#obviously the actual characters wouldn't work that well for this story haha

[shriekinghavoc]

[gargyshmub]

DELTARUNE; Gargy's Fairytale Theory

So, lately I've kind of had an itch in the back of my mind about DELTARUNE, more specifically the secret or hidden bosses in the game and a little correlation they all share. I'll try to keep this under 100 pages but i promise nothing (tee hee hee)

If you've played the game to the extent you're looking at a tumblr blog dedicated to it, you're probably familiar with the character's jevil and spamton. These are the two characters coined by the community as "secret bosses", since you have to stray away from the games intended path to find them (in most cases.)

When you defeat spamton in his 'NEO form', a neat little song will play with his dialogue "a real boy!", this is a nod to the fable/fairytale "pinochio" I'm sure everyone's familiar with. It's a story about a doll that comes to life in search of becoming 'a real boy'. This corrilation made me realize there are A LOT of similarity's between pinochio and spamton. The strings, his regular form being a mockup of a doll, even his goal to become "big", its almost like becoming a 'real boy'. He knows he's not 'real', and just like at the end of pinochio, he too becomes renewed (reneo'd).

This made me wonder if the other secret boss, Jevil, represented something other than the Joker card. Then I realized whenever he was hit in his fat empty head it actually sprung out like a jack-in-the-box. I initially discarded this since it wasn't really a fable or fairy-tale, but if you do some digging you'll find it actually is!!!@! back in the 1400's somewhat, the jack in the box was originally named 'The Devil in the Box', essentially it's a story about a man who trapped a devil in a boot in order to save a village in france at the time, kinda like that one story about the court jester who got locked away by his magician friend in order to save their kingdom (haha. hahahahha. thats from deltarune. hahaha.) just to run home my point, jack-in-the-box; Devil in the box. Jack; Devil. What way could you fuse them together? Dack? Jackil? maybe some other 3rd way that has some importance to Yea thats right you know you've always known its Jevil.

Obviously, in deltarune fashion, its easy to overthink most elements in the story. Granted, toby will make an entire 2nd game about a hypothetical character you've never met but no you've only ever POSSIBLY met through a 1/100 chance door where he'll show you his asshole and then disappear into a million pieces, but yea, it's easy to make certain correlations that aren't even really there. In this case however I'd say that there's one more correlation that seals the deal that makes this theory WORTH theorizing.

Yea gaster. even though he's not even technically a character yet, every piece of information regarding him seems to lead people to believe he's not only the narrator at the beginning of the game, but he's also the 'man' behind the tree (since the way you find 'his sprite' in undertale is almost exactly similar ['theres a room in-between, theres a room, in-between']). I'm assuming you know what there is to know about gaster so im not gonna go into it, so onto the correlation.

I've read before someone talking about how gaster represents easter eggs in video games, not only physically (egghead) but metaphorically (the way you find him, his implied involvment with the secret bosses, the fact he gives you an '''''EGG''''' when you DO find him). Well if he is technically involved with the secret bosses, wouldn't that make him a fable too? I'm here to tell you he is. he is HUMPTY DUMPTY from SECOND GRADE FAIRY TALE PLAY.

I've already gone over his physical and metaphorical symbolism relating to eggs, but the story of humpty dumpty is also very, haha, hahahaha, hahahhahahaha

Humpty dumpty sat on a wall (The Core)

Humpty dumpty took a big fall ("Fell into his own creation")

All the kings horses and all the kings men (Who did gaster work for again?)

Couldn't put Humpty together again ("He was shattered across time and space")

What could this mean? for the future it means that if this theory is right, EVERY secret boss we meet is gonna represent not only a lightworld object, but an actual FAIRTY TALE, a FABLE. I mean, how many fables are out there. I know theres one in particular, one that the game is named after, one that has to do with an ANGEL. an ''''ANGEL'''' with ''''TATTERED WINGS''''''.

but then again idk

EDIT: ALSO LITTLE MISS MUFFET THINK ABOUT THAT UNDER-HEADS LITTLE MISS MUFFET SAT ON HER TUFFET

Last edit: also this has no grounds as an actual theory but uhhh that mf that made the Undertale RED boss fight got hired on the team. Huh. I wonder what Red was a reference to. Huh.

[prince-liest]

Your Angel/Lucifer fic was wonderful!! I’ve also read most of your 666 series and remember in the notes of one of the stories that you mentioned something about Alastor being aroace and that’s why he experiences things the way he does in your fics. I felt like that was portrayed very well!! I also felt like Lucifer not being that way, being overtly attracted to Angel was well written!! I was just wondering how you’re able to write both sides of the coin as well as you do?? I’m asexual and I don’t think I even realized I was writing all of my NSFW fics from an asexual perspective on things until I compared some of your works. I guess that kind of attraction just feels so out there for me it’s hard to imagine anyone feels that way?? I’m not sure lol…

In any case!! I was wondering if you had any tips on accurately portraying an allosexual character?? I feel way out of my depth now that I’ve realized there is a readable difference.

AH, thank you so much! It's funny that you say that because I was just thinking about how writing NSFW from Lucifer's POV after Alastor's POV is actually really funny to me given the sharp contrast in how they experience sex and intimacy. I'm glad that they come through properly!

When I write NSFW from the perspective of an allosexual character (which is most of my NSFW), I'm not really thinking, "Hm, this character is allo. How does that affect things?" Rather, I'm still very much just writing what I want to see. There's a text post that was going around the other day that said something to the tune of, "When I say that man is fuckable, that does not mean I want to fuck that man. / I want someone else to fuck that man for me." and I'm definitely channeling that, hahahaha.

Not all aro/ace experiences are the same and not all allo experiences are the same, so a lot of it comes down to how I think a specific character would feel as a whole rather than their sexuality alone. I wouldn't write Vox the same way I'd write Lucifer, either, and a not-insignificant part of Alastor's detachment comes from him being an asshole on top of being aroace, haha.

Nonetheless, some concrete things about how I write these particular characters differently:

When you are writing in third person limited like I do, what you describe is often a reflection of what the character is paying attention to. I spend relatively little time describing Vox's body from Alastor's POV. Describing Alastor's body from Vox's POV would be, uh, a time, let's just put it that way.

Lucifer very much thinks that Angel Dust is hot, and he will admire him, both plainly and when Angel takes advantage of his obvious attraction to do something cute

Lucifer wants to touch Angel Dust for reasons of "I think it would just be nice to touch him" rather than always for a specific goal (eg. Alastor mostly touches Vox to get fun reactions)

The goal for Lucifer is sex with Angel, not sex, and Angel is helping that happen or even messing around with Angel, and sex is helping that happen

When you're a guy who's mostly been having sex in the context of a loving, committed relationship for millennia, sexual contact is intimacy is vulnerability is emotional connection, and all of those things can get really tangled up in one another.

I've streamlined a lot of it into just code-switching into the characters' heads to the point where I don't really keep these things explicitly in mind, so I hope that this was at least a little helpful!

...Also, honest to god, I've just read a lot of porn, and most of it is obviously not of ace characters. Over the years, you pick up what you find hot, LOL.

