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x-authorship-x · 2 years

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2022 Creators Self-Love Extravaganza!

Rules:

It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 favorite works (fics, art, edits, etc.) you’ve created this year and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you’ve brought into the world in 2022. If you don’t have five published works, that’s fine! Include ideas/drafts/whatever you like that you’ve worked on/thought about, and talk a little about them instead! Remember, this is all about self-love and positive enthusiasm, so fuck the rules if you need to. Have fun, and tag as many fellow creators as you like so they can share the love!

This post is inspired by @bubblesthemonsterartist - thanks for bringing it across my dash! ✨

1) THE 'A' IN ANBU STANDS FOR (SURPRISE) ADOPTION

I love feel-good found-family fluff fics and this one served a side of comedy to boot. Writing this was really therapeutic at a stressful time in my life and I was feeling really guilty for not keeping up with my longstanding Shisui Series (HOPE AU, including completed work 'No Tomorrow' (NoT) and ongoing sequel 'Until Dawn Breaks' (UDB)). Writing Shisui is always my favourite thing to do, he's such a comfort character to me even if I'm making him hurtle through life and death situations or wacky AUs. This fic kind of encapsulated that, the joy I find in him as a character, and making sure he's loved and supported too. The fic started when I asked myself all the possible points in time for Shisui to transform what happened in canon; one of them was 'Itachi is under crazy pressure... How can Shisui protect him?' and 'legal guardian the shit out of his baby cousins' was the immediate answer.

Summary: Shisui didn't know why Raidou was giving him disappointed looks. It wasn't like Shisui had much of a track record for letting things go, for going with the Status-Quo and ignoring what was happening around him. Or that this was the first, er, child acquisition - for any of them! - either.

Honestly, at this rate, they were going to be renamed Squad Toddler instead of Two.

It was Kakashi who grabbed this one, anyway!

2) Until Dawn Breaks

This is the sequel to my favourite shisui fic I've ever written. I planned the whole story out, multiple arcs, before I had even written a word for the fic itself. I spent days getting together a brand new timeline for the Narutoverse, I figured out a whole cast, their abilities and motivations and relationships, and it felt like the whole thing was hovering above the page, waiting to be written. Writing No Tomorrow (NoT) was literally the best thing I've ever done and I'm so proud of that fic, even if I would edit it differently looking back on it now. For Until Dawn Breaks (UDB), I was really conflicted on the plotline because of that phrase, 'no plan survives contact with the enemy'. I'm at a cross roads with the fic, part of me wishes I'd skipped this arc entirely, but I don't want to abandon anything so I'm forced to soldier through. I have to make a lot of big plot decisions and that takes a lot of time, which I don't have, and knowledge, which has faded over the past year or so. I used to only update when I had at least three more chapters finished ahead of time and now I publish as soon as it's ready, and I'm sad to have lost that routine. Writing is hard and it's supposed to be fun. I hope my readers understand that breaks are inevitable and they still come read updates whenever they arrive. The fact I updated this fic this year is a huge thing for me and I'm really proud that I could keep going through this rough patch with the fic and IRL.

Summary: Shisui had succeeded, destroying the man who was responsible for his death, in every way possible. Who had caused so much suffering... more than anyone could have foreseen.

(He gasped for air, throat parched and lips chapped and-)

But now came the hardest part; learning to live again.

(The ground felt as distant as the dim twinkle of stars scattered across the night sky.)

All was still.

(The air, the only thing surrounding him, felt stretched in his lungs, whipped his clothes and hair taunt from his skin, and streamed tears from his eyes.)

And then it wasn't.

3) The Red Istari

I submitted my thesis at midnight and planned this fic before I went to sleep. The first chapter was completed and posted within a day of that. This fic was a watershed moment for me, I had made a promise that I wouldn't write any fanfic whilst working on my thesis drafts until it had been completed and I stuck to that. I did some brainstorming, I have a lot of WIP ideas saved up, but I didn't write and I didn't allow my focus to shift. This fic was like a dam exploding and I feel like I'm still recovering for the enforced sabbatical. I'd attempted LotR/Naruto crossovers before but it always felt like there wasn't much of an audience for it and, whilst I like to think I write for myself, I do weigh up reader engagement too because I find it discouraging to post and get nothing nice back for my hard work. This time I didn't care, tbh. I watched the extended edition on loop in the final days of my thesis work and it felt like i had to write this fic or explode. I think it worked out nicely haha

Summary: The sky was aglow, deepest crimson washing over the land and undimmed by the bruise-purple clouds that clutched at the edges of the horizon.

The sands shifted beneath him, deep and perfect as only a desert that has consumed everything within it can be.

A staff of inscribed steel stood proud where it was stabbed into the sand, radiating heat against the side of his neck.

Somehow, he knew in his bones that there was nothing out there but him, the staff, and the golden desert.

He was alive, bare, and unwounded despite the blood he could feel stuck to his flesh.

This was not death.

This was… something new.

4) REVELRY

I once wrote a Bnha self insert and the whole experience of trying to make sense of the fandom and the canon verse was so bewildering that I never wrote for my hero academia again. Until now. I've read a lot of Bnha (seriously, my total ao3 bookmarks are in the 6000s now) and I have a lot of characters I adore but i never felt the urge to write for them like i did for this Tokoyami fic. Quirk science confuses me, I'm not one of those accounts who can theorise legitimately on the topic, but quirk Shenanigans and fuckery is something I can weigh in on a little more confidently. I'm ending 2022 by trying out a fandom i thought I'd never post about again. It's a nice bit of self character development, yeah?

Summary: “The shadow is the greatest teacher for how to come to the light.”

Others don't understand that a 'quirk' is not always a tool and that, sometimes, a family is two birds in the darkness of the night.

Fumikage is going to be a hero.

And so is Dark Shadow.

AKA

What if Tokoyami was the top hero student in his class?

5) WIPS

This last celebration is for my WIPs! There are a stupid amount of them, most will never see the light of day, but i love them all ❤️ they're wacky, heart breaking, ridiculous, fluffy, healing and badass! I'll spotlight a few of my favs from this year, since I pick out a snappy title, dramatic summary and aesthetic line divider before almost anything else haha

DRAGON (KAGE SERIES WIP)

“The hunger of a dragon is slow to wake, but hard to sate." ― Ursula K. Le Guin

Mikoto had been born into a Clan that, whilst not so foolish as to disregard its girls, preferred for them to stay at home, providing future heirs and fighters, than risking themselves in the field. Peace had only esasperated the expectations that a pretty girl made a prettier wife.

Mikoto, thankfully, was the daughter of Uzushio Ambassador Uchiha Kagami and Shiho the Silvertongue.

Her inner spark was tended, never stifled.

The Will of Fire would burn brightly once more.

AKA

Mikoto had been born in a plum grove, nearly a month premature, exactly half way between Konoha and Uzushio. Her mother predicted that she would have an indomitable will. Her father declared that she was born between two worlds.

They were both right.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

HUNTER (KAGE SERIES WIP)

The Sarutobi Clan had long been in the service of the Daimyo. The Uchiha and Senju were Noble Shinobi. The Nara were Wild Healers, coaxed out of obscurity by their connection to the Yamanaka and Akimichi.

The Hatake had been Samurai, set apart by their own moral code and Clan culture.

They'd sworn themsleves to Konoha, allies with the Senju for centuries. They were Kin to the Nidaime, who was born of Senju Butsuma's second wife, and an integral part of the village founding. Their loyalty and skill had put them in the first line of defense and had proven their Clan's downfall.

Sakumo was the Head of a Clan of two. His wife, ambushed on a solo courier mission. His son and heir, strongarmed onto the battlefield far too young for all of his genius. The Hatake were in danger and Sakumo was their only hope.

The White Fang had played the loyal watchdog for too long. Konoha had forgotten the bite of white chakra and the savagery of a desperate father.

Konoha needed to remember why the rest of the known world rightly feared wolves.

╣◍╠╣◍╠╣◍╠╣◍╠╣◍╠╣◍╠╣◍╠╣◍╠╣◍╠╣◍╠╣◍╠╣◍╠

THORN

"We, who wield power, adorn ourselves with flowers to hide the sting of our thorns." - L. Bardugo

They saw her ebony curls, eyes like cranberries, and the strength of her Genjutsu.

'Uchiha,' they whispered, fearful, wrong.

'Pretender', the Clan-born dismissed, sneering, ignorant.

'Clan', the trees seemed to murmur, a song precious few could hear these days, and swayed towards her presence. A leaf caressed her cheek, the soil humming underfoot, and branches curved to cradle her descent.

Kurenai had grown up in a civilian family and, whenever anyone looked at her, that was all they saw. The Yuuhi family were small, wide-spread, but had done well for themselves. Kurenai was their only child, the lone Shinobi in generations, and the secrets in her blood seemed to pound just beneath her skin.

She wove roses into reality and warped the mind in her grasp until nothing was believable and the flourishing greenery was waved away as a trick of the light.

'Yuuhi,' they called her.

'Senju', the forest breathed.

And Kurenai smiled.

AKA

Kurenai wasn't supposed to reach Jounin until she was 25, and even that might have garnered too much attention. However, when she notices familiar chakra - like her, like her, like her - lingering around her friend, Kakashi, Kurenai stumbles across a conspiracy that spans decades.

Truth will out. And Blood runs true.

AKA

Kurenai has her Grandfather's eyes and her Great Uncle's chakra.

ෆ(⁠)✿ᘛ⋋⁠✿ෆ(⁠)✿ᘛ⋋⁠✿⁠ෆ(⁠)✿ᘛ⋋⁠✿ෆ(⁠)✿ᘛ⋋⁠✿⁠ ෆ(⁠)✿ᘛ⋋⁠✿

I'll tag: @looks-like-starlight @katlou303 @thekatthatbarks @ellorypurebloodculture @raendown anyone else who wants to play!

#tag game #year in review #torship #torship talks #shisui #bnha #naruto fics #no tomorrow #until dawn breaks #HOPE AU #kage series #sukeban #revelry fic

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ooc-but-stylish · 3 years

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freezedive:

I think I said it in one of your other beautiful posts, but I thought I’d mention it again. All of the ridiculous cutscenes did give us a golden nugget of information on Luna that most of us who are brutally critical of her (like you and me), suspected all along: Luna openly admits to Gentiana that she doesn’t think she has anything to offer Noctis outside of being an oracle. And Gentiana makes it worse by speaking in fancy words by saying some bullshit about her being the oracle is her being human or something and that she is fulfilling her true calling and that is what Noctis needs? Idk but it reeked of emotional manipulation.

I hold little to no regard for Ravus because there’s evidence Luna was being brutally beaten right under his own nose while he was busy being the Emperor’s lapdog thinking it could maybe give him the power to save his sister? The man should have opened his eyes and defended her against the men that kept them jailed

I happened on this reply to roxainn’s post while trying to recapitulate all my other FFXV critical posts and reblogs on the way to making new ones.

Crawling back to find anything about this point, I find that it was posted 3 years ago. But at least I reblogged the reply to it.... and missed that it was literally @ ME. Goddamn did I slack.

But here’s my reply, 3 years late, which should elaborate on where I stand on this.

Yes, the flashback that gets triggered by a random creepy little girl in Tenebrae is about Luna and Gentiana. Somehow the little girl knew about that conversation even though she wasn’t there to witness it first-hand? Or maybe Noctis was imagining what the conversation would be like between Gentiana and Luna off of the vague suggestion from the girl, and it’s just him telling on himself that his imagination of Luna says all that? Otherwise the not-altogether-tinfoil-hat theory says it’s Gentiana in the form of a little girl, telling Noctis something that IMO should piss him off but just makes him sad and guilty because Luna loved him so much, don’t you see. She loved him so much that after wrapping her entire life around him, she’d just want to keep that going for the rest of their lives!

Gentiana opens the conversation with, “At first, the father had mourned the fate of his chosen son. Yet in Tenebrae, the two found solace. It was not the Oracle who assuaged their fears. But the girl…she holds…the true power.”

Then Luna replies, “I have little to offer a king, other than the voice afforded the Oracle. Nevertheless…” She turns to look at the wedding dress. “And—I’m afraid he might find this foolish… But…to be together with Noctis again, even if only for a short while… It…would mean the world to me. I do not seek to guide him, merely to stand beside him.”

The exchange is all types of fucky.

First off, she was twelve. What comfort could she have offered Regis and Noctis? What comfort was she capable of when Sylva was right there, an adult with experience of an Oracle and a personality thanks to a presumable full life not hampered by grooming of the gods?

Second, every other scene of Luna as a child is of her telling Noctis his duty, and that it was her duty to see it through. Did that assuage his fears-- the fears he didn’t have at the time since he never knew the entire meaning of his fate and was being told a saccharine, embellished version of it by Luna right there? Did that comfort Regis, knowing a little girl would also die to protect his son if the gods wanted it, but that she wouldn’t have the will to avert their fates whatsoever?

Third, even she thinks Noctis would think her desire to be with him is foolish. So... was she expecting that Noctis himself didn’t have feelings for her or want to spend time with her of his own volition for reasons outside of her job? She was looking forward to a marriage with no emotional security, where her desires are one-sided and unreciprocated, and the man she cares for think she’s worthless outside of her powers? She would’ve been willing to put herself through that, given a choice?

We know what we know and think what we think, but the fact that this was placed right in the vanilla game and no one thought that was wrong, and instead they doubled down on it in patches, is pathetic on their part.

Moreover, what does The Girl have, that was separate from The Princess and The Oracle? Every facet of her being wrapped around Noctis since age 4. She was nothing but her duty by the time Noctis met her; they had no scenes where they acted as children would. Even supplemental/promotional art for other XV media and related locales cement that. Little Luna serves Little Noctis pastries, she’s not seen eating with him. Luna teaches Noctis how to play piano, she’s not playing with him. Dawn of the Future came out with its own art, and Noctis is afforded the liberty to sit in a chair, and his son(?) sits on his lap, while Luna and her spitting image child(?) are both on their knees, looking up at the dudes.

