#i just used these as examples bc they're the ones i'm most familiar with

[birbfeeder2artisticboogaloo]

i have this really. nebulous idea that i've never been able make WORK but i would like to release it into the wild in case anyone else fancies it or wants to give it a go!!

OK SO. u know how in mdzs and cql, many of the characters are cultivators. some of them use music as part of their abilities, i guess it channels the spiritual energy and lets the user direct it more carefully i think?? correct me if i'm wrong lol, i'm literally only going off ONE (1) thing i read a couple years ago and my own wild mass guessing 😅

but if that IS the case!!! then perhaps!!! it doesn't need to be just guqin, flute, etc to musically cultivate, right?? what if.........ppl could cultivate WITH THEIR VOICE???? SINGING POWER!!! maybe it could be tied to the words they sing!! or maybe just the voice ITSELF, maybe it's just vocalisations, maybe some cultivation sects use chants, others use songs!! maybe the spiritual music can convey meaning and feeling, even if it's not words. maybe when a bunch of cultivators sing TOGETHER it becomes even MORE powerful!!! idk!!! i just think there's maybe something to it????

sure i can't do anything with it, but if anyone else would like to, please do, feel free to use this post as a springboard if u like!! idk i think it might be interesting, maybe 😊

[williamrikers]

thoughts on the first episode of 4 minutes

everyone seems to be doing these now, so i'll join in bc i need a way to process what i just saw. putting this under a cut bc of spoilers—if you are familiar with boc's other works (especially kinnporsche and dff) i strongly recommend you try and avoid spoilers before watching! i watched this episode not knowing what was coming and That Scene made me shriek so loudly i probably scared my neighbours. ANYWAY.

okay let's get the big thing out of the way first. bas and fuaiz. HOLY SHIT. i was literally pausing the whole time to text my friend just "WHAT" over and over. They Did That.

let me break this down. boc took one look at the current politics regarding shipped couples in bl, said "yeah we're not doing that" and let bas and fuaiz have a whole entire sex scene. (while gmmtv, for example, let phuwin and thor not even touch lips on wednesday club because phuwin is part of a sacred Shipped Couple.) AND WHAT A SEX SCENE IT WAS!!! i am pretty sure we're gonna see everyone's bare ass over the course of this show. if this is what they're showing us in the very first episode for a couple who i'm guessing might not be endgame?? i mean. damn. what will jes and bible get up to??? mark me down as scared and horny 🫣

sex in boc shows is usually pretty explicit but in this case it's also. just a thing two people do? it's not romanticised. it's strongly implied that tonkla is having sex with korn because korn is paying him for it. korn is older and from an incredibly rich family, and while they were sweet with each other and obviously both enjoyed it, it did feel like a transaction a little bit.

what i found most impressive about this scene was that we got to see tonkla being left alone afterwards and then visibly dealing with that. we could watch him processing—i don't think i've ever seen this kind of post sex unhappiness depicted in bl, and it was so beautifully subtle! we don't yet know whether tonkla was just unhappy with how that particular evening went or if he is unhappy with the arrangement as a whole, but Something Is Definitely Up and it is so incredibly intriguing.

while we're talking about korn, the family dynamics in this show have me in a chokehold. bas and bible as brothers was a genius casting choice, they really do feel like siblings, they have a very sweet vibe together while korn is obviously worried about his younger brother. the whole deal with their father's illegal business of which korn only learns when he is supposed to manage it, the way korn treats his father in general, korn's mother having passed away shortly after his birth and korn being raised by his step-mother (great's mom), it's all so incredibly juicy. bas just has so much presence on screen, he is an absolutely wonderful actor and at this point, i am almost more invested in his story than in the main story 🤭

speaking of which: love that bible got one of his cats to act with him 😂😂 thailand's number one cat dad. but yeah, i am Intrigued, i am seated, i am so happy to be alive to witness this. i don't think there's a lot to be said on this yet bc most of the episode was exposition and great learning about his new powers, and also the narrative tying them to near-death experiences so that we know what we're dealing with going forward. (shout-out to job here bc it was so nice to see him again and also so weird to see him as a character who is actually smart haha 😂)

the production value of this show is off the charts. the first scene of great being pulled back in time was ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING. literally the best i've ever seen out of thailand. boc are taking their craft very seriously and it is just such a joy to watch.

also, the numbers everywhere! it got to the point that i was like, oh of COURSE she is in room number 4, WHERE ELSE?? 😂😂

i am so seated for this show. like i cannot express how seated i am. BRING IT ON, BE ON CLOUD.

[stuckinapril]

Hi Cianna, just wanted to say I really admire your study ethic and general vibe on this blog (you inspire me to do better!)

Do you have any advice/tips for good study habits and staying focused? I find that I get some work done, but after a break I can't get back on track

Sorry for the long ask/ studyblr type of question;; what is your favourite hairstyle that you do with your hair! (I also have curly brown hair :)

Have a lovely day also <3

🌻🌻

hi! i touch on a lot of points in this other ask, but a few specific learning techniques i abide by are:

parkinson's law. parkinson's law states that work expands to fill the time. basically if you have an essay that's due in a week, it will magically take you one week to get it done, even if the task itself could've been done in one day. to counter this i just set artifical deadlines for myself--even if an essay is due in a week, my personal deadline has it due in two days.

prime your brain prior to learning. if you need to study a biology chapter, pre-skim it the night before. this is not the time to go into detail--it's the time to familiarize yourself with the overview of the topic, so you should only be making a quick scan of the chapter. another priming method is to make a concept map of topics before diving into a chapter. as you skim write down key terms haphazardly, google those you don't recognize, and draw a concept map linking them together. this is effective bc it requires you to actually put effort into connecting the topics, takes no longer than 15 minutes, and speeds up the learning process that follows. it doesn't matter if you find out you're wrong once you dive in; what's important is you're actively thinking of how these topics coexist, as opposed to mindlessly taking notes or highlighting only to forget what you learned a couple hours later. i'm also a fan of concept maps bc i get to go back and highlight stuff i'm weak in, which is always a plus.

if you like to take notes, use it as another means of active recall. don't just passively take notes as you go along. what i like to do is i read a paragraph, close the book, then try to take down notes based off memory alone. this helps me both phrase the topic in my own words and realize what my learning gaps are, rather than just passively summarize without putting effort into truly understanding/memorizing something. anything i get wrong i hammer into my brain until i can't get it wrong anymore.