[m1ckeyb3rry]

the silence of swans is such a pretty name, i'm such a sucker for things based around birds (i love h/h y/n's technique fr) so im really curious what that wip is about!! if someone has already asked about it though then i wouldn't mind knowing a bit about the kyoto au :D also are there any other characters you ever plan to write about in the future? i love reading your works!

thank you!! i love birds too HAHA if it isn’t obvious from how many bird-based stuff i have already. h/h y/n’s technique is so fun for me to write especially because i don’t think i’ve ever seen anything like it before so it makes me feel intellectual 😫 let me add a cut real quick because i’m sure i’m abt to ramble a ton HAHAH

the silence of swans is actually meant to be a version of my story “a ship in the harbor” set in a more fantasy-based world just because those characters are like. my beloveds but sometimes the aot world can be a lot for me. it’s a story told in three parts, with the first part being the mc (who is an elite soldier known as one of the cygnus atratus) finding an injured soldier from enemy territory with amnesia and begrudgingly nursing him back to health because she is so lonely that even his company is enough to make her happy and because she feels guilty about what she did in the previous war and feels like this is her atonement. the boy has zero memories of being a knight of the cardinal, which the mc figures out he is based on his uniform, and the only thing he does remember is his first name. they eventually fall in love as he stays with her, and the title comes from the fact that until the boy came, the only company mc had were the pair of swans that lived in the lake by her house. they were accustomed enough to her presence that they didn’t freak out whenever she went near them, and so the “tagline” of the story is suppose is when mc thinks to herself: “before i met him, the silence of swans was the closest thing to love i knew.”

however, it turns out that the soldier who shot the cardinal and made him lose his memories is someone that mc was lowkey in love with but can’t see anymore ever since the war due to only associating bad memories with him. he comes to visit her at some point and the cardinal sees him and gets his memories back. while mc is out somewhere, he writes her a letter thanking her and apologizing for leaving, as well as telling her his full name.

the second part of the story is essentially a flashback and tells the story of what mc did while at war and how she managed to help the army take over a small country. there’s also a lot of cygnus atratus lore in this part because they’re kind of superhuman?? they’re fueled by lapis lazuli which is also what the knights of the cardinals are powered by and what the bullet that mc’s cardinal was shot by was made of. it turns out that bullets made of lapis don’t even need to fatally wound someone to kill them, and the idea to make weapons out of lapis were mc’s idea and that’s how they took over the country of corvane.

the mc is from a country called svanin and the knights of the cardinal are from a place called roscello, which mostly has jurisdiction over the cyanocitta mountains, where lapis lazuli is found. svanin wants to take over roscello so they can have the cyanocitta for themselves, as at the moment they only have the few foothills they took from corvane and must trade for additional lapis. the third part of the story is the mc and her cardinal committing treason for one another and trying to figure out which side is right and who to actually fight for. that part of the story is the least thought out by me obviously HAHAH but anyways the parts in order are “pt. 1 — the cardinal”, “pt. 2 — the crow”, and “pt. 3 — the catbird”.

kyoto au is entirely unimpressive compared to this HAHAHA it was just a oneshot i started writing that was an au of this one megumi fic i never finished. in this au the main character goes to the kyoto school instead of tokyo and only meets megumi in that one ep where todo beats him up, so it’s mostly just comedy of her and megumi meeting for the first time and megumi lowkey hating her for being associated with the kyoto school meanwhile she has the most MASSIVE crush on him because he’s antisocial and described as a “loser” by his friends which is exactly her type.

awww thank you so much i’m so glad you like my stories!! i’m not sure what characters i’ll want to write for in the future 🤔 as much as i love choso i can never come up with any story for him so probably not him…i love kashimo and megumi more than anything but they both have fics already so idt i’ll write for them again either. if you have any suggestions or requests for characters lmk!! i don’t really do requests in the traditional sense but maybe inspiration will strike if someone tells me who to write for 😭😭😭.

[ihave3frigs]

did you have the opportunity to see come fall in love / the ddlj musical? do you have any Specific Thoughts?

call me crazy for NEVER checking my inbox but haha HERE WE ARE A YEAR LATER I JUST SAW THIS BUT I WILL NEVER PASS UP AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK ABOUT COME FALL IN LOVE, NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT IT AND ITS A CRIME BC I SWEAR YALL WILL SOON

I somehow got lucky enough to see it twice and I absolutely loved it!! I'm coming from the background of not having seen ddlj before the musical, which I liked since I didn't have any expectations for the story and I thought it was really well done. Also, for context, I'm white so I'm coming from an outsider's perspective on that side too. Now having seen the movie (several times) I can say that I think they did a pretty good job of staying faithful to the heart of the story while updating it for a new audience (but nostalgia is hard to beat, and they definitely fell victim to changing random things that lovers of the original may not like). I loved the show so much that not only did I go back and see it AGAIN but it inspired me to watch ddlj, fall in love with it, and in turn introduced me to a lot more films that i wouldn't have thought to see otherwise.

Also: the songs were SO GOOD. They still get stuck in my head a year later. Party and Spend Daddy's Money is my JAM. I CRIED when I realized how long it would be before a cast album.

And ofc I HAVE to talk about the sets/props. It was absolutely beautiful and such good design. I used to stage manage, and the amount of props that would come on and off stage for five seconds in a single song, NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN, gave me a heart attack. Where were they keeping that boat? The BEAR?? THE VESPAS???? I was DAZZLED.

And finally I have to talk about the cast because they frickin KILLED IT. Shoba obviously was amazing, and I think the perfect person to embody this new version of Simran (a bit more nerd-working-on-her-thesis-about-love-at-harvard). And this show also introduced me to Austin Colby (he's in Great Gatsby rn actually!) who obviously had big shoes to fill and was a controversial choice. But five seconds into his performance I can say with all honesty that he was an incredible Rog (not Raj this time) and instantly became one of my favorite performers. Austin perfectly captured Rog's charisma, humor, and heart. And you could see that he put EVERYTHING into it. The ensemble was just as energetic, and I would be remiss not to highlight Jack Sippel, whose hotel sequence (where he changed costumes behind a desk in rapid succession, embodying a completely new and hilarious character every time) got the whole audience roaring with laughter.

That was a lot longer than intended but...I loved this show?!? And no one else is talking about it so...

The Old Globe is working on transferring to New York, but they haven't been able to find a theater yet. I have my suspicions that Chopra's reimagining of Raj/Rog as white may have doomed them from the beginning, but I really hope not. I just hope everyone gives this show, and Chopra's reimagined story, a chance because I truly think it could be a fan favorite. The next legally blonde perhaps??

[otwdfanfic]

Okay okay so i went to see the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes yesterday (and i loved it) and after your post about the Nuff lookalike, I got to thinking about the games themselves

How do you think would the otwd gang respond in the event of being thrown into the hungergames? Like how would they act, would they group up, who would take care of others, who would eventually win (and maybe how would that affect their psyche and mental state afterwards oop)

This is just a very interesting question to me and id love to hear your thoughts about it!! For me this has always been a way to build certain parts of characters that aren't necessarily shown in stories, but are still important to know as the hungergames often drive people to either their lowest lows or their highest compassion

Anyways

Yeah this franchise is just smt that always me thinking LMAO

Omgg this is a difficult question! Prev gen is quick and easy: Gustav is obviously a district 4 boy and very clever but easily gets in over his head so he'd probably befriend a Career pack or somehow form an alliance with Cato. Unlike our fav Career of the same name, Cato is extremely district 12 coded (all lucy gray's songs!!!!) and very unfriendly and independent haha so despite his hunting skill I think he'd be underestimated and unwilling to join a pack. If he was in the same game as Gustav, he might join him but then (when he begins to suspect that he's next on Gustav's list) stab him in the back (or the eye). Cato is likely winning any game they throw him in, but in an actual hunger games au his rage against the Capitol would make him a risky victor. He wouldn't be cooperative afterwards and that could get him killed.

I don't wanna get into the Hiccup gang bc that's too difficult haha but my bets are on Astrid. As for the kids, it's hard to think about district splits bc it messes up their family dynamics so I won't try to sort that out.

Baldur and Rilla are textbook Careers, well trained with most weapons. Baldur in particular can win over a crowd and he's less honorable than Rilla so I think he'd get far and probably stab her in the back. He usually overestimates himself though, and that's one of his major flaws.

Nuffink is a loner, he wouldn't trust anybody in the games. He's mostly avoiding others and hiding, I can also see him luring others into striking range and he's pretty feral when forced to fight. I'm thinking of Thresh from Katniss's games. He gets a favorite weapon in itpn but not one that's usually in the Games afaik. I think a Career pack would have the best chance of taking him down.

