#idk why this whole process has been so drawn out

[gideonisms]

Okay okay final degree paperwork finalized I THINK and I THINK I get to just move downstairs for $50 cheaper. So now I just need to focus on jobs & getting this place spotless

[shima-draws]

Okay so a few things about the ending to the DLC. Spoilers below obviously

-Really REALLY disappointed they didn’t go with the whole toxic possession arc thing with Kieran and the new mythical (Pecharunt?) TO BE FAIR that was more of a fan theory than anything but it was one that made a lot of sense and had a lot of evidence to back it up. I guess I got too attached to the idea and was inevitably let down when the game didn’t go in that direction. Still it would have made more sense to give that extra edge as to why Kieran’s treating everyone so awfully,, and having him finally break free of that control during the final fight VS Terapagos would have been SO sick. Either that or before we even get to Terapagos Carmine calls Kieran out and that’s when he finally fucking explodes and rages and vents about his inferiority complex—and THAT is what summons Pecharunt, those negative feelings that it probably feeds off of or smth idk. Then we’d get a split second of Kieran finally being back in control and begging for help. And then Carmine realizing her brother has been under the influence of this Pokemon the entire time and. Okay I’m getting off track into AU territory now lmao sorry moving on

-Switching back to the Terapagos fight, I really enjoyed it! It wasn’t too long of a fight to be drawn out, but it was just long enough that it didn’t feel anticlimactic (also the MUSIC? STELLAR. Pun intended). ALSO ARGHFHH the five stages of grief Kieran goes through in that fight to finally accepting that he’s been going about this the wrong way and has been an awful friend and the way the LIGHT COMES BACK INTO HIS EYES I ALMOST CRIED. This is 10000x more emotional and powerful if you choose to bring Ogerpon with you and fight with her bc that really just. Hammers in the fact that despite all the bad blood and bitterness, Kieran still chooses to fight alongside you and the Pokemon he coveted so much…AND he even processes things enough to fully let go of all his hatred and anger and allows you to catch Terapagos because he KNOWS you’ll take good care of it and after all this time he still trusts you even though he’d probably hate to admit it. #GOOD WRITING

-Something really scary I realized. Kieran brought a Master Ball with him to catch Terapagos. 1. Where did homie even get that. 2. The fact that he was READY and didn’t even give Terapagos a chance to react, that he was essentially catching it against its will (which probably led to its power going out of control), that he was enforcing his own twisted desires and beliefs onto it and not considering its feelings (sound familiar? Looks at Ogerpon). BOY. 3. We’ve only ever seen ONE other person use Master Balls in SV. The AI Professor. I don’t know if this is significant in any way but if the Pecharunt theory WAS true that would make them so so similar and that’s eerie to me. Two characters controlled by something greater than them that they can’t fight…can you imagine how INSANE the dynamics would be listen to me

-Another thing I was kinda disappointed about was Briar? I guess I was just picking up on the vibes that she was actually a villain and would try to steal Terapagos from the player, but I probably gave Nintendo too much credit on that one lol. I do like that she’s not inherently evil, she’s just too absorbed and obsessed with her research to really pay attention to what’s going on around her. BUT. They should have pushed that WAY further. Either commit and do the full villain arc where she snatches Terapagos from Kieran right after he catches it to use it for her own purposes, or pressure him into Terastallizing it so much that it makes him uncomfortable. I want to see Lusamine levels of unhinged obsession. What she had was just a little bit too excited about Area Zero, not a full blown unhealthy and dangerous thing that puts everyone around her in danger.

-Following up on that. Drayton. I kept expecting him to also go villain arc IDK LOL I guess I want everyone to be gay do crime in this DLC 😂 But I seriously kept thinking he was just using the player to knock Kieran off his throne so he could take it right back from us. But no he actually genuinely cared about Kieran and kept pressuring us to beat the Elite Four so WE could knock some sense into him since Drayton wasn’t strong enough to do it himself. Which is a very sweet sentiment, I think :’) But am I the only one who was like bro calm down right after the fight where he was getting up in Kieran’s face and calling him ex-champion…..either he’s way too honest and doesn’t realize he was being cruel OR he was doing it on purpose to be a silly goober (but everyone else was like DUDE. LOW blow.)

-I still have questions. HELLO. HELLO. The notes in Area Zero mentioned the professor meeting a child with a white(?) book? Is that the Scarlet/Violet book? We still don’t know how the whole time travel paradox happened and why Heath talked about meeting Paradox Pokemon DECADES before the professor even brought them to Area Zero through the time machine? What is with the weird ass crystal tree sitting in the middle of a lake in the depths? Is there any significance to the Crystal Pool in Kitakami being connected to terastallizing and Area Zero? I’M JUST. AGHHH. I’m fairly certain we’re getting more content, maybe an epilogue to the DLCs but I’m going CRAZY I NEED TO KNOW NOWWW

-Also isn’t Area Zero like. Top secret hush hush. Why did Geeta let Briar publish a whole ass book about the HIDDEN SECRET of Area Zero that was miles under a closed off SECRET lab. I thought they were denying Briar access to Area Zero for YEARS, probably because they didn’t want her blabbing to the public. Idk. Maybe my memory is fuzzy on that one. Just feels very contradictory fhhdd

-The small little subtleties of Kieran regaining his regular personality as we went down….I ADORED that. His little smiles and him unable to contain his childish excitement and Carmine smiling at him with a knowing look bc after all this time her brother is FINALLY acting more like himself. And Kieran trying to brush it off like “wh-whatever” like he’s some sort of edgy teenager pretending he doesn’t care. GAHHHH it was so cute I wanted to cry 😭

ALL IN ALL it didn’t QUITE meet my expectations but it was still really good, especially considering this was all DLC content. Nothing will ever EVER top the main story of SV but the entirety of TTM and TID came pretty darn close. Kieran my sweet baby boy my blorbo I’m so glad you got your redemption arc and that you finally came to terms with your perception of strength and how it affects others. Baller DLC Nintendo do it again 👏

[bomberqueen17]

deep in the obsession

ok so IDK how much I've talked about my Special Interest in the Bronze Age on here. At one point (like nanowrimo of 2003 or so) I was trying to write a novel set in the British Isles Bronze Age and I researched as much as I could and there just wasn't much information and I wrote some stuff anyway but it petered out. And ever since then I've kept checking back on various avenues of research and every time there's a new find I'd read as much as I could find about it. And then they discovered the remains of a pile-dwelling settlement in the Fens in England and they've finally just now published the results of that? Well of course I've been obsessively reading about it. (I had actually emailed the Cambridge Archaeology Unit a couple of months ago to ask where I could find the publications, so the timing was good.)

I mean the long and short of it is, they've got a site exposed by modern quarrying activity, which consists of five remaining buildings, which burned down and collapsed into the river channel with all their contents in the 9th century BC; the inhabitants escaped with very few of their possessions, and the rest of the assembly of the items they used in their daily lives are largely present, very well-preserved; whole sets of pots and woodworking tools, as well as textiles and textile-processing materials, foodstuffs, wooden tools, and enough building materials to almost entirely reconstruct their dwellings; a enormous wealth of information about their diets, their ways of living, even some feel for their aesthetic sensibilities. The circumstances of the buildings' collapse even means we know how they laid out their living spaces.

So I am going to infodump about what I've pulled out of these rather dense and dry reports (I have zero complaints, they're perfectly appropriately-written), so buckle up.

Firstly, if you want to read these yourself, the publications are open access PDFs hosted on the Cambridge Archaeology Unit's website here.

There are also a fantastic series of blog posts both from during the excavation and from during the initial analytical "post-ex" phase on the site's website, which I devoured while waiting for the final reports.

