guilt. The short story A Jedi's Duty shows that she sat out nearly the entire first year of the war healing others back at the temple, explaining why she wasn't there to deal with Asajj Ventress with Luminara in TCW season 1. Also, she is having trouble sleeping because of memories of that first battle. She asked for help but they told her to meditate if she couldn't sleep, but she couldn't meditate properly because of this haze of the dark side invading her perceptions. She's even having trouble Force healing and she feels guilty that others are taking risks that she is unwilling to take. She consults with an old friend, Tutso Mara and is finally able to meditate, but right then Luminara calls her to a briefing, and wouldn't you know it, they're going to Geonosis again. She is frightened but memorizes the tunnel formations under the weapons factory they need to destroy because that's her duty to the Light and to her Order. The last scene is her joining Luminara and Gree to depart for the battle. And it's such an ironic story because Master Mara is one of her later victims and the place she bombs is right there in the temple hangar where the story ends. I think that's why she chose it as her target, it was the place she went from safety to chaos.

And what happens next? She almost is buried alive Right Away, then as she's reeling from that she gets a Geonocian brain worm. She was also at the Battle of Umbara, and you know how that goes. So I guess trauma is a fairly good reason, as well as her love and admiration of Jedi ethics and pedagogy that just went right out the window when the Jedi had to do what it took to fight in this war. Barriss is a bookworm, all that heritage meant something to her. And really, that was the purpose of the war, to isolate the Jedi by having them betray their morals and sully their reputation with the public.

Fanfiction writers also can pick and choose from Legends, such as all the crazy stuff that happened to her on Drongar but that's a story for another day.

So we get to the Wrong Jedi Arc itself. We aren't shown how she meets Letta Turmond, how much of a partnership that was. Letta says Barriss was the mastermind of the operation but that's after she's jailed. I don't trust her. I mean, Letta is a grown woman and while Barriss was an idealistic and heartsick Jedi at that point she's just 17-18 according to Feloni. I can see it as a situation where a teenager gets politically radicalized and taken advantage by a woman she trusts. If we get a Letta flashback in Tales of the Empire I will be so happy!

Ahsoka is framed. But there's a multi-step aspect to it. Part A, Letta calls Ahsoka to the prison because she was told she was the only Jedi her collaborator trusted and gets Force choked by someone we do not see. Part B, after she is arrested someone leaves a key card outside her cell and she follows a trail of first injured then dead clones to make it look like she broke out and went on a killing spree. Part C is the only one we actually see start to finish, where Ahsoka contacts Barriss and she lures her to the factory that made the nano-droids.

Barriss is guilty of Part C. But did she do Part A and B? She was at the funeral with Ahsoka and heard same time as her that she was transferred to a military compound. Then in the maybe hour, two hours Ahsoka was in a mission briefing Barriss supposedly broke into a brand-new high security compound, got in the walls, and strangled Letta as Ahsoka was in the cell alone with her. Then Part B, she hung around undetected for a few more hours to set up the escape while also erasing the audio off the recording of the murder.

I personally think Palpatine MIGHT have done part A. He has much greater access and he has the motive (to take away a pillar of stability for Anakin). If Barriss did do Part A, what was the motivation? The most pessimistic reading is she did it to save her own skin and purposely framed Ahsoka. Another is that Barriss genuinely talked up Ahsoka to Letta, and did NOT do so to set her up but because she was one of the lonely girl's only friends (and maybe love interest) and then Letta goes ahead and calls her there, Barriss is in the walls, and she just cannot have Ahsoka's opinion of her ruined. She killed Letta to silence her from tainting this one friendship she had left, did so out of panic, and wasn't thinking of the consequences. Then Part B, oh no I got my girlfriend framed for murder. So she springs her out. So why does she kill those clones to further frame her?

Consider the conversation after the funeral, "Ahsoka, do you think it is right for us to ignore our emotions?" I think the subtext there was "Ahsoka, I'm hurting so much, join me to stop me." She was feeling her out to see if she felt the same about the war as she did. And she did Part B to see if Ahsoka would run, SO THEY COULD RUN AWAY TOGETHER. Sure, it's manipulative as all Hell, but that's the dark side for you. It was a test, and Ahsoka failed because as soon as she gets out, she calls Barriss to help clear her name. So that she could get back to the war. The war Barriss hates with all her being. So that's why she did Part C. She had been alienated by the Order and her own master by all these deployments and the one person left who she valued was buying into the propaganda that the Jedi needed to finish this war. It broke her. And she did something awful.

All and all I think her fall is fascinating because it wasn't for personal power or attachments, she wanted to sacrifice her own grace to save the souls of all other Jedi. She did it out of love for the Order, even if it came in such a twisted and destructive form. That's also why she'd become a lousy Inquisitor. They're the anthesis of all she stood for, an army fighting for the dark side.

I know a lot of fans hate this arc but... man that speech! I spent the whole Prequel trilogy and TCW waiting for a Jedi to stand up and say "What we are doing is wrong, we should stop." Yoda and Mace know their path is leading to the dark, but they see no other way but through. I just wanted someone to say no with their whole chest. And it was Barriss. That's why I love her, your honor. I admire the idealists, her and Satine. They should have teamed up and put a stop too all that nonsense.

Sorry this is so long? I have a lot of FEELINGS and now you can see why I have a lot of trepidation about this Saturday. You know, I thought of you last night when I was rewatching Tales of the Jedi. It was the scene were Dooku was leaving to meet Palpatine with Yaddle following in The Sith Lord. I was imagining how you felt watching that for the first time, and I remembered my reaction was "Oh no, it's the temple hangar! Barriss is going to blow the shit out of this place in a decade and change!"