take notes effectively. our brain does not learn in sentences and paragraphs. it learns in bullet points, diagrams, and figures--and that's how i like to frame my notes. first i ask myself if i actually need to take notes to begin with, or if there are online notes out there i can use to save time (which, as a stem student, there typically are). if i do decide to take notes, i never mindlessly summarize. i always condense the material into bullet points, diagrams, concept maps, or visual representations. i also like to phrase my notes as questions rather than just passive summaries, so that when i review them i'm already testing myself in a way. most people would not understand my notes bc they're either very low-yield stuff, stuff i'm weak in, or bare-bones fragments of information.

always prioritize weaknesses. if you're weaker at chapter 18 of your textbook vs chapter 1, maybe start with chapter 18. don't spend 6 hours taking notes on chapter 1 if you're already strong in chapter 1. always attack your weaknesses first.

practice practice practice!! so so important. i owe all my As to mock exams, quizzes i make myself, end-of-chapter questions etc etc. imo practice matters a lot more than passive content review.

interleaving concepts helps with retention. an example of this is i like to do biology and chemistry one day, biochemistry and organic chemistry the next day, physics and psychology the day after... i'm not just doing biology all day, every day. another thing i like to do if i'm in a massive rut is i hop between tons of different subjects on the same day, which keeps me from getting bored/helps me understand the subjects better through distinguishing their differences.

retrospective timetable. an example of this is if i find i'm pretty weak in a particular physics topic, the next few days will disproportionately focus on physics over other subjects. inversely, if i just breezed through a biology chapter, the next few days will have less biology than initially planned. i'm constantly going back and revising my study timetable based on my performance of the day, rather than relying on a rigid prospective timetable that doesn't take into account my progress.

less passive learning, more active. spaced repetition is a big one. i love anki for this bc there's an algorithm that dictates how often topics come up again based on how well you answer them. other methods include active recall, having friends quiz you, and trying to teach the topic to others (or the plushie in your bedroom haha). if you find you're struggling to simplify topics and explain them, that's a sign you don't understand them very well yourself.

[mochayoubi]

hello!! how are you? i'm reaching out to you because you're the one i keep seeing my dashboard that's related to japanese learning.

i wanted to ask: how do you suggest a beginner should start studying? like, they're N5, and they know hiragana and katakana, but do not know how to move forward from there because it scares them? (it's me, btw, hi hello how are you how are the kids)

thank you so much!! have a good day!!

omg hi!!! im doing ok (im sick rn but it's fine lol) thanks sm for the ask! :3

i think the best thing you can do for yourself is follow your curiosity! at the early stages of learning curiosity will take you much farther than trying to set hard deadlines for yourself - especially when it sounds like moving forward is a bit intimidating at the moment.

so, i'm going to list out things that might be worth checking out. it takes a while for people to figure out what works for them, and since you mentioned you already know hiragana/katakana you're primed to get out there and really explore your options! embrace the feeling of possibility rather than the fear of the unknown :D i say this bc if you get too caught up in making the "right" choice it might just make learning too stressful to want to continue

anyway here's some things that beginners commonly go for when continuing with japanese learning (under the readmore)

find a textbook and work through it there's a bunch out there, I know Genki I is probably the most well-known, but i'm also familiar with Tobira I, Yookoso, and Minna no Nihongo. textbooks are nice because they're literally designed for learners and offer structure to what order you learn kanji, grammar, etc. and come with lots of practice questions. the difficult part is self-teaching through them since they tend to assume youre also using it with a teacher who can correct you and give advice. however they're still pretty good as references imo! if you google "[textbook name] pdf" they're pretty likely to come up

find an app you can use daily there are also a lot of these, and many of them are designed to be used daily so you can better enforce the habit of studying japanese every day. these tend to be simpler and gamefied to make it more appealing and easier to pick up as well. i would just stay away from duolingo as i've heard their japanese curriculum is bad. some other ones i've heard are helpful are Renshuu and Human Japanese.

find an online guide and follow it by "online guide" i mean websites people have compiled of their own guides to learning japanese, such as Tae Kim. these are more accessible and unlike textbooks tend to assume that you are self-studying, so it's easier to follow independently, but usually don't have any practice questions or ways to test yourself. still good as a reference. you can also check out this website that specifies their philosophy on what makes effective japanese learning and what steps to take as a beginner (imo it's very. long. and winds on for a while. but people have said it helps!)

download and use anki anki is an app (both phone and pc) that uses flashcards and that many learners use to retain vocab. their site has decks other people have created, and you can find decks of "core vocab" for example which has flashcards of common japanese vocab. you can also create your own flashcards of words you encounter in the wild to help practice them even after you've read it. i think anki is super useful, but i would probably suggest using it once you have more of a grasp on basic japanese concepts or else you'll just be rote-memorizing things that don't make sense to you yet. but i'm putting it here in case this appeals to you!

take a class or find an online tutor now this one will most likely cost you money, but it offers the most structure and guidance possible which can be extremely helpful starting out since you're able to ask questions and get feedback. you can look into nearby universities who might offer japanese classes, or you can try one of the many language-learning tutor websites out there. i've had some decent success with italki, and there's also JOI (japanese online institute) that i've heard is very helpful too.

watch japanese-learning videos these can be nice bc you can actually hear the japanese and how it's supposed to sound, and it's typically lower effort and easier to get into than actively starting a textbook or class. miku real japanese, japarrot, and 日本語の森 are channels i've watched before and like, but there's plenty others out there too. i'd just steer away from clickbait-y looking ones like "i learned japanese in 30 days and here's how!!" since they tend to not be that helpful.

read simple stories in japanese reading in japanese tends to be the most intimidating step for people, but there's sites that have stories made for beginners that are easy to follow and only use hiragana/katakana. my go-to for my students is usually tadoku since the stories are short, organized by level, and very beginner friendly. a while ago someone showed me natively which lets you look up japanese books, also by level. if you want some good beginner manga, yotsuba and teasing master takagi-san are what i've recommended before

misc. things you can try!

watch anime but intentionally - try to actively listen and pick up on words they say. a long time ago i used animelon, which puts japanese subtitles that you can adjust to show hiragana only

look up jlpt n5/n4 specific materials. they're geared for an exam so it might not be the most natural feeling, but they do tend to be convenient for lists of vocab and grammar. this website has some helpful resources for that

add an extension on your browser that will let you hover over japanese words and see its definition. i use firefox and have 10ten reader to do this, but rikaikun and yomichan are also similar extensions

when you learn the japanese word for something in your house, put a sticky note on it that has the japanse word. like, for "table" you can put a note on it that says 「テーブル」. i heard this can help with retention (i haven't done it myself tbf)

EDIT: ohh i can't believe i forgot this. but join a japanese-learning community! there's discord servers out there, and if you have a friend willing to study with you you can ask them to be your accountability buddy.

anyway, i know that was a lot but i hope that gives you some direction on where you'd like to go next in your japanese learning journey! ^_^ and again, absolutely no pressure to do all of these. the most important thing is letting curiosity be your guide and fostering a positive relationship with learning japanese rather than being afraid. if i can help out some more lmk!!

