#i've driven the plot so off course but it's fine

[bugbastard]

Worm is probably in the top 3 works of fiction I've read in terms of "number of hours spent thinking about it", and easily takes first place if we add in the time I've spent thinking about Wildbow's other works.

One of the topics I've found myself turning over and over in my head endlessly is why Worm works so much better than any of the other things he's written. I think a lot of it is control of tension and downtime.

What stands out about Worm compared to the others is how much slower and lighter it starts. Up until arc 8, it's really just a story about teenagers having a very wish-fulfillment-y, very wattpad-y kind of fun. Sure, they're criminals, sure, they're going up against dangerous, racist gangsters, but so much more time is devoted to their growing friendships, to stuff like going shopping, having secret hideouts, having a crush on a guy, etc. Worm even continues to have a high ratio of downtime to action well into the S9 arcs. Both of those types of things aren't just fun, they're essential to why we care about the characters in the first place, and continue to care when they go off the rails. And I know this probably seems so self-evident it isn't worth pointing out, "ofc we like characters because we see them be characters", but this just isn't as true of any later Wildbow works. Wildbow, depending how you want to analyze them, either by and large writes tragedies, or high octane action series. In the case of a tragedy, the audience needs to see what they have in order to care when they lose it. In the case of action series', there isn't a lot of narrative wiggle room for cramming in character beats.

Worm's start, specifically, does something that definitely isn't unique in fiction, but nonetheless is unique in Wildbow stories, and is especially potent when pulled off. Our main character starts the story in a bad situation, and because of that we're all the more happy when she rises out of it, and because of *that* we're all the more invested when that tentatively good situation hangs in the balance. The amount of downtime decreases steadily as the book goes on, but that's expected and fine, because 1, there's simply less room as the plot gets going, 2, putting it in anyway would ruin tension, 3, the further into the book you get the more invested you already are, and so the less you need to be convinced to care, and 4, the end of the story is getting nearer, so there's less need to stall the audience's burnout, because odds are increasing page by page that you'll be done before that happens.

Pact, of course, is a very different story, and that's mostly by design, and that design mostly works in it's favour. The start is rather abrupt and loses basically any sense of normalcy and ownership we the readers might feel over Blake's everyday life. We initially don't care about the story for Blake's sake; instead we care about Blake for the story's sake. We don't see what he had, and so, even though for Blake this is as dire a situation as the worst it gets in the first 7 arcs of Worm, initially we're pulled along more by intrigue than investment in the character. This comes back to bite Wildbow in other ways when characters from Blake's past are introduced; there is a huge disconnect in how much Blake cares about them, how big a tool of the plot Wildbow wants them to be, and how little the audience knows or personally cares about them. The pacing is also very fast without much downtime, but that works in the favour of the novel. It makes it a harrowing read, but that's by design, and it's the shortest of his novels, so it doesn't overstay its welcome.

Twig largely carries on the minimal downtime pacing of Pact, to mixed effect. As the arcs are "assignments" rather than fully causally, character driven events, it logically makes sense for this to be the case, but the slightly stilted vibe this imparts on the story, and the fact that both the characters, and by extension you the reader, aren't overly invested in the cases for their own sake, makes the fact that almost all of the downtime, and most of the relaxed, fun character moments that sell the main cast as (imo) the best set of main characters Wildbow has written to date, is confined to rougly the first and last chapters of a given arc rather frustrating, as those characters *are* undeniably the throughline, and are absolutely carrying the plot rather than the other way around. At about the halfway point, the plot takes over and downtime takes even more of a backseat, which doesn't work in this case, because not only is the audience probably more invested in the characters than they are the plot, it's actually unclear given prior characterization why the characters care about the plot as much as the story wants you to believe they do. But that's a different conversation. Twig, favourite, least favourite Wildbow story, I promise I'll talk about you at length like you deserve some day.

With Ward, I honestly can't even pretend to have an objective and unbiased opinion of it. I finished binging all of Worm just around the time Glo-Worm dropped, and I immediately moved on to Pact, burned out once on that, then Twig, and burned out threeish times on that. By the time I'd gotten to Ward, I was very burnt out on some aspects of Wildbow's writing that have only increased over time. I think I'm probably on the extreme low end of people who've read more than one web novel by Wildbow in terms of how much interest I have in reading long, drawn out fight scenes, for instance. Reading Ward, I don't think there was a single time I caught up to what had been written before I burned out again.

But nonetheless, I do think my criticisms of how downtime is handled (or more accurately, not handled) in Ward are justified. In Worm, the amount of downtime roughly decreases every arc, but that's to be expected, because the story is picking up pace. In Pact, there's very little downtime because that's what kind of book it is; it's short and blisteringly fast paced, likely under the assumption that it can move on to a new plot point and then end before the audience burns out. In Twig, the downtime stays almost as low as in Pact, and that's almost justified by the "mission" based story structure. In Ward, I really can't think of a storytelling reason there's as little downtime as it is. It feels like what was the result of specific story needs in earlier novels has just . . . Settled in, and become the new normal by the time we hit Ward, regardless of whether it suits the story it's attached to. Ward is a slog for me. It's certainly got more downtime than Pact, but where Pact is short, Ward was the longest thing Wildbow had written at the time, and the pace moves at a crawl rather than Pact's blisteringly fast pace. There's a lot more I could say about Ward, I love it, but personally I don't know that it works for me on any level, really. But that's a topic for another post, maybe.

I'm still not caught up on it, so my commentary here is more tentative, but Pale, in stark contrast to Ward, which I felt was perhaps the least good thing Wildbow had written overall, is perhaps the best webnovel he's written overall. Certainly the best since Worm. I'm not sure it's as easy a sell as Worm, and the problem of ludicrously bloated fights remains, but in a big way it's a return to form, being the first time since Worm Wildbow's had a teenager as a main character (Twig is several kinds of complicated in that regard), and the first time since then that our main character has really had to juggle a double life. It's also breaking new ground for Wildbow, featuring three main characters. Wildbow hasn't really fixed the downtime and pacing problems of his previous works per se, and I still feel like the story starts abruptly and obnoxiously late into the timeline, but the whole "double life" deal forces the story to focus on the human element that's been mostly ignored since early Worm, and the "three main characters" schtick equally forces a focus on the relationship between those three even in the more tense and "plot driven" sections of the book in ways unlike anything else he's written.

[faelapis]

i've been putting off talking about the new owl house like a chore because... i honestly didn't have strong feelings about this episode? thoughts below - but don't expect a radical new perspective from me. what i like/don't like is pretty constant. it is, and remains, the owl house. the "feel" of the show, for good or ill, is pretty consistent.

"for the future" lives up to its name - its mainly about setup. its charging up for the big finale. and its a surprisingly laid-back ep for being the penultimate one. i don't have any deep analysis, just basic, knee-jerk reactions of "things i liked" and "things i didn't like."

i liked everything with luz. like i said in these tags, i think the owl house works best when it embraces its own simplicity.

