#pretty normalized even if their portrayal is uh

[sixthwater]

So quick note for people who are astrologers, witches, mediums, etc. like spirituality is heavy in your routine or basically a way of being.

What’s your next year looking like, does it involve some form or conflict that deals with 9H, 11H, or 7H themes. I’ve talked to about four people now and including myself I’m starting to see an interesting combination between the next transits and our solar returns next year. It’s either setting things right, standing up for yourself, or losing relationships but it always is intertwined with this somehow

And interesting how so many people are suddenly being so loudly anti-astrology or basically making skepticism their entire personality trait

[itsabouttimex2]

May I ask

Which characters will include in the primal moon scenario ?

Essentially, whichever characters I can think of scenarios for- writing Monkiefam was pretty easy, because monkeys have complex hierarchies to draw from. I spent a while observing different species at a local zoo (they’re mean. God, they’re so mean.) and decided to write a fic based on the behaviors I saw. (I’ll post that video at the bottom!)

Despite their status as the lowest ranked member of the ‘troop’, Wukong sees Y/N as his biological child. He won’t listen to any arguments about the difference in age or species, no matter what evidence is presented to refute him. Macaque is seen as his ‘little brother’, their rivalry temporarily forgotten. (Though only on Wukong’s end.)

The Great Sage is just lucid enough to recognize MK as his cherished student, and tries to give him advice… but his mind is a little too muddled by viridescence to offer anything sound. He also accidentally enables the worst of Primal!MK’s traits by complimenting and comforting him whenever things go wrong.

He’s thankfully rather laidback about the whole thing, only getting violent when he feels that his ‘family’ or status are threatened.

Macaque returns to his long-forgotten docile demeanor, a remnant of his days as a member of the Sworn Brotherhood- though he tries to fight the shift. It butchers the simian’s pride to resume a position of submissiveness, especially now that it’s to two people- one of whom may well be a teenager. Also, he’s sincerely desperate for comfort and companionship, so he spends most of the week fighting himself to not participate in any bonding activities.

He’ll make a ‘rank-scaling’ attempt or two, only to get beaten down and potentially pushed behind even Y/N in terms of status if he does it enough.

Sun Wukong->MK->Macaque->Y/N is the troop ranking, and it’s pretty rigid.

MK is, uh… in a pretty rough state. He’s never had any preparation for the Primal Moon, thinking himself a regular human for almost the entire time that he’s been alive.

———————————————————————

Honestly, it’s Tang that gives me the hardest time! assuming we can call upon his cicada ancestry, he’s- got absolutely nothing. Female cicadas use their ovipositors to slice into thin branches many times, leaving clutches of eggs as they go- that’s about as far as parental instincts go for them, given that they and the males die soon after breeding. (The males, in fact, die pretty much directly after.) I guess I’d place him with Princess Iron Fan and Ne Zha as the ‘normal’ guys.

Pigsy is, as you know- a male pig. Who are notorious piglet-killers. Eating piglets, stepping on piglets, rolling over and crushing piglets- intentionally killing entire piglet litters to force females back into estrus- it gets pretty brutal. So I still haven’t figured out what I want to do with him for this story- though I imagine he’ll be aggressive/hair-trigger, with Tang being the one thing that holds him back.

———————————————————————

Mei was pretty easy to write, but I did a lot of research on Chinese dragons in order to keep my representation of her respectful. Dragons in the west are usually reduced to bloodthirsty beasts of pride and rage- creatures to be slain and overcome as monstrous final obstacles. This portrayal even dates back to Beowulf, with the dragon portrayed then going on to characterize many dragons that came after it. (For example, Smaug was based partly on Beowulf’s dragon, and partly on Fafnir- so if any others dragons are based on Smaug, then they too call back upon the original.

In Chinese culture, dragons are considered wise and powerful beings. They’re worshipped as symbols of prosperity and good luck, and considered very auspicious beings.

So, Mei seems more composed in this AU- but it’s all an act. Given the stigma that non-humans have on account of the Primal Moon, she spends a lot of time pretending to be something that she’s not so that no one ends up being afraid. Mei’s obsession with with Y/N primarily stems from their complete acceptance of who she is, inside and out. Instead of having to pretend to be dignified and wise and rational, she gets to be the real Mei. She can goofy and energetic with you, not afraid to roughhouse or throw hands.

———————————————————————-

For Bullfam, I think Princess Iron Fan very much would be the ‘only sane man’- if two things weren’t occurring:

1. Her husband wasn’t trying to talk her into having a second child and worshipping her every step, his tongue spinning crude admirations of her beauty and battle prowess.

2. Her son wasn’t clinging to her waist and arms, begging for validation and attention, futilely trying to drag her into his workshop to compliment his blueprints and machines.

So she has her boy (after some headpats and a little bit of buttering up) run off to the surface and snatch a suitably young human who’s been left unattended, imposing them as a temporary ‘second child’ and ‘younger sibling’… before getting attached. Even though they were supposed to be disposable, she works them into a more permanent fixture of her family.

Given that Red Son is the one who picks you out, he feels a special bond with you. Instead of being more aggressive or even prouder- Red gets clingy. His desire for love and respect comes to the forefront, leading him to latch onto Y/N as tightly as possible. Hugs, headpats, back rubs, hair combing- he wants affection in as many forms as possible. I like to think he temporarily grows horns during the Primal Moon, and that he really likes having them rubbed and polished.

And as for Demon Bull King… this man is already aggressive as hell and pretty damn tempestuous, seeing red at the drop of a hat. So, with very little inhibition as is, he’s the sort of demon hit hardest. Bull King’s mental faculties degrade by a touch or two, rendering him very animalistic. He’s the opposite of Mei here- she puts herself through a ton of suppression and training and it all pays off spectacularly. He actively leans into the instincts and new power the viridescence brings, reveling in a more bestial state.

So, while Y/N openly and freely gives Mei love and affection, they instead cower and hide from Demon Bull King.

He wants more kids. Wants to spend more time with his wife. Wants to fight and break and feast. And when Y/N is abducted brought home, his aggression outright doubles. This is kinda good, though- now he’s so protective that he’s pacing the fortress in hourly patrols, wearing himself out as he digs deep grooves into the earth, carving his sigil into the stones around him many times over, marking the territory as inextricably his.

And all he wants upon returning home is a nap- with his entire family piled onto the bed, of course.

———————————————————————

Also, if anyone has recommendations for how characters should act, I’d be happy to hear them!

[sagesolsticewrites]

Heat Wave

It’s the hottest summer Iowa’s had in a while. Your husband wears shorts. It gets even hotter.

Shoutout to Winnie (@winniemaywebber) for making yet another incredible playlist for this fic!

Warnings: mature content (dom/sub dynamics (sub!Harry, dom!Mrs.Crosby (you’re Jean, bc of course who else would you be?)), thigh riding, thigh biting 👀, teasing, praise kink, orgasm denial, this whole thing is roleplay “punishing” Harry for sleeping with Sandra), swearing, mentions of cheating (but not really bc there was a war on come on y’all; Mrs. Crosby in this fic has canonically forgiven him for it, this is just a way for them to have some fun), definitely some historical inaccuracies in here, and ofc including a whole separate warning for Anthony Boyle’s thighs <3 (this is an 18+ fic!! minors begone!!)

Word count: 1.5k

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction based off the portrayal by the actors in the Apple TV+ series. I hold nothing but respect for the real life individuals referenced within.

Masterlist

It was June 1946, and it was the hottest summer in Iowa since the war had started.

You and Harry had opened all the windows in the house, hoping to let in some semblance of a breeze, but the air remained stagnant and stifling. You had resorted to foregoing a dress entirely, wearing the thinnest slip you had and simply praying that no one came to call on the two of you in your little house in the middle of nowhere, while your Bing had stripped down to just a pair of shorts and his undershirt, the glass of iced tea in his hand dripping condensation onto his bare thigh.

You can’t help but track the drop as it follows a path down the inside of your husband’s thigh to seep into the fabric of the worn armchair he’s currently collapsed in with his legs spread wide; the heat outside matching the building heat in your core as you take in his underdressed state.

He catches you staring with a knowing glint in his eye, setting his drink aside on the coffee table.

“Something I can help you with, Mrs. Crosby?”

Normally you would play coy, but something about the oppressive heat and the way your husband is sprawled out in that chair makes you want to try a different tactic.

“As a matter of fact there is, my darling Bing,” you purr, slinking over to his chair.

He eagerly leans up for a kiss, but you swerve, brushing gentle kisses to his cheeks, his forehead, his jaw… everywhere but his lips, where he really wants you.

Understanding dawns on his face, and his eyes fill with heat as he realizes it’s going to be one of those days.

“Honey, please,” he whines softly, a gasp escaping him as you trace up the inside of his thigh with one neatly manicured nail.

His hips buck up towards your hand, but you pull away quickly.

