#moral of this very long story

[castshed]

I dunno if it's just the mental state talking or if maybe there's some truth behind what i've been thinking about since I got off work this morning....

But it truly feels like my time on this site might be more limited than I'd like it to be. Sure, there are some people that still seem like at least somewhat interested to entertain the thought or action of writing with me, but... the majority seeningly don't. Maybe it's my rules? Am I not lenient enough? Am I too weird 'cause of a simple lousy (kind of) fetish I have for taller women? I honestly don't get it.

I've been on this site consecutively for.... I have no idea how many years now. And sure, I've taken my breaks, some rather abruptly and unannounced, but they count... This feels different.

I usually have cycles where I want to do nothing but watch YouTube videos or tons of movies or start series' i've never gotten a chance to get to, or do nothing but play video games. But in the end I would always come back to writing.

Recently, I haven't wanted to do the latter. It just seems so... grueling, like a 9-5 job you don't wanna do but need to because it appeases some sort of agenda or just 'cause you have to pay bills on time and eat.

And trust me, I'm one of those people that doesn't see this site as a job, nor do I feel like writing is a chore. USUALLY.

But the lack of people's interest in things (idk if it's my muses-- me as a person) or the lack of reciprocation to things that take all but a few seconds to lift someone's spirits... has just really turned me off. (Not to mention broken notifications, the new dashboard - y'know all of Staff's TERRIBLE choices)

People also have jobs, I get it. Or school... kids, a life. This is truly something you do in your down time because you enjoy it and may have found the time to actually sit down and relax for once without the overbearing weight of other responsibilities holding you down - I just.. I honestly don't know anymore.

Now normally I wouldn't try and sound so much like a beggar or some kind of attention-seeking child, but is it so hard to send positivity in return sometimes? - Like I get that I may not be active 90% of the time lately, but at least I make the time and put in the effort to show that I care and still enjoy seeing actual people on my dash. - I always send it in and hardly get it back. And sure, maybe within the answer to my initial interaction there's something said. But that's more of a response than an actual attempted effort. At least, to me it is.

I also understand that I haven't been the best at replying to sent in memes, or asks in general, but that's because my muse has been at an all-time-low for ALL of my muses, save for like... ONE of my OCs (Sophie; though even now, I'll admit, she's kinda gone too.), and I get sick of staring at them, irritated that I can't muster up a SINGLE word to reply to any of them with... so eventually I delete them and hope to TRY from an empty slate.

I guess I just miss having that person or small group of people that I could count on all the time for things, regardless of our moods, what time of day it was, what we were doing -- etc. I've only ever been affiliated once, and... it probably wasn't the best choice. But the intentions at the time were nothing but good, and it wasn't heavily enforced, save for MAYBE a single ship, or two. Not having that security anymore just shakes things up too much and I guess it's one change that I could never get used to.

Regardless, the thoughts of this morning have me leaning toward either some kind of indefinite hiatus, or a massive reboot to start anew and maybe find a new place to settle. Those of you that want me around can keep me on discord and continue to chat with me there. But if not, and IF I do decide to go that route, I bid thee farewell and I hope for nothing but good luck in your future endeavors.

[thisisadonaldduckblognow]

all the rise boys get done dirty on characterization by fandom in different ways i think. (not ALL the time every fanwork etc etc these are just like, trends i tend to notice?) every fandom suffers from losing character nuance.

- leo i’ve talked about plenty on this blog, how some of his canon traits (genuine belief in his skill and cockiness, capacity for joy, his manipulativeness whether for good or ill) seem to get watered down or wiped off the board and supplemented with generic sad boy. his struggles with purpose and identity and not wanting to fail somehow morph into “he hates and completely holds no value for himself”

- donnie’s canon personality gets blurred out and largely replaced with whatever list of Neurodivergent Traits. and i think there’s such a fine line to walk between exploring a character that’s been word of god confirmed as on the spectrum and overwriting what’s canonically there. it’s a hard needle to thread. it also feels like a lot of his canon emotiveness gets left off the table for some reason. bc he does have his moments of flat/deadpan delivery, but a lot of the time he’s honestly very emotive. he has the passion of a theatre kid and the vindictiveness of... also a theatre kid. and the mind of a scientist.

