#i mean i think the reason i've gotten this far without making the connection

[candiid-caniine]

im sorry this is a silly question, but what does it mean to be clicker trained? i haven’t been able to find a good answer but it seems hot (although i think everything’s hot tbh)

okie so pls prepare for autistic infodumping on psych and hypnokink below/

so. clicker training is often used for dogs and sometimes cats; basically, you're clicking the clicker every time you give them a treat. eventually, the animal becomes conditioned to associate the clicker with the dopamine rush of being rewarded! that's how it's used on animals. but the overarching concept is (afaik) a form of Pavlovian conditioning.

Pavlov (at least partly) got famous for an experiment where he conditioned dogs to associate the sound of a bell with getting food. eventually, anytime they heard the bell, they started to salivate.

why am i talking about animals? that's weird right? well the truth is that humans work basically the same (tho ofc our minds are more complex): over time, we are trained to associate certain stimuli with certain things. if you listen to the same song every time you go to sleep, eventually that song will always make you sleepy; our brains love repetition. it makes things predictable and orderly, giving us clear signals that help us navigate the world.

now...obviously...conditioning also has its applications to kink ;)

im a simple creature: im *stupidly* easy to condition, esp if i'm being intentional about it. most of the time it happens accidentally tho. here are some examples in my life:

i'm so conditioned to associate a collar with subspace that even touching my neck gets me wet. having the side of my neck sucked on immediately makes me go limp. when i noticed it happening passively, i vocalized it, strengthening the connection by intentionally "noticing" it every time it happened. it has only gotten stronger with time >.>

i also ended up accidentally being able to cum on command. once (i repeat: once) i was super worked up in between changing positions and i blurted out, "if you told me to cum right now i think i could" and owner said "cum for me" and...just like that, i fkn cum on command now. it's been that way for 4-ish years.

now...conditioning, esp when it's accidental, is an inexact science lol. i started getting more into denial. that fact, combined with the fact that i cum on command, eventually turned into *only* cumming on command. this was mostly coincidental: when owner and i moved in together, the only times i'd ever cum were when they were home, usually having sex/playing with me, and would command me. my brain turned that into an inability to cum *without* command. again, once i noticed it, i vocalized it, got intentional about recognizing it mentally, and it has only strengthened over time.

now: clicker training. theoretically, any effect you want (within reason) can be conditioned with enough consistent training. you could clicker train a person to feel sleepy at the sound of the clicker by using it when they're going to sleep. you could tie it to basically anything that isn't too complex, probably.

in my case, the goal is for me to hit the edge every time the clicker's pressed, so i've been clicking the clicker every time i hit the edge.

theory: eventually, my body will be so conditioned to think "click = edge" that i won't need to be touching when it happens.

theory: to really make this stronger, i need to get close to the edge, then use the clicker to get "there." stepping back further and further from the edge until, even if i'm idle, not turned on, or doing something else, clicker = edge, instantly.

here are the effects so far:

i'm not at the point where click = edge when i'm idle, yet, but the clicker does = a powerful clench of my cunt lmao...body's still getting on board.

*imagining* the clicker sound also prompts this effect, but a little less strong. HOWEVER...

suddenly, mysteriously, if i imagine and concentrate really hard on the way my body feels at the edge, i edge mentally.

this takes some concentration. curiously, it also makes me feel like i'm about to squirt; don't know what that's about.

why is this happening? because conditioning a human being is an inexact science. it's messy; the brain is very involved. so, in theory:

because i concentrate intentionally on the idea that click = edge, every time i edge and use the clicker, i'm also concentrating on my body.

concentrating on the feeling as i get closer to the edge. thinking, intentionally, "this is how i'll feel whenever i click this button."

so consequently, in the background, my body/brain is learning that "concentrate on how edging feels = you're edging now, fucko."

in conclusion: ymmv. my theory is that this kind of conscious conditioning method would be less messy and more precise if used with well-practiced, methodical, and specific hypnotism to strengthen and simplify the connections...but for the moment, i'm enjoying the chaos. i do like feeling powerless lol.

[softpine]

oh god i'm spiraling thinking about how this is going to make elaine feel after she hears asa did this as soon as she dropped him off! and beth and cara? danny and casper? stevie maybe being the one to find him?? IM LOSING IT

seriously i feel so bad for elaine, she has the least context of anyone in this situation. all she knows is that asa was acting weirder than normal and very secretive, then she takes him home and within hours he takes his life. she'll be rethinking everything he told her that day, i mean he literally said “If I can’t help anyone, then… I don’t know why I’m even here. I don’t know how much longer I can stand to be so useless.” she's going to feel so guilty :(

beth, who has been battling with herself over whether she should let asa be a normal kid with privacy and agency, and who only just convinced caroline to ease up on him a little. and cara??? this is quite literally her worst fear:

danny and casper, who both chose to pursue something for themselves instead of putting their family first like they always have in the past, who are terrified of being far away when their family needs them.

stevie, who convinced asa to look for finn in the first place, and who already has guilt over the way she froze up and watched a woman die because she couldn't jump into action quickly enough. stevie, who will have to be the one to intercept asa's parents at the door if the paramedics haven't gotten there yet.

jada, who we aren't sure how much she saw or knows yet, but the sheer amount of guilt she has weighing her down is already so so heavy. i can't even imagine how responsible she would feel for potentially being unable to save her best friend since the literal day he was born.

and finn??? the real kicker for me is that finn would/will be horrified when he finds out what asa put his family through, all for him. he got upset when asa did something as innocuous as burning family pictures, because asa's family loves him so much and he hates that asa has put such a strain on their relationship because of finn.

but i hope i've made it clear enough that this isn't really about finn. asa hasn't been cycling through antidepressants and seeing countless doctors since he was 12 for no reason; he genuinely does struggle with severe depression, losing finn was just the last straw. asa's ability to see ghosts has caused him so much pain over the years, but finn alone made it worth the heartache. without him, he feels entirely helpless. he's surrounded by people every moment of every day, but he can't connect with a single one of them. so while his motivation here may not have been to die and stay dead, i also can't say that he had a clear enough mind to be worried about the emotional impact this would have on the people around him. he knows that if caroline found his body, she would never recover from that, but even that is only a short-term consequence – he's not thinking about how his loved ones will feel in a week or a year or the rest of their lives. i can't really fault him for that. but the whole thing is fucking tragic :(

[brightgnosis]

Hey there! I actually was able to think of a good one for you :D

I'm sure that over the years, you've developed communities of other practitioners--some large, some small, some online, some offline, etc.

In these spaces, what would you say is the biggest blessing of these communities, and what is the biggest bane? Are these unique to magical spaces, in your experience?

It'd probably surprise a whole lot of y'all to find out that I've been pretty much cut off from any kind of Pagan / Occult / Witchcraft community for ... Basically my whole life.

Aside from a roughly 6 month stint in Fort Walton Beach, Florida (when I wasn't there long enough to settle down, let alone try to connect to locals); and a 3 year stint in Tulsa (when I experienced nearly every kind of abuse from my partner, and it probably would've endangered me to try- if I'd even had a vehicle to do so in the first place)? I've literally lived in the same small agricultural town in the middle of nowhere since I was 6. And there is nothing here.

I knew a handful of people involved in the craft growing up. I can count their names on both hands and still have fingers left; 4 of them were my own friends, and the rest were my Aunt's coven; I've never had contact with any kind of a broader "Pagan Community". Hell, I've only ever been to one Pagan Pride event in my entire life- and I've only ever stepped foot into maybe 5 Metaphysical Shops total ... I just never had the opportunity to.

I tried to get involved with my local community now that it's larger and there are easier ways to connect with others ... Only to immediately run into a group of stuckup, power hungry assholes who've apparently decided they run the entire joint because they put on a Pagan Pride "for us" twice; a group who can't even remotely handle anyone questioning them- but especially not a disabled person; they removed me from our local pagan FaceBook group for asking legitimate safety questions about their last event. So I washed my hands of them. I'd rather be solitary, then.

I've tried to be involved in (and even tried to create a couple) online communities, too ... But I keep seeing them fail (or get outright napalmed) over and over and over again due to the same problems; power games, infighting and backbiting, purity culture, personality cults, severe inexperience, poor organization, and no idea what community organization actually means- let alone no clear cut idea of what they want to provide as a community. So I wash my hands and step away.

I've been involved in a lot of discussions both online and off, too, with several types of practitioners, about what community means; what it needs; how to form one; how to make it self-sustaining; etc. But they never go anywhere. Nothing ever gets done. Things fizzle and fall apart for one reason or another (infighting, power games, lack of funds, disinterest, flakiness, etc) and things never get off the ground.

Community can be lovely, and wonderful, and helpful, and formative ... We need community ... I desperately want community ... But I haven't been impressed with a single thing I've seen so far in what attempts I've made online and off. If anything, my limited experience and attempts have shown me that (current) Pagans simply aren't capable of creating good, solid, well developed community. And I feel like there's a lot of reasons for that which hearken back to Pagan Persecution Complex, and a number of other issues I've griped about over the years.

And honestly? At this point I'm just kind of tired of trying to find my place in communities I never even had access to until recently. I'll still put people in their place when they whine about "not having community" while doing all the things that destroy community- or not actually bothering to take any of the steps to create it ... But ultimately, at this point we seem to have gotten on just fine without one another for 20+ years. I feel like we can probably get on fine without one another for another 20+ more unless something actually changes for the better finally.

I've made peace with that.

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

First of all, no worries lol. It's taken me literal months to respond to people sometimes, and not for any good reason so I'd say you're fine.

