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unknownuser19970330 · 2 years

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Women talking/女人们的谈话：Rant

I love movies that are subtle in their storytelling and this movie is most definitely one of those, Power of the dog and Tar have been my favorites for their ability to illustrate someone’s past story or even emotional experience through visuals, dialogue, and extremely subtle acting. Women talking achieved it astoundingly through its illustration of sexual assault. Statistically, men writers often like to portray sexual assault of women as accurately as possible ( or not exactly accurate even depending on your pov open to debate), regardless of what their intention is (good or bad), sometimes it provokes more fear, numbing emotions, or even fetishization if you really want to argue it. I would give these creators benefits of doubt and say that their goals are to create empathy and a sense of understanding, but this movie was able to achieve so without the gruesome process and visual scenes, with the use of score, incredible acting, and cinematography the movie tells you how traumatizing and how emotionally impactful sexual assaults are, while being extremely respectful.

The movie's commentary on the impact of patriarchy has on men’s emotional experience. That scene with Claire Foy and Ben Whishaw, first of all fucking incredible on the use of subtleness, when Claire foy asked ben’s character on why he has a gun, Ben’s acting and change of facial expression immediately allows you to know that he probably has the gun so he can kill himself and that one scene illustrates patriarchy’s negative impact on men so accurately and perfectly and so incredibly emotionally (that scene ruined my fucking eye makeup), the focus on masculinity in patriarchy deprives of men on different expression of gender, and deprive them of emotional connections and expression of emotions, and emotions are basic human instincts, how do you view a society format that deprives a gender of emotional expression? And I just love how that scene also reflects that men’s suicide rate is higher than women, even tho women have higher rate of depression.

I am fascinated by how they have divided the women into three groups: stay and fight, leave, and stay but do nothing. This separation shows how women are affected very different under patriarchy, and this not only applies to gender inequality, but racial inequality as well. When an individual is oppressed by an overarching system, every individual is affected very differently (for example, asian people are probably affected very differently from black people). Being mindful that this movie has a religion component, and I lack experience in understanding this part as I am atheist, I would like to write down my opinions on how it reflects women within patriarchy. Women within a patriarchal society can be split into the three groups: stay and fight can be associated to the "angry feminists" aka "女拳" within the context of Chinese society, these women are not necessarily dismantling the current patriarchy through a systematic manner, but rather they express their anger and frustration towards the patriarchal system without necessarily with a goal in mind. Stay and stay silent can be viewed as the women that has adopted internalized misogyny, 一个社会里融入并且identify with 男性社会下的女性规则的女性，例子包括 “绿茶婊”，“汉子婊”，“娇妻". I personally think that the group of women that choose to leave can be viewed very differently depending on one's view on feminism and perspective and experience, but in my personal opinion, I view women that choose to leave to be the women that are attempting to reform and actively dismantle the patriarchal system systematically. These women appear to be leaving because they are leaving the rules and the power that led to the establishment of the institution.

Rooney Mara's character has one piece of dialogue in discussing forgiveness within the patriarchal system. She said something along the line of "maybe we will learn things that will allow us to learn to forgive". I see this action in so many ways, and in the life of my clients. Sometimes, we learn our behavioral and thought pattern through leaving a relationship and process the relationship. By achieving so, we learn to adopt new ways of interacting with the world. Similarly, when we leave patriarchy, we are able to "leave" our immediate emotional reactions or autopilot behavior in response to patriarchal system. Only by doing so, we are able to learn about patriarchy through a third person view, and learn to dismantle it, or to forgive it through the understanding that men can also be victims of patriarchy. Through a combination of factors, maybe eventually women are able to forgive. However, this movie also emphasizes that forgiveness does not mean that they did not make a mistake. I think to this society and to a lot of people, forgiveness means to forget, or to mean that acknowledging that another person did not make a mistake. That is not true, men most definitely have made mistakes, and that women are able to forgive men, but it does not take away the fact that they made mistakes and have caused oppression to women.

The movie also explores the harm inflicted from women to women within a patriarchal system, specifically characterized by the scene of Jessie Buckley's character telling Mejal that "why are you special" when she has a panic attack (PTSD symptom) in response to the nightfall, which has been associated with her sexual assault. This reminds me of how mother and daughter often have such different relationship from mother and son, mother and daughter often hate each other while mother son love each other. Mother and daughter relationship are different because mother went through the same trauma but they managed to cope through them, and now they invalidate daughters' struggle without realizing that everyone has different biological vulnerability. Just because something does not hurt you the same way that it did to you, does not mean that they are not hurting right now. Similarly, Greta used to tell her daughter (Jessie Buckley's character) that she should stay in the abusive relationship, forgive that abusive husband one time after another. This type of "violence" continues to be inflicted on women, maybe less in Western society now, but it is still very much present within Chinese society. 例如当女儿的丈夫出轨了，母亲会说 “他只是犯下了所有男人可能会犯下的错误”，但是说这句话的母亲有错吗？可能有，但她的丈夫同样也是女儿的父亲，当初也出过轨啊。若女儿离开了丈夫，那这会给这位母亲带来什么样子的心理影响呢？

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volfoss · 3 years

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How about Jobin, Daiya, and Fiore?

hiiii bestie i regret to inform you i have a ton of notes on daiya and a shit load of mentally ill moments for jobin so i am SORRY in advance like genuinely i hope it wont get long sdjfsfs

Jobin:

do I like them: yes hes my malewife my boytoy my girlfriend etc also a pitiful freak i love himmmmmm

5 good qualities:

1. genuinely how he cares abt his family he just is sucky at showing it.... ough the family dynamics in part 8 sobs and shakes at a violent pace

2. hes just like a freak (affectionate ofc i love him)

3. constantly like woahhhhh summer time i have no problems and its funny

4. OH MY GOD his uhhhhh his weird hoodie thing i love it.... hes tummy out like most of the time its so good

5. OH OH AND YEAH HIS SHRIMP POSTURE i love that his posture sucks its the representation i want in jojo :)

3 bad qualities:

1. doesnt give mitsuba (or tsurugi tbh) a ton of attention until later on

2. YEAH OK WAIT YEAH his uhhh his golden lambo... literally such a rich kid

3. his past oughhhh i dont wanna think about it

favourite episode/etc: wow beetle arc... but like genuinely its fun i love picking into his little brain and being deranged during it. its also just a fun fight. love to see him being a bit fucked up its funny

otp: uhhh him and mitsuba!! i love them theyre kinda fucked i love itttttt like she serves cunt and hes horrible <3

brotp: uhhh wait yeah yeah him and norisuke... i like how theyre just kinda buddies as well as being father son yk? i think its fun <3

ot3: none yet :)

notp: uh idk any minor w him hes like 30 smth idk his exact age off the top of my head but its gross

best quote: i rly like when he has his little poetry quoting moments and gets SOOOO mad that joshu doesnt finish the poetry its funny... hes so fucked up and funny

head canon: boils his own beetles <3 and finds the process rly relaxing, like he pins them himself and just is like yeah what a way to wind down after a long day of work. also oh my god hes nonbinary as fuck to me.

Daiya:

do I like them: YES MY BESTIE MY BEST FRIEND IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

5 good qualities:

1. her outfits omg!! she has such a fun sense of fashion and i love all her little teddy bear hats (she changes them for each outfit!!)

2. she loves prog rock and her little albums in her room are such a cool touch... she has good taste :)

3.OH MY GOD YEAH HOW SHES SO CHEERFUL i think shes just such a good character and shes just like such a nice presence to have around

4. i rly rly like how she and josuke r tbh!! shes just really nice to him and he respects her and their friendship is rly nice :)

5. OMG OMG HOW COULD I FORGET!!! i love how affectionate she is!! shes just like idk a rly bubbly person a lot of the time and just rly good... daiya my bestie!!

3 bad qualities:

1. HOW ARAKI WROTE HERRRR but like the entirety of her first arc was so shitty and it is such an uncomfortable thing to read

2. she didnt get enough screentime </3

3. how araki drew her </3 but like for her actual character no flaws bc i can fix her shitty writing <3

favourite episode/etc: uhhhh honestly none bc they rly kinda treat her bad but when she reunites w her mom its good :)

otp: none shes 16

brotp: HER AND JOSHU ACTUALLY... w them both being young they kinda bond over getting ignored by the rest of their family and i think its cool for like bestie time even tho they dont talk a lot.

ot3: also none!

notp: her and gappy.... guh

best quote: the quote somewhat early on in her first arc about memories and how thats how youre happy in life is by making memories w people you love. genuinely one of my fave jojo quotes of all time <3

head canon: its like established she rly likes bikes... i think she rides her bike to school and listens to music on the way there :)

Fiore:

do I like them: yeah! i feel yk hes my oc i have to but hes like not my fave oc ig? i think it was just bad timing when i got hyperfixated on part 4 then 8 because i havent been able to give him as much attention ig?

5 good qualities:

1. has literally a million hobbies like... no need for it but he sure does anyways

2. he literally powders his hair to hide the stupid little toothpaste dyejob at work

3. GOLDFISH MEMORY TOO OMG like worst memory and his home is coverd in sticky notes to TRY and remember shit (it doesnt work)

4. is like the MOST competitive in the kitchen but is like at most mediocre in the kitchen

5. lies about his top surgery scars being from a bear attack to anyone who asks but changes the circumstances each time just for fun

3 bad qualities:

1. his toothpaste hair... there was noooo need for him to dye it that way but he did

2. does NOT warn people about movies before watching (ask anyone who he asked to watch Cube with him <3)

3. a lil bit overbearing at times

favourite episode/etc: ignoring bc yk, oc!

otp: him n melone!

brotp: uhhh him and em sand-worms oc agnolotti for sure!! theyre friends :)

ot3: none rly! i dont think fiore would wanna be in a poly relationship

notp: uhh idk anyone thats in the rest of LS??

best quote: ive literally never written any dialogue for them sorry </3

head canon: is not allowed to drive due to a near car accident but enjoys being on the back of a motorcycle :)

#asks

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k7l4d4 · 3 years

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Midnight Striga: Fairy Tail/Owl House Cross Fic Episode 5 Part 10

Hello, and once again, I welcome you to Midnight Striga. Please, enjoy.

Perry Porter strode into the Covention Center, eyes easily panning across and compartmentalizing the tragic sights around him, a skill he picked up by virtue of sheer experience. Clinically, he noted the amount of bodies present, living and dead, as well as the brow-raising sight of what could only be human corpses, if the ears were any indicator. He felt a sinking sensation within his stomach; whatever had occurred today would rock the Isles to its core, of that he had no doubt.

Shaking his head, Perry scanned the crowd again, eyes widening at the sight of a hand waving him over. Rushing over, he slid to a stop in front of his son, Augustus; his silly, energetic, passionate, brilliant son, Augustus, alive and well. “This is Perry Porter, on the scene saying,” He started, before pulling Gus into a hug. “I am so happy you’re alright.” He sighed, relieved, feeling Gus relax into his grip.

“I-I am really glad you got here so quickly dad.” Gus choked out, a light sprinkling of tears in his eyes. “A lot’s happened, and I really, really want to talk with you about it, but something more important came up, and I think you can help out, you know?” He put on his bravest smile, trying to hold in the scream that was building ever since he had managed to process that yes, everything that had happened to today was all but over.

“I really think it would be best that I try and talk with you about what happened here,” Perry began, before noticing the stubborn expression on his son’s face, “But I can see that you won’t budge on this. So, shall we?” He calmly asked, gesturing for his son to lead the way, which he did with a beaming smile.

As they walked through the clinic, Perry idly noted the general behaviors of the people around him; there was his son’s friend, Willow Park, tearfully talking with her parents, a relieved smile on her face. There were the Blight Children, the two eldest tightly squeezing themselves around their younger sister, a baffled look on her face. He saw the crowds of crying, pleading, nervous faces all around. As his son led him into a backroom of the small clinic that had been established, Perry came face to face with three figures; the Emperor’s Coven Head Lilith Clawthorne, Eda the Owl Lady, and a human girl, all seated around a central table, gesturing for him to sit. As his son quickly saw himself out of the room, Perry had the sinking suspicion he was in a bit over his head.

After they explained the situation, as much as they could at least, Perry took a deep breath, holding in a sigh. They wanted his help to spread this information, which he could see the basis behind it- a group that invested this much effort into an attack wasn’t going to just stop and people needed to know about them- but the sheer depth of this reveal would completely change the social landscape of Bonesburough. “Very well, I agree to help with this. Do you have a plan for how we go about this?” He asked Lilith, who seemed to be trying a bit too hard to hold authority over this meeting, despite the lack of resistance from the other two.

Lilith nodded. “We have two real options at this point.” She said, holding up two fingers for emphasis. “We can either do multiple takes and present them later, or we can have this meeting broadcast live as breaking news.” She ticked off the options on her fingers, a grave look of contemplation upon her face. Lilith pursed her lips. “Personally, I favor the second option.”

That caught the group by surprise. “Huh, I honestly thought you’d prefer to get this all perfect and have it presented later.” Eda commented, arching a brow.

Lilith snorted. “Please, sister, give me some credit. The longer we go without addressing this, the more severe public unrest and hysteria will become. While the release of this information will certainly have its own consequences, those are still preferable to the people being left in the dark, and drawing more unsavory conclusions.” Lilith calmly stated, gaining impressed looks from the others.

Perry calmly assembled the equipment he would need, adding in his own take on the situation. “While an official report would normally be prepared by the Emperor’s Coven,” He carefully ignored Eda’s derisive snort, “that would be contingent on them possessing factual information to present. Without it, anything they provided would be woefully inadequate for informing the people. While a Live Report of this interview will most certainly cause a stir, it will ultimately be a mere fraction of what would result if the Emperor’s Coven issued a report that ultimately proved to be false in some capacity.” The group blinked, but, after mulling it over, agreed with what he said; it made sense, if people placed trust in an organization and it failed them, whether as a result of malice or otherwise, there would be backlash.