- raph loses so much of his rowdy teen boy energy it’s kind of wild? like interpretations sand off that he’s also impulsive and can be reckless and dumb and LOVES fighting and roughhousing and isn’t the most eloquent person. suddenly there’s this pitch perfect soft boy big bro who would never hurt a fly and always says the exact right supportive thing and singlehandedly raised his 3 brothers (which simultaneously sands off all the nuance of splinter’s issues emotionally connecting with his sons and how that affected all of them). and like i LOVE raph, he’s so full of love and care and anxiety, he clearly has learned to put a lot of work into being aware of his strength and size. but there’s a difference you know?

- mikey is like. where raph gets overparentified by fanon, mikey gets over “family therapist”-ed IMO. the impulsiveness, the goofiness, the powerful emotions including a VERY powerful temper, the flat-out dumb teen boy choices... they get ignored. suddenly there’s this only very sweet and earnest boy who has read a hundred psychology books and runs group family therapy weekly or something. he is crying in his room bc leo and raph are arguing about something. which is so. he IS very sweet and can be very earnest and is full of love! he HAS come in with his opinions and unsolicited advice a couple of times and life coached for the greater good. but there’s a difference between what he does in canon and the role he gets in fanon.

[cupophrogs]

Little Guys!

@8um8le The sillies went shopping and made a friend!

I made this in Adobe Illustrator, so it's a little wonky and not as detailed as I wanted to make it, but fuck it took three days it's fine LMAO

[likeabxrdinflight]

tired of early 20-somethings acting like harry potter was never good or had no value in its day like shut the fuck up half of you weren't even there when it peaked

[specialagentartemis]

cannot believe this musical concept album gave me Real Feelings about a character from the Odyssey who appears, like, twice

[pettyprocrastination]

Idle Hands

Francisco Morales x Fem!Reader

My secret Santa gift for the ever lovely @floralpascal I do hope this follows your prompt well and that you enjoy it! Big thank you to @humanransome-note for being my editor+beta reader on this one at like 1 am lol. Also a huge thank you to @pedrostories for putting together this amazing event to begin with!!! <3

Summary: Frankie goes to you when he needs his clothes altered and each time has a revelation each time he sees you work. 

Warnings: fluff, light self doubt, lots of talk about hands I just really like hands okay. Friends to lovers babeyyyy

word count: 1.2k

________

     Frankie’s clothes never fit him right. 

     The sleeves of shirts hung just a touch too long on him, but going a size under meant they’d squeeze around the bulk of his shoulders in a way that made him worry it would tear (it did. On a first date, it was very embarrassing for him). Trousers either gaped at his waist or had to be rolled up at the cuff because they were made for somebody taller, not wider to properly fit his legs. 

     But he didn’t complain, it gave him a reason to see you. 

     “It’s because clothes used to be made for the body specifically.” You told him, needle in hand as you sat at a table and pushed it through the cuff of his pants. “Everything was tailor made to your measurements, but nowadays we just buy off the rack and hope it fits right.” 

     “Or we take it to our incredibly talented friend who hems our pants in return for dinner?” 

     Sometimes he hopes they don’t fit right, just so he can see you smile. 

     “Yeah, that’s always an option too.” 

     His mother has always told him that love was found in one’s hands. Holding the door open, taking their hand in yours when you crossed the street, the gentle cradling of their face when leaning in for a gentle kiss, it was everything. Small testimonies of love and care found in everyday moments that took root in the palms of a lover. 

     But Francisco's hands were scarred. His fingers were calloused from hard labor and would tremble until he curled them into fists and willed them to stop. They sweat horribly when he would get nervous, leading to him shoving his hands in his pockets and praying you never noticed. 

     If you did, you said nothing of it. 

     But his hands weren’t good for nothing, despite the fact he considered them too rough for handling gentle things like you and the way his fingers fumbled with his keys, he was still skilled. 

     It was his hands that put in the new lock on your door after a series of break-ins took place in your neighborhood. The same fingers that fumbled with your birthday present are nimble and quick with the screwdriver in hand as he reassures you that it’ll be alright. They're the same ones that held you the night you got stood up for a date and wiped the tears from your face as he told you any man who can’t show up for you isn’t worth your fucking time. The same hand that settles on the small of your back each time you walk through a crowd together, the gentle reminder of his presence when you felt everything else closing in. 

     I’m here. You're safe. 

     “These are new.”      “I’m sorry?” 

     You lift your head from your work table and hold up the pair of slacks in your hand he had brought for you to hem. All black with a fine finish, something you’d wear to a wedding. 

     The same pair he stared at in the store for fifteen minutes before finally biting the bullet.

     “The pants, I’ve never seen you wear them before.” 