TOH doesn't really have complex characters or plots, but that's fine. i feel like its aiming for a slightly younger audience than something like SU, SPOP, or AT, at least in spirit. but its still charming - when it lets itself just be what it is; a cute litle story about the dorky weird girl who wants to be understood.

i think the shapeshifting palisman ties into what luz' story will end up being: embracing being young. not knowing what you want, like amity talked about. i highly doubt luz will actually have to choose between the boiling isles and the human world. she'll probably always have one foot in both. since the magic door uses titan blood, they can probably figure something out so that king can donate a little bit of blood every now and then without much inconvenience. so luz can travel freely, see her mom (who i don't think will end up staying on the isles) and be with her "found family" as well.

speaking of luz' mom - i wish we saw more sides of camila on the isles. so far she's just been in "mama bear" mode. i would love to see more personal, emotional reactions to this realm of magic from a geek whos way into sci-fi and fantasy.

of course, there's nothing wrong with having a character just be "the mom"... but i feel like they set her up as more, earlier on. they established her as this character with real flaws who will try to make luz more normal or pressure her to stay. but then that's just fixed now. she's just kind of a perfect, supportive mom. so that's a bit of a letdown. especially since she actually used a glyph, that would be a great moment of her either feeling empowered or scared by magic. or yknow. anything other than "protective mom."

i know some will protest that we did have camila feeling guilty about her previous actions, but i never accused the writers of forgetting about it. i just feel like she's become a little too perfect, now. i would love if the tension of her trying to control luz was carried over to the final episode.

i liked the little moment with caleb and phillip. we dont know if caleb is a ghost or hallucination, but its an effective moment nonetheless.

king and the collector... ok, there's things i liked and things i didn't. i like that their relationship has a bit of complexity to it - like, king IS genuinely scared, AND genuinely sympathizes with the collector and wants to help them. like. he is just a kid, but they're also a terrifying immortal force that can turn people into puppets and doesn't really have the emotional maturity to control themself.

however, that complexity feels a bit wasted when... sigh... belos creates forced misunderstanding drama. that part was so unnecessary. if you need belos to be your generic villain, fine, do that. but don't waste the potential of king and the collector, which could have real, character-driven conflict rooted in fear, abandonment, power imbalance, insecurity, etc... but no, we need belos to spoonfeed the narrative into a simple "didn't finish listening" misunderstanding.

sigh. ok. not like i expected better. i can't really bring myself to be too worked up about it, because yknow. its the owl house. its gonna cheapen drama to make it more digestible and with an easy, clean solution. we can't risk a single parent thinking its too mature. guess we might as well assume some blame on disney's part there, too.

huntlow is... fine? it's cute, i guess. its got that same simplicity as luz' overall story arc: just a very innocent, simple story of two underdogs who support each other and fall in love.

OH actually, i do have something to say about hunter: i'm known as a hater, but he was more tolerable this episode. i think it helped that he was more in the background? he's often the melodramatic "perfect abused woobie" center of attention. but this ep, he felt like an equal member of the main squad instead of the writer's darling. he even had moments of anger, rather than just sad and angsty, which i appreciated - even just for the sake of making him less perfect.

i still feel like flapjacks death isn't... for anything, narratively. it doesn't really serve any character development. or story developments. i've seen some people try to make it a problematic thing, in the context of hunter's lack of magic as a disability metaphor. so its weird that flapjack being absorbed into him "fixes" that. i don't know if i would go that far as to call it "yikes", but i can see it.

i think this could be resolved if maybe in the finale, hunter gives up his magic to give flapjack life again, or something along those lines. to show that he cares more about his friend than being "normal" or non-disabled. i'm sure some will disagree because they think it "cheapens" flapjacks death or whatever, but i'm gonna be real with you chief... his death is already bargain bin drama. shrug emoji.

what else... oh yeah, the old collectors being scary powerful, diamond-like Watchers of the World who can destroy anyone who gets in their way is pretty cool. i'm excited to learn how they got wiped out. it would be wild if the current collector is like the strongest of them, and either killed them all or sent them away somewhere.

forced misunderstanding aside, the most interesting drama is still king and the collector. they both have a lot of power, in a show that seems concerned with being against authority and unfair power structures. curious to see how that will be resolved. sure hope its more than just defeating belos together (again) lol.

[ladyluscinia]

Not going to put this directly on the long discussion chain that prompted it because it's somewhat topic adjacent at best and I have no intention of derailing a discussion of fandom racism, but - while reading some of the "Izzy critical" responses that @bromelads got - I did see mention of one thing that I have both passionate feelings about and a near constant desire to elaborate some oft ignored context for. So.

One of the things mentioned as a source of discomfort in fandom for "Izzy critical" poc was posts rejecting that Edward was growing or healing in 1x09 and 1x10, suggesting that it mostly serves to empathize with Izzy over Ed and to make Izzy's actions look better at the expense of Ed's character / softness. The same person who gave this example later agreed that there's some truth in the idea that Izzy crits' misinterpretation of Izzy fan meta has something to do with the (very baffling) perception that we all don't like Ed or think he's the simplified villain of Izzy's story or something, which I just want to a) appreciate for a second because I do actually adore Edward so much, and b) mention specifically because I think the whole Ed healing debate is a great example of that.

I'm not going to argue why I am staunchly in the "Ed wasn't healing" / "Kraken was inevitable" camp because I've done it before, but I do want to point out some related thoughts around that argument that I've picked up on each time it loops back around.

I feel like a lot of the people who strongly disagree with or get mad about that take frame it as though we are minimizing or rejecting the existence of Edward's softness entirely. It's like... Ok, so there is a distinct sequence of moments where Edward is displaying emotional vulnerability or a draw toward fine things that fans noticed, and then they interpreted the pink robe Ed's "healing" as all that starting to pay off in his character development (before being interrupted by an external obstacle: Izzy). A very straightforward A -> B. Only when I push back against B and say "hold on I don't see any healing in 1x10," then I feel like people hear me rejecting that all the moments of A meant anything at all. If I see the shadow of the Kraken as an internally motivated obstacle being built in earlier episodes, then I must think that's the dark and violent payoff, and the evidence of softness was a diversion or manipulation or just not going anywhere significant in character terms.

Which is very frustrating to me because Edward is a romcom protagonist.

Yes, this is very obvious to everyone. But it matters in this debate because protagonist status comes with very significant guarantees - namely, Edward is going to grow / heal / get his happy ending, etc. We've even got Stede's S1 arc (which remember is still unfinished too) as a good example of structure and focus on internalized character flaws framed by plot hurdles. There is no version of this story arc where Edward ends as the Kraken, and I have never seen anybody suggest he's not currently on a character arc toward growth and healing and a circle of true companions in Stede's crew who love him for who he is.

So when I or anyone else says he's not there yet, it's almost exclusively because we are arguing about where he is on this character arc in 1x10. Of course the appreciation for fancy clothes and slow mornings with overly sugared tea is going to pay off! Of course he's going to become friends with the crew (I'm rooting for Frenchie S2 bonding)! Of course he's going to get to beat back that self loathing he's carried since his dad! But people get defensive and angry like you are personally targeting them and declaring their blorbo an irredeemable asshole because you suggest character development major enough to drive a character driven show probably takes more than a few weeks of easygoing vacation to reach final form. That's not what I'm saying at all!

Interpretations upsetting or offending people even when written with a complete lack of malice is nothing new, but it really seems like making up a whole army of guys to get mad at for takes is happening more and more. (And I'll admit I'm probably getting more and more guilty of this myself as my understanding of what exactly people are arguing in different fandom city states gets more and more fractured. Meta builds off of meta, and if you randomly see one post by one blog you already disagree with, you might be missing a lot of context to clarify what they actually mean vs "of course that's the awful take you would have".)

[aaternum]

𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐔𝐍

name. cherub

pronouns. she/her

preference of communication. discord

name of muse(s). ryu

rp experience / how  long. a very, very long time. i've been on tumblr since 2012.

best experience. over the years i've had a lot of great experiences with other writers, i can't boil it down to just one. it's just a really fun time when i can chill and casually discuss with other writers.

fluff,  angst, or smut.

fluff: fluff is so fun to write! i enjoy soft and sweet interactions between characters, but i will confess that outside of drabbles, writing threads that are solely just .. fluff drains me (and maybe this is just an area of writing i need to work on better), but eventually i don’t know how else to progress the thread – especially if it's with characters that are meeting one another for the first time and i have no plot to refer back to. now .. fluff with some sort of deeper conversation, just two characters getting to know one another on an intimate level to build on their current relationship? i absolutely adore writing that!

angst: i relish in story-driven angst, so not necessarily angst for the sake of putting characters through pain, but for the development that comes with it and the eventual after. there’s something really enjoyable about writing a difficult, stressful situation between two characters and seeing how that shapes the overall dynamic between them. but i do .. prefer it to lead to something positive. writing never ending pain with a character that will always try to overcome that or find a way to deal with it just becomes so unvaried its tiring. BUT, writing angst with this notion of .. how will this character push past this and what will this do/better/worsen in their relationship? that's always fun for me!