Zephyr would have a Katniss-like technique, a mix of hiding/surviving in the wild with traps and occasionally ambushing others. I can see her and Bjorn teaming up regardless of if they know each other. I don't see Zephyr winning, though, even if Bjorn was trying to protect her. Like Peeta, he's charming the Capitol, winning lots of sponsors and working well with other tributes. It's been mentioned only once or twice, but Bjorn has well rounded talent with most weapons. Particularly spears. And he'd be an ideal victor, "a real hero" like his playlist says. Someone who can manage to win the Games in an honorable way despite the odds. The part of itpn I'm most excited for involves Bjorn being challenged and pushed to his limits in a way that's spiritually similar, I cannot wait to write his plot!

Eret's odds aren't great I fear. She's better trained in plants and climbing than fighting, similar to Rue or Foxface. She'd definitely try to sneak around poisoning people. She'd also be good at charming the Capitol in a real au scenario. But I don't see her winning either, somebody ruthless like Baldur or Tryggir would get her :(

Tryggir is a Career pack type who relies on others to back him up (like how Coral led the others), but I don't think he'd work well with Baldur or Rilla, so if he joins them he's going down early (or managing to take Baldur out). Either that or stays a loner until they take him out anyway.

If Sikka was in their Games (despite her age) she'd have a good chance too. Super sneaky and clever, super good tracker, good at fighting, very Katniss like in skill and temperament. She'd have a good chance at taking Bjorn down too.

So I think it's a coin toss between Bjorn and Sikka, with Sikka maybe having better odds. Probably not what you were expecting since they've barely been involved in the plot so far! But they will be :) They'd both be able to cope with life post games in a mostly normal way, I think, and they'd be good mentors. Both would understand that doing what it takes to survive isn't their fault, it's the system they live in. And I think they're both ideal recruits for a rebellion :) Characters like Baldur and Tryggir would be shameless victors, gloating and reveling in the attention. Nuffink would be a wreck as usual and I think Zephyr would be drowning in guilt. Eret and Rilla would be more like Sikka and Bjorn if they won, though I think Eret and Sikka would be very private and try to disappear from public eye.

I would ask the same about your ocs but I don't wanna put poor Siri through that 😭 the kids though mayhaps?

[todayisafridaynight]

It's been wonderful being able to talk about these things for me too! I haven't really had the opportunity since Y7 came out, so I'm positively buzzing. And no worries about the tone of your post about Daigo's article haha, I appreciate it when issues are pointed that I might've missed otherwise since that's at least something actionable.

But I'm obviously not going to stop anyone from venting frustrations with the wiki or with Fandom as a platform; I frequently find myself frustrated too! It's one of the things that keeps people editing the wiki. I'm honestly fine with whatever as long as it's not accusing us of being fujoshi for the billionth time lol, but for better or worse I do like to clarify what we're trying to do if there's any confusion.

Speaking of, Mine's relationship tags are kind of a funny story! So a lot of them have these dotted underlines and question marks, right? You're supposed to be able to hover over underlined terms to see a short definition (on desktop) and click the question mark to see an article with all the definitions on mobile, since hover actions aren't possible on a touchscreen.

But since the article was and still is under construction, Fandom doesn't show the link to logged-out users. So I had no idea it just looks like we're saying the tag is ambiguous lol. It's up now though, so it's hopefully easier to understand what we're trying to do!

I just found it funny I specifically added that feature to reduce confusion. Half the grief we get over Mine's "romantic interest" tag is because people assume we're saying it's mutual (we chose the term to try and avoid the "mutual" connotations of "love interest," but I guess that didn't work out). I also thought it might help with somewhat esoteric tags like "co-parent" (which was put in place for Jo and Arakawa and then I kept thinking of others) and "surrogate son." Turns out it's tough to boil complex relationships down to one term!

I definitely have SO many questions about New Year's Day and I probably always will; for the space of only one night, it's a huge blank. I certainly do have to wonder if shipping Masato off to America was decided then and there. There's a lot that could possibly be expanded on in RGGO (further interactions between Arakawa and Jo included lol), so I've got hope for that too now that we're back to random events. I'd be really interested to see how you'd portray it someday!

Talking about Nakai and Tsutsumi reminded me, Nakai mentioned he read the whole script in a day so he "wouldn't do a disservice to Arakawa or Sawashiro's characters." That kind of stuck out to me precisely because there are so few scenes between them compared to like, Arakawa and Ichi, and they're all relatively low-impact in comparison.

Of course, it could be marketing on account of him and Tsutsumi getting to co-star again, or the scenes could simply have stood out to him more for that reason, or he could've had a different impression of the ratios having read the script rather than played the game. But the part of me that makes me want to go Off The Deep End speculating is kind of wondering if there were other scenes planned?

And absolutely! I'm not able to reblog often because the post editor's been crashing whenever I try to tag my posts, but I hope you know I love your work and I'll support pretty much anything you put out! I'm very excited to share my findings as well.

A lot of it's to do with Mine's relationship to Western culture vs. Japanese culture (his "westabooism," basically), so that's specific to him, but there a lot of interesting concepts and theories in Japanese psychology regarding familial bonds, met and unmet emotional needs. They work as an explanation for his probable feelings of alienation from Japanese culture, but I feel they would make for an interesting lens to examine the Arakawas through as well.

I actually hadn't ever considered the similarity with regard to Mine and Jo's dads, but that makes so much sense! If I were to take it a step further, I think feelings of "abandonment" by their fathers have had long-lasting effects on both them and Masato. Jo we've been talking about, his father was technically still "there," but he wasn't in his corner, which feels much the same as abandonment to a child.

I think Mine's internalized a lot of the same feelings even though his father never meant to abandon him (I guess Jo's may not have, necessarily; alcoholism can destroy a family whether the individual wants that to happen or not). Like, unfairness, displacement, lack of control, the loss of the only support you have and so on. I think dwelling on that is what sent Mine's mental state spiraling, and what made it imperative to just believe Daigo was "dead" to try and move on as soon as possible. He didn't want to be hurt the same way again.

It's also probably what he was projecting in his ridiculous villain speech during The Orphanage Scene; the reason offering kids support in the way Kiryu does is a form of "victimization" in his eyes, at that moment, is because that support can be ripped away from you at any time. The scene is kind of hilarious to me because it's like, "okay we need Mine to have a kick-the-dog moment, his actions have been too understandable," but I do get it from that angle.

Similarly, I think those feelings of abandonment are why Arakawa faces the brunt of Aoki's abuse, because it's like, "YOUR negligence is why I had to go through all of that." So I get why Jo, like your sister, wouldn't want the finger pointed at him, but at the same time… damn. Perhaps if Arakawa had never had that talk with Masato, things might've been different. I get the impression he wouldn't be able to endure keeping things to himself for as long as Jo, though, given things like the letter he sent Ichi in prison.

Oh, yeah, Jo is CRAZY protective of Masato too! "If anything happens to him, killing you a thousand times would be insufficient!" I think part of his overreaction to having Masato's money is also that if Ichi can't listen to orders that fundamental, who's to say he listened to the orders to keep Masato safe? I guess if you see Ichiban as incompetent to the point of almost being a malicious actor, you might think that.

I'm sooo so glad you've noticed the rest of those similarities haha, I've been rotating them around in my brain like a cube for ages. A Venn diagram would be so fun to see! That's such an insightful look at the differences between Mine and Jo's offices too. I was a little confused about the placement of the social spaces, or even that they're there, but if you look at it as clearly separate from his personal spaces, it does make sense.

Also, not to harp on the books in the offices too much, but I compared the textures a little earlier. Mine's are basically all (very expensive) encyclopedias and language phrasebooks in English, Italian, French, and German, in contrast to Jo's discrete hardcovers and series of art history books. They're probably all stock assets lol, but I think they're surprisingly good fits; Mine dumping considerable time, money, and energy into his fascination with Western culture and Jo being the type to not want people to know what he's reading totally works for me.