     His hands curl, thumb pressing against the flat of his pointing finger until he hears a soft “pop” from the joint and moves to the next in hopes to keep his mind off the fact that your thumb is running along the inseam of one pant leg, a gentle back and forth, back and forth, that he’s not sure you even know you're doing it, but it's enough to make his lungs feel tight and head full of cotton. 

     “Right, they're uh, they're new.” 

     Middle finger. 

     Pop. 

     Ring finger. 

     Pop. 

     Pinkie. 

     Pop. 

     “They're real nice.” 

     “You think so?” 

     “You’ll look real sharp in those, Frankie. You got something special coming up?” You look beautiful. Your eyes are focused on your hands that weave the needle in and out of the fabric with such ease it reminds him of a conductor. There's something about it. The way your arm moves up and down, the gentle flick of your wrist when it pulls the needle through. Each separate movement that melts into one another like a connected dance. Maybe Frankie was just reading too much into it. Maybe it had just been far too fucking long since he went on a date and he was so starved he got to the point of romanticizing tailoring. Maybe he just really liked your hands. 

     Maybe, he just really liked you. 

     “Nothing in particular.” 

     You snip the end of the thread, tying it with quick flitting fingers before smiling at him over your shoulder. 

     “Well let me know when you do, I’d like to see you get all fancy.” 

     He scratches at the back of his neck. 

     “You just want a reason to get me out of my work clothes.” 

     There's a moment in every hug from Francisco Morales. From the moment you first met him to years later you can name it down to the very second it happens. A split second before he pulls away from you where his hand settles on your waist and curls in ever so slightly, squeezing you to his chest so softly that by the time you notice he’s already pulling away and telling you “have a good one.”

     It’s the moment you want to continue. For his hands to stay on your waist and keep him flush to your chest, where you’d finally find the bravery to mumble out those words you’ve kept locked away for the past four years because you don’t know what you’d do after there or. Or what he’d do. Christ, you don’t want to imagine it. 

     So instead you bite your tongue. You hold back the confession that’s been nested in the crevice of your ribs since you first met him and savor the feeling of his hands on your waist and the little “mmm.” he does every time you give him a hug that just makes you feel lightheaded.

     He’s halfway down the driveway when he stops in his tracks. Snipping something under his breath to himself before turning on his heel and pointing at you. 

     “Are you uh, are you free? This Friday?” 

     His hands were shaking. 

     “Yeah. Yeah, I’m free.” 

    So were yours. 

     “I was thinking we could get dinner. It’ll give me a reason to wear these, you know?”  He holds up the pair of pants in his hands and smiles. “Plus, I’ve been meaning to ask you out for a long time. I only have so many clothes for you to fix.” 

     Francisco learned that his hands were full of love. 

     His hands could pull out your chair, pour you wine with a steady grasp. They’ll gesture during conversation that seemed to last for hours and drape his coat around your shoulders in the night air.  Cradle your face when he kissed you goodnight and grip your waist when you pulled him in for another. They could hold you together and pull you apart all in the same night. 

     You saw the trembles in his fingertips without shame. Your lips pressed kiss after kiss to the rough skin of his palm without flinching and wrapped your hands with his each time you saw the world closing in on him, refusing to let go or be pushed away. 

     You saw his hands for what they were. An extension of the man they belonged to. One with scars and tremors that wouldn’t go away no matter how hard he tried to hide them. 

     But you held him nonetheless.

[igneouswyvern]

one of the things i love about zestiria is that it's not a classic chosen one story. they set it up like it is one in the beginning with the legends but in reality the only requirement is that the shepherd have high resonance so he can communicate with lailah and form the pact. there's no destiny there's no "chosen by the gods" it's just about being able to see seraphim. really the only thing that makes sorey special is that he grew up around seraphim instead of humans

and even further, the role of the shepherd isn't something you have to take. it's not "a calling" it's a choice. lailah makes a point of confirming with sorey that this really is something he wants to do. he could have refused if he wanted to and i think that's really interesting cause you see a lot of destiny stuff where the protagonist has to take it on and zestiria is really refreshing in that way

i really hate destiny type shit in my stories. and i love that zestiria doesn't do that

[constantineshots]

[anonomi]

sv_cheats 1

buddha

noclip

*goes into enemy spawn*

It is another beautiful round of pl_badwater and you are one unforunate Sniper.

You are standing among the shoulders of your teammates who bounce on their heels and chatter on and on about things you don't really care about. What's the point in asking about the weather? It never changes.