[beneathsilverstars]

Do you think Siffrin would be good at the board game ”In other words”? bc he always has to describe another word each time they forget it in vaugardian

I'm finding a couple different games with the same name on google, but this one is popping up the most:

In this game, players move around the board and solve puzzles in one of six categories: Movies and Television, Terms, Quotes & Sayings, Literature, Cliches & Expressions, or Music. The puzzles are in the form of phrases that have to be translated into the actual saying on the card. For example, the movie "Away With the Breeze" is "Gone With the Wind", and the book "The Victor's Ring" is "The Winner's Circle".

Which I think would... vary wildly. Like sometimes they'd be totally clueless even though they should know it, it's just on the tip of their tongue but also totally out of reach. But sometimes they're just like oh yeah of course I know this obscure Poterian orchestral piece, there's not really any other direction you could go with that clue..?

I do think this game wouldn't be as bad for them as other trivia games, because there's an actual strategy you can use to jog your mind instead of just sitting there clueless: start running through synonym combinations! And I do see what you mean about Siffrin having experience doing that, lol. But that doesn't necessarily mean they'll be able to come up with the right synonym...

Idk if it's supposed to be played with teams but I'm sure the crew would anyway, so I think Siffrin would do well paired with someone who knows lots of words, so they can list synonyms until Siffrin's like OH that one!!

I would put Mirabelle vs Isabeau on opposite teams since they'd both have a normal amount of knowledge of Vaugardian pop culture, and big vocabularies from reading. And then Siffrin vs Odile because they're less familiar with Vaugardien, and Odile's better at some categories and Siffrin at others. And then kids generally aren't very good at these games because they don't have as big a knowledge base, so one team just gets a bonus Bonnie, maybe Siffrin's to help make up for their memory issues. Or, if Isabeau's substantially better at general pop culture than Mirabelle (bc he's put work into being A Sociable Guy vs Mira being shy and focused on classes), then maybe Isabeau vs Mirabelle+Siffrin vs Odile+Bonnie...?i

[spandexual]

Alright I'll take a stab with you giving media recomendations: My favorite character type is characters who are such big liars about something important to them (appearance, personality facet, something traumatic, stuff like that) but are stupid oblivous to the fact that everyone can see thru them that they're lying (think Kiriya Ex Aid, that kinda character.) Dynamic/relationship wise I'm always a sucker for "we both know we're monsterous/appear monsterous to others but we find comfort in each other for those same reasons other people tend to hate us for."

HMMMM this is going to sound lowkey insane but are you familiar with Daniel Craig's James Bond films bc his Bond is very deeply traumatised and always dancing on the knife edge of just barely keeping it together and it makes for some very interesting scenes with his love interests, his coworkers (jeeeesus, his relationship with Judi Dench's M...), and his enemies alike. Maybe it's more notable to me bc I am A Bond Fan who grew up with the flatter Calm Cool Spy Guy characterisation of Brosnan's Bond but I find the fragility he brings to the role very compelling. A blunt instrument, yes, but one full of stress fractures, not yet shattered but only not yet.

Jem the titular character of the 80s cartoon supposedly about rival rock bands is also quite this, but she's a bit frustrating in that she's making everything worse for herself and her bf by not just being open about the fact she and Jerrica are the same person. I think that's probably the most blatant example about a character lying about their appearance and in her specific case SEDUCING HER OWN BOYFRIEND AND GETTING MAD HE'S CHEATING ON HER WITH HERSELF???? she's very fucked up it's quite funny. She also has crazy girl yaoi with Pizzazz who she's genuinely very cruel to. Like Pizzazz is a nasty little punk tbf and deserves a kick up the ass as well as jail time but wow she's really horrible to her in a way that makes you go "wtf aren't you supposed to be the good guy" it's fun

I'm sure you've already seen Ryuki but if you haven't there's a Lot there for you.

And uh surely you're into the X-Men with that specific ship taste right. Ok now what about Kamen Rider Kabuto because you're straight up describing the hoppers (or at least how they see themselves). Ummm I'll think more on this but this post is long enough for now

[kenobster]

can you explain the appeal of these ship polls to me?

genuinely asking bc i really don’t get why they happen so often or why people take them seriously. it feels like all they do is breed conflict.

what makes everyone feel so strongly about the winners, especially if it doesn’t actually represent the true popularity of the ship? (not that popularity matters bc if it’s fun then it’s fun and everyone is entitled to their feelings and opinions)

not mad or trying to be mean, i genuinely want to understand bc im bad with social cues and at reading people. what is it about them that you like? <3

so like this is actually super funny to me lol because everything you just described has been EXACTLY how I feel about sports (especially regarding American football fans in the United States). I've actually joked a couple times already about how (thanks to this poll) I finally understand what the big deal about the Superbowl is. In fact, over the last week, I've felt a kinship with overworked cashiers who use their fifteen-minute breaks to check the score throughout the day. Every time one of the previous polls taken an unexpected swerve, please picture me jumping up and down and hollering at my computer like I'm some middle-aged white dad yelling at some referee. 😆

My state has two college football teams, both with avid fanbases, and people get SO up-in-arms about it. Even after finding out I have no interest in sports, people have threatened to commit bodily harm against me if they ever catch me wearing merch of the wrong side's team. To be honest, I'm with you — I've always found that kind of attitude to be super aggressive and needlessly rude. Unfortunately.... 😖(insert my walk of shame lol) I have recently acquired an understanding of the psychology behind it....

In other words, I think your confusion is very similar to my confusion about sports. Sports fans, especially in my state, always seem like they would really consider it a dealbreaker if I wear the wrong merch or that they would really punch me in the face if I show support for the wrong team (which does happen to people at some sports games, but I think it's a minority of sports fans who would ever do that). Most of the time, if you get upset by jokes like that, the other person will drop the act and reassure you. But sports fans will never admit they're kidding. 🙄

Anyway, with that context, I think you first must untangle the phrase "people take [shipping polls] so seriously." The truth is that we're not taking it seriously, but, like sports fans, our humor and social cues are probably difficult to read. Especially for someone not "in on the joke," we might look like we're all upset and riled up. We might say things that sound serious and aggressive. But inwardly, we're actually all laughing about it. None of us really care about the results, we're just here to have a good time playfully arguing our sides.