I admit I was first drawn to the whole thing, when I first saw stories about it, because of the mystery. It seems to have been a whole settlement, a village maybe, and it all burned down at once, and no humans seem to have died in it, but everyone left everything behind, even leaving a dog in one of the buildings, and some penned little lambs in a couple of them-- what caused this? Were they attacked? Were they forced out of it? It had a palisade around it as if for defense, did they build it because they were afraid, and rightfully so?? Why did they not come back to try to salvage anything? The water would have been shallow, surely they could at least get their axe-heads and things back.

But the thing that has sustained my interest now is that it appears to have been an unexceptional village after all. There's no evidence that these were elite people living here. There weren't any unambiguous weapons found-- part of a broken sword, in what was obviously a recycle bin (a wooden bucket), waiting along with some broken chisels and a bent axe and part of a broken bronze bucket for a trip back to the nearest metalworker. Some spears, but likely used for hunting, stored outside the houses all together leaned up against the palisade under an overhanging roof eave. Axes, but the sheer quantity of woodworking in the site means they were very obviously woodworking tools, and weapons only by technicality.

Other contemporaneous sites are preserved so incompletely that there are always "was this a place people dwelled or was it a ceremonial gathering place" kinds of questions. Artifacts are found either discarded in middens, broken, or deposited in hoards, "ceremonially?". But all this stuff is in-context, in the house, which burned down and collapsed straight down. This was the kitchen area, obviously; all the houses had most of their pots in the same approximate spot, caches of grain in the same area. This corner is where we find stuff they were working on-- one house has probably a loom, and tons of textile-related stuff scattered around it. (There's only evidence for a loom in one or maybe two of the buildings, but there are spindle whorls and bobbins of thread in three; several spinners providing one weaver, as is common throughout history.)

Some of the pots had been broken before the fire, and some of them had been partially discarded and partially kept, like for example a well-shaped broken bit of rim was being used as a scoop or something, while the little unusable shards had gotten chucked into the river where they threw their trash; the archaeologists could reunite fragments to prove this, and could derive the information that these shards would all be associated with the same house; they weren't shared, they were using the broken pot in the same house where they'd used it before it was broken; they seem to have cooked their meals separately, and kept separate inventory of basic household necessities. But the extra stuff seems to have been stored in the communal storage shed, so they could all get to it.

There's a large but incomplete sheet of bark that in places has a second sheet adhered to it with moss in between, which was likely bedding.

There are textiles, not just woven ones but also weft-twined ones made from lime bast cord-- mats, or hats, or capes. There's a knotted fishing net that was rolled up and in a pile with other things in an area that seems to have been a storage shed of sorts. (Near the "recycle bin" full of broken metal.) There's a collection of prepared fiber, ready to be made into cordage or spun into thread, and it's all prepared the same way in standard-sized bundles-- tantalizingly, regular enough as if for trade, stored in that storage shed next to a nested set of new pots-- like somebody had bought or made them and they weren't put to use yet, OR someone had made extra they intended to trade offsite for stuff they couldn't make themselves.

The whole sets of pots are broadly the same among households-- similar numbers of large vs. small, coarse vs. fine. They all resemble one another, though some are better-made than others-- as if several people made them, but under the guidance of one experienced worker.

Several pots and wooden containers have food residues. Hauntingly, there's a ceramic pot that was still half-full of porridge, with a wooden spatula/spoon still stuck in it. The porridge was made of ground wheat cooked in a liquid containing animal fats from a ruminant-- either sheep/goat or red deer-- possibly an early example of frumenty.

Enough of the structural timbers remain from the buildings, many with markings on them from where other structural elements were touching them and alternately exposed/protected them from fire so it is possible to reconstruct shapes and connections in more detail than if they were unburnt ruins, that the buildings can be nearly completely reconstructed, which is novel because most buildings of this era are known only from footprints/post holes. Almost no material survived from the walls, but because of these ghost "protection marks" it's possible to know that the walls existed, how wide they were, that they were attached in a particular spot, that they were made of a series of small uprights-- and to then surmise that some of the fragments of "wattle", woven panels, must have come from the walls in some cases. And it's possible to reconstruct the innovative, never-elsewhere-seen sprung floor system of bowed joists that kept the floors securely above the water below.

Anyway, I've devoured Vol I and am most of the way through scouring Vol II for interesting tidbits.

Yes of course I want to write a novel with this as the setting but I also am just completely fascinated.

[bones-of-a-rabbit]

pov ur nervous abt ur new job but feel a little better when u think ur coworkers will be nice and friendly but then they aren’t and it sends u on a downward spiral bc ur just quirky like that

A retelling of ‘oh my god. You hated me. You’ve hated me this whole time.’, taken in a DIFFERENT mental-illnesses-go-brrr direction! Continued below the cut,

Haha yikessss! That’s cringy! I’m surprised you’ve scrolled down this far! Mostly I’ve been hoping people would see the first bit of this post and go ‘oh hell nah’ and pretend like it didn’t just plague their innocent mind with the knowledge that self insert cringe of this level still exists! So congrats! I’ve committed many crimes and you’re here to witness them

To answer some question you might have:

Who is that???: SURPRISE IT’S NOT VANNY!!! that is Babbit! Or Rabbit, or Bones, whichever you prefer. It’s a self insert of me!

Why are they a rabbit one second then a person the next?? Are those even supposed to be the same character??: Yes, they are the same person, just drawn in different ways! Why they change is a little more difficult to explain bc it,, depends, honestly sjdhdjd. A lot of the time, the rabbit is like,, an inner version, the more honest and vulnerable version of Rabbit, the ‘you’ that YOU see in your own mind. The regular human version is, normally, what the world sees, the actual, physical person that is Rabbit.

But why tho: Idk I just like weird stupid metaphors and weird wonky character designs!

What’s happening??: Rabbit has a job at the daycare! Rabbit is an anxious, stressed out and socially inept person who worries a lot about what other people think! Sun and Moon dislike them, bc this was inspired by some of those AUs where Sun and Moon are just mean for no good reason LMAO. Rabbit is crushed by this bc they thought Sun and Moon, who are PROGRAMMED and DESIGNED to be likeable and friendly and caring, would HAVE to like them!! It’s their job! It’s what they’re supposed to do! It’s what they’re built for: to like people and to be liked by people! To be disliked by them means there is something so fundamentally and ineffably wrong with them that it breaks the laws of physics- at least in Rabbit’s mind. Before they could disregard everyone who disliked them as people being people and them just having a disliked personality! But to be disliked by something designed to like people? Holy mothballs, bat man, you must be REAL KINDS of fucked up!

They think there is something so wrong with them that even the ones who like everyone do not like them, and it is THEIR FAULT that they are disliked, not anyone else’s- not even Sun and Moon’s. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. And it hurts more when Sun and Moon fake being kind and friendly under a heavy layer of passive aggression. So, at the end of their rope and believing there is nothing that can be done to help them or fix their situation, they start to loathe Sun and Moon and start to lash out at them whenever feeling especially slighted. Is this reasonable? No! Does it make them feel better? Absolutely not!!! Do Sun and Moon deserve it??? No not really!!! And the farther it goes the more Rabbit let’s themselves sink into being as bitter and hurtful as they always tried so hard not to be. And it’s not anyone’s job to fix them but theirselves. But right now, for the first time in a long time, they really don’t want to.

Does Rabbit actually just need a hug and a warm blanket???? Idk probably!!!!

This is a self insert????: Yup!

So this is based off you??: Unfortunately!

Does that mean-: haha!!!!!!!!! Don’t worry about it!!!!!! :) Next question!

Most people’s fantasies are about their faves liking them, yknow: Haha yeah!

Why did you even make this: I’m going to pretend like I’m not just completely nuts and say, it helps me process my feelings and also ✨catharsis✨

Do you want to talk: HAHA no definitely not this is embarrassing enough as is!!!!!!