[bogkeep]

sorry i'm still SSSS blogging today. i meant to draw but instead i reread adventure 2 and. hm

like, it starts out fun, you have characters interactions and dreamsharing and interesting locations and new outfits and hotakainen backstory!!!! that's the stuff i think fondly of when i think of adventure 2. it sets up for an emotional throughline for the hotakainens that would be so so tasty to follow and explore, especially considering what happened to tuuri in the last adventure!!!

but then... nah. when tuuribird shows up, something that should've had a BIG impact, especially on lalli - there's almost no reaction among any of the characters. it's just "oh okay." and like, i get that the whole deal with the finns is that they aren't very open about feelings but come on. come on!!!!!!

i think that is the point in the comic where things start to feel off for me. it SHOULD be exciting, you have connected all the characters and you're digging into the main plot and not just fighting small fry along the way, but........ ?????????

it's also around that time where minna starts working on the infamous bunny comic, and some of the author comments from that period of time made me wince. the whole ssss reading vibe gets Weird!! it's really hard for me to extract the experience of reading the Comic from the experience of witnessing its creator getting converted and baptized in frozen lakes and following a higher calling to create a comic whose message is frankly rather stupid!!! also i don't read the comment sections but clearly shit went down in some of them, maybe because minna said some awful stuff in her streams??? i don't know!!!!!! i don't really need to know!!!!

and then the comic just gets boring and drags on forever. look, the worldbuilding and the monsters are cool, and the art is always lovely, but the true joy of ssss for me has always been the characters. and then they don't really... do or say very much with each other for the rest of the story. like they're following the plot beats, but so much of the comic us just monster fights, beasts fighting each other, the plot HAPPENS but there's no emotion tied to it. the most egregious example is when lalli and onni have the spirits of tuuri and ensi with them, and they have a conversation - and we don't see ANY of that. it happens off screen. we get NOTHING. there's ZERO emotional reward. the characters are for all intents and purposes unchanged. there has been no arc or change in their dynamics. WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE!!!!!

it feels like the beats of the story were all planned out, but not fleshed out at all, and when minna got this far she no longer cared about these characters, or like telling this story served any purpose. the potential is there! it's easy to imagine another timeline where this story is rich in character interacton and growth. instead we get a hollow shallow shell of a comic. welp!

i so badly want to admire minna's decision to end the comic "properly", but i really feel like it might've been better to have just abandoned it when her priorities shifted. it's so sad to see the characters getting neglected like dolls in a dusty toybox. it really breaks my heart that she doesn't believe ssss has any value beyond "empty entertainment" when it meant so much to so many. SIGH

people who couldn't be bothered to finish reading adventure 2 are right actually. there's nothing there.

[horizon-verizon]

It's amazing how you talk about misogyny to mask your own misogyny towards a female character. You think you can end your ridiculous essay with "she's just empty and not compelling" then blame it to sexism and the writers. All you have to say is you hate that they gave Helaena a compelling ability that you wish your favs have. Have you actually seen the next seasons of this show to know they're not doing anything with her character and the dreamer ability itself? You know you're going to be so disappointed with your wishes. You're just seething they didn't give show Dany the dreamer ability and projecting your spite towards Helaena. So transparent.

Well this is awkward.

You're just seething they didn't give show Dany the dreamer ability and projecting your spite towards Helaena.

Let's say that them not giving show Dany her canon dragon dreams was part of my thoughts when I was writing the post you respond to.

Dany actually had dreams...while canon Helaena, you and no one can ever prove that she did, so the real question is why is there a discrepancy in your mind as to why Dany shouldn't/couldn't have her canonical dreams while a less important character like Helaena should/could? Makes no sense.

I don't really care or feel strong emotions for or about Helaena bc she doesn't do much. Not because she is on the green side and little to do with her own choice in the matter. GRRM clearly uses her to make other characters compare Helaena to Rhaenyra, the Shepherd, the coming Dragonpit disaster, the degredation of Rhaenyra's control over KL, etc.

Also, why do you think it' a good thing or acceptable that they removed Dany's dreams, which are critical to understanding her arc, the Targs, the climatic catastrophe that is the Others, AND as this is a fantasy series...we need magical elements?! So, back to the discrepancy, I rather think it is you who is showing a bit of sexism: bc unlike Helaena, Dany is not a girl-woman who succumbs to the patriarchal violence but fights back and is going to enact revolutionary violence. If you say "Dany is an incest child", you should know that so are a lot of Westerosi people AND Dany is still that revolutionary, anti-exploitation figure.

It doesn't sound like you care much about "truth" or bigotry, so much as you are entertained and validated in the bigotry you already carry.

Have you actually seen the next seasons of this show to know they're not doing anything with her character and the dreamer ability itself? You know you're going to be so disappointed with your wishes.

If it takes 2 seasons to properly distinguish a character (aside from establishing that they have an ability) as to what kind of person they are and that you had since the second half of the first, you've done something wrong. So, yes, HotD dropped the ball and it does have to do with sexism either on the writers or the execs, like how Legend of Korra wasn't given as much of a chance as it should have been. Whether bc of production stuff or imagination. Espec since there have been characters people actually made into real people in just s few scenes (the rest going off from that point) and that has not happened for Helaena yet...when it should have in the first season. And if you say "bc studios and execs are cutting down stuff for costs", then that just hammers in the point that this is not a good story bc it was not allowed to breathe and develop. It's just unearned spectacle after spectacle.

Right now, Helaena is still just a person who says stuff and people ignore or to characterize/reflect more on Aegon and Jacaerys (dance scene).

All you have to say is you hate that they gave Helaena a compelling ability that you wish your favs have.

If you only talk of Dany, no, already explained above. If you mean the blacks, no, bc i think that no one should be having dragon dreams amongst them. This is supposed to be an uncommon ability and none of the characters of the orig canon Dance story show signs of having these dreams. I'd rather we focus on story given. The anon who's ask I link first above reminded me of Duncan (Maekar's son) and Patchface and how this adaptation could have made their Helaena more interesting while keeping her dragon dreaming. I still prefer the canon a little more, but with their post, I'm much more amenable to vision-having!Helaena as long as she's the only dragon dreamer and she has actual dreams and not Raven-Symone visions where she's fully awake for them. You can go check that post out. Or don't, not my issue.

[travelingneuritis]

For the fanfic asks - number 8 and 24!

8. Is there a story idea in your mental vault that you’ve never been brave enough to try writing? Is this the year? Can you tell us about it?

oh my god YES and it's actually the same answer it's been for the last couple years, even though the target has changed. I really, really, really want to write a darkfic. Not just a fic with dark themes, or gore, or horror, but a properly fucked up fic you need to take a break from reading. Something disturbing and uncomfortable.

