#that's not really relevant to the overall ask I'm just curious about it now

[bookwyrminspiration]

yes, that's exactly the difference! and particularly in the talks about quality--it was really strange to hear people talk about the quality standard being so low when i personally grew up in the junior section with really well-written and designed books that still hold up upon rereads. of course there are books that don't appeal to me at my age now: i read a book recently by an author i used to love and it was almost as if i could physically see the difference between my life experience and the intended demographic, but at the same time there are still a lot of books i read back then that are still fully capable of taking my breath away.

i know at thirteen would not have picked a book with this cover up from the library without the prior knowledge that this was sophie and fitz!!! because i was a child with Taste^tm and almost always judged books by their covers (which, tbh, i still do! is that saying actually meant to apply to books too because if so, the entire graphic design industry says a collective ouch). especially when so much of what i read was from artists like Kazu Kibuishi haha, there was a lot of criteria i remember having! so i was absolutely disappointed when i saw the graphic novel cover reveal and it was just like any of the ones that you'd see on the side of the shelves at the end of the week when all of the older kids had taken all the interesting books, and then you ended reading the entire Geronimo Stilton series in like half a year (there was a borrow limit) instead.

to backtrack a bit though, from an artist's standpoint i don't think it's terrible! i don't think it's badly designed or maliciously designed--i think it's the job i probably would have done if i were hired to do something like that without any prior knowledge of the series. i don't even know what's in the first issue to make sense of what scene they "should" have illustrated for the cover, so it was kind of just like.... well that's a thing. that happened. and i talked to my friends about it privately instead of posting because in what way would it be productive to complain publicly about how mediocre a book cover is, but then people started bringing up the children's media arguments again and it was just so frustrating to me. i'm sure they didn't mean to belittle children's media, but it was just like... i am struggling to articulate but just a why are you here, in the children's media playpen, saying "yeah these plastic toy guns mass-bought from dollar tree suck but it's okay the toys don't have to be manufactured with great quality because the kids won't care!" like to some degree yes but there are also i didn't spend my days searching for the best quality my little pony toys for nothing? if that makes sense.

(2/2) i am concluding that long thing with um. i have just eaten a piece of the most truly awful mango i have ever had. is this what the mango haters mean when they say they don't like it. this tastes like coconut

(and also thank you for adding your tags to my post! i am glad you did because i hope it helped people look at it with a more attentive eye and didn't let them take my words at Face Value. and my brain is now melting from all of that writing haha but yes, as much as there is a huge difference between the majority of us and the age of the intended audience, kids also deserve quality things and that was what i was trying to get at! + hope you are doing well and that you have a lovely day)

----

Thanks! I'm doing alright and hope you're having a lovely time as well. You articulated yourself very well in this, so I don't want to detract from that with a long response. But you make several great points, and I agree that I don't think I would've picked up this book as a kid without already being invested in keeper. Which isn't meant to criticize or be rude to those behind it, just acknowledgement that the cover is what draws you in to a book, and that doesn't have the elements I look for or typically find appealing--or in this case what I found appealing at that age, as my tastes have changed.

Based on what I know, I do think the scene they chose is an appropriate one and makes a lot of sense! It's the huge transition in Sophie's life, leaping to this new world where "magic" is real and there's so much fantasy and otherworldly yet mundane things to discover. It completely flips her world upside down, but that's not really reflected in the image itself. It's just two tweens smiling with a burst of light; I think that could've been represented better, but I don't have the technical skill or knowledge to do a truly thorough and meaningful critique.

But getting to your overall point: children deserve good media, you're right. I don't think anyone here (at least that I saw) was truly trying to make that argument, but there can be a fine line that takes some awareness that you walk in these kinds of conversations. The distinction between not liking it because it's not for you, and not liking it because it's lower quality regardless of it's for you is an important one--I don't know if I've worded that well, but I hope you get my meaning.

I think something like this may also remind many of us of the trends we seen in books overall recently: the booktok book. The appeal to tropes and popularity instead of creativity and care taken with the medium. More generic and impersonal designs, which one could argue the cover is. So perhaps the cover isn't bad, but in it we can see evidence of a wider trend and how it could continue, and that's bad.