You're probably still wondering why anyone would find enjoyment out of this, so I think it will help if you re-contextualize it into a framework more familiar... Why do people enjoy roller coasters when the purpose of a roller coaster is to trigger your body into a fight-flight response? Why do people watch horror movies or go into haunted houses when the purpose of them is to scare the shit out of people? Why do people enjoy watching or listening to true crime drama when the stories showcase the most barbaric and cruel forms of human nature? Why do people read AITA threads on Reddit, even though they often depict the wildest examples of abuse/toxicity/etc. in human relationships?

It's because all of those examples allow a person to experience stress/terror/anger/etc. in a way that is safe. Roller coasters don't actually kill you. Horror movies have a pause button. Scary things in haunted houses are the work of prop designers and actors. True crime media and AITA threads involve stories that are happening to other people, not you. Similarly, in shipping polls, I think people enjoy having a safe way to channel their feelings about fandom rivalries in a way that is mostly harmless.

Whatever the reason for our enjoyment, however, I think once you realize that none of us actually care about the results, everything else starts to click into place. But here's some answers to your other questions:

Why do we care about the results when they're never accurate? Because we never cared about the results in the first place, hahaha. We care about what's funny. We care about what makes for the juiciest drama. (I mean, think of how funny it was when that final bracket on the Best Star Wars Character poll resulted in victory for Sebulba instead of Obi-Wan! Lmao!) In short, accuracy is boring. Bribing, cheating, and begging in order to skew results is hilarious.

Why are we so mean and hostile to each other? Because we're not actually being mean and hostile to each other.* We're teasing each other. The same way as two best friends might tease each other (example from one friend to another that I literally saw this morning: "oh my god you are SUCH a nerd 😂"). That kind of teasing doesn't work if somebody cares about the subject matter (for example, that joke would NOT be okay if the aforementioned "nerd" had ANY negative feelings about that word). But in the right circumstances, this kind of teasing can feel REALLY good, REALLY fun, and even increase feelings of security within the friendship! In shipping polls, people are probably just exhibiting the communal version of this.**

Why do people care so much about the winners? I don't actually know the answer to this because this is my first time ever enjoying a ship poll, and we haven't gotten there yet. 😅Someone feel free to pitch in.

Why do they happen so often? Probably clout. Beyond that, in order to make a poll, someone has to genuinely be curious about the results. They can theorize, but they can't know what the outcome will be. Not only that, they have to remember that tumblr polls are all fun and games (or else, imagine how incredibly infuriating it would be to see people trolling). People who want accurate results don't use tumblr polls for a reason; they use official surveys instead. In this shipping poll, OP wrote a rule for each round that the results weren't meant to be taken seriously. So I think they enjoy it for the same reasons as we do. That kind of thrill can be addicting lol, and I can see why people would want to recreate it again and again.

In closing, it's been fun, but I don't think another poll like this will similarly compel me. This has just been a one-time thing that I was able to enjoy because of certain circumstances that overlapped with my interests and sense of humor. In truth, I get just as annoyed at the frequency of these polls, and I will likely need a lifelong cooldown after this one concludes. Frankly, if I'd remembered that the final round would be for a week instead of a day, I might have.... well, I might have made different decisions to say the least, lmao.

[*] This is not inclusive of antis. There is no reason to shit on one ship exclusively when there are 5+ other ships in the running. There is especially no reason to threaten the other side with an "electric chair with a built-in guillotine" if they win. That's not fun and games. That's just fucked up.

[**] Because it's a communal version and not a close friendship, it's definitely hard to gauge people's feelings about whether they're okay with being teased. A comment, to one person, might sound like teasing, but, to another, might come across as hurtful and mean. Only intimate friends can really tell the difference (and even they make mistakes). This is definitely unfortunate, but it's kind of a consequence of human behavior in general — not something specific to these kinds of polls imo.

[hoarah-babylon]

I apologize if this is a rude question, but I wanted to ask it to someone who seems to know about accents. So, there are a lot of characters in Elden Ring I thought were Scottish, and almost every one of them was labelled Northern English. And this isn't the first time it has happened either. I'm American and I know that it's a semi(?) common thing for Americans to confuse Northern English and Scottish accents. Apparently non Americans think they sound nothing alike. Would you have a guess of why there's this pattern of confusing the two? Do they share any similarities at all?

This isn't a rude question! I think it's natural to mix up accents that you aren't as familiar with, especially if you're from a completely different country with not a lot of exposure to either accent. I can't say I've heard of the two being mixed up, but I think I could see how you would if you're not so familiar. To me they sound very distinct from one another, but there will naturally be some similarities due to how close they are geographically. Northern England borders Scotland after all. I was trying to think of examples of how they could sound similar, but both Scottish and Northern accents vary too, they're not all the same. One thing I guess would be drawing out the vowel parts of words, that seems to show up in both Northern and Scottish accents. Some Northern accents roll their r's a bit too, which is more common and pronounced in Scotland.

I think the bottom line is, if you aren't familiar with either accent, you're going to confuse them, as you haven't had the opportunity to train your ear to hear the differences. I'm sure there will be American accents I've heard and assumed they're the same, but Americans would disagree. I think there's also the fact that the English accents Americans are most likely to be exposed to are Southern, which does sound quite different to Northern ones, so maybe that also adds to the confusion.

I want to reiterate I'm not an accent expert, I'm just a brit that wanted to give whatever insight I might have to the community in the hopes it sparks some conversation about it, or gives us some insight into the worldbuilding. Bc I find both accents and Elden Ring interesting :) but I hope I answered your question!

[toxicanonymity]

Are you still working through requests of are you pretty much caught up on them?

Far, far from caught up. I'm fortunate and very grateful to have such a large, highly-engaged community here. I don't think there's ever going to be a "caught up" state for this blog since each answer begets more asks, which is amazing.  The link below from my header addresses why I don't plan on closing my ask box to catch up.  I appreciate y'all understanding and rolling with how I do things kinda differently.

About requests

Basically I float around in a growing pool of our combined ideas and kinda do what flows. I think that provides the most bang for our buck in terms of effort/time to quality/output. This can look a lot of different ways, examples: 

Lazaretto - The sex pollen ask was from late March and I liked the concept but started to think the moment might never strike until I got inspired by jack white's song a few wks ago. 

Tommy's hard day (MFM) - I had tommy x reader x Joel asks since early April and finally did one last wk based on continued popular demand. 

Aches - I think this ask was just submitted a day or two before I wrote it, same with the original free use and the ask that led to stepdad!Joel. I was in a good headspace for those despite having older ones in my box.