“Uh-uh,” you scold softly, tilting his chin up with two fingers so his eyes meet yours, “Not yet, sweetheart.”

He nods obediently, pretty brown eyes wholly enraptured by you.

“Good boy,” you murmur, brushing a kiss to the corner of his mouth before moving to kneel between his legs.

A soft whimper escapes your husband at the molten look you shoot him as you brush featherlight kisses up the inside of each of his thighs, his hands clenching around the armrests as he resists the urge to forcibly put you where he wants you.

You hear his breath catch as your mouth reaches the spot where his thigh and hip meet, still covered by his shorts, followed shortly by a desperate whine as your lips trace the same path back down his leg.

“No, sweetheart,” you murmur, punctuating it with a nip to the flesh of his thigh, “You were very bad when you were gone, remember?”

Your nails grazing lightly down his other thigh prompts a soft, gasping “Yes, yes, I remember.”

You reward him with a soft kiss to where your teeth just were, continuing.

“So, you don’t get to cum until I’ve decided you’ve made it up to me, ‘kay honey?”

He nods.

“Need your words, sweetheart.” You prod gently.

“I understand,” he breathes, desperation coloring his voice.

“Good boy,” you praise, and you descend.

You gently dig your teeth into the flesh of his thigh once more, nibbling and sucking a path along both of his thighs, peppering in gentle kisses as you go.

Your toes curl, wetness pooling between your legs at the soft whimpers, moans, and gasps that your husband is making above you.

Satisfied with the series of pretty purple marks decorating his flesh, you scatter several soft kisses across his skin before you stand, letting your slip hit the floor.

Bing swears softly as he takes in the sight of you, one hand creeping towards the prominent bulge at the apex of his thighs.

You raise a stern eyebrow, leaning over to tap his hand once.

“No touching,” you scold softly as he jerks his hand back to grip the armrest, looking up at you with pleading eyes.

“‘M sorry, honey, I just… you’re so pretty…”

“Being sweet to me won’t make me go easier on you, my love,” you murmur, though part of you melts at the compliment.

Your husband lets out a soft groan of “oh, Christ,” as you shed your panties and move to straddle his leg, slowly sinking down onto his broad quadricep.

You pull his face towards you, two fingers under his chin, to breathe against his lips.

“Remember,” you say, taking in his pretty eyes, pupils blown wide as you slowly rock back and forth on his leg, “You don’t get to cum until I say so.”

He nods frantically, a strangled “Yes” his only response as you begin to grind against him in earnest.

You can’t quite bring yourself to stifle your moans at the feeling of your core gliding along Harry’s bare thigh, and your husband’s already darkened eyes turn almost black at the sound.

“F-fuck, honey, you feel so good,” you gasp against his lips, praise tumbling from your lips as tension builds just below your belly, “Being so good for me, letting me use you like this—”

Your husband lets out a strangled moan, knuckles turning white from how hard he’s gripping the chair.

“Honey… Honey, please let me cum,” he whines after several minutes of your agonizing teasing, his breath hot on your mouth, “Haven’t I been good? I don’t—” he cuts off with a pleading groan as your nails rake down his back, your pace increasing.

“Fuck, I don’t know if I can last much longer, honey, please.” 

One of your hands comes up to grip his hair at the roots, dark curls deliciously soft under your fingers. You murmur against his lips as he lets out a soft hiss, “Make me cum first, baby, and then I might let you.”

 He moans into your mouth, flexing his thigh against you and causing you to gasp at the new angle.

“Oh, Christ, just like that, honey,” you groan, grinding desperately against him, a stuttering moan escaping you as you stammer “I’m— ‘m gonna—”

You muffle your cry in his neck as you reach your peak, grinding slowly against him as you ride out your climax.

Harry whimpers in your ear as your leg brushes his bulge.

“Sweetheart— please, can I—?”

“Yes, honey,” you say, pulling him into you for a heated, open-mouthed kiss as your hand dives into his shorts to wrap around his length, “Did so, so good for me, you can let go now, baby”

It only takes a few pumps, your hand slick with the precum leaking from his tip, before he’s spilling into your hand with a cry.

The two of you catch your breath, foreheads pressed together.

“Wow, sweetheart,” Harry says, huffing out a laugh.

You giggle, pulling him in for a kiss that you can’t help smiling into.

“It wasn’t too much, right?” You ask, pulling away to scan his face for any hint of unease.

“Not at all, honey,” your husband assures you with a sweet kiss to your forehead, reaching to pass you a rag sitting on the table so you can clean your hand off.

You stand, sliding your slip back on before settling in next to him, one arm wrapping around your shoulders and tucking you in close.

“So,” Harry says, a cheeky grin lighting up his face, “Have I made up for it yet, my love?”

You pretend to think for a moment, a smirk on your face as you reply.

“For now, honey. For now.”

A quiet moment passes, and you turn to press your lips to his shoulder in a gentle kiss.

“You know I’m not really upset about what happened when you were gone,” you say softly, fingers tangling with his, “right, honey? I know things were tough, things were… unspeakably bad, and you were doing what you had to do to stay sane so you could get through it and come back to me.”

Your husband lets out a soft sigh, squeezing your fingers with a smile at the reassurance that’s become routine after moments like these.

“I know, sweetheart. I—” His voice goes soft, gratitude seeping into every word as he traces your jaw with his fingertips, eyes tracing over your features as if he still can’t believe you’re real, “I thought about you every day when I was over there. I missed you so, so much.”

You lean into his touch. In the months he’s been home, you still haven’t been able to get enough of him being here, being able to touch you, and you in turn being able to touch him. 

“I love you.”

“I love you too, angel.”

[spenglersweetheart]

Could I have…could i perhaps have Peter Venkman genuinely falling in love. Like reader becomes a ghost buster and doesn’t meet Venkman until their first bust. They’re strong and sharp minded, and when Peter flirts they always have a witty comeback.

Ray and Egon notice this and take this opportunity to test the mood slime.

Long story short reader and Venkman are locked in a room together “for science” in reality Egon and Ray just want the awkward flirting over with.

oooh a peter venkman one !! i've never written for him so my portrayal may be a bit wonky but i hope you enjoy it!

─────────────── ✦ ───────────────

For Science

Peter Venkman x Reader

WARNINGS : none!

─────────────── ✦ ───────────────

YOU HADN'T MET PETER UNTIL YOUR FIRST BUST with the boys. For some reason, Peter immediately took interest in you (but this is normal for someone like Peter). But you didn't mind his flirtatious antics like any other woman did. Actually, you were quick-witted, and sometimes even threw in a flirtatious remark back. This quickly began to be a normal thing between the two of you.

Winston was the first to get tired of it. You were a great worker and Peter was ... kind of a slacker. But when he did work, he worked pretty hard. His work dwindled whenever there was a pretty person around. Down the line, Egon became tired of it, and later, so did Ray.

But Ray suddenly got an idea. He told Egon and Winston about it, and they were on board. The only people who didn't know about it were you and Peter.

You were about to leave to grab something from the next laboratory when you noticed that the door was locked. For some reason, you jiggle the doorknob, thinking that it was just stuck.

"Uh, I think it's locked, sweetheart," Peter said.

You turned around to look at him. "Well, I know that now, hot stuff."

Egon, Ray, and Winston were all outside. The slime being with them. It was close enough to the door so that it could register their interactions. Egon pretty much scrunched his nose up when the flirting already started.

You called inside of the room. "Okay, guys, haha, very funny. Let us out!"

"I don't think they're gonna let us out. They're too busy with their mood slime," Peter said with a chuckle, "They're busy being science nerds."

"Hey! I like those science nerds," you chuckled.

"I'm a science nerd, do you like me?" He asked.

You playfully nudge his arm, a smirk crawling onto your lips. "Especially you."

The other three outside looked at the slime that was currently in the jar. It was bubbling. Egon has looked at Ray. "It's reacting negatively."

Winston scoffed, an amused smile on his lips. "Not surprised," he said.

The two trapped in the other room didn't even know they were conducting an experiment with the mood slime with them. To Peter, that wouldn't be much of a shock. You on the other hand, knowing that you were a little bit newer, you would be.

Peter leaned forward. "Well, if you like me so much," he starts, he's looking you up and down, "How about we. . ."

"Lemme guess, a date?" You respond, "Friday, eight o'clock sharp."

A smirk crawls onto his face. "You read my mind. Are you a psychic?"

"Mm, no," you answered, "Well, maybe. I can read your mind, hot stuff."

"You know I love someone who can read my mind," Peter said back.

The slime had almost boiled over. Ray finally unlocks the door, walking into the room as he pretty much ruins the moment. Egon and Winston are walking behind him. He waves his hands in the air.

"Alright, that's enough!" Ray called, "I can't take it anymore."

This made both you and Peter laugh. "What? Can't handle it?" You ask.

