#i should've probably criticized the term too

[houkagokappa]

There are few things I hate more than when an anime gets condensed into whether or not it’s yuribait. I was looking up comments on the upcoming Hibike! Euphonium projects and so many of them focused on the series ending up a failure somehow because it was just bait, or that those who shipped KumiRei must be mad because their ship sunk (and these commenters found joy in it because shippers are delusional).

First of all, these commenters don’t understand shipping at all. Shipping is about fun or interesting what-if’s, not collecting proof of what must happen. It’s supposed to be lighthearted and not that serious. It can be brainrot inducing, but there’s a degree of separation between what’s canon or a headcanon and things you simply dream of seeing without believing or demanding that they’ll happen in the series itself. And yes, representation is important too, but it’s separate to shipping, especially depending on the series and what sort of realistic expectations you can have for it.

Second, those who mock shippers for reading into things too much tend to be very quick with their own assumptions. You can’t presume that a character is straight just because they haven’t shown signs of being gay. If they’re “too young to know” it extends to ALL identities, including heterosexuality. Sexuality can be fluid and there’s a lot more to it than two opposites - bisexuality or asexuality are almost always conveniently forgotten as other possibilities, along with all other romantic and sexual identities. Not to mention how difficult it can be to realize your own sexuality and be open about it thanks to heteronormativity and societal pressure to fit in.

It’s such a shame when the canon status of a ship seems to be the only thing some people get out of a series or think is what others watch or read it for. Of course it’s fine to watch or read something for a ship and it’s not like I haven’t done it myself, but when you equate the value of something to whether or not a ship in the series becomes canon it’s quite sad and disrespectful towards the creators and fans. I love Hibike for its portrayal of finding a passion, working hard towards a goal and all the complex feelings that come with it. Kumiko’s extremely relatable for me and it’s interesting how untypical she is as a protagonist. Her relationship (as it’s shown) to Reina is important to me, but it’s more of an additional treat than the sole purpose for my love towards the series.

I do read their relationship and their feelings towards each other having a romantic undertone. I don’t think it’s far-fetched or impossible even when they’ve shown interest towards male characters. You can love multiple people and you can love them simultaneously in different ways. I don’t need to see them enter a romantic relationship for their feelings or this reading of them to be valid and true, or for me to find enjoyment and meaning from it. It’s sad that those who claim it’s bait can’t comprehend that queer readings are possible even without explicit hand-holding* confessions** kisses and sex (whether it’s a more serious interpretation or just for some fun shipping) and that some yuri fans can’t be happy with what we got, but demand more from a series that never intended to cater to those demands. There are plenty of yuri works to watch and read for those explicit moments, and there are plenty of other things to love about the series in addition to the relationships.

*no wait they’ve done this **they’ve done this too

[cuubism]

If you're looking for hurt/comfort prompts, how about trans!Dream coming out to his transphobic parents and it not going well, and ends up in a shouting match where Dream vents all his rage at his parents. Hob, Dream's loving boyfriend is there holding his hand the whole time and comforts him afterwards.

Of course, don't feel pressured to write this if you don't want to

i tweaked it just a little bit

--

In retrospect, Dream probably should have waited to do this until after he was no longer living at home. In retrospect, he should have gone to university on the other side of the planet so he wouldn't be pushed closer to the brink of insanity with every second spent in his parents' house.

Then again, if he had gone to another university he would never have met Hob.

If he had gone to another university he wouldn't have had Hob there with him as he tried to figure himself out. To hold him through crisis after crisis. He wouldn't have had to hear the absolutely wretched things his parents said about Hob, about what a terrible influence he was, how he corrupted Dream, how Dream left for university as their perfect obedient daughter and came back wrong and it was Hob's fault somehow. He wouldn't have had to hear those things. But he also wouldn't have known Hob.

He wouldn't have a key to Hob's flat, and be abusing the privilege now by sitting here on the couch even though Hob's not home yet, even though the term's ended and he didn't think they would see each other for some time, nor that this is necessarily what Hob meant in giving him a key. But he doesn't have anywhere else to go.

The short train ride over gave him time to breathe and he's calmed down, mostly. It may not have been the most well-timed decision, finally snapping on his parents like that, but he just reached his wit's end. It had been another mean comment about Hob--whom his parents had never even met--that did it. He's used to the constant criticisms of himself but he can't bear hearing it about Hob.

So he left. The slammed door and shout of don't come back until you start acting right echoing behind him.

He never would have done that before. And his parents seem to think one year of university made him do a one-eighty turn and become some kind of monster overnight. Dream thinks he was just quiet for so long he forgot what his own voice sounded like.

But he's calm now. He thinks. He's just... going to ask Hob if he can stay the night and then he'll figure out what he's going to do next. That's all.

Keys jangle in the lock. The door swings open and Hob comes in, carrying a bag of groceries.

"Oh!" he says, upon seeing Dream--sounding less surprised than Dream would have expected, considering it's been a few weeks since they've seen each other in person and now Dream is just in his house. "Dream. Should've let me know you were coming, I'd have pushed the grocery run off until tomorrow-- have you been waiting here for ages?"

Dream's calm. He is.

His lower lip wobbles and he bursts into tears.

"Dream." Hob drops the groceries--Dream thinks he hears at least one jar of something shatter on the floor--and rushes over to him. "Dream. Hey. What's going on?"

Dream lets Hob fold him into a hug, and says, "I fought with my parents. Yelled at them. Like I never have before."

"Probably deserved it," Hob says immediately, and Dream lets out a choked laugh.

"They did." It is hard to always be sure of this when they are criticizing him. Easier when they are criticizing Hob. "Only... I don't think they will want me to come back now. Not unless I... recant. On several matters."

"Oh." Hob pulls away far enough to look at him, hands bracing Dream's shoulders. For a moment, his expression creases in sorrow. Then steels in familiar determination. "You'll just have to stay here for the summer then."

"Here?" Dream says. Hob's flat is already tiny; he is on a student budget after all. Now he will share it with Dream, too?

As he does with so many things already. His time, his kindness. His ferocity in insisting that Dream own who he is no matter what anyone has to say about it. His clothes, when he just started transitioning--Dream had had almost enough gender-neutral clothes already to be getting on with, but Hob had still given him one of his jackets, and conveniently never asked for the jumper Dream had already borrowed-slash-stolen back.

His hugs, too. His kisses.

"Yeah, it'll give me a chance to finally fix your hair," Hob says, running one hand through the jagged mess of Dream's hair as he wipes away his tears with the other.

On top of everything else, Hob had been the one to cut Dream's hair once he'd finally worked up the courage to do it. He'd done an admittedly pretty uneven job of it, but Dream hasn't had the heart to fix it because the memory of it makes him smile. The look of horror on Hob's face when he'd seen the end result, his despairing wail of it's so straight and silky when it's long how was I supposed to know it would stick up so much!? And yes, Dream's hair does stick up all over the place now, but it's fluffy and he likes to run his hands through it. And he likes even more when Hob runs his hands through it.

"I like it this way," he says.

Hob smiles crookedly. "Of course."

He scrubs his hand through it again, then cradles Dream's cheek in his palm. God, Dream's missed him so much during these few weeks since the term ended. Hob kisses his cheek, and says, "I'm sorry your parents are such shitheads, darling."

His way of phrasing it makes Dream laugh, and then he wraps his arms around Hob's shoulders again, laughing and crying and leaning in to him, so relieved to have him he could just keel over. He would not have had the courage for any of this if he had not had Hob behind him. Perhaps his parents were right about Hob being a corrupting influence, but in the best way possible.

"Come on, I'll make you dinner," Hob says, tugging him up to his feet. "We can celebrate the new holiday of telling your parents where to shove it. I got pasta and--" he freezes. Lets out a long, whistling breath of realization through his teeth. "That was the sauce I heard shattering before, wasn't it."

"I think so," Dream says, and can't help his giggle. Hob sighs, then smiles.

"Well, you're just going to have to help me figure out something else, then. Come on."

He takes Dream's hand and tows him over to the tiny kitchen. Hob's hand is warm in his, his grip strong, and for the first time since leaving school at the end of term Dream feels like the tension actually leaves his body. With Hob holding him like that, Dream feels like everything will turn out okay.

Somehow, with Hob, it always is.

[virginburial]

.·:*¨༺    a little death.    ♱   chad meeks-martin   ༻¨*:·.

SUMMARY: in which you have a pretty intense night terror alternatively, in which you, a friend of the core four, is stuck at a slumber party, where Chad comforts you after having a nightmare

SHIP: afab!reader x chad meeks-martin WARNINGS: explicit content (minors stay out), unprotected p n v, praise kink, sub!reader, soft dom!chad, choking/gagging, reader jealous as fuck towards Tara, ethan/chad rivalry?? for your attention, "i kIsS tHe sCaRs On hEr SkIn!1!1!!1! XD" type shit, chad is coochie drunk (and a heavy dirty talker), random storytelling/porn with a plot. fluff if you squint. TW FOR: mentions of murder, character death, grief, recovery/healing, ptsd related topics, body image.

WORD COUNT: 6.1K

SONG: a little death by the neighbourhood.

A/N: hello hotties!! i told myself "this is going to be a short one it's pretty to-the-point" but then i forgot who the fuck i was and realized i don't know chill and wrote 6K words of this. typical me behavior. this is for my shawties you love some emotional intimacy <3 chad is the actual loml, i'm shocked i'm writing for him now when i should've done this more last year lol REBLOGS, NOTES, AND COMMENTS ARE ALWAYS APPRECIATED !!    

.·:*¨༺♱༻¨*:·.

you woke up to your scream. 

It was Halloween weekend, and the news had just broke about the two murdered college students, and their film professor. You, a Woodsboro native knew exactly what this meant. You weren't just any Woodsboro native; you were directly involved with the recent Ghostface massacre of 2022. You had lived in Woodsboro for only a short fraction of your life, yet what happened there impacted everything you do now. 

You had moved from the south; Georgia-Florida-Alabama-ish. You met your current friends in your eighth grade year; coincidentally, the year one of your friends, Tara, had an issue where her sister ran from home. you enjoyed your little life there until it was viciously torn from you by your best friend and her psycho-groomer boyfriend-who you always had a bad feeling about. you were dating Wes at the time of his death, and after he went, so did all of your patience for the slasher genre. fuck the box office, fuck the critics, fuck the movie. 

when things had finally settled down, you and your newfound family decided to make the ambitious move to new york.  you were stuck being undeclared though as you slowly figured out what you want to get out of your experience at Blackmore. which all leads to now; October 30th, and the boogeyman you only saw in your dreams or in old photos of amber, was now prowling Manhattan for the survivors and fresh meat; ridiculous and fucked, that's what that is. your new friends; Ethan, Quinn, and Anika barely knew the drill. but you did. you've played this game before, unaware you were playing; now your focus could not be shaken.

Sam had suggested a fucked-up slumber party of sorts; "if we all stay together then he won't attack." "or we could be feeding him an all-you-can-eat buffet." Mindy croaks after Sam. Regardless, you knew that it was probably for the best everyone stayed together, especially the new ones. you had your suspicions about Ethan, who seemed to have taken a liking to you. the average sweet nerdy boy who's a bit corny, it all seemed a little too familiar. he would still try to get you to talk to him, stare you down, you could've sworn he stole something out of one of your drawers some time ago while looking for the restroom. you would never admit this out loud, because everyone is always so fucking uptight, but you never really cared about how he objectified you. you liked the attention. 

but he gave off joe goldberg energy, and you were more of a steve harrington girl.

it beats having to look at your long-term crush, Chad, who was falling for Tara. you always felt like the silver lining of both of your partners dying would be that he would finally look at you; but just like Wes when she first got attacked, Chad's eyes were on Tara. fucking Tara. nothing wrong with her, she was your friend. maybe you just needed to stop crushing on and dating boys who would all rather fuck Tara Carpenter than give you the light of day. but then again, you don't even think you're ready for romance to reappear in your life. last year you were manipulated, stalked, and stabbed; Tinder sex would be a nightmare. so there goes that pipe dream. 

you were sleeping in Tara's room with Quinn, Mindy, and Anika, while Chad and Ethan slept in the living room and Sam slept in Quinn's room; which was closer to everyone. It took everyone until midnight to get ready for bed, then Tara's music was too loud, and then Mindy and Anika started getting frisky which caused Tara to yell out "ARE YOU GUYS FUCKING?!" which led to Quinn screaming and laughing, which caused Ethan and Chad to rush in like knights ready to save the damsels, who were just making out. so Anika and Mindy were banished (by Chad) to Sam's room. you made a mental note to remind Sam to wash her sheets. 

you knew, despite the horrible situation that was starting to arise, that right now felt like any other night with your friends, and that it might be the last time things will ever be this way. so what had you screaming the way you are now? if not, a horrific night terror you had about how everything went down last year: the look in Richie's eyes piercing you through the mask as he violently stabs you, leaving gashes as you screamed out for the one person who can't even rescue you; Wes. this happened three hours after the last person went to sleep, making it 3 am. 

the thing with you that the others don't understand is that you had frequent nightmares about what happened. it's nearly a nightly occurrence and every night it's something different; Mindy's under the mask, Amber, Tara, Chad, Ethan, Sam, Anika, the Bodega guy, the guy who played Billy in Stab one, fucking Gale Weathers.  It keeps you up half the night, flashing your phone flashlight in the corner of your dorm and waking your dormmate. you used to sleep with a hunting knife; stuffing it under your pillow and holding it under there. you also have several cans of bear mace; you were Wes's girlfriend after all. you inherited all of his self-defense tools. 

the only one who understands is Sam. You can't believe the situation that's been happening between her and Tara; you would've killed to have an older sister who cares about you like Sam. Of course, your ID starts talking and tells you that Tara is just ungrateful to have a supportive family and Chad's attention and not want it. It fills you with envy. Sam gets it. Sam gets you. Sam tells you to try tea or get a medical marijuana card like she did, or try Zoloft like Mindy is doing. Mindy sarcastically suggests substance abuse. 

you scream, having it rip through the still silence that filled the apartment. with a flip of a light switch, the big overhead light shines over the scene of you; hyperventilating and pacing around as Tara rubs her eyes. The boys, with Mindy, rush into the room on queue as Quinn stands up from the bed. "hey! hey y/n!" she tries to get your attention, anything to break you free from the sobbing mess you were starting to become.  Tara decides to do the worst possible thing and start shaking you, she seems almost confused and pissed off as to why you woke her up. "y/n! look at me-" Tara tries to get your attention. "hey! Tara, that's not helping-" "-y/n, girl, what's wrong?" Quinn talked over Ethan.  

then, finally, Sam chimes in and pushes past everyone; shooting Tara a worried look as she slowly wraps her arms around you. you slowly sink in Sam's arms and sob as she softly pats your back. "another one?" she asked, and you nod, unable to speak as you take a harsh gasp and slowly breath out, trying not to sob more than you already have. you hated being so emotional in front of your friends, you hated being emotional in general. 