In most of their art together, Luna and Noctis are either not meeting each other's gazes, she's bending or kneeling to him, or he's supposed to be holding her close but he hover-hands her, or there’s that one time where they took a selfie and the picture was of their Pocket Edition versions. They’re still not looking at each other in that one. And it’s not canon.

Anyway yeah, any conversation Gentiana has with Luna about Noctis is emotional manipulation on Gentiana’s part, but the writers manage just enough to make everyone involved seem creepy and reprehensible in their own way.

In DOTF, Luna has a death soliloquy that confirms she sunk into the water at the end of the game’s Chapter 9, but the soliloquy is about how she was prepared to die even at the age of 12, and she put on a smile and resolved to be strong for Noctis’s sake, so that he wouldn’t remember her having a look of despair. There’s a line there about how she would cry herself to sleep but Gentiana would wipe her tears. Gentiana does nothing else except allow her to cry and wipe her tears afterward, and makes no effort to save her from her fate or at least take her out of terrible situations so that she would cry fewer tears. But there is cut dialogue from the game, and used in the novel, where Gentiana revealed herself as Shiva when Luna was <16 (probably still 12 at the time), when she thought she was being held back from forming the covenants, so there’s that. And Luna still somehow ignored that this meant Shiva allowed Sylva to die, and thanked this useless goddess for her nonexistent generosity.

For whatever reason they had to add a passage where Luna superimposes the image of an eight-year-old Noctis onto the adult version-- quote, "the image of him as a child, burned into my eyelids, overlaps with his now-grown face"-- even though Noctis has canonically sent her photos of him as a teenager (15-16, around the time he met Prompto in high school, see: Brotherhood). Granted, that's a translation from Luna's voice actress reading an excerpt as if it were first person POV. The English version says she sees the child image first, then the adult version is superimposed. Then not much after that there's a passage where Noctis smiles as his child self and it was "that smile she loved that had been in her heart all these years, giving her strength, always and forever".

So she was groomed and turned into a shell since age 4, believes she has no value outside of her job and turned her grooming on a similarly vulnerable child, and her strongest image of him, the one she fell in love with and kept in her heart, is of the helpless boy that promised her the world without knowing the cost. The smile of the carefree boy that didn't know his journey would end with his soul annihilated. It couldn’t have been that hard to have her see an image of him as the 30 year old True King of Light that he would become. At least she'd sound a little less like a weirdo who continually places herself (and is placed by the narrative) as below him, unworthy of him, etc. but also has strong feelings and memories toward a goddamn child.

Re: Ravus: you already got a reply to that, but for real? Ravus was also shafted by the plot and beaten down by terrible, amateur writing. The narrative shits on him as if it’s written by a high schooler or otherwise emotionally arrested adult trying to push a Mary Sue Protagonist. The modus operandi for those stories is that everyone who disagrees with the protagonist in any way has to suffer tremendous humiliation including but not limited to death, because the Protagonist Is Just So Good And Perfect And Always Right.

Nothing Ravus does justifies his treatment in-game or in-fandom like he’s a one-note out-and-out villain who wanted nothing but to kill Noctis and disrespect his sister, to the point where his corpse is defiled multiple times in Chapter 13 and he’s twisted into a perversion of himself that begs to die.

Chapter 13 has Noctis land next to Ravus’s corpse and all his letters to Luna, and Noctis has piss all to say about it, either out loud or to anyone. He looks at the Sword of the Father, glances at Ravus, and without a word takes the Royal Arm and lets the Magitek arm-- still dripping, still gross-- fall onto Ravus’s body and doesn’t even move it.

He had no way of knowing beforehand that Ignis and Gladio knew of Ravus being killed. WE didn't even know they saw security footage until Ch13V2 was added in. Noctis happening on his late fiancée's dead bro sounds, I don’t fucking know, like something you’d want to tell everyone else about later. Along with the letters he wrote evidencing that he intended to return the Sword of the Father to Noctis!

An aside: The Letters from Ravus are just weird to behold; it isn't 100% clear whether Luna ever received all of those letters. She had to have received the first one, at least. But the idea that Ardyn intercepted even one other letter so that Luna never heard from her brother between Tenebrae and Altissia is farfetched. He shouldn’t be able to intercept those messages as if they were delivered conventionally. Luna has a pair of magic space-bending Shiba Inu that send letters instantly across continents. If she’s sparing their use to send Noctis one-liners and stickers but can’t afford that for Ravus to send her discrete updates on Noctis’s status, she’s a piece of shit.

They do meet in Tenebrae as Ravus wanted her to, and they have the conversation where he gets on her case about her “throwing [her] life away” for Noctis. So chances are higher that Ardyn only got a hold of all three letters after Luna received them and no sooner, but then he shouldn’t be tossing letters from Ravus at the dude’s body when it makes more sense for him to toss down letters to Ravus, since the writers wanted to make a point of Ardyn having a vicious streak. It makes way more sense for Ardyn to deprive Ravus of Luna’s writing, then insult him with them post-mortem, unless Ravus’s notes were really all he could acquire, meaning Luna never once wrote back to her brother.

The Doylist explanation is that the writing team sucks and couldn't be assed to think of anything for Luna to say because they didn't think of her at all. The Watsonian explanation is that Luna’s a piece of shit and that tracks with her in Kingsglaive watching her brother burn alive in response to the Ring, but ignoring him and running to Regis’s aid instead, but then the rest of the plot presents her as morally pure through her white clothing and “unconditional, self-abnegating love” for Noctis.

Back to the topic: I don’t know, maybe I’m being old fashioned, but Noctis should’ve given more of a shit that his dropping the Magitek Arm on Ravus’s body was probably what turned him into a mutated abomination begging to die, and he thought so little of Ravus that the dude isn’t even in the glimpse of "people who helped me get this far" in the Beyond. Ravus doesn’t even get a spot to wish Noctis and Luna well on their afterlife wedding, not that it makes any sense for any of them to have words to say since Noctis is already dead, no one was there with them, and none of the bros expressed any sign that they knew that Noctis was bound to get married after his sacrifice (he sure doesn’t mention it in the final campfire scene and that’d be a better place than any). But anyway, Regis is in the Beyond at Noctis’s side even though he never told Noctis a damn thing and still never spoke to him from within the Ring, but Ravus? Nah, he’s the real asshole somehow and doesn’t deserve any recognition whatsoever.

The only other characters I know of that have a remotely similar dynamic to Noctis, Luna, and Ravus (lovers, but the girl has a straight-edge protective brother working for the bad guys) is Nero, Kyrie, and Credo (see: Devil May Cry), but as much as I think the writing in that series is hokey as fuck, at least the writer(s) for DMCs 4 and 5 had enough sense to make the love story simple and based it from a line from Amagasaki City-- “I love you, so I love the city that you love.”-- and opted against portraying Credo as an outright villain because if Nero killed him, Kyrie would resent him for it even though she knew Credo was working for the same Order that threatened her life.

Shouldn’t Noctis care about the shit Luna cares about even if he has no personal investment in it or it’s inconvenient to him? Shouldn’t he care about Tenebrae and its prosperity? or about Ravus? Nah, it’s okay, Noctis doesn’t have to respect Luna’s love for her brother or her kingdom because for all intents and purposes, she doesn’t care for Ravus or for Tenebrae as much as she loves Noctis. Her love for Noctis and her looking forward to the wedding is what matters here.

The yaaaas queen vicious clapback from Kingsglaive!Luna about how Ravus is the Empire’s dog is especially rich coming from her when she’s fellating the gods all through the game even though Eos’s equivalent of The Holy Bible says the Hexatheon’s Revelations destroy cities and that undoubtedly means people are killed by the gods, and their summoner is complicit, because there’s no such thing as a perfect evacuation. See: "Revelations left great devastation in their wake, with entire cities being laid to ruin," noted in the Cosmogony long before the True King even exists.

Luna herself didn’t see a problem with this and helped in the effort, with no regard to the collateral damage she would cause with the summoning: bonus points for the part where Leviathan is hostile to humanity and threatens to eat every living being if Noctis fails! She had even less regard to the damage Niflheim would cause in their attempt to kill the gods even though she was first-hand witness to them sacking Insomnia. Waking and defeating Titan deprived Lestallum of the meteor they derived power from. Waking Leviathan destroyed Altissia. Luna’s refusal to leave Insomnia when told to by Regis led to her being used as bait and taking the whole of the Kingsglaive out of Insomnia in time for their Face Heel Turn and Insomnia being destroyed. Everything else leads to the eventual World of Ruin where people also die.

All because she killed herself prematurely from the covenants and didn’t hold back the longer nights as she promised to the public’s face and on her honor as Oracle she would do. Her dying words in Chapter 9 were her being completely satisfied with her fate because “[her] prayers were answered, [her] calling fulfilled”, even though the calling requires that she dies and she should’ve known better than anyone that her death, even if it was for Noctis’s ascension, would endanger the rest of the world for 10 years and helped the Starscourge spread. But instead of fighting for her own life to stem the plague for as long as possible, she let herself die under the belief that "Noct can handle this" to give him the chance to be the revered King of Light. She also didn’t make a single appearance on the world of the living in her spirit form during those ten years until Noctis needed help with a piddly imitation of the Magic Wall, only then does she come down in her ghost form with seemingly all of her power intact, and summons five of The Six as if Noctis can’t easily do it himself.

But Ravus is the lapdog? Luna’s the one with her “ends justify the means” behavior and what looks like general neglect for actual human beings.

Anyway, Ravus stabs Caligo in the back and kills him, and that move only makes sense in light of the idea that Caligo was manhandling Luna as seen in the Dawn trailer. Ravus was 16 when Tenebrae was overrun, and there’s no reason to believe he was magically immune to institutional abuse, so there’s a high chance that he was abused by the Empire too, held resentment of that, and waited for the time he’d be able to retaliate with no repercussions. Gentiana as a goddess is 1000000% more on the hook about letting Luna be beaten than Ravus is, since he saw his mother die in front of him while Regis ran away. Regis had the power of the Ring and could have used elemancy to put out that fire, or void magic to banish Glauca and his MT army, didn’t do that, but he totally spares enough magic during the treaty signing to toss around Thunder spells straight from his hand, cast barriers, and summon some Royal Arms straight at Iedolas, and that’s bad enough. Gentiana who’s been the Fleuret family attendant since Luna was born and also is Shiva who can freeze people with her fingertip had even less excuse to let that fire rage, to let Sylva die protecting her son, and to stand by and allow her ward(s) to get thrown around by some random Imperial soldier.

#freezedive #ffxv critical #ffxv criticism #lunafreya critical #gentiana critical #regis critical #lunafreya nox fleuret #ravus nox fleuret #regis lucis caelum #ravus deserved better #long read

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thyon-nero · 4 years

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So. How do you feel about the litjoy crate strange the dreamer collection? The art with the setting and places is beautiful, and I love the miracle for breakfast art. On the other... the characters just look... a bit white? All the godspawn has a POC parent... no way they all look Eurocentric. Idk. I feel like I will regret not collecting it, but I already have the books and it seems kinda a waste...

Hi! Thanks for sending this in—I didn’t know that litjoy was making a Strange the Dreamer collection so thank you for bringing it to my attention. And sorry for taking so long to respond! I had quite a bit to say and wanted to make sure that my thoughts were at least a little coherent. Since tumblr doesn’t like links in posts, I’ll be dropping the litjoy link in the replies for people to see what we’re talking about. Also, to the anon who sent this in, I’ll be using the generic pronoun “you” to talk to everyone reading this, so don’t feel like I’m calling you out specifically!

Your ask brings up several good points for discussion that I’m going to try and apply to a broader conversation. Namely, the whitewashing in art and consumerism in the book community. I’m only one perspective so please feel free to continue this conversation in a respectful way: if there’s one thing that Strange the Dreamer should have taught us, it’s that only through communication and understanding can we resolve conflict.

First of all: the Eurocentrism in the art. I’m not sure what policies are for reposting the art on a separate site, so I’d encourage everyone to look on the litjoy website to see it for themselves.

Is the art beautiful? Yes. Does it depict characters canonically described as brown with Eurocentric features? Also yes.

Although Weep is a fictional place, we can still fairly easily draw some parallels between the people of Weep and real world people and cultures. Off the top of my head, @readingbooksinisrael made a post (linked in replies) noticing how the words at the beginning of each chapters sounded Semitic, @inkwingart created incredible artwork of Sarai (linked in replies) without the Eurocentric features of the official art, rightfully calling out the differences between how the characters are described and how some artists choose to depict them, and I’m sure that others have spoken on this as well.

Despite the written portrayal of the people of Weep and godspawn as non-white, it’s easy for artists to avoid depicting them with non-Eurocentric features and only use blue skin as a defining feature.

Within the broader art community, I’ve seen conversations on how to depict characters of different racial and ethnic backgrounds without just changing the skin color and keeping all of the other features identical. Some art styles (typically more cartoony and stylized) definitely do draw all characters with the same face and rely on clothing, hair, and other distinctive characteristics to tell them apart. But this isn’t really enough. When artists provide enough detail to show Eurocentric features but consider using a different shade of brown (or in this case, blue) to be “enough” in terms of drawing diversely, they aren’t hitting the mark.

Ultimately there is no “right” way to visually depict these characters. However, I would encourage artists to think deeper about their designs and question why they chose certain features for certain characters, and if these features are consistent with the source material. I’d like to give the artists involved with the litjoy crate the benefit of the doubt and assume that they weren’t thinking about the implications of their art erasing the godspawn’s brown heritage, but unless any of them have made a statement, I think it’s up to everyone to decide for themselves whether these portrayals are worth supporting.