U good?: Yes actually! Just weird! Sorry sjdgdjshdnvdndbdhd

Why are you sharing this: idk tbh maybe validation on some weird fucked up level lmao

Anyway thank u for ur time and I apologize for the death of so many of ur brain cells. Idk why ur still here but holy shit man idk if I should be proud of u or scared of u. I’m mentally giving u a gold ribbon tho congrats on,, reading this abomination of a post ig

[salubriwrites-blog]

The Drunk Tank Sequel

Someone asked me if I'd ever put a sequel together for one of my rarer paired ships, Kayn and Hwei.

tl;dr I'm using this story to explore dynamic and different relationships within Heartsteel, and making Hwei the emotionally stable one for once who tries to help someone else overcome their own demons.

I decided to do so, I'm writing it passively so I don't really have intention of dropping this and making it a whole series, but I'll probably give it another 2 chapters. I wanted to use it as an opportunity to explore different relationship dynamics that I didn't get to explore in my other Heartsteel fictions (Paranoia: Off Script, Dances with Devils, As You Are).

Also I'm just a whore and will ship Hwei with LITERALLY ANYONE. He deserves people who will help him unlearn his trauma.

Drunk Tank started as a funny throw away back story that came up in Dances with Devils, where Hwei and Kayn have a vague history that neither of them disclosed to the rest of Heartsteel. It was this relationship that helped Hwei find the confidence to escape his toxic and abusive relationship with Jhin (sorry JhinHwei shippers, sorta). The two characters finally come sort of clean about how they met, which was they ended up in the same drunk tank, made out and made the other drunks uncomfortable, and the police had to literally rip them off each other, erections bulging from their pants the whole time.

It was very degenerate, very horny, and dark, given the tone of Dances with Devils. I decided that in Drunk Tank I'd make it a little bit cuter. Hwei has never been arrested before (goody two shoes) but after a birthday party trip to a strip club goes wrong, he gets arrested for public intoxciation and thrown into a drunk tank to sleep it off for the night.

Drunk tanks are basically just rooms where people who's only crime is public intoxication get chucked to sleep off the alcohol. I've personally never been in one, so I decided to have fun with it. It has a Wild West vibe to it, Hwei is freaked out cause he's dressed like a slut, is very obviously gay, and is surrounded by all these gruff ass men who stink like tequila and toxic masculinity.

Then there's Kayn.

They gravitate toward each other because they are the odd men out in this room, but chemistry is only present because of alcohol.

Kayn's an asshole in this story. Spoiler (but also not).

I know I just said that I like shipping characters with Hwei that help him overcome his baggage, but I decided that in this story I wanted Hwei to be the put together one. He's stable, he knows who he is, knows what he wants. This version of Hwei is going to be confident and aware of his own boundaries, but is also perceptive of potential toxic traits in other characters.

Kayn's an asshole who is used to taking. More on that... later. But Kayn's relationships with the members of Heartsteel is going to be dynamic and may risk hurting Hwei if the Visionary allows himself to get drawn in. Ezreal and Kayn dated (for how long idk yet) and their relationship is... weird. They say that it was mutual, and they have good chemistry on stage and in the sound booth, but they are on shaky ground.

This version of Ezreal is catty as hell, and part of him doesn't want Kayn to have anything nice. Which is why he is rude to Hwei in the above. I don't have the finer details of Kayn and Ez's relationship ending hammered out - but it had something to do with Kayn taking.

I kinda like tumblr wtf, I always thought of having a place to just yeet all my thoughts and processes. If you read this far, thank you for doing so, and I hope to update you more on this story (and my others).

[junbugswritings]

havent posted in forever but have some more PDH / MS rewrite stuff

(i forgot what exactly i added in my first post mentioning it and so im just mentioning stuff as i go and hoping i hadn't repeated any lmao)

aphmau and aaron DO get together for a brief time in college, but decide they're better off as friends and break it off

ein's whole 'trying to become alpha' thing was mainly bc he had a huge crush he refused to admit on aaron and having been bullied so many years as omega, thought it was the worst thing ever when someone as strong as the Ultima of all people became an omega and not the alpha (this could change bc idk if i'll even keep the alpha/beta/omega dynamic...especially in high school of all things)

speaking of ein, i hc that he doesnt have a good relationship w/ zack at all, so he took on his mother's last name instead, so that's why it doesn't really click that he and aphmau are related for the longest time since aphmau had her mother's last name and ein has his own mother's

KC actually chose her own name, with Nana meaning 'beautiful bloom'. The fact it could also mean 'seven' was entirely coincidental.

all of gene's tattoos that he has (but is casually hiding from his mother) were drawn and colored by zenix. sasha suggested a few of them, but never actually helped with the process

garroth, after he and aphmau's first (platonic) kiss, thought it was rather underwhelming and not at all what laurance's romance stories said it'd be like.

zenix loves strawberries. sasha HATES them. they have a very dramatic 'hatred' of each other because sasha keeps trying to get rid of boxes of literal strawberries and zenix just keeps ordering more. gene just wonders when his house became the place for the two to be doing that

instead of that whole angel w healing powers arc, it took her forever to decide, having first started off as wanting to be an artist, but by the last two years of highschool she had decided to become a doctor instead in order to help people

dante is the one who usually cuts travis' hair. they started doing that in high school and just kept it going as a tradition ever since. it doesnt do much because travis likes keeping his hair long-ish, but it gives them time to hang out at least!

katelyn got involved in fighting at a very young age. mostly defending her brothers, who were too weak to defend themselvs. after her mother left, it just became a way to cope, because punching stuff help get rid of the excess emotions. her father only assumed she was copying him and nurtured that response. took lots of talking with aphmau and KC when they were roommates to get her to explore other ways to cope rather than, you know, punching people (*cough* travis)

zane has a bunch of pet snakes he managed to smuggle into the house. his (dont tell the others!) favorite is a peppermint corn snake named Minthe

when vylad was younger, you couldn't look away from him for even a SECOND before he would have been on top of cabinets or counters. he thrived on climbing and causing you as many problems as possible. zane secretly helped him cause said problems by helping him onto places he couldnt otherwise reach when nobody was looking

[resignedseraph]

I know it's par for the course for stuff like this but like it'd be super cool if I could be at all sure what the hell is going on in my brain (explanation below, talk of ramcoa suspicions)

So,,, okay I didn't post about this on here yet but about a month ago I found a thing I wrote while freshly out of the cult, when I was trying to figure out what the hell was up with my dreams, and it pretty specifically outlined how trauma programming works. I wouldn't have had any reason to know what that was or what it did, and I properly learned about trauma programming at least three years later. I also have no reason to believe that it might've been an influence of any stories I'd read, none of them that got even close to the topic were in depth enough for that. So either that, or it's coincidence, which is pretty damn slim.

(by the way, side note that this wasn't exactly new-new news to me, I'd approached the possibility of having been subject to ramcoa a couple years ago and processed that, but finding no indications either way has been very frustrating! So I actually felt happy and justified/vindicated when I found that)

Last week I also learned of some more recent child abuse/harassment at the cult I was in, from a former student a couple grades down who was taking a class with my brother at the college I go to. Before that I already knew of at least one staff member who consistently harassed and preyed on younger students, including a close friend of mine. So there is definitely some background for systemic abuse within that particular microcosm.

Before I found the dream journal thing, I'd been tracking various unexplained symptoms I have and keeping common forms of ramcoa programming in mind. At this point I'm fairly sure I sustained CSA at some point growing up, from the variables I know were present and the symptoms I have.

It's not only that though, there's various other symptoms that are still completely unexplainable to me. To name a notable one, at one point one of the main trauma holders in my sys was extremely dissociated and shut down, having flashbacks for a month straight after accessing some repressed memories which we still haven't consciously gone through. There was also an instance when several similar alters were found who were isolated from the rest of the sys, and didn't "come out of" a trancelike state or heavy masking until our gatekeeper told them a particular phrase to let them know that they didn't need to do their job anymore. There's also decent reason to suspect repeated CSA, based on the actions of particular alters.