My problem is I have a cop in my brain. When writing for MDZS I tried so hard to make WWX truly fucked up-- enough to match canon, where, you know, he commits actual atrocities?? Not the cute ones either. The gross ones. But I never managed it, I always ended up bending the narrative to excuse what he was doing. I couldn't commit the way MXTX did, and my anachronistic morality always bled through. While I do like my writing and I've largely accepted that this is a limitation I may never be able to push past, I can't help but be aware that my version of WWX is always gonna be flatter and less dimensional than MXTX's atrocities-committing original. It's fine; I can't exactly be mad at myself for not being able to out-write the actual MXTX, and I think I have enough other strengths to make up for this particular weakness.

I'm hoping it will be a little more doable to write a truly reprehensible Luo Binghe, given the particularities of the PIDW/SVSSS landscape. The LBH in the story I'm currently editing/posting sucks A Very Little Bit as part of a domestication arc, so that's baby step one. However, I've begun outlining a story in which Luo Binghe is truly despicable with no narrative justifications for his shitty behavior-- no misunderstandings, no "oh but he meant well" "oh it was just circumstances beating him down" "well necromancy and mind control and non-consensual surgical procedures are fine if you're using them to help people..."

My goal is to write a LBH who sucks so bad that you genuinely crave his downfall and want to see him cosmically punished. Then I want to save him anyway.

24. By the end of this year, you want your fandom to think of you as “that author who _______.”

Ooh I wanna be that author who can't even write fluff without sticking knives in. That would be a great reputation to have.

(Although tbh having any reputation would be a big deal, given the size of the fandoms I write for.)

[seeingteacupsindragons]

What are your thoughts on the Yuumori lighthouse/ship at sea imagery, considering that Sherlock and Liam met on a literal ship. Also, considering the fact that the Noatic was probably based of the Titanic, which was supposed to be unsinkable, how do you think the way the ship imagery is used now reflects character progression?

Well, this post wasn't just a joke. I do think it's really interesting how the authors warped the way people normally view a fire/water contrast and turned it into something reaching out to each other and two parts of the same story and the same whole instead of oppositional forces.

Of course, they've been doing that with their entire characters and the entire story the entire time, so it makes sense they'd do it with William and Sherlock's elemental motifs.

As for going all the way back to The Noahtic, let's actually take it back just a touch further: William's introductory chapter ended in fire and his rebirth in flames like a little phoenix, but also because fire is so strongly associated with all parts of him.

And so when Sherlock is introduced, it's surrounded by water so wholly Liam couldn't escape it if he tried--that's sort of how cruise ships work. And Sherlock's first arc On His Own shouldering the narrative himself was characterized by an awful lot of rain. I mean, it's London, but we don't actually see tons of rain most of the time. We see Sherlock get soaked in A Study in 'S', and that's about it for rain.

(There's also some fun things about how in A Scandal in the British Empire, Adler got soaked to the bone so badly that Sherlock had to loan her dry clothing, but later we see Bond singed with ash from a fire in The Final Problem. Good stuff)

Anyway, as most motifs, what they mean in a story really depends on how an author wants to portray it. And Fire and Water are both so well-worn ones that there's a millions ways those could be taken. Fire is heat and warmth and life and rage and anger and comfort and passion and love and light and uncontrollability and danger and purification and destruction and rebirth and incineration, and William is...all of those things. Water is tumult and chaos and danger and endless, unknowable depths and relentlessness and life and safety and peace and clarity and understanding and purity and cleansing and soothing and rebirth and baptism, and...Sherlock is all of those things.

And if you note those long lists, there's a lot of overlap between the two despite how oppositional they seem. Fire can evaporate water. Water can extinguish flame.

But this is fire and water, and you wanted lighthouse and ship.

I think what it really did with this new image is taking William's raging fire and putting it to a specific purpose. It has a calling and a use and a need. It's a signal of safety and shore. And a ship is something fighting through the tumult of water while using it to its own advantage, something which brings a fire what it needs to sustain itself all alone.

Ships and lighthouses need each other.

But it's also yet another twist--if Sherlock is the darkness of sea and ship, than William is the light of fire and shore. Sherlock is the one who presented that idea--William has always said the opposite, but it puts William as Sherlock's light, too.

The Titanic, ironically enough, was destroyed by ice (and carelessness and various other things). Water, without the warmth of fire to keep it liquid. Perhaps that could have been what Sherlock became without the fire in his life, who knows.

But I just like how their elemental motifs keep on giving and are being made full use of as the characters themselves reinterpret what they mean to themselves and to each other. Those ideas mean what they need them to mean. And those ideas change as they change as characters.

I don't know if I properly answered your question. I feel like I went off on several tangents here. Feel free to try again if I fucked up.

[momtaku]

"eren isn't an average person" anon here.

i had to vent, because, after the ending, i've been seeing many weird takes about the point of snk being to show what war can do to an ordinary person, or that everyone would do the same in eren's shoes. when people aren't saying that eren was just a cornered good guy or giving excuses that there was no other way other than the rumbling.

even if i can understand where isayama was going with the ending, i feel he kinda fumbled? i really think the way he wrote it gave the fandom what they wanted the most: many ways to justify what eren did and water down/erase the bad image of eren that the rumbling left on them. i got impressed how showing eren in a slightly more sympathetic light in chapter 139 made many people yell "i knew it. i knew he wasn't the bad guy" at the top of their lungs, others even considering he was redeemed and calling him a hero, since his actions ended up saving his close friends (despite they got in real danger and almost died most part of the last arcs).

the chapter technically doesn't redeem him, but the way it was delivered made many people see eren as "just a boy" again, and that the "bad eren" was completely a facade, because they'd desperately trying to disassociate what they think the real eren is from the things he was doing post-timeskip at every opportunity. people couldn't handle that eren is everything together.

many stuff contributed with that: not showing the consequences of the rumbling properly (post-rumbling); the rumbling not affecting the 104; all the main characters alive crying eren's death and implied to visit his grave; "thanks for becoming a mass murder for our sake" - even if armin was only trying to comfort eren before his death; excessively cute eremin and eremika without a drop of real resentment scenes; ending the original 139 with mikasa thanking eren for wrapping the scarf around her (inviting the readers to remember the good things he did), and associating him symbol with a bird, a symbol of freedom; etc.

anyway, here i am venting again lmao

ps: i swear i'm not an anr enjoyer/er*hisu. i'm just an average ending hater who felt isayama got so close yet so far to deliver something memorable.