But you are bound by your duty, or by some otherworldly force that despises you as much as you despise it, to stand here in this spot right next to your Medic, who just won't stop jumping. Before you can turn and tell him that the squeaking of his boots and subsequent rattling of his backpack is more irritating than getting blown up, you see a dash of red in the corner of your eye. Something worth noting, considering you are firmly on BLU.

When you look, you almost wish you hadn't: sliding out of the walls like a mosquito materializing in your sight is, evidently, the RED Spy. He breaks space-time continum, crawling past the physical walls of spawn without so much as a grunt of exterion, all to plop himself down in the middle of your spawn. Only he doesn't drop.

He only hovers. Standing in the air. You eye him as does the rest of your team. You think he might be eyeing you back, but who knows what the hell goes on behind those vacant eyes of his. Not you, that's for sure.

The Voice in the ceiling sounds off and the gates open. You brace yourself.

Instantaneously the room erupts with a mixture of gunfire, explosions, and a lot of angry shouts. The RED Spy is nothing more than a cloud of hot ash and dark smoke. That is, until he surges to life.

You do the sensible thing and get the hell out of the way as he starts stabbing everybody. You run to the wall, as he is very occupied with shredding Heavy and Medic apart. This far, you can comfortably watch as your team dies over and over again at the hands of this, whatever this is.

"He always does this," Spy, who's drifted to your side, mutters. He looks at the proceedings with detached disdain. "But not without reason. What did you do?"

You roll your eyes at Spy, leaning over to dodge a stray arm from hitting you. Looks like Engineer's if the glove is anything to go by.

"What do you mean, what did I do? I was just standing here," you defend yourself. He thinks that just because you can instantly kill the RED Spy it's always your fault whenever he decides to mess with your team. As if he can't do the same. Damn spies.

"Really? Because I can remember three, no, five distinct times last round where I watched him get his head blown off. In a row."

You wince. Okay maybe he has a point there, but "It's my job."

Spy kicks at Engineer's arm. "We're supposed to be on Normal mode, not Expert. Hold yourself back or he's going to turn all of us into medics again or worse."

Spy shudders as he relives the day that the team has agreed to pretend never happened. "Take us to that blasted Smissmas map."

You don't think that map is so bad, lots of good sightlines, but the RED Spy's presence steals your attention before you can retort. You turn and there he is in all his blood-soaked, shambling glory. You can barely tell where the red of his suit ends and where the blood begins. Not that it matters to distinguish, since he's stalking towards you, vacant eyes watching you with predatory focus.

Spy swears. "See you around." And there he goes, running away under his cloak. The bastard. You are barely given enough time to curse him out before the RED Spy is on you.

After a few minutes or an hour, the time is lost in-between dying over and over, you finally wake up and stay alive longer than a few seconds. You blink and look around the spawn room. There is a lot of blood, but no spy.

"Is it over?" you ask. You falter. To your horror, instead of your rough and gravelly voice to greet your ears, it's a hideous velvety tone with an accent you can't shake. You look down and the floor is too close, but more importantly, you are wearing gloves. Calfskin gloves.

You are a spy. You look around to see the rest of your team has similarly metamorphized into spies. You can barely tell them apart, a horrid mix of fancy clothes and masks.

You fall to your elegant knees, holding your head in your hands. Of all the nine classes why, why? You look up at the ceiling but it isn't the Voice who answers you: before your eyes He descends from the ceiling once again, but this time he isn't a spy.

You look into the RED Pyro's vacant eyes as he readies his flamethrower. Not for the first time you wonder what you did to deserve this. Like always, there is no answer, only sizzling fire and white hot pain.

(later, when you are firmly back in your body and the seemingly endless cycle of the war rotates once more, you ignore Spy's advice and target his counterpart over and over. it's only fair.)

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

I have a spidersona but i feel i won't get accepted because I ship her with Miles...🤦🏾‍♀️

Honestly GO FOR IT - like RUN AT IT

The best part and root of fanfiction is exploring and expanding on parts of the character we don't get to see on screen. And OCs are THE BEST at doing that.

SO DO IT. GO FOR IT no matter who you are!!

TBH I've always been rather meh about canon couples because like.. I know they're gonna end up together so I don't really crave things like fanart for them.

To me Canon Couples are like a jumpscare. If I know it's coming it's gonna get less of a reaction.

That's why a lot of my Spidey-writing pre-ATSV is about dancing around MJ and keeping her platonic. I much prefer Felicia Hardy (The Black Cat) because she challenges Peter's character in a way we don't often see.