I've learned how to do responsible research of ramcoa (barring times when I've been in a triggered trancelike state and felt drawn to engage with triggering topics), and the frustrating thing is that there's not much at all that lines up. Finding the dream thing was a big advance for me in this whole case. Right now I think I have solid reasons to suspect CSA, and decent reason to suspect programming, but if I did sustain programming then I get the impression that it wasn't totally intentional. Like, that whoever did it wasn't really aware what they were doing, and it just happened to turn out the way it did. There definitely wasn't the kind of organization or secrecy to pull off "proper" programming, I can gather that much from what I know.

Idk exactly why I'm posting this but I felt like giving a bit of an update about more serious stuff. So hey if you got to this part of the post, congrats? lol. Feel free to comment or respond to this or whatever, that's entirely fine with me

[septembersghost]

it’s crazy because i always liked haylor but as time passes by and more songs come out i’m starting to realize that they were or potentially could have been soulmates because the way they write about each other is insane, i know theyre both in a relationship though and are happy (at least taylor is) but idk theyre always on my mind.. that “what if” really kills you😭

you don’t have to answer this but what songs do you think are haylor?! in terms of harry and taylor (including unrelated hs1 songs)

i just wrote you a long response to this and tumblr ate it 😭😫 but i'll try to say it again lol

they both have said they're the happiest they've ever been now, so i am willing to trust and take their word on that, and i truly want and hope that for them!

a friend of mine and i were just talking about this, and how fate isn't a strictly determined thing, that because we have agency, we have the ability to make decisions that alter outcome. no one is "meant" to be something or have specific things happen, there are different paths along the way, and things we can control, and things we can't at all. it's more like fate is lightly playing strings in the background, and you follow a melody. so because of that, there's not only "one" soulmate, but potential for love that people find. it's like that quote from the good place, "if soulmates do exist, they're not found, they're made."

taylor found and made hers with joe, and has sustained it for six years, it's the beauty of why invisible string and mastermind can both exist in tandem. they were drawn together by breathless happenstance, and then she made a plan. it's clear from what she's written that that was right for her life. he quiets the noise for her, gives her a place to be safely held, compliments her mind, loves her for who she is as a real person. we know this from what she's written (and now what they've written together). she deserves that.

that doesn't mean that you never wonder about other situations - it's human nature to ask what-if. it doesn't undermine the devotion of what you have at all. it's why she said one of the things that has kept her up at night in the past is wondering what might have been, that was a theme for the album. obviously, if she's sharing that with us, then she shares far more with her partner, what we have is a tiny little cracked window, where they have an entire life and world (and that's how it should be). doubtless they've talked all these things through, and she knows what's okay to share, what's comfortable for both of them. i've seen people act like, "omg he must be upset that she's still thinking about ____," and it's missing the point. he respects and loves her enough to know she does that through her art as a form of processing and healing, he knows it all! he understands. she wouldn't be able to be this raw and vulnerable had she not worked really hard, singularly and with him and with those close to her in her life, to get here, and that's admirable.

so, phew!, to get me thus to question...? she's looking back on that situation and realizing she never got the answers she fully needed, and she still had some things to express and get off her chest, and it turns out, there was some upset and annoyance there (my friend wrote about this too). she just had to ask the questions, and send them out - like a message in a bottle - into the universe.

this is already long so i'm putting the song list under a cut for you <3

songs!!! anything i say is conjecture and fitting little puzzle pieces together in the way i hear them and the picture they paint, full disclosure i could always be wrong.

taylor: from red, we have message in a bottle and come back, be here. there's also the question of the very first night, and i know most people have decided it's about jg and from an earlier point in time, but hear me out - i have trouble believing she'd refer to that relationship as "children running," when the crux of the whole thing was that she was trying so hard to seem grown up and capable, and was feeling adrift and confused and belittled and hurt because of their age difference and the way that caused him to treat her. "i'd pick you up" seems ill-fitting for him too, there's an innocence to it. there's also, well, the mention of the night at the hotel and the polaroid picture, and i'm not saying that means anything, but if i hear a little bit of harry in it instead, well...i know i'm wrong on this one, okay, let me pretend. this song is so sweet that scarf stealer doesn't deserve it shhhh

as i mentioned on 1989: style, out of the woods, all you had to do was stay, i wish you would, how you get the girl, this love, i know places, wonderland. she gave us context and stories for some (i love that quote about style, "we should've just called it, 'i'm not even sorry'," the grammy museum performance of ootw talking about her anxiety, the story about how he drove past her house at night wanting to go in, the green eyes, the sinking ships, the cheshire cat smile...).

i'm going to link you to another post of zoe's too

i have a couple of stray thoughts about other songs but i feel like i should keep them to myself aksfdkljghkl

from midnights, question...?, of course. i know i mentioned this somewhere else, but there's also the fact that question...? borrows a little cadence from keep driving.

harry...there are so many 1D songs that i'll probably forget, but from my memory - perfect, if i could fly, olivia, stockholm syndrome, where do broken hearts go, happily, there's debate about something great because harry wrote it with jacknife lee and gary lightbody not long after taylor wrote the last time with them, and taylor and harry wrote songs (that have never seen the light of day, it's mentioned here) together at that point.

unreleased, there's half the world away, don't let me go, hunger, already home, without you, lay down...that whole spate of demo songs that leaked back in april.

he gave just a little bit of your heart, i love you, and someday to other artists (ariana, alex & sierra, michael buble)

from HS1: meet me in the hallway, two ghosts, only angel, woman, from the dining table

unreleased from HS1: him (which, question...? directly speaks to this situation), baby honey, complicated freak

(a reviewer of fine line said golden was about taylor because of, "i know you were way too bright for me," and i don't think that was his intent, but it permanently stuck in my mind, thank u rolling stone or whoever u were)

when taylor starts with, "good girl, sad boy," it's no joke. when you listen to all those songs, it was a lot of sad boy season.

like i said, this is only glimpses of the story and guessing in putting them together, but it does give us a lot.

[bluepeachstudios]

TMNT 2003 had been my special interest for over 10 years and honestly got me through hell so so many times

I re-watched it a few months ago and wasn't planning on doing it again but well you made me go watch it again last night and now i have to bing watch seven seasons again and gosh I'm so happy and uh idk why I'm telling you this lmao

Also it breaks my heart that leosagi's last canon convo was during the whole leo PTSD stuff

Like he didn't even get to apologize

Ugh that's so frustrating

If i ever become a multi millionaire you can bet I'll found a remake of the 2k3 version so uh ... Let's hope i do become rich ig...

Uh but like also

Your art is amazing i really like how you draw the turtles and poses and uh .... I personally have some struggles with angles in anatomy any tips ? Or like any general recommendations for you artist fans ?

And also i hope anyone who reads this has an awesome day/night

Remember to hydrate<3

*sorry for the random wrong rambling*

Oh man, same! I started watching ninja turtles when the episodes were still coming out, back in '04 I think. I was 9! I got super into it, I got my best friend into it, we played with ninja turtle toys for so long.

My medical issues weren't so bad back then, but they were still a Whole Thing(tm) and I had the DVDs of the first 12 episodes of season 1 and all of Fast Forward once that came out. I watched both a LOT when I was sick, especially Fast Forward. It has gotten me through ROUGH times.

I'm glad you're rewatching it again! I've rewatched it probably three times in the last six months? I'll probably do it again, too hgdkfjg it's so good

Usagi does show up at April and Casey's wedding in the last episode, so I like to imagine that he and Leo had a time off-camera where they met and sparred a little and talked. I like to fill in the blanks. B)

A remake of '03 would be SO cool oh my god fhgfjg I would love that so much!!

ThANK YOU FOR THE COMPLIMENT AHH!! I struggle with angles in anatomy as well, foreshortening is rough oof. The way I learned to draw things from certain angles is taking stock photos and tracing over them to see how things were drawn. I especially love AdorkaStock (previously SenshiStock), their stuff is GREAT for practicing poses. Looking up youtube videos on gesture drawing can also help loosen up poses. I also really love the Morpho art books, they're super helpful.