You're fine anon! Vent away. I hear what you are saying.

Where I differ is that I don't mind the idea of the ending. I think it does exactly what Isayama set out to do. Concept wise it's not a fumble. If you read the August 2017 BSM interview, that's pretty clear:

I don’t think the series passes judgment on what is “right” or “wrong.” For example, when I read Furuya Minoru’s “Himeanole,” I knew society would consider the serial killer in the story unforgivable under social norms. But when I took into account his life and background I still wondered, “If this was his nature, then who is to blame…?”

But considering the root of the issue, rather than evaluating “what is right” […] I think that’s what Shingeki no Kyojin’s ending will resemble.

Isayama was never interested in establishing right or the wrong. His goal was to write a sympathetic character who was twisted both by nurture and nature to do unthinkable repugnant things. Rather than dictate morality, Isayama's goal was to let reader determine how they felt about it. This is exactly what we've seen in the fandom with people on all sides when it comes to judgment on Eren.

But I do agree that the ending was harmed by the issues that have plagued the series as a whole - terrible pacing, inconsistent tone, and too much emphasis on the mystery instead of the resolution. This series is a case study for "interesting ideas clumsily executed". It all culminated in a speeding train wreck of an ending.

As I write those words, I want to say again, I like the concept of the ending. While the whole "Thanks for becoming a mass murderer" vibe makes my skin crawl, I don't mind the actual events that happened. If the story and the ending had been presented to me as a bulleted list, I'd think it was outstanding.

As far as the ending being embraced by the worst of humanity as a justification for their hatred and bigotry, I don't know what to say about that. On one hand I've often wished Isayama had done more to discourage that or had spoken out against it, but then I think about how it is often the goal of authors to pick at the scabs of social issues and leave them festering and open. This series might have been a gateway for some into fascism, but flip that around and it was also a gateway for exposing it. The series has made me more aware of the issues in my own country and has strengthened my resolve to fight back on things I might have otherwise ignored.

This is long. I hope it makes sense. Thanks again for sharing your viewpoint.

[cptn-m]

One Piece chapter 1106 review

Where last week's chapter was all the slow setup, this one is 100% slow payoff. It's the turnaround for all of Egghead's tension, and Oda lets it breathe for an uncharacteristically long time, giving us pages and pages of relishing the Buster Call fleet's destruction and the ultimate demonstration of Kuma's love for Bonney. And I think this truly is the end for the Egghead Arc - Luffy's back on his feet, the Pacifista are completely under control, the giant robot is moving and the freaking giants are here for backup. For Saturn and Borsalino to overcome all of that and put the Strawhats on the ropes again would be a reset on par with Wano's legendary 'raid failing' theory. There's a bit still to do, but it's time to start wrapping up and winding down.

My favourite thing about the Luffy scenes in the opening pages is the gang of Marines who try to cuff him being knocked straight up off the island for their trouble, seen from a great distance. It's such an Asterix gag, and I have tremendous nostalgia for Asterix gags.

The slow lead into Vegapunk's big reveal puts all the weight of the arc on this one moment where the love of a father proves more powerful and is given the chance to overcome the world's greatest authority. In isolation, it's perfect for everything we've seen from Kuma and Bonney, and just the right final act of defiance for Vegapunk to gamble on. The build up of all the inner monologue last chapter about the tragedy of a father being made to kill his daughter only to find that the very same thinking was the inspiration for Vegapunk to turn that possibility on its head. Many have speculated that lineage factor or something like it would lead the clone Pacifistas into joining the original Kuma in defending Bonney, and having it be a deliberate choice from Vegapunk, brings the little found family of labrats from the flashback full circle. On paper, you couldn't do this better. In context, however…

In context, these great ideas are soured slightly by how hit and miss the Pacifista authority settings and Saturn's scientific vigilance have been the whole arc. It's cheapened by Vegapunk pulling out a secret act of defiance already last chapter. Frankly, if I was doing a rewrite I'd scrap the whole self-destruct bit - just make it a shutdown switch implemented as directed and overcome by Kuma's will. Saturn never threatens to check for scientific deceptions, Vegapunk's big choice is only a secret final person at the top of the authority hierarchy and it comes out all at once here. What we have now is one thing too many, and it doesn't let the one that really matters have the power you would want it to.

But either way, it happens, and we spend several pages revelling in well-earned carnage. The destruction of the fleet is beautifully rendered and full of lively detail.

Punk seems badly wounded when we cut back to him, but come on, this is One Piece. I'm not unhappy with the way Gear Five's euphoria overwhelms Luffy's traditional instinct to get mad if his friends get hurt in the way some others are, but it is a noticeable change. I can't help wondering if there's a story beat building over this. If Luffy is properly enraged, or saddened, or otherwise torn from the driving Nika emotion, would he lose access to the form? It would also be interesting to see a scenario come up that can't be resolved unless Luffy calms down and takes it seriously, but with Gear Five's incredible ability to warp the environment and people around it, I have a hard time of thinking what that could be.

Whatever 's been going with him up to this point, Borsalino is done playing. His promise to end it quickly demonstrates some sympathy to Kuma and Bonney left in his system, but he's all in at this point. But with a direct order, right in front of his boss, there wasn't really room for hesitation on this front.

Luffy is back and fully revealed and identified as Nika at last with some great, fun bouncing backgrounds. It's a significant moment for Bonney to finally witness this, but I'm not sure what I expect her to make of it yet. Will she follow him? Idolise him? Or perhaps this little girl is going to be frustrated her god couldn't appear sooner, especially if her father's wounds prove fatal. But that's for the future.

And then, yes, the giants arrive. Dory and Brogy back in action some 900 chapters after Little Garden. Triggers are being pulled on some of the series' longest-haul setups. Very, very curious that they've already fully identified Luffy as Nika, presumably just based on a bounty poster. I would have guessed they were only following Saul's will to prevent another Ohara, but it runs deeper. Seems like we're going to learn a lot about Nika and Joyboy on Elbaf.