smut: so i actually enjoy writing smut, i find it to be a neat challenge trying to balance introspection with the actual action and of course avoiding being repetitive/overly flowery. i don’t have a whole lot written on the blog to represent that, but the creative process is always fun when the opportunity arises. (i also am way too shy to directly ask someone if they’d like to write a romantic ship/assume no one would want to so .. that leaves minimal chance for it to happen in the first place lmfao!) personally, i have held back from writing it in the ways i’d prefer to out of fear of being too explicit. mainly because i feel like everyone has a threshold for how they’d prefer to digest reading about sex if that makes any sense. some people prefer poetic introspection that may not directly describe the act, whereas others enjoy it being crude. and i like to write a blend of both? so yeah. 

plots or memes. i will 100% of the time prefer plots over memes if we don't have some sort of base to work off of. i know a lot of people don't enjoy plotting/have a difficult time with it and that's so valid. as long as i can ask you if it's ok to place our characters in xyz setting before i write a response then i'll be fine. but i just find the longevity of a thread and interactions to increase when i can refer back to a plot.

long or short replies.  either or. once upon a time all i wrote were long replies, but nowadays i just want to have fun and write what i can.

best time to write. whenever i can tbh. (always at the most inconvenient time) i used to say i can only write at night, but since i finished school i have had better success inspiring myself to write during the day. which is strange,

are you like your muse. i think it's natural to share some aspects with your muse. i'm not like her socially or physically at all, i do wish i related to the ability to say what you feel. being lighthearted and patient. growing up i loved the comic relief character that had a lot of darker things they harbored within them. i enjoyed the confident shoujo characters that owned themselves and loved it. and i unintentionally embodied a lot of that in her including things i wish i saw in myself.

not tagging or tagged by anyone. just take it if you wanna do it too.

[small-plant-friends]

Hey there, long time! Somehow, you're the only person I still follow who loves Star Wars, and I just wanted to share an article (link below) that came out today. Do you agree/disagree with the article's premise that Star Wars, the MCU, etc. serve as an outlet for folks who are looking for meaning outside of traditional religion?

https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/3986205-a-new-hope-star-wars-day-is-about-more-than-just-a-movie-franchise/

Ok well you've got me going now. Not sure if you were expecting all this but I've been wanting to write an essay and this is a great prompt for me. I honestly don't know if I even answered the question, this is all just rambling. So first off I think it is very important for me to say all of this is my own opinion and I am not a researcher. Also this article is very pro-organized religion.

The article is a very good one. I found it really interesting but not for the reason the article is talking about . The article is basically speaking on the ways in which people are leaving religion, as things like Star Wars and the MCU become more popular. Now I want to make it very clear that I in no way think that Star Wars or the MCU or anything else of the sort are a religion. The article touches on this by saying “of course most Star Wars Day observants are not true believers of the Jedi religion.” 

The article says “even though the vast majority of fans …are not consciously seeking a religious experience, the fact that people in wealthy, technologically advanced nations are turning away from traditional religion may make them more likely to turn fandom into something that resembles faith.” This is where I really start to disagree with the article. This quote is basically saying that people are thinking of fandom as a religion because they don't believe in any traditional religions. They go so far as to say “…research suggests that the growing interest in these alternative beliefs is driven by the need for meaning that traditional religious faiths have historically helped meet.” It is very, very important to point out this research article that is linked is from a journal website and it is therefore not a reliable source. This is a statement saying that religion is a vital part of the human experience and we must feel the absence of it. Now I can say personally, the absence of religion is felt in my life but in a way that is keeping me from ever joining another religion (I was previously christian, it was not the best experiance). This article is so pro-religious that I don't find anything in the article to be an unbiased analysis of the connection between religion and fandom. 

Now, with all that out of the way, here in the opinion of a 21 year old college senior. Disclaimer, I was a hard core christian for the first 13/14 years of my life and have been out of the religion completely for the last 6 years. Also I am a fine arts major, neither writing or research is my specialty, I was just asked a question and had some big thoughts on it. 

So, to segway into this and quote the article one more time with possibly the only thing I agreed with, it says, “...function of fiction suggests content like “Star Wars” isn’t mere entertainment.” Even though the article was using this quote to say Star Wars isnt just entertainment because it was made to secretly be pushed into a religion, this is still true. Stories that people get so invested in are not just entertainment, but a community. I don't think people need religion to have a fulfilled life the way the article above says, but we do need community. With things like growing mental illness, and covid, make these community connections in real life harder than ever before. One way we make a community connection is with the shows and film themselves. People get invested in shows, we become part of the story, we feel anxiety over the plot, and we mourn characters that aren't real but that grief absolutely is real. Christiane Manzella is a grief counselor at the Seleni Institute for Women, she is cited in a TIME article stating “We create meaning and then experience actual grief when that connection is broken.” We love and lose with the people we see on screen just the same as if we knew the fictional people face to face. 

This brings me to the next point; fandom. Fandom is another way that people create community. I don't think it is a religion, I don't think anyone in fandom thinks it's a religion but it is just as important to some people as religions are to others. All fandoms of all parts of media are a way for people to find deep connections with those that have like minds. We grieve together, we celebrate together and we create a sense of community surrounded by many of the same ideas. These are also things that most religions have but most people in fandom don't worship the fandom or blindly believe in the fandom with no critical thinking in regard to the bad things that inevitably occur in fandom. Now there is an increase in people, especially young people joining alternate religions but its not because of fandoms but more directed to the blind faith and support of the bad things that happen and are actively supported by religions.

@zuko-is-crazy I'm so sorry if I rambled myself right out of answering your question but this is an essay on the thoughts that sparked in my mind when I saw your ask.

Dockterman, E. (2015, April 24). 'grey's anatomy' Derek Shepherd: It's OK to mourn MCDREAMY DEATH. Time. Retrieved May 4, 2023, from https://time.com/3834589/grief-counselor-mourn-fictional-character-death/ 

[boreal-sea]

Today's horror movie was The Blair Witch Project!

Yes, as much as I love horror movies, I've never seen most of the "classics".

Overall, I liked it. I wasn't scared most of the time but it was fine. I'd rate it like, a C+ to a B-. I wasn't captivated the whole time, wasn't really scared either, but it was acceptable and I don't regret watching it. I don't feel like it dragged on; the scenes shifted enough and it didn't linger on anything for too long to where I got bored.

I didn't actually hate the characters; I've heard this is one of those movies where everyone hates the characters and can't wait for them to die but I felt they were all genuinely good people, just driven to be occasional jerks due to stress. Maybe most people have never been lost, never panicked, or never been in a high-stress situation, I dunno. That, or most people don't want to admit they're capable of being an asshole when they're stressed out.

I also appreciated the justification they gave for why Heather keeps filming, and it justifies why Mike continues to help her film all the way to the end. It was a nice touch, since the most common criticism of found-footage films is "why the fuck are you still filming!?"

As someone with off-trail hiking and map/compass experience, the only justification for them not being able to get out of the woods on their way back is that the witch was fucking with their compass, which personally is fine as a plot point. I'm not mad about that at all. It certainly explains how they end up back at the same log.

I was a little frustrated Heather didn't use more of the skills from the books she'd read - she should've known that following a river downstream is a good course of action if you're totally lost, and once they'd lost their map, that really was their best option. The best "lost in the woods" advice is to stay put but obviously that was not an option for them since the witch was hunting them, so I don't blame them for continuing to move.

And honestly, the most famous shot from the movie? The one that gets mocked all the time? I think it was well acted. Doesn't deserve the hate it gets. That was some good crying, and I don't really feel it was as over the top as all the parodies make it out to be.

[helluva-hazbins]

@lachrymosestorm asked:

"So I'm curious," She asked as she grinned Lucifer's way. "Where did you put that painting I gave you?" // (Something small to make up for how not around I've been. Dez is still thinking about Lucifer every day)

She had garnered his attention, he stood against his cane, eyes trailing along after her, listening as she spoke.

"That's a secret~" he grinned.

The moment passes and he breaks his farce with a laugh. Looking off in another direction he gestures his head as though to follow him and begins spinning his cane; walking along through the nearby corridor. He opens a large arching doorway. A fairly contented expression on his face as he places a hand against the small of her back to gently guide her inside. It's a room, of course, a wide space decorated with ornate furnishings. A large grand piano in ivory white near one wall and a slew of other fine looking instruments arranged in their own placemrnts throughout the interior. Potraits hang, covering the wall and their walk comes to a full stop infront of one. Looking up, it's the painting by her own hand. He admires it again, in her company.

