#same idea different execution or smth

[aidanchaser]

I keep saying I have more fun making headers for fics than I do actually writing fics and while that's not FULLY true... I do actually really really enjoy making fic headers/title pages

[darylbae]

would you write smth for daryl x reader where reader had to fight her way out of one of the outposts and can’t stop scrubbing her hands. to the point where the skin is really sore. maybe he kisses the tops of her hands. washing them one more time at her ask. but gently with warm soapy water. maybe he puts cream on them and wraps them in a bandage.

what if it gets worse — daryl dixon🩰

in which you can't seem to get the blood off your hands, but daryl is there to help

note: i hope this is what you meant anon

REQUESTS ARE OPEN!

This felt too far. Even for you. You had killed too many walkers to count, you weren't the sweetest like Beth once was, you could drive straight past a helpless man. But the plan you were currently driving to execute, was too far for you. You sat with your hands in your lap, trying to stop them from trembling. You were tough, everyone knew it, you knew it. But this felt like you were driving to your death. There was no coming back from this. The RV you were driving in was dark, the air was unsettling, nobody would talk above a whisper. Turn back, Abe. Please. Realize this is a mistake. You were pulled out of your thoughts by Daryl, who laced his fingers around yours. The two of you had always been on the same frequency, it's why you bonded as close as you were. You were the same person in different fonts, but you differed where it mattered. Daryl could feel you were in your own head. He wanted this matter dealt with, he wanted to go back to pretending to hate Alexandria. He wanted his only problem to be fitting in. Not this. You felt a war looming, a deep, dark black hole about to suck you in. Something bad was going to happen. Maybe not tonight, maybe not tomorrow. "Hey," his voice was small, only for you to hear, "you're okay." He brought your hand up to his mouth, peppering small kisses to your knuckles, which were turning white with your grip on his hand. Anything to steady your own nerves. Your hand was small in his, his fingers twice the width of yours. You enjoyed observing his hands, his arms, his smile. Studying Daryl had been your favorite pastime. "Remember when we almost crashed on my bike once because you wouldn't stop tickling me?" He questioned, seeing the sides of your mouth rise into a sweet smile. "There's that smile." The RV had come to a stop and your quick-lived happiness had died. You took hold of the knife in your lap, letting everyone pile off before you did. Daryl took the moment of silence to touch your cheek and bring you into a small kiss. "You can do this." You weren't so sure. Rick had been through the plan, each of you with a role to do. Hide in the van, wait until they're alone, go in for the kill, storm the building.

And you did just that. You escaped having to kill the first two, all you did was storm the building with them. You'd all split into two, you'd gone alongside Daryl, and you were instructed to kill these people in their sleep. People, bad people, who had no idea tonight was their last night. You knew they were terrible people, the pictures on their walls were only a fraction of evidence, but weren't you also just as bad? Killing walkers was one thing, this was an entirely new level of fucked up. The squelch as you'd sunk the knife into their temple made you cringe, and blood had come pooling out. Your first instinct was to reach for it and cover it up, and in doing so, blood had covered your fingers and palms in thick, red blood. You felt nauseous, the knife in your hand feeling close to slipping, you made made a mess of this. The rest of the outpost was the same, knife through the temple, the occasional sounds of bullets thwipping past you to enter the bodies of some unfortunate Saviors. The shakes had spread, your knees almost buckling from the insecurity of your feet. Daryl was quick to notice and wrap an arm around you, securing you against him. "I got ya, sweetheart. Come on." His voice was the only thing you could hear, his arms were the only thing you could feel, and you'd walked with him out onto the open field surrounding the outpost. Daylight was starting to show, you'd heard a radio going off... Something about Maggie and Carol... You'd fallen to your knees to recollect yourself, everyone's heads turning to locate where this mysterious radio caller was. Your brain was off, your body was on. The group on the radio had taken Maggie and Carol to a slaughterhouse, and managed to fight their way out, to your relief. You couldn't take another death on your hands. The blood on your hands had dried, stained between the grooves of your fingerprints. You couldn't look at your hands without feeling sick, but Daryl could happily take your hands in his and distract you. It's something he'd grown to be good at. He shuffled closer into you, pulling your legs over his, and gesturing to his shoulder. "Come 'ere, girl." But you couldn't stop staring at your hands. The blood cracking and flaking on your hands, the feeling of sliding the knife into their brain haunted you. Even as you'd arrived back in Alexandria, you hadn't stopped to tell the tale to others, you'd broken off from the group the moment you left the RV. It wasn't until you were in the home you shared with Daryl, that the tears had started to fall. They were terrible people, you kept reminding yourself. But it wasn't enough.

You'd pushed yourself into the bathroom, rinsing your hands under the taps and scrubbing at your skin. You'd used a scourer, and rag, all of which needed to be binned afterwards. The blood kept flowing through your hands, out of the taps, covering you in guilt. The blood wouldn't wash off. Daryl had finally got himself back, a worried heartbeat echoing in his chest as to your disappearance. In the distance, he heard the tap running and assumed you were getting yourself ready for bed. But the worry hadn't settled. Even before breaching the outpost, you had that look in your eye. Daryl knew you. In and out. He could find you in the dark. He could tell when things weren't right. So when he'd seen you in the midst of a full Lady Macbeth breakdown, he'd dropped everything. All of his own worries and anxieties. Nothing mattered more to him than you. He took your hands in his, seeing pale red water from the residue on your hands, and it all clicked. "Please, Dar," you cried softly, "help me get it off." Daryl's eyebrows wobbled at the sight of you, emotion threatening to expose itself. He'd grabbed a towel, wrapping your hands in it tightly and sitting you down on his lap on the bathroom floor. You sobbed against his chest, the warmth of his skin would usually comfort you, but you couldn't settle. Not even in the safety of your home, or the walls surrounding your community. Daryl couldn't say it's okay, it wasn't. Nothing about this was okay, but the most he could do was hold you. Give you his company.

And you did, the pair of you sat quietly together until your sobs had reduced to little sniffles. Daryl's hands held you tightly to his body, and that alone had been enough to keep you from descending further into this breakdown. "Dar," you spoke, voice cracking and sadness still stuck in your throat. He looked up, his sorrowful eyes upon yours and you knew he'd do anything for you. No matter the time of day or the complexity of what you wanted, you knew he'd do it for you. "Please wash my hands for me. I need it to be gone." He nodded, helping you and himself up to lean over the sink once more. He'd plugged the sink and filled it with warm, soapy water, submerging the both of your hands. His fingers slid over your hands, massaging the soap into all the crevices, and under your nails. He made sure to be thorough, and used a new towel to pat your hands dry. They looked sore, red raw from the scrubbing. "Come on," Daryl whispered, leading you into your shared room, reaching for the selection of creams you kept on the nightstand. He'd taken care of you, silently and efficiently making sure you were okay, not a word to be exchanged between the two of you. You'd climbed back into his lap, head on his shoulder and you felt a little more eased. Not entirely okay, but safer with Daryl. "What if this gets worse?" You asked, glancing up at his eyes which were already fixed on yours. "Then you got me to protect ya," he replied, "I won' let a thing hurt ya, not a hair on ya head. Okay?"