"wait so there was no one in here?" Ethan chirps.

Sam shakes her head. "no." she huffs out. "no no, just a night terror...I had one like this the other night. she'll be okay-" "-like hell she is, Samantha! I mean, look at her! she's shaking like a chihuahua!" Mindy blurts out. "I'm gonna make you tea, y/n," she announced as she went to the kitchen. Sam sighs, you could almost feel another brick weigh Sam down with the way she carried herself, then Tara spoke up. "Sorry I shook you, I...I panicked," she admits, which you knew was the truth. 

you sigh softly, your face beet red, blinking away the last of your tears. "it's f-fine-" "-it's really not, I mean, do you shake someone when they're having a seizure?" Tara lightly jokes, earning a small laugh as you sniffle. 

Sam speaks up. "I think one of us should stay here with y/n, at least until she falls back asleep. I would but I am very tired." 

"I don't mind-" "-i'll do it," Chad and Ethan said in unison, which ended with Ethan's side-eyeing Chad. then Chad spoke up again. "I can bore her with one of my old football stories, plus i've known her for years." if only you could read Ethan's mind, even when the look on his face said it all. Sam looks down at you, getting your nod of approval before glancing back at Chad. "yeah, that sounds good." 

Chad, who had come in charging with a chunky remote controller, just passed it to Ethan as he went back into the living room to grab his pillow. Sam rubbed her eye. "the girls can move to my room-" "-yikes." Mindy jingles as she came in with a mug. "I might've been sleeping there, with Anika, if you know what I-" Sam's face falls flat. "-you better be fucking joking, Mindy." she deadpans

"It's not like you're using that new mattress at its full capacity."

"okay gross." Chad gags, clutching his pillow and throwing it on the mattress. by then, Tara and Quinn already moved into Sam's room, probably collapsing at the door and sleeping on the floor as Mindy handed you the warm tea. She gives you a look that makes your stomach flip, it was almost sympathetic. almost like Mindy herself knows how it feels to be woken up like that. Mindy retreats to the room before Sam can say anything else. she sighs. "now I have an excuse to go to Target, and burn those sheets." she turns to you. "you sure you're gonna be fine here, with Chad?" she asks, Ethan, peering right behind her.

"Yeah, thanks, Sam," you tell her as she walks out, leaving just you, Chad, and Ethan. Ethan just purses his lips and gives you a weak smile before shutting the door and the lights off. you sit back down on the bed, grab the mug of tea, and sipped it sweetly, feeling the hot liquid run down your throat as Chad turns on the lamp. The room was cold, dimly lit with autumn new york air hitting your skin from the window next to you, the one Quinn cracked open. 

Chad groans softly as he flops on the messy bed. he's surprised anyone is even getting a wink of sleep tonight, especially you, with how stiff and cold you got the moment everyone left. he stares at you for a second, unable to say anything before blurting out. "...do you wanna watch a movie on my phone? it can be a funny one." he offers. "I have We Are The Millers downloaded." but you just retract even more. why? why can you just shut off whatever's stopping you from opening up? maybe it was the stark realization you never really trusted anyone, ever. 

you stayed silent, unsure of what to do; he wouldn't have offered if he didn't care a little. plus, it was only until you fell asleep. he was not going to stay with you the entire night. you turn to him, biting the inside of your cheek as you sip more of the tea. "no thanks, i've already seen it." you say. he isn't like Ethan; Ethan would just start leading the conversation with questions like 'Oh so what's a movie you haven't seen?' and whatever movie you think of off the top of your head will be the one that'll play. Chad just kind of stops after that; less of a nuisance but you were sure he wasn't at his full power since he hasn't really slept. because Chad can be annoying. 

"you know you hit the floor, right?"

you furrow your eyebrows. "what?"

"you fell off your bed, that's what woke you up. it was very loud, and woke me up," he says as he scoots over to you, sitting right next to you. "I'm a light sleeper now, it's a recent development. it's not all that fun...Tara said you were murmuring in your sleep too before you hit the ground." your face burns with embarrassment. "...how often does that happen?" he curiously asked. 

"What is to you?"

"just looking out for you. y'know, since the masked killer that tried killing us last year is trying to kill us again." his voice dripped with sarcasm. you scoff. of course. "...it happens a lot, maybe one of two times a week? it used to be every night." 

"I guess that explains your caffeine addiction."

you chuckle weakly. "thanks doctor dudebro." 

"I'm just saying, I wish you would've told one of us you were having nightmares..." he voices. "you know, Mindy used to have really bad nightmares. She would call me almost every night around the same time, just screaming and hyperventilating. it feels pretty real at the moment. then you wake up and it's not real." he mumbles towards the end. looking down a bit. you study the expression on his face, you knew Chad was more than some meathead jock, he gave you butterflies, and he seemed to be the healthiest among the survivors. he looks at you. "I'm on like 75 milligrams of Zoloft at all times so...I know what it's like, I've had my fair share of Richie-Amber adjacent nightmares," he confesses. 

your stomach churns from what comes out of his mouth. "is that why you agreed to stay here? to talk me into talking about what happened and get medicated-" you jumped.  Chad shakes his head. "no no, I'm not here to tell you what to do, or how to heal,  It's just...hard seeing you this way." you know exactly what he means, so you dropped the stubborn act. "I know none of us are really dealing with it, but now it's happening again...and I don't want to get hurt again. I don't..." he processes what he's about to say before expressing it; "...I don't want any of us to get hurt again."

"...do you think about her?" you blurt out. "liv, I mean." 

Chad freezes. you almost start to feel bad about bringing her up before he responds with. "most days." he croaks out softly. "sometimes I think if I would've just done what she wanted and went upstairs with her, things would be different." he fiddles with his fingers. "but then again, probably in the worst way, right? I don't know what I would've done if...if it was Mindy. or you." he flashes you a frail smile. "I think about her every time I hear a Paramore song, or when I see orange is the new black on Netflix or pink box dye. I hate the smell of that sugar cookie body mist that Quinn uses, it's the same one Liv had. She wanted to study 'abnormal psychology', she would've loved it up here...what about you? Do you think about Wes?"

"every night." your voice slightly breaks. "his Spotify account is still up, all the music he neatly organized into playlists for us is still on there, just collecting dust," you mumble, then, you feel pressure slowly lift off your chest as you continued to talk about him. "I deleted Spotify, though. can't be on there without seeing something he made for me or seeing his face, and Instagram too. His dad gave me a box of his things at the funeral and I brought it with me here, I can't look at it for very long without crying," you confess. "...can I be honest?"

"This is probably the most honest you'll ever get me, so shoot."

You let out a sigh, feeling your heart drop to your stomach as you stared into his eyes. "things in my life were already starting to go downhill before everything, and now...it never will feel the same, you know? I will never get over this, i'll just have to learn how to live with it when it's already happening again." Chad watches you, seeing your eyes sorrowly hang as the words spilled from you. he hates seeing you like this. you used to be so full of life, animated, and passionate; now you were just a shell. he softly bumps his shoulder next to you and gives you a reassuring smile. "...you're not alone." his voice softly spoke. "it feels lonely, but you're not alone." 

you finish the tea, setting it on the nightstand before Chad speaks up again. "what makes you say that, though?" he perks up. "that things were starting to go downhill?" he asks, maybe genuinely curious. you bite the inside of your cheek. "I had this feeling that Wes was in love with Tara. I thought I was just going crazy but after Ghostface attacked her, and I saw the way he looked at her, I knew I couldn't keep denying it anymore. I just wanted him to look at me the way he looked at her, everyone looks at her like that, but now he can't because Amber wanted to cosplay Stu Macher." you spat, your condescending tone dripping in anger. "...i've just been filled with jealousy ever since, mostly towards Tara, sometimes at Quinn...the whole situation made me feel...ugly."

Chad scoffs a little, and you immediately get defensive, but the better half of you knows Chad is not going to judge you. "you? jealous of Tara?! Tara Carpenter? The same Tara in this apartment?!" he seems almost appalled. "y/n...Tara Carpenter is a mess." he exposes. "Tara shows up to class drunk. Tara got her driver's license suspended. Tara's mom dropped her after her dad and Sam left already. Tara almost died three times!! Wes was crazy for you, he loved you-it annoyed the shit out of me really but he did. Tara might be pretty but she isn't you...I know what you're trying to say, but the last person you should be jealous of is Tara." Chad rambles. silence falls on the both of you for a second as you process what he told you; he's right. Tara has some horrible luck, you needed to stop comparing yourself to her. 

"...if it makes you feel better, I get jealous of Ethan."

well, that was a shock. "huh?!"

Chad chuckles softly. "yeah, I do, I get jealous of Ethan sometimes." you can notice him getting a bit flustered. "he-he's just lucky, you know? he didn't experience what we did, so he can walk alone at night and go to bars without feeling like he's being watched...he isn't active, which annoys me so much." he raises his hands in defense. "I know I know, it's not my life, but when he does tag along and goes to the gym with me, he can work out a lot longer than I can. he can wear whatever he wants. he can take his shirt off and no one will stare at him or ask questions. he doesn't have chronic pain. he can go and date whoever he wants and not feel bad about his body, or feel bad that he's cheating on his dead girlfriend...little shit like that makes me jealous," he admits, pressing his tongue against his cheek. "my injuries from last year were so severe that I can't even play my favorite sport anymore, and Ethan just gets to sit around and play World of Warcraft with his perfect nervous system." his words stung. 

you couldn't think of anything to say, because he was right; it's not fair, none of this is fucking fair. suddenly, you can't help but slide your hand over to his, squeezing it softly. Chad studies you for a second, his brown eyes scanning how beautiful your features looked in the dark, you couldn't help but notice how clammy his hands were starting to get, he opens his mouth to say something, then he stops himself before saying something else; "...can I show you?" he asks. 

you glance over at him, seeing how close to you he already was. you could feel your cheeks heating up as your eyebrows slightly raised from his request. you were shocked that he trusted you. "you...wanna show me? you won't even show Mindy-" "-Mindy can never take anything seriously, y/n. She's gonna call me Tony the Tiger if I show her." that made you chuckle, considering one of the scars that you had also looked like animal print; or you romanticized it to the point where it reminded you of a zebra stripe. so you nod. "yeah...yeah you can show me."

Chad, noticeably nervous, sighs before lifting his shirt slightly, revealing not one, not two, or three, but four or more deep scars that dented his already chiseled chest. your face flushes, blood traveling to your cheeks as you examine his body, how his skin was still healing, how deep the valley of his abs truly was. your throat goes dry, almost like you can't process the amount of pain Chad might be going through or what he went through when he got those scars. It's almost like he sees you contemplating on what to say; if there was anything you can say to make him feel better. your lips slowly part as you lean in closer. 

"you can touch it." Chad chimes. 

you look up at him for approval, even though he told you that you could. shakily, your hand slowly grazes down his chest, your fingers running down the canyons of his chest, reminding yourself that this was the case for you too, both physically and mentally scarred. you could feel Chad's breath hitch softly, and you stop. "did I hurt you or-?" "-no, no you didn't hurt me..." he says softly, his pupils growing in size as he watches you feel him. you know the room was not well-lit but you knew he could see you blushing. before you know it, Chad's hands slowly creep over to your hips, pulling you closer in the most unsubtle way. "may I?" he asks.

you were flustered, and all the blood that ran to your cheeks ran down to your core, feeling your heartbeat slowly revive itself down there as Chad's big hands rested themselves on your lower back. you squeezed your thighs together; you've wanted this for so long, you wanted Chad's attention since sophomore year, so you nod your head. Chad smiles softly at you before lifting your shirt slightly and exposing the scar on your stomach. you blushed from the tension and the embarrassment. you could feel Chad's hot breath on your neck as his fingers slowly graze your curves, just softly skimming past the waistband of your pajamas as he looks into your eyes. "...did I mention that I get jealous of the way Ethan looks at you?... Same reason I was so annoyed with Wes-"

the desperation of having Chad's hands on you drives you over the edge as you crash your lips into Chad's, feeling how chapped they were as you relax into the kiss. you did this for your inner teenager, who's probably doing summersaults because you're finally kissing Chad Meeks-Martin. before you knew it, Chad eagerly kisses you back, one of his hands squeezing your waist as the kiss grew more and more passionate. you weren't expecting this, but thinking back at it now, you should've seen this coming. you pull away from the kiss, realizing that your hands involuntarily wrapped themselves around his neck, and your faces were just a few inches apart. "well shit..." Chad mumbles as you notice his cheeks turning a dark shade of red. 

he then grabs your chin delicately and kisses you softly, making sure you were present as his hands drop to your hips. the last person you were with like this was Wes, and you knew Chad was in the same boat with Liv. you pull away, seeing his lips chase after yours as you placed his hand on his chest. "Chad...should we be doing this?" he stares into you, his bottom lip caught in his teeth as he gnaws on it, unsure of what to say. "I would like to..." he said softly, pulling you closer. "We should make some new memories..." he huskily whispers before attaching his lips to your neck. your breath hitches as you grab onto him, and once he does that, you realized you wanted nothing more than to fuck Chad. "w-we should." you respond.

Chad manhandles you, again, pushing you back up against the mattress, grabbing your neck and jaw as he leaves open-mouthed kisses, his teeth grazing your sensitive skin as a soft gasp leaves you. he hovers on top of you, his breath getting heavier with each kiss before pulling away from your neck entirely. the look he gives you is full of passion. "besides, can't watch you squeeze your thighs like that and expect me not to want you..." he mumbles softly. your heart feels like it's on crack at this point, your stomach cramming with anxiety and lust as you kissed him roughly. 

his lips felt so right on yours like they were always supposed to be there. he quickly gets in between your legs and reattaches his lips to your collarbone, his hands sliding down to your hips as you press them up against his growing bulge. a small moan escaped passed his lips as you grab his face and bring him back to your neck. every touch fills you with passion, your moans getting increasingly louder before Chad completely pulls away. "shhh." he chuckles softly, grabbing your jaw and making you look at him, squeezing your cheeks a little. "our friends are right outside, don't wanna wake them, right angel?" god he's so fucking fine. "no matter how cute you sound."

Chad delicately pulled your shirt off, revealing your tits, since you pulled your bra off before climbing into bed. his eyes could not peel away from them, as hard as he tried to focus on anything else. he gently flicked his tongue around the bud off your left tit, then slowly slides his tongue down your stomach, over your scar, and down to your abdomen. your face soured up from how different it felt having Chad kiss and suck and lick down your stomach. he leans up and kisses you. "your body is so beautiful, you know that?" he mumbles softly against your ear, and you respond by nodding, because deep down you always knew, just never affirmed. 