Perry clapped his hands. “So! Let’s begin, shall we?” They all shared a look, and nodded.

As they gathered around the table, Lilith leaned forward. “Now then, human, it’s time for you to answer my questions. The People of the Isles are dying to hear what you have to say.”

Luz gave a challenging grin. “Ask away. I’m all ears.”

Taking that as his cue, Perry started up the broadcast. Turning the camera to himself, he began, voice grave. “To all the citizens of the Boiling Isles, this is Breaking News, Live from the Covention. I am Perry Porter, reporting on behalf of Emperor’s Coven Head Lilith Clawthorne.” He paused, allowing the prepared footage to play across the crystal balls of all watching; the broken walls and shattered stands, the caged prisoners held under guard, and the bodies of all those who’d died, some gathered together for examination, others… not so much. He continued. “Today, tragedy has struck. For the first time since Emperor Belos’ ascendancy, an organized attack on our people has been committed. Of the over 2000 attendees, approximately half have been slain, and a third of the remainder have sustained moderate to severe injuries. Many of them were children. Of the 300 Coven Guards assigned to the Covention, over half of them have died, with all but a quarter sporting severe injuries.”

“What is most shocking, however, is that those claiming responsibility, a group known as the Black Dog Squadron, working on behalf of a group or individual known as Oroboros, are humans. That’s right, humans!!” Perry exclaimed, milking the drama a bit more than he liked, but needing to keep the audience invested; tragedy could only captivate for so long. “During the attack, all displayed some form of magic, but none, bar a handful who commanded Plant Magic, utilized any of the Nine Magics. How is this possible? Why did this happen? What will we, as a society, do next? To help answer these questions, Lilith Clawthorne has initiated an interview with a human who fought on behalf of our people, one Luz Noceda.” He knew that the girl’s image was now emblazoned across every crystal ball on the Isles at this very moment, leading further weight to his broadcast, in theory at least. “I am here with Coven Head Lilith herself,” He indicated the prominent Witch, who raised her hand to the audience. “To broadcast the interview to you all. Please be advised, some of what may be discussed may be shocking to some viewers.” With his part finished for the moment, Perry fell silent, allowing the broadcast to focus on the interview, more of an interrogation really, going on in the room.

“To ensure that what you say is true,” Lilith began, cutting right to the chase. “I must insist that you swear an Unbreakable Vow to that effect. This way, none can claim you are attempting to deceive us. Is that acceptable?” She asked, holding her hand out to begin forming the spell.

Luz raised an eyebrow, but saw no problem with the spell. She shrugged. “Sounds fine to me.” She said bluntly, prompting a nod from Lilith as she formed the spell. When the circle was completed, the two shook hands through it, sealing the oath. Luz was blissfully unaware of the shock rippling through the Isles, as now none would be able to refute or deny her words without looking insane or foolish. She had effectively solidified her legitimacy irrefutably in a single instant.

“Excellent.” Lilith replied, a grim smile playing across her face. She began. “First of all, I must ask, for how long have humans been capable of magic?”

Luz gave a shrug. “I can’t give you an exact figure, but at least 700 years, most likely more.” She said, unaware and uncaring of the shock that erupted at her statement. Even Lilith wasn’t totally immune, managing to school her features, expertly concealing the bewildered shock at the girl’s reply.

Lilith cleared her throat, forcing her instinctive urge to dive into the historical implications of that statement. As calmly as she could, she continued. “I see. How is magic utilized in Human Society?”

Luz tilted her head a bit. “You’re gonna have to be a bit more specific than that. There are a lot of Human Societies, all of whom have magic capable individuals, and all have their own ways of doing things. A benefit of being the dominant species in our world, is that we can afford to divide ourselves into a LOT of individual cultures and communities.”

Lilith paled at that, unable to stop the question that bubbled up in response. “Just… how many humans are in existence, exactly?”

Luz pondered that for a moment before replying. “I can’t give you an exact number, but I’d say there’s about several hundred million of us. Our world is big, and there are very few places we can’t survive on it.”

Internally shaking her head, and forcing herself not to focus on all the implications that came to mind, Lilith continued with her questions. “What is this Oroboros that the attackers claimed to be working for?”

Luz’s eyes sharpened, a burning hate filling her eyes, enough that even those watching at home suddenly felt very unsafe at the moment. “Oroboros is a criminal organization; specifically, they are the single largest Dark Guild active in the world right now. Oroboros prides itself on its ability to seize control and orchestrate things to its own benefit, without any regard for the harm and chaos that erupts in their wake. Cruelty and brutality are prized and cultivated among their members, almost as much as magical power is. No crime is too heinous, no line too sacred for them to cross.” She hissed out, the pure malicious hate coloring her tone forcing Lilith to gulp in nervousness.

“I see.” And Lilith did see. She had personally borne witness to the aftermath of that cruelty and indifference; however, Luz’s response brought another question to mind, one she felt she needed an answer to. She narrowed her eyes. “Edalyn told me you would be an excellent source of information for this. So far, you have proven to be so, even if my questions have not been exacting enough to gain satisfactory answers as of yet. But that response of yours has me thinking. How do you know about Oroboros, Miss Noceda?” Lilith inquired, eyes focused.

Luz raised an eyebrow, stood up, and turned around. After ensuring her back was presented to the broadcast, she reached back, and pulled down at the back of her outfit. Seared into her flesh lay a symbol, a serpent arranged into a Sideways eight, biting its own tail. “I used to be a member.” Luz said, voice dead and hollow. She turned a heartbreakingly sad smile towards Lilith. “Specifically, I was a member under protest.”

“Elaborate.” Lilith ordered, voice hard and unrelenting. She could feel the urge to bring out her staff and blast this child into oblivion, but tamped it down. She didn’t have all the information yet.

Luz gave a chuckle, bitter and full of the kind of spite that made people glad for what they had. “Oroboros has no limits to what they are willing to do, and that extends to what lengths they are willing to go to for recruits. Whenever someone with a useful skill or magic appears in their information network, they send out recruiters. For those with a few too many morals, such as myself, they like to employ a more… decisive argument.” She turned an empty smile upwards, oblivious to the daggers Lilith was glaring her way. “Oroboros kidnapped my sister, and used her as a hostage to keep me in line.” Lilith froze, unblinking.

Luz continued, oblivious. “Whenever I talked back, Vee was beaten. Whenever I failed an assignment, she had a bone broken. Whenever I completed a job, she got a good meal, after having been starved and deprived of water to just short of death that is.” She smirked, an angry, tired thing. “I hated myself. I wanted to die. I only kept living for her. And then she died; one of her guards decided they wanted to have a little fun with her, and the next anyone knew, the guard was dead, and my sister had a knife in her liver. I was free in the worst way possible.”

Stunned silence rang throughout the Isles, such that even Lilith herself was rendered speechless. Forcing herself to speak, Lilith asked the next question on her mind, one she felt the Isles would wish to know. “Should we consider this an act of War from the Human Realm?”

Luz blinked. Then, she laughed; a deep, cackling laugh filled with so much loathing and misery it was genuinely astonishing a living being could make such a sound. “No. Or at least, not the way you’re thinking. Oroboros is in no way affiliated with any form of Government or Ruling power. It’s a criminal organization that supports itself alone.” She gave a poisonous smile. “While I have no way of knowing if any Human Governments know about the Isles, I can assure you that none of them were involved in this.”

“Well, that’s something good at least.” Lilith said dryly. “What can you tell us about Oroboros in regards to how it is structured?”

Luz leaned back, gathering her memories on the subject. “Oroboros originally began as a Dark Guild that took jobs that other Dark Guilds shied away from, stuff that was extremely messed up and depraved in what was involved to go about them. When the big three Dark Guilds were dismantled, Oroboros clawed its way to the top of the heap after all the infighting died down. After that, they started breaking down and assimilating other Dark Guilds that they thought might be useful. You actually met one of them out there.” Luz offhandedly mentioned.

“Truly?” Lilith broached.

“Yup.” Luz nodded. “Before they became the Black Dog Squadron, the Squad was originally a guild in its own right, Barghast. Barghast was a mercenary guild at first, selling the services of its members as soldiers and fighters to the highest bidder, with an emphasis on fighting in wars. But when the local groups started fighting less, Barghast decided it would be better to start the wars they fought, and sell their services to both sides to keep the conflict going longer.” Luz smiled at that. It was not a nice smile. “When their little scheme came to light, they were branded a Dark Guild and went on the run, before being absorbed into Oroboros.”

Luz leaned forward. “Oroboros likes to present itself as one big unit, and while it can act like one in the field, Oroboros is full of splintered factions and units. The Black Dog Squadron is one of the neutral factions, actually; they don’t care which faction is using them, just as long as they can cause as much suffering and bloodshed as possible. I was an unaligned member, mostly because none of the Squadrons trusted a conscript like me not to stab them in the back, so I didn’t really work with any of the Factions or Squads outside of being paired with them for missions. My jobs were assassinations, thefts, and… less savory things.” Luz admitted, eyes downcast. Tears pooled in her eyes, dripping onto the table.

Lilith pursed her lips, feeling unwilling to judge the girl for compromising herself in the name of her loved ones; if anything, she was impressed the girl had the sense of self not to justify the atrocities she had done as anything other than what they were, a means of sparing the life of her loved one at the expense of others, and felt remorse over having done so. Still, she had two pressing questions to ask. “I must ask, you keep referencing Oroboros as a Dark Guild. Just what is a Guild?”

Luz slumped, feeling spent from the roller-coaster of loathing that always came when she thought about… all she had done. “Guilds are the Human Version of your Coven System, if far less restrictive. I won’t go too far into it, that would take way too much time, but Dark Guilds are essentially guilds that flout the laws that govern what Guilds can and cannot do, and actively have their members engage in crimes. If I had to give a close equivalent, Dark Guilds are basically for us what an Assassin Coven or Thief Coven would be for you. An organized effort to commit crime with little to no regard for who would be hurt as a result.”

Lilith felt a chill run up her spine at the thought. The idea of the Coven System being twisted like that, perverted into a warped, criminal mirror of itself, made her shudder; the implications of what such a thing could do, producing criminals whose magic was specialized to enabling criminal acts… it was a horrifying thought. Lilith swallowed, before jumping into her last question. “I thank you for agreeing to this; some of what you’ve revealed could not have been easy for you. But… I must ask you this; can we count on you to aid us against Oroboros?” She peered forth, unknowingly mimicking the apprehension of many of the citizens watching.

Luz gave her a smoldering glare. “You don’t have anything to worry about. I’ve already seen enough misery because of Oroboros. I won’t let them do as they please anymore, not while I can do something about it.” Luz paused, a thought coming to mind. “Huh, this reminds me of something my teacher said while I was training.”

Lilith raised any eyebrow. “Oh?”

Luz gave Lilith a soft, tired smile. “Yeah.” She reached up, rolling back her sleeve; Lilith recoiled at the sight. From her elbow to her shoulder, Luz’s arm was a maze of scar tissue, deep gouges and rents woven through the veil of poorly healed flesh; the fact she could use her arm without issue was awe-inspiring, when one considered the pain she must feel every day from such an injury. “I got this when I first tried using my Magic in a combat situation. I was fighting a monster that was bothering some of the fields near the village I was staying at during my training. I had barely been training for a week, having only just barely made a proper spell for the first time less than a day ago. The monster dashed me against a cliff, driving my arm so deep against the stone that it started scraping bone. If my teacher hadn’t intervened, it would’ve eaten me.” She turned to Lilith, sober eyes burning with shame. “I was an idiot. My teacher made sure I remembered that. What they said to me that day, I’ll never forget.” Luz leaned back, before reciting something with the air of quotation. “‘Magic is an unreasonable force. It is wondrous and horrific. It cares nothing for good or evil, or the intentions of those who use it. If you wish to put your skills to such a task as fighting for truth and justice, grow strong. Otherwise, you’ll never be anything more than prey for those with less moral compunctions than you.’” Luz gazed fondly at the ceiling, tears pooling at the memory. “Ever since that day, I swore I would never let myself be too weak to stand up for myself, or what I believe in. I would be strong enough that I could protect others, but also to protect myself.” She gave a chuckle. “Things didn’t work out too well for that promise.”

Lilith just looked on with pity, before turning to Perry. “I think that would be a good point to end the interview. At least for today.”

“Indeed.” Perry nodded. “Well then, you heard it here first, Citizens.-”

“What are you doing?” Lilith queried.

Perry blinked. “I’m… ending the broadcast.”

Lilith shook her head. “Not yet. I still have one thing left to do.” She beckoned her sister forth, who had been silently looking on as the interview went on. Eda’s mind was brimming with questions for Luz, but she was willing to put it aside for when they got back home. For now, she had her sister to deal with. Lilith gazed upon her sister, an unreadable look in her eye. “Earlier, when you defeated me in a Witch’s Duel, your request for your win was that I would tell the truth about your curse to the public, dispelling the official story. We even swore an unbreakable vow over it.” She held up her arm for emphasis, her arm flashing with a white ring. An ominous smile graced her features. “Well, I do believe a live broadcast all across the Isles is certainly public, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yeah, it is. And I’m glad you’re not putting it off, I am! But… are you feeling okay sis? You seem a little out of it.” Eda asked, genuine concern coloring her voice. The hysterical laugh Lilith gave just added to that concern.