Anyways, with that out of the way let me just say I find that interesting. Kiri, to me, has always come off as someone who attaches herself to one place. In my experience, there's a difference between being able to adapt/connect anywhere you go and truly being a traveler at heart, and Kiri strikes me as the former. She yearns to dig deeper into her knowledge and connections regarding her home and thrives on the familiarity of the people, plants, and animals around her whereas I feel like Lo'ak needs to travel, needs to get out from under his father and brother's shadows. To just exist and be himself, find himself and his place without all of the history surrounding his birthplace. That's not to say I think Kiri doesn't like experiencing new things, I just see her as a very nostalgic and sentimental person who finds peace in the plants and animals and people she's known her whole life.

Ikr! I don't know why I haven't seen a single fic about it yet, but rest assured I have a doc opened rn (I feel like my wip list is just getting longer and longer dude). Little fun fact about me: I took horseback riding lessons for a good 5.5 years and so I'll be leaning heavily on those experiences for how Spider approaches his own riding experiences as a human (with obvious differences). There's something to be said for the feeling of a creature so much more powerful than yourself under you, having to be conscious of its every move, every action---the flick of its ears, the position of its head, etc.---- without being able to know for sure it's true thoughts or emotions but trusting it anyways that brings you closer to it in a way I can't explain, even with the ones you don't get along with. And I want that for Spider, I want him to embrace his humanity in this.

He doesn't end up in Awa'atlu at first for the ilu racing one, no. I've got a good idea what I want from this fic in the beginning, but what happens after he escapes is something I'm still pondering. I know for a fact I wouldn't want this to be a story where he stumbles upon Awa'atlu, though, if I end up writing it. I'm thinking maybe he ends up back at that one village and goes from there?

And I figured I'd tell you about another fic I'm working on as we speak because I'd love your thoughts: a world where Paz actually died back on Earth, but per a contract she signed giving away her memories (which she logged regularly) she was revived in an avatar body and put in the newest program. In this program, males and females are paired together to have children (for less than wholesome reasons). A big part of this is Paz being haunted by her experiences on Earth and not wanting to be a mother because of it, and she struggles to come to terms with it over the course of her pregnancy and the early days after Spider is born, along with being in this alien body that doesn't feel like hers. I think that by the time she's gotten pregnant with the 2nd child (they're going for a boy and girl per pairing) and is coming out of her numb fog, she's begun to truly think about the horrific future that awaits Spider and her unborn baby (spurred on by the threat of killing it if it's not a girl) and ends up plotting their escape and running away. Throughout the story thus far she's bonded with the other women in the program and comes to learn about motherhood and what it means to her, and when she escapes she takes the others with her and they make their own little family before eventually running into the Omaticaya and slowly becoming friendly. I'm playing around with timelines and stuff because I think it'd be interesting to compare her and Neytiri's and Grace's experiences with motherhood, which would be so interesting to write about (Grace doesn't die until later in this world, don't wanna give away the death I'm leaning towards though). I'm taking inspiration from the poetry book 40 Weeks and more, and I love the concept but am still working out the kinks. Thoughts? Still very much in the early phases.

Also, I saw you briefly mention my memory-loss idea and I'd like to say that that brought me literal physical pain. Why, you may ask? Well because my one and only doc of the draft I was merrily working on (around 10+ pages of gorgeous notes/early rough-draft work, which for me is astounding since I tend to just ball) was deleted??? And I don't know the fuck how???? 1000 emotional damage points.

And I'm so happy to hear you've taken inspiration from fmdttpt's world! Your idea sounds so fun!

~ CherryApollo

Haha, thank you, and I'm sorry I've done it again. I've been so busy with my new job that I am swamped all the time, lol. I'm bad at responding anyway but my job is making it even worse.

BUT ANYWAYS. I love your interpretations of the characters, I just love when people think of or experience characters differently but in a way that still fits to me. For Kiri, I've just always seen her feeling at home anywhere that Eywa is, and wanting to experience every part of her. Every way she can feel her or be expressed, explore different plants and animals and nature and study and be a part of it the way her mom would've wanted to. And I just think Lo'ak gets bored easily lol.

I looove the horse comparison, it's shocking no one has written this fic yet! You have a ton going but it's okay because I'm excited for all of them. Humans are experts at taming and riding shit, why can't he, especially something as intelligent as an ikran.

Hmm, okay, the village makes sense. They would be able to tell Tonowari and therefore the Sully's real fucking fast through, so it would be kinda similar to him finding Awa'atlu. You coullllld have him escape in the forest and find the Sully's missing? I've always wanted one of those fics.

That's a really interesting idea! I personally don't care much for Paz as a character, or stories about her, but that is a very cool idea and I'd definitely check it out to see where it goes.

NO NO YOUR MEMORY LOSS FIC IS ONE I'VE BEEN SO EXCITED ABOUT, THAT'S THE SADDEST THING I'VE EVER HEARD. Google doc man, I only use google docs.

And thank u for being chill with me getting inspired by/using it! I'm trying to catch up on all my asks today (answer but not post, I schedule those), so hopefully I'll be faster to answer you next time! I'm excited to hear how your works are going!

[rainbowsky]

saw the new 🔴🟢 translation just now and i wanted to ask, where do those rumors come from? do we know anything about the op? the way the rumors are structured makes it sound like it would have to be someone on dd's staff or someone that often works in close proximity to him. out of the ones i've read it seems like the rumors are usually from dd's side, not so much gg except when they're both present. would that be accurate?

how true do you believe the rumors to be?

This is in reference to a previous post.

Fake, fan fiction, CPN.

LRLG is very popular among turtles and is a bit of a fandom icon. They are called 🔴🟢 (or Little Red, Little Green) because they use a 🔴 to depict GG and a 🟢 to depict DD in the rumors they post.

Although there are other people in the rumor house who post using these colored dots, we know LRLG rumors are from that specific person because the rumor house numbers every LRLG rumor to distinguish rumors coming from the LRLG account from those coming from other accounts.

Fans take LRLG rumors seriously because they seem realistic in ways that would be difficult to fake, and because they often reveal things that prove to be true later on. You can read more about that here.

Nothing is known about who LRLG is (the fake rumor house is anonymous). The primary fan theory is that LRLG must be a member of DD's staff (if the rumors aren't total fiction written by a fan), because the rumors tend to follow DD and his activities and interactions with GG in person and over the phone.

What do I think about LRLG? Well, first and foremost I have to say that I'm a big fan of LRLG rumors. More so than any other content we've gotten since we last saw GG and DD in joint interviews and fan meets, LRLG gives me a sense of actually witnessing GG and DD's interactions. It has the ring of truth for me. As far as I'm concerned, they MUST be real.

If they aren't real, then LRLG has utterly legendary writing ability, and I wish that I could read some narrative GGDD fan fiction from them. This person absolutely nails their personalities and behavior toward each other to a degree that seems superhuman to me. Not just their personalities and interactions, but also capturing the chaos and fragmented snippets of partially witnessed conversation. If it's fake then I am blown away by how well the rumors are crafted.

If LRLG is a fake then it would difficult to hold it against them, because their characterization of GG and DD is so exquisite and the rumors are so enjoyable that it's been worth the clownery.

But I do personally believe in LRLG. It's hard to picture someone holding up to all of these factors at once:

Skilled enough to write this particular bit of obscure, specific content so convincingly

Well-versed enough in the various languages and dialects GG and DD use

With such an encyclopedic knowledge of their schedules, clothing, personalities, interests, behavior, etc.

An uncanny sense of timing to drop rumors when they do

Keen sensitivity to what is best for GG and DD and the fans, so that the rumors fill a valuable role in keeping things fresh without compromising GG and DD in any way

Dedicated and invested enough to keep the ruse up that well for that long without breaking character

I mean, it's possible, sure - but it doesn't seem as likely to me as the idea that the rumors are periodic reports from someone on their staff. I find it easier to believe they are what they seem to be than that someone has gone to these elaborate lengths to craft them, with no apparent goal and without any obvious fuck-ups.

I feel the need to make myself abundantly clear: These rumors are unverified and might be fakes invented by some random person out there. We cannot be sure of their veracity.

Why would someone on their staff do that? Why would GG and DD allow them to? I go into more detail on that in this post.

I talk a bit about the possibility of GG being somehow connected to LRLG here.

For that reason I think we should just enjoy them, and not get too twisted up about whether they're real or not. My opinion is just an opinion, nothing more.

[in-omni-scientia]

INTERVIEW #1 — ENCYCLOPEDIA

VOLITION — ...Okay. So. How exactly should this be run...? ENCYCLOPEDIA — Ask me questions. Anything you want to know.

VOLITION — Uh...

ENCYCLOPEDIA — ...Okay. You will need a starting point. What are you hoping to gain from this? ⠀⠀... VOLITION — ... ENCYCLOPEDIA — ... ⠀⠀Absolutely anything. VOLITION — I... suppose. Just anything I can get ahold of? ENCYCLOPEDIA — No. ⠀⠀... VOLITION — ...

PERCEPTION — (Silence descends upon you and your subject in an impromptu, no-stakes stand-off. He yawns, covering the shadow of his mouth with one hand, and begins flipping through the book sitting on his lap with some of his others.) VOLITION — Why are *you* doing the narrating all of a sudden? PERCEPTION — Uh... I don't... know? Just felt like there was a gap for some reason... AUTHORITY — Can you bunch of lousy clowns just get on with it already? My popcorn is getting cold.