Chad's hands slowly found themselves sliding off your silk pajama shorts, which might've been driving him crazy all night. he slowly reveals your panties, basic cotton white boyshorts with a wet stain conveniently down the middle. he pulls you to the edge of the bed, standing up as he gets a better look. he smirks at the sight of it, you could see his mouth nearly watering as his left hand softly grazes your clothed core. his class ring hitting your sensitive nub as your hips gently jerk to the sensation of it. then, his hand softly slaps it, a soft, wet squelch coming out of you as your body jolts again. you whine as he starts to speak; "fuck...poor angel, must be very desperate, huh?" he taunts. 

you can barely think of what to say, already so desperate to feel him that you just lazily nodded your head. he grabs your face. "cmon, use your words." he says gently. it makes you feel so weak in the knees as his free hand softly caresses your cunt. "when was the last time you came, angel? you're so sensitive..." he uses his thumb to rub your throbbing clit in circles, still waiting for you to answer. "l-long ago..." and you weren't lying. it's hard to focus on yourself and your needs when you're constantly in survival mode, and it's harder to make yourself cum when the last person who did got brutally murdered. Chad gets it, considering how flaccid his anti-depressants made him. seeing you in this position, though, finally gives him the hard-on he's been waiting for. "let's fix that." 

He slowly slips two fingers into you, watching your back arch as he quickly covers your mouth, his hand taking up half of his face as he thrusts them slowly in you. he sees your body slowly adjusting to his fingers as your muffled moans pushed pass the cracks of his knuckles. his class ring hits your clit with a certain rhythm, making you twitch as you hold onto his wrist. "fuck" you mumble in Chad's hand as he starts to recklessly pound his fingers into you. his actions were so rough but his words were so sweet, causing your brain to almost malfunction; "taking my fingers so fucking well." he pants softly. 

your faint moans turned into muffled screams when Chad stuffs a third finger in there, curling them and thrusting them deeper and deeper into your aching hole. his hand clamping harder around your mouth as your screams got louder and higher. he looked so determined to push you over the edge, it's almost like he wants you to cum all over his fingers. 

your eyes flutter as his thumb grazes over your clit. fuck. fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. you wish you had the entire apartment to yourself so you can scream and moan and do Chad on the dining table. for now, you're settling with him shutting you up with his knuckles deep in your hole. you can't help but feel your walls tighten around his fingers. he drags his fingers out and glances up at you, seeing how flustered and aroused you were as he slowly pulled off your panties, shushing you gently and moving his hand away from your mouth. "open wide angel." he hums before stuffing them in there.  

you could taste how tart you were, saliva staining the panties as he slowly slides his finger down your folds, using his free hand to whip his cock out. You faintly groaned out in frustration. you haven't felt this good in so long, your skin hot to the touch as your fingernails dug themselves into his shoulder blades. your eyes pleading as they found themselves staring at his cock; you knew Chad was pretty big, Liv might've ranted a little bit about how she was 'sore' from the first time she did it with him. you weren't expecting him to be so thick either. you could see his cock tremble, his tip already soaked in precum as it glistens in the dim lighting, the lamp hitting it just right as he smirks at you. "come on, angel, show me how bad you need it." he coos softly, brushing your hair behind your ear.

you rest yourself on your elbows, staring down at that Alaskan bull worm Chad calls a penis as you imagine yourself getting nearly split in half by him. how badly your hole was begging for any kind of contact as Chad's muscular arm wraps itself around your thigh. you could see his hand slowly pump his cock as he waited for your answer, maybe you propped up the way you were could get the job done for him. you whine and try to squeeze your thighs again before he forces them open, prying them apart like a Venus flytrap as he slowly inserts himself.  His tip slowly sinking into you "o..oh-f-fuck..." he groans softly, his voice getting even huskier as he pulls down on your hips. "your cunt sucks me up so well, angel...you're s-so tight." he mutters.

he slowly starts lunging his hips against yours, sweat gleaming from his forehead as he admires your reaction to every thrust, seeing your eyebrows furrow, your mouth falls open, your eyes fluttering, all of it just drives Chad insane. "such a pretty girl..." he nearly growls as he throws one of your legs over his shoulder; it's almost like he wanted to pace himself so he wouldn't get lost in the pleasure she was giving him; but it seemed nearly impossible as his pace increases. 

your muffled moans got louder and louder, causing Chad's strong hand to wrap around your neck and squeeze it softly, your moans becoming inaudible as he starts to brutally fuck you into the mattress. you thought this whole exchange would trigger something primal in you, freak you out too much that you end up running out of the room, but it was quite the opposite. Chad leans down. "your pretty moans are gonna wake t-them up, angel." he warns her again, his tone was so sweet though, it made you melt. "how do you t-think everyone's gonna f-feel when they see you getting fucked out-mhm-like the doll you are-?" he groaned out softly, his teeth grazing your ear and tugging on it. 

pleasure began to overwhelm you, your moans and whimpers turning into gasps and yelps as Chad clapped the hand he choked you with over your mouth, again. "f-fuck baby...you w-wanna be my angel, don't you?" he mumbles softly as your body started to jolt with pleasure, you could feel the panties hit the back of your throat, the essence of your juices left stuck on your tongue as your nails scratched up Chad's back. he then answers his own question. "I know you do, sweet girl...fuck, you hear how good you're taking me?" he praises. 

your own pleasure starts to build up as your back arches, and you can't help but cry out from how good it made you feel, it almost made you regret waiting so long before making a move on Chad, or anyone else really. Chad's dirty ramblings keep you on edge: "My cock fits so perfectly inside of you a-angel...wanna be buried in you like t-this all the time-mhmfuck-" his whispers start to turn into strained statements, the sound of skin slapping echoing inside the room, if anyone else was awake in the apartment, they probably would have already noticed the intense fucking happening in that room. 

the tip of his cock starts punching your g-spot like a boxer and his punching bag, you can't contain your muffled moans getting any louder; which causes Chad to cover your mouth for a third and final time. you could feel his cock seize inside of you as Chad's own groans start filling up the room. you were almost worried that Sam or Ethan were going to charge in here and see Chad balls deep inside of you. the pleasure starts to overwhelm you as your thighs shake uncontrollably, your hot breath wafting back into your face as Chad groans out quietly. "y-you need my cum, baby? mhm? that'll g-get you sleeping-" he manages to get out before feeling your juices gush out of you; realizing you had cum all over his cock, your body jerking in response as your eyes fluttered close.

involuntarily, Chad's cock squirms before you felt the thick ropes of his cum spill inside of you. you watched as his tense body finally relaxes into your touch, his heavy breaths and soft groans hitting your neck. seeing him slowly pull out and realizing he forgot to grab a condom from his wallet or check if Tara had some, oh well, it's not like he's gonna get murdered on the way to the pharmacy and back. he notices how limp you've become as he moves his hand away and pulls the panties out of your mouth. you can't help but notice how charming his smile was. he was glad he can catch you at this moment, all worn out and lazy but perfectly content, and finally dozing off to sleep. Chad gives you a lazy, soft kiss before you finally fell asleep.

the next morning, Chad and Mindy had run out to get breakfast; you were the last one to wake up, which Quinn noted as a good thing: "It means you finally caught up to your sleep schedule." which couldn't be further from the truth. you couldn't help but think about just a few hours prior, how good it all felt, how he basically fucked all the nervous energy out of you; feeling zen before the wave of reality hits you. The news was on, still talking about the new local Ghostface killings. you weren't sure if the slumber party kept you safer from the attacks or put you right in the middle of them, all you knew was that you had Chad as a bodyguard now. and when Chad finally comes back with several bags of Dunkin' breakfast sandwiches, he gave the only sprinkled donut he ordered to you. 

          .·:*¨༺♱༻¨*:·.

buy me a coffee ૮⸝⸝> ̫ >⸝ ა

[1800duckhotline]

im new here and missed your bg3 phase entirely can i hear what makes the game so sucks for you (or ill go look in the tag! fine too). i love to hear people bitchin about games everybody else doesnt wanna criticize

omg hello... first of all welcome to my twisted mind etc. my blog is an array of a completely random agglomeration of interests so im sorry if i shift from posting from x to y at the speed of light LMFAO. my bg3 obsession phase was definitely a strange exception but i guess it is what it is

and def i can give u the sparknotes version of my criticisms for the game, which are both rational and not and you're free not to agree and so forth, i'm just one guy expressing an opinion which i think i'm entitled to since i've played this game for over 200 hours almost i am fairly sure. i was not okay.

obviously i'll be mentioning spoilers fyi. i got long here but i promise this is just the Resume of my actual opinions

i hate the fact everyone sounds british except minsc or jaheira. i just dont like it. like a few characters here and there its nothing that bothers me but i'm tired of british accents in fantasy media. it makes things more of a snoozefest

for a game that prides itself on characters being reactive and interactable (esp companions) more often than not the companions reactions have been disappointingly lackluster and straight up Sad because they're so Nothing. i.e. durge reveal

i think not having tav/durge voiced was stupid. my onion!

the game is not as revolutionary as people make it out to be when it comes to character design and good lord the character creator to me is offensive. the companions are all EXTREMELY SAFE when it comes to 'conventional beauty standards', and while i'm not surprised nor did i expect any less, the lack of body diversity to me is just so... boring. it's so nothingburger. like i love projecting hcs and shit but i wish i didn't have to do that

wyll having so little in terms of content and writing and reactions in the game compared to astarion (and let's also say shadowheart bc on a technical level she's the second favorite of larian) is genuinely the worst thing to me because his concept is charming and interesting and larian just decided to do nothing with him. players that are black and/or poc obviously have said this a trillion times, i'm just echoing the sentiment because i also hate how blatant it is, esp when i read up and watched how he used to be in EA. like not to say the writing there was stellar but he had dimension. larian just does not give a fuck abt him and it is irritating lmao, esp since astarion has tangentially 0 actual involvement with the game's main plot in his arc WHILE WYLL LITERALLY GETS HIS ARC SIDELINED BY THE EMPEROR I FUCKING HATE THAT STUPID TURN OF EVENTS SO MUCH

act 1 is probably the best optimized out of all the acts, with the optimization being probably up to midway of act 2. then it alllllll goes downhill. i said it so much but i never get tired of saying it: act 3 is so poorly organized, so many good ideas all smushed together in an indigestible slog of an act with too many quests flattened in one single serving making it so fucking hard to want to get it done. which is awful, because a lot of poignant plot events and fights happen in act 3. i'm still of the firm belief they should've made an act 4. considering this ties in with the aforementioned issue where wyll was supposed to get more content... and it got cut out 'for time'.

i fucking hate astarion fans. i trust like 2 people that do like him. i genuinely was so indifferent to him in the game. like he's fine as a character. i just dont like him much because of the fans. Again ties in with the wyll issues too because people love to pretend astarion would be in wyll's place in the dancing scene when astarion would call you slurs and kill you if he could

also like think what you will of minthara but i think it's criminal that she's a companion and alongside wyll is left to rot at the bottom of the game's code. it's definitely more egregious for wyll imo but like. idk i also am not a fan of this esp since i discovered halsin was added as a companion because THE FANS begged them to. seething

again, there's people more well equipped to discuss this and i did reblog and share posts abt this before on my main account but the embarrassing fantasy racism is there and it's an innate problem of dnd. i think it should be mentioned and kept in mind regardless if it's done well or not (which i don't think it was).

this is less abt the game itself and more abt the fandom but i genuinely cannot fucking stand people who are so aggressive at users who have sexuality headcanons for some of the characters of the game. i've seen people have SO much fucking vitriol towards lesbians having lesbian hcs, specifically, gee i wonder why. this hasn't happened to Me but i have witnessed it.

i think that's more or less the Issues i have with bg3. you're free to ask anything in specific but like... i dont hate the game. or i wouldnt have played it so much. but it should not have been GOTY to me. sorry. like there's so much i just think is wrong... but im just one guy.

i usually prefer completely different types and genres of games, so obviously i'll be more dissecting towards a game i tried out of curiosity and Liked, but with many grievances. the type of stuff i usually like is also far from perfect but i judge a lot of those things in bg3 because of how the game presents itself as in advertisement and social media posts, as well as just like, the steam page. i have plans in the future to try similar games to bg3 to see if it's a common problem within that genre or if it's the black sheep (for me) but for now it is how it is

anyways i did also like a lot of parts of the game, it's just, i can't really reccomend it without mentioning what i didn't like you know?

[fandom-hoarder]

Anybody who thinks that abomination of a TWin finale was BETTER than the spn finale or FIXED anything about it can fuck right off, tbh. Bad vibes, dnw.

Like the biggest thing about TWin is it's INSULTING.

It's insulting that it's called "the winchesters", when The Winchesters are Sam and Dean. It's insulting that those involved kept telling people to trust them and "canon we got you" and stringing people along a whole fucking pointless season. It's insulting that they claimed they were so passionate about it when it's... Like This. When clearly no one could bother to even consult the canon, or hire actors who would be faithful to the OG representations. When it feels like a really cheap cash grab, when the interviews with Robbie and Jensen tell a story of people who knew they HAD to make this work, but didn't actually have a vision or focus for it. When Danneel appears to have been given way too much creative control despite not actually watching most of spn. When her passion for the project appeared to be the clothes she and Jensen could be photographed in -- this isn't wife hate, this is sincere criticism of someone who had creative control in a project they didn't even know the canon for.

It's insulting they spent the money for good music and played actual Led Zeppelin in THIS STUPID FINALE.

I know the last seasons of spn got pretty out there, got pretty stupid and lackluster (ghosts redux but daytime? Ehh), but at least in s15 they were running through "greatest callbacks" territory. TWin was not only worse quality, it had no fucking purpose. They didn't have a STORY TO TELL at all. You think THIS was where they were originally heading with that "Dean" voiceover from the pilot, talking about the true story of his parents?

THOSE WEREN'T EVEN HIS PARENTS. THAT WASN'T EVEN THEIR STORY. AND WHY WOULD JACK RECREATE THE MULTIVERSES AND INCLUDE CHUCK'S AKRIDA FAILSAFE? WHY WOULD *DEAN* HAVE TO FIX IT IN THE FIRST PLACE? *HOW* CAN HE GIVE THEM THE COLT AND "HIS JOURNAL"🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄 -- AND, WHAT, JUST LET THE COLT DISAPPEAR FROM PRIME UNIVERSE?

AND THESE PEOPLE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE THE SAME BEGINNING AS DEAN'S PARENTS; WHY WOULD GIVING THEM A JOURNAL EVEN HELP?