[radiolore]

MY VENTURE HEADCANONS!!! :3

copy pasted from my tiktok plus some :3

AAAAA I LOVE THEM SO MUCJ U DONT UDNERTSND

~☆~

• wants to take care of plants but cant due to their job

• forgets to drink water a lot

• one time passed out due to dehydration, the wayfinder society found them in a cave and they had to be in the emergency room for a day

• since then, they got an app on their phone that buzzes when they should drink water and itll water a virtual plant :3

• unironically loves classical music

• likes to scour the internet in their spare time to listen to different music genres from different eras

• wishes they could learn intruments, especially ancient ones that people dont typically play anymore but cant cause of the time their job takes, but they still admire people who do play those intruments still!!

• their parents are missing and are pressumed dead and they hope that by being an archeologist they can find them one day

• used to cry as a kid when people would squish ants :(

• they think they dont have time for a partner, so theyre not really looking for one, but wouldnt be opposed to having one if they met the right person

• if they did meet someone they were interested in, would be super estatic and friendly, talking to them a lot, looking for them when they enter a room, etc

• would prefer an in-person relationship, they would be willing to try long distance but with how much they travel for their job, they will end up not being happy because they feel like they have to choose between their partner and passion :((

• they would end up romantacising the person theyre interested in and get disappointed when they dont live up to their fantasies

• really good at coming up with art n crafts ideas, bad at executing them

• autism

• used to be super interested in internet history as a kid, like random events that went down on the internet n stuff, but not so much anymore since theyre an archeologist now

• fav ice cream is rocky road (who would've guessed)

• messy eater

• love language is gift giving and quality time

• speaking of gift giving, if they liked someone they would def research crystal meanings and give them specific crystals based on their meaning

• need some extra luck? they're giving u aventurine, got into trouble recently and need protection? boom amethyst, they like you but they're too scared to say so? they're giving you rose quartz daily and hope you get the hint

• LOVES those shark tooth necklaces and wears one under their sweater (mostly just cuz they don't want it to get caught on something while working and have it fall off)

• any vacations they get from work, they always make sure to visit their grandma and tell her all about their adventures and findings !!

• thinks people with crooked teeth are the absolute cutest (totally not a self insert for me cuz I got crooked teeth ahahahaa nope)

• when they paint their nails they always just do it messily and just let the excess nail polish on their fingers to fall off ☠️☠️ (same)

• can def carry a conversation if ur shy or just don't talk a lot

• has a social media platform where they post cool things they find, after becoming associated with Overwatch, it gains traction

• after their profile gains attention, it actually becomes an in-universe meme/rumor that they chipped their tooth eating a rock

• Sloane thought it was funny, but they eventually come out and make a post saying they chipped their tooth after a rock came flying at their face while drilling 😞

• asexual cuz I said so

• u know that one dinosaur death pose fossil? they have something like that tattooed on their body

• also a compass tattoo probs

• is the BEST hugger

• when they're excited to see you, they'll hug u n pick u up n spin u around n everything

• is the type to see smth random and go "so-and-so would like this" and just get it without seconds thoughts

• used to draw in high school, but kinda stopped after joining the wayfinders

• is incredibly embarrassed by said drawings and would only show you if you either also showed something equally embarrassing or if yall are extremely close....

• had a lego phase

• Sloan and Junkrat send each other random cryptic texts that wouldn't make sense to anyone else looking at them, but it makes sense to them (it'd be stuff like random images or words or gibberish that'd make u go "what ☠️") (and it'd be at such random intervals like a random text from junkrat at 2am and Sloan doesn't send anything back until 3 days later at noon like???)

• I'm sorry but they're a bad texted lmfao they forget to check their phone all the time

• but they're def not a dry texter tho, they'd use faces like :D D: :p :) :3 >u< ): and type in all caps when they're excited with typos

~☆~

I COULD WRITE MORE BUT IF I CONTINYE ILL LITERSLLT BE HERE FOR HOURS SO I HAVE TO STOP

ANYWAYZ THAMK U FOR LISTENINGN TO ME RAMBLE ABOUT VENTURE BECUZ I LOVE THEM SO MUCJ IM SO OBSESSED WITH THEM N IM LIKE AAA AAAAANAAA AAA

anyways

yea

:3 eeeee

[mikeellee]

So MHA´s ending makes sense even if is not a good ending

So, I saw a youtuber (Brazilian one) and his ideas are more or less what I´m saying. The ending makes sense: The whole individuality became collective ("I can be the biggest hero" "We can be the biggest hero") and I get the feeling Hori WAS trying to put in the story, I do. The execution is poor bc the author forget about his own MC.

The one constant of the manga is how Izu is always suffering...always.

And we do have a right to see an issue with that, hell, narratively, what´s the point of Midoriya thinking he is useless from chap 1 till the end?

But it makes me wonder now...Is the Izuku a reflection of the Japanese boy out of the Japanese patterns of normalcy? I know someone will scream "LoV" but LoV is something different... The bullying there is ...horrible, and not always the victim get any justice, the word is enduring.

A kid like Izuku WAS set to fail in his mission ALONE.

Yes, we can make fics where he is OP. Or he has friends(good friends, mind you bc no matter what anyone says...A1 are fake friends in canon) or money...won´t change how in canon, Izuku was doomed to fail alone.

Is that intentional on Hori´s part or he just hates Izu? We don´t know...his writing shows he doesn´t like Izu and prefers BK (smth Brazilian critics can pick up, but maybe is just Hori being incompetent)

It´s a cyclical ending, in a way, bc Izu starts the journey not being able to be a hero bc he has no quirk...until he meets AM (a lucky chance) and ends with him being a hero again bc AM (plus his damn abuser and A1, supposedly...some translations don´t say if they helped, some say they did but BK and AM helped the most) with a suit keep in secret from Izu was in the make for 8 years.

Why this has to be a secret?

Why everyone was so damn busy to talk to him? Are all of them working extra time to get him a suit?

What if Izu didn´t want a suit?

What do Izu think of AM suit?

Is Izu a well-liked teacher?

What do Izu teach to the kids?

Why we couldn´t see Izu happy in his job?

Why does he feel alone?

