#i might be referring to some of these characters in thread tbh

[creatingblackcharacters]

Hi! I love what you do, and it's been really helpful to me as a writer. Happy late birthday! It took me awhile to gather up the spoons to write this ask and I'm sorry I didn't wish you happy birthday earlier.

I'm writing a Black character who's in a sort of post-apocalypse / disaster situation, and for a stretch of time during the start of it he doesn't have any access to hair care products, and his hair ends up very neglected. A scene I'm really looking forward to writing in the story is when his party manages to find an abandoned salon and they get a bunch of hair care products, and he spends a chapter saving his hair. (He was despairing beforehand because he thought he might have to just shave it.) It's a needed respite from the horrors, a brief return to normality, and a moment of taking control in a nigh uncontrollable situation.

The problem is that I've been struggling, as a white author with no direct experience, to describe neglected Black hair. I've been looking a lot at r/BlackHair for reference as to what healthy vs unhealthy Black hair looks like and how people care for it, and I know certain terms to ABSOLUTELY avoid due to the racism attached (e.g. "wild," "messy" and "lazy," all of which have been historically used against Black people for their natural and meticulously tended to hair) but I also think it'd be valuable to seek advice from someone who's seasoned at outreach and education. You probably know a ton of things I'm completely missing. Do you have any advice to give as to how one would go about describing neglected and unhealthy Black hair?

(I have also admittedly wondered if this is something I'm even cut out to write, as it seems a very complex topic with a lot of pitfalls I don't want to run into. If the only advice you can really give is "yeah don't" then that's okay! I know when I'm out of my depth.)

Thank you for the birthday wishes! I'll start with your last question first. If you feel like you're not cut out for it yet, don't rush it. Don't just put something out fast, toss your hands up and go "I tried". Take your time to get it right, and be open to hearing if there are some things you still may have missed. Tbh, I think you're already on the right track.

Next, the key to describing it is knowing what the signs of healthy versus unhealthy afro hair are, and then just... Saying that objectively 😅 If someone's ends are dry and brittle, then those are the adjectives you go for. If someone's hair is tangled or matted, then you describe that. If someone's got split ends, or their hair shrinkage is not normal... And the advice goes on!

For example: "His beloved coils, once springy and brightly oiled, have long grown dull, flattened and brittle, their definition lost alongside the time to care for them." The implication in this one sentence was that 1) he loves and cares for his hair and there's a way he expects it to look, and 2) there has been a negative change in the way it looks due to his circumstances. Dassit. It's just the truth. You don't have to mention "messy" or "unruly" at all fr. Your readers should be able to see your descriptions of healthy vs unhealthy and go ah! I see the difference!

Ofc, your character can mention himself that he thinks his hair is messy, but that's different. He has a standard for his own looks, and his self esteem and processing will be affected by that. It's an opportunity to reflect on his mindset. (Btw, if there's no running water in this place or access to water somewhere else, just having hair products won't be enough. Curl creme or oil on dirty, damaged hair won't fix a thing. Depending, he might have to cut it and start over from scratch.)

It also depends on the style you have as well. Different looks will show different signs of neglect. I had an entire thread on here about how the roots of one's hair will reveal a lot about the state of its health as well; though I was specifically talking about locs, root health is always a sign to note.

I suppose my point here is that you can avoid being racist by being objective. Instead of saying "messy" or "unkempt" (which could be fine, but can also cross that line real quick), what specifically are the issues with the hair that reveals the neglect, and say that instead. 👍🏾

[ihaveforgortoomany]

Discussing the 2.0 storyline focus, potential story threads

(Spoilers for 1.9, 2.0,2.1 and the recent release of the 2.2 PV)

Again MAJOR spoilers will be discussed here for 1.9 so do not read if you are global only.

Ive been sitting on some thoughts and would like to put them somewhere so here.

This will be purely lore based ( I am open for discussion and asks about global and cn btw asks are open I think?)

Focus on Zeno:

If the focus of the 1.0 storyline was on Laplace then 2.0 is focused on Zeno this time around. We are likely to be getting more Zeno characters as well (think so far its Lopera deffo, and idk on Mr Duncan and White Rum) just like with Laplace. Lilya probably is gonna be present for the long haul of the story arc, at least 2 to 3 patches possibly so it will be interesting to get more of her background and childhood.

In terms of Igor, there is a chance that like Lucy, he may become playable in the future. Igor now 2.2 is being sent to "clean up" the situation in Sao Paulo and this immediately is about killing all of the officers involved in the mutiny (again Lopera, what is her position here? I lean towards being a local as she doesn't wear the Zeno uniform as far as we have seen examples of. As much as alot of people want Igor to be playable I have a couple of suspicions on him.

Urd, Bessmert and Martha:

I think 2.0 story might give us more answers to Vertin's mom this time around. Not much here but oh god you better not leave a cliffhanger before Bessmert Martha Urd whatever actually has a convo with Vertin BP.

Implications of nuking Arcana:

Victories in R1999 are never simple (sure that Reformation Bill got passed but the "doves" of the Foundation is still a plotline that has not fully been addressed yet).

1.9 Igor is the one who verifies if Arcana is dead, with the headphones and all. What is suspicious is that after taking them off he says "it was just the wind shes dead", now why include that line? What if it wasn't just the wind but actually Arcana in some shape or form had survived? Arcana has already been referred to as a powerful arcanist and we do not know the full extent of her powers, as I said before shes created a martyrdom out of herself now coming to fruition in 2.0.

Druvis is a major flag here: out of everyone so far we interacted with she is definite that Arcana is not entirely defeated, and tbh she alongside Forget Me Not probably have been around her substantially enough to make a judgement like this. I mean Sophia got maybe one or two interactions with Arcana before the shitshow that was the Storm of 1914.

Stephen in 2.1 points towards these complications, although take this but with a grain of salt as I cannot translate anything and can only judge the voiced lines. He calls Vertin a murderer straight up over the nuking, ofc Vertin would be credited with the victory as it was her team that got Arcana in position for Zeno to fire but wdym? Why a murderer? Wasn't it Zeno who fired the bomb, and it was a longstanding goal of Zeno? It could be Tuesday manipluation of his fears so again conjecture.

Discussion of 2.2 story/ what the hell is gonna happen:

Already warning signs to the Foundation as a whole: Laplace did see loads of personal fall for the effects of the imperfect incantation and now wait to find or decide the new head of Laplace. Zeno even more dangerous, Igor suspecting potential Manus infiltration into their ranks and already Igor has resulted to literal firing squad of officers in the Sao Paulo branch. Maybe Stephen is not an outlier his thoughts. We still do not know the identities of the Eyepatch officer and the other dead ones who attempted to kill Vertin or his motives. (Again you start and focus on this one seen and show the immediate aftermath + Bessmert and Vertin interaction, thats alot for first mainline CH)

Were probably gonna get more information on the internal workings of Zeno this time around, possibly attempting to root out the Manus infilration.

(Thats everything so far in speculation I will return to Global posting possibly until the versions come out)

[aspoonofsugar]

do you have a favourite RWBY arc?