(That being said, I do adore the landscapes! It’s incredible to see these magical places brought to life. Highly, highly recommend looking at the art just for that!)

I also want to talk a bit about consumerism within the book community and whether this set is worth it, especially if you already own the books. Please keep in mind that I don’t intend this as a callout for anyone or a be-all-end-all for this discussion. My thoughts are my own and do not affect how you spend your money!

Personally, I’m not the sort of person who buys more than one copy of a book. With my current living situation, I don’t have infinite room for books and I (tragically) don’t have the money to buy every beautiful book I see! Although I only own Strange the Dreamer and not Muse of Nightmares, I still won’t be buying this collection because I know that the second copy of Strange the Dreamer will just be collecting dust on my bookshelf and taking up space from other books that I don’t already own copies of.

As of writing this (March 14, 2021) preorders haven’t opened yet so I don’t know how expensive this set is, but if you don’t already have the books and want them, this looks like a great set that’s definitely worth looking in to! However, and here’s where I circle back to your point about regretting not collecting it, I personally don’t think it’s worth buying just for the sake of collecting everything to do with this series.

If owning these editions will make you happy in the long term and you have the resources to purchase them, go for it. I think it’s important to remember though that regardless of which editions you own or whether you’ve read the books through your public library, you still have the story. This world and these characters will always exist in your mind! That being said, I think a lot of people within the book community look to special editions, different cover art, and other merch as a way to become closer to the stories that we love. Even though these may offer new visuals or (in some cases) deleted scenes and extra written material, they don’t change the fundamental story. The experience of reading these stories doesn’t depend on owning special editions. Ultimately, if you’re buying multiple copies of a book, you’re pretty much only paying for the experience of having a pretty cover on your shelves. There’s nothing wrong with that (I know I’ve been guilty of paying extra for a slightly prettier cover!) but that’s the only thing you’re missing out on when you don’t buy these editions.

Especially with the rise of BookTube and Bookstagram as ways of seeing what other readers’ shelves look like, I’ve noticed people putting more stock into what others own as opposed to what they’ve read. Although not perpetrated by everyone in the community, there is some pressure to own all of your favorite books and have the fanciest editions to show just how much of a fan you are, when ultimately that doesn’t mean anything. The person who owns every special edition and the person who checked out their library’s copy can both love the story just as much. We as readers shouldn’t have to “prove” our loyalty to different stories or authors to enjoy them. It’s perfectly alright to not own your favorite books or everything by your favorite author! It’s the experience of reading these stories that brings us together as a community, not the experience of buying everything relating to these stories.

All that being said, it’s still a personal decision whether you want to buy these editions or not. Do what brings you joy! And if that’s owning these books, more power to you. If anyone wants to chime in with more thoughts on the artwork or whether these copies are worth buying, I’d love to discuss it further and have an open discussion. We all have different perspectives and can learn so much from each other through respectful conversation.

#strange the dreamer #laini taylor #muse of nightmares #litjoycrate #ya fantasy #ya literature #asks

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carewyncromwell · 4 years

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*sings* Cinderella...you’re as lovely as your name, Cinderella~...

Okay, some quick notes before we start. Despite the beauty of their work, painters’ palettes were actually rather limited on pigments during the Renaissance, only having three pigments more than artists did during the Middle Ages. The Moly is a magical plant that appears in Homer’s The Odyssey. Hermes gives it to Odysseus as a charm to protect him from Circe’s spells. It’s been most commonly compared to the snowdrop flower by scholars. It also is referenced in the canon Potterverse as a powerful herb that can counter enchantments.

The Willow Song appears as a motif at the end of William Shakespeare’s Othello, though it was written at least thirty years earlier. In Othello, Desdemona sings a few stanzas of it in response to her husband’s growing distance and madness -- to the audience watching the play in Shakespeare’s day, which would already know the song, its inclusion foreshadows Othello and Desdemona’s tragic ending. “No One is Alone” is from Stephen Sondheim’s well-regarded musical Into the Woods, which features Cinderella as a semi-major character -- the song is actually even partially sung by Cinderella in the show!

I edited the art for this section, as you can tell. Badeea’s painting is a modified photograph of the Chateau de Chambord in France, overlaid on top of my own drawing. (Thanks, Lunapic!) This is also my very first time drawing Badeea!! GOD, is she pretty!! I think her eyes are my favorite of all the HPHM cast.

Previous part is here -- whole tag is here -- Katriona “KC” Cassiopeia belongs to @kc-needs-coffee -- and I hope you enjoy!

x~x~x~x

When Carewyn followed up with Andre the next morning, he was quite disappointed when he saw Carewyn wasn’t wearing the new shoes he’d made for her with her uniform. He honestly hadn’t even considered that they wouldn’t be comfortable for walking in -- and honestly, Carewyn could sort of understand why. Andre had never been able to leave the palace grounds, so there no doubt were a lot of practical things he’d just never considered...such as how very flashy royal fashion was, compared to that of the common man. He was pleased with the feedback Carewyn “passed along from her cousins” for him, though -- completely unaware of the fact that all three comments were really opinions that Carewyn herself had had about the dress.

“Hmm...that is a good point,” said Andre, his hand resting on his chin. “Red is a beautiful color...but a deep blue would not only bring out your eyes, but it would also perfectly contrast your ginger hair, since blue and orange are on opposite sides of the color wheel...”

His face burst into a bright white smile. “Your cousin Iris really has an eye for colors.”

Carewyn successfully fought back a groan, even as her eyes drifted up off toward the top corner of the room.

“...Well, she has taken up embroidery as a hobby. I suppose when one spends a lot of time doing samplers, one could develop an eye for colors.”

And also create a lot of initialed handkerchiefs to conveniently drop in front of noblemen so they pick it up and return it to you.

Andre, however, reacted with some interest. “Is that so? Hmm...well, maybe when I’m working on your new pair of shoes, I could invite her over for tea so she can give me her second opinion before I give them to you.”

Carewyn had never disliked a thought more in her life that Iris having a say in what she wore -- but knowing that she shouldn’t be the one to sabotage Iris, especially when her cousin would no doubt be able to do it well enough on her own, she put on her best smile.

“...I’m sure Iris would enjoy that very much.”

Sure enough, within a week, Iris had been invited to the palace for tea with the Prince. Carewyn could only imagine how thrilled Iris, her aunt Claire, and Charles were. As for Carewyn herself, she knew it was now time to do as Charles said and stay out of Iris’s way...and so when Iris arrived, she made sure to clean the rooms in her wing of the palace in a different order and not sing so that Andre wouldn’t be able to “check in” on her with Iris in tow. She didn’t think she could stand it if Iris got to look down at her polishing the palace floors.

Her lack of singing, however, did catch Badeea’s attention. When Carewyn collided with the court painter in the hallway, she expressed some concern.

“I missed your accompaniment, while I was painting,” she said. “Is everything all right?”

Carewyn felt guilty as she leaned her broom against the wall for a moment. “Oh...yes, Badeea, I’m fine. I merely...well, my cousin Iris is spending time with the Prince today, so I thought to...well, not draw focus.”

Badeea nodded in understanding. “Mm, yes...some things are meant to be background details, while others are meant to catch the eye straight away.”

Carewyn and Badeea caught the sound of Iris’s twittering, bird-like laughter echoing down the hall toward them. Not wanting to be seen when or if Iris and Andre came out into the hall themselves, Carewyn quickly picked up her broom and went around the corner -- Badeea adjusted her easel under her arm and followed.

“Say, Carewyn,” said the court painter thoughtfully, “why don’t you dress up in that nice yellow and green dress you have and come to the market with me?”

Carewyn blinked.

“I need to pick up some more carbon black and indigo for this painting I’m working on for Andre, but the man who sells those paints loves to price gauge. If you were dressed up all fancy and you slid in a reference to your family, though, he might be less likely to try to rip you off,” Badeea added with a tiny, coy smile.

Carewyn frowned, feeling a bit unsure. “I don’t know, Badeea -- I still have a lot of work to do...”

“You have the whole rest of the day to finish,” Badeea reminded her. “It would only take maybe an hour or two. And it would get you out of the palace while your cousin’s here.”

Carewyn considered the matter. Truthfully she’d been hoping to finish her work quickly so she could stow away back to the library and scan more troop deployment records...but she really did hate the thought of bumping into Andre and Iris, not just because of how much Iris would hate Carewyn getting any attention and therefore delight in tormenting her in front of the Prince in order to puff herself up, but because she didn’t want to provoke Charles’s ire unnecessarily.

“All right,” she said. “I’ll go change.”

Not long later, Carewyn had put on her mother’s old dress, pinned her hair up, and joined Badeea by the front gates, and the two headed into town on foot. The sky was still rather gray -- it had been raining and thundering for the last couple of days, and there was still a lot of mud in places. Carewyn was glad she was wearing her worn brown shoes under her gown rather than the pretty heels Andre had made for her -- particularly since nobody would likely be looking at her feet.

The shopkeeper in question was indeed a bit intimidated when Carewyn offhandedly referred to “her grandfather, Charles Cromwell” -- and soon enough, Badeea had been able to skip most of the haggling she would’ve normally had to make just to get her paints at a decent price. They left the shopkeeper’s stall, several jars of paint in hand.

As fate would have it, as they walked at the market, someone else was also shopping, and at the sight of the familiar dress and mane of ginger hair, he ran up to meet them.

“Carewyn!”

Carewyn and Badeea both looked up, to see Orion striding up to them. He once again wore his slightly-too-clean, but modest white shirt, olive breeches, and boots, and he was carried a basket full of henbane.

Carewyn’s red lips spread into a smile. “Orion...hello.”

Orion brought a hand up to his chest and offered her a short bow.

“It seems the stars favor us after all, my lady,” he said, the corners of his own lips kissed with traces of a wry smile.

Carewyn shot a quick glance at his basket and quirked an eyebrow.

“Purchasing some more incense?” she asked pointedly.

Orion’s black eyes sparkled. “I’m afraid we’ve already used up what I bought previously. Fortunately the gentleman from last time remembered my face and didn’t give me too much grief.”

“That’s fortunate.”

Carewyn glanced at Badeea to Orion and back.

“Orion, this is Badeea Ali -- she’s the Crown’s court painter. Badeea...this is Orion Freeman. He helped me retrieve my horse the other day.”

Badeea’s dark brown eyes were very bright. “Ah, yes -- KC had said that you were thrown off your horse. Thank you for helping Carewyn, sir,” she added to Orion.

“It was my pleasure,” said Orion. “What’s the subject of your next piece, if I may ask?”

“A foreboding sky and a distorted reflection,” Badeea replied.

Orion looked intrigued. “That would explain such dark shades. Who commissioned the piece?”

“The Prince,” said Badeea. “But his request was just of a view of the entire palace, from a distance -- I was simply inspired by the rainstorm that passed through a few days ago, and how the turrets of the palace looked reflected in the castle moat.”

“I wonder how the castle of Royaume would see itself, if it had eyes,” said Orion levelly. “Would it see its beauty, or would it be the type to be critical of its flaws?”

“Hm...or would it see the beauty of its flaws?” asked Badeea.

“True,” granted Orion. “Flaws make us more human -- would that make something more beautiful, by serving as contrast to our strengths?”

“Flaws aren’t something you should simply have to accept,” said Carewyn demurely, her arms crossed. “One should strive to be better than one already is. Even if one is only human, that doesn’t mean they can’t work to be something better.”

Orion turned to her, interested. “And what would be better than being oneself, my lady?”

“Being a better version of oneself, of course,” Carewyn said, sounding matter-of-fact. “One can always be kinder, braver, stronger...more cunning, more passionate. One can always learn more, and do more, and be more.”

“Yes...but it seems like those could be crippling expectations to hold over yourself, to never be enough,” said Orion, and although his expression was very inscrutable, his lips twitched with something of a frown.

“Perfectionism is a disease that affects every artist sooner or later,” said Badeea sympathetically.

Her dark eyes flitted from Orion to Carewyn thoughtfully.

“I must be getting back to work on my painting...would you like to join us at the opposite bank, Mr. Freeman? I would be happy for some feedback on my work, before I present it to his Highness.”

Orion glanced at Carewyn for her approval -- she offered a small smile, and his lips turned up in a full smile of his own.

“I would be honored.”

So the three set about finding a less muddy spot by the castle moat, across from the palace. They found one right by a beautiful willow tree, where Carewyn very carefully lowered herself onto the grass. Badeea fetched her easel and chair, setting it up so that she had a good view of the castle. Orion looked over her incomplete work appreciatively.

“It looks like it could breathe, were it a living thing.”

“Thank you,” said Badeea. “Now then, I’ll need to concentrate while mapping out the sky, so no initiating conversation, please. These paints stay on fabric just as well as my canvas, so they won’t easily wash out. I would appreciate some accompaniment, though, Carewyn.”

Orion glanced at Carewyn curiously. Carewyn avoided his eye.

“Badeea, I don’t think -- ”

“Ah, ah,” said Badeea, holding up a gloved finger quickly, “no conversation. Accompaniment or nothing, please.”

She then set about mixing certain shades and color spotting sections of canvas.

Carewyn frowned. It was one thing to be singing while she was working herself, to pass the time, but Orion’s focus was still largely on her, and it felt weird. Still, she thought to herself, it wasn’t like she was bashful about singing in front of others, exactly -- she knew her voice was more than serviceable. There was really no harm in it. So, glancing up at the willow tree above her head, Carewyn rested her hands in the grass, leaned back, and sang.

“The poor soul sat sighing by a sycamore tree --

Sing willow, willow, willow...willow...

Her hand in her bosom, her head on her knee --

Oh willow, willow, willow...willow...