There's a lot of ways to look at this and things that can be considered. At the end of the day, children deserve good media and that cover doesn't seem fully representative of the story---in my opinion, but I don't have much familiarity with graphic novels so take it with a grain of salt. And your welcome, I hope my additions help as well! I feel like I've inevitably forgotten something or left something unsaid because of the length, but if anyone thinks I've missed something or wants to continue this conversation further, my ask box is open! (just please be respectful, I'm a real actual person)

also oh shit just remembered there's two mangoes in the kitchen i sure hope they haven't gone bad because i totally forgot about them

[blicketdabest33]

Y'all remember that MCYT PJO au I asked for help with awhile ago? WELL HERE'S THE CABINS AND MY EXPLINATIONS BEHIND THEM!!

#1 Zeus Cabin: Jimmy, Joel Jimmy: He's a Zeus kid, but everyone somehow forgets about it. Joel: He's competitive and strong. Also, because Jimmy is his half brother through godly parent, i get to make a fun bit about him dating Lizzie. And one of his origins in Afterlife SMP was a thunderborn

#2 Hera Cabin: Scott Scott: Scott's whole thing is loyalty. Hera is the goddess of marriage and is insanely loyal to Zeus. However, I feel like Hera should get at least one affair. So now Scott can use peacocks as weapons.

#3 Poseidon Cabin: Skizz Skizz: Poseidon kids tend to be really, really loyal to a fault and heroic, both qualities I think Skizz possesses.

#4 Demeter Cabin: Sausage, Shelby, Bdubs, Stress Sausage: This man built Sanctuary in a jungle and has flowers in his hair. He sells wood. There is no other place to put him. Shelby: Mushroom gnome, spooky mangrove witch, powerful storm witch, i need not continue. Bdubs: Moss man. Stress: SHE HAS FLOWERS

#5 Ares Cabin: Martyn, False Martyn: His planet is Mars, which is the roman version of Ares. He ended Limited Life in such a violent way, i can't help it. He was also red for the majority of Secret Life. False: I just feel like False should get to kill people more often.

#6 Athena Cabin: Grian, Pix, Owen, Xisuma Grian: This sums it up pretty well

Pix: Smart man. Archeologist and definitely a nerd. I wanna see him skipping out on training just so he can read history books. Owen: He likes to explore and discover new things in Pirates. In Rats, he's a tinkerer. In New Life, he's an explorer who wants to study hybrids. In Empires, he's a Llama who's curious about how humans work. Just a very curious character overall. Xisuma: Admin. I'm not elaborating.

#7 Apollo Cabin: Gem, Oli, Lyarrah Gem: She is an Apollo kid because of her Empire in S2. She's the sunlight princess. Apollo kid. Oli: MUSIC. MAN. Lyarrah: She writes the captions for the hermitcraft recap.

#8 Artemis Cabin: Pearl Pearl: Y'know, Artemis could've just like... had a kid, even though she took that oath. It wouldn't even have to be with a guy. Gods can change to whatever gender they want. Anyway, Pearl gets to be an Artemis kid because her symbolism is moon, she loves dogs, and will commit murder and hunt at night.

#9 Hephaestus Cabin: Doc, Mumbo, Tango, Impulse, Cub, Zedaph, Fwhip, Iskall Doc: Redstone Mumbo: Redstone Tango: Redstone Impulse: Redstone Cub: Redstone Zedaph: Redstone Fwhip: Redstone AND has a red scarf (don't ask me how that's relevant) Iskall: Redstone

#10 Aphrodite Cabin: Keralis Keralis: Okay, I don't know why, but Keralis gives me the vibes of a very charming person. His voice is nice to listen to, so imagine how useful it'd be if I gave him charm speak.

#11 Hermes Cabin: Scar, Etho, Joe Scar: Trader Scar, scammer extraordinar. Etho: All i must say is Shady-E's. I get "jack-of-all-trades, master of none, often better than master of one" vibes from him. He's funny, he's mischievous, it just works. Joe: Comedy man. Excellent delivery. And, yet again, i look at this man and go "That right there is a multi-talented man with a habit for mischief."

#12 Dionysus Cabin: Joey, Beef Joey: *points at his season one empires theme* i need not say more Beef: Idk, food. I don't really have a reason. I don't know too much about Beef.

#13 Hades Cabin: Zloy Zloy: Zombie man. He writes the Hermitcraft recaps in the dark at 2am with nothing but pure spite.

#14 Iris Cabin: Katherine Katherine: SHE. HAS. COLORS. and also I couldn't put her in Demeter cabin because Shelby is already there and i am NOT excluding Nature Wives from this au

#15 Hypnos Cabin: Bigb, XB, Wels Bigb: Sleepy stuff, right? WRONG. Gaslight. Go in everyones dreams, make fake prophecies, peace out, and cause chaos. XB: I look at his fanon design, I see an alien, and I go "aha he sleeps" Wels: This guy (@dingdinghq) said so and i completely agree. Something about sleeping in S6.