But yes! It's kind of funny, because Yokoyama wasn't much of a Mine fan in his early days, but I hope he and the others keep on writing characters like him. I think of it as Mine's "legacy" in a series where past characters aren't acknowledged too often; the most I can recall are that Hakuho mention in 4 and the fencing around the Touto roof perimeter.

Speaking of, I love Mine's missed shots in the finale specifically because he's an excellent marksman in his Okinawa character story. Why? How? Who Knows, He's Perfect. (Probably not as good of a shot as Daigo though lol)

And yeahhh, there are other interviews, but it ain't the same! It was the most in-depth one I know of. I think this is one of the only remnants, and I shall entrust it to you.

But yes, exactly! And I'm also glad Y7 introduced more people to them (myself included), Tsutsumi's my favorite actor of all time and Nakai's brilliant. They make a great combi! Of the things I've seen where they co-star, I think Princess Toyotomi and Hero SP are both solid; the latter is a special for a longer show, but I honestly didn't even notice lol. Musashi I wasn't personally able to get through even though I've read the book, so I'm not sure how it plays out between them.

Also I DIDN'T KNOW TORU DIED IN PURE??? That came out of nowhere oh my god T___T But if you're ever looking for anything rare, feel free to ask! I might know a guy (gender neutral) with a stash, Fly, Daddy, Fly included.

OH MAN MINE'S WIKI ENTRY I've definitely made my opinions about it known, but now knowing the truth behind it it's kind of funny and still so unfortunate. I'd almost want to recommend a section dedicated to the topic since it's such an integral part of his character, though I also understand wanting to keep the wiki strictly to factual information and to exclude speculation (or "speculation" anyhow- it's definitely more of a concrete situation, especially going off of the information provided in your pinned post on the topic. If anything, that sort of information would belong to the "Trivia" tab wouldn't it- but again, it's such a deep situation it can't really be summarized in one or two sentences) and the topic being too niche to have a page dedicated to it. It's nice to know that the subject isn't trying to be brushed under the rug though and it's just a matter of awkward formatting/incomplete work!

Furthermore on The New Years Event, I would LOVE RGGO to expand on the topic since they've been so liberal with the stories they make and the depth those stories add to the characters. Honestly, I was expecting Masato's card to have that as its accompanying character story, so it's unfortunate that he doesn't get it or any story as far as I'm aware (or maybe he does have one and my poor pull luck has just prevented me from getting the card to find out myself, but I've looked as much as I could and couldn't find an upload of it). Oh well, I guess it's the old "if you want something done you gotta do it yourself-" not that anything I could make could ever be up to scratch, so I'm glad I do have people interested in what I have in mind :)

About Nakai, I wouldn't feel wrong trying to accredit his comment to a time before he knew the full plot or saw the full game and was just debriefed on the general story/character relationships, and I also wouldn't put it past RGG to have deleted scenes/ideas (if those do exist, RGG please let me in your vault I'd like to take a peak...)!

The psychology of Mine is another topic I've been wanting to officially tackle for a while now, so I'm glad I have this chance to share some of what I have mental bullet points for.

Moreover, Mine's dad and how he "left" Mine undeniably impacted him significantly beyond physically leaving him alone, and it definitely manifests in The Orphanage Scene and his idea that killing Daigo would be "putting him out of his misery". In those instances, he sees Daigo and the orphans as victims of an unfair reality, Daigo being comatose, and the orphans having the endure the struggles of being orphans (and that added-on, projected anxiety that their comfortable lives now could vanish at any second like it did for Mine). Mine's mustache-twirling villainy is funny for its absurdity, but I also genuinely appreciate it since it lets us peak into his warps philosophy better. It doesn't justify his actions by any means, but it explains to us why he can justify his actions as from a place of love or pity as opposed to thoughtless evil.

To add on, Mine's relationship with his father, from what we're allowed to gather, was healthy and positive. Because of their positive relationship, the removal of such adds credence as to why Mine's desperate to get that love again. It especially makes sense considering Japan's horrendous attitude and negligence towards orphaned children that was even demonstrated during Mine's childhood while his father was alive.

And as an inverse aside, Jo's relationship with his dad was toxic, whether it was due to blatant abuse or combined negligence. It's fair to assume that Jo never got to experience genuine, secure love growing up, so as a result, it's not something he actively seeks out. He's been without it long enough that it's not something he necessarily craves like Mine who used to have it until it was taken from him.

Masato certainly makes it clear he felt isolated despite the efforts Jo and Arakawa repeatedly went through for him, and it's apparent it's an unfortunate side affect of internalized ableism. It definitely doesn't help anyone's case that Masato had seemingly been informed of the night of his birthday's events (from Arakawa's point of view, obviously), and it's clear that knowledge gives ammunition as to why he resents him.

You're right on Jo potentially seeing Ichi as a bad actor, it's not as if he has disdain for him for no reason! Like even if Ichiban hadn't taken Masato's money the way Jo could have imagined, the idea that Ichi can't be responsible in one avenue can easily lead back to Ichi having the potential to look after Masato, especially when he seems to be the one who predominately looks after him when he's tasked to.

I've already got my program open to make my little chart and have my reference pictures ready, so hopefully I can have that silly thing out soon haha- I'm glad you're interested in seeing it, and I hope other people will like to see it too! Jo and Mine really are my favorite antagonists, so it's funny (and I guess not surprising) that they have parallels to them.

To add on to that though, I think it's fun to look at the extra details, no matter how small; I'm probably more happy than I should be that you looked at their office's books, but I can't help be a fan of the details you found (whether they're generic models or not, I'm running with them- I've done more with less before lmao)! Mine having language books is definitely in-line with his interests, but Jo having art history books is weirdly endearing (and dare I say another point for "these are the same picture" comparing it to Mine's own love for art). Jo being so private to the point of blocking out the binds of the books he owns is so accurate to him and his secrecy, and the concept that he likes to read about art in his spare time is a new favorite concept for me.

Mine really isn't acknowledged much after 4; in comparison to Ryuji and Nishiki, he's remembered throughout the series the least (you can argue the same for Ryuji, but considering he gets a whole new life in Dead Souls, I think it's fair to say that makes up for the mainline series forgetting about him. Though I guess the same could be Mine getting a prominent role as Hijikata in Ishin... Definitely not as cool of a spot as to be a playable protagonist with a machine gun arm if I'm honest). In that, it's great that his likelihood can exist in future characters, and I hope they continue the trend of phenomenal antagonists in LaD8 and onward!

I'm eternally grateful for this frame you've gifted me thank you so much- Nakai's smile is such a blessing honestly, I'm glad if anything survived from the interview it can be this shot at least.

I've got Princess Toyotomi and Hero SP added to my watch list, DEFINITELY something I'll be excited to check out as a reward once I have all my important business taken care of this week! Honestly, I haven't seen Musashi either: while I was looking through their filmography I saw it was a project they did, but I've always been bad at watching long series so I didn't take the time to see their performance together.

For things I have seen though... yeah he dies SORRY IF THAT WAS HOW YOU FOUND OUT </3</3 Honestly I didn't expect myself to love the series as much as I did (admittedly it was predominately because of the leads and their relationship), but when it happened I was both- dare I say crushed- a little humored a little funny in a dark-comedy way.

And if you do have access to harder-to-get films, I'd absolutely be interested in hearing about it. One of Nakai's movies Good Morning Show has been haunting me for weeks: it sounds like such a fun movie yet I can't find it anywhere </3

[spokelseskladden]

Hullo, dropping by to my norwegian mutual bcus I'm in need of some expertise; I'm planning on changing one of my characters from japanese to norwegian once I get to his revamp (tryna lessen the excessive manga inspiration with my characters lol) and I am in need for suggestions for good male norwegian names for him. I gathered up some options, but wanted to ask you for ideas too :D

He's a countryside himbo who loves to cook, fish, likes penguins and would love to see them in nature someday, and carves wooden animals and paints them. Also his bf is a japanese witchboy from alternate world (Konjou, tho he goes by Clover now due to story reasons. Idk if you remember my Thorn Boy, im talking about his BF Jinchou lol)

He's basically the 'Just Some Guy' of this story, where majority of others are some mythical beings. I always felt that was his true calling over the overdramatic stuff his old story has lol

So yeah, any suggestions would be helpful if you got any!