She sighed in her singing and made a great moan --

Sing willow, willow, willow...willow...

‘I’m dead to all pleasure -- my true love is gone --

Oh willow, willow, willow...shall be my garland...’”

Carewyn felt Orion’s dark eyes on her at the start. Before long, though, his eyes had fluttered closed, and he sat in perfect silence. As he listened, his shoulders loosened and his expression seemed to clear of all tension or pretense, like a child peacefully falling off to sleep. Badeea painted and shaded to the sound of Carewyn’s low, melancholy singing, adding white highlights to the dark gray and black shadows to create a cloudy sky with sunlight poking through.

When Carewyn was finished with the song, Orion slowly opened his eyes, meeting her gaze again at last. His eyes were oddly hesitant, almost shy.

“Y -- ”

He hesitated. Then, his black eyes softening handsomely, he closed his mouth, and it slowly spread into a smile gentler and warmer than Carewyn had ever seen before. He clearly approved.

Carewyn smiled in return and inclined her head in a silent “thank you.”

Carewyn sang some more songs until Badeea had finally finished and Orion and the two women had to part ways so that Badeea and Carewyn could pack up the easel and finished painting and bring them inside.

The following morning, Carewyn was surprised by KC pulling her aside to hand her a packet of what looked like handwritten sheet music.

“Your friend Orion stopped by a little while ago to give this to you,” she explained.

Carewyn was taken aback.

“I reckon he must’ve hopped over the wall,” said KC, unable to fight back a laugh. “I caught him strolling through the southwest gardens. I told him I’d bring it up to you, so that he wouldn’t get himself in trouble.”

Stunned, Carewyn looked down at the sheet music, shifting the pages so she could scan each line. Her blue eyes softened, growing deeper and darker with emotion, as she read the words and notes.

“...This...this is beautiful,” she whispered. She looked up at KC, unable to fully keep the awe from her face. “...You don’t think he wrote this?”

KC shook her head. “No, he said it was a song he learned when he was young, and that he tracked down the sheet music for you since he didn’t think he’d be able to properly sing it for you. I’ve never heard it either, though.”

Carewyn spent her meal times and about an hour before bed that night perusing the sheet music so she could learn the song. The following day, she felt confident enough to sing some of it while she started about cleaning the Queen’s Chambers.

“Mother isn’t here now...who knows what she’d say?

Nothing’s quite so clear now...feel you’ve lost your way?

You decide alone...but no one is alone.

You move just a finger, say the slightest word --

Something’s bound to linger...be heard...

No one acts alone...careful -- no one is alone...

People make mistakes -- fathers, mothers --

People make mistakes,

Holding to their own...thinking they’re alone...

Honor the mistakes everybody makes, one another’s terrible mistakes...

They could still be right -- they could still be good.

You decide what’s right -- you decide what’s good.

Just remember...”

“Carewyn!”

Carewyn stopped sweeping and looked up, to see Andre striding through the opened door of the Queen’s Chambers toward her.

“An -- your Highness,” Carewyn corrected herself very quickly, after noting who’d accompanied Andre.

Just behind him in the door frame was her dark-haired cousin Iris, dressed in her best rose velvet and her own almond-shaped blue eyes narrowed with loathing at Carewyn over Andre’s shoulder.

Andre, perfectly oblivious to the silent tension between the two cousins, gave a laugh.

“Oh, Carewyn, we’re not back to that again, are we? It’s ‘Andre,’ ” he said with an indulgent smile. “I haven’t heard that song before -- did you learn it recently?”

“Ah...yes,” said Carewyn. She could feel Iris’s fierce glare burning a hole in her face over Andre’s shoulder even without looking at either of them.

“It’s really quite lovely,” said Andre. “Please, do sing the rest of it when you’re able.”

“Of course, Prince Henri.”

Carewyn was absolutely not going to call Andre by his nickname in front of Iris -- she knew how Iris would shriek her head off about it to Charles.

Andre sighed and shook his head in something like tired amusement.

“I was hoping we’d catch you on your rounds,” he said conversationally. “I’m just about finished with your new shoes! Iris said your favorite color was ash gray -- I’ve never really worked with that color before, so it’ll be a bit of a challenge -- but I’m sure I’ll find a shade that might suit you...”

Ash gray? Running with the ‘Cinderwyn’ nickname, then, are we, Iris?

Carewyn forced a smile. “...Thank you. That’s...very kind.”

Feeling more uncomfortable by the minute, she quickly rushed over to pick up her full dust pan with her other hand.

“Forgive me, I really should go and empty this -- ”

At that exact moment, Iris had strode forward, bumping Carewyn’s shoulder in just such a way that the pan was knocked backward onto Carewyn, covering her, her orange and tan dress, and the floor with all of the dust, dirt, and grime she’d swept up over the last hour.

“Oh!” said Iris in feigned surprise. “I’m so sorry.”

Her gaze, however, was just as hard and unapologetic as it had been when she’d ripped the sleeve off Carewyn’s dress at home.

“Carewyn!” said Andre, concerned. “Are you all right?”

Carewyn coughed.

“...Yes, of course,” she said, her voice very hard and stoic in the back of her throat. “It was merely an accident.”

She shot Iris a cold look as she looked over her now thoroughly ruined uniform and the dust and dirt all around her feet.

“Please, go on ahead with Iris, your Highness. I’ll clean up this mess.”

Once Iris had successfully steered the reluctant-looking Andre out of the room, Carewyn closed the door, took off her dress, and finished cleaning the room in her undergarments, so as not to spread the dust and ash around any further. Then, very carefully, she darted across the hall from the Queen’s Chambers to Andre’s, so that she could fetch the high-necked, gold-embroidered dress made out of white linen and light blue velvet he’d recently finished for her from his walk-in closet. After all, she told herself, she needed something to wear while she was getting her uniform cleaned -- and well, at least Iris would be less likely to ruin this dress, since Andre had stitched it himself.

Holding her dusty, ashen dress in a folded pile against her chest, Carewyn headed downstairs toward the laundry. On her way through the entrance hall, though, KC -- who’d just come out of the library -- ran up to walk alongside her down the hall.

“Seems your friend is back.”

Carewyn’s messy ponytail flapped over her shoulder when she looked at her in surprise. “Orion?”

KC nodded, her lips curled up in a wry smile. “I thought I saw someone hopping over the wall through the library window, just now. Shall we go investigate?”

Carewyn bit her lip, looking down at the ruined uniform in her arms.

“Let me drop this off at the laundry first,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”

Carewyn ran down the stairs and threw her uniform into one of the tubs to soak, before quickly doing her hair up in a simple, but slightly more presentable braided bun and hurrying back up to join KC. The two women then headed out to the gardens, only to hear something of a scuffle.

“A man with innocent intentions does not hop over castle walls,” said Bill’s voice, though it sounded much lower and harder than Carewyn was used to hearing.

“In this case, sir, I assure you, I do.”

“You will declare your true name and business at once, sir, or I shall see to it that you’re locked in irons and hauled before the King himself -- ”

“Bill!” cried Carewyn.

Bill looked up, startled. The ginger-haired castle guard had slammed Orion back-first against a tree, holding him up off the ground by his collar with one hand, but at the sight of Carewyn and KC running forward, the suspicion and righteous anger in his face dissipated instantly.

“It’s all right, Bill,” Carewyn reassured him. “He’s a friend.”

“Put him down,” said KC.

Bill looked from KC to Carewyn in confusion, before glancing at Orion warily, but he nonetheless did as they said. Once he’d lowered Orion to the ground and let go of his shirt, the dark-haired man calmly adjusted his collar and picked up a satchel that must’ve come off in the struggle off the ground.

“Thank you, Carewyn...Lady Katriona,” he said pleasantly, as if he had not just been in a loose choke hold.

KC grimaced. “Orion, I’ve saved your butt twice now -- we’ve more than gotten to the point of you calling me KC.”

Orion smiled wryly. “I’m glad of it.”

Carewyn, however, still looked a bit harried. “Orion, what were you thinking? Hopping the wall...it’s no wonder Bill thought you were up to no good!”

“Well, the gate was locked, and no one was there to greet me,” said Orion airily.

“Well, of course the palace of Royaume has very strong security,” Carewyn said exasperatedly, “the royal family lives here.”

“I must wonder how the royal family ever receives visitors, then.”

“They don’t,” said Bill rather coolly. “They invite them, and very rarely, at that. And they clearly didn’t invite you to trespass on the grounds.”

Orion was unfazed. “Well, fortunately, I wasn’t looking for such an invitation, to begin with. I merely wanted to give this to Carewyn, as a gift for Madam Ali.”

He reached into his satchel and pulled out a jar of unusually shiny silvery-white paint. Bill, KC and Carewyn’s eyes all were very wide as Orion handed the jar to Carewyn.

“I asked a few people where best to locate materials for paints,” he explained. “One man pointed me to a flower that grows at the border called the Moly. He made this paint himself. I don’t think any colors like this are made and sold at the market, so I thought I would bring along one of his jars for Madam Ali, so she might use it for her next project.”

Carewyn’s light blue eyes were very bright and touched as she looked up at Orion.

“Orion...it’s wonderful,” she said, her soft voice incredibly warm. “Badeea will love it.”

“You said he used the Moly?” asked KC, as she took the jar from Carewyn and looked at it. “Maybe Badeea could mix up some more paint of her own, then.”

Bill glanced at Orion with a raised eyebrow. “Or the Crown could simply buy it from the vendor who sold you that paint.”

Carewyn noticed a strange, almost skittish glint flicker through Orion’s eye.

“...I’m afraid that jar was a favor, not a purchase,” he said softly.

“I think Badeea would be fine with making her own, Bill,” Carewyn said firmly. “The Crown wouldn’t want to set aside extra money for materials anyway. It’d be a lot cheaper to make a paint like that in house than to buy it from someone else.”

Despite his frown, Bill nonetheless sighed and nodded. “...True. Charlie’s needed a new set of scratch awls for ages.”

Orion looked pleased. “I’m glad I could be of assistance.”

“Perhaps the next time you want to see Carewyn, you might figure out a way to do it that doesn’t require you scaling walls like a prowler,” said KC amusedly.

Carewyn shot KC a slightly reproachful look. Orion’s muted smile rather resembled that of a satisfied house cat.

“I’d be happy to arrange more regular meetings outside the palace, if Lady Cromwell would be open to it,” he said, his black eyes sparkling as he glanced at Carewyn.

Carewyn raised her eyebrows coolly at him. “Once again, Mr. Freeman, you seem to have an unusual amount of freedom, if you’re able to consider allocating time just to meet me.”

Her lips then spread in a wry smile.

“Still...I can hardly sit by and let you get arrested for trespassing on my account. I have some time available late tomorrow morning, before noon. I could meet you by the gate then.”

Orion grinned. “I’ll look forward to it, my lady.”

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #cinderella au #my art #my writing #carewyn cromwell #orion amari #katriona cassiopeia #andre egwu #bill weasley #badeea ali #orion you sneaksy bugger #definitely manipulating things to 'learn more about your enemy' and warm them up to you #so as to make connections you could use to do diplomacy later when the ruse is up #but at the same time...you sure are oddly comfortable with putting yourself in risky positions to interact with carey-bear ain't you >3 #iris's face claim is a brown-haired devore ledridge #I'll probably be drawing her at some point with andre -- GOD do I feel bad for this guy #as naive as he is about the cromwell family dynamic I think he already prefers carewyn's company to iris's #but honestly who wouldn't *snorts*

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mrs-nate-humphrey · 4 years

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aight aight, real shit; let's say you got the chance to rewrite the entirety of gossip girl exactly how you want. make a brief description of what would happen in each season. (you can decide whether there's a fourth season or not)

oh i LOVE this ask, and i am so flattered to be asked this, haha. i have SO many thoughts, i’ve been thinking about this non-stop, but i’ll try to be as brief as possible. also, disclaimer, i don’t remember all the seasons equally clearly. like i barely remember s2. haha, whoops.

season 1: i love this season as is, for the most part. i think the tone of it was actually very serious and involved? like the show was actively trying not to be frivolous with heavy topics, and the way we were getting to see the characters seemed like they were trying to bring out character depth and the complexities of their lives in very deliberate ways. nate’s whole thing with his parents gets so much focus, and it’s not something the show glorifies, it’s something that is meant to make you uncomfortable and worried for him.

i would have nate be less of a dudebro, jenny & nate’s friendship being a little more solid, dan being a little more involved in jenny’s problems + helping her find her space, vanessa/nate to happen earlier - after nate breaks up w/ blair and realises she looks happier, i would have him not try and get back with her (lol, dude, the fact that she’s happy after breaking up with you means you probably shouldn’t be dating her.) more exploration of eric’s mental health. more dan and blair friendship. i would keep chair the way it is this season. i would not have a derena breakup - i’d have them take a break after the georgina reveal and get back together during the summer after talking about it and deciding to be more honest & open with each other. and, what the hell, i would have lily not blame serena (???) for being taken advantage of in the whole pete fairman situation. serena wasn’t sober, she was 16, that dude was in his 30s, georgina was taping her w/o her consent. how is any of this serena’s fault??? i hate lily’s reaction so much.

season 2: i... don’t remember enough of this season, sadly. it’s been too long since i watched it. i would majorly change jenny’s arc here, though. eleanor stealing her dress was majorly, majorly fucked up, and i think jenny should’ve done something then and there. also the whole thing with ‘lily is a mother to chuck’.... i would’ve loved it if lily had been like that to jenny. the girl needed it, and lily would’ve actually been able to help jenny establish connections in the professional world and whatnot. i think jenny should’ve transferred out of constance - not necessarily homeschooling maybe, but gone somewhere else. unlike dan, she didn’t even want to get into an ivy, she wanted to make it big as a designer. so. that.

