#or just thematically appropriate or whatever

[tinyfantasminha]

👍

[hydrossity-zone]

have multiple art ideas for White Day but wont be able to finish any of them in time. explodes

[generallyunskilled]

Am I just crazy or does like 99% of merch and stuff for Corpse Bride miss the entire point of the movie

[nathanialhowe]

that line of astarions where hes like "oh dont pout because you're not getting your sweet, cuddly astarion. i can't be the person you want me to be" in act 3 makes me go crazy wtf

[masonhawthorne]

spending time today designing a cover for the novelette i contemplate self pubbing, in order to procrastinate working on the story ive been outlining

[fairestwriting]

HI omg I love ur writing sm!! Also sorry im new to tumblr so im sorry if this is incorrect u can ignore it :)

I wanted to know if I could request Jamil, Azul and Leona with an S/O that barely sleeps because they stay up working.

Thank u sm!! :D

in celebration of me surviving my exams…… felt thematically appropriate to do this one (that i apparently had in my drafts for a while????

𐙚 Leona Kingscholar

It’s one of those things he doesn’t really get. He knows you’re a hardworking person since well before you two start dating, and despite his own disillusionment on the matter… Yeah, he does admire it. You have more drive by yourself than most Savanaclaw students combined, he can’t say it’s not impressive in a way. But, the way you just give up rest time is…

”Did you really pull an all nighter for that?” He asks the first time he notices it, following a day where you’d been talking all the time about this one assignment. It comes out sounding very much like a joke, and a mean one at that… That’s not really what his intention was, his expression falters when you frown at it. Not sure how to follow it up.

He understands that your work is important to you, and he respects you too much to get aggressive over it, obviously, but… really, he can’t find this anything other than ridiculous. Is it even worth that much effort? What are you gaining from this? He doesn’t openly ask you the questions, Leona knows how biased he is when it comes to the topic. And, again, how important it is to you.

Settles for pestering you to nap with him, while he can’t wrap his head around how to approach the topic in a serious way. ”Come on. You turned it in, now you better get some sleep before you keel over.” He comes up to you whenever he finds out you’re done with your work, then straight up drags you off to bed. Yours or his, just whichever one is closest. And it *is* hard to resist falling asleep, when you’re already so tired, and everything is so cozy and warm… so his plan does work. And he’s pretty happy it does.

𐙚 Azul Ashengrotto

No judgement, he’s done the same thing before. He kind of relates to it, to be honest. Maybe even a little too much— Maybe, so much that he’s a little bit of an enabler, at first. Though, of course, that’s not his intention at all. It just happens that he has similar habits.

It’s all lighthearted in the beginning. ”You didn’t get much sleep, did you? Not that I’m that much better off.” He jokes on some days, and asks if you want to come to the Lounge to get coffee or tea later. He asks you to let him know when you take your breaks when you’re working late, so you can commiserate over text or help each other or even just have a better spent few minutes.

He feels like he understands, whatever you reason for doing it all is. Even if it’s a lot different from his own, he still feels some level of kinship. Because you’re in it together, right? You don’t have to act like you’re not tired around him, he doesn’t have to act like he’s not tired around you. It’s comforting.

…It is also worrying after a while, though. There’s something about seeing your own bad habits reflected on loved ones that really gets to people, and Azul certainly isn’t immune to that. The texts during your shared breaks start turning much more caring, reminders for you to eat and drink water and at least not skip those breaks — Because he knows he probably won’t be able to convince you to just stop immediately. He knows it wouldn’t work with him, at least, and maybe he’s projecting a little. But it makes sense to him. And if you won’t take him up on his offer to call it a night yet, then he’ll just work with what he has. As long as it makes you feel a little bit better in the morning.

𐙚 Jamil Viper

Your hardworking nature is one of the things Jamil admires about you, maybe even one of the things that initially drew him to you — Especially considering how far you’re willing to take it. He does know that it’s not something to blindly admire, because, of course, there should be a limit to how much of yourself you’re willing to sacrifice for the sake of… excelling? Is that your reason to do it?

When he starts to see just how much sleep you’re skipping on, that dies down a bit. ”Not that I don’t think you’re doing a good job, but do you really have to stay up so late for this?” He questions you when it starts to seem like too much. It’s not that he changes his mind completely, just…

He finds himself conflicted on the topic, a bit similarly to Leona. A part of him wonders if you’re really doing this out of your volition, if there’s something that’s compelling you to be so willing to disregard your own health. Jamil will find himself wondering how to deal with that possible something, whether it’s your own thoughts tormenting you, or some form of outside force. Both options are pretty equally serious to him.