As Egghead reaches this conclusive point, I find myself reflecting on story structure in big serialised works like this. Conventional wisdom says you need a darkest hour followed by a turnabout leading into the climax. But it's hard to do that on 20 pages a week with obsessive fans like this. Ideally, the reversal of the situation would happen all at once in a big, sweeping heroic moment, but when your cast is this large and this scattered, and your page time this limited, the reversal comes as more of a cascade, one problem being solved after the other. But that takes weeks in real time, in which people are going to complain that the tension is gone, and then talk themselves into thinking that's because that wasn't the real lowest point yet and it's still coming. Dispelling the tension in a single chapter - with a single moment, without the arc drawing on after and without it being so predictable that everyone sees it playing out - can be done (Shanks arriving at Marineford and Merry appearing at Ennies Lobby are the best examples) but the setup it takes is intense.

Wano suffered really badly for this. So much going on that by the time we start unpicking knots and resolving fights there's still three and a half volumes of content to go. Egghead's conflicts are at least a little more concentrated, so it should be smoother sailing.

And as a final note, the giants' arrival makes the Blackbeard Pirates' ship's presence even more mysterious. I imagine they're being opportunistic, planning to salvage one important thing from the ruins while everyone else is distracted with each other. Oda did allude, in his end of year statement, to having an outline that skipped over Elbaf though, which makes me wonder if Blackbeard was originally going to be used to force the story into a final stage post Egghead and has now been replaced in his role by the giants…

Well whatever. Elbaf is coming, and I can't imagine a more anticipated arc outside of Laugh Tale itself. The next few months are gonna be awesome.

[androgynarcissus]

you know i think what i find the most truly haunting about the second vincent's whole story arc is the fact that he is so separated from his obviously more beloved counterpart and it shows so clearly even if he was never that aware of it.

nearly everyone around him had met clyde and treated him accordingly: assuming things that he wasn't a part of, becoming puzzled as to why he was acting differently, etc. i feel like there was a distinct sense of alienation that showed each time an interaction like this happened, and his confusion and often frustration felt palpable as people kept alluding to this person who wasn't him, and it only grew increasingly uncomfortable to be judged based on people's perceptions of not-him. this is especially so considering how much he clearly believed in presenting himself so intricately and how that slowly started to unravel as it was rendered useless by anyone who claims to have met him before.

and don't get me started on the underlying notion that of his usefulness; there was always a sense that he was going to die, even if he never had a full enough view of the situation to put the pieces together. as soon as he stepped onto the page, it was instantly clear that he wasn't sticking around for very long, both due to his self-concerned tendencies and attitude and his place in the story. the reader would have already been aware of the extremely specific problem clyde was facing, and it would only be a matter of time until this perfect vessel could be put to use. his entrance following the whole deal that clyde needed a body was a slap in the face; who could be better to inhabit than a perfect copy of your previous self? he was introduced as a character you were meant to recognize as tragic, which made his journey all the more effective knowing his fate and dreading what would eventually, inevitably come to pass. he was introduced specifically to die, and you have to just hold your breath for every second waiting for it to happen.

and all of this makes me look back upon how it ended, which makes me utterly sick to my stomach every time i think about it. he was so ignorant of everything that was going on around him, making him such a vulnerable target among pre-established characters who had a sense of what goes on in the circus. he fell into every trap he could, going in blind and arrogant and untouched by dangers he was completely separated from in the real world. maybe he was lucky, managing to find company with nene/aphro and mell, who could at least steer him on the right path, but he was truly blind to whatever could have happened until it was too late to be taken back.

and what really gets me is the fact that he ended up so truly alone. by the time he'd stumbled out of the maze and into the jaws of the beast once more, he was both physically and socially completely alienated from everything around him. the people searching for him didn't even particularly like him, and one of them specifically knew the connotations of his presence in reference to clyde- who knows what would've happened if they were present during the last bit! he'd lost his primary means of communication and a distinct part of his identity, something that must have been so dehumanizing on his end along with the fact that he couldn't even express his grief in a properly cathartic way. the fact that he was physically by himself in the theater hall just hammers in how alone he was. his breakdown was suffocating, having to manage how overwhelming it all was and be effectively unrecognized through it all, so insignificant to the passive observer because of his lack of sound and to anyone aware of his situation because they already had the sense that he was doomed. nothing worked in his favor, and nothing could have because of the sheer separation from humanity he was faced with as soon as he stepped foot through the gates. and his grief was so palpable because of that, only exponentially worse because he didn't know what was going on. he might've realized a little too late what was so dangerous about the circus, but he never got to know how condemned he was in the first place.

and in the end, i think clyde knew that. i think he understood- if only through catching a glimpse of the end result, sharing his sorrow and passion and hopelessness -how isolated he must have felt, even if he was always meant to kill him in the end.

[accursed-worm]

Idk.. this is kinda going off of that last ask you responded to but like. The last time either of them saw each other (or at least that we know of) was when they were at their absolute worst. It’s just so sad that neither of them got the chance to prove something to the other in any way. Ho16 was a major set up of them tearing each other apart while being undeniably obsessed/infatuated by the other behind closed doors, only to never properly discuss this mutual connection they have and maybe even hash out WHY they felt the need to do the things they did. It’s not only closure for the recent events involving the burger van, but everything that came before that they never got to talk about.

Yeah. Yeah, I'm totally with you anon. Handshake emoji. The entire Paradise arc was about Wilbur chasing after the rush of being alive, of feeling alive. The sprint up the steep mountain, to feel the air in his lungs, to feel the blood pumping in his veins, to feel human again after 14 years of nothing. It blinded him, this chase. His rivalry with Quackity. And the end of The Wilbur Van was the top, the "Wilbur felt alive," the peak so high he couldn't fucking breathe. The euphoric rush came crashing down, he’s alive and it is ugly. He's alive and he's doing harm, he's hurting people, he's become so focused on his goal he hasn't realised the consequences of his actions. That was the point Ranboo made, jumping off the pressure plate. Showing Wilbur how frivolous this whole thing is.

That whole scene, it was raw and harsh and it's abundantly obvious that the things Wilbur and Quackity spat at each other came from their own insecrurities. And that fist fight—it should have been a turning point. And I mean, it was a turning point in Wilbur's arc. But it should have been a turning point in tntduo's arc, in their relationship. It should have changed things. What it shouldn't have been was an ending. Yet it was. It was, and no matter what non-canon stream they do now, it doesn't change that fact. The Wilbur Van is tntduo's last canonical interaction.