(None of these questions are important enough for an s2, mind you; this show gets the atla live action treatment--never happened, doesn't count)

THE WHOLE FUCKING REASONING IS JUST POINTLESS AND STUPID. AND THERE DIDN'T SEEM TO EVER BE ANY REAL STAKES FOR THIS SCOOBY GANG ALL SEASON. It was The Magic Tree House, with all the answers handed to them. (Not to mention the pretty bad acting I witnessed from Meg -- a too-short-to-be-Mary-when-Drake-is-that-tall Claire lookalike I'm supposed to believe as Mary🙄 --and the total lack of JohnMary chemistry, and the weird af lore breaking holywater!hair vamp splash that started as a joke and shouldn't have even made it onto the page🤦‍♀️-- if you wanted to be that kind of camp you should've just done a straightup AU spinoff, and not tried to tie this in to the OG while LYING about "canon we got you" and getting your tone all the fuck wrong)

This doesn't fix anything from spn finale--NOTHING NEEDED FIXED. Whatever gripes there may be about aspects of the spn finale, essentially it was PERFECT. THIS bullshit takes a Dean who had finally come to terms with the life they'd lived, who had his actual loved ones largely available in heaven (and Sam on earth, but knowing he'd meet Dean up there, and time is different in Heaven), and takes away any character growth the spn finale suggested-- because he's ALREADY LEARNED THIS LESSON ABOUT TRYING TO CHANGE THE PAST WTF.

Also, that was not Dean. I get that Jensen probably couldn't cut his hair or whatever, but that turtleneck sweater was not an outfit OG Dean would wear, AND Jensen seems to have forgotten how to do the Dean voice/accent. They should've said it was huntercorp!Dean or something, cuz that was not the Dean that died in 15.20 and went to Heaven and took a drive to wait for Sam.

The only correct thing in TWin finale is that Sam was still Dean's #1, and all the SamDean parallels to JohnMary throughout the show get rights for preserving that. But the JohnMary was so dull.

This ridiculous show is NOT CANON, and I hope whatever future endeavors come out of spnverse has greater respect for the OG and its fandom, and better writing and casting. (I would prefer for it to die than become another abomination.)

I'm sorry for Drake's decent acting that this was the story he got, since he seemed to actually be a fan of the og -- even though some of his comments lost him some points with me. Sorry for some of the other wannabe scooby gang actors, who should've just gotten their own spoofy spinoff. I would be happy to not see Meg in anything ever again -- not that I wish for an end to her career, just that *I* won't have to see her face act. I would also be ecstatic for the Ackles' friends to not be cast in roles they're unsuited for just so they can all work together 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄 how the fuck was that supposed to be Samuel?

You make a variety show for this shit, not a fucking prequel-that's-not-a-prequel. Good grief. Get you some good people that will tell you no. Maybe talk to Jared about it, jfc. He actually gets thoughtful about his headcanons.

[deaddee-anime-brownfanlady]

Alright this is going to my last post regarding this Ze artist transphobia issue as well as regarding this Viv donation problem too & just getting this off my chest.

Now again, I truly felt like this Ze individual should've seriously come forward themselves on this Transphobia tweets issue. Like made a statement about liking these takes & express whether or not they are truly transphobic & have these views & feelings on trans women & trans people in general, and if not then simply just apologized.

Instead of letting some of their coworkers do it themselves. Perhaps, maybe they are taking advantage of the crew to simply save face & cover their own skin, Idk. Also, I felt the responses & poor choice of wording used from Tracy, including Ashley, could've been so much better worded on the handlement of this situation & a bit more professional. I'm sure there's a lot still going on behind the scenes, especially on the business side of things. Since this is still a business, there probably contracts involved. But again this Ze artist should still have their actions held accountable.

Now on this Donation rejection issue.

Why the Hell would you publicly post to your large following that your donation was rejected in the first freaking place? I deeply think that should be kept privately to yourself.

Vivzie should know good well by now that her fanbase is super dangerously overly-obsessive when it comes to her and been known to dogpile, threatened, and attacked anyone who dare criticized her works or dare to call her out on her own equally shitty behaviors and actions. She should have clarify that the donation rejection was politely declined and that there isn't any ill well between parties.

Given Vivienne own list of multiple countless records of ever-growing controversies & allegations, also how she has hurt so many people & done dirty to other artists & animators that used to work for her & others who been victims of her abuse.

I'm not surprised nor real shocked on how much a mess this situation ended up becoming with her involvement in it. The rejection situation could've happened because Lackadaisy already reached their 2 Mili goal & the extra money wasn't needed, or due to other reasons that is still unknown.

I just found the hypocrisy from Vivienne following on this issue to be both baffling & Ironic also tiring. On how they seem to always no matter what coddle this grown adult woman from also taking accountability of any kind in terms of her own unexcusable actions & refuse to see their idol as anything less than highly perfect or not as she seems to be.

Well, all in all. I just deeply think that this Ze person should be accountable. Also, that Vivienne and her awful actions shouldn't be constantly excuse and be equally held accountable too.

Again this situation could've been handled a lot better and way more professional on these issues.

[yasmindifference]

any tips for getting your fics noticed? i hardly get any engagement ;_;

I'm not an expert, but here are a few things that might help!

Tags Prioritize your tags!

It can be tempting to tag as many things as possible in the hopes of grabbing people's attention, but you also risk turning them away with a block of tags. Keep in mind that while readers might be overjoyed to read a 300k fic, that's because they're emotionally invested in it! They're not emotionally invested in your tags, and they're only gonna stick with them to a certain point.

To wit: if you have 15 tags about what you should've been doing instead of writing your fic and 4 tags about the content of the fic, chances are, the casual browser isn't gonna see the fic-related tags. They'll have moved on by the third tag about your neglected homework.

So I recommend really thinking about and focusing the content of your fic: which characters are really important? which relationships feature? which tropes/themes play the biggest parts? Figure out what really deserves highlighting, and tag that!

That said, some people enjoy going wild in the tags, and in the end, fic is about fun. You don't have to minimize your tags if you don't want to! Just be aware of how those extraneous tags pile up.

Summary I can't overstate how important the summary is. Number one tip: Do not include any kind of mention that you're bad at summarizing, the story is better than the summary, etc. I understand the temptation (summaries are hard!) but nothing turns me off a fic faster than the author denigrating themselves in the summary. The summary is your chance to advertise! If you're using it to criticize yourself, what am I supposed to assume about your story?

Other than that, just try to make it interesting! Again, it's your chance to advertise: what's happening in your fic that's fun? What are the characters going through? Toss a fun quote from the fic in there, explain the point of the fic, boil it down to the main trope, etc. There's no "one right way" to summarize, but here's a tip: if your summary bores you, it'll probably bore your readers, too.

Readability Anon, this is SO important. Is your fic easy to read? I don't mean in terms of content or even grammar, I mean layout. There have been many, many fics with fascinating summaries where I couldn't even make it through the first chapter because they were just physically hard to read.

Break up your paragraphs! You need to give your readers' eyes a break every now and then. A "big block of text," as it's called, is usually a pretty quick turn off. There's no hard and fast rule, but I typically try to keep my paragraphs under five lines. (Note that's not sentences - five lines.)

Think of it this way: people are going to be interrupted while they're reading. Maybe the doorbell rings, maybe they get a text, maybe they're reading under the desk while they're in class. If you've got twenty things happening in every paragraph, chances are they'll be losing their place repeatedly. Give your readers a fighting chance!

And for the love of potatoes: ALWAYS start a new line when the person speaking changes. Just look:

"Did you finish the reading?" she asked. "No," he said, "I got abducted by aliens last night." She raised her eyebrows. "Aliens, huh?" "Aliens!" "Was it fun at least?" He sighed. "No, they were just looking for directions to the post office. The one on Jefferson, not the one on Seventh." "Why does everyone want to go to the post office?" she wondered. "Who even sends letters anymore?" He shrugged.

That's hard to follow! There's a lot of lines there and a lot of quotes and not a lot of descriptive tags...and the ones that are make it harder to keep track of who's talking, not easier! Compare that to this:

"Did you finish the reading?" she asked. "No," he said, "I got abducted by aliens last night." She raised her eyebrows. "Aliens, huh?" "Aliens!" "Was it fun at least?" He sighed. "No, they were just looking for directions to the post office. The one on Jefferson, not the one on Seventh." "Why does everyone want to go to the post office?" she wondered. "Who even sends letters anymore?" He shrugged.

It's still a boring conversation, but at least it's one you can read! This is especially important when you have multiple characters using the same pronouns. Keep who's talking clearer by giving each speaker an individual line!

The readability goes for summaries, too - if your summary is a twenty line long block of text, chances are people are going to scroll past it.

Expectations Finally, and potentially most importantly: manage your expectations. A fic for a popular pairing is usually going to get more engagement than a fic for a rarepair. A fic in a lively fandom is likely to get more engagement than a fic in a fandom that's mostly died out.

Does your fic contain a controversial kink? Have you warned for a common trigger? Is the fic centered on a minor character most casual fans couldn't pick out of a lineup?

It's wonderful to write for characters/pairings/kinks/whatever that aren't popular. I'd never want to discourage you from that! But it's important to keep in mind that a less popular subject is, by nature, going to get less engagement.

And also: consider the dates! It's tempting to compare engagement on your fic with engagement on the most popular fics in the fandom/pairing/whatever. But was that fic with ten thousand kudos posted earlier this year? Probably not! Chances were, it's taken a long time for that fic to gather that much engagement. Don't compare your numbers three days after posting with a fic that's been up three years.

I hope any of this is helpful, anon! Good luck! ♡♡♡♡

[slow-button-off]

I'm completely with you. Taking into account his on track behavior, him stirring the pot in the media, his family spouting pure nonsense whenever they can, the absolute bullshit that comes from the spanish media, having him on the team has more cons than pros. Added to that Ferrari having to sacrifice their other driver to keep him/his family/his country happy on numerous occasions (both on track and in the media), it really begs the question "what does carlos sainz even do".

Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that unfortunately we'll still get a renewal for him, but it will work out worse for everyone involved. I don't think Ferrari will be able to justify dropping him, especially since he's their last race winner and will probably finish in front of charles in the championship again this year (knowing Charles luck, I can see another 2021 situation happening). If the car next year is better and a repeat of early 2022 happens (🤞) then maybe they can justify it, but if discussions happen before that, which they probably will, I really don't see them dropping him (if they do, I'm sure carlos/carlos snr will be spreading all Ferrari's dirty laundry plus some more in the media). I think Ferrari will be scared to drop him because they'll probably face a lot of criticism. So I think that they'll give him a contract, but not as good a deal as charles will get. And he'll be mad about it, and this behavior will only worsen. And he'll try even harder to be "number 1" and we'll have to put up with everything tenfold. I really see this happening, and it makes me scared.

The only hope I have is if audi or someone else offers him something better.

It's the impeding in quali, the borderline moves while defending that should've been a penalty especially in Monza where had they not been teammates it would've been a slam dunk penalty. But Ferrari isn't going to complain about that.

I also don't like that the spanish media and his dad are stirring the pot sometimes saying it out loud sometimes just implying that Carlos is treated worse and then he goes and gives interviews blaming the fans for that. It's weird.

Idk if he is getting a new contract. Charles has already signed one, and Carlos has been acting especially weird when he is asked about his contract lately. He clearly wants the same contract as Charles which is why his family friend was pushing for that in the media and claiming that Ferrari fans will not take it if they get different contracts. And lately his behaviour as gotten a bit worse so I am genuinely starting to think that it's not going well for him.

at max he'll get a short term extension and rumours say that Ferrari are for example somewhat talking to Alex (and probably others too).

I think his behaviour rn and how much his dad was talking about Audi really hurt his leverage for an extension. They were trying to shop him around to other teams back in Canada already.

Either he is out or he is getting a worse contract than Charles which will be fun.

[destinygoldenstar]

☀️HOW DID WE GET HERE?!?!☀️ - Total Drama Viewer Reacts to Disventure Camp Season 1 Episode 9 “Don’t Open, Campers Inside”

TRIGGER WARNING: BLOOD & GORE

Okay, this italicized part is an EDIT after the reaction. I need to put up a trigger warning for this episode as a reason why I might not show as many images as usual.

I don't think it's as bad as it could've been, otherwise I think OddNation would get demonetized. But to be on the safe side, THIS EPISODE/THIS POST IS NOT FOR THE HEMOPHOBIC.

I WILL put a TW in the tags as well so they don't see the post. But in case your account doesn't have the filter for this sort of thing, HERE'S YOUR WARNING.

I have a gut feeling that we're gonna start losing besties in these next few episodes. If anything last episode was to go off by.

I said this last episode, but in terms of who I think are gonna win at this point... Finalists, Ellie, Fiore, and... I guess Jake. With Ellie winning.

Ellie just has the most understanding motive to win out of all of them and it would be satisfying to see her achieve her dreams.

No I guess Alec does too, but I can't see the scenario in my head. I BARELY react to the Alec scenes, I realize. But I looked back last episode and realized Alec said he "Wished his son was like Fiore" which... OOF, I wish I had a reaction to that. Because holy shit, you're a bad dad if you think that.

He just doesn't have as much emotional range as some of the others. So I don't gravitate towards him as much. I do think he's okay though.

I think that's my takes: Alec's... okay. Fiore's the villain so naturally I don't route for her. Grett's a bad bitch and we stan but also she's not winning. Miriam's great. Tom's great. I love Jake. MAKE UP GOSH DARN IT. And Ellie... I do like her, I admit. She's growing on me.

Yeah...idk what to expect this time. Other than I THINK another idol should come into play. Cause the heroes are outnumbering the villains and the show can't eliminate all the villains before the finale. That's plot armor for you. (I made a post about this topic. Plot Armor is not a criticism.) So with Fiore exposed, ain't no way anyone's flipping. So the only other way is to find an idol. One of the villains gets it, they nullify the votes, and one of the heroes gets the boot.

If I had to predict, probably Tom. Tom's a threat. Plain and simple.

Plus with his kind of character, I know Tom is NEVER winning anyway.

I know I said vote off Jake last episode, but that was because you could gain Ellie's loyalty from that. Well you lost the chance. Even if you do boot Jake it ain't gonna put Ellie on your side. Ya should've booted him when it was convenient and you had the chance.

"Tom & Miriam would ditch Ellie after the villains were out"

By then it'd be the FINAL THREE. So what does that matter?

God I said I didn't have a lot to say and here we are. Let's just get into it.

"What the hell was that bullshit in the elimination?!"

OMG THANK YOU

THANK YOU

GRETT CALLS IT OUT. OMG THANK YOU.

I FEEL VALIDATED.

"You mean the way we were exposed?"

...oh.

No I was talking about your choice on voting.

Nope. I'm not validated.