Hello anon!

Do you mean story-arc or character arc? I am just gonna go with character arcs because I feel like it :) Here is my list. It combines my personal taste with those I think are best written.

1- Penny Polendina

Penny's arc is the best complete one in the series so far. It is thightly written and very powerful. Her final choice does what every character arc's climax should do: it ties togetyher all the thematic threads explored by Penny's arc in one incredibly meaningful moment. In the end, Penny chooses to be a friend, shows she is an adult and affirms her own humanity. Her choice is meant to be tragic and bittersweet because humanity can be both. Still, it is definately worth it.

1 - Cinder Fall

Cinder's arc isn't complete, but there is already enough for her to get first place together with Penny. Midnight is the best written episode of the series in my opinion and it manages to tie together all the pieces of foreshadowing and subtext present in Cinder's story up until that point. It is also a pivotal point in Cinder's story, where she has to make a choice. Will she recognize she is still a prisoner of abuse or will she ignore this truth? She chooses to repress and fails to develop positively. As a result, she has prepared her own tragedy.

Cinder's story is key to the whole series and it has the potential to end up above all the other arcs, if well executed.

3 - Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiaolong

Ice Girl and Fire Girl are tied for third place! (together with Jaune)

Weiss's arc has a very strong set-up and beginning. She gets a lot of focus at Beacon and quickly develops. After such a solid start her development can take the time to happen slowly, so that we can see how she has silently and beautifully evolved throughout the volumes. She is now warmer, kinder and happier than ever. Points for her having some of my favourite motifs.

Yang's arc is kind of the opposite, in my opinion. She gets the least focus among the 4 main girls in Vale. Still, the moment her arc decides to roll, it gets central stage. Her focus in Mistral is wonderful and her development is beautifully conveyed in volume 5 and volume 6 climaxes. Her confrontation with Raven is especially one of the best scenes of the series.

3 - Jaune D'Arc

Jaune's arc is one of the best executed both in terms of pacing and evolution of the character. If he keeps going this way, he might climb to first place tbh.

6 - Ruby Rose

I am expecting her to climb higher. Her focus in volume 9 was great and a beautiful first step in her development. The choice to mask her LRRH's story behind Alice in Wonderland references was wonderful and brilliantly executed. I think the ending could have been conveyed more powerfully, but the final result is still great. I am looking forward to how her arc will continue!

7 - Blake Belladonna and Oscar Pine

Blake's arc is beautiful and it ties together many thematic threads. Maybe a little bit too much, which is why it is below the other main characters. She is still wonderful though! And the more one analyzes her story, the more gems are found!

Oscar is one of the best written characters in my opinion, as his story is thight and perfectly intertwined with the main plot. Still, I think it has still to enter its climax, hence why he is only 7th place. Totally expecting him to climb higher, though.

9 - Emerald Sustrai

Emerald's arc has still to climax, but I like her set-up a lot and she is slowly going through a beautiful inner growth. There is already enough meet and actual development for her to just make the top 10 :P

9 - Pyrrha Nikos and James Ironwood

Both have masterfully written arcs and in terms of writing they could be higher. Still, I am less involved in their stories compared to others. In any case, they are two perfectly executed examples of tragedies. And different kinds of tragedies, as well.

Pyrrha's tragedy lies in the world around her. Ironwood's tragedy lies within himself.

11 - Lie Ren and Qrow Branwen

Both Ren and Qrow have beautiful arcs, but I am less involved with them when compared to others. So, here they are.

I would highlight this list doesn't consider characters like Salem, Nora, Raven, Summer or Mercury because even if set-up, their arcs still need to properly happen on-screen. Among them, though, I would say that Raven and Mercury especially have wonderful set-ups.

Raven's characterization and focus in volume 5 makes her one of the best written characters tbh. She is despicable, flawed, a coward and a hypocrite. And this is precisely why she is so great. She is very human and layered. It is clear she cares about Yang. Still, it is also clear she is too selfish and scared to act on her feelings. The way the narrative peels away her powerful mask to reveal a weak soul behind it is great. As it is the challenge for her to overcome her fear and make amends.

Mercury has so far one of the best set-up arc. His writing has been extremely thight and almost every scene he is in gives additioinal information on him, his background, his bonds with others and his feelings. All in a very subtle way. Basically, his writing is very rich and we can infer a lot, despite his arc having yet to start. He is the embodyment of the cycle of abuse and I am curious to see how this concept gets explored.

Finally, shout outs to Neo and Ilia. Their arcs aren't as complex or long and have less bits than the main characters'. Still, they are thight and perfectly executed.

Thank you for the ask!

[surpriseroundtellyourfriends]

RED STITCH LOVERS... REPORT!!!

(Thoughts on the finale below! NOT spoiler-free!)

What a fantastic finish cap to a fantastic show. You may have seen me complain about the endings to the other arcs before, but you won't see me complaining about this one. We wrapped up just about every loose thread (no pun intended), and those left dangling seem to be saved for the afterparty.

Notable highlights:

THE ISABELLE AND IAN SIBLING MOMENT... I was so happy multiple people drew it; I want to animatic it. I cheered so fuckin loud, tbh. Ian IS the shitty older brother, and Isabelle is his darling twin sister who will keep him in line, and together they will murder their Uncle Hunterpalm <3

(I am specifically referring to him comforting and teasing her while she cried into his shoulder but ALSO, what is more sibling-coded than planning how to commit a murder and hide the body together?)

Unexpectedly delightful dynamic between Cadmus and Hutch. This whole time, Cadmus has been the only party member who really HATES Hutch with a vitriol, and the animosity with Cadmus trying to steal a buff from him (albeit while saving his life) was just so good. And then Hutch using his overclass to full-restore Cadmus (WHO FINALLY GOT TO NOT DIE DURING A FIGHT) and offering to help get revenge on Vice afterwards? Really good stuff.

(And like, we NEEDED that confirmation that Vice was gonna get his just desserts. I would've thrown hands if we didn't.)

Lots of good polycule bits. "If you were hitting on me, you're gonna have to get in line. There's forms and stuff." I fucking love these science freaks.

THE GROUP HUG... even though Florence was not technically a part of it, I'm pretending she was.

On the note of Roob being gone for so long—much as I also wanted them to get back, tbh? I think it provided an EXCELLENT excuse for (non-combat-planning) roleplay. Some of the best moments likely wouldn't have happened if Roob hadn't dipped.

God bless Craigor for INSISTING they all go out and get ice cream. In my head, Craigor's vital role in the found family is that he keeps everyone sane by forcing them to indulge in small pleasures like dairy queen.

Cadmus removing Florence's stitch for her was such a good casual moment of intimacy. It's like letting someone do your makeup for you, only in a more brutal and fucked-up scenario because it's RSR. Nobody fucking look at me I love their friendship and will talk about it for ages

I actually like how Isabelle's "dry anger" finally broke into crying. It feels more in-character that she's been trying to act tough and uncaring this whole time, but really, she's just overwhelmed. I also like how it's more obvious now when she's being possessed by Venutia. HUGE "the souls of the innocent" "a bagel!" energy.