......or maybe I'll.....just steal your name 👀

Omg I'm so passionate about names you have no idea, this is so exciting! When it comes to Norwegian guy names a safe bet will always be a biblical name (think David, Simon, Thomas, Jonas, Daniel, Isaac, Jacob etc.), It's a guarantee that it'll be a believable "just some guy" name, but it also doesn't stand out that much as specifically Norwegian lol.

When it comes to the actual norse names (and norwegian forms of latin or greek names for that matter) there's a fine line between grandpa, 18th century priest, and what a normal dude in his 20s would be called. I think the line differs a bit from person to person, but usually the modern forms of the mythological names work well! Like Odin, Brage, Brede, Sindre, Trym, Sigmund and Sigurd are names of the top of my head stand out a bit, but would also fit a "just some guy" type as well haha. Tor is an old guy name in my head tho, not that it wouldn't work but I'd like to point out how weird it is that Odin isn't an old guy name? I know like three people my age named Odin (one of them had a friend named Ravn of all things). Loke is a horse name. Don't pick Loke.

Other than that we have Håvard, Øyvind/Eivind, and Espen (Espen Askeladd is the main character in pretty much every Norwegian fairytale btw, he's the guy who's not really special or anything but he comes out on top due to his wits and smarts so that's a pretty good one imo). I could obviously just continue with every name ever from here, but honestly I think it'll work no matter what you land on in the end!

I'm a bit patriotic rn cause yknow, 17. May and all lol, but I think the ones I've listed are pretty good, I'd especially say the more norse ones fit very well if the character's an outdoorsy type. That being said, Emil is a great name! The perfect "just some guy" name, I'd totally understand if you choose it cause it's a really great one that only the smartest and coolest people pick😌

[zmediaoutlet]

Hi, last night I read "one on, two out" and I am in shambles!!! It was sooo well written and beautiful. I love the characterization. I was hesitant because of the pairing but you portrayed them so well, it really works. The whole premise of Dean needing someone to just care for him, and yet when they do he is so out of his element... *chefs kiss* I'd love to hear about your thought process/inspo for the story :)

aww, bud! happy wincest wednesday even if that fic is about another ship! (but lbr, there's really nothing I write that doesn't get back in some way to the Main Ship.) That's so nice, I'm so glad you liked it. <3

The inspo for that story goes back... years and years, actually, but it started with joking about how John would sell Dean to his hunting buddies if it'd get him a good deal on ammo -- and then realizing, while obviously that's OOC, if you pull it back from that most egregious place it doesn't... end up feeling all that out of character. John uses Dean as bait, as a distraction, as a weapon, as a wife [platonically or not, ahem]; that next step... wouldn't necessarily be a bridge too far. Then it was, man, Deacon sure had a weirdly close and affable relationship with the boys, didn't he? But especially with Dean. As always, Sam's standing very slightly to the side while Dean has his relationship an older man. (Over and over and over.) Then it was -- what if you combined those two ideas.

Except -- in the actual writing of it, I couldn't actually make it all the way into a sale or a trade, haha. Not just for John but also for Deacon, who just seems too entirely decent to actually engage in such a thing. So then it was -- well, maybe John's just tired of having Dean sadsacking around with Sam gone, and he's got a job he needs to do solo, and he sends Dean to his good friend Deacon for babysitting. Whether John knows about Deacon's proclivities or not is a bit of a mystery but I suspect it falls, for John, into the 'don't ask, don't tell' category. There's also something roughly tender in the idea that John realizes that Dean needs someone to look out for him, but John also knows that it can't be him -- and Deacon, his old buddy, is as good a person to do it as anyone. (Especially since Bobby already threatened to fill him with buckshot.)

After that it all just kind of... fell into place. Nothing better than giving Dean someone who can just hold his face without expecting something in return: not loyalty, or sacrifice, or even thought. Just let the kid be. It's really astonishingly easy to cast him as a sub. And boy, does he deserve a nice long vacation into subspace. So... that's basically the whole fic, lol.

[ihopesocomic]

THERE'S SO MUCH I WANNA SAY ABOUT THE NEW CHAPTER BUT..

THE POSE IN THE LAST PANEL, JUST LIKE CLEVER, THE MIRRORING?????????????????

Also I like how despite Edge's manipulative speech he DOES see potential in Hopeful. And yes Jasper's a fool :D. Granted, good thing she didn't get swayed, but I like that you seem to have stuck with that with him from what you've previously said on the blog regarding how he'd see her. Let's see how he'll react to her being mentally strong as well. (Honestly I am on the edge (lol) of my seat to know what happens next.)

God and this is such a good debut to Edge's pride. It's so uncanny to see how "different" he looks when he's smiling and all dad-like like that even when talking like some professional business, since his pride might as well be in a way, like a white-furred Simba compared to his first appearance (and obviously the fact that he's evil and not above killing others *Still sobbing over Quiet amd Clever and now whatever emotions Adamant is going through rn aaaaa* and might as well be the equivalent to a Lion mafia boss, but still, it's weird in a good way and you nailed it). I almost wanna punch that face lol. But y'all have certainly made him charming in this chapter, Imma make it a double punch with both fists in that case. You have officially made him more likable for me than he already has been, I'll always appreciate when Word of God turns into canon. Like... god I hate him but I love him already now too as a character just from this chapter, why'd y'all do this to me? xD

And omg I love Bright already, she's so childish it's honestly kinda cute even if it's to the point of immaturity. I had such a different image of her before this but now... now she seems like she'll be a fun character to see play out in the comic and is so fricking precious. I need more of her now. I wanna see how bad she can be too. Evil(?) lesbians are so damn fun to write because I've done it before because my friend's was the same simple archetype (ofc that wasn't all to it but, it's the jist) hah.

Fade... aaaaaa, others have said more about him than I can but aaaaa. The way he looked at Hopeful, what's on his mind? Hope doesn't know her lil' sis was originally gonna be wedded off to him certainly, that must be so awkward now that I think about it. He don't like this scenario one bit. Though saying anything while Edge is talking might as well be like going into the bosses/principles/etc. office knowing they're your parent at the same time and it just makes things even more unpleasant than they already are.

This got long oops sorry..

ALSO STORM???? WHERE THE FUCK ARE YA? DEFINITELY ALIVE BECAUSE YOU NEED TO BE IN THIS STORY FOREVER BUT GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE AAAAAA.

DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT BEING LONG, it takes me a billion years to read, but its a fun billion years LOL

YES I'm so happy people liked Hope mirroring Clever haha it was a great idea presented by RJ.

Edge, while he did horrible things, does present a good case to Hope. Despite her experiences with her father and mother, she wants a pride, like many lions do, and he was able to lean into that.

And yea drawing him smiling and fatherlike was difficult, especially because I wanted to make him more vain with his expressions /but that wouldn't work/ because he's being completely honest here LOL He's not trying to trick Hope. He means what he's saying, and a villain that keeps their promises is pretty scary in my opinion. I wish I could've had Vanish and co do more, but they'll be doing more next time.

Once again I'm thrilled Bright made an impression on people. I like writing evil? lesbians too LOL Its so much fun. She is quite immature, but that'll present itself more later. I can't wait to show more of her.

And yea Fade is stuck in a hard place because his dad is actually good to him, but he's definitely hearing and seeing some things he didn't sign up for. He'll need to discuss a change in his contract.

AND STORM CAN'T COME TO THE PHONE RIGHT NOW, TRY AGAIN LATER!!