VOLITION — I don't really care to know anything more about you than what I already know. ENCYCLOPEDIA — Come now. You are a fragment of the greater concept of Encyclopedia; you should be fervently scrambling at the opportunity to learn anything new. VOLITION — It's not me, damn it, it's you. ENCYCLOPEDIA — ...Hmm? So you admit that it is no longer your duty to-- VOLITION — Not like that! I mean that... just... I don't *care* about you enough to bother. I don't want to do this. With you. COMPOSURE [Easy: Success] — Is it too confronting? I mean, to have to analyse part of yourself so closely, a part of yourself that has ripped away and taken on what you've built your core identity around for itself... VOLITION — Himself. ENCYCLOPEDIA — I didn't do any of that. ⠀⠀Also, thank you, but it doesn't matter; it's not like I'm supposed to be the focus. Just what I do. PERCEPTION — (He gestures to his book with several hands for emphasis.) PERCEPTION — It makes sense. Out of all of us, he's definitely the one that's the least... visible. Only his torso, where he tends to hover his books, is fully visible; I don't think his main body has its own hands. ⠀⠀I also can't tell how much of a resemblance he bears to... ehr. You. Encyclopedia, the skill as everyone knows... you? I *can* say the lower part of the face seems to match... he looks more like you did before Empathy confessed. Far more blue than the other hues present in your face, though. Also, I've noticed that sometimes he's got little white dot eyes like Authority does, but they're not there right now.

VOLITION — What's with the hands, anyway? ENCYCLOPEDIA — It makes it easier to hold many books at once, if need be. If I were to leave your mind it would be possible for me to hold six of the books at once, if I had to. VOLITION — Do they have a set range? Or can you extend them far away? ENCYCLOPEDIA — They work more like the arms they're connected to are simply invisible, though I haven't gotten the chance to test whether they can be extended or not. It is too cramped in here. ⠀⠀Current hypothesis is that I may be able to extend them far away to grab books from shelves without having to physically move myself to them. VOLITION — Interesting. I... can't think of anything else to ask you. ENCYCLOPEDIA — Well, you had a good streak going. It should be commended. ⠀⠀Here, I'll give you a small push. Why don't you ask me about how I contribute to our team dynamic?

VOLITION — I've already asked that before... but fine. ENCYCLOPEDIA — I am what you are supposed to be. VOLITION — ...Huff. You said that last time. Any chance you could potentially elaborate on what you mean by that? AUTHORITY — Did you just *say* 'huff'? PERCEPTION — (He flips the pages of his book once...) ENCYCLOPEDIA — You've become *distracted* by extraneous responsibilities, my friend. VOLITION — Not this again. ENCYCLOPEDIA — What does making friends with the other skills have to do with your role? You could be spending this time you use to fraternize to instead re-organize the library once more, spend time gaining knowledge. VOLITION — What? Weren't you going to talk about Empathy? ENCYCLOPEDIA — Why on Earth would I do that? I don't hold a particular grudge against him, he is included with the others. PERCEPTION — But-- but didn't you say you didn't like him? ENCYCLOPEDIA — 'Like' and 'don't like' is for insolent fools. There's only 'requires our assistance often' and 'doesn't require our assistance often'. ⠀⠀Empathy frequently listens to you as you cite your knowledge to him -- not just hears, but listens. Even when you were not called upon to speak. Furthermore, much of what they do is based off of Harrier's prior knowledge and experiences in dealing with others, so they have a use for us either way.

AUTHORITY — Not one part of you isn't hypocritical. PERCEPTION — But... wouldn't whether the others like us be pretty important? Otherwise they wouldn't *want* to come to us. ENCYCLOPEDIA — It's true that they would be more receptive to us speaking if we had a good rapport with them. Though, if it were meant to be, it would happen naturally. ⠀⠀I don't believe attempting to appeal to them through groveling apologies like -- I believe it would be Composure who would have suggested such a thing -- would be helpful; they will see through us eventually. COMPOSURE — Come on, give me a little more credit. They haven't seen through them yet. VOLITION — What the actual *fuck* are you two talking about? First of all, stop talking about MY actions like YOU took them. Second of all, I was being genuine when I said all that to them. COMPOSURE — Lots of it was exaggerated or masked, though. Based on what you thought other people might say. Based on what evidence, your mental database you've mapped out of their personalities, would suggest they'd be more receptive to. VOLITION — Well-- that didn't fucking work, did it? I *still* ended up sending something far too long to Authority.

ENCYCLOPEDIA — This is tangential and unrelated to the initial question. ⠀⠀As well as what I said before, they'll still come to us regardless of whether they like us or not. You likely remember that first week in Martinaise being particularly tough on Authority... VOLITION — Right. Poor guy couldn't base his job on a damn thing other than the white rectangles on our shoulders. PERCEPTION — (Another single flip of the pages.) ENCYCLOPEDIA — Yes. I don't believe he's ever particularly liked or even respected us. But he still had a use for us. PERCEPTION — There's more to all this than just being useful, Ency... PERCEPTION — (A single flip of a page.) ⠀⠀(Then another.) ⠀⠀(Then another.) ENCYCLOPEDIA — Not in *this* existence. PERCEPTION — Ency, just because--

AUTHORITY — This shit is boring. I was hoping for a fistfight. COMPOSURE — My money'd be on Ency winning if that happened, honestly. Like, a billion hands, only weak point is his book, metap-- AUTHORITY — Fuckface, *don't* say that. Not after what you did. COMPOSURE — ...Oh. Sorry, Ency.

ENCYCLOPEDIA — It's fine. I'm certain there wasn't anything that can't be recovered on that page, anyway. ⠀⠀If you'd like something *interesting* to happen, Authority, why don't you take the next turn? I'm sure that since you didn't get the opportunity to properly tell Vol-- er. Khm. Maybe... Conscientia what your role was, you could take this now. AUTHORITY — I'm not-- VOLITION — Sorry, what did you just call me? ENCYCLOPEDIA — Classical Vespertine word, [kõːs̠kiˈɛn̪t̪iä]. Derived from Koinós-Meteoran συνείδησις. Meaning, 1. knowledge or science shared with others or held in common; or 2. the act of being aware of something one has done or is responsible for: consciousness/conscience. VOLITION — ...Well. Thank you for trying. Honestly. But I think I'd rather be called OG like the others have been.

PERCEPTION — Guys. Um. ARB is... acting, uh, weird. VOLITION — In what way? PERCEPTION — He's being weird. ENCYCLOPEDIA — Helpful. It's probably a good time to wrap this up, then. Maybe speak to them before we move on to Authority...? AUTHORITY — Hey, come on, I just want to *watch* the carnage, not get involved myself. I didn't agree to this...!

[shuttershocky]

If you don't mind me asking, I'd be curious to hear more about FGO's writing having higher peaks than AK's. Do you suppose this is due to the different writing focuses the games have, or is it more of an inherent thing with their writing in general and AK is worse at doing peaks?

It's the experience gap IMO. Nasu's been doing this since the 90s, and in the occasion that FGO has him be lead on a chapter, the writing just pops off hard (unless it's one of the Year 1 events lol) The other writers often have brilliant flashes as well, though are a bit more inconsistent.

The strength of Arknights' writing is its crazy consistency. Barring the first 4 main story chapters, their stories range from 'Good' to 'Very Good' with only Ancient Forge really feeling like a mediocre event. Characters are three dimensional, likable, stupidly sexy and competently done. There's always a thematic narrative following the actual plot. They do SO much research when writing out their fantasy world because they mean it to reflect part of ours and that will create messages. Its writing choices are often brave or interesting, and require the reader to engage with it actively rather than through passive consumption. There is generally always meaning to what you're reading, which is helpful for attention when Arknights really likes to make horrifically long cutscenes.

If I had to try to summarize the weaknesses of Arknights' writing, I think I'd list the following:

Dialogue — You could really tell Kal'tsit was Hai Mao's Deviantart OC that he built Terra from scratch for. She speaks in overly-long, overly-complicated speech as a hint to how old and experienced she actually is, but a whole fuck ton of other characters speak that way too to a lesser extent.

Over time they've gotten better at creating unique voices for characters who engage in more natural conversation, but Terra remains a continent inhabited by philosophers.

Moving from Point A to B — This is a very simple and yet very pervasive problem in Arknights' storytelling: it's often easy to get lost in what's happening, because they're often not very good in telling the reader how they got there.

Occasionally too-frequent POV switches, complex movements from an extremely large cast without enough words dedicated to described movements (thus giving time to cement them into the reader's mind), HG even sometimes just brushes off the idea of scenes acting as connective tissue entirely and just barrage the player with happenings upon happenings like a history book.

Now I'm personally fine with this as I've been somewhat okay keeping up so far, but there's a reason why I often make posts that create a timeline or otherwise simplify certain events or arcs. I can see how this shit could get even avid readers lost.

Finales - Hypergryph is real brave when it comes to picking between easy narrative choices and more interesting, complex ones, but certain events love to chicken out at the grand finale. HG don't seem to have a lot of confidence in their audience finding someone they build up from scratch as cool, and HAVE to throw in someone explicitly stated to be cool. See: Maria and Margaret, Mountain and Saria, Lava and Nian (though personally I thought Who is Real was better about this), etc.

If Chapter 8 had Amiya's parents bail her out, we wouldn't have gotten this raw dialogue.

"I see you. You've fought the past Sarkaz kings. You fear them. You fear me."

"Face me, Deathless Black Snake."

___

[luxwing]

For the Astarion query you had and will not say any spoilers/will be normal lol.

My first time playing I missed a few companions so less choice. He's hard to miss so anyone in the same boat as me would have had more time with him. Some you can almost miss till end of act 1 so again you'd end up with him for more.

Everyone that I did get for act 1 till maybe a little into act 2 was on the same level of fuckable for me (in that I wasn't too bothered as actually went into the game not knowing the romance was that well developed)

The most romanced characters are Shadowheart, Lae'zel and Karlach. So a lot of people agree with you. I would argue its more that Astarion ticks the right boxes for the people that create stuff for tumblr and tiktok and also has a lot of content/a lot of content that is easily quotable. Then because of algorithms etc the hype train kicked off.