"It's gross, yes," Egon replies bluntly, "But, you managed to negatively charge the slime. Congratulations."

Peter looked at you. "Did you know about this?"

You shook your head. "Nope. I didn't know anything. Did you?"

"No," he answered, "But, we're actually on for the date night."

A chuckle escaped your lips, before reaching up to give a kiss on his cheek. "Of course, sweetheart.

[dandelionflowery]

Intro post!

(breast cancer awareness post here/the legends of tumblr here, variations here and here , alt link for number 7/arch nemesis Cynthia here) [the two topics are wholly unrelated]

HII!!

My name on the internet is Dandelion, but you can call me whatever you like honestly. It's so hard to find a good name around here, the fae keep stealing them

I use any pronouns, online people default to they/them, IRL people default to she/her, you can use whatever you feel like!

I'm aroace 🧡💛🤍🩵💙 and my gender is up to interpretation lol

I'm 16 and I live in France but I have both French and American citizenship (so i do speak both french and english)

I have both scoliosis (diagnosed, 45°) and probably dyslexia (not officially diagnosed but all the internet tests I did were screaming at me to go get an official diagnosis- as has life lol) and those two really hate each other who deCIDED SCOLISOIS SHOULD BE SPELLED THE WAY IT IS (if i spell it correctly be aware that either I copied it from somewhere, or i thought about it for WAY too long, or it was a monkeys on keyboards thing)

I created a blog just for reblogging shit (aptly named @dandelionflowery-reblogs) but even with that I can't promise to tag stuff correctly on either blog...

I'm not often super active on here, at least not regularly, mostly because I have way too many classes but sometimes I go absolutely insane and spend like an entire day on here (oops)

actually i'm most active on here I think now lol

~~☆~~

I like:

- Harry Potter (Drarry, Deamus, Romione, Linny are my main ships but there's a decent chance you could get me to like a specific portrayal of just about any pairing lol) [also fuck jkr]

- The Marauders (WOLFSTARRR! Also Jily and aroace Peter and maybe Remadora. Same thing as before: open to other pairings [I know of and appreciate the ships with the girls but usually I'll lean towards the first ones mentioned actually I'll lean towards wolfstar with background Jily and aa battery Peter)

- Reading and books in general

- Fanfics, fanart!! (Both writing/drawing them and reading/simping for them)

Speaking of which, I have a side blog that's actually technically marauders themed! @mybrain-fanficedition

- Interactions on here!!

- there's probably some other stuff I like but I can't think of anything rn

~~☆~~

I don't like:

- Following from above, I said I was open to pretty much any pairing, ... I lied lol

Idk what jegulus did to me but i just don't like it for some reason (jegulily? lovely. jily? fantastic. jegulus? less.)

- Also the usual list of if you're pro-genocide, homophobic transphobic uh racist, pedophile or just a generally mean person

~~☆~~

I like talking to people even if you don't know what to say just say hi!

Also I have other social media, come find me if you want!

@/flowerydandelion, @/dandelionfloweryart and @/wands.swords.and.books on Instagram!

On Ao3 I'm like 90% sure it's DandelionFlowery and uh probably similar usernames on Discord and Reddit [though I'm not often active on there]

Wait if I link my ao3 that means i need to actually post my fics lol

Leave comments if you read my fics, I love feedback!! (or just leave kudos, it makes me irrationally happy lol)

~~*~~

tags about my current wips featuring really bad summaries:

#third time's the charm- Lily

(not going to be the actual title i think but first i have to write it, we'll worry about titles later)

Lily decides canon sucks and she's going to do something about it

#our broken hearts- an ode to wolfstar (this one is subject to change bc that title is way too sappy for me)

Sirius dated Peter. And Marlene. And Lily. And James. And then Remus?

~~*~~

totally normal link trust me :)

if you still trust me (and why shouldn't you?), here's the ULTIMATE PRIDE FLAG lol)

let's see how trustworthy you think i am

wanna see some stuff i wrote? (warning, a friend said it took them half an hour to read just the main bit lmao)

an apology 1 | 2

useful tumblr post about hobbies

SNAIL CROSSING SNAIL CROSSING SNAIL CROSSING

~~*~~

side blogs: @x-lovegood @xenophilius-quibbler (Xenophilius Lovegood rp) @sybilances (Sybill Trelawney rp)

@antheia-anthousai (nymph oc)

@mybrain-fanficedition (as mentioned above)

@am-i-a-crab (crab army!!)

+ another gimmick blog but i'm not saying which one >:)

[aihoshiino]

what are your thoughts on kana and if aka will actually let her find out about the revenge plot eventually

kana my love

Imo, it's pretty inevitable that Kana is going to find out about Aqua's revenge plan - it feels very intentional that the movie arc is pretty much the first time he's been willing to actively involve and manipulate Kana specifically for his own ends and I don't think it's a coincidence that this is only happening now Aqua is at his lowest point. Involving Kana to such a degree really feels like Aqua choosing to cross a line he had previously drawn for himself in terms of involving Kana directly with his revenge.

After all, I don't think it's accidental or due to a lack of focus that Kana has largely remained ignorant to this side of Aqua - rather, I think it's representative of the fact that Kana and his friendship with her is, in a lot of ways, a sort of refuge for Aqua, a window into a life as a normal teenager. As he himself put it all the way back in chapter 30, Kana is one of the few people in his life Aqua feels he can talk to without any manipulation or ulterior motives and it's clear he deeply values this aspect of their relationship. Through Kana, a lot of Aqua's worst traits are sort of filtered through a brighter, kinder lens and she brings a lot of his better traits out of him - his playful sense of humour, his sense of care and duty to the people around him, that sort of thing. Even the parts of himself he hates are softened a bit. For the like, five of you who occupy the middle of the "Oshi no Ko enjoyer" and "Umineko Enjoyer" Venn diagram, through Aqua and Kana's friendship, we (and arguably Aqua) are able to see him with love.

It's why I think it's not just inevitable but outright necessary that Kana find out about everything going on with Aqua. Aqua's arc during this stretch of the manga has been about him desecrating all his most important relationships and finally crossing the line in actively manipulating and involving Kana is part of that desecration. It's such a big shift in the status quo of their relationship that it necessitates Kana being given the information necessary to join everyone else in shaking him and going STOP RUINING YOUR LIFE, DIPSHIT!!!!

Anyway uh as you can probably tell by all that, I really like Kana! She's probably my favourite member of the cast who is not Ai and I think it's partially because her arc hits on a lot of similar beats to the ones that made Ai so compelling for me. She is definitely not on the same level of Brain Melting Blorbo as Ai obviously is for me lol but she touches on those same issues of lingering damage caused by childhood abuse, exploitation and abandonment and the kinds of things that pain does to you as you grow up. She engages with these themes in a way that is distinct enough from Ai to feel refreshing and honest while also, imo, being in conversation with it enough that it all coheres quite nicely.

I also just think she's fun and cute! The anime in general and its handling of the material is what finally made me really click with Oshi no Ko and Kana is, imo, second only to Ai in being the best served by the adaptation. She's plenty fun in the manga obviously but the anime puts a really tangible amount of love and care into its portrayal of her and does so many fun and cute things with her character acting it's really hard not to be endeared to her. I liked her fine during my first pass of the manga but it was definitely the anime that turned me into a card carrying Arima Kana Enjoyer. A big part of what has me so excited about season 2 is knowing that some of her best moments after going to get that same loving treatment and I can't wait to see it!

[choccos-aaart]

Poo has a deep conversation (in script form)

Here's something I wrote which focuses on my portrayal of Poo's character. It's been some days since Poo joined the party, and he & Ness still haven't really hit it off.

(Mostly, it's just Poo being all uptight, under pressure, and having some kind of beef with Ness. Meanwhile, Ness's just chilling and teasing most of the time xd)

Now this is a conversation that change's Poo's perspective on his life forever :O

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's late at night. Poo hangs out on top of a Scarabian building. Lying down, he watches the stars and admires the way they glitter in the sky. He is tranquil.

A little further down the roof, Ness finishes climbing up. He grins at his achievement, but upon seeing Poo, he quiets down immediately. He awkwardly stands there for some time. Then from his pocket he takes out his yo-yo and slings it.

SFX: Sliiiiiing!

POO: AH--

Poo jumps up and assumes a defensive stance.

POO: WHO GOES THERE?!

NESS: AAH!

POO: Oh, it's just you. (Pause) Wait, how long have you been there? Have you been watching me?!

NESS: Uh no, I just arrived. Seriously, why're you so uptight all the time?

POO: Well! ...It's because trouble is everywhere, that's why!

NESS: I mean... yeah. Trouble's a part of life, and you just have to roll with it, y'know?

POO: Hmph. Well, I refuse to get into any trouble at all.

Ness walks up next to Poo and sits down at the roof's edge.

NESS: You refuse to, huh? Why?