In an ideal world, an ending should add to the story. It should create a new lens with which the audience can look back on what has happened. Reengaging with a piece of media after knowing how it ends should be exciting. You should be able to point out all the details and themes that then culminate into that ending, the parallels and setup and foreshadowing that built up into the satisfying payoff. And I understand, I really do understand that this is the fucking Dream SMP. This is a silly little minecraft roleplay and I'm taking it way too seriously. Except that... Wilbur wrote out this entire arc, right?? His pre-revival arc was so fucking wonderful, with such a fantastic finale in Nov 16. I just... I don't know. I feel a little bit lost, really. Maybe it really is just that my expectations were too high. That I was doomed to be disappointed no matter what. Except that... my expetations really weren't very high. All I wanted was something. And I don't think we. Got that.

I can't even point out any specifics, because their two finales were just so completely seperated. Absolutely no overlap (in events, not locations ofc), even though so much of the Revivedbur arc centered around Quackity. I'm very much aware that they are individual characters and not EVERYTHING has to be about their relationship, but. It really was still a very big part of things. And y'know. Something would have been nice. And... yeah, I think I'm talking a lot more about Wilbur than about Quackity now, simply because so much of Revivedbur's arc centered around Q, and we always saw it from Wilbur's POV, whereas Quackity's lore streams have always been focused on a lot of other things. NOT TO SAY that cQuackity wasn't invested in their rivalry, because there's so so much proof that he very much was, but y'know. I am talking about cWilbur now when I say that... his finale put such a terrible spin on the entire Revivedbur arc. Both the burger van and the apology tour... the first ended in a peak that got absolutely no closure, and the second ended in what amounted to one great bit gotcha! moment. And that just. That really fucking sucks. Looking back on the entire arc is kinda just. Sad. And a little bit hollow.

Anyway. That's what fanficiton is for!! Giggling and kicking my feet and writing more of Red Flags.

[variousqueerthings]

okokok I was gonna talk about the structure, but gonna say smthin about ethos instead with structure folded in I guess, which isn't going to be coherent

for me, I can say that ted lasso is not a perfect show (and then I can go on a tangent about there being no perfect shows) and also that actually comedy isn't my favourite genre anyway and include there that I think that it couldn't always balance the comedy, sincerity, and the reality it was attempting to challenge, especially in s3 -- I think an egregious example was rebecca talking about the love of football to a bunch of billionaires, it just stretched too much disbelief and therefore came off less as a natural development and just out-of-nowhere preaching

but then I was having a good time peeking into a little of rupert and rebecca's past relationship when it did work, and it being a scene that makes her able to let him go entirely (and generally I am fine with taking the good out of the bits that don't overall work for me)

anywhomst, there are things, and it also plays into the oddity of s3 not being two seasons (which I had been so sure was going to be the structure, and I was right to think it might not work out and seriously, are they covering up that it was cancelled, conspiracy unlocked)

there were a few things that happened very quickly and weren't explored in the writing (ex. jamie's dad going to rehab, nate making up with his dad after one talk and generally some nate things in s3, part of keeley's narrative in s3, etc.), which was a problem of structure rather than ethos in my opinion. there's story to be explored there, as there is in a fair few things that came and went too quickly on this show, which tbh I'm sure fanfiction can cover (except for the womens team feat. trent crimm show, that needs to happen On My Screen!)

it has gaps in how it can make the points it wants to make -- I've mentioned that in terms of romance too -- but it really really wants to make them nonetheless, flaws and all. it wants to tell the story about a man with mental health issues, who's scared that he'll fuck up his son in the way his dad's suicide affected him, who runs away and finds himself coaching a London football team of men who grow to be better with each other and the world beyond, and its vehicle is football, an intensely international and adaptable sport, with so much fluid potential for expression!

along the way it comes across limitations (either in the amount of time it has to tell the story or in the lack of in-depth knowledge I presume the creators have in radical kindness and community healing politics and philosophies and how they intersect with queer intersectional concepts), but it's made the story despite them, with all its messiness and it ends well. characters heal, start their attempts to heal, continue their journeys to help others around them

I cannot stress enough either how messy league football is, the level that this fictional team plays on. as someone who's been directly affected by the exclusionary ideals that are promoted by the FA it was good to see this fantasy, it was exhilarating to imagine this kind of change happening at that level in the way I have experienced it happening at grassroots levels. its subject matter is so in need of more of this, I hope it inspires more stories with the same core ethos, and I hope these go further and further with its radical ideas

colin kisses his boyfriend at the end! would I have loved to have seen more time to get to there, to have seen it folded into an arc about challenging homophobia in football at an institutional level, to have also had him apologising to nate for his bullying as part of toxic masculinity masking his homosexuality? all of these yes. do I appreciate what the show wants to do here about something that is barely beginning to be properly challenged in reality? yeah yeah yeah!

any of the gaps I think one can play with in fandom, and if that show about the women's team gets made we gently slide them some bell hooks and get megan rapinoe involved somehow

[jude-thedude98]

iSight

By Mr. PoetAll

Even Sandra Bullock couldn't see this Blind Side

But I try try

To see sea

Wonders of Rays

Like playing piano keys and harmonica dreams all day.

I pray

That I never end up fully blind.

From a Mr. PoetAll

To a

Mr. Hill

I had to climb that hill

To get to the top of this mountain.

A fountain of youth

I choose

To drink from.

How si

Can you remain young

Though?

Question answered -

Speak your life into existence.

Sometimes.. .you gotta be the one to believe

That although the world is painting you dark

Tell them yeah

But I still see the light in the tunnel and even if the rivers may have flooded this earth of mine

I still see Noah's Arc.

And It's high time

That I listen To The Ravens

That fly by

I notice

My iSight

May not be as 20/20 as the next guy

My American Broadcasting Company .is the exact ABC

That taught me to

B

M

E.

Because although people can't see me in the Light that He sees

I know that in this legal darkening

I will emerge with the elegan mce of a Phoenix,

The fearless gracefulness of a dragon

And the effect cause of the butterfly wings.

And even in this RP

I promise to be as majestic as a little mermaid.