And Jamil isn’t really the most straightforward person out there, but… he really sees no way out of this other than directly asking you about it. You’ve been doing enough, more than enough, so why did you keep up with this awful routine? He’s not willing to argue on how damaging it is, he can see how vacant and honestly weak you look sometimes. And he doesn’t want that to continue, he wants to get to the bottom of the issue so it doesn’t have to continue anymore. Of course, he’s not so naive that he thinks he’ll totally change your mind with just one conversation, and if there’s really some outside force pressuring you, it’s even more complicated, but that’s not really the point— Before anything else, he wants you to know that you’re doing well, that he cares, and that he wants to help however he can.

if you like my work you can support me by commissioning me or tipping me on ko-fi ── ᵎᵎ ✦

[dmbakura]

i still think the devil may cry fandom's vast oversimplification of the themes in devil may cry (regarding human "good" vs demon "evil") are amplifying some very bad faith criticisms of the netflix adaptation. as well as some weird moral essentialism i just really don't vibe with. this is long and kinda messy but whatever.

i see people mostly take issue with this scene in which lady and white rabbit have their confrontation and lady says this:

this, to me, does not go against the themes of the game at all. it's not some cynical attack on "humanity". contextually, this is a sorely needed moment of reflection on lady's part, where she's able to connect with white rabbit and realizes that their ruthlessness is a shared trait. she's speaking about herself here. lady considers herself the antithesis of a demon, yet she realizes how terrible she's been acting and that they're Not So Different. she's a flawed human being and this is an explicit, textual acknowledgment of that.

i really take issue with the idea that devil may cry has ever been about coddling and portraying humans as innately good. most major villains in the dmc games are human, statistically. every single dmc game except the first 1 has an over-arcing human villain at the center of the conflict. sanctus is a religious cult leader. agnus is an unethical mad scientist. arius is a CEO. arkham is a wife killer. these are all very human evils. demon villains like mundus and argosax tend to embody more stereotypically villainous evils, but the human villains are much more nuanced and varied in their approach, which in some respects makes them a lot more dangerous.

but you might say "well they're evil because they throw away their humanity, as dante even calls out. these tears are a gift only humans have" and to which i say, so? these are conscious choices these villains made to get where they are. yes, thematically their decision to throw away good traits like compassion and empathy led them on the path to evil, and dante himself equates these traits with humanity, but dante is also biased against his demon half and has an entire arc about being wary of that part of himself until he's finally able to accept it, which is how he awakens his sin devil trigger in 5 (mirroring vergil's rejection/ultimate acceptance of his human half.)

idk man. just feels yucky seeing all of this "well demons have always been an Evil Race in devil may cry" when no, it's always been more complex than that and pretending otherwise is a massive disservice to this series. there is no hard moral dichotomy in dmc. sparda disproves this from the very opening scene from the very first game. he was one of the most powerful demons in hell, who fell in love with humanity and decided to turn against his own kind. even if demons in a general sense tend to be "evil" (mundus seems to be a particular outlier in how evil they are honestly, hating humanity to an almost comical extent), they're shown to be completely capable of good, just as on the flip side, humans are capable of being evil. again, it's about choice, what you do with the power given to you, choosing to protect what's important or throwing away everything. these are not immutable traits of humans or demons, as that would mean characters like sparda, trish, arkham, sanctus, lucia, bradley, baul, modeus, etc would not exist.

there's maybe an argument to be made about dmc netflix's explicit use of politics and whether this is appropriate or not, but i don't think it's a bad thing it decided to really dig in on the nuances of humanity. i think the choice to make white rabbit a human villain who in a sense "throws away his heart" makes him thematically consistent with devil may cry's ethos, as ive mentioned in my other post about him. i view him akin to a character like vergil, who straddles the line between human and demon, and doesn't really fit into either "demon overlord" or "overambitious human sociopath" like the other series villains. more variety is good actually.

[leafofkudzu]

Happy June, and happy Pride Month, everyone! As the start of Summer fast approaches, so too does the first Saturday of a new month - which means it's time for another art party hosted by my guild, [VS] Verdant Shield!