POO: It's... It's because I have to be the best! I trained my whole life so I can aid you in saving the world, and eventually... rule an entire country.

NESS: Dang... I... I dunno what to say about all that... That's a lot.

POO: But... Saving the world is also your responsibility... Hmm... You know, I always--

NESS: Okay, this conversation's getting too deep! Let's change the topic!

POO: Y-yes...! In fact, I would be more than happy to change the topic, as well!

NESS: Hah! We finally agreed on something! Alright, let's see... 

Ness pauses to think for a moment. Poo sits down at the edge of the roof.

NESS: Ah! Remember when I was messing with you earlier today?

POO: Be specific.

NESS: At the markets.

POO: (Sighs) Oh yes, now I know. Go on...

NESS: Firstly, remember that you were the one that started this whole one-on-one duel thing.

POO: Duel and one-on-one mean the exa--

NESS: SO, WE WERE MAKING a huge messout of the place--

Poo rolls his eyes and says nothing.

NESS: ...And then some old guy was chasing us. While all that was happening, you had like some kind of "evil laugh" or something! 

POO: I had what?

NESS: (Humorously) Man! I didn't even know you had that in you! I didn't even know you could laugh at all!

POO: You're able to notice things like that?

NESS: Wait a minute, just to make sure, you were laughing at the guy, right?

POO: I don't know! But, I suppose it could have been at the man... 

NESS: (Laughing) Okay, good!

POO: O...kay?

NESS: And then, when he was screaming at us you said the funniest things, like (immitating Poo) "That is NOT the way you treat the prince of the skies!" (normally) and other things like that!

POO: Surely, that was a serious expression. 

NESS: I dunno, you seemed pretty playful to me.

POO: I really said it like that?

NESS: Yeah, you were hilarious!

POO: Hilarious...

NESS: And finally, (sighs fondly) when we escaped the guy, I saw on your face that you had the most mischievous smile. You could barely hide it, even with the serious exterior you have all the time....

POO: ...To think I SMILED after all that...?! I cannot believe myself! I didn't realise my disrespect -- all my masters will be so ashamed of me!

NESS: WHOA, whoa -- chill out, your highness! That's a good thing! (Under his breath) ...Kinda.

POO: (Sarcastically) Oh, really now?

NESS: Yeah, I mean... Sure, rules are rules, and you're expected to follow 'em, but when you're a little disobedient, that's where the fun's at!

POO: (Genuinely) Really?

NESS: Yes, really! This is why I think you should loosen up a little. You're not at the palace right now, are you?

POO: Your point?

NESS: Let me see that troublemaker again! It's something I really like about you, so I'm bummed you gotta hide it all the time!

Poo pauses for a short while. Ness starts looking a little concerned about what he had just said.

NESS: Okay, forget I--

POO: You... Nobody has ever said anything like that to me before...

Ness raises his eyebrows in astonishment.

NESS: Wow... Uh, you're welcome. (Pause) Okay, I mean absolutely no offense when I say this, but man, I would hate to be a prince if it meant growing up like... uh... you.

POO: (Sigh) I understand. 

NESS: Anyway! Today was fun! Let's go one-on-one again sometime!

POO: Absolutely! 

NESS: And also, try to chill out more when we hang out. At least when you're with me, Jeff and Paula, quit being so under pressure.

POO: Hmph! Alright then! Easy!

NESS: Uhuh. Doubt it!

POO: I said it will be easy!

NESS: Y'know what, just lie back down and look at the sky or whatever you were doing. You were pretty calm then. Right?

Poo pauses for a moment.

POO: Huh... (Under his breath) Yes, I was...

[kenobihater]

so, uh... netflix avatar certainly is a show, huh? i just finished episode 1 and i'm gonna ramble on about it below. blacklist "#len watches natla" or "natla spoilers" if you either don't wanna see this shit or you don't want spoilers.

fair warning that i was relatively neutral going into the show, but episode 1 was... hmm. i'm still struggling to formulate words on it. i didn't love it, but it wasn't shyamalan levels of bad by any means. i'm gonna hop right into episode 2 after this post bc i've heard the pilot and the finale are the weakest episodes and i genuinely wanna give it a fair chance before i cast judgment.

so, they open with the air nomad genocide. i knew this going in, but it certainly sets a Tone, a Tone that does NOT feel like avatar. like, i understand they wanted to elevate the level of maturity a bit and make things more serious, but was it rlly necessary to see a shit ton of air nomads get fireballed to death, culminating in gyatso getting burned alive trying to protect a room of children, who also presumably get incinerated?? they didn't show that part, instead doing a hard cut to katara waterbending a century later (resulting in EXTREME whiplash for me), but them violently dying is the only way that ends.

also, minor quibble: the firebending looked normal to me, but the general who killed gyatso said smthn like "you might have beaten me any other day, but today we have the power of the comet!" but their bending doesn't look very different from zuko's bending later? it's a little more flamey ig, but in s3 when ozai gets juiced up the motherfucker is out here destroying whole forests from his airship.

onto the acting. gordon cormier's portrayal felt a little too rehearsed and theatrical rather than natural, but he's a kid and acting is hard so i'm def gonna cut him some slack, and he does seem pretty happy and earnest, even if his delivery is a bit forced. kiawentiio tarbell is pretty good, but her dialogue left a bit to be desired, which isn't on her and i'll complain about later. ian ousley gave the best performance imo, tho ymmv bc ik there's some controversy around his heritage that i don't feel i have the right to get into due to tribal registration being a complex topic, blood quantum being awful, and me being white. gran gran was barely there and just exposited everywhere in a weird callback to the og intro, so i don't really feel like she's that important even tho i liked her casting. uncle iroh... i'm not sure. he wasn't too prevalent, which is understandable this early on. i liked paul sun-hyung lee's warmth, but don't have much to say otherwise yet. and then there's dallas james liu. i think his acting was pretty solid, at least on the level of dev patel's performance (which i swear is a compliment bc he was the only good part of shyamalan's dumpster fire of a film imo). i think the issue i have with the performance is down to the writing, which i guess i'll get into now bc it's my biggest issue with episode 1.

the dialogue flow was mid, and there was a bit of info dumping from gyatso in his scene with aang which i found distracting. speaking of info dumping, gran gran was just kinda there to explain the last hundred yrs to aang and then have zero interactions with her grandchildren before they flew off, which was dumb.

still on the topic of writing: i mentioned the tone set by the opener, and i think that's bad, but it also fucked up the pacing by not starting at the same point the og did. by the end of the episode they shoehorned in the trip to the southern air temple with like 11 mins left (i checked) and so that made aang's grief triggering the avatar state feel rushed. i also thought the flashback to gyatso's earlier dialogue when aang saw his corpse was unnecessary. like bitch, i watched that 30 mins ago, i remember it fine! by the end, aang seemed waaaay more driven than he did in s1 of the original, almost as self-confident as he was in s3. like, he accepted being the avatar real quick. i'm pretty sure he'll display a bit more uncertainty later in the season (at least, i hope he does), but that still felt off to me.

my biggest complaint about the writing is zuko. i KNOW he's a brat, i am well aware of that as a lifelong zuko girlie, but was him trying to kill sokka necessary??? he was literally about to throw a fireball at him when he was lying defeated in the snow before aang stepped in. he also commanded his soldiers to burn the village to the ground at one point. i understand he's a villain and that they're attempting to corner the Prestige TV market here, so they've decided to make him grittier. i don't like it, though. in the cartoon, zuko is driven in his awful quest, but he's also honorable - in the village he nods his head in agreement when aang asks if he'll leave the village alone if aang goes with him. that little moment showed his honor, his true honor, peeking through. also in the cartoon, he's really bad at finding the avatar despite being very skilled in combat. i don't know how they're gonna have him show up very much in this season if he's gonna be more of a ruthless asshole tbh.

overall, i'm left just kinda confused with the tone and character writing of the show. i'm going to watch the whole season because it's only 8 episodes and i genuinely hope it improves somewhat, but i'd give it either a 6 or a 6.5/10, i can't quite decide.