“Oh Edalyn, if you only knew.” She said, wiping away a tear from her outburst, before sobering. “But then, I suppose you will in a moment.” Turning to the broadcast, Lilith braced herself, fully willing to bear the backlash her actions would cause against herself and the Coven from this. “Citizens of the Isles, I, Coven Head Lilith Clawthorne, stand before you to reveal a bitter truth. For years, the story of the Owl Lady has been told, how her defiance and dismissal of the Coven System was punished by the Titan. That story… it is a lie.” She bluntly stated, almost feeling the gasps rippling through the Isles. “The Emperor’s Coven itself has no knowledge of how Edalyn was cursed, but it was most certainly no work of the Titan, or its will.” A mysterious smile, almost beatific were it not so filled with pain, crossed her features. “The one responsible for Eda Clawthorne’s curse was a witch. Specifically… the one responsible was myself.” Lilith felt more than saw Eda freeze up beside her. She could see it now on Perry’s own face, the look of horror, accusation, dumbfounded shock.

Lilith turned to Eda, feeling an almost spiteful glee at the look of horror, denial, and hurt that crossed her features. “Y-your lying, Lily. You-” Eda stuttered (Edalyn stuttered!), denial and shock filling her voice. Lilith slowly stroked Eda’s cheek, an almost tender gesture.

“Edalyn, we both know that, for all your hatred of the rules and authority, you are far smarter than this. You know I can’t be lying.” Lilith said, just barely loud enough for the broadcast to pick up. “Think about it, you’ve surely pieced it together after all this time. Who else could’ve gotten into your room to curse you? Who else would’ve had reason to curse you?” Eda shook her head, denial still burned across her features, backing away from Lilith.

“Why?” Eda hissed out, forcing it through the denial. “Why would you do this!? To me!? TO YOUR FAMILY!?!?” She screamed, hurt and rage finally making themselves known in full.

Lilith chuckled, the same bitter, empty laugh Luz herself had used previously when discussing her failings. “Because you were going to win, dear sister!” Lilith cried, almost relishing the horror on Eda’s face, were it not for how sick she felt at it all. “We were set to fight for a place in the Emperor’s Coven, and you would win!! I knew you would!! You were the prodigy, the gifted genius that everything came so easily to when you bothered to try, the powerhouse who could already level buildings at the age of TWELVE!!!” Lilith felt the tears coming, the bitter, hot tears of her own weakness surging forth. “I was the one who wanted to serve the Isles, I was the one who wanted to help people!!!! You only cared about joining the Coven so you wouldn’t have to give up any magic! So why should I have given up my dream, my future, for you!?”

“I ONLY WANTED TO BE PART OF THE COVEN TO SUPPORT YOU!!!” Eda cried, her own angry, hurt-filled tears flowing. “All I wanted was to support you, to give you the future you deserved!!” She shook her head, anger and shame filling her heart.

“I KNOW!!” Lilith shrieked. “I Knew it then, and I know it now!!” The tears were like waterfalls now, bitter pain coating her every word. “But I couldn’t accept it, the idea that you, someone who so effortlessly and deliberately flouted the rules, would have what I wanted, what I dreamed of! How could I have known that you would forfeit, how could anyone!? A position in the most prestigious and influential of covens, and you throwing it away for me!?” She shook her head. “No. I didn’t believe you could be that selfless.”

Eda gave a bitter snort. “And I didn’t believe you could be that selfish. I guess we were both surprised.” Not staying to hear another word, Eda grabbed Luz, who wordlessly followed her, and stormed off. Luz shot Lilith a look of empty disappointment. It was exactly what Lilith deserved.

Lilith turned to the still running broadcast, a blank smile on her face. “And you’ve heard it here first, folks.” Lilith mockingly imitated the standard reporter line. “The Enforcer of the Emperor’s Will is a cheat, scum who would betray her own family, and a fraud. What a shocking revelation, is it not?” She wandered off, tears still streaming. Perry wordlessly cut the broadcast. He suddenly felt the need to give his son the biggest hug of all time.

All across the Isles, people were reacting to the horrifying news. Some focusing on some parts over others, of course, but none could deny that the Special Report was on everyone’s minds.

“This is unacceptable!!” Kikimora cried, frantically pacing in front of the Emperor’s Throne, heedless of her standard deference. “How could Coven Head Clawthorne reveal such sensitive information through a broadcast of all things!? Your Highness, this mutiny cannot stand!!” Normally, Kikimora would never be so blatant and emotional in front of her lord, but she felt now, of all times, was the best moment to voice her worries.

“Hmm… it seems I must adjust some of my plans.” Belos murmured. While Lilith publicly revealing the secret she so fervently guarded was certainly a surprise, if anything the revelation of her obsession should make her even more fervent in her future attempts to apprehend her sister. The revelations of Human Realm Magic now infesting his realm… oh he would definitely need to broach this carefully, but his ultimate goal remained unchanged. Wild Magic would be PURGED from the Titan, that was non-negotiable. But the revelation of Human Magic would certainly prove a useful tool for later…

“My lord!?” Kikimora frantically pleaded.

Hunter contemplated the revelations he had just witnessed. Humans were capable of magic, something deemed impossible. If it was possible for them… could it prove possible for himself? Something to think about for later. Right now, he had to attend to his Emperor. He owed the man everything, and this did not change that fact. He would probably have to keep a closer eye on Lilith though,

Alador calmly adjusted the latest adaptation to the Abomiton project, carefully tuning out his wife’s frantic screams and rage. She would burn herself down, if not out, in a little while, and then he would intercede. For the moment, he needed to properly calibrate the Coiled Composition System, truly a marvel really; if it worked properly, even the lowest quality of Abomitons would be a force to be reckoned with.

Odalia slammed herself down across from Alador with a huff, blistering rage burning in her eyes. “Well, at least now we know who our mysterious clients are.” She bit out, forcing herself to calm down with a cup of tea. Alador merely raised an eyebrow. He would see what she said in full, before replying. Odalia chuckled, a nasty, angry sounding thing. “It truly makes sense, you know. Such mysterious customers, wanting such a variety of goods and supplies! And they turned out to be murderous criminals. Fitting.”

“Will we stop supplying them, then?” Alador faux-absentmindedly asked. He had a feeling as to what she would say, but it was still imperative he hear it in truth first.

Odalia snorted. “No. We’ll keep selling to them. We’ll just covertly sabotage the goods we grant them, and use our dealings to pump them for information. Once we’ve gained everything we can, we use the resources we’ve acquired in our dealings to crush them.” Her eyes sharpened. “They endangered our children. Our FAMILY. They will not be allowed to survive for this offense.” Alador gravely nodded. Oroboros had made a crucial mistake already. They’d tried to challenge the Blight family, and harm their children. There would be a reckoning for this sin, of that neither Blight had any doubts.

Raine Whispers was conflicted. On the one hand, they now knew who had cursed Eda, and their heart went out to their old flame about what she must be going through. On the other, more clinically minded hand, the revelation that Humans could wield magic was in itself a massive blow to Belos’ authority, particularly in regards to his edicts on magic and the Titan. It was certainly something to explore for the future. For the moment, they had to get to their meeting. If all went well, they would finally, finally have prospective members willing to step out of the shadows with them. To be honest, that Katya girl had seemed almost too eager to join up, but they would at least give her a chance to step back and explain before making… hasty judgments.

Eda slammed the bottle of Appleblood back, her tears pouring down as fast as the heavy beverage went down her throat. It still hurt. Luz cuddled up to her, lending a comforting presence, King sitting on her lap. Words could wait. The three of them had enough pain to work through. Eda allowed a small smile to cross her features. At least they had each other to share the burden.

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brawltogethernow · 4 years

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hey i just saw that urban fantasy thing with jaegars and i really liked it i hope you have a good day

Instead of trying to convey how direct messages like this turn me into some kind of rainbow good vibes explosion reaction gif and cause me to do cringey pleased wiggle dances, I’m just going to use this ask to post another word doodle set in the same universe. Part..3 of 4 except 2 doesn’t exist yet, or something.

- -

Gil didn’t get the texts immediately, because smartphones reacted to areas where magic was really dense about the same way they did to extreme temperatures. And to follow that metaphor he’d been out in below freezing weather all day. Fighting...polar bears?

Okay, maybe that comparison had outlived its usefulness.

Anyway by the time his phone turned back on, they were already a few hours old.

hey, they read.

baby bro.

so i’m not HUNDO P sure, obvs

but i THINK there was a monster in my laundry closet?

my roommate and i murdered it for great justice, tho, or something. again, not sure. thought you’d want to come check it out either way

so come tell me if my dryer is haunted and i’ll make you chai

Weird. Gil worried his boba straw with his teeth.

I know how to make my own chai, he typed. This was the only name the spiced milky tea recipe their mother had made up to give baby Zeetha had.

ya but u think mine is better! don’t lie i know it

Zeetha’s was, on some ephemeral level, better. Gil maintained that this was an objective fact, and also deeply unfair. He actually paid attention to ingredient measurements when he made things. Zeetha cooked with her feelings. It should not matter that she had grown up with their mom, actually watching her throw her handful of pet recipes together, if he was exactly duplicating the preparation process!

Sure thing, LITTLE SIS, he sent, spitefully.

They did not actually know who was older. It was a point of contention.

Gil’s stupid-sharp teeth split the thick plastic. He gagged and spit out the tip of the straw. Wonderful.

that’s a yes. see u soon - wait r u nearbish or nah?

I’ll take a Ley, he typed. Then he added, Nearbish.

*nearish

i typed nearby and changed it bc your travel times are disengaged from common sense don’t razz me

He typed, Look, I’ve never had a sibling before. I’m kind of pulling from TV for guidance, looked at it, then backspaced all of it.

Sorry? he sent.

it was a joke, nerd!

Maybe he should’ve just sent it.

A café factotum guy’s Roomba-esque route around the room brought him bumping up against Gil’s booth. “Heyyy, are we still good here?” he asked in a fast drawl.

Then he paused a beat and gave Gil an appreciative once-over so overt that Gil, who had been called “charmingly dense” about when he was being flirted with in the past (by his childhood friend/nemesis, who had then stared at him for a long moment as if hoping he would pick up on some subtext which was still unclear to him), actually noticed.

He felt his face heat up.

Maybe he should have gotten a new shirt before getting a snack? This one was kind of Kirked up. He just...lost a lot of shirts. To the line of duty. He wasn’t actually sure if he had any unharmed ones left. And his jacket was still fine! Well, the zipper was broken. But that hadn’t been because of anything with claws, it had just been eaten by a washing machine.

Waiter guy crooked a smile at Gil. “Get back from a rough day at...”

His gaze paused on the two-handed sword Gil had laid across his table so he could to try to wipe dark purple ichor off of it with recycled paper napkins dipped in his complimentary ice water.

“...At...” he tried again.

Gil also looked at the table. The sword was slightly too long not to hang over the edge by a few inches. It was surrounded by a field of devastated paper.

“Lacrosse,” said Gil. “Lacrosse drills.”

He felt bad about guiding people into easy-to-swallow misapprehensions. But he felt even worse about leaving them to flounder around until they came up with explanations on their own, so. Gil was a fictitious connoisseur of...so many contact sports, most of which he had never actually played.

Thus redirected (Gil was a monster, and it had nothing to do with the teeth), waiter guy proceeded to laugh that he didn’t know anything about lacrosse but bet it gave you great arms, then cheerfully bullied Gil into ordering a takeout container of soup.

Gil started sifting quarters out of his change purse so he could tip without flashing Empire-stamped ingots, which were whammied with the meanest Fade-concentrating spell to counter the innate insecurity of establishing a standardized money system. (He should probably just get a separate wallet, he thought for approximately the 72nd time that week.) His phone, set on a carefully gore-free corner of the table, lit up with a reminder notification. He tapped it back on.

Is your roommate okay? he sent.

pretty sure, Zeetha answered. she had backup?

she brought three...weird...old men. frat boys?

...frat men.

What?

i don’t know!

Okay, turn the horseshoe upside-down, I’ll be there tonight.

#girl genius #w #fic #anonymous #asks answered #hyu's de chozen vun sveethot

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bookwyrminspiration · 3 years

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wait is it quil appreciation hours? ok ok wait

you're such a cool person to have on this platform, and you're so nice and not at all scary, and your writing is just so wonderful, in your character analysises and in your fic

seriously- you answer asks in such a nice way and you're really cool about it, even when people send like literal essays into your inbox, and you write like full paragraphs of things whenever people send you art, which is insane and wonderful and i can't believe it /pos

being a newer member in this fandom can be a little bit scary at times because there are so many really big blogs and a lot of them have been around for a while so that's kind of intimidating, but your blog is really nice and welcoming and really cool!

and your analyisises are super well written and thought out, even when people send you like random headcanons or jokes or whatever, they're all super interesting to read through

and the wings au! i have no words to express how much i love the wings au- it's a full kotlc book but with better characters and WINGS and so many interesting little tidbits, it's wonderful

anyways i'm bad at english and adjectives but i love your blog so much

i--quil appreciation hours. you've named it now. apparently it is?? so many people have sent so many nice asks over the past few days and I'm just sitting here like :0 (i mean this in a fun way! i'm just flummoxed as to how I keep getting so many compliments!)