Thank you so much for your notes, I absolutely loved it LOL - Cat

[bookwyrminspiration]

also you are so right the mission of every character is to deceive people and be something entirely different or confusing or shocking. case in point FATHER ZAJHERA IF THAT'S EVEN HOW YOU SPELL IT. but oh man also. after the diagram (although i haven't gotten to pore through the full family tree yet) a lot more things Make Sense like it's just so interesting. wouldn't u like to be a centuries old guy that got killed BUT NOT REALLY because your magic necklace was like haha. no. and so now you did this to historians. you're making them suffer like this.

re: "Not everyone knows the same things or is up to date on everything, and instead of having off-page explanations or saying things like "we caught so-and-so up to date on everything" some of the characters! Are lacking a lot of information sometimes!" YEAH. YES. JUST. obviously i'm only on the second book so far and i've only met so many people, ninavis and dorna and even janel/brother qown not really knowing the full details of the story they're telling/hearing is SO INTERESTING!! and SO COOL to me as well bc that is just!!! life!!!! and what a life it is so many people in the same room with all the different pieces of the puzzle. OUGH i love these books so much already not only bc i get to share them with you but also just because. the sheer amount of things that are so well done and real-world feeling and just. complex while also not making the thing dense like other books (cough cough. priory of the orange tree) tend to do with so many characters (sometimes even less!) and a large empire and so much politics. so good

Are you even an a chorus of dragons character if you're not simultaneously three other people at the same time? well. there are actually a fair number of characters who are just one person, but there's also so many who are other people too.

Also, I find it hilarious that really it's just this one family tree that's fucked beyond recognition. Because it's a super important and powerful necklace, so they've kept it in the family, and it keeps getting used within the family and so now genealogists will forever hate this one family and this one family in particular. Everyone else is unaffected by the stone of shackles its Just Them.

It is just life! Obviously I understand the convenience of keeping all your characters on the same page, especially if they're all working in close quarters together and see each other a lot, but when that isn't the case? It's so much fun to play with different knowledge and perspective, how it informs your actions. There's a scene in book 5 (this is vague, not spoiling, dw) where one character figures out something another character has been trying to work out for a while, but they're simply not in the same location for a while so character 2 just!! Doesn't know! even though they're trying to find out and a main character already figured it out! and that's both infuriating (in a good way) and SO fun. because that's realistic! just because one character figures something out doesn't mean another finds out in a timely manner.

I also love sharing these books with you this is like the highlight of my day every time you send an ask i explode (good). But you're right, that's something I'm impressed by; yes, the books are unbelievably complicated and in-depth, but it doesn't drag. And it doesn't accomplish that by rushing through everything either. It takes some effort on our parts to engage, but if you put it in? Beautiful story, world, and experience. We know enough to differentiate places, characters, beliefs, etc, but we're not spending an eternity explaining each either. Lyons is showing off and she should be. staring in awe

[valeriianz]

Hi, @chaosheadspace here. (Anon cause sideblog and stuff).

I have a question regarding your playlist for the playlist you made for your Dreamling band AU. (Which is very good, btw. I'm looking for new music atm and was elated being greeted with someone saying "I want to skin you alive". Glorious.)

Did you choose the songs you think they might have played or did you choose songs that embodied the characters and the setting for you? Please feel free to ramble at length.

Hello! Oh goodness... I'm so happy to receive this ask. I've never thought much about music while writing fics (I don't even listen to music while I'm writing, I find it very distracting) but given this is a BAND au, it was almost inevitable (90% of the songs on the playlist were added before I even published the fic). Allow me to ramble, since you've given me permission haha.

All of these songs already exist somewhere on my Spotify, I listen to a lot of indie and alt rock and remember coming up with the idea for Bolt in the Blue and daydreaming A LOT about Endless as a band and what they might sound like. So, while I was commuting to work, cleaning my apartment, doing laundry, I had my Spotify on a constant shuffle and every time a song popped up that made me think about Endless, I tossed it into a playlist. A lot of edits were made before I decided to publish the final draft lol.

So while this did start out as what I imagined Endless would sound like, I also started to think about what each member might contribute to said playlist. I thought of it like... when you're at a show and music is playing through the speakers while you wait in the crowd and the stage is being set up. I could picture the whole band making a playlist and contributing equally.

I tell you, and myself, that it's not that deep. It's music that gives me vibes for the band only, and doesn't reflect the fic at all. Well, except one song. Mile Deep Hollow by IAMX is such a Dream song to Hob that it makes me vibrate while listening to it now:

So thank you You need to know That you dragged me out Of a mile deep hollow And I love you You brought me home 'Cause you dragged me out Of a mile deep hollow

I mean... no explanation needed. Hob is Dream's light and is the one who inspires him and drags him up from a deep darkness (kind of spoiler but eh, I like to think I'm pretty predictable and we could all see that happening from a mile away).

But the other tracks? Eh... I mean some definitely give off vibes but I wouldn't connect any of them to the fic itself. Even the fic title, Bolt in the Blue, while obviously taken from the LPX song, is not indicative of the story at all (that's a separate post though, it's all a metaphor lmao). Which is why, secret's out, I'm currently building a new playlist that will go along with the fic chapter by chapter lol. But that won't be ready until Bolt in the Blue is finished. I kind of realized, very recently, that I wanted a proper playlist to go along with the themes and characters in the fic.

So, while Endless' Personal Playlist is exactly that- just songs that one: I imagine the band could actually write and perform but also two: all made together and music they'd all rock out to in their tour bus... this new playlist I'm making will accurately describe and emulate the plot. I'm having a fucking blast building it and can't wait to share it with everyone :)

And just for fun, here's who I think added what track to the Endless playlist (as I've stated in the past, music is subjective and who you connect each song to is up to interpretation. And here's mine, and yes, there are some repeats):

Dream:

Poison by Alice Cooper Mile Deep Hollow & The Great Shipwreck of Life by IAMX Nothing Personal by Night Riots Don't You Forget About Me by Billy Idol

Death:

Bolt in the Blue & Slide by LPX Stone Cold Crazy by Queen Shout by Placebo Holy Mother by Starbenders

Despair:

Human & High by Anavae Blue Monday by Orgy Everything Black by Unlike Pluto Stone Cold Crazy by Queen

Desire: High by Avavae Youth Gone Wild by Skid Row Shout by Placebo Modern Day Cain by IDKHBTFM Hang on to Yourself & Massacre, The New American Dream by Palaye Royale

Delirium:

Maniac by Carpenter Brut Youth Gone Wild by Skid Row Call Me a Saint by YOKANA Don't You Forget About Me & Mony Mony by Billy Idol

Alright, I'm finished lol THANK YOU for letting me ramble!! I hope everyone reading enjoys the rock n roll or at the very least discovers something new from the playlist :D

[baylardo]

Which Star Trek books would you recommend out of the ones you’ve read? Specifically voyager ones?

I meant to respond to this earlier lol WHOOPSIES MY B MY B.

I should firstly disclaim that I read these books from a content-creating standpoint and as such, would say that I have found merit to reading as many Voyager books as possible, regardless of what my personal opinions are on them. :) I think there's so much to gain from acquiring other people's takes on canon and semi-canon and you get to walk away with an opinion on it after having digested it haha. All of that to say I'm sorry if I'm a little GRAY on what I'd recommend.