#16 Nemesis Cabin: Edit: wels not here no more

#17 Nike Cabin: Ren Ren: VICTORY. I don't know much about Ren's story in the Life Series, but I look at this man and see someone who has won a lot.

#18 Hebe Cabin: 

#19 Tyche Cabin: TFC TFC: Man goes mining and gets really lucky. That's it.

#20 Hecate Cabin: Lizzie, Cleo, Jevin Lizzie: Witchy vibes. Also, Arson. Cleo: Arson. She uses her magic for Arson. Jevin: He's a magic slime. Also, Arson. All Hecate kids love Arson.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

🌮 < emoji for easy recognition

AITA for "bullying" someone out of a group chat for putting public health at risk?

This happened a while ago but I randomly remembered it happened and I'm super curious (and also still feel bad about it despite the incident happening probably around a year ago, but I also feel entirely justified). Additionally, I put "bullying" in quotes for a reason that will become clear later.

Some background: this group chat is a local/state Telegram group chat where everyone knows the approximate location of everyone; specifically, everyone knows either what region everyone else lives in or what town/city. One of the members of the chat (who was 19 at the time) worked at a fast food restaurant local to his area and is the "someone" this is ask is referring to. It's worth noting that a not insignificant chunk of the people in this group chat (which had around 150-175 people in it at the time of this happening iirc, most of the ones involved in this situation being older than him) found this guy annoying. I did too, but I was willing to talk to him because I don't think someone being annoying is a reason to be a dick to them (and I hold this stance with most people until they cross the boundary from annoying to toxic). Eventually I did block this guy because he was kinda a dick, but this isn't too relevant. What is relevant though is blocking someone on Telegram only blocks them from directly contacting you over direct messages; it doesn't block someone from replying to you in group chats or overall interacting normally in a group chat. Anyway, I had blocked this guy as of the events I'm going to get into and because of how Telegram works, we could still communicate in the group chat.

Now onto the actual event. Keep in mind that this guy works at a restaurant.

He came into the chat one morning mentioning that he was sick, like throwing up sort of sick, and said he was going to work anyway because his workplace was short on staff. Everyone active at the moment tried to talk him out of it -- he worked at a restaurant, and he was throwing up -- but we had no success in talking him out of going to work. All of us started trying to figure out what to do because this guy was risking the safety of literally everyone there. We even brought up the fact that if he went to work and got his coworkers sick, they'd be even shorter on staff, thus completely negating his point in going to work despite being sick.

One of the other members of the chat suggested we call his workplace and let them know he told us he was throwing up because it was a safety issue. I don't remember if anyone actually called his workplace, but it was something that was discussed.

Eventually (I don't remember if it was before or after he got off work) we started telling him our concerns and admittedly it did get heated, because this guy risked public safety (and his coworkers' health) and potentially his job and the restaurant by going to work after throwing up. NONE of us were happy about it. We were all varying levels of pissed, annoyed, irritated, anxious, etc.

Eventually he left the chat and he hasn't returned since then.

Why I think I might be TA:

I contributed to the discussion of "this guy is risking public safety and he really shouldn't be going to work if he's throwing up" which is the reason he left the chat.

I told my brother (who also worked in fast food at the time) and my aunt about it and they basically told me it was a dick move.

Why I think I might not be TA, or at the very least justified:

This guy was risking public safety

I didn't actively get heated until it was clear he wasn't taking what we were saying into consideration, at which point it felt like I needed to get more intense about it because he wasn't fucking listening

Additional bits of info:

To reiterate, Telegram doesn't block people from interacting with you or vice versa in group chats specifically if you've blocked them. It just means you can't communicate over direct messages. This is why I could still talk to this guy in the group chat despite blocking him.

I'm not entirely sure how relevant it is, but in case it's more relevant than if he worked at a McDonalds or Wendy's, this guy worked at a Mexican restaurant chain. I won't say specifically which one to respect privacy, but he worked at a Mexican fast food chain.

The reason I blocked him is completely irrelevant to this, and I don't feel like sharing why I blocked him anyway.

I don't remember what my thought on "call his manager" was, please don't ask about it.