My hope is that it doesn't end up going the other way and he doesn't end up getting hate because of counter culture or whatever. He is a very good character, as they all are and his story is also very moving. Again without spoilers, at release there were some people grateful that they could connect with his story and felt they hadn't seen it, as it is in the game, in media before.

Astarion slowly made his way up that list for me for the following reasons

Funny

Interesting backstory that gets more we will say interesting as the acts go on

Backstory has moments of oh fuck I get that trauma

He has the ability to change either way possibly the most

He literally has the most hours of dialogue etc and a bunch of romance scenes when some characters sadly don't

Now I have done more times through the game, personally I think they all have pretty good character development and are all very fuckable as yous say.

If you held a gun to my head and made me pick 1 I would pick karlach, gale and astarion in no set order and take the bullet. But honestly the others are really pretty much just as good to me.

Now the hype is dying down I feel like a lot of convos have been moving onto other characters including wanting to fuck NPCs.

I've gotten far enough not that my character did spend a night with Astarion and it's opened up some more information about his backstory, so I'm starting to see what draws a lot of people toward him. Also, someone mentioned this on my other post, but yeah Neil Newbon's performance does so much heavy lifting that you can't help but find him a bit charming.

And God I forgot this game has three acts my ass is just now almost finished with everything in act one I'm only level 5 after nearly thirty hours oh my god

But I guess one reason people might not be fans of Astarion (not just because they're tired of the fanmedia saturation mind you) is because of his approvals. He gains approval from you being mean or snarky and from some displays of cruelty, so that might be a quick turn off for people. Ive bypassed this by leaving him at camp whenever I wanna be nice along with the other "kindness is cringe" people.

But yeah, he's a well written character, I'll agree to that. Honestly, all the party members seem really multifaceted whether for better or worse, and I actually like that a lot. I do wish Shadowheart and Lae'zel would stop trying to kill each other and make out already, tho.

Tbh I haven't seen anyone 'hate' on Astarion. Joke about him, sure, but i think I've seen way more people shit on Shadowheart than on him. Which, that's a whole nuther discussion to be had in itself, but yeah idk.

God I still have so much of the game left to do what the fuck

[acourtofthought]

hello!

what is your theory about the gifts Lucien gave Elain that were not returned?

Elain returned Azriel's dagger and necklace, but where are LUCIEN's? and the jacket he covered her the first time?

it's these details that make me think about their future development.

I've gotten such really great asks recently, they really make me think of things I don't normal think about (so thank you for this one!).

I think based on Elain's character, gifts are very meaningful and symbolic to her and as long as she has an emotional tie to an individual, she's not parting ways with those gifts.

Graysen demanded that Elain give his engagement ring back but the thing is, engagement rings are gifts. Even in the real world, engagement rings are considered as such and certain states permit the female to keep them even if the engagement is called off. In other states, the female is allowed to keep it if the male calls of the engagement but should return it if she calls off the engagement). Graysen broke off their engagement but Elain was not ready to let go of what she felt for him so she refused to return the ring. That ring was symbolic of what she still felt for a man; her love and loyalty to him (even though he didn't want her).

Elain did not think twice about giving Azriel's gift back and to me that really does indicate her emotional ties to him are not that strong. I think we all know TT wasn't meant for her to keep but the fact that SJM says, "And then walked away without looking back." makes that sentence extremely heavy with implication. Azriel offered Elain this extension of himself (this thing that represents the dark side of Az, the thing that he tortures with), and Elain used it because she had to but ultimately decided she wasn't comfortable with what it represented (taking that one step further, regardless of how loving a person Elain might be, she's still never going to be able to fully embrace Azriel's darkness).

As far as the necklace, I definitely think she appreciated it but, the fact that she returned it so quickly suggests that her feelings and attachment don't run as deep as people think. She no longer wanted to keep this thing that tied her to him.

So why hasn't Elain given Lucien's gifts back?

It can't be because she's afraid of hurting his feelings. She knows she's going to run into Az again yet she didn't seem to have any issues tossing that gift right back into his pile. So the only logical conclusion is that she has a connection to Lucien that she doesn't want to break.

Lucien's gifts are basically symbolic of their mating bond. Elain refuses to wear them, refuses to use them (refuses to acknowledge the bond). But the problem is, I think a very large part of her wants to wear them, wants to use the gloves, wants to give in to the bond drawing her in. But she's fighting all of it because she thinks it means she's giving in to something that happened to her rather than something she decided for herself. She's going to be stubborn for as long as possible (stubborn rosebush anyone?) because she thinks that means she's controlling her fate (rather than stopping to consider that even if she didn't choose when and how it happened, maybe Fate actually knew something she didn't).

We don't always get what we think we want and they have the phrase, "thank heavens for unanswered prayers" for a reason. Because what we think we want isn't always what's best for us and the path Fate puts us on was always where we were meant to end up. It's foolish to act like we always know what's best for us especially at a young age. There's no shame in admitting that sometimes we were wrong.

And that's where Elain is at, she's refusing to admit that maybe she was wrong about Graysen and what she chose for herself and to realize that Lucien was always her destiny (and for the right reasons). I think on a subconscious level she's aware of that which is why she can't force herself to part with those gifts.

[incarnadinedreams]

So I finally finished reading TGCF! (The main novel, I haven't gotten to the extras yet). I watched the first season of the donghua ages ago (right after I watched what was available of the MDZS donghua at the time and before I read the MDZS novel), then started reading TGCF as the first volumes of the official English versions were releasing and fell off.

My original plan was to "catch up" through book 5 and just keep up with the official releases. As soon as I finished book 5 I immediately abandoned that plan and went straight to the fan translations (whatever, I'll still be buying the officials as they release so I don't feel too guilty about it).

Anyway, I am feeling..... surprisingly normal about this book? I enjoyed it and had fun reading it and so far have not felt any inklings of obsessive derangement over it.

(Extremely long and rambling first impressions/thoughts after a single quick read below the cut, probably not that interesting. May contain major spoilers, and sorta comparing it to MDZS and specifically JC a bit just because the comparisons get pushed a lot because of the overlap in the fandoms)

Anyway, as a Jiang Cheng Enjoyer I've fairly often seen people say things like 'you should just read TGCF, Mu Qing is actually what JC stans wish Jiang Cheng was' or 'Mu Qing is Jiang Cheng but done right' and I just....... kinda don't see it?

Anyway... Is it just me? Am I stupid and missing something?

I mean, there are some obvious parallels and MXTX very clearly has a pattern/dynamic/formula she likes with the 'best friend side characters' slot, re-used some similar surface-level descriptions for Mu Qing that had been applied to Jiang Cheng (bad-tempered, sarcastic, unlikable, good looking, etc). So I'm definitely not saying people are totally wrong for seeing a connection there.

But they didn't actually feel all that similar to me beyond a handful of traits? And not only because of the tragic lack of jilfy purple electro-whip.

I think part of the problem is that Mu Qing suffered from a serious case of "tell, don't show" in his portrayal... in the text we're being told by other characters that he's so unlikable or has such a nasty personality or is so untrustworthy... but then rarely or never actually says or does anything "on camera" to show that?

Like, this isn't "he has done nothing wrong!" in the "I shall protect this precious blorbo of my heart" way, it's in the "ummmmmm... he has actually... not done anything wrong in this situation...? And I am confused as to why these characters are reacting to him in a way that is so wildly out of proportion to what has actually happened?"

As much as I love Jiang Cheng, he does at least actually say some mean things "on screen" in the novel to earn that bad-tempered sharp-tongued characterization. I might personally think he was perfectly justified in saying about 98% of them and being pissed as hell, but at least he actually does the being angry and bitter and verbal lashing out that he's characterized with. (Though I think he actually does a lot less of it than people seem to think, as most of the time he's just being pretty normal actually. But there are some scenes at least.) Of course, conversely, Wei Wuxian does also do many more actually bad things to balance it out too and make JC's on-screen anger/reactions make a lot more sense.

But Mu Qing on the other hand... a few snippy comments and some eye rolling? Everything else always ends up being someone else baselessly accusing him based on some accidental circumstances that got cleared up with reasonable explanations. His involvement in the whole turf war over the meditation place was mostly him showing up after the rest of them had already made up their minds and he was trying to de-escalate the situation without losing the job he was using to support his mother with or creating more problems.

The only kinda bad things I think he does (be okay with the idea of using the Human Face Disease against the Yong'an people to stop it from spreading in the Xianle capital city) is one of the few things that nobody actually has any issue with him for! You could argue that it was bad to get Hua Cheng kicked out of the army... but also he was 14 and there are no actual details given and tbh that kid was kinda creepy from an outside perspective (even if I liked him)...

To be honest I'd seen a few people making vague comments about his "betrayal" in the past so I knew it was coming, but "I'm gonna go take care of my mom instead of doing these former rich fuck's laundry" was so deeply underwhelming on the betrayal scale I was like "wait, that's it?"

I mean there was not even a siege involved...? Not a single declaration of hatred? Not even a little bit of threatened torture?

Anyway, I was already still feeling some kind of way about that royal laundry situation when I got to the scene in Mt Tonglu where Mu Qing is all "I was in awe of you, you're a better person than me and I wanted to be your friend" while Xie Lian is like "um well you'd spit in someone's cup but you wouldn't poison it so I don't want you to die I guess."

I just felt sort of vaguely put off by the whole exchange and the sense of a total lack of reciprocity from Xie Lian. His whole vibe is "well I don't dislike you enough to let you die, and saving people is my thing in general so, y'know, here I am saving you."