oh nate my love. i’d get this trainwreck of a boy some therapy. while i hate that the catherine thing happened, things like that do happen all the time, and i’d be interested in sort of handling the aftermath of it in a responsible way. i would not have... a lot of serena’s arc and decisions (from what i can remember) were really random in this season. i’d have her break up with dan at some point. and vanessa would need a new subject for her short film, and she’d choose serena.

nate doesn’t really date anyone, this season. but he and jenny open up to each other abt having gay crushes on people who treat you like shit - jenny’s thing with agnes - nate rescues her when they’re taking those pictures in her flat and let’s say she doesn’t go back to agnes. instead of kissing her, nate talks to her instead, and tells her about carter, tells her about chuck. and jenny talks about her feelings for blair, her feelings for agnes. and both of them sort of go... “it sucks, but all we can do is try not to become the kind of people we hate, right?”

dan pines for nate. majorly. massively. obviously. i think the only person who really notices is blair, and this would lead to new hijinks and shenanigans. also!! i do not want chair in s2. maybe it can go there for a bit but definitely not to the extent in canon. i want blair to have the same moment of being unable to deny her cruelty / needing to be accountable that she did in that ‘age of dissonance’ play. and. this sounds fucky but i want the dan/rachel stuff to stay as it is, and later, in s4, for dan & serena to talk about rachel & ben respectively and be like ‘hey, this was a fucked up thing to happen to us, wasn’t it?’

i would also like to get to know blair’s “minions” better as people. i mean. they all seemed hella fascinating to me, and the show’s decision to make them superficial and unidimensional was very depressing.

season 3: hot garbage, throw canon away. when chuck goes away to paris or wherever, let him not come back. goodbye, dude! dan, blair & vanessa friendship at nyu is so, so important to me. also im losing my mind always at how vanessa and serena catch dan on that walk of shame and they’re both like ‘college is a time for experimentation!’ and nobody does anything even slightly bisexual (unless you count that threesome later, which, blah.) a serenessa / date dynamic in college would’ve been great. dan transferring to columbia like blair does and rooming with nate and just, the gayness of it all. dan & blair become really, really close, and d&b&v watch movies + go to art exhibits together and are all SO DAMN PRETENTIOUS. serena finds it sexy, nate finds it terrifying.

the william stuff would be interesting if he were actually held accountable. like that man has no right being a doctor, and medical malpractice needs to be brought up. and jenny’s whole arc this season makes me so sad. i think it would’ve been interesting if she’d been a ‘queen’ and ruled alongside eric, and just, the two of them forcing people to be nice, sort of like they try to do with people who are mean to nelly in s2 i think it is? but also.. jenny out of constance is very good, and i think i mentioned that earlier, haha, whoops.

season 4 : serenessa breakup, for whatever reason, probably to do with the william fuckery, because i think vanessa would react in similar ways to nate (”serena, i know he’s your dad, but we have to do the right thing” / “it still wasn’t your call to make” / “he’s a certified doctor, serena, a man like that has no right -” / “god vanessa, you really don’t get it, do you?” ). uhhh i would actually... if i had to choose i would honestly go blairnessa >>>>> dair. i love how blair & vanessa can keep each other on their toes and hold each other accountable. like? blair’s classist or racist and dan’s just like, *smiles*. vanessa would actively be like ‘hey, stop that.’ (this is one of the few actual criticisms i have about d/b as a relationship, RIP.)

(edited to add: yeah, i think blairnessa WOULD be a sustainable relationship, more abt that here! )

yes to the milo arc, but dan gets to keep milo (his friends threaten georgina and go all ‘you made him sign the certificate. don’t make us take you to court’ because i love these morally grey assholes but also because g DID trick dan into thinking milo was his and dan was ready to reshape his whole life around that kid which is more than georgina was willing to do. plus endgame: jack/georgina are not parents i want milo to have.) i would also have more of a rufus & dan fallout over the milo thing. i think rufus would be really nasty about it all tbh.

the dair arc for blair and vanessa! let the juliet stuff happen, but let it be less awful + let it be seen as Bad + let serena get help & not forgive her for it. let serena NOT date ben after, what the hell. i want d&s to talk about their shared feelings for high school teachers and to realise, in retrospect, as adults, that what happened was crossing lines. let blair and vanessa suddenly drop dan and do the movies + galleries stuff on their own. and dan’s like ??? but he’s busy being a parent with nate supporting him. dan’s drama is very much parenting things. there would be some nonsense involving nate’s family pushing back, because ‘we stood by while you dated him, nate, we thought it was a phase. but raising a child with another man? this is unacceptable.’ i would like nate to get disowned by the family, and need to find his own feet. and to get a REAL SHOT AT HAPPINESS away from that terrible environment.

season 5: i want this to be a good serena season. let her find her calling doing creative things. let her and carter travel the world. let her just be whoever she wants to be. let her and vanessa patch their friendship up. let her have an open relationship with carter, let her have a lot of sex with a lot of random people and not feel guilty about it. let her really really blossom. i want more eric! maybe he’s in london with jenny, and she’s working on her fashion stuff, and he’s realising that he really wants to be a counsellor.

some time-skips, maybe. i really want to see dan’s whole thing of being a parent. sending milo to kindergarten and spending the whole time milo’s gone on edge and anxious about everything that could go wrong, while nate comforts him. let nate try to get a job because he no longer has a trust fund, and navigate everything that comes with that. let vanessa be there for him. why the fuck am i phrasing my sentences like this - can you tell that i studied physics once?? oh well.

blair & vanessa handling a lot of things. vanessa meeting harold!! vanessa’s parents being disapproving of blair, but ruby standing up for her. blair & vanessa planning their future properly. blair & vanessa babysitting milo and talking about kids.

and there can be drama too, there should always be drama. but i would like wholesome stuff at the centre of it too, you know? the ivy/lola nonsense can go on in the background, i don’t actually care that much. as long as ivy doesn’t go around fucking people’s fathers for no understandable or discernable reason, i don’t really care lkdhlfdkhg. (it was just so inexplicable and so random!)

season 6: uh, i don’t know. this was a bad season for everyone in canon, except chuck. i would throw it all away. i would actually love if we had pre-series rufly instead: every time those two bring up their past together i’m like 👀 because it sounds like a dream. or focus entirely on jenny and eric and their life. i am obsessed with jenny and eric being... sort of queerplatonic, sort of like, best friends. there’s no romance and no sex between them (eric’s canonically gay, and jenny’s a lesbian because i said so) but i think the way jenny and eric are is very, very life partners in a way that isn’t romantic OR sexual. so they’d have a little place together and would support each other. and just. what are they up to now? also. kati, iz, penelope, hazel, nelly... what r they doing now? one of the few things i actually liked about s6 as it was was that nelly was that reporter and that she’d found her people in yale. nelly yuki getting a happy and fulfilling ending and being a successful woman was so good and we actually got a little bit of that. i’d like more of that, for the rest of the girls, you know?

#anon #long post #this is almost 1.9k words long but it was fun to write LDKHLGKHFGKH #gossip girl #i know there's no dair i am so sorry about that #but honestly the way this was panning out i had to like #choose between dair & blairnessa #RIP #meta #??#prompt #my writing #???#gg rewrite

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tessiete · 4 years

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creator tag game

Thank you, @kckenobi for the tag! And for the bonus fic rec list you included in yours bc, honestly, I just spent like an hour rereading all your fic and being amazed and touched all over again. ANYWAY.

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 (ish) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

So, this is going to be difficult because I...did not write a tonne this year? I choose EVERYTHING! But here goes.

My (Current) Favourite: Just So, and No Clearer (Obitine, T)

I hated this fic while writing it. Every chapter felt like a chore. Every scene felt pointless. I didn’t know what story I was telling except that it was meant to be as revealing - or more so - of Obi-Wan as it was of Satine. And then, I hit the final chapter, and I was like “Oh!”

This is probably the most complicated thing I’ve written, in that the poetry had to communicate something beyond the text, and that the story Obi-Wan thinks he is telling is unadulterated in that form, but the story Satine is living is something real, and less fanciful beyond it. I feel like I surprised myself with this one.

Biggest Lesson: One Human Thought (Qui-Dad & Obi-Son, G)

I’ve been writing this fic for 8 mos now (I think), and it shows. When I started writing SW fic this year, I thought I was pretty confident in my style - I wasn’t in love with my style, but I thought I knew it - and I thought I’d been fairly consistent in terms of quality after cutting my teeth on a bunch of fic in other fandoms. But this fic...I didn’t outline it. I didn’t have any grand themes. I didn’t directly adapt any major source (it’s inspired by Pygmalion, but the structure is distinct). I did not expect anyone to like it, or want it, or feel it.

So, of course, it’s my most popular fic.

And I recently went back and reread the first couple chapters and, yeah, I think I am a different writer now. This fic taught me the importance of just Putting Something On The Page, how to write through the dry spells, trust that I could fall back on technique and practice when inspiration left me, ignore the need to Be Perfect, know that sometimes a sentence can just be competent, and that is enough. Not every word needs to be profound. This fic showed me that practice will outlast inspiration every single time. Which is neat, because that’s partly what it’s about.

Gateway Fic: The Eternal Spring (Padme Lives, Obi-Wan Has a Crisis, G)

This fic is my baby. It set the stage for everything I have written in this fandom. It’s the testing ground for the basics of almost every mainstay in my hc, from Obi-Wan’s voice, to his relationships and how he views them; from shared fanon content, and the expansive nature of fandom, to my own con-langs and worldbuilding; from the lore I wanted to keep, and how I felt about certain fan theories - I found Korkie here, guys! I needed him for plot, but then he showed up and just WAS Obi-Wan’s and I couldn’t let him walk away.

It’s written in the style most comfortable to me, and was the very edge of the nest from which I leapt.

Thesis Fic: Or Else I Shall Be Lost (Korkie is a Kenobi, Boil is exhausted, G)

This is a shout out to you, @mg024, because I mentioned that I have Many Thoughts about the narrative benefits of canonizing Korkie as Obi-Wan’s son. I will do that one day, I will, but in short - this fic.

This is my little field test of how I think Korkie best functions in a canonically plausible scenario. KEEPING THIS BRIEF, my feeling is basically, Obi-Wan would benefit as a character by having a son, and the narrative would benefit by his having a son. In this case, I used Korkie as a way to examine that transition between Anakin and Vader, exploring Vader’s jealousy, his relationship with Obi-Wan, his desire to possess something that cannot be owned, and contrasted it with Korkie’s inheritance being something he is worthy of because of his choices, not his blood. Korkie chooses to continue his father’s legacy, while Vader feels entitled to it. I think inherited legacy vs. chosen destiny is a pretty major theme in almost all SW stories, and for me, this is a facet of it that would benefit from exploration and has a vehicle that’s lying around IGNORED! How dare.

Guilty Pleasure: Rolling Hitch (Qui-Dad & Obi-Son, G)

Look, the premise of this fic is weak. The execution is inconsistent. But I want whump. I NEED WHUMP. And I am weak for platonic bathing, and sleepy times. The tenderness of care required to clean someone, the trust required to let someone else do that, the way peoples’ hearts are revealed in the way they sacrifice their comfort to assure someone else’s without thanks or notice…….this fic is for me, friends. If you like it too, then that’s a really lovely, welcome bonus!

No pressure tags for some of my favourite people! @tree-scapes @outpastthemoat @acatbyanothername93 @duchess-of-mandalore @mahizli @pebblysand @kyber-erso @mg024 and one for @pomiar (who won’t do it, but should).

#fic #meta #my fic #gffa #sw fic #creator tag #idk other tags #korkie kryze #korkie kenobi #obi-wan kenobi #obitine #satine kryze #qui-gon jinn

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winter-fox-queen · 4 years

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Pedro’s boys road tripping head canons.

I kept trying to add that lovely camping picture of Frankie by put my internet connection is “turbulent” — so forgive me for not making it pretty, lol.

I am dying to get back out on the road but *gestures wildly* Pandemic. So I wondered what our boys would be like on a road trip:

Oberyn: Would be completely fine as long as the road trip was centered on the senses -- a foodie trip, perhaps, with beautiful accommodations. I am not a wine drinker but I know there are some incredible “wine trails” that run through some lovely scenery. He’d want the prettiest accomodations with exquisite views and comfortable beds with soft sheets.

Javier: Would totally be a bit grumpy about it -- the man does not know how to relax. But after you were both on the road he’d get into it, especially when he saw how much you loved the change of pace. He would be fine camping, I think. Also fine with the late night slog to a motel so you have more time to explore the area the next day. But I think he would like being somewhere quiet, where he can stare at the campfire with you snuggled up against him, and just be for a bit.

Ezra: Oh, little bird. Haven’t you travelled enough? But, because he loves to make you happy, he’d be completely about a trip to someplace where you could do more of a staycation, perhaps a city vacation where he could mooch around and look at things...museums, places where books congregate. His eyes would light up when you found an old bookstore hidden in some corner. He’d pet the books longingly and finally pick one, holding it against his heart while he keeps browsing. He pretty much has had enough of nature, though. He would not care where you slept, as long as he could have you against him while he reads out loud from his newest treasure.

Whiskey: At first, I was thinking he’d do cities, too, because we know our Jack is about the finer things in life. But then I realized...travelling to cities, all the more urban stuff is really a part of his job. I think a roadtrip with him would involve things he really likes but rarely has time for -- glamping at a ranch, finding a place where he can ride horses with you on a beach, being completely detached from his Statesman life so he can just be himself, and experiencing things with you. He would not normally camp...he’d want places where they have the fancy “glamping” experience...but if camping was the only way to do something you wanted to do, he’d be all for it. His favorite memory will be the star party he took you to at the Grand Canyon, where people gathered with their telescopes set to different places in the sky. Your quiet happiness at being able to see Saturn’s rings made the long, long hours behind the wheel worth it.