Like honestly, The Autobiography of Kathryn Janeway gets A LOT of flack (Rightfully so... U___U). But I still managed to find and take away a lot from that book that I wouldn't have without having at least INDULGED it with an open mind haha. You get a lot of little details about Janeway's life pre-Starfleet and as a cadet to a captain, good, pandery, and bad. I won't get into too many details but I'd honestly say that the portion of time in the book about her life at Starfleet Academy when she meets and works closely with Boothby is VERY INDULGENT for my taste on Janeway content, and I wouldn't put it past me to go back one day and reread it because I REALLY loved the UNINTENDED PARALLELS it reflected in Resolutions for me. And obviously establishes her fondness for Bootby. I say "unintended' because this book does not wrap its themes neatly AT ALL it feels very freestyle and improvised and I found myself wishing the author had written Janeway to have reflected on things that got established earlier in the novel when she's talking about her time on Voyager. It is also VERY plat. But on top of that too like, just the ideas it has about the Voyager crew post-Endgame are interesting as well, some are a little eyerolly to me, but I actually found myself FAVORING what this book decided to do with Tom and B'Elanna as opposed to the Beyer books! A LOT.

Mosaic and Pathways are both wonderful and light reads. (You can find free audiobooks for these on Youtube WINK WINK) Mosaic is very Janeway-centric with a B-plot that's a little honkshoomimimi and they try to tie it up with the Janeway stuff but it flops for me ngl. But if you look past that, I'd consider Mosaic to be the SUPERIOR Janeway backstory canon in a lot of ways. Which is sad for how short it is. But it's kinda admirable in achieving what it does. Pathways is about some of the crew members reflecting on their time pre-Delta Quadrant, some of the stories are better than others. I particularly loved the Chakotay one. Cutely a lot of them end with "And THAT'S how I met Captain Janeway," but it isn't consistent I WISH IT WAS HAHA. The Tom Paris one is BOTTOM TIER I HATE THAT I KNOW ABOUT IT IT HORRIBLE LOL. The B'Elanna one was cute in that it had her meeting Tom in the Maquis which is SADLY something that never got elaborated on in the show! Very squandered imo. Oh also hated the Neelix one, keep that boy vague I DON'T WANNA SEE IT. These book are also what the Kirsten Beyer book series draws on for reference which is great and easter egg-y and I LOVE IT.

Caretaker was pretty bottom tier for me lol. It's just the first two episodes in book form. (But it was a free audiobook on Youtube so I indulged) As someone who has trouble grasping what the EFF is going on in the first two eps, it was useful for me in that lens. But it's just mad boring and I'd hoped the book would milk internal dialogue of the characters a bit more and it DIDN'T.

The Voyager - Beyer book series I'd say have been funnnnn for the most part. (I'm like, around halfway through the series I think) There's a lot to be desired but I'd give them the benefit of the doubt of likely having to appeal to a Star Trek audience where more character-driven storytelling becomes more of a backburner priority RIP. What she DOES manage to achieve in the brief and spaced out increments of CHARACTER INTIMACY are pretty DELICIOUS. Not super important but the way she writes Miral in particular is SOOOOO SOFT AND CUTE. I know it ends the way I'd hoped the TV series would end so I'm really excited for that. :) And they're definitely worth the read. You're just having to juggle like what feels like way too large of an ensemble cast with characters you're simply NOT gonna care about and have a hard time remembering for a while. I'm not a big Trek fan so whenever it gets super lore dumpy or brings in things from other spinoffs I'm a little "Zzzzzzzzz I don't careeeeeee." Children of the Storm and Unworthy are both VERY HARD READS at least for me because MFW NO JANEWAY U___U </3 but shawty it makes her return that much more rewarding to suffer through Janeway-less Voyager material.

Other than that ummggggg I know I wanna read the Chakotay-centric books at some point. And there's also apparently a book where Phoebe's aboard Voyager to do a special painting and she ends up being a doppleganger Caretaker disguised as her and I REALLY wanna read that one. :)

HOPE THAT HELPS LOL <3333333333

[onewomancitadel]

I was musing again on the use of intertextuality and source reference to predict the direction of a story. I think that the usual approach of superficial parallels and references is insufficient both from the perspective of 'why interact with these other texts' (cultural value, tradition, deconstruction/reconstruction etc.) but also to what ends can you derive the narrative events of a given story from others. Because on the face of it - as a storyteller - do you want your story to be directly read through another, basically? Not really. The thematic interests of your story are going to alter it in some way.

But of course the issue with superficial parallels is if you just say, well this thing is like this other thing, what does that mean? In the case of something like R/WBY, we're relatively certain that there's a lot of reference to 'fairytales and myth', but to what ends they do or don't dig into the real esoterica or the commentaries is up for debate. Some people will get deep in the weeds and come to a conclusion about the show based on superficial reference (which is not in itself very clever), some people will dismiss the notion of interaction altogether. I have particular trouble myself with R/WBY because whilst - as in the past under the Reverse Ozlem tag - I have definitely identified there's real motivation there according to the thematic interests of the story and their own fairytale, there are times where they lean into reference and times where they don't. I think that's the nature of the beast: there's only so much you can do when you've got your own story to tell.

But I see this over and over again in fandom (and media criticism at large). Take Succession (of which there have been parody articles on this topic already) where people were trying to predict the absolute ending based off of Shakespeare. This was obviously shortsighted, thematically and tonally, but people felt like they had effectively cracked the code. In this case, I would say that at times intertextuality and parallels can simply be a lazy mode of analysis. Appealing to a higher text with a definitive conclusion and letting it do the work for you, without thinking about what's actually in front of you, and add in the authority of a classic text and you're cooking. I wouldn't say people are conscious of this and wilfully malicious in any way! I just think it's interesting because the implicit assumptions are that once you introduce reference, it doesn't get transformed, it is Simply There To Be Clever.

If something is Simply There To Be Clever, to me, it is not really that clever. Even something as basic as potent imagery and symbolism has a reason for being used; that's why random crucifixions which introduce Christlike imagery can feel really out of place in stories which didn't previously have room for that type of iconography and meaning. So what are you to do?

Well, when you're getting into explicit interaction, I try to think about the tone of the text and its thematic concerns. The reason why something like R/WBY is never going to fairytale-for-fairytale match its inspirations is because it's telling its own stories about those figures actually being real. So where you can identify the particular influences, thinking about how they're remixed and commented upon (Cinderella is evil, what does that mean?) can lead you in more interesting directions. Cinderella is evil and emotionally closed off and has had an ostensibly 'bad ending', but is that really true? The problem with R/WBY in this case is that it's a work-in-progress, so the definitive answer for a character like Cinder is still up in the air. But I think that people have already dismissed the notion of her redemption/happy ending is very interesting, based on her being an 'evil' retelling. But what does that retelling really mean? Is it just supposed to be there for flavour? Haha, okay, Cinderella's suffering and now she's made it everybody else's problem, cool.

I guess in a more simple way, why parallel, why reference, why comment intertextually. (Part of the point of art is that it's conversation). It's usually going to be a bit more than you think it is.

[alazyparallelworld]

13, 30, 31?

13. what’s your opinion on the dr 3 anime?

30. which character would've deserved to survive?

31. is there a character you think who shouldn’t have survived, but did?

spoilers, obviously

13 - as mentioned in the tags, i, don't particularly care for SDR2... despite my appearances, and fixation on sai/ou, i lean towards GL and HL, and the most of SDR2 gives me for those is kuzu/peko, and... well, chapter 2...

and the anime, kind of obliterates the - themes, arc, intent behind chiaki. kodaka has hisssss waifu biases (this happens with haru, too) - and the cast's induction to the remnants is, weak, and i am a MASSIVE sucker for brainwashing, so me going 'meh' at it, says, a lot.

altogether it soured my... already soured feelings on SDR2. there is a lot of interesting concepts here, but, the only character i feel was executed well in the SDR2 portion of the anime is ryota. who is a new character. i love him and his relationship w twogami is amazing, etc. so, uh, despair arc. is bad and boring and was painful to sit thru.

future arc! i like it, honestly, even if it's another 'mrhghg this is cool in theory but done really poorly,' and honestly i really think. a lot of things introduced in dr 3 come to fruition in v3. i joke that, 'kodaka just wanted to work on v3, but they made him make an anime,' and i'm PARTIALLY kidding. and the best episode of dr 3 happens during this - altho it's not on the cast, either, it's the udg episode, and it blows the rest of the anime out of the water.

tl;dr Haha This Sucks, Man. this is an anime you can only watch w/ someone else, i feel, otherwise you'll go crazy. i like ryota and miaya a lot, i genuinely enjoy ruruka... in HPA aus, i make a point to, include ryota. my special hikikomori boy.