Because what made the whole dynamic work in MDZS was how (even if the characters didn't necessarily know it about the other) they just cared about each other so much, to an absolutely unhinged degree, and that felt missing here. So even though WWX has some of the same vibe of negative or resentful opinions of JC at points, it hits different because they're laid on the backdrop of an utterly unhinged sacrifice specifically and uniquely for Jiang Cheng (which, unknown to WWX, was needed because of a more standard in type but but still unhinged sacrifice of his own that was specifically and uniquely for WWX)

I don't necessarily mind that specific relationship being different or less intense in TGCF (in fact I prefer that it's not just a copy-paste of the same characters going by different names with a bit more polish, the way some people made it sound like it would be), but the way that specific scene played out given the backdrop of how MQ keeps getting treated throughout the rest of the story just felt icky to me. Idk.

A lot of the way the characters interacted with each other just felt like the action and reactions were a little mismatched or something? Something about the behaviors involved didn't ring as painfully, horribly, clearly true to me as they did in so many MDZS scenes.

Anyway I did enjoy both Mu Qing and Feng Xin as characters, I'll definitely be indulging in some FengQing content (recs/links welcome if anyone actually read this far lol), just specifically their relationship with Xie Lian did not inspire in me even a teensy fraction of the depths of absolute feral obsession that the Yunmeng Shuangjie relationship does. It... just did not resonate that way with me. If I had to speculate (in a wild and baseless fashion, source: my ass), I think that toning down the intensity might have even been intentional on the author's part this go around.

Anyway a lot of that was mostly because the expectation of a strong parallel and deep reaction to the Xianle trio's relationship was pre-planted in my mind, and such expectations are generally always doomed to fall short anyway.

As far as the rest of the novel, like I said - it was generally quite enjoyable, I had fun reading it, I'm certainly not trying to trash it! I'd say I actually overall enjoyed the HuaLian relationship developing in the novel itself more than WangXian, in terms of how the flirting was executed. Like "what if you had an extremely dangerous and fervently obsessed stalker, but also make it cute". I don't dislike WangXian, but for me their relationship was just a fun side-plot and not what I really cared about or kept reading for. I did find the Hong-er and lantern ghost flashback scenes quite touching and sweet.

The first ~200 chapters (by the web novel serialization chapter numbers) I'd say were generally constructed better than MDZS, so I see where people say there was a bit of a level up there. The last ~40ish chapters the pacing felt kind of off to me, like there was just too much crammed in and MXTX just wanted it to be over and done with.

The 'uncovering secrets of an ancient lost empire/kingdom' type of plot is my absolute jam, my favoritest trope of all time, I actually loved the concepts there. It was like a two-for-one, since we got the learn about the fall of Xianle which scratched that itch a little bit, and then the full-on mystery aspect with Wuyong. I wish there had been more time spent on the mystery/uncovering information about Wuyong aspect of the plot rather than the answers coming relatively quickly.

Unsurprisingly in addition to Feng Xin and Mu Qing, I was a huge fan of Yushi Huang, Ling Wen, Shi Qingxuan, He Xuan, Lang Qianqiu (his adorable golden retriever energy is irresistible when combined with a Tragic Backstory), Guzi, Yin Yu, Quan Yizhen

Surprise favs were Pei Ming (I'd only seen through the donghua S1 so I kinda had him categorized in my mind as the offscreen God of Fuckboys, but ended up liking him an unreasonable amount) and Qi Rong

Anyway I had all of these thoughts while I was reading then felt a bit guilty about them when I read the postscript because I am the person she was afraid of coming over to read TGCF after MDZS :x

[aclosetfan]

I like to imagine Buttercup has no shame in wearing a dress because she looks good in one. From formal to sundresses, she could be that one chick that shows off her piercings and wear sandals to show off that one ankle tattoo. I think she's confident enough to dress in a liberated sense going off of the show.

I also like "cover up, Buttercup" because it does show how society could affect even a girl of her caliber. It can mirror how soft and vulnerable she really is. She cares what the people think of her, but it only works, if she's genuinely undesirable.

What I don't like is the "not like other girls" label people sometimes put on her. She is exactly like other girls, except she has power and strength to best her enemies.

It rubs me the wrong way because it's inadvertently saying "She's better without trying" and I don't agree.

"She's ugly, but she has a hot body and a pretty face, and all the guys wanna date her and chase her" And then she doesn't wear a dress because she isn't "girly" enough as if anyone would actually care.

I just want some clarity. If the reason Buttercup is ugly is because she's "tough" then I'm going to need some real "ugly" characteristics to go off of like, shes grown into an actual unlikable bitch, or she's so far removed from societal pressure, she picks her nose and spits in public. Shes gotten ocerweight over the years and lost her physique but can somehow still outtrun a man. Shes extremely annoying and loud and doesnt practice the best hygiene so she smells after gym class. She has scars and bruises all over her face from all the fights shes been in.

Not all of this at once, or hell, do all of it at once!

And, I dont care that people make her attractive. I care that it's overplayed.

Not saying pretty girls don't get flak, nor am I saying you gotta go the whole mile to make her undesirableness realistic. I'm just calling the spade a spade.

Being tough isn't enough for her to feel outcasted when she's a HERO. people worship it, Praise her and love her for her bruteness. And if you give her talents, the only haters are jealous girlies who cannot get on her level.

some guy telling her she isn't enough because she'd punch a man and win, shouldn't be enough to make her throw all her skirts away. 10 guys wouldn't if ten fold are still gonna be up her ass crack anyway.

Buttercup is literally flipping her hair and batting her lashes in the cannon series and people are still trying to give her Bunny's backstory.

Truth is, Buttercups the pretty one too, she's just the pretty one who'd knock a bitchs teeth out. Never stopped those types of women before from being oggled at.

Prime example

lol my response is under the cut because I don't want the post to be too long!

I feel like I've gotten a few ask now that critique stories that focus on the superficial aspects of the girls, like if they're described as "pretty" or "ugly." I'm starting to think that the frustration isn't so much that the girls are described as such but because it's just bad writing (a never-ending complaint I have, haha).

The previous anon also discussed Buttercup being either too feminine or masculine, and I just remembered that I hadn't responded. However, I believe she can be as hyper-masculine or feminine as the person using her character wants them to be. It doesn't matter to me as long as her characterization is consistent. Some people connect with Buttercup because she is the more masculine of the three girls, and that's wonderful and amazing. I love how she's become a character people identify with when they're messing around with their gender presentation.

Beauty and gender are all in the eye of the beholder, so what is ugly to one person can obviously be beautiful to the next. It's bad form then that people often use the word "ugly" when Buttercup is presented as "hyper-masculine." There's nothing ugly about being hypermasculine (and also, while I know you didn't mean it this way in your ask, either is being overweight). However, what's truly ugly is how a person presents themselves. A loud, obnoxious, mean-spirited, "bitchy" nose picker is probably going to be an ugly person like you described.

When writers focus so much on describing what a character looks like, especially characters they're writing fanfiction about, they're describing a "person" who the reader already knows what they look like or has their own idea of what the character should look like. Readers don't need to know how pretty someone is or what dress they're wearing if it doesn't lend to the story you're writing, which is really hard for a lot of amateur writers, like myself, because you can see the scene so clearly in your head and want to write it just that way, but giving readers every. single. detail. is actually doing yourself a disservice. Oftentimes, too much description makes the reader mad because "HEY! NO! they look like [xyz]," and then they click out of the fic.

I stay vague when I describe essential features. Like Bubbles has a dimpled smile, or Buttercup's hair is cut short. Maybe even, "Buttercup put on her favorite green sweater." Small shit like that gives readers a clue but still lets them copy/paste their ideas over mine.

But to make readers know "hey people find this person attractive but she doesn't notice," I practice SHOWING not telling. Like, Buttercup walks into a room, Butch observes all eyes are on her, she doesn't notice the attention because it's the same attention she's always dealt with, and because she doesn't pay attention to it, she comes off aloof or "bitchy" from Butch's perspective. How would Butch know any better? He can't read her mind.

That's why writing in other povs and making the character do things is so much more beneficial to their perceived attractiveness than just flat-out telling a reader "trust me, you'd bone her if you had the chance, she's so hot." You get a chance to establish personalities, relationships, and potential conflicts.

Another example is if you h/c Buttercup wears dresses, no other character is going to react to her wearing them. You state, "Buttercup put on her dress." If you want to specify what kind of dress you say, "it was her most comfortable t-shirt dress. She liked it because it had large pockets." Then, boom, that's it. In these instances, describing her appearance is used to convey her personality traits/motives (she likes to dress comfortably. She has a need for large pockets). You're not saying that Buttercup is a "GIRL WHO LIKES DRESSES BECAUSE SHE'S FEMININE, GOT IT?!? BUT SHE STILL KICKS ASS!!" Instead, you're giving yourself the opportunity to explain she likes to collect rocks (??) while also conveying that she likes wearing clothing that people could perceive as "feminine."

If Buttercup is forced to wear a dress that she doesn't want to wear, now, you have a bit of a story to stretch out. Her wearing a dress is odd. People irl would take notice of it, and therefore, you can make a bigger deal about it.

And if you want to show that she's "not like other girls," which I agree is an annoying trope, but I understand some people want to show "feminity" while still preserving their "masculinity," you can do this at the same time you're developing Buttercup's relationships. Example: It is remarked Blossom and Buttercup are both wearing dresses. Blossom and Buttercup both get their dresses dirty. The scene pans to Blossom being frantic about getting the dirt off, bemoaning her appearance. The scene pans to Buttercup, she is shin-deep in a mud pit, stuffing a particularly large bullfrog into her large dress pockets, next to the cool rocks she found.

A scene like that shows that Buttercup likes wearing dresses, but isn't afraid of dirt, rocks, or frogs, as opposed to Blossom, who may be reacting more "appropriately" to their situation, making it clear Buttercup has other priorities ("isn't like other girls" w/out explicitly saying "I'm not like other girls, I like dresses and dirt.").