I have a lot of fun being on this platform, so I'm glad you like having me here! i hope to continue being nice for the rest of time--your compliment means so much to me. you're all equally as kind and interesting to be around and interact with, so it's delightful to know its reciprocated!

and you're complimenting my writing! ah!! thank you! literature and writing is a big part of my life and how I express myself sometimes, so it's very rewarding (and sometimes nerve-wracking) to be able to share it with all of you and just vibe together. just so many thoughts in my brain all the time and I can make them make the most sense when I type them out and oftentimes it feels like I haven't fully explained myself--especially when it comes to the character analysis--and yet you all are so supportive and encouraging anyways. it's just really cool to be part of this whole community <33

I try to be nice when I answer asks and just generally be encouraging of other people's ideas!! and I try to reciprocate and give everyone the time they deserve, because I want to explore all the avenues of their idea! I probably average between 15-30 minutes on each ask, but it really just depends on how distracted I get in the process and whether or not I need to reference a book or anything (fun fact! there are currently three keeper books just laying in my bed). and people sending literal essays just means there's more to talk about! and they've given me a lot of different perspectives to approach their thoughts from! I can't help but laugh a little about your comment on my paragraphs of art comments when i literally just did that before answering this one. but yes!! I know just how much long, in depth comments on art (including writing/edits/gifs/other medias) can mean to an artist, so i try to spread that and make sure when I'm complimenting someone, I'm genuinely complimenting the specifics of what they've done. i can be general and just say it looks cool or I like it (which is also fine! there's not one right way to comment and all comments are appreciated!), but I just prefer to let them know that I noticed some of the details and I understand the time that was put into their work. people's creations are so cool and I want to encourage them to keep creating as long as it makes them happy <33

I honestly don't remember my new tumblr days, but I do know that in the kotlc fandom it can feel like there are these big, established blogs and everyone just flocks to them and there's all these relations and connections going on that you just feel like you're missing out on. things like casually using other's names and referencing other things can make you feel really out of the loop--I've been here for years and it still happens to me! so I love that my blog feels welcoming. I try to be! don't fully know what I'm doing but i'm trying! it often involves a lot of exclamation marks. i should probably tone it back on those, it's getting excessive

oof you've just reminded me that I need to update my masterpost on character analyses--but thank you! I have a lot of fun writing them and just thinking them all through and they're one of the first things that really stood out as a specifically me thing in the fandom, so it's always exciting to hear people enjoy them as much as I do. (this isn't to say I invented character analysis or that I'm the only one whose ever done them, I just have no memory of anyone else really focusing in on that aspect within the fandom until I did it, but I could be wrong about that!) all the random headcanons i get give me the opportunity to apply a lot of what i've analyzed in these characters already, taking it from pulling them apart to trying to put together the pieces in a way that's consistent with how I understand them, so i love to go more in-depth on those. and they give me more of a chance to ask questions back to you all!!

and then the wings au! I say it all the time but I genuinely surprises me a lot when people just mention they've read it and i just go :0! my wings au?! my writing? that's the one you like?? and you're right! it does actually qualify as novel length, so it could be another book! except I just wanted to add wings and more drama and monsters, and I wanted to ignore the romantic drama for a while. there's so many elements of the characters that I feel get pushed to the side in favor of exploring the romance in canon, which just isn't personally for me. i really just went "i can fix them" and rewrote them just slightly to the left. but I think it's a lot of fun! and i'm very glad you're enjoying it, because there's still a lot to get through! it's not ending anytime soon! luckily for me tho, we've still got another year before the next book is released and completely changes how I could need to structure my worldbuilding. i'll probably finish it before then...no promises tho!

i'm thrilled you like my blog!! I have so many posts and just so many things I love to talk about so I'm ecstatic you'd want to listen! I'm just as verbose irl as I am online--my partner can attest to that. nearly every time we see each other I just talk at them for hours! english and adjectives can be very complicated, even with experience, but I love you so much (/p) and am very glad you're here!!

#i cannot believe you all are out here making quil appreciation hours #like I am just talking about things that interest me i should be appreciate /you/ instead #and I am! i do! i try to express that!#it's your interests and questions that let me do all the talking about things I like!#so thank you instead!#this ask made my day #had a few wacky schedule things that stressed me out earlier but this just makes me feel so warm inside #not great at identifying emotions and all that #but I know this is a very positive one and I really liked all of this #so many elements #so many things #i'm still not over quil appreciation hours btw /pos #quil's queries #nonsie #long post #random #nonsie love #quil appreciation hours #i'm giving you a tag for it #i am literally just someone on the internet and yet you all are so kind #i hope you know how much i appreciate and value you

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earths-roots-grow-up · 4 years

Text

Headcanon abt Prussia’s psychology and historical relationship with Poland underthe cut. I hope you like it :)

Fact: The Polish-Teutonic wars were a series of military conflicts that started in 1308 when Teutonic Order took over polish city of Gdańsk (Danzing) and annexed it (event is knows as Slaughter of Danzing). After that came the first Teutonic War, in which the Order won Pomerelia from Poland. It was the beggining of larger Polish-Teutonic conflict that lasted for over 200 years and some following wars include:

- The second Teutonic War, a conflictr that took place between 1409 (when the Grand Master declared war on Poland and Lithuania) and 1411 when the conflict ended with Battle Of Grunewald. Teutonic Order lost and had to retreat, then manage to withstand the Siege of Malbork. The Knights did survive the defeat, but they never again gained their previous influence and power, while Poland-Lithuania was established as one of main powers in Central Europe. After wiki: "Most of the brothers of the Order were killed (during the final battle), including most of the Teutonic leadership". Many Teutonic fortresses were taken over and only eight castles reminded in Teutonic hands after this conflict. - The Thirteen Years' War, when the Order's Prussian territories began a revolt against the Order and asked Poland for help. Poland was like ‘hell yeah, let me make this my problem!’ and Prussian Confederacy/Kingdom of Poland truce was created. This war ended with the Knights losing and having to give up Western Prussia to Poland. - The Polish–Teutonic War 0f 1519–1521 that ended with a treaty of Kraków - this treaty resulted in parts of Order's Prussian territories becoming secularized as the Duchy of Prussia under polish rule (4 years later). This was sealed by the Prussian Homage of 10 April. There were more conflicts between 1308 and 1521, but I don't want to write an entire book here, so I reccomend the Polish-Teutonic War site on wiki, it has a pretty comprehensive list :). So in super short oversimplified terms, as I understand it: The wars started at the beginning of the 14th century with Teutonic aggression and lasted for over 200 years, during which Poland and the Order pretty much became THE RIVALS. The turning point was the battle of Grunwald when the Order lost a lot of its power, but still had some fight in it. It ended with Teutonic Knights secularizing and becoming a vassal state to Poland. This of course completely turned upside down after Prussia became independent again, got the status of a Kingdom and pretty much whipped Poland off the map in 1700s for 100 years, so I guess Prussia never forgets (which is one of my fav HCs for him xD).

Headcanon:

So my most obvious headcanon that comes from this is the hate/hate relationship that Poland and Prussia have. I believe they really can't stand each other and view each other as enemies. Their whole history is pretty much one somehow dominating the other or attempting to dominate him - from the Teutonic Wars, through Prussia becoming Poland’s vassal and then tables turning and Prussia (& Austria & Russia) partitioning Poland into nonexistence & and the Germanization that followed, until WW2 when they also fought. It’s a pattern.

It's like they live for revenge and each revenge has to be more brutal and dramatic than what happened before. It’s a snowball of anger that escalates. And I HC that yes, all of this was seen by both of them as revenge for the previous hurts and both of them believe the other deserved it for what he did before. The difference between them is that Poland views himself mostly as the victim that fights back (due to Polish martyrology culture, which is strong in the historical nation narrative [The Christ of Nations, etc], and the general belief in the “Germanic Aggressor”) and Prussia sees himself as the conqueror who has been humiliated by someone lesser (due to his general lack of empathy for those he sees as victims, so he would never cast himself as one, he himself wants to be casted as the aggressor, as to him this position means power and agency).

Prussia can never get why Poland kinda glorifies himself as the Victim and The Martyr (an important element of Poland’s identity), as to him that makes no sense, being a victim is pathetic, right? and Poland can't understand why Prussia glorifies himself as the conqueror as to him he's just a bloody tyrant so why would you be proud of that, right?

They see value in different things to the most basic level, which makes communications very hard - and both of them see value in things that end up being destructive to them, bc both the ‘Might is Right!’ and the ‘My suffering makes me SpEcIaL!’ thinking is not healthy. They are both messed up, just differently. But the way they are messed up kinda... makes them the perfect enemies and makes it easy to escalate conflict. They fit in this very pathological way, when Poland needs to “suffer” for his national identity of the Martyr of Europe to make sense and he needs someone to cast as the aggressor, while Prussia needs to attack and conquer to see himself as the badass powerhouse of Europe he wants to be. They are like the perfect toxic relationship - they bring out the worst in each other due to their specific world-view quircks, so it kinda makes sense that their history is so bad.

But my second less-obvious headcanon is:

Prussia began the Teutonic Wars with the slaughter of Danzing because he was young, ambitious and very impulsive. Gilbert has a hot temperament and a strong desire to be active - and he did exactly that, without really thinking through the ramifications of attacking a big established country while being just a young Knights Order. You can see this on macro scale in the Teutonic Wars and on micro scale in the Battle on lake Pejpus where he charged on a frozen lake. He was so into attacking that he never even considered the environment. The thing is, this failures (and his hot temper!) almost killed him. He literally almost died due to the lost wars, lost most of his power and had to completely re-invent himself from a military crusading catolic Knights Order into a secularized Duchy just to SURVIVE and ended up under the Polish boot for years. His biggest enemy’s boot. And he needed to kneel in front of him. This is IMO an incredibly important moment for how his further development went. The Ordnung Muss Sein discipline-is-key culture and the strategic mindfulness that become a second nature to him start here, when he almost dies because of his reckless actions. It also ingrained a sense of deep humiliation connected to the Prussian Homage that only installed the need for power EVEN MORE. Before he wanted power because he hated the feeling that he is less important than Actual Counties and believed he was given unfairly bad cards by being born without land. Now tho there's an extra motive: fear. Fear of being subjugated. And revenge. This kick started the process of creation of Kingdom of Prussia as we know it - so the transition from a wild-child-Order that just went with the flow and threw himself into battle on literal iced-over lake, into a very calculating, rational thinking soldier who assesses the room and everyone in it at the moment he enters and is hyper aware of all the environment and situation that accompanies his conflicts. So I guess the short version is: Prussia is very disciplined and controls his anger very well but that's not how he always was. He’s a powerful force of nature, a wildfire, that is being reigned in by the self-imposed diligent soldier discipline in order not self destruct. It becomes his second nature, he becomes the Machine, bc if he stayed the Wild Child he started as, he would have perished and he is aware of that. So this explains why he is so merciless about his discipline and order - it’s not just a preference he has, on a more primal level it’s about survival to him. Natural tendencies still sometimes slip through, especially when he's tired, drunk or in any way vulnerable. I like to HC that you can hear the more crazy part of him when he laughs - it's such a loud, boisterous, overwhelming laughter that it does not seem to fit his cold, diligent matter-of-fact soldier-persona at all. It's bc what's inside is spilling out in the laughter. You can also see it when he parties ;)

You can also see it in violent outbursts of anger that happen when he is REALLY on edge. They are kinda scary. But most of his ‘anger outbursts’ (and wars) are calculated and planned to get his way with minimal consequences. The truth is, he feels like he failed himself whenever he really looses control.

My other HC about Gil as Teutonic Knghts can be found here, here, here and here if you like my rambly takes :)

#aph prussia #gilbert beilschmidt #hws prussia #hetalia #aph poland #aph lithuania #hws poland #Axis Powers Hetalia #historical hetalia #hetalia headcanons #aph #hetalia world series #feliks łukasiewicz #queque

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prompt-master · 4 years

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Would you be willing to share how you might rewrite Yukizome, Sakakura, and Munakata to make them likable characters (if not ppl Bc there’s a big difference)???

ahhhhhhh this ask got me so stupidly excited that I was like wavin my hands around. I think about how to rewrite their characters OFTEN. very often. I’m gonna go with likeable character over likeable people because I think they work better where they’re actually not that likeable people.

The one I think about the MOST is Munakata. He was SUCH wasted potential and I partially blame the medium for that (a single season anime is too constrained for future, it needed more time and care to be a proper story). But Munakata is actually so close to being a compelling character but they made some MAJOR mistakes with him. This ended up getting really long and more like a 3 page ADHD ramble essay. SO IM VERY SORRY to anyone who cannot read this but TYTYTY if you did because these ideas make me very happy! Oh it’s only about Munakata btw because of how long it got

The thing about Munakata is that he is designed to be a foil to Naegi. In fact a majority of dr3 future FOCUSES on this foil dynamic. It is Naegi’s hope vs Munakata’s hope. The World’s hope vs The FF’s hope. And more importantly it is True Hope vs Corrupted Hope.

This is a fantastic concept...so why didn’t it work in canon? I think that the biggest most glaring issue with Munakata’s hope is his logic. Munakata is meant to be a logical man, although with corrupted morals that lead him astray. Yet in canon his logic is laughably infallible. For example as a major figure in the FF and someone who wants to spread hope....why would he tell Naegi to kill himself? More importantly why does he continue to try and slaughter Naegi? The issue here isn’t from the fact that he wants him dead but from the fact that he is under the IMPRESSION that this entire game is being broadcast to the world.

Think about this for a second. In Munakata’s eyes he is going to kill the Ultimate Hope, an international symbol of a better life, live on TV. He doesn’t just want to kill the Ultimate Hope..he wants to do it BRUTALLY as a MAJOR FIGURE OF THE FF. IMO this should have happened later on as the game furthers the emotional turmoil in Munakata’s head and he eventually snaps and gives in to the desire to kill Naegi despite the fact that this is live. And then there should be CONSEQUENCES for that. I wanted so badly a realization where Munakata realizes that he is hurting the Ultimate Hope in front of what he believes is the entire world.