Movie night - I think I wrote movie night like same day bc it went so well with my thots at the time.

grisly details below

When I say far from it, I mean triple digits, bearing in mind some are similar and many are joelkemon-specific (50+ between night walks and raider?). Sometimes those don't fit the current storyline/direction or not yet. For example, stepdad sleeping with your mom (see post mortem below lol), pregnancy scare with stepdad, or night walks being a peeping tom again. But I hang onto those for future consideration (the Tim Rockford murder board is real).

Since there are so many in this bucket I tried answering a couple of them as "hypotheticals" and ended up with like 10-15 asks over the next couple of days reading those as canon lol (affectionate - LOVE the enthusiasm, curiosity, and ideas). This would be easy to roll with if it was a small detail instead of whether they're even on speaking terms, or if I hadn't already started the next parts of the story and could just "skip ahead," but I did that to myself. Anyway funny thing is I would have gotten there (/will get there) just not yet at the time so it kind of reinforces my mindset of not wanting to sacrifice quality/flow to catch up.

I'm really grateful to everyone who shares ideas and asks, y'all really make this blog (I think y'all know that though).

That being said, I am due for an inbox clean-up and may need to pass on certain general ones (not Joelkemon specific). Idk if it would be a faux pas but I could possibly see if other writers want to do certain ones i can't (ex: stuff I'm not familiar with like A/B/O).

[ovwechoes]

Do you have any rules for making requests? Stuff like characters or subjects you will and won't write about or certain contexts you won't write certain characters in? How many characters can we ask about per request? Will we get less content if we ask for more characters? And what about nsfw stuff? Any particular leanings or restrictions for that? Feel free to mention any thing else. Sorry about the all questions. Just want to make sure before doing anything. Thanks and have a great day!

Rules & FAQ Thank you for the ask! I've been wanting to do a rules post to outline what I write for and what I don't, and other things so that there's no confusion with people. So I'll use this ask as my rules page for now, and edit as needed.

Subjects or Characters I do/don't write: I'm happy to write for any of the overwatch characters, but in a romantic way and with a human reader, I won't write for Winston, Wrecking Ball, or Orisa (since she's canonically like 5). With them, I'd only feel comfortable writing for them in a platonic/general sense, nothing romantic or sexual with human readers. I won't write Lena Oxton/Tracer with a male reader, or Soldier:76 with a female reader either in romantic or sexual contexts. Also, I specialise in writing female characters, but I'm honestly happy to write for any gender/sexuality, with any type of reader as long as it doesn't clash with the above info. I avoid writing anything involving proship, incest, domestic abuse, and paedophilia. It's something I will always avoid, and I'm not lean about this. I will write for deeper subjects like mental health, drug abuse, stalking (as long as it's not a one sided situation), that sort of thing and use themes/tw/cw sections where available. For example, I won't write yandere if it's one sided or just the reader/character doing it to the other. Whereas, I'm happy to write it as a ‘matched their freak’ sort of situation where they're both obsessive with each other. 

How Many Characters Per Request? I'm happy to write for about 6 characters in 1 headcanon request, or 2 ships in one headcanon request. It helps me keep track of what I'm writing for and doesn't mud the waters too much. However, with fanfic, one shot or drabble requests I'll only do one at a time. I'll separate the posts if there's requests for more than one in an ask, and link the post that's split from the ask in the response. If you want an organisation, like Talon or Overwatch, written for as a headcanon request, that's the only time I'm really flexible with the rules. I'm happy to write for polyamorous characters/ships as well, but in this instance the maximum ship amount for a request of any nature would be 4. 

Will there be less content the more characters in the request? I try and be fair, and evenly give each character in the request the same amount of consideration and headcanons. You'll always get at least 6 headcanons in each character's section, whether that's SFW or NSFW. Sometimes it'll be more or less depending on how much time or energy I have, but it would never be anything less than 4 headcanons. As for fanfiction, I try and write until I can't anymore for them or feel like it's a good place to stop. I'm still learning how to write some scenes and some aspects of things, since I've mostly written horror before fanfics, so there's somewhat might be shorter if you ask for a character that I'm not familiar with, hasn't got much lore, and I'm not the most experienced with writing. I try and be fair though, and I don't like to leave people with less content just because they asked for more characters.

NSFW: General rules With NSFW stuff, I'm happy to write for anything involving it as long as it doesn't clash with what I'm comfortable writing. I rarely will use words like cunt, member, etc. just simply bcs it makes me cringe when I'm reading them back, so I always tend to imply things when I write for NSFW. Maybe this will change, IDK. But the things I'm not comfortable writing with NSFW are anything involving Orisa, Wrecking Ball or Winston, paedophilia, assault or rape, incest or proship. I won't write for any underage characters as well in a sexual light. That's basically all my rules with that section.

Don't apologise about the questions I totally get it! I'm the same way and I've been wanting to properly outline these things for a while now, so I appreciate you asking thoroughly. Thank you again for the ask anon!

[rivilu]

Watched absolution because I saw a certain spoiler and was intrigued, loooonggg post of spoilers and thoughts under the cut

Are we are really surprised the supercop zealot is bioware's canon divine? lmao.

I generally liked the cast of characters quite a lot, Roland Lacklon and Qwydion most of all, Miriam is cool too, just not top spot for me. she's like. Number 4 on my list. Of surviving characters that is.

Rip Fairbanks. Made the rookie Ser Jory mistake of mentioning his loving wife more than once within the intro of the series. You will be missed.

The writers really said make them think we will finally switch up the Mage Is Always The 'Traitor' reveals (that aren't even true for games 1 and 2 but the joke is marketable so who cares for accuracy right) but then just do the same thing again. I have a feeling they think they are playing 4d chess when really it's just predictable.

The action was well executed and I liked the romance with Roland and Lacklon, it was cute :)

The show handled Tevinter better than I expected but my expectations were subterranean so that doesn't mean much.

Still don't care for the way bioware deals with blood magic. With Dorian we finally had a smart opinion on it [that the writers didn't try to stamp out or treat as stupid, sorry Merrill]- that it's simply a tool as long as there's no victims, but here we backpedal again into the narrative going 'anyone that even THINKS of blood magic is and always will be evil full stop'. Yes we're talking about a Magister here i'm not defending Rezaren in specific I'm just weary of how they'll treat it going forward.

Speaking of the guy, he was fine as a villain. pretty decent portrayal of a guy whose position of power deludes him into thinking his goal is noble and righteous no matter what, even to the detriment of the people he's supposedly trying to help, because well. He never saw them as people in the first place. 'Family' maybe, whatever that's supposed to mean to him, but still property. Things he gets to do whatever he wants to do with.

Miriam using his harrowing as an example of a moment he chose not to defend her or her brother though, is kinda meh. Bc girl, he was actively trying and failing not to get possessed, his mother's the one to blame for that specific instance and you KNOW it, I know we had to see that scene for exposition but i'm peeved jdshfjd I bet there were maaany more backstory examples of him being shit to choose from anyhow.