The same goes for SpideyPool too. It's so cute because Spidey is nice to everyone, but REALLY sassy with Wade.

Relationships and OCs can bring out so much color and variety in a character, that like...they're so useful writing wise. Not just in a fanfic sense, but expanding your writing.

AND I AM NOT ABOVE KILLING OFF CANON CHARACTERS - DO IT FOR THE ANGSTTTT and for the indulgence I'm genuinely surprised I haven't seen anyone kill off Gayatri and ship an OC with Pavitr cause like...nothing stopping you. That's a great fic opportunity.

And if Hobie gets a Mary-Jane: hell yeah I'd kill her in a heartbeat NO MERCY idgaf how happy she makes him and im deadass!!!! fjgdgjdgh

I will ALWAYS say OCs are the best writing practice, far beyond canon stuff. Because not only are you writing canon characters, but you're shaping and filling in gaps in your story, and reflecting how characters react when a whole new influence (your OC) is brought into the situation.

OCs ARE MY LIFEBLOOD OKAY -

I know you didn't ask for this but

OFF-TOPIC SIDEBAR: Adults can ship their OCs with Minors - That's literally how all writing works

[below is a short rant where I beef about people who say 'Adults shouldn't ship their OCs with teenagers' - spoiler alert: EVERY minor ship in media is written by an adult.]

One final sidebar before I go cause I feel like this is such a weird thing people have beef with -

I find it SO WEIRD when people are like 'Oh adults shouldn't ship or write their OCs with minors that's weird and nasty'

Like ?????????? ?? ???? ?? Think about that sentence.

So. Who you think wrote the movie then? You telling me a minor wrote ATSV?? They had a 16 year write the movie??

Or did an adult do it? Like how adults wrote literally every minor relationship you've watched..since the begininning of time?? Cause like - Wasn't....Gwen & Miles romance written by an adult?? Am I missing something?????

Stranger Things. Wednesday. Riverdal?? The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Leonardo and April?? MCU Spiderman 1, 2, AND 3???

TWILIGHT??? ALL teens dating, written by an adult. JOHN GREEN FAULT IN OUR STARS?? HELOO??

Like.........99.5% of the relationships about minors you read is written by adults. Almost EVERY ship of fictional minors are written by an adult shipping their characters together sfhkjghkjdfgshkjdg

Are we arresting people for that now cause if so put the writers of Euphoria IN CUFFS and put a curse on their land!!!!!

idk it's just funny logic to me cause like ?????? my sibling in christ you are enjoying the adult written minor relationship as we speak djkgfdgjkf

"Don't write your OC in love with Miles, the only adult that can do that is the dozens of adults in the writers room getting paid to do just that, most of which didn't create Miles or Gwen themselves"

umm.. ok.

Make OCs, ship them, explore character relationships, WRITE. Ship them with canon characters, talk about your OCs like they're canon, let them build relationships and grow within the story nobody can stop you.

And last point honestly saying adults can't write stuff like that - HORRIBLE writing advice. HORRIBLE.

Because if you're a writer who can only write adults and you leave younger people out of your story - or you write teenagers as adults because you have no experience writing them... not a good look. How do you expect to write a character arc with a character that doesn't age or go through stages of their lives? You need range to write all ages. Half of romance movies out there start with them falling in love as kids and reuniting, you need to know how to write people at different stages of life. Telling adults they can't write anyone below 18 is just...not good advice. Like you can't just...refuse to write a large part of the population??

N E Wayyyyyy Once again this became a rant lol but this isn't like an angry one, it's like a '???why is the statement??? why it exist when it make no sense'

here hobie look at him wooo

hes so sassy looking :3 i love him his shape up is so nice

Bye.

[lord-squiggletits]

Also I'm just gonna say that even if it were true that Rodimus was a """""true Prime"""" and Optimus wasn't, that isn't as much of an L for Optimus as people seemingly want it to be.

Like so you're telling me Optimus was never a chosen hero and the burden of the Matrix/leadership pained him morally, emotionally, and physically, yet he still survived 4 million years of war?

You're telling me he wasn't God's Designated Special Boy but he still tried his best to live up to that impossible ideal to the point of developing serious depression and suicidal ideation as a result of so much goddamn loneliness and self-doubt?