Frankie: A camping vacation all the way! He’d be all for going from National Park to National Park, and since he’s a vet he and a friend can get in for free, making it fairly cheap. (This is actually true, there are also NPS passes for people over 65, you buy it once, and you are set for life.) He’s super organized so camp set up and tear down goes quickly, and he’s eager to get out on the trail and see things with you. He also has a tender spot in his heart for the tourist trap stuff and will totally stop at places that claim to have the biggest ball of string, or whatever weird road stide attractions you guys run across.

Marcus Moreno: He’d want to hit up spots that were educational for Missy, but also fun -- the road trip would be a combination of National Park/State Park historical sites and fun things like lodges with water parks. Things where you could have a nice long walk during the day, and where Missy might be safely occupied so that the two of you have some romantic time. He is also, by the way, the king of making Smores...when you guys camp, you discover that he is amazing at cooking over a camp fire.

Marcus Pike: He’d create a really balanced road trip between nature (long walks during the day, a cabin with a hot tub at night) and cities where he can take you to see his favorite pieces of art. I also think, at the end of the trip -- because roadtrips are totally a crucible, you learn so much about your travelling partner -- he might start thinking about what places are coming up, where would be the most romantic and beautiful place to ask you if you might like to marry him?

Din Djarin: Like Ezra, he probably feels like he travels enough. He’s want to find a secluded cabin in the woods, maybe one with a hot tub for his aching bones, where no one could find you or the little womp rat. He would just want to be able to take off his helmet and enjoy quality time with the two people he loves more than anything.

Guilty Bonus: I have totally been day dreaming about Pedro and road tripping with him in a Sprinter Van -- they are vans fitted up for camping, smaller than an RV, but you have a nice bed, cooking space, etc. I would love to see the world through his eyes, hear his thoughts about places we saw. Or just chill near the ocean, the back doors of the van open so we could watch the water and lounge around with a good book.

Edit...sorry about the lack of a cut...I can’t find the setting on the iPad version of the Tumblr app. :(

#Pedro pascal #Jack Daniels #pedro pascal #Frankie morales #Marcus Moreno #Ezra prospect #headcanons #nonsense

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lacusmoonrise · 4 years

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This one is probably going to get pretty long so I’m putting it under a readmore.

This positivity post is made purely by me and is for @sparklingdemon / @fallenpkmntrainer

First, I’d like to dissect into the pokepasta story Fallen Leaf itself, as that is how I met Sparks. If you have not read it, I highly recommend doing so first before reading it. You can find the link to it above on fallenpkmntrainer AND it has the same askblog to go along with it. If you prefer listening, they also did a dub here.

I’d of course, like to start with thanking for this story personally. Growing up afab, there was something that always irked me about video game media. The closest I ever came to this video game wise was only being able to play as a boy on Harvest Moon. But I was fine with it since I got to date cute girls (yes I know what a baby little gay). But after reading Fallen Leaf I had realized something. Sexism and misogyny in video games is very much rampant, even now. People are so complacent just because of nostalgia and rose tinted glasses. This pokepasta smacked those right off of me, and I have to thank it for that. It’s an amazing meta story that uses Leaf’s non-canon inclusion in the games as a means for a voice. A voice to tell others what is wrong with the Pokemon series when it comes to how they treat their girl characters, and their players. The story itself is well written of course, with the visual medium assisting it heavily and making it unique. Sparks is excellent with their sprite edits and story telling, and it was a joy to read.

Now onto the fallenpkmntrainer askblog itself. This blog explores the after story of Fallen Leaf, and the consequences of Game Freak/Nintendo and how it impacted Leaf. Not only is it well written, it’s incredibly emotional. Personally, it’s a bit difficult to feel guilty or genuinely upset when reading askblogs, but this blog moves me in ways nothing else really has. Not only is it done well, it’s drawn well instead. Its updated rather regularly, and it’s all done with a mouse and a curve tool! It’s insane to me how good and consistent the art quality is. Sparks also just has an amazing and cute art style. There was one panel where I even thought red (the heartless bastard) looked a bit cute. Of course, Leaf is cute all the time so points for Gryffindor. Least to say, fallenpkmntrainer is one of my FAVOURITE askblogs and I’m glad I found it when it started.

Now, onto the mod, Sparks! I started talking to sparks in like may or march? One of the M months. I actually did so, not knowing they wrote Fallen Leaf. (cause I’m kinda dumb :pensive:) But I stayed up late for three nights just chatting it up with them about pokepastas. They’re a genuine blast to talk to, and I do it pretty much daily. Not only are they funny, I’m able to just talk about whatever I like and they’re able to do the same. It’s a nice back and forth! I still think about their plots frequently... (slaps morpheus and they [REDACTED]) They’re SUCH a good story teller and it honestly baffles me how much they’ve worked on stuff. I was particularly impressed by how much they’ve worked on their jirachi lore, I LOVE the different classifications. They’re also, clearly, an amazing author. I’ve read the other pastas they worked on and rewrote and they’re just really good. They bring so much uniqueness to the pokepasta community with their visual representations of the story, and their storytelling in general, it’s no wonder their stories got so popular!

And not only are their skills nothing to sneeze at, they’re just really kind and friendly and fun to talk to. They’re considerate and I like listening to them! I also drew them pog leaf and they will never escape for as long as I live.

Just generally, I’m really glad to be friends with them. And if you made it all the way down here, you should definitely check them out!! They’re wonderful!!!

#pokeask positvity #talk #long

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intro-v · 5 years

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Debunking all anti-BB arguments because i only have so much tolerance(Edited with new extra content cause i still have little tolerance)

“BB isn’t beauty and the beast, stop stealing from t*uradonna shippers”

-The fact that yall want such a beautiful story to represent ya abusive ship is reason enough to reclaim “steal” it

Yang’s last name is “Little Dragon”, last i checked that dragons are pretty fucking beastly by concept alone

“Wings isn’t a BB song, stop stealing from M*nochr*me”

“Wings” is a song ABOUT Blake

It ain’t my fault yall are deaf to not think of Wings when you hear the verse “Help you spread your wings and fly” in “All that matters” and never once hear the word “Wing(s)” in a Weiss song

“Yin and Yang MUST mean man and woman, sorry wasps, E/clipse has that point, Yang means man in that regard”

Yang’s literal name is YANG, what kinda ancestery.com bullshit do you want. Also like shut the fuck up, y’all deny most of Sun’s Chinese influence, like fuck you guys are right in this regard

“The monkey king and the Bull demon king were supposed to fight, YANG STOLE SUN’S FIGHT WITH ADAM”

No she didn’t because Adam ain’t based on the bull demon king, if he was, it would’ve been mentioned a long ass time ago

“It could’ve been anyone going after Blake in the Fall of Beacon, Yang ain’t special”

Yang is the only member of RWBY with the most context of Adam

Yang saw Blake drawing Adam in the cafeteria(Which is were Adam and Yang’s first encounter happened, so it was foreshadowing right from V2)

Blake was comparing and contrasting Yang to Adam in V3, Yang is smart enough to put two and two together that the guy she’s talking about must’ve the same person she was drawing

Yang literally shows up after Adam threatens Blake with “I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love[Yang shows up yelling for Blake, Adam notices Blake’s mortification]starting with her”

“Blake went to the dance with Sun, not with Yang”

She literally says “Technically, but my first dance is already spoken for” with a massive “Bitch i’m not here for you” tone of voice

If it wasn’t for Yang she wouldn’t even be going to the dance, Sun asked her to the dance and Blake answers “No”

“Blake and Yang don’t even talk”

This hour long video says otherwise

And the storyline in V4, which y’all worship as the E/clipse bible is barely half the length

“Blake blushed at Sun, never at Yang”

If someone did a stupid dance and then winked and pointed at me, i’d be red with embarrassment too

Ruby blushed at Emerald...does that mean they’re canon?(If you ship it that’s dope)

Blake never mention Yang while in Menagerie

In the intro of V4 Blake looks off to the horizon and immediately transitions to Yang

When Sun gets stabbed she’s fucking sobbing “no no no, not again” gee i wonder what recent event in life would make her say not again when a friend gets badly wounded by someone very close to her in the WF

Sun, the messiah himself mentions Yang when he mentions “I’d do it all again if it meant protecting you”, Sun is aware Yang lost her arm trying to protect Blake

Blake’s voice cracks when she mentions Yang when explaining why she left her team

Blake mentions Yang when saying what one word describes her teammates

“Oh yeah, Yang and Blake killing someone together, how romantic~”

Don’t start clowning, you all would be saying the same shit if Sun was in Yang’s position, quick ya bitchin

If you actually fucking ask an actual BB shipper they will tell you, that the moment is not romantic, it is an emotional moment they shared together. Not every BB moment is romantic

Some of yall use the uncomfortable argument that Blake and Sun have as “Aw look, they’re acting like an old married couple”so shut the fuck up ya lunatics

“Yang doesn’t care about Ruby and the team dynamic is ruined and imbalanced”

We goin’ to ignore the fact that the “hur dur team dynamic” was already imbalanced because Ruby and Yang are sisters

Yang doesn’t need to baby Ruby anymore she knows she can take care of herself since the fall of beacon when Blake said “She’s our leader, she can take care of herself” also like...siblings don’t stop loving and caring for each other when they have an s/o, if you actually think that you are flat out wrong

So Blake and Yang would “ruin the dynamic” but Sun and Blake would’t ruin RWBY and SSSN’s dynamic...That’s some double standard right there since two teams are being affected

Are yall just gonna ignore how fucking scared she was when Ruby was face to face with Lenny? She was horrified and was reaching out for her...yall gon ignore that?...okay

Literally JNPR were dating amongst themselves...where are yall on that shit?, hell STRQ is the same thing...where are yall on that shit? Oh right its because this is between two main characters

“Blake is abusive”

Yall love painting Blake as the devil, despite her Sun slaps are a confirmed mistake, but yall don’t see a problem with Sun stalking simply because he had good intentions....okay fine, whatever

Yall think Blake ran away because it fun!? She thinks its all her fault, the last fucking thing she wants when thinking that is to be around her friends for what all she knows have a targets on their backs

Blake literally hates herself for leaving, she wants the others to hate her too

“BB STOLE ALL THE FAN CONTENT MAKERS!”

This is a you problem if you think this and you are really fucking dumb for thinking this

Have you thought that there is a reason why BB “””””Stole””””” all the fan content makers

“Wasps are so toxic!”

While i will not deny that there are some awful people in the Bee community

But at the same time, the ones against BB aren’t free from that either. Yall go out and harass people for fucking years, yall are the ones who go and comment nasty shit on BB posts(and BB art posts), and are even passive aggressive towards BB shippers in the comment section of E/clipse art posts

“Sun would be so jealous and Yang should feel guilty!”

Sun is the same person who pinched Ilia as payback after getting stabbed...That boi doesn’t hold grudges, sorry you guys aren’t fooling anyone into thinking Sun would be the next Adam

“E/CLIPSE IS SO DEEP”

Yall immediately started to ship them once they made eye contact ONCE

Sun thinks Blake’s best feature is her being a faunus

Sun does not understand Blake, ONCE

Blake is constantly tired of Sun’s bullshit

“BLAKE GAVE SUN A PECK ON THE CHEEK”

-Camera angles/placement -setting -lighting

“Adam is delusional him saying ‘What does she even see in you!?’ means nothing”

By that logic than Sun never went to school because Adam called him a classmate

“Everything that happened between Blake and Yang happens between siblings and best friends all the time!”

If you stare at your sibling or family the way these two look at each other...seek help

And the all time “favorite”

“BB IS TOO FORCED”

Yes because a love triangle between generic twinky blond boy, rich prissy tsundere and blue sexist boy is TOTALLY not forced

Because immediate eye contact between boy and girl MUST mean they in love

If you watch the essays and watch the hour long BB movie you will see how its NOT forced

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seancekitsch · 5 years

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Stan Uris x Reader: Making up for Lost Time

Requested by: NO ONE hahaha all me i love Stan

Warnings for the series include: canon issues including self harm, attempted suicide, emotional trauma, the clown, anxiety, adult Bill Denbrough’s personality, book and movie canon being merged together because I like to play god, light smut.

-when Stan picked up the phone for a second time that night, it was purely by accident. It was a habit he apparently even now could not shake. He dunked his one bloody arm into the water and picked up his iPhone with the other.

-“Stan? It’s you right? God, what are we going to do?” You didn’t even wait to hear him say hello. Didn’t give him a chance. But then again, you never did, did you? Memories of you came rushing back to him. Pushing him off the cliff into the quarry, sitting patiently while he recited Torah portions to you, sneaking in his window when you knew school was stressing him out too much to remind him to eat. How could he ever forget someone as special to him as you? And then he remembers his other arm. The one that stings despite the warm water.

-He wants to hang up the phone, he does. He has something he has to finish. But your voice strikes him, then soothes him. He’s entranced. It’s a little huskier than when you were young. He finds himself wanting to ask about what your life is like now. And he realizes he hasn’t said a word to you yet.

-“Stan, what are we going to do? I won’t go back there if you’re not.” What could he tell her? No? ‘I’m not coming I’ll be dead by the time you finish booking a flight’ couldn’t work. It would be easiest to bite the bullet and hang up right now. But he can’t seem to do that either. He doesn’t want to never hear that voice again. As if he wasn’t in control of his own actions, he stutters out a small “I’ll be seeing you” before hanging up and lifting that other arm out of the water. The fresh air stung, but he could deal. He could also find a way to close it and wrap it. He booked his second flight of the night shortly after.