[ladyseidr]

And another headcanon dump! TW for vaguely discussed self-harm.

by the time he's, like, 20, he's got multiple ear piercings and a septum piercing

in that same vein, planned on getting tattoos before getting scooped

only interested in the above because it's genuinely his style, not to like. get back at his dad or whatever. (like at most my william would slightly resent the fact that mike does whatever the fuck he wants with his appearance VS william forcing himself to stay so in line, if that makes sense. he's not old-fashioned regarding piercing/tattoos/etc)

bi, but has an extremely strong preference for men and masc-aligned ppl

complicated relationship with gender. like, he's fairly openly queer and interacts with other queer ppl, so he does explore gender presentation to an extent in those spaces, but hurricane isn't exactly... a queer hotspot (unless they're my portrayals in which case nobody is straight ever). still, he doesn't really hear abt IDing as nonbinary until long after the scooping. at that point, his identity as a whole is, er, complex and it's not really his priority. but he does recognize that he's nb at that point. tends to still default to using he/him pronouns and masc terminology, but comfortable with and occasionally uses they/them.

this is a headcanon i'm Tentative to post because i think ppl can be nervous because of my personal experiences, but fuck it: he absolutely struggles with self-harm. it starts in high school and honestly he never fully recovers normally. the scooping kind of, uh, gets in the way of it. he was already trying to get clean prior, but y'know. this should be a given, but he covers the wounds/scars and doesn't tell people. by default, nobody in his family knows about it.

to be clear about the above: i am comfortable exploring this topic so long as you don't try to get me to write him (or any muse) actively self-harming. i'm a grown adult, i know my limits and i'm more than capable of messaging ppl if i need things toned down. i'm also many, many years clean at this point. please don't baby me if you're interested in exploring this topic (and, on that note, i will never even allude to his self-harm unless you have explicitly told me it's okay).

def works at fred.dy's off-and-on prior to william's disappearance. fucking hates it, but also struggles to keep jobs elsewhere. prefers working at locations william isn't active at, but just keeps ending up alongside him regardless. can't escape each other and all that shit lmao

actually pretty damn intelligent but absolutely doesn't believe this abt himself

hates his father but also still loves him. yes, ever after everything. nothing about their relationship is or will ever be simple. regretfully remembers the "good times." wishes he didn't. (glad he does, because what else does he have?)

speaking specifically on my elise: loves her. resents her deeply. when he's younger, fully pegs her as a shitty mother. when older, gets it but still just can't completely forgive her. absolutely feels abandoned by her and tells her at one point in the midst of an argument

headcanon tag is a reference to this song because uh? "this is who i am / nobody said you had to like it / this is who i am / a modern tragedy / bury your mistakes / clear those bones from your closet / with wisdom there’s pain" ?????

there's literally so much more i could write but let's just fkjsdsda leave it here for now

[usersasaki]

hello tumblr user usersasaki 🫵 you will never know who i am! (or who knows lol hi karma <3) this anon has been looking into getting into orv but keeps procrastinating like they do on many other things and so asks you, one of their resident orv likers they know, to uh. idk. but feel free to ramble on about why you like orv so much & why someone should get into it (like me!) so maybe i can finally be convinced to read it Now instead of putting it off for later again and again !! ... or something like that 🥺✨

OK GUYS THIS IS NOT A DRILL. THIS IS NOT A DRILLLLL AAAAA HELLO U BEAUTIFUL PERSON I THINK IK WHO U ARE BUT RN I'M SO READY TO CRUSH U IN A BIG HUG REGARDLESS OF THAT

ahem. yes. anyways. i'm totally normal abt this, i totally didn't go feral for a few moments before i started typing this. OK BUT I'M SO READY TO TRY TO CONVINCE U TO READ THIS CUZ WHEN I SAY THIS WEBTOON + WEBNOVEL HAS CHANGED ME ENTIRELY. pls bear with me, giving me a chance to word vomit was not a good idea /hj. i'll put everything under the cut :] and i'll try to keep everything as spoilerless as possible so that u can safely enjoy the story when u get to it

i will apologise in advance for the person i've become, this might end up becoming a HUGE post (edit: i think it did, this is apparently at a lil more than 2k words rn cuz i typed this in google docs for fear of tumblr nuking my entire draft and me having to start all over again)

tldr for those who don't want to go through a 2k essay; orv is for you if you enjoy clean art, stories that will break down your initial expectations and surpass them, and things like found family, love (all kinds), and just an emotional rollercoaster in general. prepare snacks and tissues.

i'll start with the webtoon because that's where it started for me! honestly one of the things i look for most when i start a webtoon is the art. and there are times when even if i like the story, if the art ain't it for me, i'll drop the story 😭💀 but orv has such beautiful and crisp art, very edible art HAHAHA (both webtoon and novel by the way but i'll get to the novel in a bit) it makes me go so O.O sometimes. here's an example of the art, you might've seen it somewhere but i'm still adding it here for the pure beauty of these men named kim dokja and yoo joonghyuk AND ALSO han sooyoung and jung heewon (yes i'm gay, no it's not obvious /j). every character in this webtoon is so well drawn and just. chef's kiss okay, so if you like pretty art, you've got that right here folks.

moving on, the story seems, at first, like a very generic action fantasy webtoon where the world of a novel becomes reality and our mc aka kim dokja is the one who knows how to get to the end and he gets to meet his favourite novel’s protagonist yoo joonghyuk and decides to save the world. but as the story progresses on and on, it becomes so much more than that. the storytelling skills have to be applauded because webtoons can't use lots of words and have to convey things more concisely than their novel counterparts but they've done an amazing job of using the right dialogues in the right places with the right amount of impact. AND as of right now, the story is starting to head towards what i'd like to say is the actual beginning of this webtoon >:) that’s all i can say without spoiling some major things from the novel so,, yeah!

another beautiful part is the portrayal of each of the characters, especially kdj, and their different dynamics with kdj. now kim dokja is our mc and the main narrator of this entire thing so we’re quite limited in that sense because all we see and know is what kim dokja tells us through his narration. a lot of posts have accurately pinned him down as an unreliable narrator because he really only ever shows his companions (and us readers) one part of things and we’re all left to speculate about things. each companion holds a different opinion of kdj but all of them are united in the fact that they trust him to help them get through everything. while the webtoon hasn’t had a chance to explore that yet, i’m looking forward to how they will show it to us :] i’d say that this webtoon is worth a read also because kim dokja is the most mind boggling, intriguing and frustrating character you will ever meet. that’s a fact that’ll get clearer as you get closer to the recent chapters of the webtoon, but i love how he’s relatable in the sense that he both makes me screech in awe but also makes me want to wring his neck with how he is sometimes. i love him *holds him by the neck* (affectionately). oh and when i say every character is just a beautiful piece of art, i mean both their literal art and also the way they’ve been written, though it is more clear in the novel as of right now.

NOW i’m gonna move onto the webnovel because i honestly fell deeper into the rabbit hole purely because of the novel. and sing shong (the author of the webnovel) is an absolute genius for the way they have both intricately and simply pushed a single message throughout the length of the novel. i constantly joke about how reading the orv novel has changed my brain chemistry but i’m not joking most of the time because it really did. in many ways, i’m sure this is a novel i will remember for a very long time to come.

the same points i spoke about for the webtoon stand for the novel as well BUT of course the novel is just immaculately written and it deserves a chance of its own. it’s not that the writing of the novel is extraordinarily fancy or anything, it’s actually quite simple reading without too many complicated words but i think that has a beauty of its own. it’s able to convey what it needs to without having 10 pages of description and that’s awesome to me. there are issues with some things written in the novel but as it isn’t a focus or the point of orv (i got this point from this tumblr post, feel free to read through it if you want to because they have written some great points that can’t be said better by me!), it’s still a novel that entertains you to the fullest.

the characters are admittedly more fleshed out in the novel than the webtoon but that’s because the webtoon is still catching up while the novel is complete (it ended with epilogue chapters but recently the author came out with side stories). the relationships are just very detailed and it gives you a look into not only kim dokja’s head, but also yoo joonghyuk and other characters’ heads as well, though they’re not as common because the majority of the story is in kdj’s point of view. i’ve neglected mentioning other character names so far but kim dokja has a set of the most loyal and sweet and sometimes feral companions besides yoo joonghyuk like yoo sangah, who is someone kdj knew before the novel became their world, jung heewon and lee hyunsung, kdj’s trusty sword and shield, lee gilyoung and shin yoosung, his children (not biological but yes). there’s also lee jihye, an avid yoo joonghyuk follower who insults kdj at every turn but cares for him, and han sooyoung, who is portrayed as a bit of an antagonist or an anti-hero (as far as the webtoon goes anyway wink wink). and a lot of other characters you’ll grow to either love a lot or hate with a passion oR even have your opinion take a whole 180 about as you read on and on, that’s just the kinda novel this is.

don’t even get me started on the underlying themes of this novel. this is me being an english major (and psychology major unintentionally, double major woohoo) through and through but i love analysing characters and figuring out themes that come out through the writing. i won’t go too into the details so that i won’t spoil it for anyone who happens upon this post. but there’s the overarching theme of love; not just romantic love but also platonic love, familial love and the most important one of this novel, self-love. another theme i think is quite relevant and important to this story is more easily relatable to people who read often because it goes into how books can change you BUT you can also change books by reading them over and over again and understanding it better. also how stories can save you but you, as a reader, have the power to save stories by reading them. because in the end, a story continues because you read it. OH I CAN’T FORGET THIS, found family <3 if you’re a fan of found family, this is for you, it’s present throughout the story as a small but encompassing theme.