For those not familiar, art parties are a concept carried over from Final Fantasy XIV: in-game get-togethers for artists of all kinds to hang out, chat, and create together! For GW2 parties there’s more of an emphasis on hanging out and gathering references during the party itself, and then in the days/weeks following to work on your creations at your own pace and then post to the shared art party tag. We’ve used the same one (#VSArtParty) since the very beginning so you can go allll the way back and explore what people have made! The most important thing to keep in mind though is this: the ‘goal’ of an art party isn’t to be drawn, but to draw others, and share with the community!

Time and /squadjoin information is below the cut, but will also be posted again on the day of the party as squads go up!

Location Information:

I'm not particularly keen on setting up shop directly in Lion's Arch for any of these events (mapchat would probably be insufferable), so the gates outside in Gendarran Fields will have to do! Later this month everyone will be passing through these gates during the annual Tyria Pride event, so I thought it would be cute and thematically appropriate! You can get there from the obvious Cornucopian Fields Waypoint, or of course from going out the gate in the North of Lion's Arch (Trader's Forum Waypoint would be the closest)!

Time & Squad Details:

As always, there’ll be two parties - the first one on EU servers and the second on NA ones - with an hour break in between!

The EU server party will begin at 9pm Central European Summer Time (aka 3pm Eastern Daylight Time or 5 hours before in-game reset). I’ll be hosting this one on my EU alt account, so please either /whisper or /squadjoin Ashelin Falstaff for a taxi invite if you don’t end up on the right map!

The NA server party will begin 1 hour after the EU party’s official end, at 7pm Eastern Daylight Time (aka 1am Central European Summer Time or 1 hour before in-game reset). I’ll be on my main account for this one, so please /whisper or /squadjoin Kirslyn for a taxi invite if you don’t see my customary white cat tag hanging around on your map!

Closing Words:

As should be pretty obvious from all the rainbow post theming, feel free to bring your Pride-themed characters and outfits if you like! Of course if you don't have any, don't feel up to it, or just simply would rather show off a different style of character, feel free to do that instead! This is, as always, the type of event that's focused on self-expression, in whatever form that may take for you! Take care of yourselves everyone, and I'll see you all on Saturday! ♥

[mismarch]

i still think that the conclusion to daniels downward spiral in season 5 shouldnt have been everyone getting together to be there for him. the issue isnt that people were unwilling to meet daniel halfway, the issue is that daniel never expressed his trauma. he spent three seasons avoiding mentioning terry silver by name, only vaguely referencing the events of karate kid 3 without much detail. and when he does to johnny in season 4, it's off screen, which makes me sincerely doubt that daniel actually talked about how that fucked him up emotionally.

daniels trauma with silver is just a fairy tale to sam and the rest of the miyagi-do's. he tells it like a story, one where he pulled away from the dark and one where he triumphed over fear. but he leaves out the bitter, ugly truths, the way it has damaged him even after all this time, leaves out the details, the blood, the pain. the only people who were there at the time dont even really truly understand the extent of it, either, and i doubt daniel wouldve opened up to either jessica or miyagi about how badly terry silver traumatized and hurt him. no one gets it, and no one will--except, well, maybe one person.

with that, i think that it wouldve been more appropriate to tie that arc into johnnys with kreese by making johnny the person daniel actually confesses the extent of his trauma to after the events at stingrays apartment. have the emotional breakdown, or whatever, and have johnny relate, because they have similar experiences! and it tightens the narrative conceivably more because ultimately the catalyst for johnnys regression over the decades was his trauma with kreese, and daniels behavior in ck was due to his trauma with silver. they were both badly abused by these guys! they both developed massive trust issues! it also makes johnny remain significant in season 5 if it remained daniel centric in its plot points, but thematically you still tied johnny into it with kreese.

and, like, it makes sense then that this would be the true start of their friendship, because they recognize they are similar not only in their personalities, but in their trauma, in the ways they hurt, and finally, a recognition of why the other does the things they do. that recognition of "oh, you were a hurt kid too.", and like... you can tie it back to johnnys cobra kai, the refusal to stay the fuck down, because why should they let their abusers have the satisfaction of watching them give up??? and THAT revives daniels drive, and even with a miyagi-do heavy season its still a call back to the (supposed) core of the show

then, you can have the whole getting the gang back together thing for miyagi-fang or whatever lol idk i think there was a ton of missed potential there

[christiansorrell]

Massive TTRPG Bundle: Games for Gaza

Games for Gaza, an Itch megabundle raising funds for Medical Aid for Palestinians, is now live! It features 256 games from 140 creators, including over 190 TTRPGs and 40 video games (and more)! Just a $10 USD minimum!