A lot of practicing art is just drawing. Even if you feel like it's not good, you should still draw it! As long as you're having fun and enjoying the process. That's the important part. Draw what you want, if you don't like it then don't post it anywhere! Even if you do like it, you don't have to post it. Sometimes it's nice to just draw something that's all yours.

Don't apologize for rambling, as you can see, I tend to do the same thing, and honestly ain't rambling half the fun of having a conversation?? I love hearing from people!

[lilbit-of-kizzy]

Just woke up from a nap and had the wildest dream:

So it was basically a Don Bluth spin on It's a Wonderful Life (completely different story but same premise) with Michael Sheen voicing the MC (.....yes he looked like Aziraphale but that's not important the only thing silly about that is that my brain supplied me with "oh THAT'S why his 'Newspaper man' act is so familiar!" Lol)

The story was rather interesting, happening during a WW2 type setting. Can't really remember most of it (there were submarines??) just that instead of seeing what would happen if they were never part of the love interest's (I never actually got to see who that was) life as a ghost, they got to be there and meet the love interest that hadn't known them all their lives. And go on some Bluth-y adventure while trying to fix everything that was wrong by them not having been alive in this universe

Anyways at the end they did the whole "I understand I'm important to the universe" thing and it was time for them to wake up, the angel/fairy....thing? that had led them on this adventure said they'd been healing them (head wound) during the whole dream and yes they could wake up now. TURNS OUT the MC was afab and the fairy, knowing very little about humans, Did Not Understand and had kinda....girlified them back up (don't worry they fix it lol)

Cut to me watching the movie (dreams are weird ya know) and the channel I'm watching it on MUTES THE FEMALE VO!? I was so furious cause I knew they were doin it for transphobic reasons, and while I couldn't hear the female voice I knew that the MC talked about their life growing up with the love interest while they still presented as a little girl (and tried explaining the complexities of human gender norms to fairies in the process)

And the freakin channel I was watching on had badly stitched in this random, horribly drawn/animated, kid in the background, and they kept muting anything that talked about the little girl being the MC, hinting that the story was coming from the stitched in male kid instead

Anyways the MC told their story about wanting to be with the love interest but knowing once their (rich) family found out they weren't a girl they'd never let the two of them be together. Idk there was a whole back story I can't remember now ANYWAYS

I was so pissed as I was (unknowingly) waking up that the channel had done that, and when I realized I was waking up my first thought was "man it has been forever since I've seen that! I oughta find and watch........it's not real 🥲"

(and yes the female presenting Oops We Healed You Back Wrong MC was @doria-plume 's Anastasia design lol)

[sharp-teeth-and-archived]

𝐓𝐄𝐍 𝐐’𝐒:  

1. When are you usually online?

It honestly varies as of late. College has really kept me busy and muse varies between my blogs. My schedule can become really inconsistent at times, but I’m almost always online in some way, but it varies when and if I have the energy to reply to things. Muse has been fickle as well. I would say I am almost always online on the weekends.

2. What verses are you involved in?

I have a ton of random au’s on my blog: pirate au, vampire au, werewolf au, crossover verses, historical au’s, some very slight modern au’s. But for fandoms, I am involved in t.urn w.ashington’s s.pies fandom, r.dr2, l.eft 4 d.ead, a.ssassin’s c.reed, d.ragon a.ge, general western. I am usually more active in the t.urn rpc as of recently because the r.dr2 rpc has been kinda dead as of recently, same as l.4rd, and a.ssassin’s c.reed. I also have been writing r.dr2 for around 3 years or so and I think I’m slowly burnt out on it at times. With the recent uptick in t.urn blogs (but it’s still a small rpc) and how Lydia has become really popular on my blog and the investment of dynamics for her oc (which I really cherish), I have been more involved in the t.urn rpc because it’s an interest I fell back in. So a lot of my muses have been getting an amrev verse to suit that interest, but I am still into my other fandoms! Just college has kept me a bit busy and has kept muse fickle and selective. Luckily, my mutuals have been very supportive of my weird schedule and varying muse levels.

3. What is your biggest RP pet peeve?

I think force shipping tbh. It hasn’t happened in a while, but it just adds a lot of pressure onto me and I fall out of interest in the thread/interaction quickly if people just assume things. I work off chemistry and I only ever work with off the cuff shipping with mutuals I talk to regularly. But still, I prefer chemistry over anything else and I have had a few surprising dynamics that have come out of shared chemistry that I never would’ve expected. 

4. Are you drawn to specific types of muses?

Usually my muses have death involved in their story somewhere so that might be my type lmao.  I usually pick side characters or character I genuinely think I could develop. Like Hewlett, Evie, & Jacob. Sadly, I tend to attract muses that have little to no screen time in their media. Overall, I tend to enjoy morally grey characters with a ton of complex characteristics. I tend to drift more towards villains, but overall, I like a mixture. I don’t think I could fully write a “hero” character (the closest may be Hewlett, Varric, or Evie and Jacob, but they both have shady actions). I do really enjoy grey characters with a heart of gold (Cassie, Lydia, Sean, Kieran). The reason why I added Hewlett & Abe to my muse list is because I thought i could add more development to them compared to the writers lmao.

5. Are there reoccurring themes in your writing that people might not notice?

Themes? Like messages? Not so much, it more of depends on the character I suppose. Overall, I tend to really like introspection and really get in my muses’s minds. Sometimes my muse tends to focus on the other person more than themself, but I like a character analysis lens that looks through their thoughts and experiences. I try to sorta shift my writing style to that muse, but try to keep it somewhat consistent to my own (whatever that writing style really is). I guess death? idk it’s a trend among my muses. 

6. What are your favourite RP trends?

I honestly can’t keep up with rp trends recently, but I think the whole banner on asks. I always have a rough time with the usual ask reply system and while tagging can be messy, it’s a lot easier to format and to trim a thread with adding a banner for an answered ask in a text post than using tumblr’s own ask reply system. It has its cons, but I think I prefer that and it looks prettier imo. I also like interest trackers though people hardly use them.

7. What is your process for starting a new story with someone?

I can be really shy, but I occasionally post plotting calls, ask memes, and inbox calls. That’s the eaisest way or to outright message me. With my schedule, I have been slacking on sending asks to people on my dash and answering those asks. So, recently, I would say messaging me and figuring out a plot for liking an inbox call is the easiest atm.

8. How do you feel about duplicates?

I don’t really have duplicate anxiety. I never had anyone steal from me, but I hope people don’t because of all the hard work I put into them. I actually like duplicates because usually, I have another muse I eagerly want to write with them, even if I already write that muse. Like for example, I am always eager to interact with another Sean, but those blogs tend to not last long. When I couldn’t find a Sean to itneract with in the beginning of this blog, that was the precise reason why I added Sean to my muse list and decided to writ ehim myself. So, I am game for duplicates.

9. How long have you been involved in roleplaying?

I think since i was 10, but on tumbl rpc, I think it was early 2018. It was a little bit before r.dr2 came out.

10. Is there a muse or verse you could write in, but haven’t?

I have various oc ideas I want to toy with, but worry about adding too many muses that I overwhelm myself. I toyed with a few other turn canons, but nothing ever stuck. I want to write more of Cassie & Eleanor though.

I have various verse ideas, so I would say my vampire verses and werewolf verses that I would like to explore more. Or Evie’s da or historical verse (like her in the amrev time period, but really any time period as long as I am knowledgeable of it). I also really like my crossover r.dr2 verses (like Jacob & Evie’s verse). I really, really want to try an arranged marriage au with a lot of plotting with one of my mutuals.

[mettywiththenotes]

The thing about afo revealing he has stolen Tsukaucki's ancestor quirk is a bit weird as a throwaway line. Like, doesn't it mean he probably should have bigger personal stakes in AFO's downfall? And it makes his friendship will all might crazier, imagine meeting by chance the number one hero and he has also a personal AND intergenerational reason to want to murder the guy who harmed someone in your family. Because I bet the whole stealing process wasn't any painless...