On that note: there's a moment I've always loved where Isabelle uses a Beam of Unreality and deletes several rock fans, and Connor says to Cadmus "stick with me here: there might be something more dangerous to your health here than the goddamn rock and rollers," to which Cadmus (who didn't see the beam) replies "who, Isabelle? she wouldn't hurt a fly!"

What I'm saying is, I want that moment to happen again but now with both Isabelle and Cadmus having the knowledge that she IS a monster. But they both choose to keep quiet about it. That's Cadmus's work daughter, he is not losing ANOTHER person in his life—

ISABELLE IN GENERAL WAS GREAT THIS SESSION. HER BIG SPEECH? A+. GOOD JOB, SIX, YOU GAVE A CONCLUSIVE THEME AND CAP TO THIS SHOW THAT HAD THE BALLS TO BRING UP THE QUESTIONS JELLO WOULDN'T.

Carol/Carmen in general was a really great antagonist. Sympathetic in nature, simple motivations that make sense to her character, and still a massive bitch who needs to be stopped. I don't have any brainrot over her but I felt the need to acknowledge her since, y'know, the whole series kinda hinged on her.

Congrats to that one person for getting their rat canonized

in conclusion,

RSR good

[thegapbetweenmoments]

New Muse Ideas!

So here is my consistent conundrum: I like writing things with what I like to refer to as notable supernatural elements. This could be a vampire character (Alicia), a necromancer (Diana and kind of Belle), a time mage (Tom), etc.

The problem with this is twofold. One issue is simply that many people aren't super interested in fantasy based things, which is 100% fair and fine, and why most of the time I just write without the supernatural bits unless otherwise specified.

The other is that even when people do want to write supernatural-ish things, sometimes the vibes don't line up with whatever it is that I made for my characters, which is why it takes a while for new characters to be made even at times like this when I'm relatively active.

SO!

Below is a list of character ideas I've come up with that I'm currently considering. If you see any on the list and go "Ooh! That sounds cool!", please let me know, because that kind of input is super helpful for this process. Doesn't matter if you're a mutual, nonmutual, never interacted before, etc (though more weight will be given to mutuals/people who've interacted before). Just drop a little response and that will give more weight to the idea. Once one or two have been figured out, I'm going to make a new post about FCs, because tbh I suck at picking those, but that is a thought for later!

The list of thoughts (under read more so that I don't take up the whole dash):

Half-devil lawyer (Honestly, this is a character I actually did use for one thread and I enjoyed a lot. I may make this one even if people don't want him, but weight and priority will likely be given to things people actually want. I've always enjoyed devil contracts as plot devices, and he might be just a smidge lawful evil)

Freed djinn nurse (General concept is that she has pretty significant powers that only work if she uses them in response to a wish. She wouldn't have to respond to every wish, and like more nefarious djinn she'd probably try to use the wording of wishes in order to bend things to work how she wants, even though she as a person is not trying to harm anyone. Job as a nurse is essentially so that she can hear wishes that are inherently more benevolent and grant or bend those to do good things)

Rune mage tattoo artist (Essentially, the thought behind this is a guy who can write a long, complicated series of glyphs as a sort of magical sentence on something and activate it to give whatever it's written on an effect. Take this to its logical conclusion and with enough time, this can be used to give magical tattoos to people that give them some type of ability or effect)

Air mage pilot (I mean the usefulness of the power is kind of obvious, but also I think she'd likely own a smaller plane of her own and generally be a bit more chaotic/daring than most of my girls on here, which is a lot of the fun behind this idea for me personally)

Blood Mage Butcher (I like when characters have these powers with crazy amounts of evil potential, who then use them for completely mundane, neutral-to-good aligned things. I think this guy is just passionate about meat and grilling. Probably early to mid thirties with wholesome dad vibes. Maybe not the route most people would go for characters they want to write with, but certainly one I find amusing)

Lightning Mage Art Thief (I'm thinking she shorts out cameras and security fixtures, then just walks up to an expensive piece art and swaps it with a replica, possibly with a nearly invisible hidden signature. Some real heist movie bullshit. Then, she goes back to some incredibly mundane or wholesome day job. Maybe an elementary school art teacher who steals to buy art supplies for class)

[aintitfierce]

GET TO KNOW YOUR ADMIN !!

NAME -- masha

PRONOUNS -- she/her, but they/them or it/its could be nice. i won't kick up a fuss to he/him, either, but it does give me a brief pause

PREFERRED COMMS -- lies down probably IMs here, unfortunately. i have 'not getting out of this chair-itis' rip also my computer (not the laptop) is like 15 years old and dying a slow death so i can't open more than a single tab and maybe my pictures folder without everything slowing to the speed of molasses on a cold day

HOWEVER, i have gotten over myself a little bit and i do have an active discord now. so i've been thinking about moving some stuff there

NAME OF MUSE -- vanya, but he prefers pretty vanya or anything similarly Fawning. he has a noticeable, unexplained fondness for being referred to as the nondescript 'creature' as well

EXPERIENCE IN RP -- my first experience with RP was in the gaiaonline forums as a teenager lmAO. i used to scrounge around in the forums for any literary magical school-based RPs. then i kinda fell away from it once i left the site. i didn't pick it back up again until after i'd been on tumblr for a few months in 2013-2014 or so, stumbled into the kung fu panda fandom and made a friend who got me into RPing canon characters through skype ghfhiieo then i opened up an ask blog in june 2014 which very quickly morphed into just a RP blog instead and the rest is history

BEST EXPERIENCES -- back on gaia i joined a roleplay which was taking place in some school for people with super powers (i was in a lot of those as u might have guessed, they were my favorites lmao). me and one other person were the only ones awake and active at one point and it was just a rapid fire interaction between our muses for a couple pages, after which we laughed at The Shenanigans bc we were pretty sure our two characters had just become the comic relief of the entire thread and wondered how the other players were going to react when they inevitably came back

honestly i just remember it being a ton of fun. that style of RP is so incredibly foreign to me now, but nostalgic

PET PEEVES / DEALBREAKERS -- i had to take a long time to think about this, and i think the number one thing that gets to me is infomodding. i very much prefer having a running tally of what our muses each know about each other and more importantly what they Don't. i wrote with someone once who would occasionally consider what they knew about my muse to be fair game for their muse to know as well, without any reasoning for how they'd know this information or when they found it out

additionally, the only other thing i can think of that does get to me pretty badly is related to pacing. like i mention below, i like interactions that feel relatively real and natural, and sometimes that means letting the conversation unfold on its own and allowing awkward silences and lulls to play out to their conclusions. it drives me a little crazy when i'm just getting comfortable in a conversational thread but my writing partner is instead evidently feeling Bored with the small talk, so they inject some drama or some other bombshell to Liven It Up and get the action rolling orz usually has killed the thread for me in the past