Check it out HERE!

A Sunless Space, my micro-TTRPG inspired by Andor, is included as are loads more thematically appropriate games of pushing back against the endless encroach of empire.

Other TTRPG highlights (for me): Beam Saber, i'm sorry did you say street magic, The Ground Itself, Anamesis, Monster Care Squad, Cybermetal 2012, and Apocalypse Frame. These are just the bigger/more well known ones, but there's so much variety and lots I'm excited to dig into!

The bundle will be available for a little under two weeks and all proceeds are going directly to Medical Aid for Palestinians. It's been great to have a very, very small part in this and do something, anything, in the face of such reckless hate. Go get it if you can, spread the word, and do whatever you can in your sphere of the influence to aid the cause.

Once again, you can find the bundle HERE.

[ogrepoppenangleaksofficial]

Do you guys like fan theory and speculation?

Because I'm wondering if you guys have been deliberately playing into the old connections between WoD and Exalted, and it keeps showing up. Big D specifically has a lot of Solar themes. A bit mad, and specifically mad in being passionate, bombastic, and larger than life. Grand in his ties. Ruled by the virtues of Compassion, Valor, and Conviction. Doesn't make him a Solar, even Big D is too low key for that, but notable given the ties between Solars and Hunters in the old lore. (Also a very, very fun crack theory to play with) All of the hunters, in fact, have a notable visual motif where — In their moment of need — things go their way and they just so happen to be framed by gold light like a very low key aura. Notable since a Solar's power is meant to come to them in their hour of greatest need and a blazing aura of sunlight. It's most frequent with Big D, but Kitten gets it upon finding the stilts, Remold when he takes his shot in Fatigue's name, and Marcus gets it when finding the eye, and Fatigue is outright haloed when coming to Spit's aid. Kitten's character sheet also pulls up a very Exalted sounding note with how "Will this [family bond] be our strength or our ultimate undoing?" pulls up one of Exalted's biggest themes. Boy's story... Do I even have to say anything? Probably, but I might run out of space if I went into detail. Picture Perfect Solar exaltation, on the nose Sidereal mentor, Not sure if Dragonblooded, 40k space marine reference, or both. Muddled maybe Infernal/ Maybe Abyssal exaltation. And I'll leave it at that. The mages of Norfolk Wizard Game are all dressed in thematically appropriate Sidereal colors. Blue, Green, Yellow, Red, and Purple. Too many to list, but the ones who get in fights wear red, (even just a red tie for a man in black) the ones who play into secrets wear green, the one who ushers in the ending via the transition to Awakening wears purple, blue serenity doesn't on the face of it match Samsons deal aside from dealing with Matter and what things are... (but does fit the Technocratic therapist) and the teleporting conspiracy theorist with the RV wears the yellow of Journeys. On which themes, Big D specifically invokes the morning star, Venus, to bring serenity to a vampire as she chooses to meet the sun's light. On the NWG clock I'm definitely off the deep end. Creation wasn't meant to be Pangaea... but if you flipped it upside down and Atlantised the Blessed Isle... I'm still probably reaching. (OTOH, deleting the heart of the Realm and the main empire of the Dragonblooded before whatever apocalypse came about would explain why the Kindred of the East aren't a thing in this take on WoD given the ties between the two splats) It feels like there's more I could dig for given how recently I came across the series, but that will do for now. So, yeah. It looks like there are a lot of Exalted nods and references in Hunter the Parenting, so to put this naked excuse for fan speculation in hopes of delighting the work's creators in the form of a question: What's up with that?

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

I’m just going to throw down my thoughts now real quick. Someone is obviously going to get taken over by Fyodor. This takeover seems to require blood to activate. Here are the potential options, rated lowest to highest by my own personal interest.

Random character we’ve never met - the easy and boring answer. Fyodor will body snatch one of the vampire guards he was communicating with. Fair amount of likelihood since he could easily have made the transfer of blood at any point, though I’m not sure yet if it needs to be an instantaneous thing or if his blood can lie dormant. Either way I think it’s a bit of an ass-pull with no stakes on our cast so I’m hoping this isn’t the case.