I mean it wasn't confirmed that it was Tsukauchi's ancestor quirk but given that Tsukauchi apparently (according to Vigilantes) has a lie detector quirk, we can assume it might be his ancestor

It wasn't a throwaway line imo. I've learned that, in a series, anything spoken with specific information yet having no follow up within that chapter/episode/whatever is likely to come back and end up meaning something

And with the amount of insight AFO gave us with that?

My dude, that is too much text to just be a "throwaway line". Ya got the reveal that AFO has it, the ancestor, the descendant of the ancestor, when AFO stole it, and a lil history with the quirk mentioned in like 2 panels. Too specific to be nothing

As for the theory (I know its likely true but I'm still calling it a theory) that AFO has one of Tsukauchi's ancestor's quirks, I think it will give Tsukauchi more personal stakes. But see, we're only just learning this info, and Hori will probably let that info sizzle for a while, make us think about it, before he decides to show us the connection

I'm not sure if Tsukauchi knows. Wouldn't he have mentioned it at some point if he did? Like "Yeah we'll defeat AFO and get revenge for the quirk he stole from my ancestor!"

Or maybe he's hiding that knowledge and he's just going to mention it at some point. I'm hoping, if thats the case, that he has reasons for wanting to hide it - an AFO follower mole in the police, or not wanting to involve All Might in even more mess etc etc

I mean, is the stealing process painful?? I don't think so, but I'm only going off the times AFO's quirk was shown

(with S&S, it's not really proof that stealing a quirk hurts. she was decaying at the time, so you can't tell if she's wincing from the decay or the stealing)

I feel like, if they were in pain, Hori would have drawn them like they'd been electrocuted or something. You know, to show them in pain

If I were to guess, I'd say your quirk being stolen OR taken probably just feels uncomfortable. Like a part of you is being extracted and you can feel it in your soul but not physically. Idk maybe it hurts if you struggle or try to run away during the process. Maybe that's why AFO always places his hand on the head when everything is consented to, so they don't run away and so it doesn't hurt - like keeping the person still hurts less (which would work for those people in the second screencap example, since they just stopped in their tracks and AFO took his chance then)

Again, S&S is ambiguous imo cuz we don't know if she was wincing from decay or the stealing. But I'm mentioning her here to rule her out

So... I don't think it would actually have hurt the ancestor UNLESS they were trying to run away or were struggling during the process. Idk

Back to Tsukauchi though, I have been thinking recently about why he had a moment in 344 with All Might. Like, yeah sure we have the whole We've Done It (Maybe) moment and all, but idk. I still find it suspicious that he was just included like that

He HAS been included a lot this arc, for some obvious reasons, but now that I reread this part in the context of Tsukauchi Knows About His Ancestor's Stolen Quirk, it DOES make sense for him to include himself into this

I've also been thinking about why Tsukauchi says "we tried to bring him down before" when. he's never been shown working with All Might to bring AFO down in the past. He's never shown with All Might during the battle, or before the battle, he wasn't shown to visit All Might in the hospital, there's no flashback for them, anything that references to Tsukauchi's involvement is him going "Yeah we'll bring down AFO this time" - like there's context that we don't know about

BUT, if Tsukauchi were HIDING FROM AFO this entire time, if he WAS working with All Might but never showed himself, he may have been hiding so AFO couldn't seek him out. He may have been hiding so AFO couldn't steal his quirk too

AFO does mention that the descendant was much more memorable. Maybe he would want to steal Tsukauchi's quirk, given the chance, or kill him to get an advantage or smthg

So, if all this is true and Tsukauchi IS the descendant, this brings up the overall questions

1) Does Tsukauchi know his ancestor's quirk was stolen? Or has he been intentionally hiding this whole time in order to escape AFO's sight?

2) Does All Might know about the ancestor quirk? Is he in the know just as much as Tsukauchi or has Tsukauchi not told him?

3) Does AFO see the officer enough of a threat to go after him? Would he kill him or steal his quirk, if given the chance?

After talking about it in this post, I think Tsukauchi's been hiding from AFO and working with All Might undercover in order to bring him down. He wouldn't be yelling so personally, including himself when we've never seen him with All Might in flashbacks or anything, unless AFO's defeat does effect him personally

At least, that's my opinion on it now. I'm not sure if it's true, but I kind of hope it is just because it'd be kinda cool to see Tsukauchi having personal beef with AFO

AND it would clear up some things for me, why I've been so suspicious of Tsukauchi

And you know what? I've ALSO been asking myself how the hell he met All Might. Like how did All Might go from keeping such a tight-knit secret to "yeah dw Tsukauchi knows everything"

Like I said, idk if All Might actually knows about the ancestor thing, but if he does, can you IMAGINE that meeting, however it happened? Like All Might explained his own situation and Tsukauchi was just

"Toshinori, you're not gonna believe this..." lmao

Thanks for this ask! This has given me a lot to think about, and I do wonder how Hori will reveal the descendant of the quirk. I'll be looking forward to it

[shit-talk-turner]

About *why* Alex agreed to work with Alexandra:

I'm going to let my imagination run a little wild in this ask (hope thats ok) and share my theory about what happened. Let me know if you see any truth in this!

Personally, I've always wondered if he intended to get as involved as he did.

This is obviously TOTALLY speculative, but I imagine that, coming off the AM tour, Alex must've been somewhat lost. The band had just wrapped what must've felt like the biggest accomplishment/most important tour of their careers. He mentioned in an interview that he could have kept touring and he wasnt eager for it all to end. There must've been some part of him/them that felt like they peaked. I can imagine that would just leave a big "what now?" question hanging over his head.

All his buddies/bandmates were getting married and having babies so that question was answered for them, and he probably felt left behind given that he was single (and by the looks of it not ready for that anyway). Also, with that "peak" and everyone starting families, I'm sure the future of the band was also kind of in limbo.

I imagine Alex must have been running through options of what he could/should do with himself if the band was going to be on an extended hiatus (Solo career? Film scoring? Writing? Producing?) when he got the call from the label about meeting Alexandra. He obviously liked her/her music, but given what she said about them just starting with a song before committing to the whole album, I can see him being more drawn in by the possibility of being to her what Josh Homme was to him, without ever really intending to be such an active/integral participant on the whole album.

He mentioned in another TBHC interview that writing with Alexandra was the first time he'd written with someone else in that way and that he learned a lot from the experience. That makes me imagine that everything happened in kind of a whirlwind. Like he thought he'd be helping her out with a few songs and before he knew it, he was so immersed in this new process and lost in the project that it started to feel like his own. (I also think that feeling creatively invigorated and in sync with someone again probably made him more attached to her, which is what led to any romantic involvement that may have existed).

Ofc it wasn't his project, though, which if he was invested, probably hit him harder whenever he was overruled. This must've given him an itch to apply what he learned and the things he was excited about to something of his own, which I think contributed to him throwing all of himself into TLSP the way he did. (Side note: people here have brought up Louise as a surrogate for Alexandra before, but I actually think Miles took on that role at that time - at least creatively. Alex seems to have carried over a lot of what he learned/took away from his experience with Alexandra and poured it into EYCTE and his writing processes with Miles. Couple that with the fact that EYCTE kind of started because Alex was helping Miles work out some songs for his next album, and the fact that Miles has admitted to looking up to Alex for songwriting advice... it just seems like EYCTE would have let him do everything he was doing with Alexandra while not having to compromise on his vision and being able to call the finished product his own).

If Alex's dedication to the album left as quickly as it came, it would line up with that interview where Alexandra said that one day Alex just kind of unceremoniously told her that they were done working on the album. It'd makes sense that she would walk away from that feeling a little embittered (and maybe used/confused - especially if they did have a fling), while still being appreciative of his help and not wanting to burn that bridge (hence touring with TLSP and the lovely dedication).