"As you can see, I found the perfect placement for it."

[Aw, honey~ continued story driven plot just for him~? You shouldn't have~]

[villains4hire]

Character Update

//Anyway, thanks for all the good wishes. Things are dying down on my end, thanks for it, I do appreciate it and honestly didn't expect that many.

In other news: an update for my characters below.

I've been trying to prepare for something or someone.

1- //For Princess Bubblegum, I forgot just exactly how messed up PB really was, I will be portraying her mostly to canon with a mix of the series throughout it other than the weird stuff with Finn. I will just have her assume mom mode and have it put down. I'll have several verses etc. I've got WAY too many notes on this since I've been using my freetime to rewatch the series while things are calm. I've got a lot to work with it seems.

2- //Science, the Candy Rat will communicate with a little collar they press a series of buttons on with a generic ai fem voice and talk like 'Hello. Who. Are. You?' Kind of like how dogs are trained or whatever. She'll basically be a step below PB's intelligence but a biological computer that serves as her calculator for science/on the fly and can be taught things etc. I don't want Science becoming TOO crazy but up to Space/Rick and Morty/Final Space levels is fine. She'll be my PB's companion and other peoples' PB's if they desire Science as an NPC I control or otherwise. I am open to Science being a companion to someone else.

3- //Ice Queen, I'll be honest I miss my Ice King, but I never really wanted to ADVANCE him as Simon, I kind of wanted some semblance of him staying IK but gaining more coherency- but it did feel odd keeping him as that when the series ended even if I went canon divergence. I liked the ending enough to keep it. While I will be having my IQ be more cruel, competent and intelligent but still 'magic crazy'? I will be incorporating IK's feats onto her own ability, some personality traits, backstory. This'll allow me more freedom with the character and YEAH I mean big powerful evil lady I like but also for a reason. Any relations I had with IK previously can be transferred over to IQ with basically the same backstory but diff changes. She'll be much more dangerous than Ice King with her increased competency, as the crown is capable of quite a lot but, eh, even Ice King fought Party God and won? So it's kind of like... eh, AT is more narrative driven than power-scaling other than for your biggest of bads like the Lich and Golb, yet even they can be beaten by people like Finn who have no real powers but being scrappy and superhuman in being just some guy. So I'll do my best to be flexible with her as I was with Marceline- I'll probably just have the crown revive her or something after reaching a certain stage so her dying isn't as big of a deal if it's needed for her to lose/plot. Which on that note, other than some Simons/IKs I interact with? My IQ will be my Marceline's Second Mom basically.

Marceline will of course be off the table for shipping with IQ, while I am open to people like Princess Bubblegum? I won't do some kind of polycule between the three, but not put down Marceline's development with PB? I'll just leave things vague and not make it weird since a PB friend does want to ship with me etc. The characters are all vaguely the same age so I think it's fine.

4- //Izzy the Goblin Necromancer and Pyromancer: I think I've talked about her quite a lot so I'll just say I've pretty much got her figured out. I'll just link the post. ->Click here<-

5. In summary: I am probably not gonna add Brock Samson from Venture Bros.

Here's a longer answer: I've toyed with the idea of Brock Samson, but Venture Bros while I love the series, I think I'll just stick to rping with it. I think there's some serious potential but it's one of those things where, I don't think I want to change, add or explore anything other than what other people create? But not myself? It tends to happen with my favorite shows, movies, games other than mcstealing certain characters. But who knows, I tend to flip-flop when it comes to characters in mulling over them. I know if I added Brock, I'd add Molotov as well.

[dystini]

Oooo what sort of fantasy hybrid? Will there be more magic, like in Shared Hearts?

Also I am dying to know who is swapping bodies and when.

Fantasy hybrids.

James (Hinch) rescues abused/cast off hybrids in this fantasy world. His first rescue was FoxMarco, found beaten half to death in the forest. Next is Conor, who is fully human but is supposed to be a hybrid. Grumpy asshole CatRossi was found filthy and holed up in an alley, hissing and swatting at anyone who came near. Marco is the only one he likes. Bunny?Colton (undecided on animal) was kept in a cage outdoors and James actually bought him from his owner. Latest rescue, KittenPalou, shy and skittish, prone to hiding under/behind anything he can.

Colton is the one to coax Palou out of hiding. And later, Marco brings home BunnyDavid with no explanation. Alex grumbling under his breath after Marco leaves David in his care yet doesn't let the boy out of his sight, growls at anyone who comes near and yanks David into a cuddle as soon as he sees Marco coming.

I don't know about magic and I dunno about plot other than just getting to know everyone but this idea has been in my brain for nearly 6 months and I will write it someday.

Body swap

So far I have 5 unconnected but in the same universe ideas.

David wakes up in Josef's body "Omg, I'm Josef!" Spends time admiring himself in the mirror. Leaves the bus and soon sees his own body swaggering toward him. "I could look like that?" "Of course, kid. It's all in the confidence." Josef coaches David about acting confident. "Pull my shoulders back, puff up my chest. We both know that's a gorgeous body, show it off!" Back at Josef’s bus, Josef wants them to get naked and David turns shy. Josef - “Darling, don’t even try to tell me that you didn’t have a good look at that body – my body – before you got dressed. Not that I blame you. I am beautiful.” David can’t deny it. Josef ran his hands over his thighs – David’s thighs. “Let me tell you, these things are impressive. You’re a gorgeous boy now and you’ll knock them dead when you get to be my age.” Later, because they have to have sex to swap back. Josef: Damn, I do have a fine ass. I've always wanted to know what it's like to fuck me." They swap back halfway through the sex and David finds out what it's like to fuck Josef.

Pato and Rossi swap and Felix thinks it's hilarious. Pato: You're so tall. I feel like I'm going to hit my head on the clouds. Rossi: How do you function being so short? I can't reach anything. Pato: looking down at Felix: I could be shorter. Felix: Hey! Pato, in Rossi's body, picking Felix up: "Oh, okay, this is good." Felix is unamused. Rossi conflicted when it gets to the sex because he's a top, damn it but also he's not going fuck himself.

Conor and Marcus both run to Callum frantic knocking on Callum’s door. “Conor?” “No, it’s me, Marcus.” “What the fuck?” “I don’t know how it happened. You have to help me.” Invite him in, sitting down. “Why does this thing keep beeping at me?” Callum’s eyes widen. “Conor’s diabetic.” More knocking on the door. It’s Conor in Marcus’s body. Marcus is expected at Ganassi. Conor usually works out in the morning. Decide to go be each other the best they can. Conor’s a chevy driver, not like he’ll learn anything at a honda shop. Conor follows Marcus back to Conor’s place and gives him a crash course on managing the diabetes, just to get him through til lunch. At lunch, Marcus is all “Don’t you dare put meat in my body.” After lunch, Callum. “Okay, you guys need to fuck to swap back.” Marcus. “But I don’t even know him.” Conor’s okay to do it. Callum. “Do you want your body back? This is the only way.” Marcus insisted Callum stay while they do it.

Dario and Callum body swap It's minutes before the race is going to start. Callum as Dario manages to get to Dario. "There's no time, Dario. You have to drive for me." "I haven't driven since 2013!" "It's like riding a bike. You can do it. You have to." Dario as Callum finishes 4th. Dario as Callum is mad because he would've been on the podium had they body-swapped with time to practice. Callum as Dario is relieved because he'd be pissed if Dario podiumed for him and 4th is amazing anyway.

Palou wakes up as Rossi in bed with James. “I did not know they were together.” Rossi wakes up as Palou in bed with Pato. Pato’s awake and rubbing against Rossi, kissing his chest. Oh fuck. “Pato, no. Pato, stop. I’m Alex.” Pato lifts his head. “I know you’re Alex. You were Alex last night when you…” Rossi slapped a hand over Pato’s mouth. He did not need to hear that. “No, I’m Rossi. Alex Rossi. We body swapped.” Pato blinks at him in sleepy confusion until it sinks in. “Oh. OH!” He scrambled off the bed. Rossi slammed his eyes shut. He knew the two were playing around but he did NOT need to see that much of his teammate.