I know Hori wanted to end this manga ASAP, not blaming him as making a manga IS hell, but he could have ended this with a happy Izu (one that looks an adult, same for A1 and I don´t like them)

The manga does make sense, I swear but it´s smth linked to the first chapter...Izu is not treated well, he feels useless without a quirk (no quirkless discrimination ever happened, only Izu abuse) and only gets to be a hero bc AM (a lucky chance one in a million) happened to him. He didn´t earn anything.

And all his efforts aren´t recognized. Like, he cleaned a beach for 10 months.....NO ONE SAYS A WORD.

OFC the ending would be like that. If Izu gets nothing for his deeds on chap 1, why the ending would be rewarding for him or for us?

[starrylayle]

Marauders Fandom > "There is no canon !!" and other rhetorics

Guess who's back in their marauders phase after 2-3 years of being dormant lmao?? ((spoiler its me lol)). Anyways, a lot has changed since 2021 in this fandom so I just wanted to talk about the direction i think it's going.

I remember in 2020-21 the fandom started to boom in popularity on tiktok --> esp with the rise wolfstar + atyd. I remember people were so suprised with remus' characterization as 'rougher around the edges' instead of the 'soft boi' thing, and how that influenced the new wolfstar dynamic. [Just want to add that the atyd characterisation is much more complex than this and its one of my fave fics --> I'm more talking about the fandom at large's reaction to this)

And since fandom is incapable of having two nuanced and characters who are not stark opposites,, their roles were basically reversed and now Remus is the toxic dom alpha male and sirius is the cute girlyboy twink --- which um,,, the oc-ification is so real its embarrassing but whatever (omg don't even get me started on jegulus 💀)). I just assumed these would stay as headcanons. But now we have people saying, that 'we barely know anything abt the marauders in canon' or 'isn't the whole point of fandom to make shit up?' which i have sO many issues with so let me just try and compile my thoughts into dot points for the sake of coherency.

'we barely know anything abt the marauders in canon' ---> First of all, Remus, Sirius and Severus are fully fleshed out characters in the og series -- why do you think people would care enough to create an entire fandom based on their backstories if they were 2d flat characters in canon?? Like bffr. I saw a post on here (forgot who it was by, let me know if u know!) that said, 'I didn't cry over sirius' death in OotP just for ppl to say that we know nothing abt him in canon'. Like, its just mind-boggling to me lol.

'isn't the whole point of fandom to make shit up?' --> Ok y'all. For a fandom to work, there have to be some guidelines, some kind of source material, some point of reference so people can build upon it and make content. I think we can all agree on that. One reason why HP is such a popular place for fandom is the world-building and potential plots/storylines. I see some people argue that jk rowling was a shit writer anyways so might as well contradict everything she says. Now, I don't disagree with that point in particular, Jo is a pretty mediocre writer and a terrible person. HOWEVERrr, I'd argue that it is a lot more fascinating when people expand or work on the concepts in HP. JK Rowling has a lot of great ideas but executes them terribly -- I love when fic writes do this, which prolly explain why I love atyd as it is still very much canon compliant but executes themes on class, disability and queerness that jkr could barely do in subtext. This doesn''t mean I only think canon compliant fics are valid. That's not the case! I think as long as the charcterization is consistent to the character and the particular circumstances/world they're in, its fine! In fact, I love seeing how the same character would function if in a different place! I also love seeing explorations of the magic and magic systems in aus or fix it fics (or even canon compliant ones) that still fit in with the canonnical system that we know.

I guess what I'm trying to say I wish the marauders fandom explored the world and charcterizations more deeply instead of creating shallow oc-fied version of the characters that fit into whatever's trending -- like just write your own book or smth lol -- booktok will eat it up i promise.

Also, kinda related kinda not but um,,, why are we romanticising fascists -- like babe no evan rosier is not your babygirl he canonnoically tortured multiple ppl and became a death eater soo... not saying that I wouldn't want an exploration of his character or even a relationship with barty -- (who's not some cool dairk-haired edgelord but a actually a cowardly fascist murderer with blond hair -- yes the blond hair is important) -- I'd just want them to be portrayed as the not morally good people they are. Like,, if u want to oc-ify a character like pick someone whos not a death eater or has little info on them like dirk cresswell or frank longbottom,,, or ya know,, one of the MANY female characters in the fandom ((This fandom also has a problem with women and sapphic ships in general but that's a whole other issue lol).

I know this 'babygirlification' of death eaters doesn't mean to do this, but it also ends up watering down the themes of oppression, bigotry, etc and leaves us with not nearly as complex characters. Also one of the issues I had with the og HP world is that JK will introduce concepts like wizard racism and slavery and then just like,, not really do anything about it or just have half-arsed redemption arcs whilst not ever actually exploring the root of the issue. And now i feel like the fandom is following in those footsteps unfortunately.

Anyways, i've been rambling for too long so I'll just leave it here. Sorry if this came off as mean spirited in anyway,, I just have a lot of thoughts™ and my family is sick of hearing them lol. These opinions are not set in stone however so I'd love to hear your thoughts on this subject! At the end of the day this is fandom and we're supposed to have fun -- so yeah !! thanks for reading if you made it this far!

[aihoshiino]

OP YOU ARE SO RIGHT. i hate the idea of ruby "surpassing ai" and the way people have been eating it up 🤦‍♀️

like ok, their intro to the industry could be called similar due to being like scouted, but imo ai got in through her looks and made it because of her hard work. whereas ruby is a nepo baby through and through. sorry not sorry! i just think about how ai was soooo dedicated and hardworking to being a perfect idol that she has perfected her smile right down to the centimeter, thought about the technique she has when thinking abt acting and how it is like shooting for an mv, etc. when has ruby ever done smth like that? 🙄 the only reason she could possibly stand out as an idol to me is because she has ai's genes lmao

It rly is wild how much more info we get about how hard Ai worked as an idol just in the prologue arc, compared to Ruby having like 100+ chapters of the manga all to say "Ruby is the best idol… because she just is, okay????"

It sucks because up through to the Private arc, I actually think we had a really good and strong impression of what made Ruby such an incredible idol - yes, she had a leg up thanks to the whole Nepo Baby Reincarnation thing but as the First Concert arc points out, what makes Ruby so special as an idol is that she is genuinely having the time of her life being one. I think if you've ever seen any kind of live performance you can absolutely tell the difference in energy between someone Not Really Feeling It and someone who is genuinely, sincerely just having a fucking blast. It's electric and infectious and it really can elevate something that is maybe not as technically proficient into something honest to god transcendent - art is, at the end of the day, more than just raw technical execution.