A named character outside Meursault - Probably someone he’s had a lot of contact with, so Fukuchi. This depends on the blood having a latency period and is also insanely contrived. I actually hate it more than the random guard.

The Catgirl thief - I’m assuming this is extremely unlikely since the host needs to be alive. But anyways. Women lovers here’s how we lose even worse.

Having said this now, I think it’s fairly obvious it has to be one of the other Meursault four. This is appropriately thematic and tragic, given that all of them place a lot of value on free will and self-determination, which a takeover by Fyodor would rob them of.

Chuuya - He spent a lot of time around Chuuya to be sure but there’s no blood on him. If there’s a latency period though, it is possible. I’m not feeling this one though, to be honest. I don’t see what narrative purpose it serves - Chuuya hasn’t had enough of a role in the manga for this to mean much, other than royally pissing Dazai off (which to be fair is definitely in character for Fyodor). I think it far more likely that Chuuya is going to be a witness for whatever comes next.

Sigma - High likelihood. He did get stabbed and had the memory transfer. I can’t remember whether Fyodor touched him with his wounded hand. It would be brutal for this to happen to him after he’d just broken free from his manipulation. But honestly I don’t know that Sigma getting taken over is all that interesting. For one, they’re going to need his knowledge (though that may be a reason for Fyodor to off him truthfully), and for another, I just don’t think Sigma’s… done enough as a character. I feel it would kind of render his arc in Meursault pointless to end his story here.

Nikolai - The most likely possibility to me. He is holding Fyodor’s severed hand, which he touched to his face. Fyodor’s ability probably kickstarts after his death, and Nikolai was the first to get his blood on him. Sadly, I suspect that if this is the case, this will be the end for Nikolai. If he gets taken over, I can’t see a reason or method to restore him to himself. What a horribly tragic end this would be to our favourite clown, his freedom snatched away for good by the one person he couldn’t help but get attached to.

Dazai - I dismissed this off-hand at first. Of course I did, Dazai is immune to abilities. I also want to be clear that I seriously doubt Asagiri will off his favourite boy like this. But oh man. What if Fyodor’s ability isn’t an ability, much like in the first skk manga team up? What if them both being there is a call-back to Rimbaud who snatched corpses, and Lovecraft who could hurt Dazai? What if Fyodor really has become no longer human - and this is the proof? I was kind of hoping the Meursault arc would end with Dazai (temporarily!) out of the picture, and this would be a way to do it - Atsushi and Akutagawa would have to step up, Chuuya could be more relevant. We could even have more Kyouka if what I’m starting to wonder is true - that Fyodor was involved in the death of her parents. At the same time, Dazai’s special boy plot armour nullification and mysteriousness gives us a plausible reason to bring him back. And all the while maybe they could continue their mind games, with Dazai being an annoying little pest in the back of Fyodor’s mind.

[thranduil-aran-edhil]

There are 3 ways to revive Astarion/reverse his vampirism in D&D 5e. Two are baked into the mechanical rules. And one would be interesting to roleplay.

OBS: im not counting the method used in BG2EE where you can use Bodhi's Heart to revert Jaheira's/Viconia's/Aerie's/Anomen's vampirism.

The first one is True Resurrection. Now, of course, by the time the Tadfools can get a hold of this (by level 17), the whole thing with "the creature can only have been dead for 200 years" would make it a bit inconvenient. HOWEVER, Astarion isn't dead, he's UNdead. So they would have to kill him. A funny mental image, in my opinion. This would be the most certain way to revive him. (if you're going with Rules As Written, if you're spicy and like the Matt Mercer method, it could be less certain)

The second one is the Wish spell. Which is a very interesting spell, it would need a specific and clear wording to revive him. There's a chance it won't work. And there's a chance that the caster (most likely Gale) won't ever be able to cast the spell ever again.