MUSE PREFERENCE ( FLUFF, ANGST, SMUT ) -- out of these three probably angst, but i rarely RP it bc i don't feel that i'm very good at it. also idk how Seriously people could pretty vanya angst lmao

i've done so little actual RPing with him (my own fault, tbh) that i don't really know what my preference is with him yet. him being captured by big jack bc there were rumors about him being Powerful And Rare has probably been one of my favorite interactions so far. i admittedly do enjoy writing more antagonistic interactions more than i do friendlier ones

PLOT OR MEMES -- my Natural State is that of a pantser, to be completely honest, but there's a special place in my heart for plotted threads. i do enjoy laying out the basics and then letting it go with a check-in every now and again when one of us is running out juice or Unsure about anything

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES -- either or. i'm no good at one-liners, and i struggle with novella length (condensing my partner's response into something i can reply to while being careful to keep the story Moving takes a lot of brainpower for me). i do however love replies and threads and partners, perhaps, who are okay with letting some parts of the conversation Drop and potentially come back into play later. i like that sense of continuity, where it feels like a real or natural interaction two people might have with lulls in the conversation and callbacks

BEST TIME TO WRITE -- at this point i have no clue wheezes

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE? -- lord i hope not lmao

[luthwhore]

Waaay too late to the party, wanted to write back when you made the post about the twitter thread complaining about possibility of Lex being redeemed and forgot 70% of what I was gonna say, but I agree. Beyond personal preference, my argument is that the big part of the character and his dynamic has always been the "You could've used your genius for good" tragedy, and that just doesn't work if he's written as the evilest man on Earth. Might as well talk how sad it is Darkseid ain't running a utopia. I get how that can get unfomfortable with "He's a BAD billionare instead of a good one, which would be the best thing ever", but I think it can just as easily be framed as "he chose to be a billionare instead of a scientist"-hell, the vigilante thing fits into that pretty well!

exactly!! and tbh the fact that lex isn't an irredeemable monster is honestly one of the most interesting things about him? lex seems himself as a hero and he wants to do good, but ultimately his own ego usually ends up getting in the way of it, because he's usually more concerned about how other people perceive him than the actual effects of his actions.

there are also only so many stories you can tell that are "superman vs a super evil guy who has a lot of money and keeps buying his way out of trouble" and eventually, it's going to get boring and repetitive, esp bc it's disheartening to see superman lose over and over again.

his story is far more interesting, imo, when there is some kind of emotional stake for superman. when you have a superman who sees a sliver of good in lex, no matter how small. that's part of why i like seeing stories where lex is contrasted with the joker, because lex -- at least when written well -- has standards and isn't usually interested in harming civilians.

(probably the thing that will make me groan and tune out of a lex story faster than anything is seeing him referred to as "a sociopath", both bc i feel like it's a gross misrepresentation of his character, and because I'm personally really tired of seeing personality disorders tossed around as pejoratives.)

i think it's also very telling that -- at least in my observations -- people who care deeply about superman lore tend to prefer pre-crisis and superman: birthright lex over the byrne-era, whereas most people who want lex to just be the evil CEO -- or worse, who want him to be "updated" into just being a musk parody -- tend not to be people who actually read his comics or engage with superman lore in any meaningful way.

there's a reason, imo, that most superman content from the 2000s onward has been trying to retcon lex to be either closer to his pre-crisis iteration or closer to smallville, and that's bc those are the versions of the character people actually... you know... like.

[apoptoses]

Re: the poly relationship anon and the Reddit thread that mentioned Marius being in a relationship with Pandora, Bianca AND Armand at the end of the series lmao I think I have an idea as to how they might’ve reached that conclusion. It's worth noting though that I think it's a gigantic reach and not really what Anne meant when writing about Marius’ interactions with any of these characters in the last trilogy but let's see... I remember Marius referring to both Pandora and Bianca as his “wives” at some point (perhaps even in the same time?) in the PL trilogy, and it’s clear his relationship with both of them is romantic in nature and in great terms by the time the series ends. Bianca pursued him pretty relentlessly, Pandora is always referred to as his love/his great love and Marius is extremely pressed when she gets back together with Arjun + everything that happens with Arjun later on, etc. Armand isn’t involved in any of this mess (for once) beyond snatching Daniel back at some point during RoA. His relationship with Pandora is pretty much nonexistent, and even his relationship with Bianca is left incredibly unexplored post-Venice (a crime, obviously). The relationship between Armand and Marius is strained/tense at best, explosive at worst (even though the love is there, will always be there), but as we all know by the end of the series Marius feels confident about them finally being able to have a conversation and Armand's heart being "open" to this happening. We never see said reunion/conversation but if said Reddit person interpreted all of this as them getting back together romantically (which again, I don't think it's even on the table for these two right at the end of the series, and realistically it's going to be a long road for them in terms of being able to have a healthy relationship) and THEN added Marius' situationship with both Pandora and Bianca... then I guess you have a poly relationship scenario, sort of? lmao it's the only way it kinda makes sense but even then they're reaching for the stars.

You're extremely right when you say that in terms of "endgame" couples (or as endgame as it can be under these circumstances), Louis/Lestat is the only ship that could be defined in those terms, given how explicitly their reunion/romantic interactions were made. It's said that Armand and Daniel reunited and Daniel ended up moving into TG to live with him but as far as we know, they could be living together as vampire pals (the mere thought of this is fucking hilarious tho imagine them going through all of that just to be roommates djshkjssk). Just like for all we know, the relationship between Louis and Armand might have been entirely platonic while they lived together at TG. Just co-parenting. Conscious uncoupling kings!

Anyhow who knew I had so many thoughts about this!!! xoxo a highly caffeinated DA ❤️

Yeah it's a huge reach lmao Like it says Armand's heart is open to a conversation with Marius and I personally read that as a conversation where they could attempt to heal the rift between them over Marius giving up on rescuing him from the cult/making Benji and Sybelle against his will. Not that it would be an instant 'getting back together' talk.

It's funny because I'm so so SO down bad for them in the Venice years in TVA/their reunion scene in QotD but I wouldn't be surprised if they couldn't be more than platonic ever again. They've become such different people and tbh their original relationship was very physical, and it seemed like once the newness of Amadeo being a vampire wore off like...what did they have to talk about together? To me that's the real tragedy of their relationship.

Not that I'm against shipping it!! I mean I've read some good post-canon fic of them. But anyways I digress lol

But YEAH exactly Anne wrote it so that you could interpret any of these relationships minus Lestat/Louis any way you want at the end. Though lmao @ the idea of Armand having his exes living in his house like a bunch of divorced couples who refuse to move out and separate their lives. Conscious uncoupling indeed 🤣 Though probably still better than the inevitable shitshow that Auvergne will turn out to be, with dozens of polyamorous vampires with metric tons of baggage and strained relationships will be like-

Picturing Daniel ending up like Alice in the L Word trying to chart out who is fucking who and who is broken up at any given time lmao He'll have to be sure to write this shit in dry erase marker because every three nights the lines will need swapped around. A mess!!