Another issue with Munakata’s logic is saying things such as...implying that the HPA KG was...just a game. I mean...people DIED. it's not hard to see how wrong that logic is. you can't say “this is the real world now” when what Naegi experienced WAS the real world. I think that this could be fixed through a bit of world building. DR3 Future is rather isolated from its world. We don’t really know much about the world and its dynamics. I think it would make perfect sense if the general public viewed the HPA KG as a tv show, they got numb to the sight and even those untouched by despair had a hard time connecting that these are REAL people suffering. With this previously established Munakata expressing that the KG was not real would make a lot more sense and play into his corrupted idea of hope.

There is also Munakata’s connection to his other friends. Now I’ve talked about this before but the game was clearly designed to BREAK Munakata and Naegi. This way the FF would die, both the FF and World’s hope would be broken, and upon seeing this Mitarai would have no choice but to deploy his own forced hope. So it makes perfect sense that Yukizome’s death would break him (in fact if she hadn’t died in that way, her NG code was designed to be Munakata’s fault). But something about it felt...superficial. Again I think this is the mediums fault but it almost feels as though Munakata just forgets about Yukizome until later. I think they should spend more time establishing his pain and what he has lost and why this pushes him to kill. In his eyes if she can die then nothing else matters. It should be THE breaking point, not the first push. I do like the betrayal he feels towards realizing she had despair but it needed more time to fester.

And his relationship with Sakakura also felt weak. In all honesty it was hard for me to feel as though they were ever friends. Sakakura is written as though he just follows Munakata like a loyal dog and Munakata just orders him around. Establish their relationship more! Why are they such good friends? Why is Sakakura important to him? And more importantly why did Munakata decide to cruelly gut Sakakura knowing he was about to confess? This is because he believed that Sakaura was despair and that his confession was more manipulation, but they didn’t show this well at ALL. Munakata just comes across as a major a-sshole who does not care. I also personally found it distasteful that when changing his heart Munakata only seemed to cry for Yukizome. I understand that was his love interest but Yukizome at the end of the day killed herself. Sakakura however was an unnecessary betrayal he took into his own hands AS HE HIMSELF KILLED HIM. He should have more guilt over that! Not just in that moment where he runs to Sakakura, but ahead of time as well! Maybe even DURING his rampage they could have shown him having moments of guilt but he is so absorbed in the idea that all despairs have to die that he doesn’t even realize he has become despair in the name of hope.

A BIG weakness on Munakata’s part comes with interacting with other characters. He is a man who should know how to take charge, lead, and doesn't know what to do when things are getting too crazy even though he THINKS he does. Munakata is heavily flawed, OBVIOUSLY flawed, but many of the interactions with him are as tho his rampage isnt a big deal. There should be reasons for this! Why do people trust Munakatas guidance so much? I dont know! All ive seen from him is that hes insane! Maybe even pieces where around others hes a lot nicer so you can understand why they follow him, even though hes ready to gut Naegi alive with a flaming katana. His interactions with others feel like the writers just wanted to see the next big evil thing they could think of, but for Munakata’s character this doesn't make sense because he was appointed a high status in the foundation for a reason. Maybe even have people say they disagree with some of his methods but at the end of the day he gets the job done!

There is another major missed opportunity here and it's why Muanakata wants Naegi dead so badly in the first place. The remnants. Hiding terrorists in the apocalypse is a PERFECTLY valid reason to want someone dead and think they're a bad guy! But I think since Naegis initial arrest was already so hostile and violent we get the sense that the FF is simply just...crazy.

And let’s think about what Munakata WANTS from Naegi. He does not just want Naegi dead he wants something worse. He wants Naegi to suffer first. He thinks that Naegi doesnt understand his own personal pain. He thinks that because Naegi protected the remnants he must also not care about the suffering the remnants caused. He wants Naegi to feel despair and then die. This is important to his corrupted hope. He thinks the suffering must be shared in order to understand who must die, but he is creating a cycle of pain. Tie this back to the broadcasting issue. He wants Naegi to break for everyone to see. I think..and this is just a concept..I think it would have been a great idea for Munkata to force Naegi to watch the despair video so that he has no choice but to understand.

AND themes are majorly important to Danganronpa. And I don’t think its a stretch to say that there are parallels between Munakata and Naegi. In fact I would say that there are aspects of the og trio in this new trio. I think it would have been really cool if they showed how our favorite trio could have ended up if they had been corrupted as well. But the parrellels dont stick strongly. I think it would have been cool to show a past where Munakata’s idealism lies more strongly than Naegis. As the student council president there was a time where he himself had to use his words to solve problems. Perhaps he learned that sometimes his words made things worse. Munakata does not have Naegi’s talent of emotional intelligence. He is a man of action over words. So he interprets this as WORDS being the problem rather than understanding he does not have these skills. Especially when the apocalypse breaks out, it becomes all action over words. So he sees Naegi who is all talk as a genuine threat who will let everyone die through his “weak ineffective” idea of hope.

Another parallel could be drawn from the fact that they both have hope based careers. Their job is too keep things hopeful. Maybe Naegi stays safe doing public broadcasted speeches, while Munakata is on the field weeding out despairs. This would cause Munakata to feel as though Naegi is doing no real work yet getting all the credit for being a savior.

Munakata constantly complains that Naegi does not know true pain. But he and we as an audience have followed Naegi through his entire process of trauma. We know he is in the wrong. But what do we as an audience know about Munakata’s suffering? We are shown almost nothing! There are some implications, but for how intense he is implications are not enough. We need to see his suffering. We should see how he has witnessed death. Yukizomes death is not nearly enough for this because he talks as though he has suffered for years. How can we as an audience understand that when we have never seen it? How can we understand Munakata when he is outright denying Naegi’s trauma that we KNOW existed with no proper justification for his reasoning?

I also believe that Munakata should have died. It actually upsets me a bit that he was PLANNED to die but didn't. He should have died protecting Naegi after all that suffering and relentless brutality he offered him. Munakata again is a man of action over word, and protecting Naegi with his last breath is the perfect way to show how in the end he changed. Especially when all he wanted initially was for Naegi to die. I find that much more satisfying than just…...walking off to who knows where.

So lets recap some changes. Munakata needs a proper display of his past traumas and his relationship with Sakakura and Yukizome. Munakata needs a proper display of his work relationships and the respect he has earned. Munakata needs to fall into corruption at a better pace, and have geniune reasons for his illogical attacks on Naegi. Munakata needs to care more for his friends. Munakata needs to deal with the turmoil of wanting to hurt Naegi while he believes the world is watching. Munakata needs to die for Naegi

This has gotten long...and I still have things to say. There is so much to make Munakata a good character. Future had a lot of potential and is amazing for a rewrite concept. As for Sakakura and Yukizome since this has gotten long feel free to ask for another round of this individually when asks are open again! If you read all of this somehow….TYSM

#ask #danganronpa #kyosuke munakata #dr3 #dr3 spoilers #analysis #???#sorry sorry sorry ahhhhh i have so much to say fuuuuihkhuhi

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lovleez · 4 years

Text

cai xukun “hard to get” mv theory

i’m back at it again!

i don’t think this one will need any warnings itself because everything is connected strictly to the mv itself (no, no killer sirens this time around) (but killer clowns tho 👀👀👀) (update: the killer clown IS the warning itself plz don’t read this if you have severe coulrophobia akjhdfjdh)

i’d recommended watching this to process what goes on in this post:

hard to get mv

theory one

this ones going to be really weird, so if you want a sensible theory, scroll down to the second one :D

let’s start here with clown xukun:

or more specifically, i want to talk about the clown, not xukun himself

okay here’s the driving force of this theory: this clown is a killing spirit that can possess people (and i’ll be referring to this entity as either clown or ‘killer spirit’ throughout the rest of this theory)

(it’ll make sense later i hope)

now that this is established, let’s travel back to the beginning of the mv

the first 30 seconds or so are clearly a mix between the future and the present, as evidenced by the flashes

our first solid shot that signifies the actual start of the mv (aside from kun) is the main girl of this story

- her eyes are scouring around the room, obviously looking for something. when they settle, the scene jumps back to xukun

moving on

at this part, when it flashed as if she was in a confused state, listen closely and you’ll hear a little woosh multiple times

this sound does come up multiple times in the mv, but never in the actual audio itself (yes i double checked w/ full volume 😌)

when does this sound come in? whenever the clown is involved (you’ll see)

what am i implying? at this point in the mv, this ‘killer spirit’ is possessing the girl at the moment

earlier when she was looking around, the clown was looking for a new host. why? well perhaps the current one was trying to fight for control (which is why in the scene seemed like she was disorientated for a bit) (or she could be drunk but shhh)

and who does it pick? xukun obviously. but how did the clown switch hosts

when the girl comes up to him, she hands him a drink, and xukun drinks it almost immediately (ʳᵉᵐᵉᵐᵇᵉʳ ᶠᵒˡᵏˢ, ᵈᵒⁿ'ᵗ ᵃᶜᶜᵉᵖᵗ ᵗʰᶦⁿᵍˢ ᶠʳᵒᵐ ˢᵗʳᵃⁿᵍᵉʳˢ)

and then this happens immediately:

which leads me to believe that there was some sort of drugging substance in there (or again, he could be drunk 🤫)

(also someone tell me why what looks like an old lady is at the club in the first place)

he heads over to the bathroom to clear his mind, but look who’s waiting for him there

i’m assuming this is where the clown would switch hosts other stuff aside and all

the girl seems to leave in an awful hurry afterwards 👀

probably to escape the clown or something

xukun also leaves the party . . . but what’s this in the scene?

a jump cut 👀👀👀

(i don’t know how to explain it for those who don’t know what that is...but it’s like the little jump between kun walking down the path to him arriving at the mansions doorsteps in a flash)

well placed too

lend your ear to the noise before the cut 👂

it’s a whoosh, then clown giggles 👀

👀 👀 👀 👀 👀

okay, before we move into what’s happening after this scene, i’m going to fast forward the mv to 2:23

where the familiar clown giggles can be heard again, and the scene opens to the clown chasing the poor girl D:

i believe that this scene slots in perfectly to what happens during that jump

my brain tells me that when he was simply walkin down to the mansion here, but (obv) he spotted the girl and chased her down. what did he do?

turn her into a puppet (not like literal, but you know those mind controlled human puppets you see on tv shows....yeah like those)

how’d i get to that conclusion?

👀

when he walks into the mansion, and into the room, there’s a couch full of other people there just sitting there nearly lifeless

these ‘puppets’ are all presumably the clown’s previous hosts (and i draw this from the fact that the girl is sitting among them)

one more thing

see how the girl was standing behind the couch in this gif, but when kun settles down, she’s sitting on the ground

its as if she (as a puppet) is welcoming him as the new host, and moves back to the ground to start her life as a presumably insignificant puppet

anyways lets call this theory to an end with the assumption that the clown finally found a permanent host in xukun

(further proof he is possessed by a killer spirit...his eyes are glowing r e d...now go ahead and try telling me that’s normal 😤) (no it doesn’t seem like a reflection of the light to me,,,,where’d the light even come from in the first place?)

theory two

(aka the more sensible one \(`-`)/ )

this one is going to be more straightforward

the second theory follows a quite simple story line:

the two, kun and the girl, could possibly be a pair (whether it be as a couple or partners in crime, the only important fact about this is that xukun is a killer in this verse)

and for whatever reason, the girl is simply unhappy with him. so what does she decide to do? drug him, with a side of assassination in mind

so when he heads out to clear up his mind in the bathroom, she plans to murder him there

however, the attempt was unsuccessful, so she heads out. xukun heads out too, maybe a few hours later.

however, this jump cut would signify that something else happened before he arrived there

when we go back inside the mansion, to the girl, we see these shots:

it seems like she’s rather expressionless, but she also looks annoyed

there’s also this scene (+ the lyrics)

do i gotta clear it up / swear i ain’t in a rush / i could only play with you so much

does it not seem like he is mocking her here???

before this scene is the clown chasing her. so what does my brain conclude?

after the assassination attempt, he went after her in his killer clown attire to give her a scare, and it worked.

as we can see, she’s sitting by his feet pretty obediently so.

also there’s this scene at the end of the mv:

its probably hard to tell from the gif, but just take a look from the mv and look at the gaze.

he knew what she was going to go through, but probably played along to give her a lesson.

or,

this mv is quite simple and is what it is: xukun is a killer clown who targeted the girl as his next victim, those scenes where in both theories i stated he was drugged was probably just him getting drunk, and the people in the mansion are simply his past victims (yes i could make this into theory #3 but i’m lazy)

....but where’s the fun in that

however, the solid takeaway from this mv no matter the theory is that xukun is indefinitely: a clown (an angel too 🥺) (not in the mv tho)

#my obssession w/ this ends here 😤#srsly i've watched this enough times that my slight coulrophobia could be cured by now #anyways thanks for reading this dumbassery :D #ayra goes crazy #please give this attention i watched the mv on loop for hours to make this 👉👈#also the first theory seems a bit silly being centered around a killer clown spirit #but you know who else is like a killer clown spirit? pennywise.#half these gifs aren't even legible on mobile im so sorry jhdjhfdgh #there also may or may not be some grammer mistakes #anyways....opinions?#which theory seems better to ya'll #cai xukun #tw clowns #tw coulrophobia

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fredheads · 5 years

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do you have anything to say about the au where fred becomes a famous musician because i would like to hear it

i have many things to say!!! not a coherent timeline so much as lots of snapshots but i have many feelings!!!