I said this in one of my chapter reviews (or in an ask… I frogor) but the main issue with trying to sell the reader on Ruby 'surpassing' Ai is that the story seems so deathly afraid of acknowledging just how insanely in Ruby's favour the odds were VS. how hard Ai had to fight and claw to become the idol that she did. Ai actually is the radiant, hardworking underdog the story wants to pretend Ruby is which makes it all the more embarrassing that the story has to keep mining Ai's imagery to try and prop up Ruby lol

Honestly, part of me kind of wonders if Akasaka isn't aware of this… Ai's charisma and radiance as a character is kind of a lightning in a bottle feat of writing that's hard to do twice in the space of the same story, especially when the circumstances of Ai's death and involvement of the narrative have made her into such a larger than life figure. So he really kind of can't make Ruby surpass Ai in a way that's believable without falling back on UHHH RUBY IS GOD'S MOST SPECIAL LITTLE PRINCESS JUST BECAUSE.

Which, ironically, just reinforces that Ai was the ultimate, unrivaled idol at least within the bounds of the story. Even the character who supposedly surpassed her could only do it by literally having that achievement fed to her on a silver spoon.

[myfairkatiecat]

as an actual person getting a degree in criticism of english literature, i'd like to say that you are completely entitled to your opinion and i am entirely thrilled to see discussion of literary theory in the kotlc fandom!!!! it's fantastic and i wish everyone engaged with the work like you are!!!

that being said, I do have some questions? problems? smth idk. for you. This is not an attack or anything like that, pure academic camaraderie and engagement. Literary theory shifts entirely based on who, how, and why people engage with it.

You stated in one post that when an author writes their story one way, you as the reader can't really argue against that at all, as you are choosing to engage with the work. For instance, if you hate Sokeefe and it turns you off from reading the series, you can't say that the author was wrong without basing it in some real criticism. My response to this would be, what would that criticism look like? Do you have a good argument for why Sokeefe wouldn't be a good route for the author to take? I am an AVID Sokeefe shipper, and I can think of at least three. But I digress. My main thought here is that an author, at least in my opinion, can be completely wrong in their execution of anything. Just because something is written in a story doesn't necessarily mean that's how it has to be, or how it would best be written!

I genuinely think millions of writers have begun writing things simply because they saw a poorly executed story.

Writing, for me, at least, always seems to be utterly entwined with itself. Story, wording, execution, pacing, it's all combined into the whole it becomes. This is why Twilight is so bad, why KOTLC has isn't classics material, and why, say, Jane Eyre is! It's all combined together into a beautiful flashing collective, and it is when you get excellence across the board that a work of fiction really shines.

However, I don't think one can take the author as the prime example of perfectly executing their own story.

I would write so much of KOTLC completely differently if it were my writing, and I would argue that all of that would make it worlds better, even if some of my choices are primarily based on personal taste, not supported criticism, because I think that I know how to write just as well, if not better than the author does.

It is based in this very same idea, that even if I were operating solely out of personal taste that I could do it better, that I find myself disagreeing with your claim.

I genuinely believe an author can make terrible decisions with their story, and be wrong about how it's carried out, even if it's in the material and published.

Do you have any thoughts on this? Sorry, I know this is kind of long.

Anyways! Thank you so much for bringing up theoretical stuff!!!! I literally LOVE to see it!!!! :D Have a great day!!!

I love this stuff too OMG im going to college next year and I’m majoring in English

Anyway yes!! Most of what you said is actually about the execution of the story, which I totally agree can be objectively better or worse! I like to put all those things like style, pacing, and execution in the family of “writing” and things like plot and scenes and what is actually happening in the universe as “content.”

I think the “writing,” as I loosely defined it above, can be thoroughly criticized at any point, and ABSOLUTELY SHOULD BE! That’s how readers and writers alike learn and grow from other media and nurture their own talent! I can definitely think of some things about Shannon’s writing in kotlc that I would have executed differently, but with kotlc, I mostly try to ignore it since it’s………kotlc 😭 but no you’re absolutely right!

I bristle a little bit at criticism of “content” as I defined it above. I know it’s wrapped up in the writing, but I think things that are actually happening in the universe—such as decisions characters make or big events that affect the plot and characters—are things that are totally up to the author, and therefore can’t be objectively wrong. For example, Sophie deciding to date Keefe is something happening in the universe. Therefore, it can’t be the “wrong” thing, because it’s Shannon’s universe in the first place.

Now, there could be other pathways the story could have taken. The story might be more enjoyable to some people if other pathways were taken. But Shannon isn’t… “incorrect” about her own characters, which is a take I’ve seen implied (and even outright stated somewhere, I’ll have to find that again) since she created them and what she decides to have them do is a part of the story she’s deciding to tell. From an objective standpoint, we can discuss her writing methods and the execution of the story she is telling, but at the end of the day, if someone’s problem isn’t with the execution but with the story itself, their criticism ceases to really be helpful. That’s basically like saying, “I like Harry Potter, but J. K. Rowling really messed up when she made Voldemort a half-blood.” (Which might be a bad example because it was actually a genius narrative choice.) In that statement, you aren’t criticizing Rowling of her execution of the story, you’re criticizing the very story she decided to tell, which is her right as an author.

I think an author can make choices that don’t move their story in a direction that would lend it more literary merit or have more of an impact. But if those decisions are related to the “content” rather than the “writing” (according to the groups I defined above) then I don’t think anyone can objectively say the decision is wrong. That’s the other thing—the use of the word “objective” in situations it has no business being in.

In short, writers can execute things well or poorly, and they can make narrative decisions that don’t lead the work down a road that gives it more meaning, but when coming up with the actual plot of a story, authors can’t be wrong about what should happen in a story that is of their own design! If they think that their character would do X, Y and Z, then they’re right, because they created the character. Even if we, the readers, haven’t been exposed to a single thing about that character that would make them make those decisions, the author is still right about their own character. Now, in that scenario, the writing can be criticized, because a character who would do X, Y and Z should probably show signs of it earlier in the work so that it doesn’t give the readers whiplash and better develops the character, but the author can’t be wrong in their own universe by virtue of having created the universe.

Thanks for stopping by!! I love chatting about this stuff, feel free to reblog and keep it going

[paintbrushnebula]

How would you have fixed/ wrote tangled the series if you were the executive producer/ creator?

How would you have fixed/ wrote tangled the series if you were the executive producer/ creator?