Bless Anne and her inability to have any of these vampires keep it in their pants (mouths? considering all the biting) I swear.

[a-tear-in-space]

Why Kotoko Yuzuriha is very Flip coded - a mini analysis of the song + her character

(And yes, this is what I spend my time on.)

So, first of all, the song's meaning itself. The song (to me at least) seems to be about someone acting vengance out on another, and slowly losing their sanity in the process. This can be interpreted from the lyrics, and way the music gets more intense as the song goes on.

So, the reason why I think Kotoko fits this song should be pretty obvious just from that - a good portion of her character revolves around her seeking out vengance (justice) on people who deserved it, and we can tell from the way she slowly started to become the wolf at the end of HARROW, and then the final few scenes of Deep Cover where she turns into the werewolf, that this was slowly destroying her as well.

Now, could I leave the analysis like this? Yes, I could. But am I going to? Not at all, because this is me we're talking about.

With that being said, let's look at the lyrics of Flip itself and how they fit Kotoko in turn.

Verse 1

"Here's to the one with the smoking stare

Running through my head with a bolo knife

Chopping up the threads made up from looms

Of love and blood and hate and some empty tunes"

From HARROW, it's implied from the pinboard in Kotoko's... room(?) that she dedicated a lot of time and thought to seeking out her victim. The "smoking stare" and the "bolo knife chopping up the threads" are all references to how the mc (who I'm just going to refer to as Jane for convinience) constantly had their mind filled with their victim, to the point where their mind was slowly breaking because of it (the threads = Jane's sanity/thoughts, probably.)

Verse 2

"Eyes killer cold and black and bare

Freaky little tooth hanging solo

Sucking at the walls like a rolo now

Making a cocoon when my brain fits"

Tbh, I don't really see how this could fit Kotoko from what we know, as this verse seems more about "Jane" demonising their victim internally, twisting them and making them seem more freakish and disgusting in their mind as their desire to go after them twists their own mind even more. From what we've seen with Kotoko, this might have potentially been a thing that she did, but again, it's not really clear so.

Chorus 1

"I wanna go back, I wanna go back

I wanna go back with a club and attack

I wanna take to my guns and break you

I gotta make my little foe take his own"

In terms of Kotoko, this is fairly straight forward - she wanted to hurt her victim, she wanted to attack him (though she did it with her hands and feet, not any kind of weapon.) The only line that doesn't really fit is the last one (which annoys me) but we can just skip over that, lol. In terms of "Jane," this is also straight forward and backs up my interpretation of the song. The thoughts of getting revenge on this person and harming them consumed them, and they were either going to attack them themselves, or make them commit suicide.

Verse 3

"I've overgrown with a yellow mold

Just fizzing drones in a hollow dome

My funny nose dripping little groans

I'm so so cold in the marrow of my bones"

Now, in Flip, this is the point where the music starts to get more intense, which, as I mentioned, is representative of how "Jane" was starting to lose their mind because of their fixation of getting vengance on their victim. In Kotoko terms, we see how her mind/tunnel vision was initially a pale yellowish colour in HARROW, but in Deep Cover, it was a dark, more toxic-looking yellow/green colour - it had become even worse - hence, "overgrown." This is also a good indication of how Kotoko's mentality was hurting her and destroying her - but yet, she kept at it.

Verse 4

"I look at you as you take a snooze

Your skinny lips dripping rabid goo

I lift your chin and I grin at you

As you come to, man

I'm running 'round your head with a bolo knife"

By this point in Flip, "Jane" has found their victim (and is still demonising them, hence the "rabid goo") and gets to kill them, and is super happy about it (hence why they're grinning as they do so.) We can also see plainly how Kotoko was reeealllyyyy happy at getting to kill her victim, a fact that is obvious both in HARROW (the shots of her smiling before and after her murder) and in her t1 VD, where we can hear her laughing and basically saying that she enjoyed the murder and has no regrets for what she's done.

Chorus 2/The ending (since this repeats 3 times)

"I'm gonna go back, I'm gonna go back

I'm gonna go back to a face, no more mask

I was in full bloom until I met you

I'm gonna shake my fetters I'm breaking loose"

The overall gist of this final chorus refers to how "Jane" no longer has to hide who they are after killing their victim - though it's unclear whether this "mask" was just their sanity that has finally slipped, or just them finally going back to normalcy afterwards (I'm sticking with the first option, based off of the other lines.) Fetters is another term used for shackles used to restrain prisoners, which can again be linked back to the whole "sanity" part of this - breaking free from the fetters = breaking free of their own godamn mind. Again, this links back to how Kotoko was slowly twisted more and more after she killed her victim, which is, again, evident in the ending of Deep Cover, with the shot of the werewolf coming out and looming over her, representing how distorted and monstrous Kotoko's become.

"Fox is this really what you spend your time on" YES YES IT IS.

[astro-break]

Thoughts on the 3rd ep of Hypmic Rhyme Anima+. Spoilers beware

Season 1 | Ep.1 | Ep.2 |

i love how its samatoki who tsks when ichiro talks, they never stop and i love it fuugen looking dude still has a great design love the fact that they kept the Ramuda is scared of ghosts plotline ww TBH is a silly name DJ or not, but it does tie in some ARB lore eyyy joint mission! does that mean that nagoya and oosaka will be enemies? might be and interesting naughty busters and MCD interactions OFC theres gonna be some good good ichiro/kuko and samatoki/sasara KUKOOO I LOVE YOU the kinshachi! love those little dudes, they're tiger-headed dolphins lol JYUSHIIII you chuuni dork i love your flowery wordss Mr. Kuko wwwwwwww nooo amandaaaa so ripped up oh more visual kei!! i am so happyyy www this villain is so silly i love silly villains. how unfortunate that they'll be plot slaves but they genuinely had something fun going on awww look a kuko being silly and amagani being a silly lawyer LETS GOOO JAKUHITOOO eyyyyy lets go grandmaaaa the MVP of repairing Ichikuko relationship lets gooo naughty butters!!!!! i love themmmm were they also a influence ichiro to get onto the right track? thats sweet ofc they had to tie in different characters together still love that sun shadowing them the moment they talk about the villains the squeakkkkkkkkkkk amanda thats so cuuteeeeee awww no magical girl transformation? rip -