He'd already been banned from or left the chat before (I don't remember which; if it was the latter I'm pretty sure it was because he knew people found him annoying but I don't remember any bannable offenses from him), then let in again by the chat's owner. He was actually let in again I think a day or two before all this went down. Because of him having just been let into the chat again less than 5 days before all this, the chat owner was trying to get us to calm down, which we obviously weren't doing since this guy had told us he was throwing up and still went to work his fast food job.

TL;DR: AITA for participating in making a guy feel so bad about going to work after telling us he threw up and therefore risking public safety and the health of his coworkers that he left the group chat?

What are these acronyms?

[homestuckreplay]

try using your brain, numbnuts!

(Pages 131-133)

Well, I was on the fence, and this update left me with no choice. I watched Con Air.

I was really surprised by John's gift from TG - and he clearly was too, because this is the biggest smile we've yet seen on his face. TG has been so standoffish and uncaring up until now, and I was expecting either a gag gift or something seen as more typically 'cool' that would get John away from his weird, nerdy interests. It's a completely different side of him that'd go to the effort of getting John a genuine prop from his favorite movie - a stuffed animal at that, not typically a gift teenage boys would exchange.

Mostly I'm curious where the two of them are getting this money. This couldn't have been cheap, and it's implied that John bought TG a celebrity artifact for his birthday, too - 'EB: you do realize they touched stiller's weird, sort of gaunt face at some point.' (p.110) Surely John asked his dad for help with buying a gift for TG, and his dad agreed - which is a new side to their relationship, too. It's very sweet to learn that John will brave a Dad encounter if it means doing something thoughtful for his friend.

I definitely enjoyed the movie, it kept me engaged throughout and the tension stayed high despite the very obvious happy ending it was building to. I think the movie could be analyzed by itself through a lens of race, crime, and the role and power of law enforcement - but John as a sheltered 13 year old probably isn't thinking about it that deeply, which is fine. He's allowed to just quote "put the bunny back in the box" and pretend he's not attracted to Nicolas Cage, for now.

Perhaps more immediately relevant is the way Cameron Poe spends the whole movie trying to get back to the kind of typical American family life that John seems so constrained by. It's easy to see John wanting to lose himself in the life of a cool action hero for a couple of hours, and experience some vicarious excitement of taking down hardened criminals and stopping a plane hijack, but harder to see him identifying with Poe's overall motivation. I also noticed the word 'numbnuts' fairly early in the movie, and on page 26 of Homestuck we get 'EB: try using your brain numbnuts.' It's a specific enough word that I don't think it's coincidence, and we know John is always referencing his movies, so it really fits him to pick up specific words and turns of phrase from them too.

Unfortunately, now I've watched Con Air I feel committed to watching every movie John's got a poster of - which is eleven movies, and some of them look really bad. But I'm committed to my goals, and I love John, even if I'm wary of his taste.

MOVIES WATCHED: 1/11

MOST RECENT MOVIE: Con Air (1997) - Rating 8/10

[kyouka-supremacy]

A little, not very polished ramble on Fukuchi and political theory, initially meant to be the answer to an ask questioning what I thought of the last chapter but posting separately because it ended up having little to do with the actual chapter.

This arc is good. I mean, the politics dilemmas it tackles are real and relevant (or maybe it's just me and loving politics discussion, that's a real chance too). Themes and interrogatives such as whether the eradication of states is possible; the critic to democracy in favour of a single authoritarian leader as the optimal solution for citizens' wellbeing; the utilitarian reasoning behind the justification of sacrificing a few in order ensure the greatest good to the most; the trolley problem– would you be willing to sacrifice five hundred in order to save two-hundred and ten million; the general interrogatives on why war happens; those are all real questions that political scientists try to give an answer to. I feel like bsd still hasn't cleared up where it stands in relation to these interrogatives– a lot of it is going to be determined on what Fukuzawa is going to do with his role of Army of Mankind's leader, whether he's going to accept it or something else. But I'm EXTREMELY curious to find out how the author will answer them and the worldview bsd is going to propose accordingly.

So far, bsd has seemed to me to propose a nihilistic-political realist-nationalist worldview: good and evil are meaningless binomials (Oda in his last speech to Dazai), every man acts in their own interest and the strongest prevails (Teruko in chapter 76), a strong sentiment of pride for own country that often translates in denigration of foreigners (the way all characters from other countries are villains, a somewhat reverence for military police (though other people have interpreted it being exactly the opposite))¹. Such reading of bsd is reinforced by Fukuchi's speech in chapter 85, with Fukuchi's character being made overall unsympathetic to the reader. At that point, I was like “Ah! Of course! The nationalist-realist manga makes of the anarchist an unsympathetic terrorist!” (and I'm quite confident I'm not misinterpreting by saying he was framed unsympathetically, at least as far as his ideals go. A lot of emphasis is put on his role of torturer, and the story protagonist looks very upset by it, which feels like inducing the reader to be as well).