The final one... comes from Elven High Magic. The only magic in DnD that can still go beyond level 9 even after Mystra's prohibition after Netheril's Fall. All of the spells are ritual and communal. It's quite thematically fitting, as Astarion is an Elf, but he never says anything about Elven culture in the game. It's Ye Olde Lore, like 2e (AD&D). Here's the spell in its entirety:

Gift of Life (Wizard Spell) This powerful high magic spell has an effect unlike any other. It restores undead creatures to life. Undead creatures are allowed a saving throw vs. death magic, but they can only make such a roll at a level equal to half their Hit Dice. An 18th-level lich, for example, would make a sav­ing throw vs. death magic as if it were actually a 9th-level wizard. If the undead creature fails its saving throw, it is immediately restored to life as it was just before its death, if it died by unnatural causes. It is restored to life as it was 10 years before its death if it died of old age or similar causes. The restored creature is stunned and incapable of any action for 1d4 turns as it slowly realizes what happened. The restored creature returns to life at an appropriate experience and Hit Die level, and with its original alignment and abilities. It will, however, be wearing the same clothes, and carry­ing whatever equipment (if any) that it did as an undead creature. This spell does not necessarily change the alignment of a creature that was originally evil, but the elves recount legends of wicked liches or vampires who were restored through this spell, repented their old lives, and changed alignment, dedicating themselves to the defense of elves. The material component of this spell is a gold medallion in the form of the sun (worth at least 500 gp). Notes: Restricted to elves able to cast High Magic, such as those of Evermeet.

And here's an interesting alternative, based on the D&D Elven High Magic from angelfire.com:

Suyoll/The Revival: This ritual restores an elf's life, health, and harmony with the Weave. This is seen as an acceptance back into the community of elves, despite any changes that occur during the elf’s life (or death). This ritual restores an elf’s natural state, neutralizing all ill or unnatural effects upon him. It cancels curses of any nature other than those divinely placed (i.e., personally inflicted by a god) and spell effects such as petrification and polymorph. Suyoll allows the regrowth of full limbs, muscles, and organs (such as eyes, tongue, etc.). It also negates any magical or non-voluntary alignment changes. The most advanced form of this ritual involves the restoration of undead elves to a living state, as they were 100 years before their deaths or transformations. GM’s Note: This ritual is rarely used; for the elves are a stubborn lot and forgiveness is not a virtue they practice often. Thus, any outcast elf or seriously injured elf is often perceived as pitiful or as a fool who learned his lesson for straying away from the path of elvenkind. However, great sacrifices made for sake of a clan or kingdoms are looked upon proudly, and the Suyoll is invoked to honour heroes who act in such interests. This ritual can even restore a Drow to status among the Tel`Quessir, though the ritual erases all powers (but not appearance) of the Drow (judge as a moon elf).

Do with these informations what you will, I just thought it would be nice to share :D

[airas-story]

I noticed in the were-tiger/were-lion AU that Tony didn't come clean to Stephen about his own nature. Would love to see that. :D Or whatever bit would come next, if that's not it.

Ah, yes, and there's a VERY good reason for that (or so Tony claims...) Sequel to this one!

“You know, you don’t act much like the stereotypical were-tiger,” Stephen said, tone less musing than the last time he’d brought it up and more knowing. 

Tony looked up from where he’d been absently scrawling mathematical formulas—he was so close to cracking cold fusion, he knew it—on Stephen’s bare skin, not quite able to stop his smile. “No,” he said. “I don’t.” 

The way he was pressed into Stephen’s side, warm and comfortable despite the fact that he had no sex cooldown or Stephen’s own were-lion instincts to satisfy as an excuse was pretty telling.

“Should I be offended you didn’t reciprocate the sharing of confidences?” Stephen asked. “It would have been thematically appropriate.”

Tony tutted at Stephen. “Really Stephen,” he said. “You think I’d steal your spot in the lime light on such a momentous occasion?”

Stephen snorted. “Oh, you didn’t mention your lack of were-status,” he paused. “Or potentially incorrectly documented were-status, because you were giving me time to shine?” His disbelief dripped from his voice. “How sweet.”

“What can I say, I’m considerate.”

Stephen poked him in the side; Tony suppressed his tickle response with great effort. “What’s the real reason?” Stephen asked.

Tony couldn’t help his laugh. “Would you believe me that I was so relieved that I no longer hide the truth from you, I completely forgot I hadn’t actually told you the truth?” He shrugged sheepishly. “I realized about four hours later and it felt a little awkward to blurt it out then. Decided I should wait until an appropriate moment.” He shrugged. “Or until you brought up my sheer lack of instincts again. I’m awful at remembering how I’m supposed to act.”