Damn the imagery on this MV goes super hard i love the non-traditional stuff you'll find scattered around at a glance the ones i spot are: buhddist funeral rites with from, what i can count 39 candles which can mean thank you… those funeral flowers look like white chrysanthemums (grief, honesty, truth which the later two may be nods to the fact that they're not in their right minds), pink, and purple carnations which symbolize capaciousness and unpredictability Kuko also references gokurakujoudo which is the most well known higher buddhist celestial land known as the land of bliss so basically he's saying that he's so hot shit that he'll reincarnate into the holiest of holy lands Ragnarok is the end of the known gods according to nordic mythology aside from like. two gods and two humans which means either Jyushi is a ghost as shown in the scene or he's just that cool and survived Kuko's second verse is a reference to old paintings that depicted monks training their spiritual disciplines by mountainsides. if you're an old soul like me, think Libra Dohko's Mnt. Roshi Hitoya's second rap scene is mimicking an egyptian depiction of a weighing of the heart, specifically it seems to be parodying the scene found in the Papyrus of Hunefer. interestingly, the three opponents are on the side in which the feather of maat is commonly depicted on, the thing which the heart is weighed against while Amanda is the heart Hitoya and Kuko's spots on the papyrus is where anubis would be, setting them as the judges who preside over this battle. Jyushi is also sitting where Ammit, the devour of the dead, would be depicted sitting. Ammit is also a goddess, which is fun Given the red moon behind him, Jyushi also plays at a fallen angel The chorus' first scene is another very famous generic buhdist scene. while i don't think it references anything specifically, the three sitting on lotus flowers and the bodhi tree's in the back implies that they are buddah. like no joke, they are actually buddha don't know if this is actually a reference, but the red hell-like place that the three find themselves in might be Sañjīva, one of the buddhist naraka's where those who are reincarnated there are born fully grown and are attacked by other people and monsters return of the kinshachi! kaleidoscopic imagery which is also heavily associated with buddhist imagery That ending is a reference to the spider's thread by ryunosuke akutaguwa! you might remember it if you've played Danganronpa V3 but its a story about a man trying to escape from hell from a spider thread but ultimately falls back into hell because of his greed - that Obaaachannnn is so cute. and the bait and switch was so silly Kuko as always is just the absolute star of the show even if the spotlight isn't on him Huh???? Are Doppo and Hifumi okay???? Please??? you can't just cliffhang that???? how dareeee

Badass Temple endingg lets gooooo Kuko verson is so cute!!! that illust tooo Jyushi is just so stylish and silly, treading that fine line. also is that just water in his champagne glass www this is such a fun ending version i love it. Its just a lot warmer and more comforting in my opinion, super sweet and heartwarming. a lot more electric guitar as well

I'm so glad for their first feature episode I really enjoyed BAT! The song was such a banger and the imagery along with it so evocative. I really liked the episode how it brought everyone together for a chaotic jaunt. I hope next week with dotsuhompo will be just as silly

[this-world-of-beautiful-monsters]

Fanfiction ask meme, let's goooooo. 1, 9 (for "let me wrap my teeth around the world), 12, 13, 17, 21, 26 (for "the house is the same size as the world; or rather it is the world"), 36, 41, 44, 49. Thank you!!

How old were you when you first starting writing fanfiction?

(copy pasted from my answers on this post)

I almost feel like a late bloomer, but eighteen, tbh. I only really entered "fandom" spaces in college and it spiraled from there.

9. In your xxx fic, what’s your favourite scene that you wrote?

My favorite part of let me wrap my teeth was definitely the Neuroscanner scene--it's like a character study from hell, poured through the darkest and most warped lens, and I loved the intertwined threads of violation, destruction, and sheer overstimulation as the scene progresses. I loved played with the glitch effect and the sense of shit steadily falling apart as time goes on, pushing everyone to the breaking point.

12. Who is your favourite character to write for? Why?

(copypasted from other post)

Depends on the fandom...for TMNT it's Leonardo, because I love his tortured leader aesthetic and the sheer amount of trauma he puts up with is really fun. For DC it's Damian, because I have a soft spot for angsty baby murderers trying to be better.

For Avatar I'd think recom Jake, because he's such a perfect Frankenstein's monster of hunger and cruelty and pain and power. With Spider being a close second, because I love this boy and I love fucking him up.

13. Who is your least favourite character to write for? Why?

Hmmm...well, if I don't like writing for a character I usually don't write for them. I guess in the TMNT fandom it might be Mikey, who I find kind of annoying. In Avatar I guess I'm not interested in writing for some members of recom squad, who kind of blur together to me, although some of course I'm very interested in writing for.

17. Post a line from a WIP that you’re working on.

She thinks of her bloodmother’s notes, Norm’s diagrams, chemical structures and samples and the dizzying, shifting shapes of one molecule folding into another. She remembers everything Grandmother and Mom ever taught about the woods, about bodies, about transformation, rebirth, the power every body carries to create, destroy, and make anew.

21. Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire?

I admire so many, on and off ao3...and one of them also happens to write about nightmare 50s domesticity in space and the psychological horrors that can be linked to teddy bears, so what do you know.

26. Which part of your xxx fic was the hardest to write?

For the house is the same size as the world, hmm...I'd think the part were Ronal refers to rJake and Quaritch as Spider's mates. I wanted to avoid demonizing her or putting her on a pedestal there, just highlight the complicated, thorny angstiness of the situation, plus the added factors of Kiri's protectiveness and Spider's heavily internalized victim blaming. I hope I pulled it all off.

36. Can you give us a spoiler for one of your WIP’s?

Leto and the island of Delos REAL (not clickbait)

41. What’s your favourite minor character you’ve written?

(copypasted from other post)

Honestly changes depending on who I'm writing, heh, but right now it's definitely Sylwanin te Tskaha Mo'at'ite. She deserves so much more love and attention and I miss her even though she was technically never on screen.

(Not part of the other post, but definitely Sylwanin's neck and neck with Paz Socorro rn. She's another underutilized character, and I'm automatically with anybody who's crazy enough to have Miles Quaritch's baby).

44. What is the last line you wrote?

"Are you?" Her finger taps lightly against the gun barrel, a ticking clock. "Are you really, truly sorry?"

49) Can you remember the first fic you read? What was it about?

(copypasted from other post)

A TMNT OT4 turtlecest future fic with immortality, bondage, and the apocalypse. It's called Casting Stones at the River by GoblinCatKC and I still love it so fucking much.

[colnerys]

𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐔𝐍.

— BASICS! ♡

NAME: gany

PRONOUNS: he/they/she, i used to care but now i really don't just don't refer to me using a slur

ZODIAC SIGN: aquarius sun, scorpio moon, gemini ascendant

TAKEN OR SINGLE: taken

— THREE FACTS! ♡

instead of a brain, i have kira nerys instead

i read/watch/listen to financial sector news like it's tabloid news it's a toxic trait

i have an unfortunate addiction to gacha games

— EXPERIENCE! ♡

PLATFORMS USED: let's see... facebook, livejournal, dreamwidth, gaia, twitter, deviantart, youtube, aim, msn, skype, email, a multitude of forums, tumblr, discord — yeah i've been around the block

PLOTTING / WINGING IT / MEMES: i'm chill with all actually. sometimes a plot can come out of winging things and sometimes when you intentionally try to plot it might just not come so... i'm pretty fluid.

— MUSE PREFERENCE! ♡

GENDER: gender is a social construct

MULTI OR SINGLE MUSE: in theory i like multis more but i have adhd brain with a dash of autism prolly so... i end up with single muses usually

LEAST FAVOURITE FACECLAIM(S): i'm too tired to list tbh but there are people i guess

— FLUFF / ANGST / SMUT! ♡

FLUFF: if by fluff we mean soft things then absolutely! i love fluff also in just slice-of-life / "no substance" because there's something nice about just writing relaxing stuff. honestly, yeah i love fluff — kira deserves it after the life she's lived!