But perhaps I was mistaken? Maybe I really jumped to the conclusion by believing this arc would have turned in one anti-anarchism morale. And even though it's still too soon to say it won't, in the arc conclusion we saw so far anarchism was at least framed in much more favourable lenses. Episode 5x11 and the last chapters have vastly subverted the lenses the reader is called to see Fukuchi under, and it's been SO interesting to see. Because Fukuchi isn't made unsympathetic, and as consequence his anarchist ideals aren't being framed as the senseless ravings of the villain anymore. Which I didn't see coming, and was pleasantly surprised by!! Fukuchi's desire to stop war by erasing all states, if not feasible, is now at least being framed as sensate and even noble; which is quite silly given that it's the same ideals he was carrying on in chapter 85, just with more details on political theory and positive lenses. Moreover, the world integration and creation of an single-state is framed as being a natural and unavoidable progression of history, which is CRAZY to me. I mean, it's crazy because it wholly contradicts the nationalist worldviews I found previously quite solidly established in this manga (which, again, might be just a big misreading on my side but. Wow.). Double crazy because there's about one million political scientists who would disagree with it… I don't think it's that much of an affirmed theory anywhere? If anything, because it's got some pretty strong historical negations: I'd like to ask Fukuchi how the gradual disgregation of states reconciles with the dissolution of the ussr and the objective difficulty to maintain wide pieces of land unified, the equally objective difficulty to concretize the goal of European integration, the new wave of nationalism in the world and new countries actively seeking independence rather than cohesion. In the end, Fukuchi seems to propose this insane hybrid of anarchism and authoritarianism with the denial of all states and one single leader detaining all the power (aka no separation of powers, the most rudimental basis to democracy), which sounds absolutely insane to any sensate person but I suppose can even make sense in the bsd world where there's no end to craziness.

I'm very very curious to see how the army of mankind's leader thing is going to be solved. Because if Fukuzawa accepts it, that's quite affirming that the best outcome for society is an authoritarian, antidemocratic regime. And although Fukuzawa himself was shown to be critic of that much (“Even if war did cease to exist, what would remain in that world is a single leader– a dictator. History has shown time and time again that dictatorships only rot.”, chapter 112), him being cornered to ultimately accept the role would seem to suggest that THAT is the only possible answer. Which is an odd subtly not-so-subtly authoritarian agenda which would be… Interesting to see affirmed? but at least that one *is* coherent with the previous signs of nationalism. That said, again, Fukuzawa was critical of it, so I'm not sure he will be willing to follow through (and I find it hard to image a new bsd where world order has been changed. And with Fukuzawa on top of the world, for the matter.) But Fukuzawa did not crush One Order… And overall the narrative seems to have trapped him into yielding to take on the role… Aaaahh, I'm just very curious from a political theory standpoint to see how the author is going to untangle the dilemma!!!

¹ In parenthesis I'm only bringing up the most notable indicators, but those doctrines are an underlying pattern of the whole manga and several events can lead back to these beliefs; for example, how Atsushi's abuse by the hand of the orphanage director is not morally condamned and even implied to have made him stronger, the emphasis on the great power of Japan (here emblematically represented by Yokohama) as a small country / city able to stand up against several evil foreign powers that make repeated attempts to destroy it, and more.

[lucabyte]

your ocs!!!!! please ramble about them!!!!

i love your art so much

(GRABS YOU) H. CAN DO BOSS.

So ! My ocs. I guess I'll do an overall explainer for the overall groups. If you check out my Toyhouse (LINK!) there's a bunch of folders up top that are how I categorise them. It's primarily by universe except for the folders that are just "misc."

So folder 1: Blatant favouritism:

These are silly little guys that don't fit in any specific wider universe, but I really really like. So I'll spotlight the two important ones before i get real in the weeds with my main universe.

In here are notably, my Fursona (self explanatory), Ali and Pittsburgh Cincinnati. There's also Hauntkit and Clearpelt who are warriorcats ocs that *is dragged away by airport security*

... So, Pittsburgh, lovingly sometimes called pissbug, is a weird little Thing who I made as like, an homage to characters like happy bunny and Sweetypuss. She (and her weird dog) exist to stand next to strange and offputting captions. I love her. No further context. She's just silly. and violent.