You mentioned that you like the idea that she'd be confident wearing a dress. Perfect! If she doesn't do it often, and you want to make a bigger deal out of it, you can be like:

Buttercup clicked her tongue as she picked through her closet, pulling out a black halter top dress Bubbles had made her buy two or so years ago. She examined the short number and grinned. When she tried it on, it was a bit tight around her ass, but her arms looked fantastic.

"You're wearing a dress!?" Bubbles gushed walking into the room as Buttercup checked herself out, "What's the occasion!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Buttercup turned around, flexing her arms and shoulders, and they really did look good in that dress, "I got a new tattoo!"

"Oh cool! Is that a bullfrog?" Bubbles asked leaning in to examine Buttercup's upper shoulder.

"On a cool rock!" Buttercup beamed, standing a little prouder, "Badass, right?"

The dress is important to the story. The writer was able to point out she doesn't wear them often, people are surprised when she wears them, she doesn't mind wearing them, how attractive her arms were, the tattoo, and that her ass stretches out the dress, which some people could also find attractive. It doesn't make her seem vain, conceited, or "better" than others. She just knows she looks good.

I mean, I think it gets the job done, and it isn't just a list of what she looks like.

tldr: Essentially, no matter how masculine or feminine you think Buttercup should present, literally, no one cares what she is wearing if it isn't important to the story.

[rachelillustrates]

Bagginshield notes upon a reread of "The Hobbit"

(Or a relisten, rather, via the "An Unexpected Journey" podcast. And thusly, I have no page numbers noted for reference. These being mostly gathered for personal eventual fanart purposes, now with a moment of commentary at the end.)

~

"Upon my word - Gandalf spoke true, as usual. A pretty fine burglar you make, it seems, when the time comes." - Thorin to Bilbo, once he finally finds him in the dungeons of Mirkwood.

~

"Then...the Dwarves' good feeling toward the Hobbit grew stronger every day."

~

"And there is no knowing what a Dwarf will not dare and do for revenge, and the recovery of his own." - In Laketown.

~

"Now is the time for our esteemed Mister Baggins, who has proved himself a good companion on our long road, and a Hobbit full of courage and resource far exceeding his size - and if I may say so, possessed of good luck far exceeding the usual allowance - now is the time for him to perform the service for which he was included in our Company. Now is the time for him to earn his reward. This is a great moment..."

.....

...By now he was quite familiar with Thorin too, and he knew what he was driving at. "If you mean you think it my job to go into the secret passage first, oh Thorin Thrainson Oakenshield, may your beard grow ever longer!" he said crossly, "Say so at once and have done! I may refuse - I've gotten you out of two messes already which were hardly in the original bargain, so that I am, I think, already owed some reward. But... third time pays for all, as my father used to say. And somehow I don't think I shall refuse..."

.....

"....they would all have done their best to get him out of trouble, if he got into it, as they did in the case of the Trolls, at the beginning of their adventures, before they had any particular reasons for being grateful to him."

(all above in context of Bilbo's entering the mountain and confronting Smaug first.)

~

General note without quote - Thorin being the first to insist that they go after him, when he cries that his torch has gone out, crying for help, in the darkness of the hoard while Smaug is gone.

Also he does still put the mithril on Bilbo himself, like in the film.

Bilbo is the one that calls Thorin back to his sense from the first traces of gold sickness, reminding him that they haven't defeated Smaug yet and they still need to find a way out. Vibes of Sacred Marriage like many moments in the films.

~

"Oh dear me... more walking and more climbing without breakfast! I wonder how many breakfasts and other meals we have missed inside that nasty... timeless hole!" ....

"Come come," said Thorin laughing. His spirits had begun to rise again, and he rattled the precious stones in his pockets. "Don't call my palace a nasty hole. You wait until it has been cleaned and redecorated."  - On Thorin being cheered and amused by Bilbo's grumbling after they've gotten out of the mountain (after they've visited the hoard for the first time, too).

~

And just the fact that the deathbed apology happens at all.

~

So, having done this re-listen of the original tale, I'm struck by two things.

1 - Tolkien probably intended no romance at all between anyone in this book. Which is great from an aro/ace perspective (which I say with love and enthusiasm, as a demisexual myself). BUT nothing in the book would prevent Bagginshield from being possible.

2 - This version of the story feels very very much to me like the version Bilbo would tell - to others, and himself - after coming home and settling back into Bag End and embracing how he's grown... and accepting what happened. Like talking about it that way, leaving much of the details of his emotional connections with anyone (including Thorin) out of the telling, makes it easier to move on and keep living. Very much in the same line of having friendzoned himself at the end of "The Battle of the Five Armies," to create that distance and protect his broken heart.

(Which doesn't account for the lack of focus on the Dwarrow reclaiming Erebor as their homeland, since there is zero focus on or mention of that in the book at all, but in general I accept this headcanon as a patch between the book and the films - which I appreciate all the more now.)

So, there 🌱

~

More Bagginshield meta:

~ Thoughts on "An Unexpected Journey" - Thoughts on "The Desolation of Smaug" - Thoughts on "The Battle of Five Armies" - Thoughts on their vibe and why they resonate - Thoughts on Dwarven Ones and Hobbit soul-matches at their first meeting - at the mountain ~

[cmenvs3000w23]

Personal Ethics as an Interpreter

Every time a semester’s closing is near, it always amazes me how fast the weeks and units passed by, and working through this course has been no exception. It feels like just last week, I was scanning over the course outline, making note of each week's focus and theme, as well as documenting assignment due dates. Additionally, it feels like my personal perception and understanding of nature interpretation also developed and changed very quickly from the beginning of the course to where it stands now. My goal throughout this post, is to highlight the ways in which my personal ethic as a nature interpreter has shifted throughout these past 10 weeks, by touching upon the specific themes and subjects explored throughout the semester that have had the largest impact on my development. 

(Throughout this final post, I've included some of my favorite photos I've taken of nature, as a reminder of ultimatley what we're all trying to preserve and protect.)

After reflecting on my past posts, a trending theme that I’ve touched upon often has been a change in understanding and perception of what it means to be a nature interpreter. Whether the theme was music, art, or technology, week to week I began to notice and reflect on my own experiences as a nature interpreter in the work field so far, and began to realize just how stuck I must have been in both a physical and mental routine. Why wasn’t I thinking of including more non-science based curriculum in my program planning? How could I not have seen the obvious similarities between planning and interpreting an arts based program and a nature based program? Teachers college was always mentioning “cross-curricular planning” and ways to pack in as many expectations as possible in creative ways. 

(Burk's Falls, Ontario)

While sitting with these thoughts for some time throughout the course and especially for this week’s final post, I realized that at the time of my teacher’s college experience, I was generally not enjoying my classes and the content I was being presented with. There were a few reasons why I started to really drift away from wanting to be a traditional “classroom” teacher in the public system (lack of teacher support, high student class numbers etc), but the main one at the time was the sedentary style of learning, over controlling rules of child led play, and lack of outdoor time. It is through this dissatisfaction that I discovered outdoor education, environmental interpretation, and forest schools. The lack of nature inclusion in my programming may have been the reason why I’ve failed to consider bringing other curriculum and subject areas into nature interpretation, but I’m glad that I’ve gotten there now by working through this course, and I hope to bring in new subjects and ways of learning into my practice. This is one way in which my personal understanding of what it means to be a nature interpreter has changed. 

Related specifically to my personal ethic as a nature interpreter, it is one first and foremost about the audience. This includes designing and facilitating programs that connect with the audience, considering barriers to program access, as well as reflecting on personal privileges. As Beck et. al (2018) mentions in Chapter 7: Serving Diverse Audiences, we as interpreters must understand and reflect on why people don’t attend nature interpretation programs in order to create access to a wider, more diverse audience. Although I currently work for an ngo which provides programming for marginalized groups, I’ve worked for various organizations in the past who do not share the same mandate. At times, especially depending on confidence and years of experience, it can be easy to get stuck in routine without feeling like it’s one’s place to bring up issues surrounding inclusion and access. From now on, I hope to take my commitment to inclusion beyond just inclusive lesson planning, and instead take it upwards to management and those who are the decision makers. Although reasons for why nature interpretation experiences includes certain audiences over others, the barriers which cause this are deeply ingrained throughout society, and ultimately starts at privilege. As Gallavan (2005) describes, educational institutions have been designed to reinforce the practices and beliefs of privilege. Although certain aspects of privilege can sometimes be easy to overlook, something as simple as not knowing certain programs are available for public access can be a result of privilege, and must be addressed. 

(Lake of Bays, Ontario)

Understanding, reflecting, and addressing privilege will also allow me to follow another personal ethic of nature interpretation practice related to the audience, which is relationship building and connection. One of Tilden’s (1957) Principle’s of Interpretation mentioned by Beck et. al (2018) that has stayed with me throughout the course is "Any interpretation that does not somehow relate what is being displayed or described to something within the personality or experience of the visitor will be sterile (Figure 5.3)". One of my own personal goals of nature interpretation is to foster a connection, understanding and appreciation for nature, in order to spark environmental stewardship. In order for a program to be successful and achieve my goal, I must first take time to understand and connect with the audience. Whether it’s younger school aged students or adults, gaining attention and understanding first and foremost comes down to connecting with content. Relating to content is somewhat of a broad overarching topic and can include language, culture, learning style, hobbies, age etc. Although the list can be long, it can sometimes take just a few minutes of chatting and getting to know the audience, or doing some research ahead of time, to create that spark. And you can tell when it’s happened. 