Hoooboiiii good question!! Haha because like, I’m actually kinda prepared to answer this, because I’ve thought about what I would’ve liked out of a Tangled sequel and, tsk I gotta tell you it’s very VERY different from the series XD 

However even though the series isn’t my idea of a Tangled sequel, if I was at this moment granted a wish that would allow me to magically alter the series as a whole, retroactively, I wouldn’t remove anything that the series introduced, because I like a lot it. I like Varian, I like Lance, I like Adira, I like Bruce Campbell, I like all o’ dem fools. Oh and the bangin’ SONGS YELL HEAH! Good food ^^. I also think the Sundrop and Moonstone stuff, the Demanitus stuff, even the Zhan Tiri stuff all sound cool on paper. Queen for a Day was pretty unforgettable for me so I’m not itching to change that in any major way. I honestly wouldn’t want to change the whole series in any major ways. Just, y’know, fix what’s there. Improve the flaws. Develop the underused characters and backstories. Make Eugene’s story mean something and matter. Make Quirin’s note mean something and matter. Add more moms for crying out loud. Explore Rapunzel’s trauma and actually SHOW us her recovery iIn full detail. 

Oh wait. Actually I WOULD make a dramatic change: Arianna is the focal parent NOT Frederic. That’s literally going hand-in-hand with “write Rapunzel’s recovery better.” She needs to see what a good mother looks like. 

OH KRIFF ONE MORE THING XD yeah Cass being Gothel’s daughter is SOO OUT XD 

Moonsandra can stay but she’s gotta have better motives and an actual set goal or smth Jesus

The Zhan Tiri disciples song a villain song. Heck, Zhan Tiri gets a villain song. OOOF could you imagine Zhan Tiri getting a song in the same vein as “In the Dark of the Night” from Anastasia??? That’d be so cool, oh jeez. 

Also I’d have the broadway stars be casted a little more creatively, like, I love what they did with Eden Espinosa, Jeremy Jordan, and James Monroe Iglehart, but I wish they went even harder with it. Gavin Creel being casted as that disciple (I dont remember his name) is exactly what I mean. Get Andre De Shields as someone! How about Susan Egan? Ooooh please could we get Aaron Tveit in there somewhere? Sigh, in my dreams I guess. 

Oh, and make sure they actually get to sing ^_^

One last major change would be to make Eugene’s mom live alongside Edmund. Literally I dont get the big issue media has with doing the “estranged parent” trope and restricting it to one parent (who is usually the father). Like what is it with Hollywood and writing BOTH parents? What’s wrong with a seasoned older husband and wife reuniting with their son, becoming key supporting characters in the story? 

I like Edmund too much to get rid of him, so. Why not have two cakes? 

Oh btw Eugene’s mom would be Susan Egan. No debate. 

Also I’d have the score be directed a little differently. Have actual leitmotifs that aren’t using music from the songs (as much as I like when that happens). Give Rapunzel and Eugene a “love theme” that also gets used for any time any other character is growing as a person or going through changes, like some type of “dream” theme that represents that character having and pursuing a want or goal. Then when Cass or Varian become evil, you twist that “dream” leitmotif to sound sinister because their “new dream” is something dark and twisted. Then you take that and incorporate it into their themes to make villain themes. Could you imagine if Varian and Cass had leitmotifs used when they were good, then when they betray Rapunzel, those leitmotifs are musically altered to sound sinister??? 

WOof, sorry, this was ramble-y and has poor grammar/sentences. I hope this is all readable XD

[luinhealthcare]

i was reasing your response to an ask and my brain did a thing that made me pull a botw regaining a memory kinda brainwave (the in-game way not the wild-is-having-an-absence-seizure-way) [aka u r getting a brain dump because i dont currently have the executive function budget to make it ~fancy words~ but i wanted to do smth]

I could kinda see Wind and Wild getting really excited about learning new things, and one time they learn about that whole 'parallel-play'/'body-doubling' idea and get really excited and ask lots of questions about it and then get in their heads "Sky is kinda down a lot lately, maybe we should like. pay a visit and do some same-spacing!"

aaaaand they do and Sky is kinda like guys. guys pls. because he really isnt up for company, but after a bit of an overenthusiastic start where Wind kinda talks too much too close, they all do just plonk themselves in different areas of the room.

Wind is studying silently, Wild is fixing something or playing a handheld he borrowed, and Sky honestly is just kind of napping/depression void staring on the couch but its easier for him to stop spiraling when he remembers that he isn't alone even if its the same comfortable silence.

Eventually he picks up a book he started months ago and was really enjoying before he just kind of... stopped reading. kinda entirely for a while there. And he is reading it and enjoying it again even if it makes his eyes tired faster and he gets tired in general from just reading. He takes a break to let his eyes relax and wander, Wind is still studying. Theres a quiet sound of something falling, and Sky thinks Wild put his thing down or fell asleep, but when he looks bro is zoinked, just staring and making the occasional hand motion (this is supposed to be the absence seizure thing- idk if thats accurate)

He zones back in, n rubs his eyes and kinda looks around and sees sky staring now and tries to play it off as he is sleepy. sky is like 'same bro'

words words all 3 of them end up watching a movie on the couch but Wild zones out again at least twice and Sky is trying to figure out how to kinda tattle on the situation to time, but he isnt sure whats up. Wind falls asleep and Sky tries to ask Wild if HE is depressed, because sometimes Sky's brain and body just disconnect when he is in a really bad Big Sad, and he guesses maybe thats what it looks like from the outside when he kind of locks up and has the internal metal argument over whatever it is at the time

/word'splosion

Yooo I love this idea!! Gonna bookmark it so I can write it later :D Lian you’re an inspiration ❤️ Oh, just imagine Sky’s guilt when he realizes too late how Wild got into his motorcycle accident. And this might be the first hint Wild or any of them get that something is really wrong with Sky too.

[prototypelq]

DMC Questions Anon here!

Capcom has called to tell you they've put you in charge of the next DMC game. They left no instructions but one: the game focuses on Dante and Vergil after the events of DMC 5. How will you do the game? What will the plot be? How will you have their relationship progress throughout the game?

Hi, Ember! Your timing is, as always, suspiciously accurate

Just the day you sent this ask I saw a post with this screenshot and saved it to answer later

Funny thing is, my answer to this post is disagreement with this point on a fundamental level.

I have an extremely hard time imagining anything for DMC6, and one of the reasons is story. Capcom did a great thing when they actually acknowledged their series-founding character aging. Dante is not getting younger, physically it's not really a problem for him, but emotionally? This man should have gotten a mental retire like, after dmc4. I mean it. He shouldn't get sucked into another Sparda legacy drama, please no. Same for Vergil, man needs a gramophone, his bro to retire with, a library card and some freakin knitting needles or smth.

DMC1 started with the second lowest low the twins relationship had ever been at, DMC3 showed the divide of their relationship, DMC4 was the ghost of it and DMC5 had been the fallout of 20+ years of not-cooing-with-trauma. 5 ends with a perfect ending the twins were gifted by Hideaki Itsuno (bless the man), there is nowhere meaningful to take them.