There was an Attempt at moral grayness at least two times in the show, with Tassia and Hira, and they are both... interesting.

Tassia imo does it better, as as the knight commander she can be safely [and firmly] put in the villain box, but the added levels of grey with her caring for her people's safety, opposing the venatori etc make her interesting to watch in a way where I may not be rooting for her but I don't want her to die either, yanno? She's a bit like if Aveline were an anti-villain, and actually decently well written at that. She gets spot 5 of my list.

Now Hira. Is a prisoner of that good ol Mage Betrayal Russian Roulette. I'd seen a small spoiler about her being up to no good before watching, but even without that, when Fairbanks stabbed her I could just SNIFF that red herring. Again, the writers may think they're playing 4d chess but I know not making a mage (or more) the villain, is to them what apples are to doctors. Then her motivation is just. Not convincing to me. Her family was influential tevinters that wanted to improve conditions for the oppressed, then they were killed and/or ran out the country by the venatori for it. so... she jumps right to ethnic cleansing as the solution?

(And I do mean right to it. She did go to the inquisition first but that's what she wanted to get out of it.)

Collateral damage is a funny way of referring to innocent people's lives queen!

Idk something about that feels familiar. Betrayal, a mage that jumps to genocide, yet said mage is somehow granted more lenience by the narrative than that stance should EVER allow? Because here's the thing. no matter HOW fucked a country is, how terrible the politics and power structures are, 'wiping the country out' IS NEVER A MORALLY GREY THING. IT'S AS BLACK AS IT GETS. it is the power structure itself that must be targeted. (you know, the thing Anders tried to do and gets eternally condemned for?) Wanting to massacre an entire population is not an opinion that's up for discussion, it is not worthy of redemption, and it should not be written as if it is. This pattern of character writing is just. Concerning to me. Some of the characters with the most morally bankrupt stances being passed off as grey. And I could get far deeper into it here, nearly did in fact, but It's a tad too late in the night for a 5 page essay on fantasy and real world politics intersection. I'll just leave it at ''bioware's centrism is doing what centrism does best and blinding them to their world's actual political power dynamics and I think it's going to bite them in the ass sooner or later''

But enough of that, let's try to get back to something funny shall we?

The cheese jokes. Bioware please, the horse, stop, stop it's already dead!

(i dont actually mind but that was my original reaction so here you go sdfhjs)

Dragon cool. Like that it stays alive.

ok, sorry that's all I got. We have to tackle the elephant in the room now folks and i'm afraid I am not optimistic.

So. Meredith motherfucking Stannard is still alive and kicking. And while I can completely understand why people are excited, AN ACTUALLY GOOD VILLAIN IS BACK, WOOHOO! -i just can't help but think. When? When will this plot thread be handled? Because as much as I wish the titular character of dreadwolf would drop dead by act one, I highly, highly doubt it hjsdfjf. And if she can't be the main villain, or at least what Howe was to Loghain, then I don't want her to be in da4. Because that game has SO MUCH SHIT to tackle, with Elven Gods and Titans, the egg and also Antiva and the Qunari now for some fucking reason? Frankly I don't think they can even do THIS sum of things justice in a single game, unless things with the gods take a different turn and they aren't what solas said/villains for us to fight (please I hate the slavery thing so fucking much just for once retcon something to the benefit of religious minorities bioware i'm fucking BEGGING) so adding Meredith to the mix is not something I can picture working out. I don't want to get excited for her to be back (She was the spoiler that got me to watch the series) only to have it be a repeat of the templar/mage war in inq where she's lukewarmly taken out by act 1.

Also before I do an all in all, we all got that Hira is getting Played right. Like I dont like her much(at all), as stated previously, but she's still a mage. working for Meredith motherfucking Stannard. Is it too early to call her eventually dying from that dumbass decision orrr..? Because yes girly, she also wants to genocide your home country, but she has VERY different reasons from you and you're almost guaranteed to be first on the chopping block the moment the red lyrium cracks. (i dont find this bullet point bad writing btw this is just razzing the characters for fun jhsdj)

ok so all in all. the show's alright. I highlighted more of the bad than the good here because anything past da2 has that effect on me sadly, but the characters do Carry as per usual. And i'd say it's worth a watch for the action shots alone. Some of my fears of Bioware's direction were confirmed, and i am still not at all enthused about da4, but if a season two comes out I'll probably watch it. unnecessarily long post over, adiós.

[starrycat123-blog]

oksies hi starting a new thread of get to know you

haii I'm moth and also thea you may call me any nickname as well <3

I love musicals so so much (niche and popular!! basic-shaming is lame)

I am superhero obsessed (augh pied piper)

doctor who is my autism (yay river sonf!!!!)

good omens heoughhhhhhhh

super excited to meet you <3333333

Hi moth!! You can call me tetra. Don't worry that's not my real name or anything tho. I took it from the concept of tetrachords in music.

If we're generous about what we call superheroes, then maybe most of the things I like are superhero based. I mean obviously there's marvel and dc, but then there's stuff like dpxdc, sonic the hedgehog (idk if I've ever heard him called a superhero but he kinda is), if we count magical girls then like. Sailor moon and madoka magica

I haven't seen any episodes of good omens, but I read a really good fanfic of Crowley going to therapy a while back, and a couple funny ones with like yelp reviews of Aziraphale's bookstore. Plus I love the good omens analysis posts on here. I feel like maybe I half know some of what's happened in the show but also probably haven't scratched the surface. I'm kinda bad at watching TV shows, so there's a lot of stuff that I know from fandom but haven't seen. For another example of that, I've only watched one or two episodes of Sonic Prime. I reblog posts for it and it sounds good but idk. Just bad at it.

I'm a much more casual fan of musicals, I think for the same thing as above where I just struggle to sit and watch something on purpose. But I listen to the music from them sometimes, I've read transcripts online of a couple, and i swoon whenever I see a post analyzing the meaning of a musical song, especially when they go beyond lyrics and start going into the music theory in the tune. I don't have the skills or knowledge to do that myself but I love it so much

(when the singer changes their technique to enhance the meaning,, when this or that chord is a step outside the key to symbolize change or isolation or anything,,, using instruments as symbols for this or that character,,, tbh it doesn't have to be a musical even shout out to that youtube video by Scruffy on how fnaf's audio and sound effects make it scarier)

Lately I've been bouncing back and forth between Sonic and DPxDC. With hints of Slay The Princess in there bc I saw part of a playthrough of that awhile ago and loved the concept. I reblog madoka magica stuff whenever I see it (except magia record bc I know next to nothing about it) because that stuff makes me lose my mind. The love the pain the hope the despair!! Homura is probably like my ultimate blorbo but I love all the five girls they're so cool. I actually read the manga instead of watching the show though so I'm not as familiar with all the music. Plus I think the show had some extra scenes. Although it's a little confusing bc I think some of the extra scenes I see are magia record so idk.