[dontfuckingbite]

Yuletide Letter

Dear Writer,

Thank you for taking the time to write for me, I'm excited to see what you come up with! If it'd be helpful for you, I've listed some likes and interpretations below along with my Do Not Wants. For any potential treaters, I have allowed automatic gifting.

LIKES: messy relationships - morally grey characters, doing the right thing for the wrong reason, doing the wrong thing for the right reason - character study and character-driven plot - competency and loyalty - being immersed into a culture, place, or time - soulbonds, a/b/o, and other supernatural tropes that draw from destined for each other, whether they like it or not - smut (some particular likes: D/s and power imbalance, rough sex, mouth kink, exploring erogenous zones, dubcon -- especially with these requests, I'm really into exploring sexuality outside of its most traditionally romantic and tender expression.)

DO NOT WANT (unless specifically requested): serious, graphic injury on screen - body fluids other than come, spit, and sweat, and preferably not an overwhelming amount of those, either - genderswap, focus on genderplay - natural disasters or apocalypse scenarios - requested characters in happy, endgame relationships with non-requested characters

My definition of "graphic injury" is basically going past canon typical depictions. Video game logic that says getting shot isn't that big of a deal, "Johnny felt his knee seize up," William has done very bad things are all fine. But I don't want to read about the specifics.

The unrequested endgame DNW also has some holes in it. I'm very down to my requested characters just going after each other, but I don't mind and can really enjoy flirting, flings, relationships that aren't meant to last, trying to move on and failing, or unresolved/unaddressed sexual tension. The only route I absolutely don't want is anyone I've requested happily ending up in a romantic relationship with another character.

I also realized as I was writing this that for each of my requests, someone ends up (presumably) dead. This is more of a preference than a DNW, but I'd prefer if the story kept away from "cold" grief, for lack of a better word. In Far Cry, for instance, grief is obviously, canonically a massive motivating force for Dani, and I don't at all mind a fic exploring that. This is opposed to, say, the nothingness in The Month Pages of New Moon. There's no right way, but within a story, the former is more engaging to me in this moment in time. I'm also, of course, not at all opposed to presumed dead fix-its, canon divergence, or just placing the story before the canonical death.

FANDOMS

Bullet Train (2022) - Lemon, Tangerine

Admittedly, I did fall into the trap of considering whether the twins were twins the same way gay couples used adoption as a familial loophole -- they just had so much chemistry! The bickering! The familiarity! ... Finding out they really are brothers did not make me ship it less. For the purpose of this request, I'm cool with reading a platonic brother relationship, they actually are husbands AU, outright incest, They Grew Up Together In Such A Way That "Brother" Is The Best/Easiest Way To Describe Their Relationship But It's Still Not Really Really Incest; whatever floats your boat.

Whatever your preferred answer is, I really do love their relationship, and I'd love to read more about their history, how they got into the business, developing their (very, very messy) style...

The Card Counter (2021) - Cirk Baufort, William Tell

I must have entered the theater with my twisted homosexual hat on very tight when I saw this, because I genuinely thought there was a chance that they might go there with Cirk/William, with William/La Linda purposefully being a stiff, unbelievable testament to how Tell will never be able to adjust to a more normal, moral life. C'est la vie.

But, as is the magic of fic, I'd move to read about Tell's attempt at pseudo paternal guidance falling off the rails; Cirk being very very very stubborn about the things he wants; Tell's variable ability to get what he wants and maintain control and how far he really wants to push it (preferably, for me, not that far, at least not with Cirk, but still with a healthy scoop of fucked up).

Far Cry 6 - Male Dani Rojas, Alejo Ruiz

Again, I was shipping it immediately, only for it to be taken from me only slightly less immediately. But Alejo still stuck with me -- maybe in part because this is the first time I was really motivated to go for the "secret" ending immediately -- and I felt very vindicated while tripping balls on the mad dash to Matías.

There are a couple layers I found really interesting and gut-punch about that scene: that Dani and Alejo weren't just like "lmao fuck outta here!" but had actual plans and dreams for once they left; the guilt and insecurity that Dani carried throughout the game; that "Lita" wasn't exactly fully wrong that Dani moral motivation wasn't exactly iron clad at all times; and that Cortez was definitely a negative influence on Dani's self conceptualization.

So, basically I'm really interested in The Orphans' lives leading up to the revolution, the messes Dani got himself into and out of, the decision to leave, the inability to go to. Has Dani always attracted older male figures that want to sculpt him in their image? Did Alejo have a Feeling that an active civil war might not be the best space for Dani to be in, even as a survivor? If Dani and Alejo were fucking, as I like to assume, what was going on that made him think "Yeah, we're all in together but also he's still in it for the girls on the other side"?

Point Break - Bodhi, Johnny Utah

I mean. It's Point Break. It's hard to even express how gay it is and how much doomed chemistry Bodhi and Johnny have better than the movie does itself. Let them fuck! Let Johnny go bad! Let Bodhi live and have them figure how to live on the edge without, you know, killing and robbing!

One angle that I do find interesting and that didn't get unpacked enough, unsurprisingly given the genre, was Johnny's dissatisfaction within being The Good Ohio Boy Who Does The Good Things With The Good Guys, and how flawed that whole structure is to begin with. He's obviously disillusioned with it all by the end, but I'd love to spend more time with Johnny as he discovers himself and his likes and goals after losing so much of what he'd been grounding himself in.

Thanks for reading, and happy writing!

[feralshadowdemon]

i’ve realized that tumblr has absolutely zero clue about many of my bsd AUs and I have to change this, so you’re getting a post about one of my favorite ones

Port Mafia Kenji/Defenestration AU

(a bit of a spoiler warning for the cannibalism arc? not much of the actual plot of it is said though)

- Kenji joined the Port Mafia at ten years old, right around when Dazai left. 

- Kenji’s an Akutagawa. He wasn’t born into the Akutagawas, but at a young age he did manage to stumble across Gin and Akutagawa and he just stuck with them after that. 

- One of the most important factors to this AU was he was around with the Akutagawas when Dazai mentored his older brother. Which. was. yeah you know how badly that went

- Due to these events, Kenji has a burning hatred for Dazai (which made Chuuya immediately gain a liking to the kid)

- His mentor is Chuuya and they get along pretty well. He also maintains a good relationship with his two siblings and likes telling Akutagawa how cool he is and how much Kenji wants to be like him. Supportive little brother!! Yeahh!!

- Since Kenji is raised in the Port Mafia at a young age, he is very violent. Still cheery of course but, more terrifying and violent. 

- Kenji knows assassination tricks since he sat in on Gin’s training sessions, and yeah it did contribute to his violent nature and numbness to violence and dead bodies.

- Kyouka stays in the Port Mafia in this AU due to the fact she reminds Akutagawa of his little brother and he cannot hurt her without thinking of his little brother. Also yes Kenji technically adopted her as his sister. that contributed too.

- Since the Agency is minus two members in this AU (both Kenji and Kyouka being in the Port Mafia), eventually Poe and Lucy join the Agency, mainly to give it more equal fighting grounds but also because why not 

- Kenji has black hair in this AU. Not naturally black hair, but it’s dyed because he likes looking like his siblings. He also wears a vest in this AU

- He’s sadly lost his original family motto so he made one up instead:  "If someone annoys you, kill em!"

- At one point, Dazai takes Kenji along for a mission and Kenji has his first encounter with Fyodor. Kenji gets along with Fyodor because he ‘has a cool hat’ which terrifies Dazai severely, Fyodor takes note of this and purposely also gets along with Kenji to terrify Dazai. Yeah this AU contains a lot of dazai bullying but it’s fine

- In the Cannibalism Arc, while the Agency and Port Mafia are fighting, Kenji and Poe encounter each other. Instead of a dramatic fight, it turns into Kenji noticing Karl and taking a liking to the raccoon. As war breaks out around them they silently talk about raccoons, Poe being nervous about a small child touching Karl but he seems fine enough

here’s some memes of Defenestration to thank you for listening to my rambling:

edit: this AU has a fic now!