"Golden, that's the thing with us villains. We don't need your permission to slay. We do it anyway."

"You don't understand kid! I can't lose!"

Trauma dump?

👏Trauma dump👏 Trauma dump 👏Trauma dump👏

"I can't go home without the money!"

"Are you in debt?"

"No, it's not the money itself. It's what it stands for... If I win, my parents will finally be proud of me."

AWWWW, GRETT, HONEY

"Why does everyone think money can solve their personal problems?"

Then... why are you here Fiore?

Also Ellie would like a word.

"Alec thinks winning will fix problems with his wife and you think winning this will make your parents love you. I'm gonna be honest Alec, that marriage is a divorce waiting to happen."

NOT THE CHILD MARRAIGE COUNSELING

"What experience can a six year old have?!"

"Well let's see, my parents abandoned me in the woods. Clearly they hate me."

"My mother never loved me and I know her life would be much better if I never existed. She's told me she thinks I'm a monster..."

OUCH

God, am I starting to feel bad for her now?!

"...I know she's right, but it still hurts to hear."

Oh.

So she's just kinda accepted that she's awful.

"The adults in my life think I'm a demon with no redeeming qualities, so that must be true. Might as well live off that."

Does that imply that Fiore was an accidental pregnancy...?

I mean I'm not a mother, but I know that's something that can happen if you don't, you know, control yourself.

"But you know what? After awhile, the hurt starts to hurt less, and you start taking ownership of who you are."

👏

WHY AM I LIKING THE CHILD NOW?!?!

I mean she's a pretty static character. BUT I think that works in this favor.

"If you want to win, do it for yourself. Prove to those that didn't have faith in you. Prove it to yourself that you're worth it."

👏

See Grett? You found your place as a monster too.

"I couldn't care less about Grett's pathetic insecurities-"

Yeah, she cares about literally nobody.

She WILL ditch these guys on the bus the moment she has the chance.

And she's gonna show no remorse doing it.

And when that happens I'm gonna be HOWLING.

Oh not these two again.

YOU'VE BEEN FIGHTING THE PAST THREE EPISODES. GET OVER IT.

"Hey Tom, I know I said this a dozen times, but I really am sowwy. Can you forgive me?"

"Jake I just learned I have cancer. And for some reason I'm gonna say that's your fault. Get out of my life."

"I've been thinking about what you've told me..."

Oh wait.

Are they actually gonna make up now?

"Maybe you weren't the only selfish one. I attacked you without thinking about how you were feeling..."

Oh yeah they are!

So he just needed to cool off after the news. I get it.

"You don't have to apologize."

"It's all me. It's always my fault. I'm the one who always has to take the blame for things like this."

"I want us to be friends again."

HALLELUJAH!! THANK YOU!!!

"But lets both try to be better. For our sakes."

YUSS!!! FRIENDSHIP RESTORED!!!

THEIR DRAMA CAN BE PUT TO REST NOW!!!!

I'm okay with them just being friends. I think that is healthier that way given they're... messy.

So I'm actually really happy about this.

"Where are Jake and Tom?"

They're 'hanging out' if you know what I mean...

I'm sorry.

"Maybe they're making up."

Up or out?

GOD I JUST SAID I WAS GLAD THEY WERE JUST FRIENDS, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!

"For some reason, Golden is whispering in my hear and urging me to kiss the boy."

"Sorry for attacking you so much in the previous challenge."

Is she trying to be allies with these guys now? I called it.

"It's okay. It was also my fault. I judged you too soon without knowing if you were with them or not."

Well she was, but she's not anymore.

She's a redeemed girlie

"I do that a lot."

"Do what?"

"Judging people without knowing their true intentions."

Yeah I can see that.

"It's fine. We can't change the past. We have to look towards a better future."

YES. ALLYSHIP.

CALLED IT!

"Maybe I was wrong to think badly of these young-ins."

"Except Fiore. She's just as bad as I thought."

"Any update about your job?"

He got FIRED. I don't think you get an update after that.

"Anyway, I haven't been sure for awhile if this is what I really want..."

Oh?

You didn't want to be a spy?

"...or if I'm even good at it..."

Uh...

Yeah, you weren't, I'm gonna be brutally honest.

You can find a new job. One that you love. One where you can work AND maintain relationships.

"You think you weren't meant to be a spy?"

"I don't know. But it's not like I have a choice anymore."

Yeah... that's a hard situation. I can relate to that.

AH-!

OH MY GOD.

I DIDN'T-OH MY GOD...

"I don't work there anymore... I don't need this..."

So he WAS wearing that for his job! So he's ditching his career?!

OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH...

Oh THAT'S why...

I was thinking awhile it would be that he had a scarred face, but I wasn't sure. AND I was joking about it this whole time. God I feel awful now...

I'm trying to look at this properly. What happened? Was he in a fire or something? I can't tell cause it's a cartoon, but that MIGHT be burn scars?????

I don't know, maybe he's gonna explain it.

"My first job was a couple months ago. I was sloppy and I got found out. Things went wrong, and my captors... gave me this..."

😨

OH MY GOD, HE WAS TORTURED?!?!?!

HOLY-I DIDN'T THINK THEY WERE GONNA GO THAT DARK WITH IT.

Holy god, I can't even imagine. I don't want to imagine Tom getting tortured like that.

"The boss wasn't happy. I was tasked to come onto this show as a contestant to investigate it. This job was my last chance, and I blew it."

Ouch...

"Were you using that mask to hide your identity or... were you...?"

"That's just an excuse. The truth is I... I felt ashamed..."

Aw...😢

"But you look good, Tom."

Awwwwww...💗

...wwwwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH

OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH MYY GOD!!!!

*I got out of my chair and paced around for a minute*

AAAAAAAHHHH💗

*I'm giddy and out of breath*

I didn't expect them to kiss today... oh my god...

YEEESSS!!! I FEEL VALIDATED!!!!!

Oh my god, Tom Face Reveal. AND... ship name kiss, IN THE SAME SCENE. That's too much for the feels.

Jam. It's Jam isn't it? I don't have jam on me right now.

I actually don't like eating jam. I'm not a jelly person.

Okay okay okay, I'm sorry. I'll keep going.

"...I'm not."

Aw 💗

"Attention campers! Challenge time!"

Oh screw you!

They're good for each other. They're actually good for each other.

I HAD MY DOUBTS. But they do work.

*I had to get water* (Y'all keep your dirty jokes about that)

OH ARE THEY GETTING KIDNAPPED?!

Gosh darn it, I KNEW Chris McLean was here!

How are you all sleeping sitting up?

Is this a "Escape the chamber" challenge?

"The hosts are clearly screwing with us."

OKAY NO I JUST THOUGHT OF SOMETHING IN MY HEAD

DANGANRONPA 2 FUNHOUSE

OH PLEASE TELL ME THIS BOTH IS, AND ISN'T THAT

Cause that situation was HELL

Where'd you get the hats from?

"What happened to the sky?"

"It's covered in grapes and strawberries, and idk why that is-also why is part of the forest blocked off? Why can't we get out?"

"Fiore I don't think you're supposed to be playing those games."

I still headcanon Fiore is a Mortal Combat fangirl.

"Where'd you get that hat?"

WHERE'D YOU GET THAT HAT?!

OH MY GOD. THE HATS ARE SENTIENT.

"Alright gang, grab every weapon in this place you can find and start SMASHING!!!"

Why does the cabin have so much weaponry?!

"Fiore, I think I know what's happening."

"Don't freak out... but a bear is gonna pop out in a minute and force us to kill each other."

"It's the only explanation. Don't tell anyone."

"Uh, we are right here and in hearing range."

"What happened with your mask?"

Oh yeah they don't know...

God it's SO WEIRD seeing Tom without the mask now.

OH SHIT-

UM, HELLO?!?!?!

IM SORRY, WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!?!

“What the hell is that?!”

My thoughts exactly Ellie!

DID THEY WAKE UP IN THE FUTURE?! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!?!

I'M WATCHING A TOTAL DRAMA FANFICTION, RIGHT?!?!

"It looks like a-a-a person..."

"Like a dead person?!"

Tom, you killed a guy!

OH GOOD LORD-

YEAH WE'RE NOT WATCHING DISVENTURE CAMP ANYMORE

If you asked me what my predictions were for this show: "Let's make a PLOT TWIST in the middle of the show and turn it into a zombie apocalypse 'The Walking Dead' show" Would NEVER be on my list.

WHAT THE HELL

I mean if you know me, you know I like death game stories...

But surprisingly, I don't actually like zombie apocalypse stories. It's not just my cup of tea.

Because zombie apocalypse stories are just so bloody hopeless and there's absolutely no way out of inevitable fate. It's just "This is hell, wait till it's your turn to die."

And I just naturally find that less compelling than stuff like Hunger Games, Squid Game, and Danganronpa, where there IS a possibility to escape your fate, even if it's really small.

With these kinds of stories, I'm just waiting for everyone to die. So I get less attached.

That's just my opinion.

"Did you hear that?!"

"Sounded like gunshots!"

"Don't worry guys! It's just Tom killing a man! It's fine!"

"I KISSSED A SERIAL KILLER?!?!"

I mean, I WOULD say this is all a stage show. Like these are just people wearing makeup.

BUT YOU CAN'T FAKE TOM KILLING A GUY.

UNLESS YOU'RE A PSYCHOPATH WORSE THAN CHRIS MCLEAN

XD

"I don't care if he's a serial killer! HE'S MY LOVE! WE'RE LETTING HIM IN. WHAT'S THE WORSE THAT COULD HAPPEN?!"

"What's going on?!"

"Ellie why do you have ketchup splashed all over your face?"

"They looked like people, but they're not!"

"I would never kill a man! I swear!!"

"What if it was a woman?"

"...shit!!"

"Is that... a bite?"

OH SHIT

They're not gonna KILL Ellie, right?!

Cut off her arm, and she might be saved!

"...well, one step closer to winning."

GRETT. WTF?! YOU"RE A PSYCHOPATH!!!

I mean I'm not surprised. BUT WTF?!

"I think we... have to... cut off your arm."

NO I WAS JUST JOKING, YOU'RE ACTUALLY GONNA DO IT?!?!?!?!?

"GOLDEN IS OUR OVERLORD AND SHE TOLD ME TO SAVE YOU BY CUTTING OFF YOUR ARM!!!"

"Isn't this just a silly challenge?!"

GOD I HOPE SO

CAUSE THIS IS FUCKED UP

OH MY GOD THEY'RE ACTUALLY DOING IT...

I'M SORRY ELLIE!!!

"So... this ISN'T a challenge?"

YOU THINK?!?!!!

NOW YOU REGRET IT?!?!

"I think I'm gonna faint."

I WOULD TOO.

ELLIE NOOOOOOOO

OKAY. WHO GAVE THE CHILD A GUN?!

I mean it's good reason, but who gave the child a gun?!

ONE WEEK LATER?! WTF?!?!?

HOW DID WE GET HERE???!?!

WE'RE NOT EVEN HALFWAY DONE WITH THE EPISODE. THEY WOKE UP IN THE FUTURE. THERE'S A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE. ELLIE IS DEAD.

HOW DID WE GET HERE?!??!

"The show is over... we're just lucky to be alive..."

You know what's crazy? I made a DUMBASS THEORY about the Total Drama Reboot that never happened cause it was too insane.

I said that Chris McLean was planning to take over the world and was using the show to turn people into robot slaves and start an apocalypse. And the Season 2 ending of the reboot would be just like this.

DID SOMEONE WHO WORKED ON DISVENTURE CAMP FIND MY POST AND SAY "We should make THAT the plot of our show!"?!?!

AND Y'ALL BELIEVED I WAS INSANE.

WHERE'S MY CREDIT?! I CAME UP WITH THIS.

"Wow Miriam, how'd you learn to do that?"

"Back in my day, I was secretly a serial killer!"

"Are there really knife throwing contests?"

I would be CONCERNED if there were.

"Grett and Alec got bit... we got attacked... I was the only one who made it out..."

This is a trap.

Tom is probably the most equipped for surviving this.

OH GOD-

YOU CAN'T JUST HOLD A CHILD AT GUNPOINT, TOM

YOU CAN'T JUST DO THAT.

"I'll put one right between your eyes."

Tom, you're done.

OKAY, RIP ALEC

Tom is NOT fucking around!

"Tom! Are you okay?"

"No worries. I got a body count in the double digits now. Cool, huh?"

NOOOOOOOOOOOO

MIRIAM NOOOOOOOO

WHAT?!! THAT CAME OUT OF NOWHERE!!

"Miriam, stay with me!!"

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO...

NOT THE GRANDMA

"Don't leave me!!"

AWWWW JAKE NOOO😢

He's losing another grandma! 😭

"Coming to this camp was worth it... I didn't think my last days would end like this... but I'm happy they were with you... you are the grandchildren I never had."

😭💗

HE'S YOUR GRANDSON. DON'T LEAVE HIM.

NOOOOOOO

"Not again!!" *cries*

AWWW JAKE, HONEY NOOOOOO 😭

Don't Make Jake Suffer Challenge. Level: Impossible.

Yeah lets just cut to a six year old driving a bus. Why not?

I'M STILL MOURNING

*Patreon*

THIS WHIPLASH AIN'T HELPING

HOW DID WE GET HERE?!?!

Yeah. Sure. One Month Later.

I don't even care anymore.

HOW. DID. WE. GET. HERE?!?!?

"Remember last month? Before all this? What you said about my parents?"

"You want to ask if I think they're alive? Well I got bad news."

"They're in Mexico right now."

"Being alone out here this last month has taught me that I don't need them. I never did. They were never there for me."

Well good for you for getting development queen.

"I know where to get a map to the nearest city."

*I get a body spray ad*

...I don't even know how that translates to what they just said.

Oh yeah I forgot Alec died too!

Fiore did not give a SHIT, did she?

*rewinds to look back*

Yeah she doesn't give a rats ass about you Alec.

Awww, these two...

Hey wait.

*look at Jake's neck*

Why does Jake have a hickey?

Guys, I'm not supposed to be reading too much into that, am I????

What have you boys been doing this past month?!?

"Every day it's the same. Go out and find supplies, run away from these creatures and DO IT all over again..."

...

I'm sorry, my mind is in a dirty place now. He said "DO IT all over again".

GUYS I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE READING TOO MUCH INTO THIS, AM I?!?!?!?

"I don't know... I don't think this will ever end..."

Can we give Jake a hug? PLEASE?

"Hey... at least we have each other."

THANK YOU💗

THEY LOVE EACH OTHER💗

NO GODDAMMIT

FIORE WHYYYYYYYY

“Hey guys! I got another trick I wanna show you. It’s called: ‘BURY YOUR GAYS’”

*Jake gets killed too*

Goddammit...