For example, I was once teaching a water science program in a remote community in Manitoba, which was an area I was unfamiliar with. Although the core takeaways were set for my lesson on watersheds, I took some time prior to the lesson to walk around and explore the area around the school and I saw what looked like pelicans overhead! I was somewhat in disbelief, as I had only associated pelicans with topical destinations, seeing many on the beaches when my family would travel south in the summer. When discussing wildlife in the classroom during the lesson, I asked students if they had pelicans in their area, and told them that I had no idea pelicans came this far north. They lit right up. They were thrilled to share information about something that reflected their area and home, and shared various stories about areas where you can find large populations of pelicans nesting. After that moment I had noticed a shift in attention, and a willingness to participate in activities. Acknowledging someone’s familiar is the first step towards achieving one’s goals as an interpreter, and making your program more meaningful for your audience. 

(Gwillim Lakes, British Columbia)

I’m extremely grateful for the opportunities for reflection on my own personal interpretation practice that this course has provided me with. Although the saying may seem overused, this course has truly taught me that you never stop learning, even after you’ve been trained and practicing a job for years. Although the field of environmental science can be very doom and gloom at times, it is through education that I feel hopeful that society can shift perspective and begin to heal the ongoing destruction to our home. Without an understanding of the importance of various aspects of nature that keep all beings safe and healthy, we as a society cannot move forward. And so, the role of a Nature Interpreter is critical more now than ever.

Citations:

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage : for a better world. Sagamore Venture.

Gallavan, N. P. (2005). Helping teachers unpack their "invisible knapsacks". Multicultural Education, 13(1), 36.

[piqueconcentration]

Questions That Actually Prompt Conversation

Originally posted April 30, 2023

Moving is hard. Moving is hard for a lot of different reasons, but one of them, and the one that I've been running into most often considering my relatively recent relocation, is making friends. I'm honestly pretty good at it, too- as much as I like the idea of being the strong, silent type, I tend to not shut up nearly enough which is, ironically, one of the best ways to get to know people.

My partner, having been so shy as to be nearly selectively mute for a while, has much more difficulty on that front, even though she goes to school, something that I have decided not to do for the time-being, under-achieving as I am known to be. School, in this case, provides the benefit of the time-honored shortcut to friend-making- going to the same place on a regular schedule (which is honestly the best advice that I can give on this subject; if you go back to some sort of public place daily or weekly, you will eventually make friends).

Regardless, the difficulty in question has impressed upon me of late the importance of being able to make conversation. I'm not talking about "small talk," as poorly-defined as it may be, as those conversations tend to hit the dirt within a few sentences, I mean I've gotten interested in questions that you can ask people that can actively prompt an entire conversation. Kind of a "get-to-know-you" kind of thing, but odd or off-beat enough that it feels less like an interrogation and more of a brainstorm.

Anyway, here are some good ones from the far-reaching depths of my samsung notes app:

(These will be structured with the question in bold above, and my own responses/examples just below.)

______________________________________________________________

1) If you were to create a piece of media/story to reflect certain themes, which themes would they be, and why?

- Love that takes work

- How to live without regrets (without believing in fate)

- Breaking past the barrier of the self (creative resistance, cognitive distortions, time blindness, etc.)

- How cool it is that everyone is interested in different stuff

2) What is a topic that you have a special connection to because you did some sort of academic assignment about it; what did you learn?

- Tapirs

I don't remember too much, but I definitely did a big project about them in elementary school.

- Basking Sharks

How they're rad, giant , and harmless; how they used to travel in gigantic schools of hundreds of individuals; how fishermen got pissed at them because they would get stuck in nets all the time, so the people started putting giant blades on the fronts of their boats and ramming into the sharks, cutting them in half.

- The Satanic Panic and Dungeons & Dragons

I wrote a research paper that I was really proud of about how parents' fear of the roleplaying game in question at the time may have been misplaced concern about mental health issues.

3) What is a topic that you pretend to know less about than you actually do?

- Anime & Video Games

I am insecure and these feel embarrassing- I feel like I need to make sure people know about my personality before they make judgements based on the things I like, and how other people who enjoy similar things may act/be perceived.

- Herpetology (Reptiles & Amphibians) & Wildlife

I have a tendency to just start regurgitating information at a high speed; I need to make sure the others in the conversation are actually receptive to me verbally launching my interests at them.

4) What is something in pop culture that you would change the representation of?

- Committed Relationships

New love/infidelity is romanticized a lot and I think that it encourages dissatisfaction and a "grass-is-always-greener" attitude, I think solid partnerships built on mutual trust and effort should be romanticized more.

The only piece of media that I can think of that kind of does this (albeit imperfectly) is High Fidelity, and I don't like that movie very much.

5) What is something that you would tell your younger self that is only important to you? (Avoid things that would drastically alter your life trajectory)

- "What you think is Generalized Anxiety is actually OCD, what you think is a Depression symptom is actually an ADHD symptom, and it's called 'Executive Dysfunction.' The right people will understand more easily when you call it that."

- "You do not dislike mayonnaise- you like aioli and those two are the same fucking thing, one just sounds better. The bread you're eating with savory sandwiches is too sweet and your parents are not bothered by it, but you are. Switch to sourdough and put olive oil on it."

6) What habits/motions/idiosyncrasies do you notice about your friends/the other people in the conversation?

- My partner does a thing when she plays video games where she scrunches up her face and relaxes it in quick succession. It is adorable.

- A friend of mine will sometimes tilt his head to one side and then the other when he is about to respond to a question.

(This is best when you can imitate the motion or manner of speaking, but be sure that everyone involved is comfortable with the topic, as this can be a sensitive subject for some people.)

7) In what ways are you glad that you're different from how you used to be?

- I've always been really prone to showing off how much I know about specific things, but I used to be way more insufferable about it. Now, I try to be really transparent and genuine about the things that interest me, and practice Intellectual Humility whenever I can.

- I used to be really concerned about my sexuality and making sure my gender identity was solidly masculine. I no longer give a shit, and thank god for that.

8) Which albums were the most influential in your life? What are some memories that you have of them?

- Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder

- Say I Am You by The Weepies

- Random Access Memories by Daft Punk

- Awaken, My Love by Childish Gambino

9) What are your favorites of the compliments that you've received?

- "I've never once felt judged by you."

- "You make it feel really easy to jump in." (In reference to playing music and improvising)

- "Your sweeping form is impeccable."

10) What crime would you be most likely to be arrested for?

- No comment.

______________________________________________________________

These next ones are bonuses because I did not come up with them, rather I've found them on the internet over the years. The list on my phone is more of a compilation than a canvas:

If anything, what would you change about the way you were raised? - More emphasis on the results of hard work as opposed to talent

- More fluid views on gender

"WAT R UR ADJECTIVES"

Thank you, Skweezy.

Para mi: lanky, nerdy, effeminate, no driver license

What are your tiny hobbies?

- Wire-wrapping rocks and pieces of sea glass for jewelry that may or may not get made; making little wire rings

- Taking cuttings from plants and seeing if I can get them to root

- Finding rocks that I like and putting them in a bag to give out to my friends when they hang out with me

Ideal rocks: ones that fit comfortably in your hand and pocket; soft enough to wear down after a long time of keeping them in your pocket and rubbing them when you need something to do with your hands (I check the hardness); rough enough to feel a difference when they start to get smooth, but not so rough as to be uncomfortable

- carrying around my notebook

- making lists in my phone's notes

Funny animal names

Band/song/album names

Things I like

Gamertag ideas

Story/Fantasy/DnD ideas

Restaurants of whatever area I'm in

Good movies/shows to watch with a group of friends

Websites to return to

Fruits I want to try

Conversation-starter questions

[skania]

The Final Stroke: Thoughts on Haru's conflict (+Rin)

Okay so reading all the summaries of The Final Stroke Part 1 has left me with A LOT of thoughts. About Haru, about Rin, about Rin & Haru and how all the different character conflicts will be tied together in Part 2.

BUT since I have been waiting YEARS for Free! to feed me some juicy Haru conflict, of course I'm sinking my teeth into that first because peeling off Haru's layers has always been my favorite Free! sport.

It's been a long while since I've tried to get into Haru's head AND I haven't even watched the movie yet so I'm probably wrong, but here goes nothing. As per usual, it will be long and image-heavy because I can't keep things short and sweet to save my life.

Also, it's heavy on spoilers about The Final Stroke so please do not read without reading Fencer's summary first!

AND since it's basically impossible to discuss Haru without discussing Rin and vice-versa, please do also expect a healthy dose of RinHaru.

Utsumi: Indeed; it’s a path Haruka never would have chosen himself. But despite claims that he doesn’t care about winning or losing or scoring certain times, he’s always been attentive to Rin’s presence. [x]

Please assume there's a huge "IMO" attached to this whole post.

In Season 1, we saw Haru struggle to understand that the reason for his emotional turmoil was quite simply that he wanted to swim with Rin again.

In Season 2, we saw Haru struggle because he wanted to follow Rin into the Pro world, but he felt like he didn't deserve to do so because he didn't have a dream and thus, no strong feelings about competitive swimming itself.

Needless to say, there's a pattern.

In Season 3, the series kind of took a detour. Still, it did plant some seeds, the most important IMO being the following:

"After I hit 20, I will be..."

"If you ask me what lies ahead of me, I..."

"You can't survive without throwing something away. I didn't want to throw anything away. But I lost."

"Maybe I don't deserve to compete at the global level."

Road to the World adds some extra layers to all that by showing us just what else is connected to that fear of Haru's.

Because, what do we see after Rin tells Haru that no matter what wall [Rin] faces, the one thing that doesn't change is his desire to keep swimming with [Haru]?

We see the moment Rin tells Haru "aim for the world with me, Haru!". Then, the moment Rin asks Haru what his dream is—right when Haru finally felt free after achieving the dream he had that season, that of swimming with Rin again. Lastly, we see the moment Rin asks Haru "what will you do?" when it comes to choosing between swimming in a recreational pool, or the one used by the National Team.