(This is where I would have ranted about Mundus and how HE should be the main boss of the series, but he was sealed off and manga says twins could have defeated him even in their twenties and capcom did not freakin retcon that)

Alas, this would have been my answer if you haven't added the mandatory twins rule xD (to be fair, it does sound like a rule executives force on a new game, cause how would they ever let go of idols like Dante&Vergil? the bois sell better than hot cookies)

This is where I go in reverse mode, because I think the post is actually onto something. A new game about twins conquering different regions/levels of Hell and fighting cool Hell Lords the entire time. It would also be a good opportunity for some worldbuilding overhaul I keep ranting about in every single ask!

The only gameplay feature I can imagine for the game, the one that was MUCH requested and so close to properly implemented in 5 should ABSOLUTELY return - proper coop. Not sure if splitscreen would work optimisation-wise, but they should freakin try. RE engine turned out to be surprisingly adaptable and works insanely well in 5.

Character abilities wise - DMC5 is a goddamn masterpiece of slasher, I have absolutely no idea how to make it better. Dante alone requires you to study in Combo University for four years, and Vergil would freakin make you meditate in a cave without food or water for another four.

If the narrative could take a double plotlines structure and Nero would have his own adventures in the human world, it would be nice to give him more attention as well. And an opportunity for some new devil hunter characters (Master Summoner Patty) !

If DMC6 ever happens then Mundus HAS to be the endgame come on, that is (1) plotline DMC has hanging and it would be EPIC to make.

Twins-relationship wise I expect a Lot of banter. It would be awesome to have the second twin be AI piloted around the level with you.

As for bonding? Mixed feelings. Twins will have lots of time to learn to work together again, but I am not sure they can actually heal while in Hell. Hell trip is a constant run from and into violence, demon horders, hunting and being pursued in a maddening never-ending circle untill the twins are able to escape. This is not the best situation for healing, honest conversations, or supportive moments. Plus, the twins entire lives revolve around violence, I can only wish one day they can settle in a calm environment to learn to live without it too.

btw the last two sentences are like, the premise of Raven's @stashoflostsouls newest Take a trip or two awesome fic, definitely check it and her other works out if you liked the previous paragraph

So yeah, I believe the twins will progress a lot during their escapades, but the reforging of their brotherhood can only fully happen outside the violence they are regularly thrown into, and a retirement plot doesn't really sound like a good idea for a slasher game, does it.

as always, the rambles got the best of me.

tldr: Personally, I think the twins' story is done and they should be allowed to happily retire, but if the story continuing to revolve around them is the mandatory rule then my best guess is a cool slasher in Hell. Still, it wouldn't fully mend the twins relationship, even if the game would probably be very satisfying to play

(have you seen the coop mod videos online? those clips are insane)

[dots-and-loops]

hello so apparently you can pin posts so I will use this power the best way i can, best hyperpop albums !!

warning: leftist wall of text about music, enjoy reading c:

fishmonger is a must no matter what you listen to, best hyperpop album out there. so much different genre mixings, so many creative ideas, so much oomfh in a single god damn album while still sounding really good. there is no bad song in this album yet there is so many elements from different genres. listen to it! its good really good it has alt/indie rock elements to it :D

jane remover is an artist who boggles my mind because the fella wasnt even 18 when she created the album that has shaped the hyperpop realm since the day it was posted, having effects to the genre to this day. album influenced the genre and i am sure of it! while some of the songs were removed from the album it is insanely fun and unique 4 songs to listen to.

apparently white tiger is digicore but it’s basically the same genre. smooth album, taking inspiration from others while still keeping it fresh and original with various cool and unique ideas. executed well and the songs transition very well, never felt like the song was forced into the album. definitely listen, this more experimental one. while the last 2 were more mainstream in the genre (that means if you listen to hyperpop you know these albums) this one not so much, but the internet sweaty nerds who listen to sematary and dg love 2hollis for some reason

sidenote: 2hollis’ new album “2” goes also extremely hard so listen to that too, even tho its more electropop

sidesidenote: i am pulling these genres from rym i dont differentiate the genres that much.

while frost children’s album “spiral” i didnt enjoy that much this one i enjoyed a lot. definite improvement can be seen. up there with fishmonger as one of the best imo, the beats of this song are impeccable. the lyrics are a point where they can improve but MAN, i can let that slide with the beats. they go hard. transitions between songs are also insanely well executed and make me tingle every time c:

very fun album, consistently high energy from start all the way till the end. all 3 six impala’s songs are very very good. hell, earwax imo is even better than wflytd. but this i would recommend listening to more, because this has everything and it has the everything in extreme quantities. have fun fucks

bit of a wild pick, since twikipedia previously made pretty generic hyperpop, but this album for some weird reason stuck to me. yeah the lyrics can be a bit lacking at some points and not all the features were,,, good. but something about this album is just, good. the beats are solid and unique even when inspired and i dont care about the lyrics when your singing voice is as good as theirs. the singing just somehow fits the music so well. it’s not what i have is so god damn underrated its borderline criminal, the song goes HARD. the buildup, delivery and the ending are just amazing. might be a bit different from previous albums but it’s a good listen. mark my words, in a few years time twiki will make an album up there with the best. but rn imo twiki needs more experience, few more albums and they are golden

honorable mention: food house - food house, SUMMER03 - midwxst, cypress grove - glaive.

sidesidesidenote: you have listened to (or at least have heard of) 100 gecs, i dont feel the need to add them here since the its pretty self explanatory. i will say that 1000 gecs was ass and 10000 gecs was miles better. sue me.

thats it, if i missed a good album then reblog or add a # or smth idfk i came here from reddit. soryy for broken english at some parts, i can use fancy dancy words all i want but english is not my first language and sentences can be confusing and broken sometimes :p. if you reached this far, first of all why and thanks for bearing my infodump, i like the silly beats music. i dont even care if you actually listen to them or not i just like talking about the albums :)

september 2023 update: frailty jane remover was an album i completely missed lmao ! listen to that too :D

after making this list i got informed about the artist duo black dresses, they are slaying hard their music bangs.

some more good albums/ep’s: recovery girl, despite everything it’s still user, I know theres something left for you

october 2023 update: listen to wallsocket listen to wallsocket listen to wallsocket listen to wallsocket listen to wallsocket

[meruz]

some weirdly specific artist game questions im answering while eating dinner. im gonna use my truly abysmal surface pen so theyre gonna be jittery af.

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in I feel like I don’t lose interest in projects so much as I run out of time to do them nowadays. I had a bunch of ideas for a shortbox comics fair project and then got too busy to execute and meet the deadlines. same with some zines... I still want to do them!! Idk when though. I guess when I was a kid I used to be interested in more ambitious original writing, long form fantasy type stuff. I think if you really dig through my archives you can probably find ocs from ideas like that but I don’t have a lot of interest in pursuing stories like that anymore because... idk even writing short things is tough for me.