ANGST: contrary to popular belief, i don't intentionally gun for angst. it's not that i don't like it, i just don't like it when it feels like we're doing pain/trauma porn for the sake of hurting. i don't purposefully try to deux ex-machina the worst trauma inducing events onto my characters... they already do that to themselves most times. but i do like exploring the raw, the nitty gritty, the difficult emotions —— BUT i guess the tldr is that i don't like to write angst for angst sake (i can already hear my rp partners heckling me but not my fault y'all chose to write with the walking embodiment of p much every type of trauma)

SMUT: i mean it can be fun and we all know how thirsty major kira can get .... so like. yeah. i can write it. i can thread it. but i can't guarantee i won't end up bringing up some heavier stuff in it HHH

tagged by: @dimensionalspades

tagging: @elencr, @shoulders, @inflame, @cmdrlaren, @pluresque, @beneviolencia, @boundlesswrath, + anyone who wants to do it just tag me

[holified]

1. When are you usually online?  My working schedule has been so awfully overwhelming that the only free time I have is on the weekends, but sometimes I’m so exhausted I cannot even write anything, although I’m often lurking here on Saturday and Sundays nights.

2. What verses are you involved in outside of this page? I have a blog for Sakura Haruno, so every once in a while you can catch me there, but it usually depends on whether my friends there are online or not. As for my verses here, I most use my “alive” verse, and I have recently been able to use my Yu Yu Hakusho verse thanks to some amazing new friends! I also have a special verse in which Kikyo and Kagome are sisters with my beloved Rarity, and a Sesskik verse that I absolutely love.

3. What is your biggest RP pet peeve? I’m a pretty laid back person, so it’s hard to anger me (or so I believe). But I suppose I could say my biggest pet peeves are when people try to pressure me into writing/doing something or when people start drama over small things. I have seen so many people arguing over stuff that’s just... so stupid! Dunno, I’m just too tired to deal with people right now.

4. Are you drawn to specific types of muses? Hmmm, maybe I am? I think it has changed over time, but I LOVE an angsty/misunderstood character. Powerful, complex women that are often mistreated by their writers bring out my fire to write. I need to like and find the character interesting to write it. Oh! And I don’t write male characters, dunno, I just don’t feel comfortable, I’ve had blogs for male characters before but they were always short-lived.

5. Are there recurring themes in your writing that people might not notice? I don’t know, maybe? I LOVE shipping threads, like, omg I’m a hopeless romantic and all the romantic love I don’t have in real life I seek in my writing. But I also love an adventure and I LOVE angst so... I’m not sure which theme could be considered “common” in my writing.

6. What are your favorite RP trends? Hmmm... I think the return of big icons, some time ago it was SUPER cool to have tini tiny icons that were overly saturated and were just a blur of colors that was impossible to decipher. I never understood this trend tbh, to me icons provide a visual reference to your character’s expression, the scene or to focus on a particular aspect of your character’s face/body language, so those impossible-to-understand icons were absurd! Anyway, but enough complaining about old trends! I think the new aesthetic trends are pretty great!

7. What is your process for starting a new story with someone? Good question, I usually just IM them or we start writing and go with the flow. I like this organic kind of writing, where ideas pop up and you move along with them. Planning is great, and having a general idea of where the thread will go is amazing, but discovering HOW it will get there is so... rewarding! 

8. How do you feel about duplicates? I’m incredibly insecure, so I avoid duplicates not to compare myself and end up abandoning the blog for thinking I’m not good enough :|

9. How long have you been involved in roleplaying? Oh my, here is where you discover I’m a dinosaur on Tumblr. I’ve been writing on tumblr for around 10 years, and I’ve never written outside of this website, I think I wouldn’t be able to roleplay outside of tumblr at this point.

10. Is there a muse or verse you wish you could write in, but haven’t? Oh, quite a few! But alas, I have no time to write the muses and verses I do have, imagine writing new ones! But one day I want to make a couple more blogs for one or two muses I’d like to give a try!

tagged: @thuganomxcs​   — thanks so much! ♥♥

tagging: literally anyone who sees this!

[codenamesailordarillium]

The silliness of destroying the Dalek's casing with the microwave parts is pretty on brand for this show and I appreciate it for that reason, and also Ryan's dad jumping into action to suggest it in the first place.

And okay. I will admit, the stupid murder squid possessing Ryan's dad & Ryan having to save him got me teary-eyed. I've reached that point of adulthood where I get emotional over imperfect parents who try making it up to their adult children who realize they never stop needing or wanting them, even despite all the prior disappointment.

I feel like I've got a few apparently several things I want to say about s11 as a whole that I think I'm just gonna tack onto this post ..

So, I made the decision out of nowhere sometime during the past week to start catching up on all the eps I've been putting off from Jodie's era. Might be a misguided attempt to get up to speed for the 60th, but I've honestly done pretty decent enough. Thus far, I've basically finished off all the eps before we get to parts that I know are gonna piss me off. I think if there was any season/series of DW with Jodie that I was ever gonna have the potential to love, it would need to be this one.

I didn't really tho .. love it, that is. Like, I liked it just fine. Overall, I can say it was okay. Not bad by any means, but not giving me the same blood-pumping excitement I used to get from watching DW. I'm not tryna knock on it for no reason, it just didn't quite hit the spot for me like I really hoped it might. There's no one particular reason that I can zero in on as to why.

I feel like I do see some of the criticisms people were making back when it first aired. Namely character-wise. I guess the overarching arc of both the season and the New Year's special was the family conflict between Graham & Ryan along with the grief of Grace's death hanging over them. I really liked certain parts of it, like Grace's 'ghost' haunting Graham in the giant spider episode? I believe? But yeah, that. I kinda wish there'd been more of that during the season, I thought it was gonna connect to the fake mirror!Grace from the frog episode, but I guess not.

But obviously, given that there's so much of a focus on that particular family dynamic, it unfortunately leaves Yaz kinda getting the shaft. Yeah she gets her own whole episode to explore her own background, but the impact it has kind of seems to be contained to that one ep. There honestly could've been some potential for the Doctor to get caught for timey wimey shenanigans happening to her companion's family there. I really thought Umbreen was gonna have a moment to reveal to Yaz that she recognized her as being the same "long lost relative" that showed up on the day of her (first) wedding. We see the rest of her immediate family the next episode, and Yaz's mother is brought along for part of the adventure, so the way they might've reacted to it could've been a fun & interesting thing to get into.

(Also, just for the record, Demons of the Punjab was probably my fave ep of the season and Umbreen Yaz's nani actually means a lot to me; closely followed by Rosa.)

Maybe that's where s11 falls a little short for me. The fact that there are these plot threads just sort of built in but don't seem to get expanded upon. And I could be wrong, maybe some of it does in fact come up in s12 or 13/Flux. And of course, because I am myself, I can't help but see all the places in the story where there was a prominent space-haired shaped hole and how fun that could've been.