[longinglook]

Hi! First I hope you're doing well! I'd like to start watching Enchante, but I saw a lot of bad reviews on different websites so I'd love to know your opinion about the serie since you like it? Honestly, most of the reviews I read seem very harsh so I'd like a more... nuanced opinion? If it doesn't bother you of course. Thank you! :)

Hello! I am doing really well thank you 😊😊 Thank you for asking about this, I am always happy to talk about Enchanté (and I am so sorry about how long this got!)

I disagree with most of the bad reviews because I feel like a lot of people simply didn't bother to get into the characters to understand their motivations. Despite the fact that the show has a plot which makes sense, I'd say Enchanté is mostly a character driven show, so if that's not your cup of tea you might not find it interesting.

Personally I tend to prefer character driven shows over plot driven ones so I really really loved it. Both Akk and Theo are extremely relatable and complex characters and their childhood friends to lovers relationship is very well done. The actors did an incredible job portraying the longing and repressed feelings for each other and the fears and doubts about trying to take a step forward. I guess a big reason why I loved the show is that I could completely understand their feelings since I've been in a similar position myself, so I was very happy to see them portrayed in such a realistic way.

I started the show expecting nothing, just to fill the bad buddy friday slot, and it caught my attention right away. It was very comforting to me because there's no bad angst or unnecessarily complicated misunderstandings which tend to frustrate me and put me off. Watching Akk and Theo grow closer and closer and be more and more obvious about their mutual feelings for each other was a delight. It was technically slow burn but it didn't feel like it because there was so much tension and closeness and domesticity right from the start that I never felt like things needed to hurry up between them.

That was the very biased part of the answer, now I'll try to be slightly more objective. I think it's hard to say whether a show is good or bad because we all like different things, but there's a few things that I'd like to highlight about Enchanté: the direction and photography are excellet, it is a very beautiful show to watch and a lot of care has been put in even the smallest details. There's no bl tropes, it feels like a light fun romantic comedy and the leads have incredible chemistry.

I had AkkTheo tunnel vision which means I sort of ignored most of the plot and side characters (which probably make up just a 10/20% of the show so it's not a big deal). The plot isn't the most creative or innovative, but I found it cute and fun. I get bored easily and it managed to keep me entertained the whole time.

I think the show handled the plot and pacing fine, it didn't feel like there were densely packed episodes or filler episodes with the exception of the finale. After watching the whole show I felt like a few important conversations were still missing and had been skipped but it might have been an issue with the number of episodes.

The reason why some people didn't enjoy this show is Theo, who I personally believe doesn't deserve any of the awful things people have been saying about him. Theo is a romantic dreamer who has probably read too many novels and sees life through rose colored glasses. He's a bit naive and silly and stubborn also due to the fact that he's been treated like a prince his whole life. He makes mistakes like we all do but they're not big mistakes and he apologizes for them. I really struggled with trying to understand why people hated on him so much since to me he seemed like a perfectly decent human who sometimes lets his feelings take over and messes up.

I strongly believe you should give it a chance because there is absolutely nothing wrong with the show itself and I'd rank AkkTheo in the top 5 of my favorite couples. It's mostly a matter of preferences and what you look for in a show/how much are you willing to try to understand characters that might make different choices from yours.

[importantkidspyfarm]

Watching Bridgerton season ONE with my mother. Mind you this is also my first time watching the story and not just fast forwarding to the sex scenes. It's good.

The spoon. His arms. His legs in those high-waisted trousers.

I was hoping she would just cut it off at the first instance of a sex sex scene or swearing but nope. We made it all the way to the honeymoon and a little after. Turns out she doesn't really have a problem with sex scenes as long as it's between a husband and wife.

The things I've heard that I can never unhear. "Oh he pulled out.", will be etched into my brain forever. Thankfully they became too excessive for her and she began fast forwarding.

I should've told her to start with season two. I heard that it wasn't as sexy. I watched the last two episodes (by watched I mean fast forwarded to sex scenes) because I knew that the season was yearning driven so I figured they wouldn't bang until at least the finale, and that scene was chaste, very chaste.

Season three better bring the heat back. No offense to Miss Sharma but she does not have the sexual magnetism that was needed to make the yearning enough. The yearning from Daphne and Simon was top notch. I was getting my jollies from a hand touch. Whatever I've seen from Kate ain't doing it.

I'm enjoying the "colorblindness" of the show but the writers and casting clearly didn't think about how some plot lines look racially. But maybe I'll get over it.

Is Penelope like this in the books? Because I hate it. She's the one fat girl, so of course she's pining, unrequieted, for the gooberiest brother. Which is fine, nerds do it for me too, but still. Also, when does she stop dressing like a giant baby?

Also, the artist Bridgerton and the Artist aren't lovers in the night time? Eloise isn't a sister of the scissor? There's no Regency gaying going on? None?! Unacceptable.

[phoebehalliwell]

i don't know if i'm the only one but i've often wondered exactly how hard it was to convince julian mcmahon to stick around for season five. they took his character, a feared powerful half demon and made him into the butt of the joke and the whole joke was basically ha ha look at this lovestruck fool obsessing and suicidal because he's got nothing to live with but can't die. ain't that funny? like how the fuck did the writers sell that to julian is my question

i find the entirety of season five just so goddamn insulting to cole's character. hell the fact that he got possessed by the source and this was treated as him turning evil instead of a shitty situation that got out of hand. like it wasn't bad enough he was villified for something that he wasn't even in control of half the time they couldn't even just vanquish the dude, they dragged it on and ridiculed him. i hate it here

lol. i mean. yeah. i really. like. it's like. like okay we all know cole was a fan favorite right and he & phoebe were really meant to like. be the sex appeal to the show no one else was really filling that role they were charmed's Sexy Couple tm. so like. in a sense i get the notion ab wanting to keep him around. because everyone loves him! he's bad boy! he adds this dangerous edge love balancing on a knife's point stuff like that. so like. that being said. u wanna keep him around. i just like Do Not Get how you opt to keep him around Like That. tbh. as w all things. i am blaming brad kern. i think it all really started to tank s4 (well, with mortal cole, but like) with source cole. that was bad, but i know it was part of the push to have like long form season drama character driven plots conflict between the sisters themselves it just like. sucked ass and balls imo. like i mean the fact they had to do the source as a possession just so they could get demon cole and lover cole,,, i mean it speaks to how stupid it was. the fact that u wanted cole to be a villain So Bad but the only way to do it was like. possession? sign that u should not do that like. like. like. i don't know how we're supposed to feel ab that.

and then. the vanquish. not sticking. i think like. i think they probably had the vague idea that cole having a mortal soul would not be able to be vanquished properly right? like. demons get destroyed into nothingness, but the human part of him lives, so i think they probably knew that was what they were going to do, that's what they sold to jmm and like. we sowed those seeds in the s4 finale w his ghost whispers and materialization. so i think like. they knew they wanted to Not Kill Him because he was such a fan favorite. maybe there was an intention to do a will they won't they variant of phole? and then. of course. there was the whole idea of paige cole, which, as the rumor goes, was meant to kick of in the s5 pilot, but both julian and rose shut it down. but i feel like. assuming that's true (which i 100% do assume that's true absolutely and i'm not endorsing it i don't think it would have been good or well written or whatever but like. 👀. you know?) but yeah. assuming that's true, i feel like that piece really speaks to what their designs for cole were: man meat. he was meant to be their male sex appeal and they weren't going to be picky about the narrative itself as long as he was still kicking.

but like honestly? i mean i shouldn't have to say this it's a given: it's not enough to just put your sexy man in front of a camera and call it a day like imo even a man who is not sexy can be made appealing through the power of the narrative. like, to level with you, i never really ever shipped phole nor found cole attractive at all like ever, but i can see like the fucking support beams you know i can see the infrastructure on which this whole thing can you know take on a life of its own in the earlier seasons because they very consciously put it there!! people shipped it for a reason n not just because they were two people standing next to each other on a tv screen i mean hello almost sinking a dagger in her heart but can't do it sends her away back to her sisters because he can't act out on his evil plan!! that's something!!!! that's so very something and they gave us Nothing they gave us nothing in the later seasons. and still expected it to fly. like. tbh julian was probably just like unwittingly duped like dragged along for the ride s5 which is likely why he was vanquished halfway through because i'd imagine roughly three episode in he went okay! um. what's this? guys? what's this? and then they said cole<3 you know he like knew he had to get the hell outta dodge.