“So, not a were-tiger?”

“Not a were-anything,” Tony said. “It pissed Howard off like you wouldn’t believe.” He grinned. “He’d be rolling in his grave right now. Not only has my ‘terrible secret’ been revealed, but I ended up with someone just as ‘broken’ as me.”

“You’re not—”

“I know,” Tony said. “I got over that particular hangup ages ago.”

Stephen nodded, satisfied. “So. When would you have actually brought it up?”

“No idea,” Tony admitted. “Once I’d missed the obvious opportunity, I decided to wait until it’d be most entertaining, honestly.”

Stephen huffed a laugh. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

“Because you know me,” Tony said. “Now, stop distracting me; I think I’ve almost figured out cold fusion.”

[iasmelaion]

Murderbot TV Show 1x01-1x02

A preface to my Murderbot TV show thoughts: I'm going into this adaptation in good faith and with the cheerful acceptance that it's basically a very high budget AU fic. I'm not going into it expecting to be mad and disappointed, and the casting of Alexander Skarsgard as Murderbot hasn't entirely poisoned the well for me, even if I'd have preferred a different actor.

So all in all, I enjoyed the first two episodes! Spoilers below:

The more comedic tone of the show so far is a (mostly) fun and interesting adaptation choice IMO. This more comedic tone is, I suspect, a big stumbling block for a lot of book lovers, because while the books certainly have comedic elements, I'd say they lean more towards the scifi action end of things. And I admit, I myself was somewhat concerned about the show being described as something of a workplace comedy. However, as anyone who's ever read any of my fic knows, I am dedicated to lolz. Also, I don't think comedy precludes the show addressing the more serious themes of the books. (And I frankly think some more critical viewers are forgetting how some of those themes got more page time later on in the series, particularly when it comes to Murderbot and its trauma.)

My main concern with a more comedic tone was that the show wouldn't take Murderbot itself and its horrifying situation seriously. Thankfully, it does. Even amidst the comedy, the first two episodes do not shy away from being clear that Murderbot is effectively enslaved and that it's treated as a piece of smart equipment, while everything about its internal monologue and visible reactions are screaming that it is a person.

Relatedly, I really liked the strong undercurrent of discomfort and body horror around everything to do with Murderbot's body and lived experience. There are moments that are genuinely uncomfortable to watch, and which aren't played for laughs other than in the anxious wtf kind of laughter way.

Skarsgard is great as Murderbot! lol truly he is exceptional at absolutely radiating discomfort and anxiety and stress. He doesn't do it in quite the way my mental image of Murderbot does, but it's very close.

Unlike many others, I'm not wholly opposed to casting someone that looks like Skarsgard as Murderbot. Is it different from the books? Yes. Is it a valid and interesting in its own right adaptation choice? Also yes. I think there's something to be said for the subversion of someone with Skarsgard's physicality playing Murderbot, in the sense that the expectation with a character like this is a Schwarzenegger type robotic muscle man. You get that with Skarsgard, and then it's immediately undercut by Murderbot's wildly anxious energy and internal monologue. (also, frankly, even setting aside practical concerns re star power etc., I'm not going to fault a creative team for deciding to sidestep the thorny issues of having a NB POC portray an enslaved construct whose personhood is regularly violated. There's a real tightrope there between valuable representation and harmful/problematic tropes that a TV show might not have the ability to walk with the appropriate amount of nuance.)

My nitpick re Murderbot's character design: I really imagined it with more robot parts. We see Murderbot naked in the show, and while it's much appreciated that it's basically Ken doll down there, I generally envisioned that it had a mixture of organic and visibly robotic parts. Still, whatever, I'm not that fussed. I figure it's more practical and budget friendly to not have to deal with that level of makeup and CGI for nearly every scene.

There's a lot to chew on, thematically, when it comes to Murderbot's character: its relationship to gender & sexuality, its presentation as neurodivergent, its bodily autonomy and the lack thereof, humanity vs personhood and how those two things don't have to be the same thing, and just plain good old-fashioned bildungsroman. The show so far seems to be focusing on how very not neurotypical Murderbot is, and somewhat on the bodily autonomy stuff. Perfectly reasonable adaptation choices!