Idk. I feel like I just wrote a whole fic in your inbox! 😅 What do you think? Does any part of this hold water?

This mod at least finds this all very insightful, thank you for submitting! I had considered Alex feeling lost but not really the aspect that he might have considered it his project as well, which would give some more potential reasoning for Alexandra's frustration besides just the Alex-focused press. He certainly seems more entwined in it than is typical for a songwriter or producer to be. Like, apparently pre-Alex, Alexandra was writing songs with Linda Perry and it's hard to imagine that she would have gotten more than a passing mention if Alexandra had released an album of those songs, with random session musicians playing the instrumentals, instead. ENDLESSLY fascinating. Feel free to send us more essays any time, anon.

I'll let my co-mod/co-president of Alexandra's fan club chime in...Anyone else have thoughts?

[niuxita21]

No one asked for this but I’m still gonna word-vomit my feelings on the finale because if I don’t process them I’m gonna explode (don’t worry it’s not a rant or anything, I just have a lot of Thoughts).

OK so my main concern regarding this as the backbone of the season 3 storyline is that, for it to play out in a way that I will actually enjoy, the ONLY option is to have it be so that they eventually realize that they are enjoying their little charade a bit too much and find themselves wishing it were real and THAT is one of the big revelations/twists of the season. Otherwise, it would just feel too much like they’re cheapening the relationship, which is weird considering that this is a ship that THEY created, that has fans because THEY said "Here, ship this, and no, you are not delusional, it's real." And the thing is that, if they were a straight couple, there would be no doubt in anyone’s mind that THAT is where they were headed, but I’ve been burned too many times by shows with f/f ships not to be a little apprehensive. I'm also not super thrilled with the whole "using the gay flag in vain," as Ana's lawyer put it, which is why the only way for me to be comfortable with this storyline is for them to think they are doing this purely as a means to an end only to realize they don't actually want it to be JUST a pretend situation anymore. So, as you can see, there are a lot of caveats in order for this storyline to be enjoyable for me, lol, there's so much at stake here I'm so stressed!!!!

And yet, weirdly, there’s also a part of me that’s glad they didn’t actually go there with them for real just yet? IDK it’s just... if they had, I would be really stressed out right now (what else is new lmao) fearing that the execution of an actual relationship between Ana and Mariana could fall short of what it could be. But now, whatever they do, it’s gonna be fake anyway, so there’s less pressure! LOL. And also, yeah, I’m one of those crazies who actually LIKE a good, drawn-out slow burn and sometimes find it more compelling than the actual relationship bits of a ship, so I don’t mind waiting a bit longer for the payoff (PROVIDED that the payoff does actually come, that’s the thing. Hence my anxiety). And also like... The show is gonna give me FAKE DATING???? Only THE most god-tier trope that is impossible to find in an f/f context??? How did I get so lucky???? So yeah, in spite of myself, there is a lot to be excited about for next season. And, as someone somewhere pointed out, it was Juan Carlos and Pablo the ones who wanted to use the “weird situation between Ana and Mariana” against them in an explicitly homophobic manner, so if Ana and Mariana want to fight back against such a ridiculous ploy to fight them for their kids, I’d say they’re entitled.

And there are a few tidbits that I did find reassuring: 1) Once again, THE FUCKING SONG that played over the kiss/announcement I mean??? All about how “you can try to fight it but you’ll eventually realize I am the one for you” and “when [love I guess?] hits you, it happens even if you try to get away” and basically being a Mexican version of Shania Twain’s “I’m Gonna Getcha Good” and I AM GOING INSANE like you wouldn’t score a pretend kissing scene that way if you didn’t want the audience’s takeaway to be that there’s something more than just pretend there, right? RIGHT??? 2) The fact that Ludwika and Paulina are posting Ana/Mariana manips and pictures of the infamous necklaces with romantic lyrics, etc., which speaks to there being a more serious undercurrent to this situation than just “LOL fake gay dating to stick it to our baby daddies who are being insufferable about custody battles.”

And while I’m overanalyzing, I’m very intrigued by Mariana’s uneasiness after Ana asks if she’s ready for the annoucement and before Mariana confirms that she is. I mean it can probably be explained away most obviously by Mariana not wanting her newfound “arrangement” with Ana to mess up her budding relationship with Ferrán (which is a valid point). But IDK I kinda want to think that there’s something deeper there that has more to do with Mariana being worried about all this bringing back all her feelings for Ana that she thought she was over, especially considering that, as far as she knows, Ana doesn’t feel the same way. So, in Mariana’s head, it would be like a Faking It-type situation where she’s having to fake a relationship with someone to whom the charade is just a means to an end, whereas for Mariana the feelings are very much real. This would be a much more interesting path to take so I hope there’s some of that in the subtext of Mariana’s actions next season.

So, all in all, this season played out pretty much exactly how I expected/hoped it would. I fully expected the show to take its time to bring Ana and Mariana back together just in a friendly capacity because that’s Storytelling 101, and I didn’t expect anything romantic to happen between them until at least the penultimate episode (that’s Telenovela 101). What I failed to foresee, lol, was that ending and the fact that the show wouldn’t go there with them just yet. I actually reasonably expected them to get them together for real in the season finale (I spoiled myself with a YT fanvid thumbnail of the kiss, so I thought it was for real and, by the time I’d watched the second-to-last episode, I figured it would be the final scene) and then season 3 would finally deal with them trying to navigate a relationship. Silly me! But by now, after a LOT of sleeping on it, I actually think this is a way better option?? Lots more potential for fun hijinks, which is the show’s trademark, plus maybe some romantic/UST moments between them as they’re trying to keep up the charade. I don’t actually mind that they won’t be in a relationship for real yet because this whole setup is enough for me (once again, PROVIDED that there’s real subtext there). Is it December (?) yet????

[literaphobe]

hi! i’d like to set some boundaries. as some of you might know, i’ve recently started streaming on twitch. if you weren’t aware, i plan to be a faceless streamer. meaning. i don’t want my followers knowing what i look like

i am well aware that i have selfies on here. and that i’ve shared a lot of private information on here. and that in the beginning, this tumblr was the means through which i promoted my twitch, and it was just something fun to do w my followers on here. that has now changed, because i realized i like streaming on twitch,, to stream on twitch. meaning random strangers on twitch find me through the algorithm, under game sections of which i play, and they know Nothing about this tumblr

so that creates this problem where some of you who are more regular viewers know about my tumblr and everything i discuss on here, whereas some other viewers from twitch (some of which are also regular viewers that are nice to me for the most part) don’t know anything

and it is. admittedly. scary. when u guys discuss very specific things about my blog, or reference my username (i have the word scrawnycatra blocked in chat because of this. i probably should’ve made this post sooner, and set these boundaries faster, so if you didn’t know any of this, i don’t blame you), or tell people that i have SELFIES on my blog that other people in chat immediately get curious about.

so here’s uh. the basics of what i don’t want. 1) my sexuality outed against my will. literally if ur in chat please don’t tell other people in chat that i’m gay/bi/a lesbian or something. i wish to keep my sexuality private on my twitch. i don’t think i need to explain why 2) do NOT share my blog with anyone in chat, do NOT tell them where they can find pictures of my face. if this persists i’ll actually have to wipe all pictures of me from this site which will be very. annoying. so please

it’s. taking me a lot of courage and thinking to even say any of this. there’s a lot of “rules” i’m uncertain about implementing, because i don’t want my streams to be unfun for you guys, i don’t wanna force you guys to stop talking about things you wanna talk about. most of all i’m scared some of you will leave and stop watching and i REALLY don’t want that but if i don’t get things off my chest they’ll only get worse

so like. there’s a pattern that’s been emerging. i don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong about talking about any tv show or piece of media in my chat. but the thing is when you guys talk about she-ra it leads to long drawn specific discussions that confuse other people in chat who are usually only talking about what’s happening on the stream or in the game that i’m playing. and they sometimes ask questions because they’re confused and in the whole process of this a few things tend to happen: 1) one of u outs me 2) one of you starts talking about my blog and the things that happen on it 3) the discussion takes over the chat n other people who were talking get confused and they stop talking

and like. when i really think about it i think i’m allowed to feel like...... strange. because. it’s like. i know none of you mean to do this and i don’t mean to make any of you feel bad because you really don’t have to. feel bad. but. it’s like how other streamers get upset when chat starts spamming about other ccs u know? basically, it hurts both the streamer and the chat flow if people start spamming about something unrelated to the stream. it doesn’t mean you HAVE to talk about things 100% related to the stream all the time, but like i said, it’s become a common thing for chat to get derailed by something that could very easily lead to things revealed about me that i don’t want to reveal, and also it alienates other people in chat who actually have stuff to say about my stream. and idk if it’s helpful to chat or hurting chat. i know you guys like talking about the things u wanna talk about. this thing being she-ra. but lets keep it here for the most part please!