Every single one of these moments brought Haru closer to his dream—and Rin is the common factor in them all. So when Rin tells Haru,

It's obvious by those flashbacks alone what Haru's answer is. He, too, wants to keep swimming with Rin in that world.

But before the thought can fully form in Haru's mind, Albert flashes through it. We immediately see Haru's disposition change, and the result is the most telling of all.

Just like always, the imagery is on point. Rin and his desire to swim with him give Haru strength and purpose and Haru clenches his fist—but this time, Albert seeps that strength from him until his fist goes limp. And suddenly, Haru doesn't know what to say to Rin anymore.

Because, what Albert makes Haru wonder, is this:

From my limited perspective (like I said before, I haven't watched TFS yet), I think that might just be where the heart of Haru's issue in The Final Stroke lies.

I think a big part of why Haru wants to win against Albert so badly is probably because he wants to prove to himself that he does deserve to be in that world—like Rin. That all his friends are right to believe in him.

And he feels even more pressured because he thinks he's running out of time.

All this pressure to win—not to feel the water better or to be the best in the water he loves so much, but simply to win before he's "ordinary"—does not let Haru swim freely. He doesn’t swim like himself.

He is probably terrified of his own limits and of how close he might be to hitting them, and this fear and pressure are binding him.

Moreover, while Haru decided that he wanted to swim in that world, the truth is that he doesn’t know what the future holds for him.

He has no long-term, tangible plans. Unlike Rin, who wants to win a gold medal, Haru just wants to swim "in the whole world". This, added to the fact that he thinks he’ll be ordinary by 20 and that he has not managed to beat Albert, makes it so Haru is basically blinded to what the future can bring for him. He can’t see that sight.

Part of the reason for this, I feel, is that the series has never addressed the big elephant in the room.

What exactly does Haru get out of competitive swimming, besides swimming with Rin? Because "swimming in that world" is nice and sweet and idealistic, but it doesn't cover the fact of racing itself.

I used to talk a lot about why Haru needed to find a reason to enjoy competing even when it isn't against Rin. That he needed to find a reason to want that for himself. I even thought S3 may finally go for it, but it ended without Haru finding meaning in that "world of wins and losses", as he used to call it.

Usually, he’d look at Rin to point the way forward. And it is knowing that Rin (and to a lesser extent, Ikuya) is there fighting with him and aiming for the world as well that gives Haru some reassurance.

However, from what we know from the summaries, Haru isn’t thinking of them when he swims. He is entirely caught up on needing to beat Albert because of what it has come to represent to him.

There’s also the issue of Haru’s competitiveness. Haru spent a long time suppressing it and only indulging in it with Rin. But he has always wanted to be the best in the water—the one who "feels" it best.

It wasn’t that he wanted to win, or that he hated losing; it was just that he couldn’t simply accept that there was someone who could feel the water more than he could. (x)

So when you combine all of this, I feel like Haru has lost sight of the most important thing—that instead of swimming just to win, like it’s a job, he should swim to feel the water he loves so much and, most importantly, for the team (with his friend’s feelings in his heart).

That way, he could swim like himself and the water won’t be sad nor lonely.

This all sounds like a lot and it is. Haru is all but suffocating under this weight.

So, when Rin comes and tells him that [Haru] will be facing Albert alone—that they aren’t fighting him together, like Haru hoped for—Haru snaps.

It’s not only that what Haru perceives as the biggest obstacle to his dream (Albert) is standing before Haru (alone) and Rin won’t be there to share his struggles, but also that Rin is the reason he’s there in the first place because Rin is the one that made Haru stop wanting to be ordinary.

He’s the reason why he’s gotten to this point and the reason he came into the global stage and ran into Albert. He’s also the biggest thing Haru will lose if he can’t win against Albert—because if Haru’s dream ends, he won’t get to swim with Rin in that world anymore.

And now Rin’s walking away from swimming free and leaving him alone with this beast of a swimming machine and with [Haru’s] own limitations. And Haru feels trapped. He feels bitter. He feels betrayed. Terrified.

And, of course, lost. Because just like Rin once said, "Without you, I have nothing to aim for, you know?"

So, he snaps.

And by burning bridges with Rin, the very embodiment of "For the Team", the one person that he has always wanted to swim with most of all, the one whose feelings he was still connected to above all—by virtue of swimming together in that world, by sharing a dream—Haru now feels like he's truly alone in the water.

Haru is essentially turning his back on the very reason he swims for—in more ways than one. So, he’s becoming a second Albert. Only there to win, not to have fun.

Because that’s the thing. Haru says he’s doing it for his dream, but since he can’t see that dream clearly, he lacks direction. All he can see is the immediate future and all that stares back at him are his own limitations—embodied by Albert himself.

Albert represents, then, the road Haru must not take. Haru can’t be all about becoming stronger simply for the sake of winning—and he must definitely not do so alone. Like Ikuya said in S3, if Haru isn't gaining that strength for someone else (the team), there's no point.

So, since this is Free!, Haru needs to go back to his roots and truly swim for the team once again. But I feel like he also needs to re-contextualize his dream and truly define what it entails, for once and for all. Which, if we go by everything we've seen so far—should involve swimming with Rin.

Only then will he be able to swim freely again.

There's A LOT of foreshadowing and things from S3 that will most likely play a role in that and I haven't even touched Rin's choice to not swim free anymore, but this has gotten really long and I've run out of image slots lmao so I'll just have to ramble about those some other time 🙇‍♀️

[neapolinyan]

About the ask thing, you know i gotta go with someone from PLA lmao

If nobody's asked yet, Volo. If he has been already asked, then how about Irida? ^^

YOURE FINE nobodys snagged the volo ask yet! time to talk about my favourite spoingly little meow meow. cracks knuckles. prepare for some LONG rambles here folks

favorite thing about them:

this is very small but i love his hair with the cap on. i can wear my hair like that (and have done so in the past, low messy buns are VERY nice) and its just cool to see a character with it. plus his hair is also just a nice touch to make him resemble cynthia without being a carbon copy like a lot of the other ancestors. really throws into question who's the real ancestor of cynthia, him or cogita - the physical similarities are obvious, but the game never suggests they're related so it's fun to consider the idea that volo's a sham in every sense of the word, even down to his presumed ancestry.

least favorite thing about them:

i like rambling about his motivations but religion toes a VERY fine line with me so i am forced to keep it brief. i am so mad /j

favorite line:

"You outsider! It's almost as if you were spat out of the space-time rift just to get in my way!"

not sure WHY it's my favourite, but i guess it really just hammers home the protagonist's impact on him. i've said time and time again in my own silly little ramble spaces that volo wouldn't have gotten this far without the protagonist's interference - he grew frantic after learning both the fact they were gathering plates and, eventually, their connection to arceus, and i refuse to believe he's always been this deranged. the protag's presence in his life tipped him off the edge, and if not for them i can confidently say he would have grown old with still no answers from arceus. maybe he'd still be finding some way to live for hundreds and hundreds of years to find his answers, but the protag's being there sped things up dramatically and this line REALLY shows it. they got him closer to his goal than he could've ever dreamed of, but their experience being from the future and understanding pokemon better than HE does (and he's very advanced, mind you) means that they were always going to get in his way.

brOTP:

HIM AND AREZU. pla server people you know where i'm going with this, but they're besties. volo lets her mess with his hair (as long as she doesn't cut it too short and nothing's terribly permanent, he likes it the way it is) and he takes the opportunity to nap while she's working.

additionally, i love the idea of volo and irida having a sibling-like relationship. they battle a lot <3333 he helps her train so that the next time she battles adaman, boy does he have a surprise coming his way

(volo watches them battle from the sidelines and his sides hurt from laughing too much when irida absolutely pummels his pokemon into the dirt and nearly nicks adaman while they're at it)

OTP:

appraisalshipping and poisonhealshipping. did you really expect anything else <3

nOTP:

HAAAAATE hate hate volo/protagonist. ignoring the obvious main first reason that the protagonist is canonically FIFTEEN while volo is absolutely an adult, it's toxic as hell no matter which way you look at it. volo clearly hates, envies and wants to get rid of the protagonist and isn't afraid to use force to get his way. even after he loses, there's about five seconds of "he's given up" catharsis before you get the means to visit arceus and he blows up again. you cannot fix him, please stop trying

(self inserts are kind of a half-n-half situation. i love oc/canon, go off guys i love you, but people who change nothing except age up the main character still lean into that toxic category of a relationship)

random headcanon:

not only does he shirk his merchant duties, but he has a habit of giving discounts (or just free stuff) to people he likes, or people he thinks need the materials and it's just not worth making them fork out the big stacks for. he empathises with young kids just starting out with battered pokemon and zero healing items from being in the wilds too long.

ginter doesn't like it, but volo just doesn't think it's right to refuse aid to a kid just because they're a few hundred short.

unpopular opinion:

i've seen so many people talk about his little face he makes when you beat him in his first two battles like "he is two seconds from ripping you apart, this is his customer service smile"

but tbh! i think it gives him more character than 'two-faced asshole who lied about his entire identity upbringing and favourite hobbies' if you separate it from his whole betrayal, he's-been-using-you-for-a-good-while postgame moment. he's one of the first pokemon trainers! he likes battling. he had to level his pokemon that high somehow, on wild pokemon or whatever, and he eagerly challenges you when you don't have a ton of work on your plate. you can say he battles you to scope out your potential, but the first time he battles you you're not even an official survey corps member.

i just think he likes battling, and his little smile after being defeated is genuine. maybe he's a bit of a sore loser if you want to push it, but i don't think he's about to maul some kid he just met.

song i associate with them:

CRACKS OUT THE VOLO PLAYLIST /J

okay but. rabbit heart (raise it up) by florence and the machine, mad iqs by idkhow and ancient dreams in a modern land by marina are like a top three.

favorite picture of them:

aforementioned silly little losing smile :)