NOT A SIX YEAR OLD MURDERING MY BOYS

HOW DID WE GET HERE?!?!??!

"I'm sorry Grett, but I need this immunity."

Wait what-

*Murders Grett*

WELP.

This is how we got here.

A six year old is celebrating among her victims.

"WHOO HOOO!!! I KILLED EVERYBODY!!!!"

WHY IS TOM IN THE FAMILY GUY POSE?!?!?!?!?

"See that's my secret Golden. My mask protects me from getting killed, so I'm just faking my death."

"...oh wait I'm not wearing my mask anymore. SHIT-"

...

WAIT WHAT THE FUCK?!

IT WAS ALL VR?!

I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS.

HOW DID WE GET HERE?!??!?!?!?!

"Oh my gosh, my arm! I have my arm!"

"Oh my gosh, I've been in a coma for a MONTH! Cause I died on the first day!"

"Victory is mine! MIIIIINNNNEEE!!!"

All Fiore cares about is winning.

When a six year old is an even worse psychopath than Grett.

"Am-am-am I dead?!"

Jake. Honey.

EVERYONE is going to need SERIOUS THERAPY after this.

HOLY SHIT THAT IS TRAUMATIZING.

I can't even blame Jake one bit. He watched his friend get turned into a zombie and die. He watched his surrogate grandma die. He watched his boyfriend die. He watched HIMSELF die. AND IT WAS IN THE SPAN OF A MONTH

...nah, therapy ain't fixing him.

"A few hours ago, you fell asleep, and we put you through our hyper realistic VR simulator."

You guys are fucked up.

Even Chris McLean is saying that's fucked up.

"I'm just glad I have both my arms again."

Ellie's just done.

"Yeah TOM! Don't cut a woman's arm off! I'M VOTING YOU TONIGHT."

Watch it actually be Tom that's going and that's Ellie's reason.

I feel like Tom's story is done anyway.

"The challenge was to survive the zombie apocalypse."

You can't survive a zombie apocalypse. Either you DIE, or you DIE.

"Wait, so you KILLED ME to get immunity?!"

YEAH.

If THAT doesn't prove to you that Fiore is FUCKED UP BEYOND REPAIR, idk what does.

"Weren't we in an alliance?"

"We were. But we got exposed last round."

ARE YOU DITCHING GRETT?!

YOU NEED HER FOR NUMBERS.

Idk why I'm asking at this point. These villains plans have been stupid these past two episodes.

I mean, it's not THAT bad here because there was no other option after they killed Tom & Jake. So...

I won't rant this time.

"You'll be distorted for a few more hours, adjusting back to our time, getting back to your body, all that kind of stuff."

"And you'll probably need YEARS of therapy."

"What do we do? We have to decide between Alec or Grett."

Yeah, obviously.

At least Ellie doesn't hold beef about the arm thing.

*Grett Voted Alec*

Aaaaannnndd the villains are turning on each other.

Idiots.

*Fiore Voted Grett*

Wait what are you doing?

"That game is the closest I'll ever get to legally shooting someone in the face."

Fiore you are a psycho.

*Alec Voted Grett*

"Now that we're exposed, we don't need you anymore."

Welp. Grett's gone.

Unless the heroes voted Alec...

'ALEC'

We know.

'GRETT'

'ALEC'

OH THEY DID VOTE ALEC. WAIT A MINUTE.

'GRETT'

THE HEROES VOTED ALEC. WHERE ELSE WOULD THAT COME FROM?

'GRETT'

...wait what?

Wow. Didn't even need to read all the votes.

Who threw their vote on Alec then?

*thinks about it*

Jake, why'd you do that? There's no reason.

"I might be thinking about turning on the heroes, you know?"

*sigh* Queen's time to go.

"Fiore, Alec, even though you betrayed me, I won't lie. I had a good time with you."

At least she's taking this well.

"It will be difficult, but I'll try and take what you said to heart. I'll stop trying to prove anything to anyone. In fact... that includes you."

"FUCK ALL OF YOU. PEACE OUT!!"

😂👏

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSS

Queen Queen Queen Queen QUEEEEENNNNN

👑

SHE SLAYED TILL THE END

...LITERALLY

Oh my god... what an episode...

Um... so how did we get here? That was... crazy.

Idk how I feel about it. Honestly. Maybe it's just cause of my taste for zombie apocalypse stories. But also, this is DEFINATELY gonna be something these people are gonna have nightmares about.

I mean, okay, two things,

One: JAM IS CANON. 🍉

...there's no jam emoji

At least they worked things out and they're happy together.

I feel like one of them is going next episode. From an idol, like I said. But hey, at least they worked things out and they're happy now and they can work through each other's baggage together.

"Screw you VR Simulator! We're not going to Mexico! We're going to CHINA! And we're eating dumplings!"

I'm happy for them.

And Grett.

Queen. What can I say?

I STANNED HER WHEN NO ONE ELSE DID AND NO ONE ELSE SHOULD AND I STAND BY THAT.

Okay it's not a secret I like her. But I also think she's interesting as an antagonist with her more human story about her family life and wanting to prove herself, but not knowing *how* exactly.

And she found her place with the other villains. Before, you know, they betrayed her. But what do you expect? And at least she took it well.

I admit, I feel like these last three episodes of her were a BIT rushed, but I can't say I would swap her elimination to later until I finish the season and see what the other eliminations are.

I knew she was never winning anyway. Like I said last time, I don't hate it when these shows eliminate my favs, cause I know that's something they HAVE to do. So I fully expected her to get eliminated, and I'm fine with it.

Prediction next episode: Fiore or Alec find an idol and they pull one on the heroes, and with it they get Tom out. That's what I think is gonna happen.

If you guys want me to continue these reactions, be sure to let me know.

[sapphire-weapon]

I guess I'm just doubtful bc RE9 (from what I've seen so far, and I do wanna preface that it's nothing substantial yet) feels more like a continuation after RE6 than RE8. Not in its story or anything, I know it'll probably be a separate thing, and that's honestly the best way to go. In a game structure way. As in, 'we're going back to what RE always was'. I do wonder where they will go with it. Whether it'll feel in any way connected to RE7 and RE8, or it'll just be somewhat of a standalone game.

And the thing is, I feel like either of those options feels risky. Specifically because they chose to make RE8 a direct continuation to RE7. Or maybe I'm just talking out of my ass here lmao. I do wonder what they'll do in terms of gameplay too, mostly because RE4R was so amazing. Would be pretty sucky if the original title's gameplay turns out feeling less advanced than one of the remake!

But yeah. Honestly I wouldn't be having all these doubts if RE9 wasn't in development for that long, either. It all boils down to that issue in the end of the day.

here's something to consider:

at the time that RE9 entered development, RE7 was plateauing on sales, hovering at around the 3-4 million mark, which is WELL BELOW average for an RE mainline title, and was not considered for GOTY

since then:

RE2make was nominated for GOTY in 2019 and has since become the highest-selling RE title of all time

RE8 was nominated for GOTY in 2021

RE4make broke records for the fastest-selling RE title ever released and was not only nominated for GOTY, but was the fourth highest-rated game on metacritic in 2023 (losing out only to baldur's gate 3, tears of the kingdom, and metroid prime remastered)

it's also helpful to note that RE8 was pretty obviously built as a beta test/blueprint for RE4make

so when RE9's director says they're going to take RE back to what it always was, my take on that was that they, after a long session of hand-wringing back and forth trying to decide on what to do after RE7's release was lukewarm at best, decided to try to make RE9 a mix of RE2 and RE4, which are the two highest-regarded titles in the series and have now twice-over brought capcom massive success, both financially and critically.

my best guess for RE9 is that

when it started production, that was when co-op team shooters had seen a huge re-emergence in the form of overwatch and destiny, and so capcom's initial thought was to try to capitalize on that. that's probably where the initial idea of a leon and jill co-op game came from. remember, that's what andy reported that the game originally was.

but then they changed that when they saw what happened with RE2make, RE8, and RE4make.

and so what's caused such massive, massive delays in production was a complete restructuring of the project, and now instead of a co-op, we may very well be getting a dual scenario system closer to RE2. and if not two scenarios, a switching back and forth between leon and jill, sort of like how RE8 handed off to chris about 3/4 of the way through.

the most optimistic take on this is that RE9 will be what RE2make should have been and will have not only a full zapping system, but an improved one that will not only affect gameplay between campaigns but also possibly story sections.

the more realistic/pessimistic take is that they've been trying to make RE9 into what RE2make should've been and have been failing at it spectacularly, and they're now just trying to cobble together something that at least passes the bar of being both complete and playable.

i could be wrong.

but that's my best guess.

we'll see what happens.

[gachagon]

Hey I finished Babel by RF Kuang and I wanna talk about it so don't click if you haven't read the book at all

anyways, well that was a wild ride. I'm emotionally drained. I feel a different level of hopelessness and depression than I have felt ever before after reading a sad book. Yeah the books sad as shit, but like it's a different, deeper kind of sad because I, the reader, knows that nothing will get better for anyone in that book at all.

Like they'll just continue to suffer for years and years until eventually things get somewhat tolerable. I'm glad Victoire didn't die in the end, but knowing how american slavery is abominable and how just looking black was grounds enough to being owned and treated worse than dogs, I don't feel hopeful as she's on a ship headed to a place arguably worse than where she's leaving.

I'm not gonna be one of those annoying ppl and complain about tropes or whatever, I think it was sad Ramy and Robin both died as well, and tbh idc if it really falls under that "bury your gays" trope I really don't think that mattered in the end because that's just how hopeless everything is.

You know, after I finished the book I tried asking myself "What if THIS character made it to the end? What if they had some help from THIS character?" and no matter how many strange and silly solutions I came up with, I still couldn't figure out a way the ending couldn't have been avoided.

I knew SOMEONE had to die, and I knew it'd probably be either Ramy or Robin, but even though everything was predictable it still hurt to read (in a good way). I don't hate sad books I know this seems pretty negative but trust, it was a good book and I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

My only real criticisms of the book is just that I personally don't think it said anything too revolutionary in terms of race. Robin and Co are figuring things out about white people and society that I had to learn by the age of 12, so every time they make some grand revelation I'm just like "yeah...glad you're getting up to speed now."

And while this might be shocking I think letty is the best character in the book (not that she is a good person or that I like her I actually hate her guts and I would not want to even be in a room with her, I sometimes paused my reading every time she spoke and wondered how tf Victoire managed being beside her) But she's like the Ultimate White Woman, you know? The author somehow managed to meld every annoying racist white woman any POC has had the misfortune of talking to, and melded her into Letty. And I think that's pretty impressive considering white people manage to be annoying in multiple ways and not just one.

Now every time I see something racist on the internet I think to myself "Would Letty type this?" and most of the time I am correct she would

I also wish we had more time to flesh out Ramy and Victoire and the others (Idc about Letty's sad "boohoo my brother died" story tbh) I feel like Ramy especially was just kind of there as a prop for Robin to gaze at longingly and for him to get into stupid, petty arguments with Letty. The author definitely should've given us more than that little interlude before he kicked the bucket. And I think I'd have liked the book more if it weren't always centered on Robin's pov. Like if we got a few chapters dedicated to anyone else's POV besides those short interludes, that'd have probably fixed the issue a bit.

All in all, the book was great. It was amazing, and I really feel like I need to get myself a physical copy now and not just an ebook.

I also now have the strange urge to go back and fish up my old duolingo log in. I've missed some streaks since highschool.

[ultraericthered]

Hmm? Oh yeah, this one blogger gave a big response to both me and some other user who was saying stuff in the notes of her post. Seeing as she was decent and sensible enough to recognize that if we want to live and let live with our differing opinions, she probably should've at least done so behind a different tag and thus away from fans of the thing she was railing against, I in turn will put my rebuttal in this separate post on this blog and I will try to tag it appropriately.

That said, WOW. There is quite a lot of whinging to unpack here.

But, thanks for not bothering to actually listen to my argument, so let me go through your own:

"Not bothering?" It was not due to a lack of trying on my part that I failed to actually listen to this person's argument, I was legitimately confused and trying to make sense of what she was even saying.

No. I’m not saying Disney adults shouldn’t enjoy crap that was clearly made for them. Believe me, I knew some of that was already the case with Wish and I was excited for it being made for us…and I was disappointed by it. I wanted to like Mirrorverse but it just kept feeling wrong to me and the og post is the wording of what and how it was wrong to me.

Pulling out the term "Disney adults", even if applying it to herself as well, is an automatic alarm for me. It's a term that's very cynical and partonizing in origin, conceptualizing the idea that all things "Disney" are things that a person is expected to outgrow once they've reached adulthood, as though Disney produces things only for children. And sure, they make things that are purely for little kids or at most geared more towards them than to an older crowd. But primarily, on the whole, Disney content and the quality they most strive for are what we call "family friendly" rather than "kids stuff", and to assume that such content is kiddy fare that's meant to be outgrown by adults is completely against the spirit and the words of Walt Disney himself.

"I do not make films primarily for children. I make them for the child in all of us, whether we be six or sixty." - Walt Disney

"We believed in our idea - a family park where parents and children could have fun - together." - Walt Disney

"Too many people grow up. That's the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget. They don't remember what it's like to be 12 years old. They patronize, they treat children as inferiors. Well, I won't do that." - Walt Disney

Yeah, you should get the picture by now.

I’m saying I find your uncritical devotion to the company, not the writer behind the projects, the company, is sad. It’s self-destructive.

Oh sure, I am uncriticially devoted to this mega corporation. So uncritical in my devotion am I that I've tagged posts or reblogs that address erorrs, poor quality content, and even harmful practices of the company as "Anti Disney" and have even likened the corporate side of Disney to their newest movie's villain many times at this point.

I really hate this kind of attitude towards fandom+online criticism as a whole. This 100% unironic “if you’re negative = HATE” attitude...that I can at least get because even the most pissy of us don’t wanna be surrounded by rage all the time. But, your complete lack or willing to consume any media critically? That’s annoying.

Reminder of how OP began their "critical" post: "I hate Disney's Mirrorverse so much." Please forgive me for where, how, and why I might've possibly gotten that "negativity = HATE" idea from here.

That literally was NOT what I was saying at all hon. Official merch is fine and a lot is great. Like, a lot. I don’t consider official merch itself a threat to fanstuff; what I consider a threat is the higher up of Disney wanting to snuff out fantasy-fan made merch.

Where was it confirmed that the higher up of Disney were specifically aiming to snuff out fan-made content with the very creation and release of Mirrorverse? I must've missed that press conference!

ALL I see with that game is creativity of individual people wasted on a corporate IPlords who wants to crush smaller artists inspired by them, and even their own workers. Disney does not care about you. Disney doesn’t even care for it’s own people. Disney wants to own fanworks so that they can profit off you even more than they already do. And, to me, that’s just kind of horrifying.