uh.... that’s all i guess. kind of nervous to post this but I want to be honest with you guys about my needs. i hope to see u all in future streams where we can all have fun :) thank you for all the support you’ve given me so far. not to be a girl with dreams but i actually would love to make streaming a substantial part of my life :)

[sokkas1mp]

I gonna break in this acocunt with me being angry about something that doesn't really matter (very fitting for tumblr if you ask me), this article.

First: "And I’m sorry to open with this, but part of that is due to the age difference between them. Two years is hardly worlds apart (I’m personally working with four), but a 12-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl are. Especially the way these two are drawn. Not to be too voyeuristic about Y7 cartoons, but Katara has clearly gone through puberty, while Aang hasn’t. There is something just…off, about a sixth grade boy having a full on make-out sesh with a high school girl."

This argument is one of the most stupid ones if you ask me, because it blatantly ignores the culture we have been presented by the show. I can understand why people find this weird, but we have to try not to look at it as if its our society, because its not. In A:tla, specifically the water tribes, 16 is marrying age. Right there, our "age norms" (idk what else to call it) are very different. And there are no divisions between ages in their world like we have with middle and high school. To me, two people are fit to be together based on their maturity, not their age. That's why 45 & 40 is not the same as 15 & 10, or 20 & 15. This is the same for Kataang. They have very similar life experiences and matured together, literally side by side, so a two year ago gap is irrelevant.

Second: "...Katara took on a very maternal role with Aang. Sure, she’s a caretaker and sort of a “mom friend,” but it’s a bit more than that. She served as his literal guardian during the show’s run—there’s just no other way to look at it. By the third episode, she called herself his “family,” and later even went on to role play as his mother to get him out of trouble at school. Aang, meanwhile, was… Well, I wouldn’t say “immature” for his age, […] However, Katara is 14 going on 25, while Aang is just, Aang."

There's a compilation of Katara doing thing with Aang that if someone saw a mother doing with her son they would call it incest:

Katara definitely acts motherly towards Aang, but that is just her nature. She is more than just motherly with him. And some people like to call the check kisses familial (which is kinda weird imo), but we know Katara herself doesnt think that:

"Easy there, big brother" She pushes Sokka away. Not to mention, this was about a scene or two before she kisses Aang on the check.

Calling someone close to you your family does not mean you see them in the same way you see your parents/siblings. And Sokka played Aang's father in that scene, but we aren't sitting here using that as evidence to call him Aang's paternal figure.

Something Aang haters forget (or chose to ignore) is that being lighthearted and goofy does not equal immature. Yes, Aang does some juvenile things, but that shouldn't take away from his growth and maturity.

Third: "In fact, in the last season, Katara was shown to be uncomfortable each time Aang kisses her, and even went as far as to tell him to back off with the romantic stuff in the episode before the finale, because she was confused about how she felt. [*new paragraph*] Yet, in the end, she just trots up and blushes at Aang, than happily makes out with him when he goes for it,"

Katara initiated 2/4 of the kataang kisses (not including the check kisses). The kiss in The Cave of Two Lovers and the kiss in the finale. Yes, she's the one that "goes for it" in the finale (she also initiates the hug). She only pulls away once out of the 3 times we see a kiss end (this would be excluding the kiss in The Cave of Two Lovers). She wasn't confused about her feelings, she didn't want to have to worry about a relationship when they were nearing the end of the war.

Fourth: "The post-canon comics only furthered the lack of exploration of her feelings in this relationship"

Fifth: "[referencing a scene in The Promise in which Katara is jealous of a fanclub being around Aang] "I'm sorry, this amazing, adult communication is blowing me away"

The are both still teenagers, who have zero previous relationship experience. Also, Aang had no ill intentions and Katara recognized it.

Sixth: [refencing Katara's role in The Legend of Korra] "Did Katara want to do anything other than sit in a healing hut and be known for having Aang's kids?"

This is another argument that just pisses me off. You can not use Katara's lifestyle in her 80s (she is 85 in s1) as judgement for her adulthood. It's purely assumption based. Constantly this author assumes that because she is in a relationship with Aang, Katara would drop her whole personality. What? Katara would not and could not be forced to do something or conform to some label and Aang wouldn't let it get to that point either. He would squash any idea that she is just "The Avatar's wife" or "The mother of the Avatar's children" the minute he heard it.

Seven: [comparing Katara's reaction to Aang The Desert to Aang's reaction to Katara in The Southern Raiders] "You'll spend a long time looking for her condescending tones. "Anger won't help, Aang," Katara never said, because she got that he was processing something painful and needed to sort it out himself. This difference in behavior is something that would be really fitting for a twelve year old boy to learn and understand. There's just no indication that he ever did."

Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but I don't remember Aang being condescending towards Katara. He was offering his advice because he knew her and knew that she would regret doing what she thought was right when her judgement was clouded by anger. And guess what. He was right. He never forced anything on her, either. Sure, he was a bit more pushy than he could've been, but in the end he let her go on the trip with no complaints. He even agreed that this was something she had to do.

Eighth: [referencing The Ember Island Players] "When the actor says 'Wait! I thought you were the Avatar's girl', Aang agrees. Katara is his."

You know damn well Aang doesn't see Katara as just his. And she's give him PLENTY of reason to believe that his feelings are reciprocated (which they are).

Ninth: "It's the story of a woman who swallows everything lest the man she's interested in has to learn anything about his behavior that violates her boundaries."

Ha! You said she was interested in him.

But in all seriousness, you mentioned how Katara stood her ground and told Aang that she was confused, but apparently now she's swallowing her feeings.

Tenth: [talks about the cloud babies daddy issues]

I don't disagree with what is said here, for the most part, but I don't think it is a reflection on Aang and Katara's relationship.

Eleventh: "... given what what we got with Kataang, it's completely unsurprising that Aang and Katara's parenthood/adult life was defined by a lack of communication and availability, at least from what we can tell. This also puts Katara's choice to immediately moved to the South Pole once Aang died in perspective; perhaps the city he poured all his energy into, at the cost of his family, held some bitter memories."

Once again with the lack communication. We can't use the early years of their relationship to determine their whole relationship. Also, there wasn't consistently a lack of communication, you just pointed out one time and ran with it.

We don't know at what point Katara moved back to the South Pole, but there are plenty of reasons for Katara to leave Air Temple Island:

a) Her son moving in/or planning to move in with his family.

b) She was no longer needed in the city and thus had no need to stay.

c) She wanted to go back to her native home for comfort after the love of her life died at a relatively early age.

d) The next Avatar was discovered and she came home to train them.

That's all. Thank you for reading my unnecessary rant if you made it this far, and I just want to close out with a few things:

- There were some things in the article that I did not include for the fear of this becoming a novel of me repeating myself.

- I agree with most thing said in the final segment of the the article. Most, not all.

- I appreciate the author for not trying to shove Zutara in just because Kataang wasn't there. That is becoming increasingly uncommon, so it was nice to see.