Wearing suits of birthday

Every day.

Not in a sense of nudity

But in the sense of you get what you are seeing.

So challenging

It is

To not see things

But how vision works

Is foreseeing.

Without the foresight

I could not have the insight

To envision innovation.

So I use my lack of iSight

As motivational foresight

To inspire others with insight

That no matter the challenge

No matter the sense

Or lack of ability

You always must continue to fight.

So a huge part of my story is this: I am legally blind and have been such all my life. At the age of 34, now, I know now that I have to share my story. Not just for me but for others. I've been running from this all my life but the truth is I was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa as a kid.

Always have eyesight problems, missing the toilet when I stand up to pee, not cleaning something properly, not being able to see things at jobs i.e. memberships at Sam's Club or barcodes at a trucking company or even more importantly the specific lip gloss that goes with another specific lip gloss at Bath & Body Works.

I have been let go from BBW, quit Sam's Club before they could fire me, quit Quizno's because I couldn't manage working fast enough and trying to see what I am doing at the same time.

Truthfully eyesight has plagued me my whole life.

I've almost walked off the pier in the middle of the night going from boat to pier. And if it weren't for my dad being there to snag my arm and hold me up and keep me from falling over where there was no light or not enough light for me to see my planned footsteps I would've been in the ocean somewhere.

Though I have walked in a pool twice without knowing where the edge was.

I laughed when I watched Taken in the scene where he was taken and in the trunk counting seconds and turns but then i started thinking that it I do that too it could save me. So in Tennessee I used that additive to count my steps. Not just the stairs but everywhere. I counted all the way from my apartment to the field I used to take my dog top to use the bathroom.

I hadn't realized then but I do know with having the same dog, Cocoa for 6 years. She used to buck and pull me and I'd always end up tripping over sticks, lnee buckling in a divitt, or stepping over jagged rocks. I realized soon enough that she was trying to warn me to walk around or a different way. Danger she was saying if you will.

I found it truly a blessing to have her as I said I still do and we are doing better. She is not certified to be my service dog or my emotional support dog but she is both.

Having retinitis pigmentosa taught me a lot about life.

The most important thing that it taught me with the addition of you really find out who's there for you is that even with no sight, some sight, or very little sight you can still see. How you may ask?

Good question and one I used to ask myself and the one I pray to.

The answer is more simple than you might think.

Sometimes sight is touching. Sometimes sight is tasting. Sometimes sight is hearing or smelling. Sometimes sight is in your dreams. But ALL TIMES sight is imagination. If you have an imagination then you have eyesight.

It's funny that I realize that even more as I'm typing this because imagination and eyesight has both 3 eyes.

Don't believe me?

Spell imagination to yourself out loud.

Then spell eyesight.

Even in spelling eyesight the e's cover each h eye. And even more deeper than that if you imagine right eye looks like two eyes and a nose so either way your foresight is fivesight and eightsight with imaginations 3 i's. .now you may think that I'm crazy, high, or off my rocker and you'd be right to think them all hut let me challenge you before you go.

Some say seeing is believing. My question to you reader who stopped by and have made it thus far, why can't you simply believe without seeing.

No one in this world can tell you that what you see or don't see is what it is or isn't what you say it is. Perception is believing. Believing is perception. And how you believe is your own perception. And how you perceive is your own belief. There is no other argument further needed.

I want you to not even think about the box that society tries to put us in. Instead think of an open sky where you are sitting on whatever makes you happy whether it be a cloud, a magic carpet, a dragon, a mermaid, a Phoenix, a football, air alone, or wjateverbyou perceive in your own imagination. With that imagination imagine ONLY the dreams that you have aspired to achieve. Once you do that think not of what you cannot do because I'm a firm believer that you CAN DO ANYTHING. Think more of, "how can I tweak this so it'll work for me and not against me?" Because the idea of working is not to work your ass off (sorry elders) instead it's to make your niche work its ass off for you.

See this come true as I have being an author of a poetry book. See this as I have with have written 7 fiction books. See this as not a challenge but a tool. And even if a challenge that should be more the reason to be a stubborn male to get up the Grand Canyon of Your Success in your own way and at your own speed. As I always tell my friends in the writing group that I have is that you should always remember imagination and opportunities are always endless. So is LOVE. And so is TIME! So find those who love to help you imagine and give you opportunities with their love. Time is inevitable. Be your authentic selves and get out of life what you want out of life because you can. No. You WILL get out of life what you want out of life.

I hope this story inspired you! And if you made it this far please reblog this and share with everybody. I'm just trying to spread love and joy. More laughter produces more peace. So please spread the peace with me.

Thank you and I love you, Reader!

Mr. PoetAll

[social-muffin]

Hello! Hope you're having a great day. Here are a few of those emoji's from that I wanted to ask! 🥺���️🎯🎶🌞👀🥰💌

Okay, so... yeah. That's more than a few, lol. Have fun!!!!

Thank you for the ask my dear! I hope you're having a wonderful day too!! 💞

No readmore cause this didn't turn out that super long :3

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

Oh this is a tough one cause Hurt/comfort is one of my big weaknesses. So I'm gonna just explain two interactions!

I catch the biggest feels when a more reserved character can't contain their emotions anymore and has a somewhat public breakdown. Made even better if someone cares enough to try to hide them/hug them!

I also catch the feels when misunderstandings are cleared up in a shouting match. It doesn't even have to be between two people that get along. Just let people be so emotional that they forget to control their volume! 😭💜

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

I'm really proud of my old writing, so this is a compliment for my new/not posted writing! It sparks a lot of joy when I read through my notes, even if I'm not ready to post anything yet. ;u;

🎯 Have any of your readers accurately guessed major plot points? Care to share which?

I feel like yes, people have guessed major plot points before, but it's only happened a few times? And I can't recall any of the times when it did happen. It also happens a lit taht someone will suggest something happening and I fall in live with the idea and then I just. Steal ideas from comments with credit to the commenter in the next chapter. 👉👈🥺

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

I do listen to things when I write! I can't write in absolute silence. But the music/video I listen to varies a lot. I mostly look for music compilation type things, so I will for sure have music for like an hour at least. Or I listen to chemistry videos while I write, though I don't know why that one works lmao

🌞 Do you have a preferred time of day to write?