now this could be just me but i get extremely emotional when it comes to my favourite media, so i squeal with joy at happy parts, sob uncontrollably when sad scenes come up, punch my pillows when something makes me mad⏤ you get my point. and this novel gave me an entire rollercoaster of emotions and made me so URGH in good, bad and ugly ways. it kinda brings me back to my point about kdj being an unreliable narrator since the reason why it gets so hard and sad is because this man never tells anyone anything. he takes it upon himself to do everything, much to the annoyance and despair of his companions and us the readers. we know nothing other than what kdj is willing to tell us, not about his plans, not about him, not about his own feelings. and we’re left to guess and guess until everything is laid bare and then we’re still trying to. process everything. yeah i don’t know if this part is making any sense but i can’t really go into detail without majorly spoiling the story. so you’re gonna have to come back to my post once you’re done to be like “ohhh, right this is what they meant.” /j

To move to a lighter and probably my last point, the novel illustrations are gold i tell you. it’s done by a person named blackbox or bb-nim for short and i love just going through their art for fun. of course, if you’re reading it on a website like i did, then you’re not going to see the illustrations side by side so you should definitely check out blackbox’s twitter which i’ve linked here :] you’ll probably also find their art on pinterest. gorgeous art i tell you, BUT BUT BUT there are spoilers here and there so beware if you go digging through their media tab on their twt. I’ll put some of my favourite pieces that are as non-spoiler as possible under this

so. yeah. these are my reasons for why you should read both the orv webtoon and novel. In the end, all i can say is that if you give them a chance, you’ll probably get hooked just as i did. i knew to a certain extent about how the novel was but nothing prepared me enough but i’m not complaining because it is genuinely so good. i’ll add a list of content warnings here that i got from the wiki page because i don’t want anyone to be ambushed by anything they’re not comfortable with reading: graphic violence, death and murder, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, suicide, body horror, dissociation, transphobia (this might be a deal breaker and it would be for me too as a nonbinary person but it’s not a major focus and happens a couple times throughout the story), cephalopods, tentacles (yes these are real content warnings on the wiki HAHAHA), and finally hospitals.

to all of you who actually read this far, thank you! you are a great person for reading through a random person on the internet go on and on about a webtoon and novel, hope you have an awesome day/night ahead of you! if you have any questions about things in the webtoon or novel, feel free to hit me up, i’m always down to have conversations about orv (none of my irls have read it but i will use this essay to convince one of them to give it a chance so wish me luck). anyway, peace out folks! :]

[oddygaul]

Fallout

Fallout was a surprisingly loving and accurate recreation of the source material’s tone, but it didn’t do much for me overall.

I really dug all the references and the pretty spot-on portrayal of the Fallout setting, though - it’s a confident example of… what I’d call postmodern adaptations. Let me explain.

When I was growing up (so, late 90s / early aughts), general-audience adaptations of weird source material were stricken with a sort of plague. It seemed that the producers would recognize that a given IP was popular and could be spun up into a major production, but, simultaneously, felt there was no way to leave the brand as-is without alienating the general populace. Now, I understand that change is a necessary part of any adaptation. Movies adapted from books, for example, inherently require significant writing changes due to how much less time you have to tell the story. The era I’m talking about was not defined by writing changes, though - it was defined by changes to the core tone, worldbuilding, and aesthetic of properties which often bastardized them nearly beyond recognition.

Typically, these changes seemed to be about attaining a level of ‘realism’. They were willing to adapt a story about a teenager without radioactive spider powers fighting a flying green man, but god forbid they present it in a way that doesn’t seem realistic! This is most evident in the visual design for adaptations from this era - they’re desaturated, normalized, and dour to a one, no matter how vibrant the source material was. Think Dragonball Evolution, think The Last Airbender - works with distinct, idiosyncratic visual identities mushed into a samey, gritty look to serve some notion of conforming to an audience’s expectations.

The other place this striving for ‘realism’ reared its head was in the nuts and bolts of worldbuilding itself - the idea that the audience needs everything to be explained. Typically in original settings, you take the fantastical as a given. It doesn’t need to have some deep logic behind it, it doesn’t need to make proper scientific sense in our reality - it makes sense in their reality, so roll with it. That’s the point of creating your own setting!

Adaptations in that era seemed to be afraid of this, and had a tendency to overexplain things, and justify how they could exist in The Real World. Look, it’s not magic, see, they’re actually drawing on the quazium particles in the air to fuel their powers! And their cool magic amulet glows when they cast a spell because, uh, it’s reacting to the local buildup of quazium particles! …or whatever. This dogged desire to justify the very quirks that make a property unique ends up feeling clunky and draining the life out of it, and often calls attention to those differences in a way that confuses folks more than if you’d just left it alone in the first place!

So, if we call that the modernist approach, the current, ‘postmodern’ approach to adaptation is to simply trust the audience. Like, look, we’re in the internet age - maybe you don’t know the ins and outs of this particular franchise, but we know you’re a little freak for some fandom. Sure, maybe you don’t know about X particular detail of this setting, but through osmosis you know that it’s primarily about Y, and you know that everyone online really wants B and C to fuck each other - so we’re just gonna get on with it. Because of this trust in the audience, movies like Into the Spider-Verse can happen: an overwhelming smorgasbord of color, characters and lore that would give someone from the 60s a panic attack, which we, the attention-deficit dopamine junkies of the 2020s, take in stride.

And my favorite facet of this trust is an understanding that they don’t have to rub your face in the reference - it’s fine to just have it happen and move on. The people that get it will love it, and the people that don’t, well, they won’t even know they’re missing anything. The recent D&D movie, Honor Among Thieves, has many great examples of this. Rather than overt namedrops, its references tend to be situational - they’re subtle little moments that every D&D player has dealt with around the table:

-The players relentlessly bullying the DMPC for no particular reason -All but one of the players succeeding on a history check and proceeding to spout off their suddenly recalled knowledge -The party coming to an obstacle, looking through their inventory on their character sheet, then sheepishly saying “Uhh… we could tie this axe to a rope?”

All of these moments work at face value without game knowledge. But for anyone who’s been in those situations, they’re fun nods - and bely a deeper understanding by the creators of not just the brass tacks worldbuilding of D&D, but of what it's like to play D&D.

i fuckin love Zach Cherry man

So anyway, Fallout has a lot of this type of reference, especially in the Vault. Lucy’s post-marriage sequence feels straight out a game intro - all I have in my inventory is this wedding dress, so I guess that’s what I’m wearing for this combat tutorial! Also, the consummation / assault scene is filmed in such a dark, hopeless way after she gets stabbed - in most shows this wound would be a death sentence. But it’s Fallout, so she opens her pause screen, jabs a stimpak in there, it heals up instantly and she’s good to go!

Similarly, her little presentation at the beginning of the show might as well be a character creation screen - Repair, Science, Speech, Melee Weapons, Unarmed, Small Guns, a pretty good skill spread. Later on, we even get Disney Channel’s own Moisés Arias investigating what happened in the neighboring vault by walking around and seeing the skeletons posed in certain ways - Bethesda’s famous ~✩ e n v i r o n m e n t a l s t o r y t e l l i n g ✩~, baybee.

'10 years of cousin stuff' was probably my favorite single line (pic unrelated) (but is it though?)

That unnecessarily long tangent aside, though, as a whole the show didn’t hit for me. And even after quite a bit of thought, I don’t really have a succinct reason, either. By all means the character work is pretty solid - the contrasting ‘playthroughs’ shown by our 3 leads is a neat approach, and Fallout uses it to touch on some interesting themes about the breakdown of the social contract as we watch the slow testing of Lucy’s morals. The show also pretty well nails the tone of the games, which is an achievement given how fucking weird that tone is.

And yet - meh. Partly due to the inherent camp and satirical tone, I never felt totally immersed in the setting - it was hard for me to see the camps and towns as anything but hastily built sets. I also quickly grew tired of the hyperviolence that defines Fallout. It was mostly played for laughs, and maybe it’s just where I’m at in life, but it was hard for me to find the humor in gratuitous slow-motion footage of entire communities being brutally murdered. There’s a point where it just feels like the show gets off on watching the bright-eyed ingénue suffer - by the time we got to the finger-cutting scene I was pretty checked out.

From a plotting perspective, it also felt like it was trying just a bit too hard to be prestige TV. There’s absolutely stories where the slow burn of a series-wide conspiracy coming together is deeply satisfying - Severance is one of the best shows this decade imo - but it felt contrived in Fallout. I thought the loss of innocence and contrast between the sheltered Vault dwellers and the hardened survivors out in the wasteland was compelling enough; does it really benefit that story when, actually, turns out, all of these characters are connected, and three of the major characters all knew each other 200 years ago before the bombs even dropped? Does every loose end really have to tie up so neatly?