30 - mmmm not sure. i think, tojo - she shouldn't have survived into endgame, no, but one of the reasons i am so aggressively MEH abt her is that, she doesn't have time to develop or shine. she is, nothing, and the translation treats her motivation as a cheap joke. politicizes it. fun fact, the guy who handled the monokubz, and by extension gonta n angie, is the same guy. yeah, that guy. =_= responsible for a lot of the very shitty decisions in the localization. if SC thinks it's ok to make her primary motivation as a joke, why should i take her seriously?

i think she should've survived until ch3, to have some time to flesh things out. she shouldve been a bit undecided abt, you know, betraying her classmates. she should've become a temp antagonist, especially since she tries to set ouma up as untrustworthy and thus unreliable for his testimony in the trial - and she is very, very angry at sai, and gaslights him to hell and back. and it's EFFECTIVE. w/o momo, sai would've crumbled. give me, more of that, dammit!!! GOD!!! but no, so i am just.. ugh... tojo, right. i always forget abt her while doing cast stuff.

hoshi, i think, is another obvious 'I WANT HIM TO LIVEEEEEEEEEEE' but i don't know how well that would've worked with the ult. ending and intent of v3.

uh... mmm... thh, i don't really know... haha. i actually quite like, hifumi, but he was nevverrr everrr gonna survive. too bad...? some of the joke characters im like. Wait, I enjoy them, give me more, and at least hagakure survives!!! i'm happy abt that!!!

31 - unpopular opinion incoming, but i don't think any of the survivors were 'undeserved' - while i quite... dislike SDR2's cast... they made the right choice of who got out of the game alive. i wouldn't change any of them there.

for THH, i, mmm... i never quite 'clicked' with togami. he's fine... i suppose... but i don't find him and his attitude quite as compelling as ouma. nor komaeda's, who i am so, 'I AM SO OVER THIS GUY, EVERYONE STOP FUCKING TALKING ABT KOM!!!' about, lol. maybe he's more basic bc thh is, at its core, a very basic story... it was the first, and in a game series that afaik was not Planned to have sequels etc.

v3 literally all of them deserved to survive. i like each and every one of them. i am glad that yumeno didn't have, the pitfall of, 'suffers massively but grows bc of x's characters death, only to die later,' like ishi and hiyoko did. she's lovely, i really do think she is.

haru... haha, i... do like her... totally not in the way kodaka intended, but i was like. OHHH OK HARU IS WAY MORE COMPELLING when i realized that she and angie are narrative foils. that opened my eyes to her character - i appreciate her a lot more now, and the line abt saihara realizing 'do you want to die' always being a joke made me smile. i also think fandom shows her a LOT more aggro than she is - her first, chokehold, was instinctual fear. "everyone is scared of her," once they know her talent, as she says. and in a death game... ofc her first reaction would be of panic... and the second - ffs, ouma just threatened them with a bomb! this girl does not hate ouma. she is the second to last, second to kiibo (WHO, IS A STANDIN FOR THE AUDIENCE, SO LIKE-) to finally be Done with ouma's bullshit. she loses her cool when ouma injures momota for the 2nd time. ETC ETC. and, she has to be deliberately manipulated, by shirogane to actually kill ouma. she does not for real hate this guy, she would not bully him in school, or try and get saihara to break up w/ him. lol

while kodaka's waifuism really shines thru her (he got angry that she wasnt ranked high in popularity, if you didnt know...) i think there's a lot to love abt her, even if it takes a bit to think abt. the things i appreciate abt her probably don't appeal to others. so, yeah!!! i like that she survived!!! i'm glad that she got to - live, and not as the ult survivor for 54... that she steps into the world with sai and yumeno. she is friends with saihara on her own, i'm glad that they have e/o, after everyone else... and that yumeno isn't alone, herself.

saihara deserved to survive end of story like beyond '(real) protag plot armor' - which ALSO isn't true, kiibo is the FOR REAL protag in the eyes of the meta audience - his arc is very grueling and long. it may not be.... that super in depth, but he is not this emo depressed boy who listens to MCR, either. he has a lot of trauma prior to the game - ppl don't talk abt his scopophobia often enough, and the 'eyes on him,' and the - the perjury, effect, has a bunch of eyes, investigating, judging you... while it is the same for aka - come on. it is very clearly intended to show sai's fear of the truth and of lies. he goes thru a lot of twists n turns, and it would've, killed me if he died... or, at least, if he died and the others had survived. either all of them die, or he has friends... which he does...!! altho the epilogue was SUPER CONTROVERSIAL in house, lol.

[wainwrightjakobshammerlock]

what are your influences/inspirations for your art!! like, stylistically or thematically!

visual art, stylistically:

the Borderlands artstyle obviously. cel shading and outlines my fucking beloved. I am so fucking sad that gbx themselves is kinda toning down on it and that they didn't implement the crosshatch shader they put in teasers for bl3. come the fuck on

the Psychonauts artstyle. even if I do no longer draw in the hyperdeformed style I took from that game I still often deform characters and exagerrate their main features in order to make them more distinct. it also kinda made me addicted to shape language lolmao

Team Fortress 2. I am fucking serious btw. blame that one youtube video on its artstyle. it's been a formative experience for me when I watched it and it stuck itself in my brain. it made me appreciate blockiness/solidity/stockiness in art, as well as teaching me how to limit color palettes and how to draw attention to the important parts of the character by using color contrast.

as for actual artists and not. Video Games. I have been eyeing cubists and futurists recently (even went to a gallery with some of Picasso's earlier works) but it's nothing too substantial as of rn

visual art, thematically:

most of what I draw is characters & fanart so. yeah .

however one thing I've been enjoying recently is redrawing paintings or old photos. usually replacing the ppl in them with my fave old man yaoi. maybe it's cringe but they are a very "love in every time" sort of couple to me so :shrug:

literary art, stylistically:

positivist writing, particularly Lalka by Bolesław Prus. perhaps it's because I consider myself academically inclined, perhaps it's because naturalistic descriptions pander to my Biology Autism, perhaps it's bc of smth else idk

impressionism except not really bc im autistic and thus sensory descriptions come to me naturally

Terry. Pratchett. comparisons in my fics are often snappy(tm) as all fuck because they're, well, Borderlands fics, and to me a Borderlands novel should be Discworld-like. also because Discworld itself slaps

the work of Alexis Kennedy: the guy who wrote a lot of Fallen London, Cultist Simulator and also the Horizon Signal dlc for Stellaris. which is all shit im into. and good lird . its hard to describe you have to read this stuff for yourself

literary art, thematically:

again see the visual art section but largely my fics if they aren't self indulgent fluff are just. taken from my brain tee em because I cover topics or angles that the rest of the fandom wouldn't even think of

Alexis Kennedy again bc he writes gothic/cosmic horror. especially the latter. hoo doggy

other things that in general inspire me:

Darkest Dungeon. both the artstyle and the story have been big influences on me even tho I only played the game once and know everything abt it by watching youtube and bingereading wikis

the legacy of H. P. "Racist" Lovecraft. I guess. what can I say I am a sucker (haha) for those tentacles. except I do everything he ever did sexier and cooler and also he can go roll in his grave

legends, folklore, mythology and occultism. Hellenic of course since that's a big part of Borderlands symbolism but I ain't a coward I throw all that shit in there. slavic (creator bias lollll), norse, japanese, a bit of voudoun, biblical tradition, alchemy, tarot, et cetera. of course I usually don't talk about all the symbols that go into my Everything bc there's a crapton and everyone is entitled to their own interpretations but. yknow! and thats not even accounting for my love of assigning complex motifs to things