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself

I think this is mostly because ive been “finishing” art less lately? or like... making less small things and more singular big/complex illustrations? idk. it’s tough, I want to post more because I like posting art on the internet. I grew up watching other people post art on the internet and wanting to do the same. there’s a lot of artists who don’t like it but its fun to me. unfortunately this whole year has kind of been like a non-posting year tho.

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended

25.  Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by Uhhhh this is tough idk. I think I’ve gotten like...ava’s demon before?

Which doesn’t make a lot of sense to me looking at the style alone but does like...make sense in the way that I think I share similar cultural inspirations with that comic like...being online in the mid 2000s...deviantart digital art type stuff. So even if there isn’t any direct inspiration there’s some shared dna probably.   I think I’ve hard art compared to transistor (the supergiant game) too and I think its like. a similar story there. Heck, If i drew more sexy characters my inking tendencies would probably get my art compared to hades just with how big that art style is culturally rn.too bad i only draw dumb looking kids.

I’ve never played a supergiant game. they look very nice and I rly respect them as a company but they’ve yet to make smth that’s really up my alley.

(unrelated but tumblr user wellnoe I’m a huge fan of ur art you have one of the biggest brains in xmen fanart imo...!! thanks for sending in an ask LOL ;-;;;)

[willel]

Have you seen the news about the stage play? Apparently it will feature the Creels and their arrival to Hawkins. But there's some new characters too i guess?

Oh and also apparently Hopper, Joyce and Bob will have roles in the story too. I wonder if the other kids' parents will be featured or will it just feature Jim, Joyce and Bob (also what about Lonnie...? I guess he doesn't exist in the same school as them or something? I am not sure about this part). They also mentioned Joyce's surname before the marriage but i forgot. I am not sure how centered they will be in the story but it still would be enjoyable to watch Joyce's young ages tbh, but I am not sure if they're gonna focus on her relationship with Hopper and Bob.

Oh and the new characters feature a boy and a girl, they are different characters than Henry, Joyce, Hopper and Bob I am guessing, but i might be wrong. But the new characters are said to be 14 years old, so i guess they are entirely different characters or smth?

Interestin, interestin.

“Hawkins, 1959: a regular town with regular worries. Young Jim Hopper’s car won’t start, Bob Newby’s sister won’t take his radio show seriously and Joyce Maldonado just wants to graduate and get the hell out of town. When new student Henry Creel arrives, his family finds that a fresh start isn’t so easy… and the shadows of the past have a very long reach,” the play’s synopsis reads. “Brought to life by a multi-award-winning creative team, who take theatrical storytelling and stagecraft to a whole new dimension, this gripping new adventure will take you right back to the beginning of the ‘Stranger Things’ story – and may hold the key to the end.”

It says it's written by one of the actual show writers and executive producers, so that's a plus. Most of the spin-offs you see are just written by authors hired on to work on the IP. This would be "from the roots" almost. This is probably the most canon spin-off we've seen to date.

Looks like the Duffers themselves actually collaborated on this too so yeah.

As for the story itself, seems like Joyce, Hopper, and Bob are the titular characters. Question is, will they retcon Joyce and Bob not actually knowing each other in school or not. Maybe Hopper will be the thread that ties them together funnily enough.

I don't really know where this falls in the timeline of things. I'm sure I used to know how old Joyce and Hopper were but I also feel like they never explicitly said it...

Let's see...

Looks like people estimate she was born in 1942 along with Hopper, though I'm not sure where they got that Hopper assumption. But let's go with it.

That would make Joyce and them about 17 years old during this stage play. Ok, older than I thought.

In which case, Henry is like, 12 years old in 1959 isn't he? So them meeting each other seems unrealistic. I mean, I know the middle school and high school are on the same campus, but a direct meeting between Joyce, Hopper, or Bob with Henry doesn't make much sense.

The neighborhood Henry lived in also looked like the rich affluent part of town, which I don't think fits Hopper or Joyce's background so it's not like they'd be neighbors.

Hm........... in this stage play, I think we will

Meet Hopper's parents. Specifically his dad who he apparently hated

Meet Joyce's family and learn why she wants to get out of town and how the hell she ended up with Lonnie Byers

I have no idea about Bob but ok

Learn about Virginia Creel and what's actually wrong with that family.

Find out why Joyce's family were such outcasts or why her aunt is considered crazy

Meet some random characters who we will never see again. But Karen will probably be there.

Speaking of Joyce, WE FINALLY GOT A MAIDEN NAME! Maldonado.

I mean........... certainly not what I was thinking it could be. It appears to be of Spanish origin (spanish from Spain)

AND THE MEANING???? LIKE WOW OK. Rude. Giving a lot of "cursed family" vibes. "Bad luck" basically.

Kinda sad they didn't go with the Jewish angle but I mean, who is to say they aren't? I choose to believe it still.

(also, this is hilarious and the reason why wikis aren't always 100% correct. Horowitz is Winona Ryers' original last name. The yearbook image is not from that Yearbook they official released, it was a fanedit that existed way before that book came out.)

[thelesbododo]

Hi! I'm bored so why dont we talk about some Dead Plate facts from that can be used for Au's and fics :)

I'm also gonna share some of my ideas and/or opinions

(I do ship Rody and Vince, so if you don't like the ship, please skip this post or ignore it)

-Green for fact

(Purple for ideas/opinions)

- Rody is said to have a mesomorph somatotype/medium build and is said to be stronger than he seems even with his poor lifestyle. Having said that, it's also canon that if you were to arm wrestle Rody, he would accidentally break your arm.

(This can literally work for almost any scenario, Rody has to protect Vince, smut purposes, an au where Rody is a fighter of some sort, or he just fucking picks Vince up for some reason.)

- Rody lives in a shitty, unclean apartment

(Kinda makes me think of depression rooms. Maybe potential to mame an excuse for a rody/vince roommate au or angst fic)

- He had a childhood dog named Brie

(Like the cheese lmao. Has fluff fic potential)

- He was a gifted child, who managed to get into a prestigious college, most likely the same one as Vince considering everyone at the dinner party went to college with Vince and at least one of them knew Rody from college

(I have a feeling that they wouldn't have gotten along very well in college due to how the others described their college personalites but I like the idea of enemies to lovers, or an unlikley pairing college au and since Rody is both bi and biphobic that would be a cool plot point. Also, a love triangle between manon, vince, and Rody)

- Rody never gets sick and has extremely excellent and can survive eating food that is literally years old

(Two different routes, vince see rody eating like this and personally handles it, or vince gets sick/food poisoning and rody takes care of him)

- Vince is a lightweight

(Can lead to him revealing his plans to rody or smth else)

- If Vince managed to succeed in executing his plan and then realized that it didn't actually bring back his taste, he surprisingly would become haunted by the fact he killed two people. Rody, on the other hand, would willingly hide a body if Manon had told him to

(It's an interesting thing to think about because it means that Vince is less crazy than we thought, but Rody might be the opposite. It makes me wonder whether or not Rody actually cared that much after he killed Vince and only cared that manon was dead. It honestly didn't seem like it. Also Stalker and/or yandere Rody would be cool.)