The Vault-Tec twist was dodgy, too. As far as I’m concerned, the twist that the Vaults are actually big fucked-up science experiments and not some safe bastion of humanity is one of the more compelling bits of Fallout’s lore, and I think that reveal was handled pretty well for first-time viewers. Do we really have to immediately one-up that by implying Vault-Tec are actually the ones responsible for kicking off the war? Tell me it’s not definitive all you want, even the implication sours me on the story - again, we’re reducing the scope of this entire, centuries-long story to the actions of like, a handful of people who all end up in the same room together.

Also, huge tease to include Matt Berry and only have him in one scene. Unforgivable.

[thiefnessman]

as stupid as i think a netflix live action of one piece, a famously very cartoonish and incredibly long series, is, i am enjoying watching it. uh putting down a read more but here r my thoughts after 2 & a half episodes.

i don’t know one piece all that well so i can’t speak on how good of an adaptation it is, but i think it’s doing well? visually, apart from the sepia filter, it looks decent as far as a live action one piece could go (which is still a weird thing to do but). they don’t lean into the ridiculousness enough with some of the characters, i think, but they do have a lot of people who look fucking weird and it’s great.

Buggy was really cool imo? I have no idea if his portrayal in OPLA matches the original tonally, because he’s definitely scary in this, but i imagine w clown who can separate his body parts at will is supposed to be kinda scary. The CGI was definitely weird at points (when his head is in an audience member’s lap it looked really bad) but because most of it is fast-paced action scenes it managed to look pretty cool. The actor was also like, amazing imo. Like, he’s playing an anime clown pirate, some people might be lame and half-ass it, but he’s putting his whole pussy into it. Idk I’m just obsessed with Buggy now, that was so cool.

Shanks looks bad. I thought he looked kinda stupid so I looked up his original design and and it made me think it looked worse. like i know you can’t cast someone who is just like, a cartoon shape, so i can overlook the body proportions, but the wig is TERRIBLE. he doesn’t look cool with it! he’s supposed to be someone we should find cool (i think) and he just looks scraggly. considering his hair is this defining trait apparently i think they should’ve done better.

luffy is great. his actor is amazing, there’s no sort of irritating self-awareness or anything he is fully committing to being luffy who is so hyped about everything ever. i think the casting was great appearance-wise as well, he looks like luffy imo. In terms of Luffy’s powers it’s surprisingly not as bad as i thought it would be? Like it’s still cursed to see it in live action but i think they get away with it with the way they shoot and pace it.

i think they do a similar thing with Zoro’s mouth sword, trying to shoot it and pace it so that they can use it without it actually being unsafe for the actor but also not looking obviously edited in. he obviously doesn’t have it in as much as his anime counterpart does, bc you can’t actually talk with a sword in your mouth, but they still have him fight with it. Again, it’s one of the many things where it’s like “ok this is probably a sign you shouldn’t have done a live action adaptation of this series, but you did a good job with it considering”

btw I know Alvida or uhhh whatever her name was was bad but honestly that was cool and pretty girlboss of her.

also captain morgan’s son didn’t look stupid enough imo. even when he got the bad haircut it didn’t look bad enough. idk his name i don’t think they’ve said it.

i am glad they have usopp looking like a normal human person bc that would be a terrible look to have the black major character look especially wacky, especially since the eyebrow guy doesn’t have his eyebrows, and his design and some other characters’ designs are kinda what have turned me off of one piece? like the length is the primary factor but also the kinda racist-looking design of a major character (as well as others) isn’t helping. i am disappointed that the eyebrow guy doesn’t have his eyebrows though bc that would be hilarious.

[astrophyta]

Reading rambles?

so uh I’ve been among other things catching up on a very long to-read list of fiction that’s sitting in my apartment cluttering my space up and I do kinda want to just talk about some of the reads to the void instead of on a platform like goodreads so that’s what this tag will be for, I suppose? my reading speed is pretty slow so these won’t be frequent

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

This book has a pretty bad rep for being preachy about climate change amongst a lot of reviews I’ve seen, but tbh with the exception of maybe one scene I read last night where Ovid has an Ecology Professor Meltdown in front of a newsreporter who felt more like a caricature the second time around than in her first appearance, I have to say I disagree, and the aforementioned scene is probably my biggest gripe with the book so far (with less than 40 pages to go, though).

A lot of people do not like Dellarobia either. She is emotionally cheating on her husband for the majority of the work, the novel opening with her attempt to flee her family life to go be with some younger guy she doesn’t seem to know very well. No one has to like a character, even when their flaws are addressed and fleshed out and the author makes no excuses for them, but for me Dellarobia’s response to her lot in life makes perfect sense even if it isn’t pretty or likable. She was smart and curious enough to have gone to college, something unheard of in her small hometown, but she got knocked up by her now-husband and failed her ACT. Her parents are both dead and had very little money to their name despite her mother (iirc) running a successful business of making and mending clothes in town. Her husband’s family are farmers. Until meeting Dr. Byron, she is a stay-at-home mom pinching and scraping pennies to feed her family and literally keep the lights on. It is due to an ecological disaster that she is given her first job, one that pays more than what her husband makes - serving as a lab technician for a make-shift research group operating out of her family’s barn, the best spot in town to be close to an unusual phenomenon of a monarch butterfly migration wintering in tennessee when they would normally be in mexico.

Dellarobia loves her children. she tries her best to love her husband. she plays wife, daughter-in-law, and mother as best as she can, but she knows her life is also the result of a mistake she made as a teenager and that it might not have been so hard if she hadn’t made that mistake. you can come to love another person despite these truths, but this is not enough to surmount the chasm between her and Cub. so, her eye wanders, and she indulges in her delusions of these feelings being reciprocated, not because she truly knows these men well enough to love them but because it is a distraction from the disappointment she feels from her own life. it’s not pretty, it’s unlikable, but I find Kingsolver’s portrayal of Dellarobia to be very honest, and I appreciate when authors are not too afraid to write women like her.

I also feel like there’s so many ways that you can write about Dellarobia that this brief summary feels so grossly inadequate to convey all of the different roles and expectations she deals with in her community and from outside of it. Kingsolver handles these tensions beautifully. She is a celebrated and accomplished author who I had honestly never heard of before picking up this book from a neighborhood little library box while on a pandemic walk three years ago. I consider it serendipitous.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Now this book is highly acclaimed, and despite a rough start for me initially, I consider myself no exception to the hype. It is well-deserved.

I’m reading this as an audiobook and still have about half the book to go, so it’s not yet time to write at-length about it, but Zevin already accomplishes so much in the first half that I’m on my toes thinking about how long she will keep us with Sadie, Marks, and Sam. Also, I am convinced that it is not possible to read this book and not get an itch to delve into game development yourself. I’ve seen a couple of tutorials for creating very very simple games with python on freecodecamp’s youtube channel, and I was interested in those before even touching this book but now I’m like…is it too late for me? Maybe I’ll make a game too when I’m 60 and retired.

Misc. other reads

I started a third genshin account for a lore post I wanted to make (my zhongli sq 2 screenshots are lacking, also just need an interactive refresher) and so I’ve been passing the time grinding by listening to audiobooks. I listened to Broadband: the Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet by Claire L. Evans, which was wonderful and illuminating. I also listened to Life in Code: A Personal History by my programming idol Ellen Ullman. She has the most compelling argument against AI and machines as analogous to the biological (and vice-versa) that I’ve seen, of course illustrated through a history of her domestic companion Sadie, her cat. I was making my way through Artificial Intelligence by Melanie Mitchell, but the book lends itself better to reading a physical copy rather than passively listening while playing a video game. It utilizes a lot of diagrams to illustrate its points, and it expects you to view these diagrams as supplemental pdf’s delivered with the book as you listen to it. Nope, not for me. But I was thoroughly enjoying it before deciding to put it on-hold.

[eternalstargazer]

Who's ready for me to painstakingly overanalyze an adorable scene that none of us SatoGou shippers thought we'd ever be fortunate enough to get (regardless of situation/context)? Of course you all are! 😄

Usually it's Goh that's curious about the behavior of Pokémon and wondering what's influencing that behavior, not Ash. He's not even really listening to Ash here. Then Ash changes the subject and assures Goh they're going to be fine once they get back to the lab, but Goh still doesn't seem interested in holding a conversation. Is holding Ash's hand so distracting that it's the only thing on Goh's mind at the moment? One might expect Goh to jump at the opportunity to talk about something, anything... to ease/deflect the awkwardness of having to hold hands with Ash in public, but he doesn't.

Instead, he draws attention to it (maybe he wanted to try and explain why his palm was getting sweaty 😉) when Ash asks him why he seemed bummed out. First, I like that regardless of what might be going through Goh's head at this moment, he wanted to avoid hurting Ash's feelings. He didn't want Ash to get the wrong idea and think he was sad/annoyed/disappointed (the definition of being "bummed out" according to online dictionaries) that the two were holding hands. He mentions he's a little embarrassed since they're holding hands, and this can be taken a couple of different ways. If you're someone that doesn't see anything beyond friendship between these two, then you would just chalk it up as Goh feeling self-conscious and uncomfortable, because that's generally how a straight guy would feel if he had to hold hands with another guy (even a good bud) or how kids at that age would typically react (especially a boy having to hold a girl's hand).