In other words, King Magnifico. Yeah, I already got that.

Are you saying you don’t have an imagination? Because A: no. You do have one. Obviously. Liking what some people may think is “cringe” =/= no imagination and I SINCERELY hope you didn’t take that away from my post.

Yes, obviously I have an imagination. I am unsure what it was that made this person think I was suggesting I didn't.

And then she starts getting more hyperbolic and a bit conspiratorial.

We are in a late stage capitalism apocalypse. My argument isn’t that Disney DARE'ENT be what it is but that you should use your brains when it’s pandering to you and not just like it because 'poepl worked on it whichm means it’s good.

"Poepl"? "which?" Slurred words sure do look weird in text form.

You are not mandated to like something and your attitude, to me, frankly feels like that’s why you do like Mirrorverse. Disney is telling you to like it and you’re blinded by this delusion that the company itself is on your side simply because it has Disney fans as it’s own writers and artists working on it. I want to be proven wrong on that and believe you’re like my friends who also like mirrorverse and the modern crossover disney stuff - people who like the ideas within because yeah, that can be fun, and whom I just disagree with, but given your attitude. I don’t see it.

.....Huh??? For as inappropriately big and powerful a company as Disney is today, I do not think they have the authority to literally mandate that people must like their products and that they then must consume them because they like them. Disney has put plenty of stuff out on the free market that they no doubt wanted people to like (because otherwise why even make anything at all? People liking thing made by company = people spending money on that thing and company profiting), but I've not cared for or not even touched, no matter how many sincere, well-meaning people might've worked hard on making the stuff. Mirrorverse caught my attention way back when it was first announced and still undergoing development, and when I ended up liking it, it wasn't because "Disney was telling me to like it" or that I was blinded by any delusion of the company being good or "on my side" - I like it because I JUST DO. It appeals to me and my tastes, sensibilities, and ideas of what's good, clean, creative fun, not to mention being another Disney epic crossover property to fill the void left behind by the now garbage tier Kingdom Hearts series. And even then I'm far from uncritical in my liking for it: it existing as just a mobile app game puts some limitations on it, and the combat part of the game looks like ass and doesn't play quite as well as it could've, especially compared to the polish of other app games like Disney Heroes: Battle Mode and Disney; Sorcerer's Arena. (Now, my attitude may well have gone too far beyond disagreeable and came off as too hostile, confrontational, and uncivil in my dissent against your take, so for that I apologize. I'm sorry, that really was my bad. But given all this rambling, your attitude is now worrying me.)

Fan merch is not perfect or even all that good, but it comes from a point of passion. My point was never that fan made = good. My point was I think Disney the company wants control of even that and, when they are hiring the artists who have genuine ideas about crossovers, are exploiting them. It’s *cute* of you to call me entitled when you sound like one of the most entitled people ever through your message.

I fail to see how I come off as "entitled", as though I was saying that Disney the company has every right to control imaginative fan ideas and to hire and exploit artists with similar ideas just for profit. I was not; I was saying that I'm not in agreement with this paranoid belief that this is what prompted the existence of Mirrorverse to start with. Most of the driving ideas behind why the game came to be seems to have come from the creatives who work for both Disney and Kabam, with Disney merely signing off on it becoming an officially lisenced thing because the company is so ceaselessly hungering for profits that they can never have enough app games or console games that bring their beloved IPs together in a single fantastical new canon.

You are assigning shit to me that I did not say/mean.

For that, I apologize. Please stop doing the exact same thing to me. Two wrongs do not make a right.

I’m upset on the part of the writers and artists at Disney (btw can you please maybe list some of them out? The mirrorverse artists could probably really use the revenue you’re so quick to only attribute to Disney as if Disney itself is the writer of these works.) 

But you can find them all right here.

I believe Wish was made/written with love. Every Disney project is made with love and creativity and I think it’s horrible to imply that Wish was AI-generated because it’s writing came up as lackluster, if that’s what you’re trying imply of me.

Dunno why Wish is suddenly getting brought into this. Was it my current icon being King Magnifico that put it into focus?

My issue with Wish, with Mirrorverse, and with a lot of modern Disney projects is at this point the same I am having with Illumination entertainment; and that’s not ever that “capitalist = bad”/“idea I don’t like = bad writer”. For as annoyed I still am at Princess and the Frog, you really go that feeling the the writers were trying and the project as a whole wasn’t geared by executives telling the directors “no. You have to do x, x, x, and x because then it won’t sell.” Mirrorverse had a soul. Wish had soul. Bob Chapek stole both these properties’ souls and you’re using hardworking artists’ work as an excuse to continue promoting the craphole who’s overworking them.

Bob Chapek is long gone from Disney at this point: Bog Iger is still dealing with the aftereffects of the damage Chapek did while making his own mistakes and dealing out his own share of damage to the overworked artists, writers, directors, imagineers, and all creative staff members who give their hearts and souls to Disney productions. I'm not using the artists' work as an excuse to promote or grant any lenience to corporate Disney. It's actually the very opposite: I don't want them and all the effort they put into realizing these properties to go overlooked and unappreciated due to some instinctful (and oftentimes reasonably justified) dislike and dissatisfaction directed at the company whose brand name the properties get released under. That's something akin to "collective punishment", and it reaches toxic levels when it is also applied towards the punishment and shaming of regular people; of fans who engage with the products and express any sort of enjoyment and appreciation for them. Like them doing so is an objectively morally wrong thing to do and is playing into the big bad company's hands.

My issue is that the fans (artists, creators and writers of these works) care. Disney does not. Disney cares about exploiting you even in the smallest ways and even on small matters like bad bootleg merch that’s in no way a threat to them. Because it isn’t.

This is an issue I have with Disney as well. I've said so ad nauseum.

My issue with the two of you is that you hate criticism and see my post as some kind of threat to your special interest. No. It’s not. I never even tagged mirrorverse. This is a rant meant for me and for other likeminded people like me. Speaking as a woman who’s defended and still will defend Frozen all these years - YOU are coming off as the most entitled, zealous people. You are creative. And you love Disney and obviously like Mirrorverse and Wish where I don’t; unlike the artists behind these products, you don’t have room to complain about being disgarded or treated like AI cuz I don’t like your writing or Disney’s handling of your writing- you’re just a butthurt fan.

More hyperbole. There was no "threat" detected in her post. There was only an opinion I read as a bad faith poor take and I responded to it with a rebuttal like this social media platform allows us all to do. By getting so up in arms and defensive about the rebuttal that rather than try to clear the air with a post that only clarifies what she was meaning to convey in the OP and that if I still don't find it agreeable we can hopefully agree to disagree, she goes on a whole whopping tangent? This strikes me as "butthurt fan" behavior. I'm sorry, it does.

Presuming the both of you ever read any of this, I don’t like the insinuation that my own bitching and moaning it hurting the hardworking writers and artists personally just because the fans of these overall products love them and I don’t. I really don’t like my personal criticisms being hurled at or treated like an attack on the people who are real artists. I know that’s not what I’m doing. You could have just blocked my blog or chosen to just not read the post the moment this post opened with “I hate mirrorverse”. You didn’t. You engaged and now I’m engaging to tell you that I disagree.

Yes, let us dispell that insinuation. You are hurting no one by bitching and moaning in a post put out on a public social media venue on the internet, not the writers and artists, not the company. I'd not meant to insinuate as much, and anyone who would make that insinuation would be a fool to do so. Thank you for acknowleding that you led with "I hate Mirrorverse", which made the negativitiy and criticism easier to mistake for hatefulness. I make it a rule to typically not block blogs as my first response to seeing something I disagree with, which is sadly more than I can say of other users who've disagreed with me in the past. I decided to engage you, then you engaged back, and now this is me engaging back in my own space to save your's the trouble of being too cluttered up with this dispute. If you happen to come across this and read it through, I hope you can try to take time for contemplation and understanding of where I'm coming from here, and I'd so the same in turn for you should you give a civil response. But given how I'm tagging this, chances lean unlikely.

[soapofbar]

so I am a little scared to air out my spicy (probably lukewarm) takes without the guise of anonymity to keep people from telling me to unalive myself, but at the same time there are lots of thoughts that roam around in my head and I want to get them out in some fashion, so consider this sort of like, a public journal, of sorts? idk. my posts will probably be very rambly and expect me to hop from media to media as I post about whatever hot vomit is swirling in my mind.

anyway the brainrot currently going through my head right now is about RWBY, and specifically about power-ups in RWBY, and sort of how they relate to the show's action. More specifically, how the show (and fandom) is weirdly averse to them, how it kinda makes development less exciting, and stuff like that.

CRWBY have gone on record multiple times I think stating that none or at least the majority of the main 4 will not gain the power of the maidens, mostly because it is "too predictable". And like, I disagree on that heavily. Yes, if you did them all getting maiden powers in one fell swoop it would be trite and predictable, but like, Yang and Raven having an arc where it ends with Yang getting Raven's maidenhood (that sounds really bad out of context), or same with Weiss and Winter, or Penny and Ruby, etc. I don't think those would've been predictable, or trite or anything. Hell I think even if you did have literally all of them become maidens, you could still make it without being "predictable" because stories aren't really about the destination, but the journey, because the destination is usually obvious.

I think early readers of Dragon Ball Z, reading the Namek Saga in real time, expected somebody to become a Super Saiyan at one point. I think they probably knew that Goku would become a Super Saiyan. I don't think they were able to predict Krillin dying for it, or Frieza surviving the Spirit Bomb, or any of the little details that still make that ascension really fun to watch even years later. I think any arc about any of Team RWBY getting wizard powers could be written in a similar manner, where them getting the power in the end is very obviously likely to the viewer but still interesting to watch.

But fine, you don't want RWBY to become Maidens. Maybe the powers just put the team too out of balance, or their written too vague/powerful to make that member of the team anything other than invincible (you can make this interesting too, by the way, Jotaro in JoJo's Part 4 and 6 comes to mind) and you want to avoid that. Fine.

But why can't any of Team RWBY's semblances evolve?

Ever since the concept was introduced in V7, I kinda expected at least one of the girls to get a semblance power-up, but instead the idea has mostly been used for plot convenience, such as Ren's Character Development Locator and Neo's sudden power boost in V9. And it's kind of baffling to me because V7 also has the RWBY vs. Ace-Ops fight, which to me and several others I've seen at least was very narratively unsatisfying because RWBY's victory is very flimsily justified with stuff like "Then you trained us" "they lost their cool because Clover isn't here to restrain them" "marrow just ain't feelin it chief", all of which feel very easy to rebuke especially if you've got a more critical eye to the show.

But imagine instead like, Weiss, who should've been going through an arc the entirety of V7 but didn't, undergoes a semblance evolution while dealing with all her SDC and family trauma stuff. Imagine if Blake, while fighting against racism and classism in Atlas, or coming to terms with defending herself against Adam, evolves her semblance in some way. And then, because these were deeply personal developments that never happened in training, they pull them out in the fight against the Ace-Ops and they're completely caught off guard. It would make their victory in that fight feel like the consequences of narrative development "These characters have learned an important lesson and are able to defeat an otherwise superior set of foes due to abilities that evolved and subsequently surprised them because of that lesson."

And look, the obvious response here is "you're getting angry/sad/disappointed simply because thing didn't happen the way you wanted it to" and yeah if you're intellectually dishonest you can apply that to just about any criticism anyone ever makes about anything, so to highlight why I personally find it a problem

a) It makes the fights themselves less interesting since characters powers appear static and the powers themselves aren't versatile enough or aren't used creatively enough to make fight scenes interesting beyond raw spectacle (which wears off quickly if not done masterfully) and the writing behind the fight (which has never been of the best quality). The example here is most of the fights in V8, which I feel lacked in both the majority of the time.

b) it makes it feel as though the girls aren't really being narratively rewarded for making realizations/learning lessons beyond the immediate situation. That while yes, this development might help them out in the now it has no real lasting impacts. The example to use here is Yang, who goes a bunch of development in V4/V5 about dealing with trauma from getting her arm cut off, and needing to be more cool and collected in and out of battle. She has these beats and then the only fight I think she really shows off that development is the bandits in V5. Despite "coming back stronger", she doesn't feel it. And of course, outside of fights, she doesn't really show that at all, as it feels like she's the first one to lose her shit the majority of the time in recent volumes.

c) RWBY is, or at least started as, an action show. The original four trailers for each character, which are all collectively the most viewed piece of media for the show, are entirely about fighting, with minimal dialogue. I think for a show like this, which has that kind of heritage and is only occasionally good at writing subtlety, using fights as a way to showcase character development would be a really smart thing to do. It's only worked for every shounen manga ever produced, and I think RWBY taking tropes from a traditionally male-dominated industry and inserting them into a show about 4 women would do wonders, especially considering how much inspiration RWBY takes from anime already.

d) despite rising stakes and our main big bad finally taking an active role in the plot, the level of spectacle, as well as the abilities of our main characters, feels stagnant or even lesser than it was before. This is probably the most personal feeling of all and I imagine many will disagree. It's also not one I can really point to any example and articulate on.

the final word I'll leave off on is that I'm not gonna go into V9 because a) Penny and the way she was treated in V8 really made me uninterested in watching it and b) I've heard about the suicide tea and I will agree that having Ruby come out of the suicide dimension with a power-up would be uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[icedbatik]

Hi! Appreciate your hockey thoughts on this. Just recently a coach spoke about this struggling high-paid player who was briefly demoted to the minors and it was hard mentally because of the online fan vitriol over his play. Reactions were mixed – some expressed sympathy, others criticized this player for searching his name on socmed and should've been aware that fans have the right to criticize his play. As hockey fans, how do we know when we've crossed the line in terms of criticizing players?

Hi, anon!

I think the line of criticizing players is crossed when it ventures beyond legitimate criticism. If you can say, "This player is not earning his salary" and back it up -- he's scored no goals, no assists, he's not defending, he's turning over the puck and making it easy for the other team to score -- then you're probably still on the right side of the line. And, even if you can't cite specific stats but can say, "It doesn't look to me like he's playing very well," that can still be legitimate criticism.

But even that can be tricky, because we don't know what's going on behind the scenes. Maybe a guy is playing with an injury that the team hasn't disclosed. Maybe the player is going through some stuff in his personal life. (And, yes, we'd like to think he can do his job without letting his personal life interfere. But let's be real. We've all had days when we showed up for work but work was not the most pressing issue on our minds.) And guys still can contribute, even when they're not playing their best (or at all; Sully has been clear during the past week that simply having Tanger around has been helpful, even if he's not cleared to play, and I don't doubt that for a minute).