1. he leaves riverdale!! i dont remember if fred said anything in the flashback about there being a good music scene in riverdale (which... yeah right fred) but there is simply no way you can become a world famous musician without leaving your extremely small town so im thinking post grad he plays in a bunch of the small bars and stuff where the fredheads played in high school and everyone thinks they have promise but he realizes he’s going to have to head to the big city if he wants to make it so he packs up all his stuff and drives off into his very uncertain future with his guitar :’) a brave boy

2. i vibe with fp still joining the army and meeting fred again later or possibly also being part of freds band still and moving with him. either or. the band keeps changing but fp always sticks around. freds the standout act though and its clear he has something special... he gets a lot of good feedback and eventually auditions for a record label and gets an agent and a deal and all the good stuff, just him, not the band, but they still get to be part of the recording process. also he possibly changes the bands name at some point?? it becomes fred andrews and the ___ (idk what yet but ill get back to you) cuz no one in the city thinks the fredheads is funny.... rude.

3. i don’t think he’d ever change his name, but maybe he goes by freddie a lot more? and he definitely inherits a dope rock n roll nickname/moniker at some point but idk what i havent thought that far ahead. his sound is like... very john cougar, definitely bruce inspired, a lil kurt cobain. does that make sense to anyone but me? doesn’t matter. he writes a lot of songs about love but also about small town life, his relationship with his parents, oh and a lot of gay subtext. but keep it subtext. for now... his songwriting is very wholesome apple pie but also anti establishment so he appeals to a wide range.

4. he definitely gets a springsteen themed tattoo. mayb 2. and pierces the heck out of his ears. stickers all over his blue guitar... FUCK THE DRAFT pins on his studded denim vest... nevertheless he starts off as a hearthrob. the general public gets one glimpse of his big chocolate eyes and then the teen magazines are all after him.... he doesn’t let fame influence him though and he’s very mature and sweet in interviews.

5. his look starts heavy bruce inspired but eventually it comes into more of his own. he wears bruce tshirts onstage all the time :”) hes def worn flannel onstage. at first hes scared to wear makeup but then he starts busting out the eyeliner and then when he gets brave with that its not unusual for him to incorporate some glitter...

6. hes very lovely with female fans and very friendly with male fans and his agent is always wanting to arrange relationships with actresses or whatnot for PR... but he doesnt actually date a whole lot. young fred definitely flirts around and has some VERY close male “friends” he goes to clubs with but he rarely has time for anything long term and its mostly just brief relationships and hookups. you can’t take the slut outta the boy tho.... he’s always lovin someone somehow.

7. at first he’s terrified of associating himself with the lgbt+ community because he just knows hes gonna get outed and he’s not ready for that yet... but he refuses to deny rumours because he doesn’t want to disparage them either. eventually he gets more comfortable in his skin and starts speaking out for gay rights and incorporates some rainbow stickers onto his guitar :’) he gets by somehow the same way he did in high school where he’s kinda flamboyant but everyone’s so charmed by him that straight people think he’s straight. whatever works.

8. his mom and dad come to almost all of his shows!!!

9. he’s a BIG philanthropist and he’s always speaking out for social causes and writing special songs for charity.

10. hes very private about his pill addiction and he’s a functioning addict for awhile when he’s popping pills to deal with stage injuries and to keep him wired for shows. eventually he goes through rehab but its kept VERY hush hush. fps there for him the whole time... and his parents. he’s also dealing with depression behind the facade but he’s overall happy during the day to day bc he’s doing what he loves.

11. he still wants kids really bad and he meets mary (she’s his lawyer?) somehow when hes in his mid-late 20s and everyones shocked when they start dating and get married. they have archie and fred takes some time off to be a dad... but he’s still writing lots of songs and he dotes on his baby like crazy. when archie’s older and he’s touring artie and bunny watch him (artie never died cuz i say so.. but fine if he is dead then just bunny)

12. he and mary get an amicable divorce when archie’s 10 or 12... and he finally realizes that fp’s been right in front of him all this time (he’s still in freds band!!) and they finally start dating and fall in love!! fp has his own demons but they help each other through and fred starts inviting him out onto the stage to sing with him and they write songs together :’) he finally comes out publicly because he and fp want to be public with their relationship :’)’ ‘ ‘ ‘

13. he absolutely meets bruce springsteen and bruce comes to one of his shows and he makes the whole audience sing happy birthday to bruce.. and at some benefit concert or something he gets to share the stage with him and hes the happiest man in the whole world the end

#fred andrews #fredsythe

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sol1056 · 6 years

Text

if you promise peaches, deliver peaches.

After S7, the asks have been piling up. A few examples:

I was so confused in ep4 when Acxa disappeared, I thought she’d stuck with the team after ep3 and maybe I just missed the scene where she left, but others have brought that up, too.

Funny how the majority of the problems in s7 are because they tried to force BP Keith to the detriment of the story, and ironically, Keith's story, too.

I thought Lance’s family reunion would be much more emotional and be a part of his arc, since he was the most homesick, but then they gave that to Hunk?

Shiro got tossed aside in the most ableist, racist, and homophobic way, and Allura could have had a cool storyline mixing her paladinship and her castle storyline with a new altean mecha, instead of Shiro becoming a bad Allura 2.0 and Keith becoming a bad Shiro 2.0.

Srsly tho, am I the only one who finds it extremely bothering that in writing Allura and Lance they don't bother to show Allura coming to view Lance in a romantic light after her breakup?

Why even bother in S6 to make such a big deal of Shiro/Kuron saying his dream is to be a paladin over and over? Until he was revealed a clone some of us thought he was Shiro, so it's even harder to accept Shiro not being BP anymore.

The EPs seem to be so stuck in their initial idea and salty they couldn’t do it exactly as they want that they just ignore the story itself?

The EPs have spoken of being determined to get the VLD gig out of fear it’d be given to someone who'd wreck the story. That's understandable, but we're talking about a 78-episode, six-season, space opera mecha series. This genre practically demands a sprawling world and a massive cast, and it's far beyond the scope of anything either JDS or LM have ever helmed on their own.

My guess is that JDS and LM didn’t realize the enormity of what they were taking on, or they (and their bosses) seriously underestimated the degree to which they were wholly unprepared.

Behind the cut: what I meant when I said these EPs are not storytellers.

I’m not surprised the EPs over-estimated their skill, really. People will look at a creative process like art –- where you often start young, practice daily, maybe study it formally, apprentice or intern (especially in animation), and gradually work your way up -- and they see the effort. They know it wasn’t an overnight thing.

Too often, the very same people won’t accord that respect to the art of storytelling. It’s treated like divine inspiration, something that just happens. We’ve been hearing and reading and watching stories all our lives; how hard can it be to do it ourselves?

It’s goddamn hard, is what it is. I would love to tell you otherwise, but that’s the truth. You can rock your dialogue but you gotta track character goals, too. Complicated backstories only get you so far if you don’t understand how to modulate tension. You can have a great premise but you still gotta resolve the damn thing. A story has a hundred moving parts; scale up to a space opera’s necessary levels of epic and we’re talking exponentially more.

In my experience, the hardest part of storytelling — not the technical aspects of writing, but the art of storytelling — is holding the shape of the story in your head. The entire thing, all at once. You have to, if you’re to see how a choice at this point will echo down the line, or a motif laid here should reflect there, how the theme shifts but stays true from start to end, how these secondary arcs weave together to undergird the main arc.

I’d say a lot of what we learn in our first few novels is how to see — and hold —the story’s shape in our head. I’m not talking dialogue or voice acting or choreography. I’m talking about the overall shape, the vision and theme it establishes, evolves, and eventually resolves.

If we cannot, we will find our stories promise peaches and deliver pine cones.

Looking back, there are too many clues --- almost all given by the EPs themselves --- that they didn't have the experience to do this story justice. What they did have was a certainty that their vision was the best, an inability to deviate from that one story they'd devised, and a continual low-grade frustration at being held back.

Let's go back to the beginning. S1 starts a little rocky (to be expected as a team finds its groove), but S2 builds on S1 quite deftly. It’s not perfect, but in a storytelling sense, it’s the strongest season, and it's much too self-assured to be a beginner’s. It moves swiftly but steadily to a pivotal midpoint, and from there snowballs gracefully into its finale; it balances nuanced characterization with plot movement, and its opening promises bear fruit by the end.

In those earliest interviews and panels, the EPs are often casually vague about basic details, like character ages or relationships. At least twice their answers change, giving the impression they hadn't known and had needed to confirm with someone else. Generally, though, they're low-key and hopeful, possibly leaning on the borrowed confidence of that other storyteller’s influence.

By S3/S4, their tone shifts to a peculiar kind of non-ownership. They joke about having no idea what's going on, tossing out guesses as though they'd be the last to know. They offer head canons, rather than insight. They wear their frustration openly, alluding to the story they'd wanted, chafing at what had been decided for them.

As the story moved into the split-seasons, it's clear that whomever lent that guiding hand in S1/S2 was no longer present. Someone else’s fingerprints are on S3, and my guess is it’s mostly Hedrick, at least on the script-level. The word choices change, the cadences change, the beats change. From S3 on, VLD has all the hallmarks of a muddy vision.

You can see that in the story’s shape. It holds together, but barely. It darts forward, then sideways, then treads water for a bit. It’s erratically paced, dropping plot points and introducing new ones, only to drop those as well. It can’t settle on a driving antagonist, and when it finally does, it can't keep the antagonist’s goal consistent. It sacrifices nuance for one-note characterization, and shoves most substantiative character growth off-screen.

This continues to S6, which generally continues the focus on plot coupons over character goals, exposition at the cost of emotional beats, and neglecting established characters to introduce left-field swerves in the guise of plot twists. On the plus side, it does manage to rally enough to end its multi-season prevarication, and put to bed questions hanging around since late S3.

It's worth noting that both EPs have only a single writing credit each, for the pilot three-parter. That makes it doubly striking that JDS chose to write the Black Paladins episode. After the season aired, JDS complained in passing about rewrites on his episode. If that seems odd, remember that an EP has final approval on every script. If it bothered him to have his ideas rejected in favor of keeping Shiro, it must've burned to have his writing choices countermanded.

From the timing and the episode credits, this must've been around when Tim Hedrick left the team --- and the EPs took full ownership.

It shows in their post-S6 interviews. Gone are the ambiguous expressions or vague promises of doing their best. Their wording is declarative: what Kuron had been, what Shiro would be, the resolution of Shiro’s illness, the nature of Shiro’s past relationship. None is equivocated, nor couched as head canons. They’ve taken control of the narrative, and their interpretation is now the deciding one.

This change was important enough to them that they had to make sure we’re aware. There’s simply no other reason to tell us S7 had been written in its entirety, let alone tell us the original outcome. Nor is there any other reason to tell us they petitioned for — and got — permission to rewrite.

When I look at S7 with my writer’s hat on, everything tells me this is where the brakes came off. With Hedrick’s departure, there was no one left but the EPs themselves to steer the story. By whatever means, for whatever reason, VLD went from a crafted vision, to a conflicted one, to none at all.

Set aside the larger controversies for a moment, and just think about the shape of S7. It’s almost three seasons in one: the first part skips from event to event, then abruptly timeskips to reset the entire playing field. That second part in turn is divided from the last half by a two-parter that halts momentum for an overlong flashback with an entirely new cast, followed by a finale that mostly backseats its protagonists in favor of letting that new cast dominate.

There’s a common pattern in the way beginner writers react to critique, and I see that all over the EPs’s responses, from the beginning. It’s only grown worse since S6. They can’t quite juggle the story they think they’re telling versus the story they’re actually telling.

I’ve had these conversations too many times to count. I ask, how did this character get from here to there? The newbie storyteller is quick to explain, usually in great detail. I ask, but then why did this happen? The more I dig, the greater the chance the newbie will get angry that I don’t seem to be reading the story they’re so obviously telling. If I keep pushing, they’ll get defensive.

They’ll confidently assure me this is exactly the story they’d intended to tell, and if I don’t like it, that’s my problem. (They may not be able to hold the shape in their head, but they’ve probably already taken to heart the adage that one must stay true to one’s ‘artistic’ vision. The part about listening to critique even when it’s uncomfortable… that takes a bit longer to learn.)

My reaction almost always boils down to: you’re telling me this amazing story, but that’s not the story you’ve actually written.

Sometimes the best description of the shape of a newbie’s story is that of a house after a tornado’s swept through: the front door is on the chimney, the roof is half-off, and the windows are shattered in the front yard. Most of the pieces are there, but it’s all so jumbled the newbie storyteller can’t see what’s missing. They can’t hold the shape of the story in their head, so even when they know here’s where something goes, they’re too overwhelmed to remember the door they need is still on the chimney.

An epic story is no cakewalk, and boy do I give credit for that effort, but it’s one thing to learn by noodling in a fandom on AO3. It’s quite another to do it at the scale of a television series, let alone one with the expected scope of a space opera spanning galaxies. This is not the place to learn as you go.

Here’s why the shape of the story — and holding that in your head — is so important.

Think of a story’s resolution like a fresh peach. You want the reader to bite into the peach as the culmination of everything the story has been, from start to end. But you don’t get a peach by planting pine trees. You must start with the proper seeds, and make sure what grows is a peach tree, such that your final act bears the right fruit.

I touched on this before with the promise of the premise. Themes, backstories, world-building, and motifs are facets of the seeds planted in the first act. Everything you need to resolve the story must be present when the story begins; that’s where your premise lies, and your promises are made.

Through the entire second act, the tree must grow. The storyteller’s task is to trim as needed, bind this to that, shore up the roots, add water and nurture: this is where the theme expands, the foreshadowing laid, the questions reveal answers that lead to further questions, narrowing the outcome, each outlining the tree’s shape in sharper detail.