Also I'm a fan of arts and crafts and will reblog that kind of thing once in a while, along with cute cat stuff.

Super excited to meet you too!

[starmist]

A lowkey follow up on my last post on s2:

I also don't buy the justification of her personality change is attributed to her amnesic years or the choice of letting go of her revenge (she already did that, it was a very big plot point in s1). Its true to the story, but in terms of writing, it doesn't make sense.

Like YES i GET IT, she had amnesia and lived as a different person but when characters get amnesia in dramas, (bc we have to remember these were conscious choices made by writers) they always retain some traits and hallmarks of they're original personalities. The point of that is to make the character familiar but different.

In the first three episodes of s2 we definitely had that with JBY; she schemes, can never not be doing something, even is a bit manipulative, most of all she does not ever take things lying down. Constantly breaking out, trying to find a new groom, the wraith attack, and even the events at the Unanimous Assembly are good examples of this (and there are definitely more).

Unfortunately, these traits almost entirely disappear from episode 4 forward. I can still see a few, like her keeping busy with Songrim and her tendency to glare and threaten. But these traits are so significantly played down that they are barely even there whereas her new personality is front and centre. She doesn't really do much either, while she was reasonable for 80% of the plot in s1 (but honestly nothing much actually happens in terms of plot so i'll let this slide.)

Now this is where people are going to tell me I don't understand the show. I GENUINELY believe that Mudeok/Naksu are not the same character as JBY. It's the same soul and the same person, I'm not disagreeing with that. What I mean is narratively, contextually, these are separate characters.

What is leading me to this conclusion? Episode 4. The entire episode is about Mudeok's/Nasku's ghost, ends with her figuratively dying and Jang Uk stating that Naksu is gone from the world.

The audience and Jang Uk are in the same place, missing Mudeok/Naksu, unable to let go of her and focus her new character bc we (Uk and the audience) are waiting for her to comeback. So when Uk "kills" her, the narrative is telling us that the character we had in s1 is dead and won't be coming back.

I also think this is reinforced by Jang Uk stating that the reason he like her was not bc of the memories confusing them (i.e. it was never about who she was in past) it's simply that he likes her so much. Of course I know about the whole thing with the jade, but like i said it’s the same person/soul as a brand new character.

A good explicit example of this is Mudeok and Yul's goodbye in episode 19, where she states that she is not who he met all those years ago, that girl no longer exists in this world, only in his memories now. Even Yul says in episode 20 that the person he like was not Mudeok. It is the same soul but a different person.

Just like JBY is the same person but a different character. These are not mutually exclusive things in fiction.

I also want to add that she doesn’t actually get her og body back, she’s still much shorter. So if this is the same character, then the “natural progression of the story” would have resulted in a body more similar to her og one rather than Naksu and Mudeok Frankensteined together. And while I understand that part of the reason they kept her short is bc of GYJ height, but a throwaway line saying something like as time goes on the body would look more and more like her og one. That takes into account the height problem and a decent enough explanation as to why her physique is different.

But we don’t get that. We get a character that has a polar opposite personality, few recognizable traits, and a body that’s neither here nor there. Everything about this is screaming that we are meant to take her as a different character altogether.

(I don’t want to hear jack about she’s happy/gave up revenge/without Jin mu’s damage. That’s not a good enough explanation for the major changes in her character. And again I want to emphasize this that this is fiction and these are conscious choices the writers made. There is a reason why her body, personality, and story is like this.)

All media has emotional and informational cues. Things that are not directly stated but are used as a subtle way of conveying information, directing the audiences emotions, and foreshadowing plot points. Cues can be explicit, (are relatively obvious and direct no room to doubt, the audience is told/shown something) or implicit (suggested or hinted at; mostly through camera angles, music, and dialogue). Implicit cues are all about reading in between the lines, used to convey deeper meanings and themes; implying but never stating.

So when we apply that to when Jang Uk "kills her", mourns her, and moves on to JBY it is a cue for the audience to do the same and a narrative statement that this is different story from what we are used to, that we will not be getting the same things from her as we did is S1.

There is no more Naksu or Mudeok, that character died at the bottom of the lake. Not even her memories turn her back to the character from s1. She’s dead and Jin Buyeon/Cho Yeong is the new FL)

(Side note: I think part of the reason they did this was bc of the change in actress. GYJ trying to emulate JSM as Mudeok/Naksu would constantly be compared and probably hated on. The solution: make a new character with a completely different personality and figuratively kill off the original one therefore there are different expectations, in terms of acting. This is not at all a dig at GYJ, she’s the only reason I watched to the end even, it’s simply that the showrunners & actors were in a difficult position and this lessened the flame war & allowed a rookie to transition into/take over a veteran actress’ character.)

[gayleviticus]

I think anytime people want to talk about how [group] isn't really [religion]' its quite difficult bc there are at least four different possible levels this conversation could be happening on: (this can probably apply more broadly but I'm most familiar w Christian ones so I use those examples)

Linguistic - "I believe in Christ so I'm a Christian". basic and to the point, you can argue w it by pointing out Muslims also believe in Jesus (and then counterargue he's not the cornerstone of Islam)

Sociological - "even if it diverges from Christian orthodoxy, LDS self identifies as Christian and emerged from the Christian tradition so it is Christian"

Normative theological: "JWs aren't real Christians because they reject the Trinity and believe in falsehood' (or, for that matter "JWs are the only true Christians because we're the only ones who accept the truth")

Community: I don't think people tend to explicitly verbalise this one as much, but it sortve like "we just don't believe the same thing as that group and don't have anything in common."

And I think where it gets especially tricky is the way that 3 and 4 can become quite difficult to unentangle.

let's say there was some kind of gnostic Christian church that believed the God of the Old Testament is a sadistic monster (this might exist but i dont know of any; i pick this as a pure hypothetical). when they self identify as Christian, I would concede 1 and 2, disagree on 3 but accept everyone thinks they're right in life so what are you gonna do about it, but where I would feel uncomfortable is when we get to 4.