I can write anytime, but my most emotional writing happens at around 3 am usually. Which is not conducive to having a day job. 😔 Especially since I need 8 hours of sleep to function! 😧

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

Hibari has taken over my brain and demands I write for him. For one of the up and coming fics I'll try to write is Teen!Hibari's POV of the future arc! It'll be a mega self indulgent thing with a lot of headcanons and quite a few OCs, just because. Where the hell did he go and what did he do inbetween his arrival and the end of the future arc???

🥰 How do you feel about reader interaction? Are you open to receiving questions about your fics?

I am so open to receiving questions I made a whole ask blog specifically about my stories!! So if you have random questions, here's the place to as them! @ask-skull-and-muffin

💌 How do you feel about comments and feedback?

I feel that, for a while now, I'm being a bit of a glass canon about comments. Sometimes they are super motivating and get me to write 5000 words in a day! And other times a single comment can burn out my entire passion for a whole fic... It's pretty confusing to my soul.

I also have.... A shame I want to admit to here. 😔 A year or so ago I abruptly had the worst depressive episode of my life and I couldn't make myself reply to/answer comments as they came in at all for a good few months. So now there are 450 comments in my inbox and I think that's one of my biggest issues when it comes to getting back into writing properly... 😭

I'm so sorry to all my peoples that crave comments and don't get nearly enough! I wish I could give you some of mine, I swear! Feels like comments are a little wasted on me right now...

[meyyy00]

KOS-DUOLOGY;

People be like: it's more like Zoya's books than Nikolai's. It's so sad we don't get to know more of him. Nikolai offers the crown to Zoya wth!

Honestly,

What's wrong with that? Because, EVEN Nikolai found nothing wrong with that, surely, he wouldn't mind at all. EVEN he finally feels relief in the end. And Zoya is worth it.

Nikolai offers the Crown to Zoya was one of his best character development if ONLY people read the books properly.

He finally accepts who he truly is, people finally accept who he truly is in the end. And the fact that, it's actually acceptance that he truly needs in his life from being false Lantsov blood. The false Lantsov blood, the fact that many people forgot even ignore this thing. While the truth— it's the huge part of him. It's the weight he kept himself, alone for so long, and Leigh finally gave him that piece and the fact that Nikolai finally-really-in-piece after that. Nikolai, from the first, his biggest goals were to rebuild Ravka, to fix Ravka, bring Ravka in piece, and then the throne. 'the throne' was his last choice. Nikolai Lantsov, he knows his bloodline has always been a thread for Ravka from long ago and he really feels the weight of it even though he tried to ignore it. He offers the crown to Zoya because he knows if he keeps being the false king, Ravka will never find peace, he offers the crown to Zoya, because he truly loved Ravka, he truly loved his people, he offers the crown to Zoya because he never chose 'greed' over everything, he was never that selfish to let his country within his people in the mess only to reach his own purpose. He thinks of himself he thinks of his purpose but he never forgets others. He was never that selfish. And most importantly, what does he gets in the end? Piece of Ravka, his biggest dream in his entire life, and more than that, he also finally found peace for himself.

Zoya Nazyalensky, even though she is that sharp, ruthless, the baddest— she is the most loyal one after Nikolai, the one who truly worked hard for Ravka until she let herself believe— WORSHIPPED the Tyrant who promised her the safety for Ravka, for her people. The fact that she is wearing the 'crown,' now. truly worth it.

If you read the books properly; her back story with aunt Liliyana has always been a part of her even before the release of Kos, her character arc is already shown even before Kos-duology. So /actually/ what is your "exact" reason to throw hate on her, when it comes to her back story- something that already becomes a part of her from a long time ago??

The fact, it was only her who bring a kefta to Alina with the letter “You will always be one of us.” The fact that she is the powerful one, she is the legendary squaller, she is the best, AND she could choose the Darkling, she could choose MORE POWER, but the fact, it's Ravka that she always chose. She chose Ravka, she chose her people, she fights for Ravka, for her people, over and over again until the end. The fact that she is more than what people 'think and see'.

You might wanna say: "there's Genya." Alright, there's Genya. First of all, this is NOT a "Genya-antis" post. Because I adore her bravery and all and I completely understand what she is facing. This is based on facts that I read/canon.

Genya Safin, what people also forgot, as you all might have read and watched on netflix, she betrayed Alina, she chose to betray her Gold-bond with Alina only to reach her own purpose, selfishly. Even I couldn't believe it when I read this part, I couldn't believe she is that selfish. She creates the sweetest bond with Alina, and then she stabbed Alina in the back. Ravka is in a mess, totally mess, everything is in a mess at that time AND she chose the Darkling, she turned away from Alina, FROM Ravka, from her people, before then, she chose Ravka back again in the end.

Honestly,

The three main characters in KOS-Duology (Nikolai, Zoya and Nina) have their 'length of story', have development IF only people read the books correctly than just being focused on one character they dont like/they hate. And everything is on the line.

And to be fair, to be honest, Zoya Nazyalensky don't deserve those amount of hate, only because she was NOT like "all women or most women"— who should be soft lovely honey-sweet adorable— so Saint, that she is so clean from mistakes. Ofc she did mistakes, even a character like Zoya has flaws. That is what makes her character very realistic. She is being all herself, she stays true, she never pretends to be someone else, she never being the "sweet-honey" or two faces only to get attention or to be adored.

WHEN someone/somebody/people are willing to learn from mistakes ofc they deserve to be a better version of themselves. That is what called "realistic". That is Zoya. And when you're hating on human progress, human growth/improvement, this is what called you're being "unrealistic" towards people even to your-very-own-self.

From Zoya Nazyalensky, Leigh tells us, that a woman can be caring, loyal, has the heart of gold without being the sweetest-adorable, or easy on the smile.

OVERALL, I said what I said. Based on what I read inside the seven books of the Grishaverse. And Leigh gave the best conclusion in this Kos-Duology, her last sequel.

Pluss, people need to know Leigh truly knows what she did in her stories, what she did on her pen INCLUDING the characters that she wrote. Most-every writer knows. And what I adore from Leigh Bardugo? She is FAIR in everything (fact). If you think she doesn't, that's a part of 'plot twists', every book needs that. And if you still think she is not, then that's on you.