Criticism, in my mind, crosses the line when it's not legitimate criticism but merely insulting. I have seen too many instances of so-called fans replying to Pens' games tweets with derogatory statements that are simply that person spewing hate at a player or the team, in general. One shot on goal that didn't go in and suddenly the replies are loaded with "trade the !@#$%^&*" (and worse).

(Is it OK to say, "I think Sully made the right move in making Kappy a healthy scratch"? Yes. Is it OK to say, "thank goodness he benched that *insert derogatory phrase here*"? No. And it's more than OK to be thrilled for Kappy when he gets another chance and turns it into a hat trick!)

In my mind, it's OK to say things like "They should shoot more" when we've watched a 2-minute power play go by without a single shot on goal. That's an opinion and people are allowed to have opinions. But to start insulting a player because he didn't shoot? Not so much.

Largely, I would say, just keep it civil. If you're not going to say it to their face, maybe don't say it online. If you wouldn't want someone to criticize you a particular way, maybe don't criticize others that way. How is it going to help a player get over a crisis of confidence and find his best game again when the people (fans) who supposedly are among his biggest supporters are calling him garbage?

Just remember, players are people, too. We all have bad days. Slumps happen. Criticize appropriately!

[shallowrambles]

So, I am on my yearly Raphael-and-Cas kick. And I got to thinking about Rachel and Balthazar, specifically. I don't have it all together in my head yet, but...

I keep seeing Godstiel framed as "was Dean right, or was Cas right"? and--and--it's not that simple. it's WAR. War sucks, and you make a decision and go with it, and sometimes it blows up and no one is exactly "right." You turn around, and you find that it's all gone wrong.

Or I see "Godstiel" analyzed in terms , "well, God killed people who are *obviously* morally wrong, so that makes it okay," as if murder is justified when the people killed are cartoonishly symbolic of "wrong / other / hypocrite / racist." (Light Yagami syndrome, anyone? It always starts with good intentions, and then power corrupts.)

Anyway, not as often do I see it analyzed with the angels who turned their back on Raphael to fight with Cas, or even Balthazar in mind. So I wanted to ramble about that today... It might become something formal later IDK.

I think, militarily, what it boils down to?

Cas wanted unquestioning allegiance for a unilateral decision he made about how to win the war.

///

The commander who withheld critical info from his devoted rebels

Ok so like, if you're fighting a war or a battle or whatever--forget family for a second.

You are effectively a commander. And you want support, right? But suppose you withhold vital info from your top troops who are risking it ALL for you? That's not okay. And Cas did thar to his troops. And why did Cas withhold vital info?

Well, I think it could be because he didn't trust the angels. (And the thing is--he should've, right? They're going up against a friggin' archangel with him, to spit in the face of Fate and The Grand Plan!) But I suspect it's also because Cas wants to be supported, not questioned. Could he have split the power with other angels and mounted an effective force? Probably!

And he teaching poetry to fish thing? That's part frustration, but it's part-hubris. "No one else can think like me," is an error in thinking. It's what authoritarianism strives to CONVINCE you of. It strives to convince you that your cause is isolated and alone. And that drives you to be rash. It separates you from recognizing potential sympathizers. It works to prevent sympathizers from coming forward, too.

Authoritarianism actually messes up Cas pretty good fir most of the story. It's what drives him to hang the hopes of the future on Jack's power, but that's for another day.

Rachel and Cas

RACHEL Castiel, I've been hearing things. Things I don't want to believe. Just tell me if it's true.

CASTIEL: I have to defeat Raphael.

RACHEL: Not this way, Castiel.

CASTIEL: Rachel.

RACHEL: We put our faith in you, and...look what you're turning into.

CASTIEL: I have no choice.

Yeah, okay. Rachel pulled her blade on Cas pretty quickly, but she's been delivered a HUGE blow here. She went out on a limb to support Cas against an unbeatable enemy.

And now? She's hearing things from others before she hears it from Cas, and she's his second-in-command!

So, she's trusts her instincts and pulls her blade. And I'd wager that her instincts are right about Cas here. He's desperate and withholding info, ergo he's willing to kill to keep his plan under wraps. (Look at what happens to Bal later...)

Why the H-E-L-L is Cas acting so desperate? Well, for starters, for the first time within his CURRENT memory bank, he has something to lose (his human loved ones), and that's messing with his ability to act rationally and carefully. He's become a dreaded "uncontrollable/rasg" blue collar soldier, acting on behalf of his new family. (This is considered a political threat authoritarian regions.)

This is why I think Dean sucks as a commander, generally, too, btw. He's too emotional and wiling to do anything for the family's survival unless it's himself or an extension of himself on the line, or if he loses hope in the cause itself. (It's kind of like why we don't operate on our own family members; we shouldn't have to command our family members during battles either. It makes us unhinged.) Family makes you stronger, family makes you weaker, yadda yadda SPN themes.

Cas's also right in his analysis of himself in his narration in "The Man Who Would Be King." He's got hubris. (He came back from the dead twice, so...it's no wonder.) Eventually, he'll see it as a punishment resurrection, but during season 6, I do agree with him that he overestimated his own importance--a bit of chosen one syndrome. (Everyone trades this role back and forth during the series.)

///

Balthazar and Cas

DEAN: You're gonna torture a kid? CASTIEL: I can't care about that, Dean! I don't have the luxury.

As for Balthazar? Well, Cas seems to trust Balthazar because of the past, but I'd wager his duplicity is actually attractive to Cas in season 6. Balthazar is already lying and acting on dubious ethics at the start of the season by staking a claim on a child's soul.

So, that unethical behavior becomes attractive in a sense, within the rules of guerilla warfare, and Cas recruits him as most trusted. He sort-of lets him in with the whole weapons and unsinking the Titanic thing, but he doesn't hand him the full story.

Eventually, it shifts. Later in the story, Balthazar has been sticking his neck out for Cas, and not only is Cas not listening to Bal (are you with me or against me?), he also implies he had no intention of telling him his plans (how'd you hear about this anyway?):

BALTHAZAR: (laughs) Always were such a terrible liar. So it's true. Alright then, why?

CASTIEL: It's a means to an end. Balthazar, you understand that.

BALTHAZAR: Oh, absolutely. But what's the end here exactly? You know, raid Purgatory, snatch up all the souls?

CASTIEL: Win the war.

BALTHAZAR: And I can only assume that you'd be the vessel, correct? Suck up all those souls into yourself? All that power?

CASTIEL: It's the only way.

BALTHAZAR: Or too much juice for you, in which case you explode, taking a substantial chunk of the planet along with you.

CASTIEL: That won't happen.

BALTHAZAR: Sure, sure. Of course. (scoffs) Just - just tell me that it's entirely risk-free.

CASTIEL: I'm sorry that I didn't tell you, but I need to know. Are you with me or not?

BALTHAZAR: (chuckles) Ah. You know, you may be certifiable, but fine. In for a penny, in for a pound.

CASTIEL: How'd you hear about this anyway?

BALTHAZAR: Oh, your howler monkeys of course. See they're just a touch worked up about that kidnapping business, you know?

So uh, not for nothin, but Bal was worried about Cas AND the planet EXPLODING. We can extrapolate that any angel would have an issue with this. Indeed, in addition to being prejudiced against "dirty" demons, it's maybe why Rachel took issue with the plan, too. So, Cas's friends were worried about earth going boom, and charitably, worried about "martyr-Cas" going boom, too.

///

But Cas expected 100% support...from everyone. No questions asked.

Even Balthazar was afraid to disagree, "are you with me or against me," is ultimatum. Balthazar read the situation rightly. So Bal ran to folks he thought Cas woukd treat with kid-gloves / more gently. (Also right.)

///

Sigh. At the crux of it all...

Cas, you dummy. You can't go radio silent and expect full support with no questions asked when you've been withholding critical info like that! Not from your soldiers, not from your family, not from anyone.

///

With his human family, he left Dean in the dark for a year with no contact. Then, he omitted info like Sam's missing soul, a hiccup that almost gets multiple combatants killed (Dean, Bobby).

CASTIEL: Dean, I do everything that you ask. I always come when you call, and I am your friend. Still, despite your lack of faith in me, and now your threats, I just saved you, yet again. Has anyone but your closest kin ever done more for you? All I ask is this one thing.

DEAN: Trust your plan to pop Purgatory?

CASTIEL: I've earned that, Dean.

DEAN: (scoffs)

CASTIEL: I came to tell you that I will find Lisa and Ben, and I will bring them back. Stand behind me, the one time I ask.

DEAN: You're asking me to stand down?

CASTIEL: Dean.

DEAN: That's the same damn ransom note that Crowley handed me. You know that, right?

Yea, the thing is. Cas knows that. That's exactly why he's phrasing it in this FLOWERY way. (It reminds me of the language Dean uses to shame Kevin later actually, lol. "Are you gonna turn your back on us when we care so much and we're family / Cas is saying are you gonna turn your back on me with all that I've done for you?")

Are Cas's emotions true? Sure. He's stressed out and emotional and he is DEFINITELY doing this with GOOD intentions. But he's also acting unconsciously-manipulatively. "I did all of these things for you, so you should support me unconditionally."

This is...not how trust works.

Yeah, Cas is right that trust goes both ways. But trust means sharing critical battle information with your trusted rebel soldiers. It's sharing dangerous information with your family before it gets out of hand. It's trusting people to disagree with you. And Rachel, Balthazar, Dean--all of them disagree with his very, very, VERY risky plan. Just because you "do it all, all of it for you," doesn't mean you can do whatever you want in a relationship. It's not like you buy a person dinner, save their life, and they're obligated to have to 100%, no-questions-asked support you because of that. That's where Cas messes up.

Just because you command a flight of angels with a clear chain of command doesn't mean you're not obligated to share critical battle information with them, you sweet dunderhead.

Yeah, Sam and Dean didn't really "get" the Raphael civil war, but Cas purposely withheld that info. He acted too busy to tell them things in order to get out of telling them things. Like with Rachel & Balthazar, it seems like he had no intention of telling them till the plan was already sprung.

ALSO, who ELSE withheld a bunch of information, put his fam in danger while swearing he was doing it to protect them, didn't answer his phone / prayers, and threw himself into the war as a lone wolf in order "to protect them?"

Oh. The flawed soldier, John Winchester. Ouch. Am I saying Cas = John? Hell, naw. But there are parallels in the tactics of radio silence + expecting trust. It's a lone wolf soldier thing. Mary does it, too, later on.

///

Even Balthazar, child!soul snatcher extraordinaire, number one Cas!supporter, and angel of questionable moral integrity looked at the soul nuke idea and balked. And he judged (rightfully?) that he couldn't talk to Cas about it. He's known Cas since forever, and Cas's mental state had him running to outsiders for help, because he judged (rightfully) Cas to be dangerous:

BALTHAZAR: Oh, no, no, no, no. I don't think so.

DEAN: Balthazar.

BALTHAZAR: I'm betraying a friend here. A very powerful friend. We all are. So I think I've stuck my neck out far enough already. Good luck. (He disappears.)

///

CASTIEL: First Sam and Dean, and now this. I'm doing my best in impossible circumstances. My friends, they abandon me, plot against me. It's difficult to understand.

BALTHAZAR: Well you've - you've always got little old me.

(Castiel disappears. He reappears behind Balthazar and stabs him with an angel blade. Balthazar groans.)

CASTIEL: Yes, I'll always have you.

BALTHAZAR: Cas...

(As Balthazar dies, his light fills the building.)

Is Cas doing his best in impossible circumstances. Yes...? Is he succumbing to the heroic allure of "I, and I alone can fix this?" Yup. Is he falling pray to martyr-syndrome? "It doesn't matter the risk / it doesn't matter if I die / if I explode?" Also, yup. Is he horribly stabbing his friend who betrayed him because he cares about him? Yes. Cas is paranoid, desperate, mad king, backed into a corner.

Here's the thing to grapple with: he was never asking for support from anyone. He was asking for allegiance.

///

In summary, Cas knew the other angels would balk at it--that's why he didn't share the plan. He coulda split the power among several angels, in fact, but he didn't want to.

Perhaps on a very subconscious level, he wanted to punish his family, even though he loves them. (Hello, pizza man and the babysitter scene.) He was ashamed of his angelic brothers; perhaps, he was still wounded by Raphael's killing of him when Cas stayed behind to defend Chuck. He killed Raphael the same way he himself was killed. That felt personal.

CASTIEL I was no fool. I knew who Crowley was and what he did. But I was smarter than him, stronger. I see now that I was prideful. And in all likelihood, I was a fool.

[gorematchala]

Earlier today I got Alisa Developers Cut on Switch. I dont know much about that game's development but it came out on switch in like February and I should've gotten it then but its got a dollhouse aesthetic that I dont really vibe with

But what the game is, is Resident Evil. Its not shy about being Resident Evil, and outside of Alisa's character model it looks exactly, perfectly like a PS1 game. It looks really good. I call out Alisa's model because I think its a little too nice, in terms of like, poly count and her face texture being a little too textured

The game is kinda weird. It gets a lot of things right and a lot of things wrong. Its got real ass proper tank controls, but only with the stick. No d-pad input at all. And it has auto aim, but it reduces the amount of currency enemies drop. It has currency for some reason lol. Instinctively I dont think an RE game should have a shop where you buy weapons, and idk if costumes should have stats, but I myself personally dont think its a bad thing to try and its probably not gonna ruin the game. If I were so inclined to sound like a fuckin lunatic I might claim that it feels a little Onimusha inspired as well. Onimusha had stats and currency. There is also a sword in the game but it aint no Samanosuke sword

The first voice you hear in the game kinda takes you out of it a little because they got what I can only assume is a white youtuber of some variety, and he sounds the way only a modern white youtuber could sound. There was not a human in the entire universe who sounded like this guy in 1994. But after that you get slapped in the face with French speakers and they sound so fucked up its great. Now my friends know how I feel about the French and their language, but I was so relieved to hear them because white youtubers would be doing RE1 impressions. These people are doing their best english voice acting but are so violently french it creates that weird vibe RE1 had a little bit. I do know Suzie Spherehunter is in there somewhere which will be fine as long as she doesnt voice any of her gaming opinions lmaoooo

Im joking about the French and their fucked up language btw those guys are cool. Even though they sound like that (hehe)

But yeah the game seems cool and probably good. I basically bought it solely out of good horror game solidarity. Prior to the release of Signalis in 2022 the last good horror game was Silent Hill 4 in 2004. I gave Signalis a lot of praise for that, and now other indie games like Alisa, Ares Breathes, and Crow Country are doing their part and looking like theyre gonna help keep this up, so I feel compelled to offer a little critical support where I can. If you like RE1 Alisa has a demo, it seems like the game is probably worth the price. Its been on sale for $14 every other week since its release

Rest in peace PS1, long live the PS1