Optimus wasn't a "true Prime" and yet he still believed in ideals of reconciliation and ending the cycle of violence? He wasn't a true Prime but he still stayed on Cybertron trying to fix a broken, broken society while also trying to stop Earth from being invaded for a second time? He didn't even need to do that he could've just stayed in exile which he was originally supposed to do all along, and which he would've personally preferred?? You're telling me that Optimus wasn't Primus' Specialest Boy And Chosen Leader and yet he stepped into leadership anyways bc he perceived that there was injustice to be fixed??

Wow yeah I guess Optimus is just such an inferior leader, clearly his actual actions/moral character as person don't matter and his "worthiness" should be judged solely on whether the Magic Cybertronian 8 Ball liked him or not.

[reel-fear]

people who still make Joey the ink demon despite canon steering far away from that being the case this is for you I am sending u kisses XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO <3

People who make Joey well-meaning, sympathetic, a lighter shade of morally grey than canon I am also sending u lots of love <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3!!

And people who generally steer wildly from the direction Bendy takes with its characters and has fun with it I hope to see more from all of ur aus and rewrites!!

[anghraine]

It's interesting that Tumblr is so fixated on the critical importance of people being soft and nice, often arguing that this is more significant morally than any other quality. I think part of this is a reaction to preoccupation with looks or a vaguely cringe prioritization of intelligence, but it's still pretty strange to me.

I say "interesting" and not just "annoying" because ... a certain baseline of niceness is morally obligatory or you're being an asshole, sure. But that bar is not super high, IMO. And what I really find intriguing is the relative lack of conversation around the limits of niceness.

There's the calculated "niceness" of the Nice Guy(TM) whining about being friendzoned, but I'm only talking about the real deal—people who are nice either out of good nature or conscious effort. It's not that this is secretly bad or something. It is good! But I do think the extreme emphasis on it is pretty misguided.

The thing is, it is 100% possible to believe vile things and still be personally pleasant. Some people are just naturally personable or prize niceness as a cultural or individual value, and will be thoughtful and courteous to strangers while also convinced of the evils of [insert any number of minorities here]. I grew up in conservative rural communities in the United States and was brought up Mormon, so I am extremely familiar with the "nice if you can ignore the bigotry" phenomenon.

Being nice in a day-to-day way does not preclude being a pretty awful person in other ways, actively promoting systematic oppression, or just being inoffensive but fairly vacuous. People's intellectual thought processes and convictions do matter more than ~softness, IMO. And I have fairly severe anxiety and get privately very upset when people seem at all hostile IRL, which it's easy for me to read them as being (social anxiety+autism, yay!). Nevertheless, while I appreciate it when people are nice, I ultimately respect intellectual convictions far more.

Many of the people I love most have iffy manners or are charismatic in a ... very forceful way, but part of why we get on so well and I care about them so much has to do with their convictions, the thought processes that lead to those convictions, and how they apply thought, reasoning, and belief in general. It's not that I interrogate people about their convictions on meeting them, but ... if you're at all committed, they become apparent. And I've found that I'm very drawn to intense people who share my basic ideological beliefs and principles and are intellectually engaged with them, even if their manners are not particularly inviting.

In that sense, yeah, I do think intelligence matters more than niceness. Someone being nice tells me that the person is nice in at least this particular context, but very little about them as people. Many people are nice but bigots, or nice but privately abusive, or nice but vacuous, or nice but undependable, or whatever. It is more important to respect a friend, family member, or partner's fundamental character and lines of thought than to find people who are merely nice.

[waywardsalt]

Hi! I hope you’re doing good in life.

What do you think of a phantom hourglass remake? Tbh I don’t know how they could remake it without basically remaking it from the ground-up. It would probably play more like windwaker, which I see as a both a good and bad thing. On the one hand, if it was more like windwaker a lot more people would probably play and it would be more popular since I know the touch controls were a turn off for most people for both Spirit Tracks and Phantom hourglass. But on the other hand, remaking it to be more like windwaker would make the game lose some of it’s previous identity. Like, Phantom hourglass was so unique because of the touch controls and the puzzles you can make and solve by having two screens and touch controls. And it was so nifty and handy to be able to write notes on your map. Idk, I still would like it to be remade in general even if it ends up a basically different game, but I wouldn’t change the story or the characters, especially Linebeck. The only other change I would make is the music. Phantom hourglass had rather weak themes, mainly because they re-used the same theme for the islands and the dungeons. The only songs that were really good were the few orginal tracks made for the game, so Linebeck’s theme, Oshus’s theme, both Bellum boss battle themes and the and that music that plays when you first follow the Ghost Ship. But what would you want out of a phantom hourglass remake?