-His wife Patty didn’t understand. She couldn’t; and he didn’t hold that against her. It was a piece of their relationship long since lost on both accounts. But it wasn’t malicious. He packed quietly, careful not to mess up his very precarious stitching, resigned to the fate that awaited him up north. He was one of the few to see it for what it truly was that summer. Although he didn’t have a name for it as he lost his memory, it lingered in his dreams. Flashes like a movie from your childhood long forgotten.

-The flight isn’t long for him, and neither is the drive to the Derry townhouse. He’s in a trance as he pulls up to the parking lot, checks into his room, and unpacks. This is all until he realizes he didn’t pay anyone for this room. He goes downstairs to find no one at the desk he had just been at. In fact, it looked like no one had been there for a while. There was dust on the counter. Behind him, he can hear glasses clinking together. The bar. It’s not until he hears someone that he turns around.

-“I’m making gin and tonics, if you want one? Sir?” It’s that voice from the phone. You. He almost spins on his heel to see you for the first time since high school. You looked just like you did, but wiser. Your cheeks a little thinner and your hair a little longer but it was still you. How could he forget that face? He nods enthusiastically, his body taking him closer each step to you.

-Your face breaks into a grin so wide your face looks split in two. It’s a grin he didn’t know he was waiting to see. The two of you chat, catching up on all the important things. He’s an accountant. Fitting, you remark. He kept everything in order as kids, and now he does so as an adult. You’re an editor for a big publisher based in Seattle. He would have always thought you’d go into art or music, but it makes sense. You always liked to help others shine. You tell him you’re recently divorced because you never wanted kids, and he feels a twinge of regret in telling you he’s still technically married.

-Yes, Stanley Uris was still married to Patricia Uris, but the romance and love had long since died. That’s what this whole trip to Argentina was supposed to try to fix. But Stan knew they both knew it was futile. They had grown too far apart and out of love, and it was no ones fault. When he came back from Derry he would expect both of them to go through the motions of the trip and then quietly file for divorce. Or if he could, they’d get their refund and cancel and still divorce without issue from either party. And even though it was no ones fault, and they both knew where it was headed, he still felt guilty for wanting to hear your voice again.

-You seemed to close off a bit despite him explaining his situation, and he hates that. He remembers you and he were the closest throughout childhood and high school, so he hates that he’s said anything to change that. But he presses on in conversation because he wants to know everything he can about what you’ve done since leaving for college.

-This one on one reunion doesn’t last, however, because after a few mixed drinks you realize its time to meet the others at the restaurant. You talked about everything except for it. But now you had to face the others. You decide to share a cab, and it’s a silent ride over to the Jade of the Orient. Nerves have struck you both like a speeding train.

-Those nerves only dissipate in you when Richie sees you, and lifts you up in a swinging, bone crushing hug. You and Richie were only close because of Stan, but that doesn’t mean your friendship was only auxiliary. While you didn’t remember much, seeing Richie’s face reminded you of laughter and sunshine and drunken mirth. Stan still seems apprehensive, but you don’t seem to notice.

-You sir next to Stan at dinner, and while you’re only here because he said he would come back, you’re glad Mike even gave you Stan’s number. You’re so happy that you have your long forgotten childhood back. It strikes you that you’ve edited one of Bill’s books that he and his wife are adapting into a movie . You missed Eddie’s ranting and arguing. You missed joking around with Bev and Richie. Mike and Ben seem successful and happy. It’s everything you could have hoped for your fellow losers.

-But then the fortune cookies are served. Each fortune has one word on it, and it confuses you until you all remember the clown. Yours just says “Stanley”, Richie’s says “Looks”, Mike’s said “Like”, Bev’s says “Not”, Bill’s says “Did”, Stan’s says “Almost”, Eddie’s says “It”, and Ben’s says “Make”. What did that mean? Then as you all argued, your fear heightening your anxiety and aggression, Mike started to arrange the fortunes.

-‘Looks Like Stanley Almost Did Not Make It’ what the hell did that mean? None of you have time to ponder that, though it stays on your mind, because the entire table starts shaking.

-The fortune cookies hatch into a dozen tiny terrors that make all of you want to leave Derry and never return. In fact, you all almost do. But somehow, everyone manages to calm each other down, and after a few more drinks and a few cigarettes, you all turn in to sleep. Except you.

-You find yourself wracking your brain about those fortunes, and that the only way to get to the bottom of this is to ask Stan himself. So you find yourself knocking on his door in only your satin robe, make up smeared across your face. And he lets you in anyway. He’s only in a pair of sweatpants and it’s clear he’s been in here beating himself up about something. But then your eyes catch the large bandage on his forearm. What the fuck is that?

-“I tried not to come back, okay?” He’s defensive. You guess you said that out loud. “But it was your damn voice. You just had to stop me. Do you think i WANT to be here? I’m here for you. To keep you safe.” As he’s been talking, he’s been crossing the floor, closer to you with each step. Your eyes have rested on the bandage the whole time. The weight of his words feeling like you’re drowning in them, until ...

———————————

Next part coming soon!!!

#my work #stanley uris x reader #stan uris x reader #stanley uris #stan uris #it imagine

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sweetlydraws · 5 years

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The end? Maybe.

I’m not sure how to start this… But the Painted Lady AU is… not dead but dead. I’m not happy making the videos for it. Honestly, I don’t even like Miraculous Ladybug any more. I don’t like the direction that the show is going. I can’t even read ML Salt anymore. It’s just too hateful. I love the characters, but the versions of the characters I’ve made. I’m still going to do things with these characters canon and my OCS.

Speaking of my OC's. I feel ill when I want to do things with my OC's and not the canon characters. I love the characters I’ve made. But I feel guilty if I go to post them.

I want to do art and stories with characters that I wouldn’t be able to until a certain episode came out.

I thought about making it a comic, but I also have the same worries about making it a comic. I think it has less to do with the story itself and more about my skill.

Originally it was supposed to be 1 and done. Then it started to get views so I thought I could turn an old AU the Crimson beetle AU into this new story. The Painted Lady AU. I don’t know. Honestly.

I’m going to be posting the storyline I had laid out, so spoilers.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1s2RfN8oXZ-FHg0eIBna2TosU9HSdG0-IKCMymXPCXWo/edit?usp=sharing

I’m still going to be posting with the characters. I do love this AU. I will be posting art for it, but the story is over. Thank you.

#Painted Lady Au

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stagcharmed-a · 5 years

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james potter, flaws edition.

elitist. the potters are a pureblood family, and an old family, and even if they’re not in the sacred twenty eight - James absolutely considered his family a bit better than some other families. ESPECIALLY when he was young. He is disdainful toward the families considered to be associated with the dark arts and strongly falls in line with family ties and history on most major issues. Thus, on principle, he has no time for a lot of people (especially Slytherins) and is pretty much set/decided in his beliefs about who deserves respect and who doesn’t. In terms of muggleborns, his family are active in the fight for muggleborn rights, so he doesn’t hold prejudiced thoughts against them in that sense (and he’s genuinely disgusted by people who do) BUT, he does hold a little suspicion/disinterest toward muggle lives and society because most wizards do (I do see this changing as he gets older, because of his and sirius interest in muggles, and because of his relationships with muggleborn people)

unaware of his privilege: this is a BIG ONE. James really doesn’t consider how his upbringing and the things he had in life (connections, wealth, a good family, security ect) affected his growing up. and he also rarely considers that people’s experiences and perspectives could be wildly different to his own. This is something else I think changes A LOT through school, as he meets and gets to know more people. But as a kid, 100% he did not consider it at all. And even as an adult, he doesn’t really consider everything.

saviour complex/needs acceptance to thrive/needs to be liked: james wants to be accepted and needs praise to like, thrive. He Very Much is against dark arts/the ideals of the blood supremacists, but he also wants to be Seen as that person, in a way. The good hero fighting the evil baddies. I think this one thing he really loses in the war when everyone is so disillusioned with fighting and the romanticism of it all really fades away. Although, I don’t think he ever really gets over how he wants to be liked.

somewhat conditional with his friendship; He’s not always open-minded and accepting of Everything. I think he loves his friends a lot, it’s not like he’s cutting them off if they do one thing he disagrees with (look at Sirius re the remus situation) but at the same time, there’s an element of there being strict things James doesn’t compromise on, and he’d cut anyone out his life who overstepped that. for example, if Sirius had landed in Slytherin, James wouldn’t have been friends with him.

jealous; he’s not chill, like, at all. He gets jealous of his friends, the idea of them talking to/hanging out with/becoming friends with other people more then they are with him scares him. A big part of his issue with Regulus is that he’s jealous that Regulus has a history and understanding of Sirius James will never have. I honestly think this is something he never fully gets over, it’s not that it’s toxic to his relationships. It’s just, he’s the kind of person who needs a strong group of people around him, and the thought of that group fracturing because people moved on/away from him is .. upsetting.

impulsive: kind of a strength/weakness at the same time, but definitely hinders more than advantages him a lot during the school verses. he absolutely does everything on instinct, and makes impulsive snap decisions that land him in BAD situations. can be convinced to do absolutely anything (kind of links in with wanting to be liked) and will come up with ideas on the spot that he then executes that he really should have ... thought through more. also can let his temper get the better of him and make impulsive decisions like uh, fighting with people.

morally superior: james considers himself to be a cut above the rest in terms of his own morality and ideals. which is hilarious, considering some of the stuff he gets up to. He is outright hostile to anyone who he deems to not align with the ‘correct’ morality/ideas. When he and Snape have their fight on the train, his instant dislike stems pretty much solely from the fact Snape doesn’t see being in Slytherin like he does. He considers himself to be more morally sound than some around him, and in turn, he can therefore justify whatever he does against them because “I’m right, you’re wrong”

used his popularity for evil (lmao); don’t know a better word for this but.. its canon james/sirius were considered to be extremely popular/cool and they were 100% aware of it and they 100% used it for their advantage. He’d know he could do things and get away with them. He knew the teachers liked him and his family and it meant he could get away with things. At times, he used his influence to push people around and he liked knowing that people knew who he was. Ok ‘evil’ is a dramatic word to use, he’s not evil, but he sure wasn’t always humble or shy about it all either.

binary thinking: this is another one I think changes quite a lot during the war but, he tends toward binary thinking. “if im good, you’re evil” “if im right, you’re wrong”. He rarely see’s, or cares to see, the nuances in an argument. And a lot of what the marauders get up fits into this. It’s also why so many times they get carried away.

annoying; SO annoying: I guess this does depend on interactions and characters but .. he actually doesn’t care if people are bothered by him being around. Essentially is inconsiderate and enjoys getting a reaction from people. And he never thinks to feel guilty about it. Sixth/seventh year he grows out of this a bit, in the sense that he learns to dial it down for others benefit, but he’s always going to be a little bit dramatic/over the top/annoying and just like, animated? And to some people that’s really annoying. But it’s kind of who he is.

#( & | headcanon )#me and the gc were talking about our charas flaws so #i did this #honestly these aren't worded exactly perfectly? and #I think its so dependent on chara / verse / who im writing with #but in general #for me the major ones are #elitism/need to be liked/binary thinking/moral superiority #then the others kinda link into those #its interesting too how many are double-fold tho #like there are positive aspects to toxic traits #anyway so IM thinking I'll make an individual post for each major one to expand #more on this but #yeah #「 JAMES POTTER 」 » headcanon

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lifes-a-simple-plan · 5 years

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Anyone else remember that one time....

...I wrote an essay about a Japanese drama on Netflix called Switched?

Yeah, me too. In case you don’t, here’s the link to it - if you were curious. Or if you were insane enough to dive into a 20 minute read about a television show wherein I just talk about everything I loved about it. Either way, it’s at your convenience now:

https://lifes-a-simple-plan.tumblr.com/post/177182071148/this-is-gonna-be-one-of-my-longest-posts-ever

Roughly, it has been one year since I first watched the show and I thought it would be fun to revisit my old post and re-watch Switched (yet again; because I genuinely do have a problem)

This time around, I learned how to make a fucking “keep reading” link, so everyone who wants to can pass on by without spraining their scrolling-hand. But for anyone who just feels like they want to spare the time - thank you!

Now that that’s done, I guess I’ll just get started! Last time, I spoke of what I felt the show did right, my favorite moments and quotes, character analysis, shipping, my thoughts on the ending and what I wished had been in the show.

Really, not much has changed about my opinions regarding those subjects. If anything, I feel them stronger. How Kaga is the light in this world, Ayumi is just the most pure bean, Kaga is the only one on earth to deserve true happiness, Umine needs a therapist, Kaga is my One True Love, Koshiro should really express himself better, and did I mention that Kaga is the absolute best?

I do think I’ve discovered some things deeper than I had in the multiple times I’ve watched it in the past year (I’m at 15 now y’all, and it is not looking like I’m going to stop any time soon (I’m literally fucking watching it right now)). So I would like to touch on that.

Things I hadn’t noticed before

Another working title for this section is “things I thought I saw but are definitely canon for me now”

- In the second episode, in the scene where Umine is walking with Koshiro telling him not to talk to other girls and then Ayumi is like, “let’s talk, yo.” This felt like the biggest discovery since ever for me. It dawned on me that it is the first time Koshiro and Ayumi, in Umine’s body, are facing each other - KNOWING the entirety of the situation. This is the first time he has to conceal his true feelings from her. When I watch it now, I get a little glimpse (or think I see a glimpse) of the moment Koshiro shoves it all away. His expression turns completely blank and he just starts playing her right then and there. She has priorities, and therefore didn’t even look at him, but he shut it down at that moment I believe.

- Koshiro didn’t take Umine very seriously until their walk in the blue lights. I think he didn’t want to think of her as a real threat, or as someone who was in as much pain as she was. But when she openly admitted to wanting to commit suicide is when he started thinking of her in a new light. He started asking questions. He started to see her as a real person who needed help. I really love that she was finally able to open up to someone. This scene also gave us an idea about who Umine is as a person, when no one is teasing her, when she doesn’t have to worry about her mom, or think about her dad. I said it last time, that this was probably the best day of her life, and I feel like it’s the first time in a LONG time that she could let go of her worries. That’s the part of her that reached out to the good parts of the other characters and earned their ability to forgive her.