anyways. if i were to resuscitate phole in s5. which like. to level w u. i wouldn’t. because they would need a lot of one-on-one screentime and we already spent so much of s4 splitting up the sisterhood in the name of phole i wouldn’t really want to continue with that per se But. if i were. this ask is getting long it’s under a cut 

something something demon of the week something something realms the point is cole is there when he very much shouldn’t be and like. he and phoebe get knocked into a different plane. so their bodies are fine and at the manor, but their minds are elsewhere and they need to solve whatever it is in order to get back. and we’ll say there’s a fuckin deadline because the girls need the power of three and right now they are sealed off from accessing it. and you know phoebe’s pretty fuckin pissed with cole because you know. he dragged her down to hell and she almost gave birth to the antichrist. actually source’s heir might be fun to keep around in this au idk. the point is phoebe’s pissed at cole and cole’s pissed at phoebe because phoebe’s pissed at him but he literally didn’t have control over himself in that era and he’s not getting the space he needs to justify himself because phoebe keeps stepping over him. but they gotta work together to get out of here. and were kinda doing enemies to lover 2.0 but like now they have History. of course we’ve gotta do a moment where cole has idk done something normal and phoebe’s so riled up that she does something rash and almost dies cole saves her like catches her bridal style or something faces inches apart breathing heavy and there’s a moment. like a we’re back in early s4 moment. which phoebe immediately breaks from and like walls going flying up but just for a moment there we see it it’s obvious: she’s still in love with cole. which then segues into an argument because like. cole wasn’t sure. right? he wasn’t sure if phoebe now just genuinely hated him. but now he knows right he knows better now so why are you acting like this? why are you taking every opportunity to shut me down to shut me out? why are you acting like you hate me when you know that’s not true right that whole thing to phoebe who gets the Classic because i do hate you. i hate you for what you did to me for what you did to my family and i hate you because i loved you so much and you destroyed me and i hate you because no matter how hard i try that love is still there and i know that for a second if i stop hating you i’m going to love you just like before and you can destroy me again and i hate myself because i’d let you because i love you. you know? big speech. big reveal. i have No Idea what piper and paige are up to right now. the point is. after this big confession we get the lull the cards are on the table what the fuck do we do now which is when cole Finally gets to opportunity to say he was actually possessed by the source and manipulated by the seer and the only thing that kept him holding on was his love for her and after she became queen of hell after he saw what the source had done to her he knew it had to end he doesn’t hold it against her for vanquishing him right this is where we exonerate all wrongs we’re just saying anything bad that has happened ever? scrub it. it’s the source’s fault. cole has no resentment against phoebe. he loves her a healthy, normal, non-possessive amount, so much so He Loves Her So Much he let her kill him and like honestly would probably do it again. idk and then they make out or something. and then they’re out of whatever plane they were in by the end of the episode. And Then we get a buddy cop episode with paige and cole where they bond and also sort through everything that happened there. slowly but surely. and then we do a real phole wedding a super small affair in the manor lowkey bc i hated their wedding episode it blowed we give them a good one. wallah <3

[darringauthier]

Equalizer 2 (2018)

Genre: Action/Crime

Who's In It: Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders, Melissa Leo, Bill Pullman, Orson Bean

Who Directed It: Antoine Fuque

Plot: Robert McCall serves an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed, but how far will he go when that is someone he loves?

Run Time: 121 Minutes

IMDB Score: 6.7

Metascore: 50

Rotten Tomatoes Score: Critics 51% Audience 60%

Why I Watched It: Saw the first one, saw the original show and of course there's Denzel.

How I Saw It: Netflix Canada

Random Thoughts: This is kind of interesting this is the second movie based off the TV show and now we have a re-boot of the TV show on TV now, who would have thought the Equalizer universe would get so busy.

Not a great poster and the plot summary isn't really accurate.

Those numbers are way lower than I would have thought, the first one was pretty well received but this one not so much, interesting.

What I Liked: Denzel, say what you like about him but he's a very good actor. I know it's that simple he's always good he's not only an actors actor but a thinking man's actor. He's one of those rare actor who you can see thinking, see making choices not for his performance but for his character. He's an easy actor to watch and he's good here, I always like when he does genre cause it's a balancing act cause he never seems like he's slumming, this and even the first one could easily been a Liam Neeson action film but everything he does have depth and gravity. In this film unlike the first one it's better when he's talking and being rather than kicking ass. Really the film is not great, it's what you would call fine but Denzel is the reason to watch. I will also say his characters always seemed lived him, their world seems real.

The film has one main plot but a lot of sub-plots, sub-stories really and some work better than others. I do like the sub-plot with the teenager who lives in his building and their relationship, that could have been a movie on it's own they do shoehorn it into the main plot but the stuff with them is very good.

I want to give a shout out to Melissa Leo, liked her character and also liked her relationship with Washington, it's rare in film to see middle aged (maybe a better older than that) have a friendship especially a man and a women, no romance just a long and storied friendship. Their scenes together are good.

What I Didn't Like: The film kind of lacked focus, too many side stories and I think that's because the main plot is weak and very predictable. I won't give it away but the main baddie is super obvious and really under written. The main story is so cliched you really don't care. I will say there's one really good scene in the big bad's house with Washington that is top notch. The film is kind of a mystery/revenge story, and it's kind of tired. The sub-plots work better, their more character driven and better written. The action here is not great, the opening is good and there's one other scene that is good as well and they seem like they should be in the first movie. Here they get in the way of the plot cause it doesn't factor in. Honestly this movie feels like maybe three to four episodes of the series which is fine but it makes the film longer than it needs to be and the pacing is really hurt by it. As a viewer I felt like I was watching vignettes.

I've seen most of Antoine Fuque's films and I always appreciate him doing action troupes but also giving them nuance and depth here he seems like he's going through the motions especially in the main story. To be fair this film isn't a great sequel it's more like further adventures of Robert McCall. Which in it's self isn't a bad thing it just doesn't work well as a follow up.

Final Thoughts: It was an easy watch and even with the two hour run time it went by not too bad and I didn't hate it by any means but also it was flawed to the point where I was torn if I liked it or not. It's one of those films that is fine but should be better but on the other hand I've seen so much worse.

Rating: 6.5

[motivatedtale-blog]

About Motivatedtale

.:Contents:.

.:Author’s Note:.

.:Summary/Idea:.

.:Characters:.

Motive

Unmotivated

.:Stray Facts and Resources:.

FAQ

Rules

.:Inspiration:.

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.:Author’s Note:.

   Hey, so I've noticed this a long time ago but I’m just now confronting it since I got my computer fixed- it seems pretty impossible to reach the “About Motivatedtale” on mobile, even with the literal LINK to the page (I could only sort of access it through some loopholes in a browser- and the link just took me to my Tumblr instead), so I wanted to compile the information that’s in there into a post for any mobile users who may follow this blog. I’ve got more followers here than my art blog-- so even if there’s not much interaction each post, I think there’s at least a few people who might not have access to an about page here. Changes are very likely to be made and things will be added occasionally :)

.:Summary/Idea:.

 “Have you ever wondered what happens to creations when a creator gives up?”

 Motivatedtale is essentially an abandoned AU with no finished story or a plot. Which, ironically, not having a story is the story itself. It’s a tale about how the lack of motivation (along with other things like self doubt and lack of interest) in a Creator leaves a story unfinished, and with no reason to exist, no story, the AU is crumbling into nothingness, as it is being forgotten by the only one who knows about its existence- the Creator. However, there’s two characters in it that have to deal with that burden of having no ending or reasons to exist. And they’re completely aware of what’s going on.