Hey, I’m doing good, and I hope you are too!

I’ve thought a bit about a possible Phantom Hourglass remake, but not too much recently. I don’t really know if I’d want one, since you’d lose a lot of what really makes it special, and you can still play it through other means. I’m personally fond of the graphics and the music- yes, even the dungeon theme has grown on me- so I don’t really want a remake too badly, especially since I fear any additions/changes they might make with story or characters in a remake. The touch controls make it, and playing it on pc recreates that feeling decently well, but I don't think it'll be just the same if you had to control it with joysticks or anything.

Not to mention, there's so much emphasis on having the two screens, too, not just for map stuff, but almost every single boss had a mechanic related to the top screen! I have no fucking clue how you'd replicate that very well on something like the switch without just fucking with the mechanics altogether.

I would kill to hear some of Phantom Hourglasses tracks be orchestrated or otherwise rearranged in a higher quality. I wouldn't want any of the more notable themes altered in any way, no adding or removing of melodies and only very very small changes to the instrumentation, but I think it'd be neat to see what could be done with dungeon themes. I think a while back I had a fleeting desire to write some short tracks for each dungeon, with some ideas like mostly using instruments heard in Bellum's themes for the dungeons while each individual one gets a leading instrument unique to and reflective of the dungeon, while the Ghost Ship maybe gets a song that's a bit of a expanded version of the fog theme, while the Temple of the Ocean King could have slightly different themes the further in you got, starting with instruments more common to Oshus's theme or the great sea theme, while the further in you got the more instruments from Bellum's theme would be heard, plus some harpsichord thrown in for the hell of it.

Leave the original dungeon theme for stuff like the minor pyramids and some larger cave areas, idk. It's grown on me.

I think the only story rearranging I'd want is mayyyyybe unfridging Tetra? You could very easily shuffle some things around with her and just not damsel her for the whole game and honestly it'd still go off perfectly without a hitch. But you'd still have to deal with the World of the Ocean King being a whole other world, so either bring her and her crew in and have them as wandering ship npcs (the better idea) or just leave them out (not a good idea) but either way it's better than what they actually did. I just don't think I'd want it to switch to Tetra being a major reoccurring character tbh, the main character dynamics in PH are good as they are.

I think I like Phantom Hourglass too much as it is to really want a remake at all. I'd rather we get something like an anime adaptation. That's what I think about more. Give me animated Phantom Hourglass with some fun takes on the dungeons and fights and some fun slice of life stuff with the group between the islands what I want is a Phantom Hourglass anime

[jasontoddenthusiastt]

no because i read the first like, four chapters of the outlaws webtoon and was immediately like "haha, no?? why is jay acting like bruce never thought of him as his son? why does this author have it out for b so bad?". i'm glad to know i made the right choice if it just got worse

I could understand the ‘wow, I guess I never really found a family with Bruce if this is just always how it’s going to be with him’ mindset, especially if Bruce was being particularly cruel with him.

[ Batman and Robin #20 (2011) ]

He can be cruel. Exploring Jason’s thought process, how he resolves this in his mind and comes to forgive Bruce again and again is something they could have at least touched on. Instead, they not only did nothing new to move the disagreement forward, but they also muddied it further, in a bad way. If they want to complicate (or worse, attempt to resolve) Jason and Bruce’s decades long conflict, that should be a separate comic entirely.

They could have just had Jason cut Bruce off completely (even if temporarily) with the set-up they had, but they did nothing with it (even though they could have avoided the mess they made if they took this route).

Bruce again does something unforgivable to Jason (but now his friends get fucked over too), only for there to be a half-assed make-up conversation that didn’t really address the real issue, and then there’s no further mention of it. Bruce put the outlaws in a simulation for months without their knowledge, and the conversation Bruce had with Jason later wasn’t even about this. Screw Artemis and Bizarro, I guess. They’re expendable because the core conflict is actually about Jason and Bruce.

I wouldn’t say the bad Brucie moments are too ooc based on how he is in canon. The abuse, and him being big on mass surveillance/never trusting anyone while being the one to repeatedly betray other people’s trust. It’s just all the other characters being so tolerant/accepting of his actions is kinda funny, it’s almost like they’re NPCs lol. But also again why are Bruce’s trust issues which cause a strain on his relationship with Jason a main theme in the outlaws book lmao

Ultimately what this webtoon did was take every irritating plot from Jason’s canon appearances, amplified them tenfold, and mixed in even more unresolved plotholes and horrible mis characterizations.