By the time the story turns the corner into the third act, the readers should be reasonably certain they’re going to get a peach tree. This is not a bad thing! You want them looking forward to plucking the peach and enjoying it. You want everything planted at story-beginning to come to fruition, at story-end.

That is why you must hold the shape — the vision — in your head, always checking against where you began and where you plan to end. You cannot throw out the entire tree at the end of the second act and start over; if you ignore the fruit your story is producing and insist on serving up pine cones, you’re going to have confused and possibly angry readers.

You promised them peaches, damn it.

The story is now midway through the third act. Everything planted in the previous seasons must now be coming to fruition… but it won’t. The EPs are openly (even proudly) reversing course on everything that’s come before. That means directly violating every motif, every thematic element, every bit of foreshadowing in word, image, or sound.

And at the same time, the story’s scope is simply too vast, and they haven’t the experience to juggle all the thousands of moving parts. The result is the most slapdash season, yet. Characters simply drop out of sight, only to reappear again with no warning. Themes and motifs built up over so many episodes are tossed aside as if they mean nothing.

The hand-to-hand fights are visually striking — the EPs’ strengths are in storyboarding, after all — but emotionally hollow, bereft of dialogue that could finally give us closure. Characters that would’ve once spoken openly with each other barely exchange a word; character-distinct dialogue is uttered by someone else, as though the VAs mixed up the scripts in the recording booth.

To achieve the emotional heft required for a meaningful resolution, there must be echoes of the story’s beginning. But when the beginning is negated—underscored by a timeskip that resets the entire playing field—there’s nothing to refer back to. The events now are happening in a void, divorced from the themes and motifs that created the emotional context in the first place.

This is by design; the EPs’ vision has never matched with the story as it was told to this point. They can’t go back, so they’ve rebooted. Once with the timeskip, and again with a two-parter episode that introduces new characters that can be entirely their own. Compared to the protagonists, these secondary characters have been lavished with attention to the point of overload: full names, backstories, designs. All of of that, and the time required to introduce them is to the detriment of the actual protagonists.

Whatever story VLD ostensibly set out to tell, that story is gone, now.

This is no longer a matter of losing track of the story, such that the promised peaches have transmuted into pine trees. We passed that point somewhere in S6. The EPs have burnt down the orchard to plant new seeds, while doing their best to ignore the charred stump of the story we'd been promised.

I would've preferred peaches, myself. That was the story I was promised, and that was the fruit I expected from everything I saw onscreen. But now?

I hope you like carrots.

#vld #voltron #storytelling #analysis #sol thinks about stuff

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phantoms-lair · 6 years

Text

Just finished the Be Cool Scooby Doo Finale and I have some thoughts

(This is going to have spoilers for it, obviously)

Now, my feelings on this incarnation of Scooby Doo have always been mixed. They’ve done some stuff I really loved and some stuff I absolutely loathed (Not counting the art style, which I think even the Artists didn’t like, judging by how they tried to get away from it as much as they could with the backgrounds, monsters, etc.)

But the 2 part finale, Professor Huh I liked. I liked it a lot. It could have gone the Mystery Incorporated route so easily. Fred’s family situation in MI contained some of the darkest most twisted parts of the darkest Scooby Doo incarnation ever, from finding out his father was a treasure hunter who had kidnapped him as a baby to the clusterfuck that was his biological parents. It seemed so much of the series was designed to hurt Fred. And the revelation that Fred’s Dad was the most feared inmate in a maximum security prison, a criminal who committed incomprehensible crimes and only communicated through a hand puppet, could have gone that route so easily.

But it didn’t. Instead of being a paradigm breaking shock, this was an old wound for Fred, albeit one he’s perhaps never fully come to terms with. And I was very pleased with Daphne’s echoing of my own thoughts “Oh, now you make sense.” because this does explain a lot about Fred’s own behaviors. More so the longer I thought about it.

(under cut, this got long)

One thing I love was, no matter how much Fred would deny it to Rose or anyone outside the gang, it was obvious he still loved his father very much, he just didn’t know how to deal with him. And Donald Jones/Professor Huh clearly loved him too, as we discover, much like Sirius Black, he broke out of jail for the sole purpose of protecting his son. Also the vulnerability Fred’ shows to the gang. Voicing aloud the fear that he might be as crazy as his father couldn’t have been easy, and was likely something he’d been dreading since early childhood. The fact that he could trust them with it was touching.

Unfortunately for Fred, despite Shaggy’s comment to the contrary, I think there’s some truth in it. In MI Both Ex-Mayor Jones and Brad and Judy Chiles were driven by greed. And while Jones would chose his son’s life over his greed (as opposed tho the Chiles who psychologically tortured their son) both put their greed before his happiness. Unlike them, Professor Huh was not motivated by greed at all. He got nothing material out of his crimes, nor were they based in revenge. His motive was never stated, but I think I can make a guess.

I think Donald Jones suffered from a variant of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. That his crimes (which were nonviolent nor, as stated, for material gain) were compulsions. (Why the compulsions took the form of unintelligible and impossible crimes I’ll get to in a bit.) I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he chooses a hand puppet to talk through and his costume involves a hand on the back of his head. When he’s acting out on his compulsion, he’s a puppet, not in control of his actions. He may have responded well to therapy, given his awareness, but he didn’t get that and after all this time its probably going to take a lot of work to bring Donald Jones back to who he was. I think in some ways he’s trying, It was established early on the Professor Huh only communicated through his hand puppet, but we hear him speak otherwise throughout the episodes, but only to Fred and his friends. The sentences are non sequiturs with no relation to anything happening, but I think it’s him trying.

And though it manifests very differently, I think Fred has his own obsessions and compulsions he’s dealing with, specifically centered on solving mysteries and making the world make sense. It’s why Cutler knew that he could take advantage of Fred by dangling a mystery in front of him, when all logic and reason would dictate Fred catching him and turning him in. Because he knew when it came to mysteries Fred physically couldn’t help himself. Not that Fred is aware his thought processes are anything but sane and normal. He doesn’t recognize his own obsession for what it is (Which in retrospect makes me a little less mad at him about the Christmas episode. He wasn’t able to properly recognize Daphne’s problem until he’d dealt with his compulsion to solve a mystery)

In the end, though. Fred’s manages to accept his father as he is. The hand puppet scene was such a good one. It both acted as a bookend to the series, the puppets being introduced in episode one, and demonstrated Fred’s sincere desire to reach out to his father.

While Professor Huh has difficulty expressing himself in an understandable manner, he is easily able to understand the world around him. Fred could have simply said what he wanted. Using the puppet was a bigger message of acceptance than any words could have been. And it reached him. “It’s time I turned myself in” and “But you love the Mystery Machine” were normal sentences relative to the situation, the first time we’ve heard Professor Huh do that.

They may be on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of order and chaos, but they love each other very much.

As for the why of the crazy nature of Professor Huh’s crimes, we see it in the barber scene, as for the first time ever Shaggy and Scooby’s ruse is turned back on them. When Professor Huh requests them to use a croissant to put his eyebrows on his shoulders, it’s obviously a nonsensical request, typical of the character, right up until he demonstrates on Shaggy and Scooby.

Be Cool had come the closest to calling out what I’ve dubbed Crack Theory A, that Shaggy is a wizard and unaware if it. The thing is, Donald Jones warps reality too, if anything on a larger scale. And I think that’s the problem. Fred describes his father as “...a great father. A computer engineer and one of the most rational people on the planet.” In Goblin King we saw Velma have a total blue screen as being confronted with the supernatural being real. Imagine how much worse she would have reacted if she’d discovered it was real by discovering she was a witch?

Donald Jones pushed the fabric of reality, because he wanted it to push back. He was a man who believed in logic and science and discovered he could ignore them. It’s why his crimes, which were public and elaborate left no clues, they were done with magic. They defied logic and reason, like hotglueing multivitamins to the ceiling of military helicopter carriers, suspending a cruise ship between two buildings, and leaving messages via a llama chewing on a note that would finish eating it the moment it was done being read. They made no sense because there was no objective, other than being as random as possible.

And here’s the kicker. I think Fred’s magic too.

Yes it sounds insane. This is the most ration and grounded we’ve seen since the seventies. Why on earth would I think he’s magic?

The

Mother

Fucking

Mystery

Machine

This isn’t even all it’s forms. Not to mention the built in forensics lab. almost all of which is controlled by a button Fred has on a key fob. Button. Singular. And it can be any mode, or he steer it with ease. And yeah, it didn’t attach itself to a mecha, it unfolded into one. The Mystery Machine must be the most enchanted item in the world.

Fred, however, is even less aware he could be magic than Shaggy (since Shaggy at least joked about it) and I don’t think his father would tell him, if indeed that was what was responsible for his own issues.

Actually there’s one more instance that Fred might be magic aside from the Mystery Machine. The sock puppet Fred was made by Daphne in the first episode. It’s the simplest type of puppet, it can talk and waggle it’s arms, but nothing like changing expression. It’s has those serious eyebrows from the moment of it’s introduction. Except in one scene

Here’s it’s got a more gentle expression

Matching Fred’s own as he uses it to tell his father he loves him,

#Scooby Doo #Be Cool Scooby Doo #I have thought way too hard about this #And spent too much time writing it #I may lay down for a bit

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fetus-cakes · 6 years

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Xenomorph biology

A conversation I had with @palavengarden about how the xenomoprhs from the Alien franchise reproduce, any additions are welcome

fair warning, xenomorphs reproduce by injecting their parasitic larva into live human beings and the whole franchise is very unsubtle about this being rape and forced pregnancy, so the discussion is about this topic