- Vince wears contacts, and on the occasion that he looses them, he wears glasses

(I feel like Rody would find this cute or smth, and then question why he felt that way)

-Vincent has insecurities about the absence of emotional depth in his food.

(Rody canoniclly calls Vince out on this, and we see vince is visibly upset. Maybe a fic where Vince's food progressively gets better as he gets closer to Rody and rody starts complimenting the food and enjoying eating it)

- The guitar in his possession was originally used by his father to propose to his mother and was later gifted to him with the expectation of a similar romantic gesture.

(So much fucking potential here, like they play their instruments together, or Vince listens to Rody play and realizes he's inlove, or Rody directs said romantic gesture at Vince)

- Rody is presumably born into a middle- class family that experiences enough financial problems that he dropped out of college despite being a gifted child

(Vince helping out with the money troubles would be so cute)

Other fun facts:

- If Vincent never met Rody, he would have led a successful life, building a business empire, gaining worldwide fame, and passing away on May 17th, 2013, at the age of 68-73 without experiencing romantic love

- Vincent had consumed worms during his childhood

- Vince processes all his food into smoothies as the texture of solid food grosses him out

- The reward dishes presented at the end of shifts are exclusively crafted by Vince, not the chefs, and are specifically tailored for Rody.

- Vincent used to have a long hair in college.

- Although Vincent dislikes the rat in his kitchen, Vincent generally exhibits kindness towards animals.

[myxomavirus]

k so my current understanding rn (ive been looking around for a few hours) is that a bunch of unaffiliated people individually thought to make flags that are half-and-half the lipstick lesbian and butch lesbian flags in order to make smth that better represents the lesbian community as a whole. ive found around 4 people who had near enough this same idea and reasoning with slightly different executions. i thought the orange/yellow butch flag was newer than the sunset lesbian flag tbh i didnt realise it was taken to make half of it but there u go

as far as i can tell though, emily was the first person to assign a whole new set of colour meanings (instead of just being like ''heres my butch femme combo flag'') which i think contributed to its popularity and helped it like.. ''go mainstream''. they also made an explicit choice to put the ''butch'' half on top which seems to be the less popular choice among other instances of butch-femme combo flags. i thought emily made the 5 stripe version which was the one i was thinking of when i mentioned ugly disney merch but it seems to be unclear who was the First person to make that one as well

it doesnt look like it *can* fully be attributed to one person but i have to be completely real whichever way you slice it i think emilys contributions were the most impactful and they shouldnt be begging for food money on twitter either way

[lakesbian]

Sorry, I’m the one who asked the awakening question. You posted some thoughts about the start of 1.7 a couple of days ago, so figured you had finished the chapter by this point. Again, sorry about that, I’ll be more careful in the future.

ohh fair assumption. yeah i didn't think he was gonna do it that soon i thought he was going to get into some more silly shenanigans with the gang (rose) first. and also i am the slowest reader on the planet at times due to comical amounts of executive dysfunction and propensity for distraction. it's no prablem. anyway here's my thoughts about their different metaphorical assignments 2 the items as per requast:

the dagger: "war" is an obvious and common concept 2 ascribe to weaponry, nothing much interesting to note about this one. if i really wanted to read into it i could suggest that they went for "war" instead of "murder" or whatever because war/mass-scale conflict is already on the mind due to they sort of just got dropped into the middle of of a magical battlefield + have nukes to cold war w/ on hand.

hourglass: to quote blake, "Something we didn’t have enough of, something dangerous, foremost in our thoughts, with its association to Laird."

dreamcatcher: blake picks like. the most basic-level interpretation possible (dream), whereas rose's "fate" read indicates that fate has already been smth on her mind. i'm not great at reading into rose yet but there is the whole thing where blake actually has a life outside of The Horrors, despite still being fated to experience 'em, but rose exists pretty solely because of The Horrors. i think she's feeling the pressure of fate much more than blake is + is more concerned w/ the future overall than him and subsequently brings it up here

skull: "doom" from blake and "death" from rose are largely synonymous but i Can get something out of this. i've mentioned before that i don't think blake has fully processed the consequences for a misstep--he's aware of them, but he hasn't genuinely processed them imo. he's very "one step at a time" about everything and very prone to making hasty decisions when he feels trapped, immobile, or like he's not doing anything, and he explicitly counts "sitting down and researching" as "not doing anything." every time he wants to make a rapid decision--or just goes ahead w/ one w/o rose's consent--she's the one to express outright fear of death*, whereas he's more concerned with reducing his immediate psychological stressors (i.e feeling immobile). i think this indicates that he's thinking in significantly vaguer terms (i.e "doom") whereas she's extremely concerned about concrete possible outcomes (like Literally Dying if blake runs off and gets himself killed).

*i think death will probably seem like one of the more pleasant things that could've happened to them later on but i digress

coin: this one is p straightforward. while they obviously both have the same shitty family, blake is a man who subsequently didn't actively fight for the inheritance as a child, so he already doesn't have the same negative association w money rose does. in addition to that, he already absconded from his family when he was 17, and after time spent being homeless + being in very poor financial shape even after he gets an apartment, he associates the idea of money significantly more with positive emotions and good luck than with the inheritance. rose, however, never left home like blake did + was a girl who was expected to fight for it. she witnessed firsthand everything the promise of the money did to the family. hence: blake associates money w/ fortune, rose associates it with ruin.

rose: this one is. exceedingly straightforward, to blake a rose means his grandmother + rose (family), to rose a rose means herself. adding this one to my brain soup alongside padraic's rose metaphor and stirring but i'll need more data points to write anything coherent. I Am Remembering though.

also someone wanted to know my thoughts on maggie so far. i don't really know anything abt her i only saw her for 2 seconds but i think it's so fucking funny that wildbow made Her the part of pact that gets referenced in worm and not blake. like blake is so sopping pathetic that despite being the protagonist he doesn't even get a feature when his own damn book is being easter-egged somewhere else. sorry blake you're just not personable enough. maggie is all plucky and charming and says things like "drat." all you do is stumble around cursing and bleeding. you don't have being a YA protagonist in you.