- When we get to the scene in episode 3 where Kaga is overheard confessing his feelings about ‘Umine’ to Maria and Ritsu, I think Kaga fully realizes that his classmates were all dicks. And I think we see here within that realization that Kaga might’ve been a dick too. Not as much as the rest of the guys, who are all making the actual jokes about Umine and the idea that she could be liked by someone like Kaga. But most definitely in the way where he just goes along with the jokes. Accomplices are still guilty, after all. I feel like this might have been his flaw. A good friend of mine and I had a wonderful conversation not long after I posted my first review. It was about how she wished we could have found something wrong with Kaga so that he might actually seem human, and not like the perfect Godsend he really is. Well, with a year passing of considering this convo, I feel like this is it. The thing that makes him human. We know without a shadow of a doubt that Kaga stands up for the people he cares about - seeing as he does it for Ayumi right there in the scene I’m talking about. But I think before he was directly involved with the person being teased, he laughed with the rest of them no matter what the situation was rather than stand up for them. This really is just a guess from me, but it feels like canon simply because of the hesitation before he tells the class how cute ‘Umine’ is now. Almost like the look on his face was saying, “This was me at one time.” I hate to think it, but it feels right to me.

- Ukon and Amagase scenes were utterly of no importance. They literally get less and less significant every time I watch this damn show. Like, I understand that they are there for informative reasons, but if Kaga had been just a little bit better with the Google search he did early in episode 3, he could’ve found that research paper Koshiro was annotating in his room in the dead of night. And that could have been his source of information about how body switching happens, and how Ayumi can never go back to her body. Ukon could still have had her name on the paper, and been part of the show that way. Really, her scenes just took up time that could’ve been saved for MORE KAGA. If only Ukon and Amagase had been more like their characters in the manga. I know that that would have significantly altered the drama aspect of the show, but it would have been better than what we got.

- I think Koshiro wanted to get punched by Kaga. Just a little bit. He felt he deserved it. And in my opinion, he definitely deserved it.

- Ayumi was never going to meet Kaga’s feelings halfway. Had things gone differently that day (ie. meeting Kaga instead of Koshiro), she might have started dating him. But it would have been because she didn’t want Kaga - her biggest supporter - to be sad or disappointed. SHE. REALLY. COULD. HAVE. LOVED. HIM. but she never gave herself the opportunity. Kaga was going to fall more completely for her, but she would’ve only broken his heart later because she doesn’t really love him. (*Edit: this was made right after a food binge in that halfway-sleepy/full mood and the weight of this truth was overwhelming at the time).

- Umine’s mom definitely blames herself for the dad leaving. Maybe that’s obvious to some people, but it took me a few times to really get that feeling from her. I believe that she believes he would have stayed if she’d been more beautiful. Which, honey, it’s really not your fault. He left for reasons that were unexplained (but I am making a fanfiction that will cover that more, if anyone’s interested in that). I just wish that she didn’t have to take out her insecurities on Umine.

- Koshiro’s kind of a dumbass for telling Umine he never actually loved her on the roof. ALL SHOW LONG she’s been telling you she’s suicidal. She jumped once, she’ll do it again. Really just a huge lack of foresight there.

- In Kaga’s memory montage, he is most definitely feeling the pain of having to give up Ayumi. Those were probably the best times of his relationship with her. Not having to share her with anyone, not having the attention he was getting diverted by her feelings for Koshiro. I know Koshiro was being an ass when he said that the switch benefited Kaga the most, but he was right about it. And, OW, my heart.

Feelings towards the characters - one year later

Koshiro:

Koshiro, Koshiro, Koshiro...How do I feel about him? Even though I KNOW he’s good, I can’t freaking help but hate him for most of the show. It’s as intended by the creators of this magnificent piece of art, but I just can’t really stand the guy sometimes. This man is practiced at lies. I’m going to pretend that he’s in drama classes, on top of everything else he does. Koshiro is already good at every damn thing he does (much like Tomohiro Kamiyama - fucking ridiculous how talented he is). Truly, I don’t hate him. I just can’t help but think that his “ends justify the means” personality is wrong on so many levels. And I feel like his actions shouldn’t have earned him Ayumi’s love more than Kaga’s should have.The more I watch it, the more I think that he really didn’t deserve Ayumi in the end. And while I KNOW she already loved Koshiro, I’M. STILL. NOT. OVER. IT. Clearly I still have some feelings about this. Maybe I’ll add in a paragraph specifically about this.

Umine:

I kinda like her more than I did a year ago. And, honestly, I liked her a lot back then. I’m not denying that she made a whole hell of a lot of mistakes. Switching bodies and threatening people is not how one usually makes friends. But it was interpreted as a cry for help that went on to entirely change her life for the better. I’m just so happy that her actions led her to Ayumi, Koshiro and Kaga. Because literally anyone else would have been too pissed to reconcile once everything was said and done. I’ve had this idea in my head that maybe she was jealous of Ayumi for more than her looks, or her boyfriend. I think the biggest underlying reason that Umine chose Ayumi was her ability to be open to people. Making friends is really hard for her, and they just seem to flock to Ayumi without her even trying. I can truly understand why she dislikes Ayumi, even if I can’t agree with it.

Ayumi:

I really adore her character so so so freaking much. I know I talk a lot about how she didn’t make choices that I would make *cough cough KAGA* but I can’t fault her for making them either. She just always chooses kindness. She always chooses compassion for others. This girl is like, 16, I don’t know how she can be so forgiving. I genuinely admire that in her. I am far too petty, so I really think she is a hero in her own right.

Kaga:

I. cannot. stress. enough. how. much. i. love. this. character. Kaga is the kind of man other men should watch to figure out how they should act. I swear to god. I love him more than I did a year ago. AND I LOVED HIM SO MUCH. His chivalry, his ability to put others before himself, his never ending optimism, how he can see what people need, how he acts on his emotions, HIS FUCKING SMILE. He is altogether otherworldly. Kaga is the sun, and we’re all just the planets revolving around him (I have dibs on Mercury; y’all can get in line). I wouldn’t change a damn thing about him. He is so so so valued and appreciated. My god.

While I still have you (if I still have you), I’m just gonna circle back to that bit about Koshiro not really deserving Ayumi in the end. I got all kinds of worked up earlier (as per usual), so I think it should be addressed. So why? Why do I feel like this? A year ago, I was perfectly satisfied with the ending. But now I’m just not so sure. Koshiro lied. A lot. And I know WHY he did it. And I know that he apologized. And I know that he didn’t WANT to do it. But he did. And while he expressed genuine guilt, I can’t help but be uneasy. I think it’s because of Ayumi. Not once did she have a face-to-face conversation with him about how messed up he was acting. Not just as his girlfriend, but as his friend. They were CHILDHOOD FRIENDS and she just sort of....let him treat her like that. I also understand that Ayumi had a whole bunch of stuff going on in her life. Switching bodies could not have been low on her list of priorities. But I really just need to see a time when she looks him dead in the face and asks him why. Why he said he only cared about her face. How he could stand there next to someone who ripped the two of them apart. How he could care less about the way she was feeling. Even if he only lied again, I wanted her to stand up for herself. Just a little bit. I can think of several occasions where she had the opportunity. And maybe she just didn’t want to hear the answer, or really believed in him because she knew him that well. I don’t know. I’m just upset that she didn’t blow up on him a little bit (also, just imagine that Kamichan has to be stoic and passionate in that scene and you’ll wish you could watch it too). Honestly, I still would have gone after him even learning the truth behind his actions. He hurt her feelings, and he should be told that (I know he knows that already, I’m just saying that more words could have been said). So, the point: The ending. I think Koshiro could earn her (in my eyes) if we saw something more than a montage of Koshiro-behind-the-scenes that expressed his guilt.

And truthfully, I am still ok with the fact that Ayumi didn’t choose Kaga. She really just wasn’t in love with him. She loved him. But platonic love does not a relationship make. I desperately wish that Ayumi’s heart could have changed, but it was enough for me that she was willing to give up on Koshiro just to spare Kaga’s feelings. I’ll keep telling myself that until someone loves him back.

Changes this show has made in my life

That sounds really fucking corny, but I’m not kidding you when I say that after watching this show my life was altered. It was the very first Asian drama I watched, and honestly it was a very good thing that I waited until I was older to start on this journey. My personality is kind of obsessive when it comes to bands or television shows, and I was WORSE in my teenage years. I’ll just keep reiterating that hey, at least it’s not drugs. Since my first dive into Switched, I have:

- Started painting again. I used to love art and making drawings. I don’t really remember why or when I stopped doing it, but it was almost a constant. Art supplies for birthdays and Christmas presents, my room covered with all of my artwork, handmade birthdays cards given out to EVERYONE. I knew I was never very good, but I loved doing it. And Switched gave that back to me.

- Started learning Japanese. You see guys, you give me an Asian show and I just drop everything to learn a new language. Why am I like this? Oh right, I’m obsessive and need to better understand things that I love so that I can love it harder. Ugh. I hate how much effort I put into things. But really, I can’t help but put in the effort. I bought books and practice daily. I write diary entries in Japanese in a notebook. I highlight. I have apps that I use on the go. During lulls at work, I practice writing the hiragana. I repeat phrases in my head ALL. DAY. EVERY. DAY. because they get stuck in my brain like a loop. I make my friends make quizzes for me. i pester the internet people with questions about certain words. I have a problem. But I do it because one day I could watch the show without subtitles. Or hear a Johnny’s West song and know what it’s about without asking for a translation.

- Made an internet friend! I was always taught that the internet is a really scary place where no one should be trusted. And I still feel that way. NEVER GIVE OUT PERSONAL INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET (had to get my PSA out of the way). But my experience with my internet friend has been so so different from many other experiences. She first reached out to me after she read my review about Switched a year ago. Her sister had found it and told her about it. When she read it, she told me that it was nice to find someone who loved the show with the amount of passion I expressed. She also offered me a genuine gift: Johnny’s West. It was maybe a couple days after I had posted the review when she reached out, and at that point I had given up on the band. I wanted to know them, because Shige and Kamichan were my babies from Switched, and I’d seen all seven of them in Blazing Transfer Students (sidenote: if you want to laugh until you cry or pee yourself, watch that show- it’s a hot mess of hilarity). But it is damn near impossible to find their music anywhere. That makes sense, because it’s America, and they don’t have the access to Japanese music the way that Japan does. But I couldn’t find music videos, or songs ANYWHERE. Youtube has some clips of live performances, but live performances are not for Abby’s unless the music has already been listened to. I had been doing the deep internet searches for a little over a week and come up empty-handed. And I wasn’t about to drop over $50 to ship an album from Japan to me without having heard them first to know if I actually liked their music. So my internet friend sent me the entire discography. My mind was blown. Music is no joke to me - it is and always has been the source of my happiness. To just share it like that for nothing in return was a fantastic gift. And she didn’t just stop there. I wanted more (to fuel my obsession, of course), and she delivered. Music videos, behind the scenes of music videos, television shows they’ve appeared in, concert dvds, interviews, skits, radio shows, news, pictures, blog entries, EVERYTHING. She was like an angel from above. But beyond what she’s given me in Johnny’s West, she’s just an amazing person. She is kind and generous, and funny. We can talk about anything from work to periods to bands to religion. I really never thought someone from the internet could be such an important person in my life, but I love her as much as any of my friends that live close to me. If you read this, let me tell you how much I love you for the millionth time!

- Started listening to Johnny’s West. Maybe that doesn’t seem like such a big deal. People find bands from TV shows all the time. But I always HATED music that was in other languages. In my head, if I couldn’t understand what they were saying and tried to sing along I might say something offensive or vulgar without knowing it. And even though I sing that kind of stuff in English, doing it in a language where you don’t know you’re doing it feels wrong to me. I still feel that way a little bit, but it helps that I’m learning Japanese. Johnny’s West also makes all the difference though. My love for these 7 boys is unreal. Akin to how I feel about Kaga, and if you’ve come down to this part of the post or have read my other review, you KNOW how I feel about Kaga. They make me feel so good about myself. I don’t even know how they do it. They say or do things that fill me up with such a warmth - it makes me feel like I can accomplish things, because I have their strength with me. I go without listening to them for a time, and my body just kind of aches to have them back. I had a similar feeling with One Direction back in my teens, but the extent is VASTLY different. In this past year, I’ve probably gone only a handful of days without listening to them. For me to choose one band, every day, for an entire year is very very very not like me. I have more than 200 CD’s that I consider my children; that I protect more sacredly than anything else I own. But now I only choose any of those other bands when I’m on a road trip, or feeling a random day where I need them. I can’t seem to burn out on Johnny’s West, but all of my friends who ride with me are. I don’t even have a favorite member. Each and every one of these 7 men are so worthy of being a favorite that I have to love them all equally. Which should say something to you, because Shige played KAGA - one of the greatest fictional characters to ever exist! If he isn’t my favorite, that should tell you how wonderful the others are. I just can’t really fathom my life without them now. I hope and wish for all great things for them for the rest of their lives. Putting that into the internet will make it come true, won’t it?

That’s really all I have to say. Wow, it was shorter than last time, but it took so much longer to write. This show has made an impact on me that changed a lot about how I view the world. I just really really loved it. With my whole being, I adored it. Thank you to anyone who decided to read this much for something that really isn’t important in the grand scheme of things. I wrote it for me, but I appreciate anyone who enjoyed my words enough to waste their time on them. I hope you all have wonderful days!

ありがとうございます !!!!!!!

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