 At least, the first one that was created is aware, because they were made to be that way. They inform the only other character (Frisk/Motive) about all of this when they meet. They’re a Sans of course (which is sort of a self aware joke because a lot of people either start with the Sans of an AU when creating characters, subtly revolve around a Sans of an AU in a story, or the entire story literally and shamelessly revolves around a Sans. This is not an attack on anyone). This Sans goes by Unmotivated, and is quite bitter about existing.  These characters have no finished story, no destiny, and no purpose. Being self aware of this can be a great burden on hope and happiness; ignorance is bliss, after all.

 What the AU would’ve been if it was “completed” is unsure.

 How the story ends is not fully decided or meant to be disclosed (for now), but even if this AU is finished or not, it is already technically complete. It symbolizes a project that is given up on; a project that is abandoned, and what would happen if the characters in these types of projects were conscious about this- if our ideas existed somewhere out there, somewhere where our decisions, intentional and unintentional, have a serious affect.

 So, if this AU is abandoned, it’ll be quite ironic.

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.:Characters:.

Motive

    Motive is the Frisk of this AU, and one of only two characters that are in this AU. Motive was created after Unmotivated, but the coloring of their design was given up on towards the very end. Their sweater is unfinished because the creator gave up on them due to being overwhelmed with empty and destructive thoughts, but the outline/shape is still there. The sleeve usually is never shaded/effected by light.

  Motive is an optimist, and believes that their AU will one day be finished. They have the soul of motivation, which is outwardly visible and tied to the loose hanging strap of their overalls. They don’t have preferences in pronouns (though they/them is usually the default), and calling them by any pronoun is fine (she/he/they/it..it really doesn’t matter, honestly).  

  Motive acts impulsively a lot of times and does not think of the consequences of their actions…or, they do, but they choose to move forward with their actions anyways. Since optimism is one of their key traits and it’s exaggerated and simplified in their character and logic, it can result in some bad outcomes. The same goes for their impulsitivity. They’re not that serious natured, and act more like a child than a young adult (despite being 18). However, they do make a lot of (sometimes unnerving) jokes that could be considered uncomfortable, but they mean no harm. While Motive is quite intelligent and empathetic, they’re distracted quite easily and might say or do inappropriate things during certain situations.

  Since Motive is technically a new character and was not fully developed by their Creator (backstory, powers, etc), their underdevelopment as a character is actually a big part of their development as a character. 

(More is to be added later)

Unmotivated

 The Sans of the AU, and the first ever character created (which again is poking fun of the idea that people usually start with the Sans of the AU for characters). Unmotivated is bitter and cynical towards his existence and his Creator, and is completely aware of the multiverse and AU Creators. A big fourth wall breaker. He’s apathetic, bored and often paints himself as emotionless and uncaring to hide any hurt/feelings of helplessness. He bottled them away a long time ago.  At first, Unmotivated was hopeful about his AU, but he was alone for an unspecified but long amount of time in his AU, and was driven to toxicity and bitterness during that time. He’s seen his universe grow, halt, and then slowly deteriorate- he has seen new ideas come and go, and is helpless to stop the rampant decay of his universe- his home- his story. He’s overall a pretty lonely character. 

When or why he got the nickname “Unmotivated” is unclear- but it’s definitely supposed to be a pun. He hates the name but finds it funny and ironic at the same time. 

  Unmotivated’s soul is held by a string that is woven into his rain coat. He considers this to be poor design choice but doesn’t really do anything to fix it. He often keeps his soul in his pocket for safe keeping.  (More is to be added later)

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.:Stray Facts:.

• The AU resets (sort of like an update) each time a new idea is added. This is how Unmotivated is generally aware of Motive when they’re created. • The “Creator” resembles anyone who has abandoned or given up on their projects or ideas. This isn’t meant to put people that do this in a negative light.

•The white of Motive’s sleeve isn’t meant to be shaded since it’s “incomplete.”

FAQ (most are from amino since not many people ask here)

- What was the AU supposed to originally be before it was abandoned?

 This is undecided and left up for interpretation. However, based off of the design of the current characters, it can be safely assumed that the AU was supposed to be more lighthearted and cutesy. There are random bits and ideas spread throughout the AU that give glimpses to what it could’ve been.

- Can I draw fanart of these characters?

 Of course! I’d be honored to receive fanart and would love to see it! Just please keep things appropriate if you do.

- Is Ink Sans or Core Frisk going to be in the comic?

No.

 I’ve gotten asked this several times, and the answer is no. Doing this would completely ruin the theme and point I’m trying to get across with this comic. This story revolves around a Creator and their Creations, and there will be no other characters made by other people.

- Are Motive and Unmotivated shipped together?

NO.

 It’s fine as a joke but please realize they aren’t. This isn’t an AU centered around romance and would distract from the goal of the comic if I had that. While I’m not anti-frans in any sense, I still don’t want it in my comic.

- How often do you plan on updating the comic?

  Each page is published whenever I finish it nowadays due to stress of a schedule. I post them in bulks of 2-3 on amino and twitter, and whenever I finish the page on deviantart, instagram and here.

- Is the Creator a character?

 Yes, and no. The Creator represents not only myself, but any artist that has struggles putting their creations out there due to insecurities or other causes. They’re more symbolic and fluent rather than a structured and identified character. Of course though, if there is any introduction of the Creator, I would have to give them some sort of design- and I do have general ideas of what they’d look like. However, they’re still supposed to represent a broader group of people than just myself.

- What does Unmotivated think about other AUs/Sanses?

 Unmotivated has an apathetic mindset when it comes to AUs and other characters like him. He’s incredibly self aware and sees a much bigger picture. He knows characters are just pawns to their creator, and won’t get fazed by any story. Sort of like watching actors in a movie while constantly reminding yourself that they’re just actors. However, he is quite envious of anyone with a complete and happy storyline, since that’s something he lacks but yearns the most. That’s something he wish he had.

 Keep in mind Unmotivated and Motive cannot interact or travel outside of their AU, and no one can interact with their AU except the editor/creator.

Rules

• Please do not publicly RP with these characters unless given permission. This might be changed after more of the comic is complete, but I do not want these character’s personalities to be strewn.

•  Please do not draw or write NSFW with my characters– I am a minor, and a large part of my audience are also minors.

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.:Inspiration:.

  Alright, this part is going to be a lot less formal and more personal. The idea for this AU came from my own self doubt and self destructive attitude as a creator. Doubting my own works and ideas has seriously held me back for a long time, and it STILL holds me back as I’m sure it has for many, MANY other creators like me. Musicians, artists, writers.. Almost all of us have that fear of trying out a new idea or making something you usually wouldn’t. Almost all of us have felt that crushing self doubt when you see someone better than you, and you tell yourself you’ll never be like them, your art will never be that great, you’ll never get that far…so on, so on.

  So, while I was trying to come up with an idea for an AU (which I had actually been considering for well over a year), the thoughts crept in.

“no one will like this”

“there’s enough AU’s”

“you’re unoriginal”

“this is a waste of time”

“the fandom is dying”

“you have horrible character designs”

“AU’s are overrated”

“this doesn’t fit your audience”

“people will judge you”

“you never finish anything”

“this is stupid”

“your art isn’t good enough”

“you’re not good enough”

“someone probably already came up with this idea”

“no one cares about your idea”

“no one would bother with your art”

  And ironically, all these thoughts gave me this idea.

  Even so, these thoughts have still been nagging me every time I even try to work on this, and it’s been taking a lot of courage to take on the heap of anxiety I have over something so harmless. I didn’t join the Undertale fandom for over a year simply because I was afraid of being judged for my interests,, fun fact. Never thought I’d be able to make an AU. I’m still quite nervous posting art of anything that isn’t Mario related for some reason.

  Putting all this to side though, I find the concept of what happens to unfinished and/or abandoned stories and projects interesting, especially if there’s an alternate reality that’s actually effected by your decisions. Kinda like you’re a god. I mean, imagine what it would be like if you had a creator and they just gave up on you, and you’re left with no purpose. Seems like it would suck, haha.

  So that’s basically my AU, Motivatedtale. If you have any thoughts or questions, I’d love to hear them. Thanks for reading if you did!