If you're someone that does see something much more between these two, then Goh being embarrassed holding Ash's hand is expected and natural. One of Goh's character traits (which, admittedly, the writers have sometimes been inconsistent with) is he doesn't have many friends and gets uncomfortable around strangers/social situations, and based on some of the flashbacks when he is around six or seven, it might be fair to say he's an introvert (staying in his room looking at computer screens/avoiding kids at school/not going to school). If he does have a secret crush on Ash, he's going to feel embarrassed when his fingers are intertwined with the boy that sets his heart aflutter. If real people in real relationships can feel embarrassment (for a a variety of reasons, as a quick Google search reveals) when holding hands in public, then it's reasonable to believe that Goh was embarrassed here because he's a shy boy that doesn't have a lot of experience making and maintaining friendships, let alone feelings that go beyond friendship.

The point is, Goh's embarrassment over Ash holding hands with him can be used both as an argument for and against journeyshipping. I don't think I have to say which side I fall on here. 😂

I've mainly talked about Goh up to this point, but what about Ash? Ash is... well, Ash. He is typically a lot harder to read because it's a running gag in the anime that he has no concept of love and everything that he does/how he reacts can simply be attributed to him being such a nice guy/great friend. Like here, one could argue that Ash is fine with holding Goh's hand because he wants to help his friend get back to the lab safely. His facial expression changes to worry when Goh sounds bummed out, but again, that could just be Ash being concerned that his friend sounds sad. To Ash, this is all perfectly normal and he would do the same for any of his male/female friends and rivals. Except for Paul. 😆 And possibly Trip...

Just as one could say it's just Ash being Ash when he gets distracted by an Alakazam putting on a show in a park and leads Goh in that direction rather than back to the lab. Some will say if Ash was really concerned with getting Goh back to the lab, he would focus on that, but at the same time you could also argue holding Goh's hand feels so natural to him and that he enjoys being out with and sharing things with Goh so much that he totally forgot about their present situation (he even says here "an Alakazam! Let's go see!" Uh... Ash? Goh can't see! 🤦‍♂️ Isn't that why the two of you are holding hands...? Or...?😏) . The two do practically everything together and spend almost the entirety of their days side by side, so would that really be such a stretch that Ash forgot about their predicament? That's the beauty of shipping; it all depends on how you look at things!

Lastly, credit once again to Zeno Robinson's portrayal of Goh! His line delivery here, especially that pause before the "holding hands" part is so perfect. Honestly, the dub's choice of BGM works pretty well as there was no BGM in the Japanese version, and between that and Robinson's tone and delivery, the potential undertones of this scene come across stronger in the dub.

As you might imagine, I'm very happy about that. 💗

[felidthing]

from what i can remember, the big instances of this issue in warriors are:

dustpelt and ferncloud - quote from a video by moonkitti about ferncloud: "dustpelt takes an interest in fernpaw almost directly after she's apprenticed, and while it's a plot point that she was apprenticed a bit late, it's creepy." i feel like that's worded better than i could have done it. being apprenticed "a bit late" doesn't mean she wasn't a child by the way, she very much was still young. there's a lot of back and forth over how "animalistic" the early series is/was intended to be, but by now the series has solidified the cats as very humanized, with human morals and relationships. apprentices in warriors are Teenagers. young teens, think 13-14. the average warrior is treated as an adult when they finish their training. for a warrior, even a newly appointed one, to openly show interest in a cat that's the equivalent of a middleschooler or young highschooler, that's uh. really uncomfortable. also none of the other characters find dustpelt's behavior weird or wrong, and he and ferncloud go on to have multiple litters of kits.

spottedleaf and thistleclaw - the infamous "spottedleaf's heart" novella introduced this one. the book begins with spottedleaf and her siblings as kits, with thistleclaw as an already full grown warrior stopping by the nursery often to play with kits and give them gifts. he takes particular interest in spottedkit, and as an apprentice they become extremely close. spottedpaw wants to become a warrior so that they can be mates. through the entire book thistleclaw is a textbook predator: he's manipulative and always trying to keep spottedpaw under his control with compliments and guilt tripping. he convinces her to go places with him in secret at night. the actual conflict presented in the book is that thistleclaw is bad because he wants spottedpaw to train in the dark forest with him- not that he's gotten her into a relationship with him. it goes so far as to have goosefeather tell spottedpaw that she "loves foolishly," like it's her fault that these things are happening. spottedpaw ends up switching to train as a medicine apprentice so that the rule against healers having mates will keep her safe from thistleclaw. i think this is by far the worst book in the entire series just from how horribly realistic and upsetting its portrayal of an abusive predatory relationship is, and the fact that the relationship isnt what the reader is supposed to dislike. the relationship isnt presented as bad because of who's involved in it, its supposed to be bad because thistleclaw was working with Evil Cats. genuinely scary and awful book.

and now, onestar and whitetail. i have not read anything on this book other than the post that has one paragraph from it. but in that paragraph, onewhisker thinks about how the cat he mentored is so pretty and how she's an adult now. this is another really scary thing to see in a book meant for kids. when i started reading warriors as a kid it was labelled as a "sixth grade" level series, so 11 and 12 years old. i fear for the kids reading stuff like this, especially because a lot of kids start reading warriors even before 11. i was eight.

warriors should not be presenting these things as normal and okay. they should not be saying its okay for your teachers to pursue you once youre not a child. that the adults in your life should ever be expressing interest in you. these are repeated offenses. there are quite a few other relationships that have weird age gaps, but a lot of them are the result of writers not doing research before pairing cats up, which is a different issue. these are purposeful choices made by what i assume are multiple people, with none of them seeing a problem writing these plots.

[utilitycaster]

I fully agree with your Jester Growth Opinions and unsurprisingly I'm very interested in hearing about your thoughts on Jester and Essek as narrative foils

Sure! Honestly I feel someone, and I think it may have been you, made the point that Jester's morality is "you can be evil as long as you're not evil to me/consequences don't really matter as long as our friends are okay" and Essek's episode 97-99 morality was like "I'm not...not evil yet, per se, but I feel terrible about being evil to you" which is what got me thinking about their characters more generally. It's definitely less pronounced and very different from the Caleb and Essek parallels - it's a lot more complementary than the same, I guess?

Anyway, they're both initially very much defined by two things, for me: a pretty lax attitude towards the consequences of their fairly self-interested actions (in Jester's case, it's much more a pampered only child behavior, vs. Essek's outright selfishness), and very, very deep need to appear as though they know what's going on and having the situation under control

It's funny because I think most people's obvious reference for "character who wants you to think it's all under control" is often, well, kind of cold, remote, and arrogant like our first impressions of Essek . Jester is a pretty unique portrayal of like, the popular girl who is in way over her head, because usually stories about that archetype either focus one very specific and somewhat external reason why she's in over her head and don't really explore the character beyond that (think like, after school specials) or else they make her extremely bitchy. You rarely get that portrayal in which she's sweet and nice because she's equally terrified of being a disappointment and being disappointed, and also she's just genuinely friendly, even though it feels very real.

It's also funny because despite that shared attitude of "I will do things I deem important to me and not really think through the consequences for anyone outside my small circle, if that" (which in Jester's case is still usually, well, chaotic but morally pretty neutral at worst vs. Essek providing his country an excuse to bring low-level hostilities to a flash point), both have this very real attitude of "only I can [spread the word of the traveler properly/handle the true powers of the Luxon]", like, there is one consequence they do care about and don't trust anyone else to bring about properly, but it's only one.

In the end we see Jester's priorities shift and facade fall away in real-time, and she gets a pretty clear priority shift in the form of "okay you've found your dad and it turns out your god does not want his word spread at all, so uh...what do you, Jester Lavorre, actually want to do" but we kind of only get the jump for Essek from "I feel terrible about hurting my friends" to "if it is important to you than it is important to me" (vs. Jester who I think truly internalizes that sense of responsibility - she doesn't need it to be important to others to be important to her) and we don't really find out what his new goals may be other than Normal Wizard Curiosity. On the other hand, Essek's facade is sort of just ripped off in episode 97. Jester and Essek are great to contrast because first, Jester starts off in a much different place morally (and in terms of power), and second, Essek, sort of by default as an NPC, doesn't get quite the same agency and development and so he speedruns half of it against his will, and is still in the middle of the other half.

(fwiw I also think this is why it makes sense they end up with people with respectively similar attitudes towards The Facade - you need someone who can recognize it- but who start the story already extremely focused on consequences and end up sort of meeting said people in the middle)