I don't really want to delve into it until later whenever I start watching s13/Flux, but the whole exploration of 13 having a potential queer relationship is um, certainly not really given any sort of room to grow in this season, or like exist at all tbh. I obviously refer to the absence of the wife she's literally already gay married to and would have been ready to go, but I'll also briefly touch on my thoughts regarding, well, y'know, the ship that's most popular for 13's era.

People are allowed to ship whatever they want regardless of reason, but nothing about the dynamic in s11 really spoke to me as being particularly indicative of romantic feelings on either side of the equation. And while that's what I'd prefer to an extent, I do think it bears some consideration why the first female iteration of the Doctor is no longer being lusted after by people occasionally, especially the girlies, and that there don't seem to be any/as many instances of kisses or the like that they would receive plenty of back when they presented as a man. Characters falling in love with the Doctor & expressing their attraction has been a staple of the show, technically even since Classic Who when 1 drank hot cocoa & accidentally got engaged. (Even Basil got snogged, if aggressively, by Missy, then proceeded to, much more gently, return the favor. And gazed witheringly at River's lips - yes, it still counts fight me.)

I guess since we are sort of skirting some of the nuances and issues of gender that 13's regeneration brought along, you could say they might've been concerned about depicting what potentially looked like harassment or assault of a female character. Which, I get, but there are ways of doing it without going that far. I'm also aware that people might not have trusted Chibby to be able to depict that well & thus prefer that he kinda just ignored it entirely. At this point, it is what it is, Jodie's no longer the Doctor, so the best I can hope for anyway is her getting to snog her wife in extended universe materials.

I think that's about it for my thoughts on s11. I'mma really have to gird my loins for s12 and the potential (proverbial?) headaches it's gonna cause me. That being said, I still want to see it for myself, if nothing else than to formulate all the ways I'll have to headcanon myself to death to reconcile with the parts of the story I still might vibe with a little.

[avisisms]

Students sorted in 1992

// Because...there were too few characters in the 1992 year?

I tried to keep the total number of students in each year per house at about 10, which is the what both books and movies sort of suggests. However, i did want to keep some variation in the number of boys versus girls, for a hint of realism.  I also decided to allow a few more students in the Hufflepuff house, simply because that is the house where students who don’t fulfill the requirements for the other houses, sort of fulfill the requirements for all the houses, or just fit into Hufflepuffs valued traits. To me, it makes sense that more students would be sorted into Hufflepuff, the house that welcomes all, than the other houses.  I also decided to place a few more pure-bloods in the Slytherin house, because that was a ‘trait’  that he valued. Good choice? No? Do let me know your opinion on this I’m a bit torn tbh.   If no blood-status is mentioned on a character, assume they are defined as half-bloods.  My definition of pure-blood: A wizard or witch who can trace an entirely magical heritage back at least four generations on both sides, or have no known muggleborn or muggle ancestors at all. (depends on your definition of ‘pure-blood’, individual witches and wizards will have a more strict view than others.)

Ravenclaw 1. Benjamin Yaxley  / Pure-blood / 2. Percy Peet / Muggleborn / 3. Tom Farley 4. Joel Fischer 5. Sean Anderson 6. Paul Darby 1. Luna Lovegood 2. Lizzie Doyle 3. Miriam Stepney 4. Cathy Fischer

Total: 10

Slytherin 1. Dominic Harper  /Pure-blood / 2. Duncan Gastrell 3. Edmund Runcorn / Pure-blood / 4. Hugh Moore 1. Betty Marlowe / Pure-blood / 2. Jane Ingham 3. Florence Derland 4. Emmeline Rogers / Pure-blood /  Twin to Rosaline Rogers 5. Tamsin Higgs / Pure-blood / 

Total: 9

Gryffindor 1. Colin Creevey / Muggleborn / 2. Jack Byron 3. Felix  Cardy 4. Jonathan Gavin 5. Lionel Cliff 1. Ginny Weasely  / Pure-blood / 2.  Vivienne Green 3.  Lucia Leverton / Pure-blood / 4.  Bryony Moore

Total: 9

Hufflepuff 1. Christopher Hou 2. Lionel McCaughey 3. Oliver Chatham 4. Ian Dugall  / Muggleborn / 5. Daniel Hinckley /Pure-blood/ 6. Malcolm Bradley 1. Lydia Ramley 2. Rosaline Rogers / Pure-blood / Twin to Emmeline Rogers 3. Betha Quinn 4. Robin Crane 5. Natalie Ivanok / Pure-blood / 6. Alice Cliff

Total: 12

[apple-but-sour]

I think what bothers people about the Eret Retcon is the fact that them doing it because they thought it was for the best of the server to finish the war right there and then even at the cost of betraying their own friends was pretty accepted what changed after the twitter thread is that people interpreted it as them claiming that c!Dream is the one who made them believe that

That they were manipulated into believing that ending the division L'Manberg was creating was for the best instead of being something they themselves belived in since the beginning

Which tbh that does make Eret's character way more boring

I can't recall that being widely accepted as c!Eret's motivation in the past because it wasn't expressed explicitly in the text the way it was in tweets and recent lore.

And, from what I've seen, cc!Eret's claim that their character is the first victim of c!Dream's manipulation is not the main thing people are bothered by. I've seen different kinds of crit of c!Eret's motivation behind FCR: 1) people being annoyed at retconning in general 2) people claiming that the motivation takes away from c!Eret's character because it provides a more sympathetic reason for one of their most villainous actions (an idea I personally will never understand) 3) as you've mentioned, people interpreting cc!Eret's comment about c!Dream's manipulation of their character as referring to FCR and being upset at some of c!Eret's agency in one of the most crucial events in the story being taken away.

And it's... complicated! First of all, we don't actually know if the manipulation comment refers to FCR or Eret's dethronement, but this in-character quote suggests it's the latter (note how they talk about being manipulated in the context of already having power).

Dream’s manipulated me and I might not have been privy to that. I didn’t- I was too blind to see it myself. I was just like, Dream’s the one who has given me the power I have so I’m just gonna do what he wants and I didn’t realize it was fucking manipulation.

Second of all, personally, I do not interpret c!Dream's & c!Eret's dynamic as manipulative (not all political maneuvering is manipulation), but at the same time I can kind of understand why c!Eret and cc!Eret apply that label to the character's relationship with c!Dream: there was a definite power imbalance and intimidation involved. Even if the manipulation comment does refer to FCR, it's more likely to refer to c!Dream not adequately explaining what being king entails (which probably wasn't even malicious, just something he thought needn't be clarified) and c!Eret feeling manipulated by the deal because they weren't aware of the limitations that came with kingship, instead of c!Dream somehow convincing c!Eret that betraying L'Manburg is for the best of everyone. After all, dialogue around the time of the betrayal implies c!Eret was the one to approach c!Dream, not the other way around.

I hope this is like actually coherent because I have a lot of trouble articulating my thoughts on how I interpret the dynamic between c!Eret & c!Dream.