[thievesandtraitors]

This is going to be a long post, but it's just me explaining a funny thing that happened to me which then turned into an interesting conversation with my best friend.

To preface this--no one was offended, not me, not my boss, not my friend, no one. It was actually a funny interaction that happened, but I wouldn't have fully seen it in this particular way I'm going to describe, had it not been for my friend. Again, my boss is a very cool, kind, funny, personable man. But, he also is still...a man. So, onto the story.

My job is in the kind of industry where, much to my dismay, a lot of business happens on golf courses. We're constantly in tournaments, our partners want to discuss projects, work, potential opportunities, etc etc while playing a round of golf. And I, unfortunately, know how to play golf. I've done it since I was a kid, competed in high school (wasn't the best, but wasn't the worst), I just hate the sport. I hate everything about it. And I told my boss when he asked, "yes, I know how to play, but I really, really don't like it." Now, am I going to have to play? Yes. But generally how these tournaments work it's much easier and much more fun than competitive golfing. But, I digress.

So it's one evening and my boss invites me to go hit some golf balls at the range. I say yes because it meant I didn't have to go to the gym, and it was a gorgeous day outside. So we show up and we start at the chipping area. (For those who don't know golf, chipping is referring to the area just outside of the green. It's a very, very short distance and its just practicing short hits up onto where the flag/hole is. So, not hard). But he's giving me some pointers about where to place the ball in my stance, relative to the slope of the ground, yada yada. And I grew up an athlete; I'm coachable, I listen whenever someone is giving me direction, so I take in what he's saying and do as he suggests. At first, I thought it was kind of interesting he was giving me pointers anyway, seeing that I never asked, but I was like "eh, he likes the sport, wants to share what he knows, cool." Didn't bother me.

But then it gets funny. So I'm hitting a few balls and after every hit he goes "wow, that's really good." Every. Hit. And I'm not saying this to boast, I don't care. I said thanks. But I literally thought to myself, "is he going to say this after every shot I take today?" I was genuinely wondering why he kept saying "that's really good". Again, I'm not trying to draw attention to the compliment, just setting up the point.

But I keep hitting and don't say anything meanwhile after every hit he's just ~amazed~. So he realizes I don't need any more pointers on chipping so he's like "Okay, you get it. You don't need this, let's go." And we go to the driving range. (For those who don't know, the driving range is where everyone is stationary and they're just hitting balls off into the distance.) We get to our spot and he's like "okay, show me what's going on." And I kind of look at him but don't say anything. Like "why did he say it like that?" Again, laughing on the inside because all his commentary was just interesting. I grab my bread-and-butter club, aka the club I always hit well no matter what. Take my practice swing and then hit the ball for real and it goes dead straight, a hundred yards. Boom. Whatever. I look at him and his face is surprised, but neither of us say anything, and I hit two or three more dead straight, no issues. And finally, he goes "What did you say you needed help with?" Completely puzzled at how well I'm doing. And I say (which I totally meant to come out as a joke but it really just landed more sassy) "I never said I needed help." And he busts out LAUGHING. I mean we're cracking up, and I was like "It's true!". Anyway, I can't live it down to this day, right, and this happened three weeks ago.

Flashforward to my conversation with my bestie and why I'm writing this post. But she pointed out to me as I was retelling the story that men hear "I don't like X" as "I'm not good at X and therefore I don't like it." And, subsequently "But if you teach it to me, then I'll love it." And the way that blew my mind! Because I was just reacting as I always do whenever I do sports, especially (and usually) with a guy around; they're always shocked at what I'm capable of doing. And her saying that made me realize men will always hear what you're saying as a way of saying we're unable, and therefore need their help, because we just fail or suck on our own. And again, not dissing my boss. The whole thing was lighthearted and he meant well. But it's interesting that there's always this level of misogyny laced through a man's thinking that they always have something to teach us and can make us like something that we don't, and we're always looking to be showed how to do things. Just because we don't like something doesn't mean its because we are bad at it and will love it "once we have help". Like no. I just don't like golf. I never said I was bad at it. Ever. I never even eluded to that assumption. Just men and their superiority complex interpret everything as "oh, she's asking for my help, she just doesn't know it yet". Its what John Oliver said in his clip about people and their UFO sightings, but with a twist. "What you think you heard depends on what you were expecting to hear". It's the same way men assume my bestfriend is stupid because she's a blonde and she runs.