Genuinely baffled by the people I've seen already wildly offended and dooming about the pronoun usage for Murderbot in the show. In show, Murderbot itself has not yet expressed or even been able to express a preference. It, frankly, has more pressing shit going on. Also, benign misgendering happens IRL! Give the show some time to explore the tensions between assuming he/him pronouns for Murderbot and using it/its instead, because there are tensions there and it is meant to be an uncomfortable thing to think about. Also, the books took their time with that too!

While I am overall delighted by the PresAux crew and their portrayals by their individual actors, I'm a little :/ about how they're presented overall. This is where the comedic tone feels a bit off because on the one hand, I get it, workplace comedy vibes. But on the other hand, the aim of the jokes is sometimes too close to hippie punching. I'm reserving judgment and giving the show some time on that front though. It's a notable lacuna thus far that the show hasn't actually explained what PresAux are even doing on the planet yet.

Love the set design and production design, and the costuming for the PresAux crew!

The clear affection between the PresAux crew is also delightful. They're all so sweetly and hilariously supportive of Gurathin!

Why is Bharadwaj hoarding soap. I MUST know.

RISE AND FALL OF SANCTUARY MOON!! :DDDDD "what if murderbot's taste in tv is bad, actually" is the kind of hilarious adaptation choice that I'm 1000% here for.

Med Center Argala shoutout!!! lol love that this extremely niche SGA fic in-joke lives on and is now canonized in a big budget tv show :DDDD

[goldensunset]

been trying to find a way to word this for a while but. in my opinion (aka this is just me rambling so don't fight me) a principle of really good writing is mastering the art of narrative threats, and what you actually want them to mean. if you put your characters in danger, you gotta ask yourself- do i want the audience to be merely curious, or actually afraid?

curious- it’s obvious that the storyteller is almost certainly not going to deliver on this threat. of course the main character in this children’s show will not die halfway through season one. of course they’re going to get that important thing back. the story wouldn’t work otherwise. so the question becomes not what, but how? is our hero going to successfully convince their enemy to change their mind? perhaps the shy side character is going to suddenly show a side of themselves they never have before and come up with a brilliant plan?

'fake' danger like this falls flat when the writer is trying so hard to legitimately get you scared but any observant viewer with an understanding of solid narrative structure knows a tragedy wouldn't work here. this type of situation is best executed as less like a threat and more like author and audience watching the scene together going oooh i can’t wait to see them get out of this somehow! like idk. it doesn't have to be about fear it can be about fun or tension or epicness! it's gonna be so cool to see them solve this puzzle and get out of this trap!

afraid- the storyteller very well could deliver on this threat! it would make perfect narrative sense for this important secondary character to die during this season finale, it would make it so much more fascinating to lose the thing everyone's hope was riding on here, it would be thematically fitting if these guys could never go home, etc. and the story as a whole has been serious enough- whether outright or implied- for a tragedy like this to fit in. so you get people going oh snap this could very well happen the danger is absolutely real.

imo it's best when you don't make it too obvious- it really could go one way or another. they might get out of that scrape fine but also if they didn't we can still imagine a working story. when the audience can foresee two different possible narrative directions and both are equally compelling and satisfying in their own way, and they therefore don't have a clue which way it could go? that's the good stuff. that's when the crazy anxiety and tension starts

(obvious disclaimer that you have free will etc etc you can do whatever you want in stories, including delivering on seemingly weak threats to catch the audience off guard. but that's shock factor. which is something different from what i mean by a threat, or rising tension. but you have to really really know what you’re doing if you go for that, otherwise it feels frustrating and unsatisfying

like from my own experience. if a character gets killed off at a weird time it's so offputting that i will be distracted just waiting for the part where they magically come back, just waiting for the story to make sense. and whether it comes or not, it's hard for me to pay anything that's actually happening at that point. unless what happens then is the story appropriately dealing with the emotional aftermath. so like if you don't give people time to prepare at least give them time to heal)

the reason i like say all this is that a well done threat is what's going to evoke the most emotion out of me. if a character is actively dying i am going to shed the most tears if i am willing to believe they will actually die and stay dead. or even if they do come back, that the writing is good enough for this event to still have material or psychological consequences for the foreseeable future. if all hope seems lost in a narratively appropriate moment i can feel the weight of everything on me just as much as the characters do. otherwise it's like hmmm so melodramatic but we all know where this is going nowhere so it feels cheap. i love serious emotions and danger but you have to use all that correctly or else it weakens itself!