I can accept someone might have an interpretation of Christianity that thinks my God is an evil demiurge - but I'm going to feel like we really don't have a shared faith in common. We may both use the language of Christian, but what we mean by that is very different and doesn't necessarily imply unity. That doesn't need to be a bad thing at all, unless you think being of the same religion is necessarily to truly respect others as human beings; if I can respect Islam and Judaism, I can respect Gnostic Christianity as a different faith from mine. and so a lot of people think 'hmm, well my faith is so different from X that it feels wrong for both of us to call ourselves Christians.'

but 4) is more than just a binary of exclusion/inclusion; it's about what actually marks a community in common, and I think that's more, not less pertinent in a society where we understand other people don't have to be your coreligionist to be someone you can respect and love and be in community and solidarity with in other ways.

and its also difficult because people can feel like they have different parts of their faith that are fundamental from others and not understand why there seems to be this one way gap (which can include the liberal not understanding why the conservative cares so much about biblical inerrancy, but it can also include, say, the evangelical not understanding why Jewish people won't accept Messianics). and so debate over who is a true [believer] often just becomes a proxy for 'is this someone with whom my faith is a unifier or a differentiator'. which is then quite unhelpful when someone tries to argue against someone operating on this level with a sociological argument.

[eeriehowl]

avallac'h/eredin for the ship bingo? :D

thank you so much elis, i'm insane....🥲

rambling under cut.

i have so much to say about them. i will just keep it short....they pretty much hooked me the first time i read eredin's introduction & their interactions in book. i actually didn't ship it at all or even understand that they used to have any kind of relationship when i played tw3........ man, there’s so much to be interpreted about them in book tho bc of it only being a scrap of their interactions. they talk in a very formal way with one another but you can also tell they're familiar with one another to a certain degree...which just makes sense given that they've known each other for about 100+ years, most likely working as auberon's two closest advisors (given how the unicorns talk about them). at least from the little that we see, they have that 'i know you better than you know yourself' thing going on. it adds that ava hates being known but he can't really hide most things from eredin..... also, love ciri's little comparison of them when they stand next to each other....light and dark...only to then dive into some of eredin's lighter sides & further explore ava's darker sides during the chapter. one can not exist without the other. they just feel so natural when they talk to each other, feels like it was destined that they ended up working together in the end. i adore the way they clash in way more than just their aesthetic....example, eredin's blunt nature causing him to be pretty damn honest most of the time vs avallac'h's secretive & at times manipulative behavior.

rambling about events now, but eredin gently teases ava about lara upon seeing ciri's eyes & readily apologizes to ciri for upsetting her with the flower when he notices ava got genuinely upset about it....i say that it's bc of ava because he says much worse shit to her with no care about how ciri feels when they're alone. eredin is also the one to point out ava's "the end justifies the means" philosophy to ciri. ava doesn't really have those moments in book... but why would he when the guy can't even admit outright that he was in love with lara until he has a mental breakdown about it, lol. he hates those topics. tw3 actually ended up giving him that insight tho by having him say that eredin is....scared of what the white frost will do to their home? and then ofc refusing to elaborate on it, classic ava. pretty sure no one else got that impression. he also refuses to explain to geralt upon being questioned why he knows that eredin killed auberon despite eredin apparently having killed everyone else who did know... i like to think eredin just told him. which is a fecking hilarious thought. i've said before that i think it's unrequited romantic feelings from eredin for ava and i stick by that, tho i do obviously make it requited in a bunch of my shit. mainly i just like them talking and having weird tension. remember when i said i would keep this short? this is still short for me when it comes to them. send help.

[rahleeyah]

d. c. anon saying hello!

I’m very curious to see if the finales this season (or maybe early next season?) bring together all these little nuggets of wisdom we have been getting all season from benson or if it all was just how it was written, with no connection/complete coincidence, and we were all reading too much into what she has been saying?

Or if we will know what m meant by saying “it’s not like it seems” or something like that. I know I’m getting the quote wrong.

With that being said, im loving this arc. Oscar papa bring brought in was purely for the fans 😂😂 however Amanda? Was she always this amazing profiler? Genuinely asking bc why else would she have been brought in? Like to serve the purpose of highlighting that Amanda clocked Elliot for leaving Liv? Again for the fans?

welcome back anon!

if we were still under wet lettuce's reign of terror, I would not be able to say with any confidence that I think there would be payoff for all the threads that have been woven so far this season, and Olivia's nuggets of wisdom in particular (physician heal thyself indeed). however. the premises are under new management and that new management has so far done a much better job of telling a cohesive story across episodes, and so I am cautiously optimistic that Olivia's lightbulb moment is incoming. it feels, very much, like somebody over there knows what they're doing, and the fact that the last couple episodes of both shows were left in the same hands gives an even greater potential for a satisfying payoff, tho I continue to remind myself of how s14 ended - we may very well be left on a cliffhanger. which like, that's a solid way to insure a big audience for the premieres, whenever they may be. so we shall see.

oh, Amanda. so Amanda's thing has always been psychology - she has, in a few episodes scattered across her decade on the show, expressed a particular interest in getting inside the minds of the most deranged killers. it is her thing, tho it's always bothered me; I am thinking of the machine elves episodes now, and Amanda's interest in and defense of alternate theories of consciousness, an interest which has always seemed at odds with her intensely narrow view of the world (for example, "abuse victims deserve the abuse bc they allow it to happen" is a theory she has espoused more than once, which, lol).

so the thing is, right, is that it isn't out of left field or anything, her wanting to do these things, it sits right inside of the characteristics they have given her. the thing is, I've never seen any reason to believe she speaks with any authority on the subject. she took point on a few interrogations - the Henry Mesner fiasco comes to mind - and has attended lectures - as they all have - but like. My girlfriend has spent a lot of time learning about serial killers. no one is calling her to be a profiler. I feel like Amanda was brought back not for her skills but for the Drama(tm). Some fans like her very much, bringing back a familiar face for a finale is a good way to boost ratings, allowing us to see Olivia interact with Amanda after we have watched Liv grieving her absence is compelling from a character perspective. and that's the thing, right, is that this is entertainment, so it doesn't matter if Amanda has any skill as a profiler - just like it didn't matter that Nick's pivot into science seems super weird. it's a "willing suspension of disbelief" moment, I think, and I may fuss about it on occasion but I'm not like. mad about it lol

I did want to see Elliot and Amanda acknowledge that they have something in common in leaving Liv, so I'm glad we got that, though "I left bc I'd killed a teenager about the same age as one of my own daughters and the brass were going to make me do a number of things I personally find intolerable and even then I might not get my job back and I can't risk my pension and I have a toddler to raise and I can't talk to Liv about it bc I'm in love with her and if I see her face I'm gonna throw everything away for her" and "I took a new job and then never called her again and made my husband, who is her friend and sees her very often for work, promise not to tell her I'm pregnant for reasons as yet unspecified" are not exactly the same thing.