charlie: okay but so here is the thing i still dont understand tho even just doing the first 2 movies the queen lays an egg the egg lays penis vagina deepthroat rape crab the penis vagina deepthroat rape crab lays a smaller egg the smaller egg hatches into a tiny screaming snake which hatches AGAIN and then runs away then suddenly there is a 9 foot tall 15 foot long black monster that wants to eat humans then it takes a nap then if its on a planet instead of in space it wakes from its nap and eats everyone on the planet? builds a house in the warmest place available somehow a queen happens in all this fetus: ok think of it as an insect life cycle egg > larva > nymph > full grown adult likewise, xenomorphs only have one egg everything else is metamorphosis of the same body face rape crab BECOMES chest embryo charlie: no, cuz the rape crab dies after throat fucking you fetus: chest embryo leaves host body and BECOMES full grown adult no it doesn't die it's a shell it MOLTS like cicada shells or tarantula shells heck or a snake skin charlie: okay so egg hatch into a crab crab lives for literally 20 seconds then pukes its self down your throat? fetus: face rape crab is a discarded shell think of the embryo as being inside the crab the crab must stay attached to the face for a few hours to complete the transfer of the embryo charlie: i will resentfull accept this but still 2 more questions 1. why is it that the screamign snake inside the chest doesnt seem to eat anything? it just wants to curl up and take a nap while it grows bigger. the person usually keeps walkign around and just gets a little winded when it sits on their lung fetus: GOOD QUESTION charlie: 2. where does the queen happen in all this fetus: I HAVE ANSWER the embryo needs to stay inside because it's EATING this is where alien will get it's food and if it's a drone, all it will ever eat charlie: you would THINK so but no one seems to know they are chest bursted though the only time ive seen that seemed like maybe their insides were being eaten was in the avp book fetus: because they have been injected with what is basically painkillers charlie: everyone else justs seems fine fetus: this is why the transfer from crab to chest is delicate because the embryo is vulnerable it's to the embryos best interest to NOT be removed before it's ready charlie: the face crab is injecting painkillers or the screaming snake? fetus: face crab injects painkillers into HOST there is a period of time between transfer of embryo and embryo being ready to hatch that the host might be walking around it's for the embryos best interest to not be detected charlie: okay so... the face crab throat fucks you, and its just spitting crazy amoutns of pain killer down your gullet and once your insides are all the way numb and youre a little loopy it pukes the screaming snake into you and since your insides are fucked up with painkiller you dont feel it chomping down and can just continue about youre time, no issue walking and no numb tongue or throat until it breaks yoru sternum, which you CAN feel fetus: you got it charlie: dumb but fine fetus: painkillers are probably not strong enough to prevent someone from noticing their ribcage breaking charlie: i wish that it made your tongue and throat numb fetus: ok so; face rape crab grabs victim, sedates them, transfers embryo and pumps the victim's bloodstream full of anesthesia charlie: okay i accept that grumpily, but i accept it fetus: when transfer is finished the crab falls off and the victim might think they survived charlie: makes sense More or Less fetus: lol why so grumpy charlie: i still think the face crab looks like a whole different animal, not a cicada shell fetus: metamorphosis man ok so the QUEEN charlie: QUEENS AND DRONES PLEASE fetus: the queen is modeled after ants, bees and termites, so it's a similar process: certain larva are selected by the drones and given the equivalent of Royal Jelly so they'll grow up being able to reproduce like all larva have the POTENTIAL to become queens but only the ones introduced to royal jelly will all others become drones or warriors charlie: okay BUT i know a LOT about bees basically all bees a female with a small handful of stupid males fetus: xenomorphs are technically all females since they all have the potential to become Queens but I guess you could say drones and warriors are sexless and only queens are true females charlie: okay so in alien 2 the one single xenomorph did the whole facehugger THING and scurried away, as normal living in the vents or whatever why did it become a queen and who fucked it to get it to lay eggs? you need at least 2 and you need something to make a queen fetus: WAIT WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN I don't remember that charlie: so just one egg hatched and attached to the dad on the planet, right? and he got evacc'd to the town (or whatever that was) we know from experience that it probably chest bursted within a few hours and scurried into the vents so we should have had 1 drone just eating people unable to lay additional eggs fetus: drone probably went back to mother ship for more eggs it was within walking (driving) distance charlie: and like... carried them? and put them close to humans? fetus: yeah, why not? drones are ONLY concerned with taking care of eggs and queen charlie: then when that one hatched you have 2 drones hell, I'll bet this drone captured humans but them somewhere they couldn't escape and then put the eggs around them ensuring more births did they just by hand carry a shit ton of eggs to the colony until one of them coincidentally was a queen, or did they have to DO something? fetus: royal jelly charlie: okay where tho fetus: whatever the xenomorph equivalent is charlie: okay so in bees fetus: I dunno how they make xenomorph jelly, maybe it's a hormonal excretion drone #1 went and made more drones, until they had enough to make the royal jelly and made a queen charlie: okay fine i checked with the bee expert i remembered royal jelly wrong fetus: what did you think royal jelly did? charlie: no i know what it DOES but i was remembering ti as 'the queen spits out royal jelly, gives it to every single baby, but if she gives a LOT of it to one then it becomes a queen' but no, its something young bees make charlie: all of them so when a young bee hatches and wanders over to the nursery to take care of its sisters its spits a little royal jelly on all of them so yeah okay fine fetus: oh I was remembering royal jelly wrong too then I thought it was scarce charlie: 1 human gets face hugged, the xenomorph goes back to the eggs which it can probably smell on the wind, carries one close to humans, then when the baby hatches and hides in the vents he vomits a bunch of royal jelly in its mouth and it just doesnt stop growing until its a full queen fetus: there you go :D charlie: only possible if its a female xenomorph, though, because every bee you will ever see is always a female the males literally only exist to fuck yougn queens (and die doign it) the queen still couldnt lay eggs though theyd have to just hope that one of the eggs in that ship was male already fetus: oh? why not? charlie: male bees dont fuck the queen in their own hive, thats their mom they are supposed to go out and find virgin queens fetus: well what's to stop xenomorph from being like clownfish and changing their sex based on environmental factors? charlie: the virgin queen fucks one single time then uses that one single time to lay eggs forever fetus: heck, normally I peg aliens as being like whippet lizards: they have developed an entire reproductive cycle without males charlie: because clownfish dont have HIVES fetus: they have harems if I remember correctly though you're right, they DO something to avoid incest charlie: look i spent like 3 months learnign everything about bees and i came out afraid of bees, okay i wanna know what xenomorphs do fetus: HEY I'M LOVING THIS CONVERSATION MAN charlie: technically anyone from that ship would be part of the same 'hive' so they probably wouldnt fuck them though they may well not CARE fetus: THIS IS LITERALLY MY FAVOURITE TOPIC charlie: ;) lets see... okay so to do yours and it woudl make sense it would just be very alien (ha) egg is born, egg is female egg hatches, is female egg develops inside host, is female hatchest again as female a secondary adutl female spits on it, its a queen lays additional egg no sperm anywhere here but MAYBE maybe if the QUEEN spits on a baby it can become male? because the queen oughtta not be able to have any babies until shes fucked shes a virgin queen so maybe the first helper xenomorph catches a human, brings it to the nest holds the human in place THE QUEEN SPITS IN THE HUMAN then when the egg gets lain in the human it eats both human meat and queen spit the queen spit neutrtalizes the painkillers (hence why people in those weird tar traps always seem in pain, where people walkign aorudn with chest bursters seem fine) but the queen spit makes it be born male it fucks her (incest but whatever, aliens) NOW she can lay a million babies ofrever and they capture more humans to make more males thats why its usually a room with only like a handful of humans stuck in it, because you onyl need a couple males after that i think my only leftover complaint is that the babies grow too fast and also nothign seems to eat, a lot of them seem to just murder for fun rather than food fetus: YOU CRACKED THE CODE well, it's established in the first movie that at the very least, alien embryos inside humans drink their blood like a fetus would it's quote possible they eat their organs too so a gestating embryo will take a LOT of resources from its human host and this is actually true to life too: there are several insect, especially fly, species where the maggots will spend their entire time eating but the adults lack an actual digestive tract so alien embryos spend all the time inside the host eating charlie: i probably need to see 1 again, its been a couple years i think fetus: in Alien one, after John Hurt wakes up, he shows signs of pregnancy: he's hungry and nauseous and Ash says he looks anemic charlie: im just thinking about the guy thta chest bursted in 1, how he was walkign around and laughing and felt fine before he suddenly exploded which means to me that it didnt eat the heart or lungs, since he didnt spit up blood and probably slithered into his intenstines before chewing through and maybe going for his nutrient rich liver first its pretty BIG is the thing every bite could easily be fatal so it cant be biting anythign remotely important or he would just instantly die, or start coughing up blood, or lose the ability to walk oh, so i have to see 1 again fetus: I just made a theory; normally embryos would eat the entire host like wasp larva do but embryos are capable of sensing danger so when the embryo burst from John Hurts chest, it realized that it was surrounded by hostiles so it ran away instead of finishing eating him charlie: oh that could be! it would make sense like in Cubed she had hers in her chest for like... nearly a week fetus: because most chestbursters are born surrounded by drones and their hosts are immobilized but aliens are versatile creatures, so they're able to thrive even in less than ideal conditions heck, Alien 1 is probably the WORST case scenario for a drone: born away from the other eggs and the queen ooooh you're right queens have longer gestation period charlie: my strongest memory from 1 is that she put al lthat effort into blowing up the ship and it was getting hot and screaming and flashign lights and shes desperately running to the escape shuttle with her cat and once the place blows she realizes the xenomorph had curled up to take a nap in the only dark queiet place on the whole ship it didnt even seem that aggressive she put so much effort into killing it and its jsut like.. sleepy and slow moving like 'why you bulyl me' 'i am the baby' fetus: I KNOW!!!! I FUCKING LOVE THE FIRST MOVIE SO MUCH ALL THE PREGNANCY AND BABY IMAGERY USED FOR HORROR Alien 1 does a better job with pregnancy horror than a lot of horror movies featuring actual human babies or demon babies and you're so right little drone in Ripley's ship just wanted to nap btw do you mind if I put our alien biology lesson into one post? charlie: go for it! have all the fun 'please, im trying to psyche myslef up to becomeing a queen or something, im lonely, im the baby, let me nap' fetus: I'm still laughing that you said Ellen is bullying the alien bully the murderous parasite charlie: SHE IS HE WAS TAKIGN A NAP NOT BOTHERIGN NO ONE he wasnt even hungry at that moment! fetus: he was lonely the loneliest xenomorph charlie: partner says that he thinks the baby is a normal parasite and curls itself up in the stomach, eating your food, until its too large to fit, then bursts out the chest maybe the 'dick' that comes out of the facehugger is the 'head' of the xenomorph and it just drops the rest of the body once its ready to and the reason you cant remove a facehugger is the baby latches on with teeth and fucks you up if you try to pull it off fetus: there you go I was thinking it was more of a tongue than a dick but yeah charlie: okay so random though imagine if when the baby hatched otu of that one dudes chest? what if instead of screamign at it they had said 'so cute!' 'welcome little baby!' ''i love you!' let it crawl up their arm put it in a soft warm little baby bubble in the medical ward gave it snacks and head pets it loves them then you have a 200 pound gigantic xenomorph monster within a few horus somehow who loves you and aggressively protects them FROM SPACE PIRATES fetus: ok but that thing just killed warrant officer Ash wait no, Dallas? what was John Hurt's character name KANE ok so warrant officer Kane is dead and the crew just adopts his murder baby? we go from RIP Kane to Kane? don't know her charlie: well the baby didnt MEAN to hatch from his chest its a baby fetus: the chest was just in the way

#alien #xenomorph #long post #fetus talks #fetus talks to Charlie

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shitfics · 6 years

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hi, im a fanfic writer who is trying to break into original fiction and publication. i noticed in the notes of one of your short stories that you were trying to write longer chapters. One of my favourite stories by you, One of These Nights is 90,000+ over 11 chapters. what kind of advice would you give to someone like me who struggles to break over 2,500 words per chapter? how can i work to make my chapters longer and still be interesting like yours? thank you x

Oh gosh, thank you so much! I'm hoping to break into original stuff too, and maybe get published, but don't have much hopes for it yet...still slugging away at my wip. ^^; It's sweet that you hold my stuff highly! And I'm sorry this got a bit long…I'm not good at being succinct when trying to talk about writing things, since I still feel so clueless myself. I’ve put most of the rambling behind a read more.

For me really, writing longer things has just taken time…not in the sense of taking time to write a story (tho obvs it does), but like, each thing I wrote naturally got longer and longer as I got more used to storytelling, I guess? At this point, I think everything I write is almost too long, so I'm wondering what story it was I wanted longer chapters on…lol. It was kinda like lifting weights in a way, lol…I took a long time before I could get to 90k, and you can kinda see how each story got longer and longer (copy and paste was 12k, synchronicity/book of blood were around 20k, da au was 40k in part one/60k in part 2, and the hyung au was 90kish).

Ofc I have a few breaks from that pattern, but those were kinda 'side projects' for fun that I wanted to keep short, like the esports ontae. Wherever you're at right now in terms of overall story length, I think writing regularly is the most important for building the "endurance" for longer stories and scenes -- and being as patient with yourself as you can about getting there is ideal. It’s a lot like working yourself up to lifting heavier weights, imo.(And full disclaimer though, my confidence/mental health wrt my writing is generally rock bottom, so I know it's not easy lol.)

Once I got into writing longer stories, I've kinda grown to see writing as having two kinda moods: gut-level writing, stuff you HAVE to get down and are dying to write, and the 'fill-in', less exciting parts or parts you really have to discipline yourself to get through.

For writing fic (especially shorter fic), I know I started with just gut-level writing. And for short stuff, that's generally all you need! I really struggled (and still kinda do) when I got to the point where that wasn't enough to fill in a long story, but I've kinda found a way of dealing it.

I don't know if it's a good habit, depending on how you work and how your ideas come about, but for me, I start by writing as much as possible for the scenes I do have fairly established in my head, then create an outline and fill in/revise the rest. It makes it easier for me to feel like I'm working off of inspiration and not just a rigid outline, so I get a good mix of the story/characters 'developing naturally' and 'not going entirely off the rails.' I will say that I think I struggle with endings because of it tho, since the 'gut-level' stuff for me rarely/never touches that part of the story. I usually have to outline to figure out where I want things to end up or what I want to show last.

For the your chapters question -- I'm not sure if by 'chapters' you might mean scene (since a lot of people break things up that way), or if you just mean in terms of other chapter divisions, but I'm gonna try and address both!

Personally, I don't really think in terms of chapters, if that makes sense? That part comes way later when I'm writing. Like right now, I'll be honest and say I don't have set 'chapter' divisions in my head yet for my wip, lol, tho the scenes might be long enough for stand-alone chapters. When I start a story (either with just inspiration or from an outline), it's a matter of scenes, and then after that, I figure out how many scenes I want in a chapter and what would feel "right" in terms of dividing them.

Usually, when I end a chapter it's either because it's an emotional high-point, it feels like a "natural" place to break (due to a jump forward in time for the next scene/resolution to a current conflict), or it's somewhere I need to change the point of view (if I'm writing a story with multiple). Like, for a high-point, I'd think of ending after the scene in hyung au where Jinki comes out, or in the esports thing, where ontae sleep together the first time. For "natural" break places, it's often a matter of time/resolutions, like…jongyu parting ways before jinki starts japanese promotions in hyung au, or in my current wip, them kinda breaking up for a few months after a fight. Pov changes for breaks are pretty self-explanatory and I could go on forever about how I try to pick which pov to use for a scene/chapter, but I think the most important thing is to use those breaks to avoid confusion.

As far as interest goes -- making sure scenes have enough "meat" to them without dragging can be hard, esp if you're trying to setup a plot. Imo, scenes are interesting when there's conflict or emotional high points of some kind (which can be a lot of different things). Once you figure out which of those you want in a scene, I think it gets easier to write around that. Like, to go back to hyung au, when Jinki came to visit Jong at Blue Night and they hung out after -- I started the scene just knowing I wanted Jinki to surprise him, because I thought that'd be cute.

So in thinking about what purpose the scene might serve to move things forward…I knew mood-wise I wanted to capture some more of the uncertainty of how to act around each other, now that they're both know the other is gay, have Jinki be torn between making a move/confessing and his fear of changing things for the worse, set them up for some messy revelation of feelings in the next scene, and ofc have them both be horny because how else are you gonna feel being around your crush for the first time in a month.

Once that was kinda setup in my head, it was easier to fill in what the characters say/how they act. Jinki flirts with Jong on air, because that's 'safe' (it can't go anywhere since they're in a studio and it'd be easy to dismiss as not serious since he's in Onew-mode), Jong is defs very

And as another note…. I just think some parts are always going to be difficult to write, because we all have different strengths when it comes to writing. Like, I hate writing setting descriptions, so I don't do it much and generally provide a bare-minimum for scene context -- but when I need more for the purpose of mood or plot or whatever, it feels like pulling teeth. Since it's such a miserable process for me, and that's so long, I assume that means it sucks or it's a real slog for whoever's reading it, but…they don't always correlate.

Not every part of a project is gonna be fun -- which sucks! -- but it's also why it's important to take mental breaks and imo, step away from your story at milestones. It's not great to make yourself miserable for writing, (I say while I doing just that most of the time), but I think going in with the knowledge that it IS going to be hard sometimes can help. The more stories you write, the more you'll be able to hone your instinct for like...if you're struggling because there's something wrong with the plot/scene/prose or if it's just because writing be like that sometimes.

Oof, this got too long, and I don’t even know how much of it is useful, but I hope it might help a bit? Thank you again for the compliment and best of luck with your writing!!

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