Now. Ali.

Ali Alighieri has thoroughly stolen the show, and also ties into the next folder along, Making Your MK.

With over a hundred extra images compared to second place (Sorry, Tabitha). Ali is my fucked up little scrunkly. My little baby guy. They're a shared character of mine and @samhainian's, and is from their Creature Feature setting (A modern fantasy setting wherein Cryptids and Magic are real but in our modern world.) They are as such, a modern human young adult... Who is also a demon + magic user.

Strange little pansexual altersex genderqueer poetry-nerd that they are... The modern setting also means they are literally just a tumblr user. A fellow countryman, so to speak.

HOWEVER.... Ali's true origin was in *Purrgatorio*, a scrapped visual novel of mine set in the MYMK universe! They were simply retrofitted into CF as the joke with Purrgatorio was that a regular human had mysteriously just shown up in MYMK's pure-furry setting.... And then when we scrapped the project we got all attatched to our little not-so-blank-slate protagonist. But I'll put a pin in Purrgatorio for later.

Making Your MK.

(Guest of honour: My super unfinished website <3)

Okay so here's the big one. The setting with.... (looks at spreadsheet) 109 characters not including so-called incidentals. At time of writing.

MYMK is home to... Multiple stories. As you would hope when a setting has 100+ characters. I'd wager each story has about 10-20 relevant characters tops but with a big shared universe like this there gets to be overlap between casts!!! Yay !!! 😊😊😊

MYMK is the name of the main story in the setting. Pronounced "Making your Mark", it is centered around Markus Felidae (The purple one) and their family. It's very action-adventure-y. It's also the plot I'm most secretive about the backend of since I WILL!!!!! Turn it into a nice prose story with pictures SOMEDAY!!!!! But for now tee hee hee secrets secrets. Markus' family is strange and ragtag and is keeping something from them... I can't ramble on too long here unless further prompted in asks about specifics but!!! Everyone in the MYMK folder has a fully furbished little profile with a blurb about them. So if you're curious....

But yeah, I tend to think of the MYMK setting more in terms of its Locations than its Casts, due to the overlapping nature of them all. The Malbranche may be the villains of the main plot, but they're also major players in relation to The Palsgrave who are the antagonists of Moraine, etc etc,

The country everything in MYMK is set in is called New Orphidian, Southern hemisphere little thing, here's a very cartoony map of it.

Um. Cliffside!

Since it's the best map I have... Here's an exclusive sneak peek of a Zine I'll be getting back to once the fandom brain cools down a bit.... :3c

(... I REALLY NEED TO DO A TOUR AROUND THE MINECRAFT CLIFFSIDE SAM AND I BUILT..... IT'S SO CUTE....)

Cliffside is situated on a big ol' Cliff.

A tiny hamlet of a place, it used to have reason to exist, and now does not. It's not even a good tourist locale, as the cliff is much too dangerous compared to the nicer tourist spot of Welkin just a little north. Not to mention nearby Moraine's allure as a tax haven with no labour laws place where a bunch of TV and Movies are filmed!

It's where most of MYMK's main cast reside (except the antagonists from the Big City Varmonte), and is as such a location I have a lot of tiny little worldbuilding thoughts about :)

I won't go into the other locations here just because then this post will SUPER get away from me but... I think most importantly for Cliffside right now...

Is that it's where Purrgatorio is set. Yes, that VN I said got scrapped. It's not dead. It is in fact serving it's original intended purpose as "A (mostly) noncanon exploration of character voice and setting"

It's back and its prose babeyyyyyyy!!! (A BUNCH OF THE EARLY STUFF IS ME BEING SUPER RUSTY ... BE WARNED)

Purrgatorio is currently the most publicly available coherent work I have out of my ocs! It's very low-stakes and serves mostly to bash my toys together and see what character dynamics come out, but you can look if you want to!

(There's also a whole THING on the meta of its Canonicity... It's not canon, but it's also not NOT canon. But if I talk about Metanarrative Timeline Collapse in my normal mundane non-magic setting im gonna sound bonkers ✌)

Ali's dynamics with the MYMK cast are so goddamn funny to me. Like I literally just handed my OCs some ET shit but ET is a sexually repressed tumblr user with a mood disorder.

But yeah I don't think I can coherently string together much more about MYMK without just actually explaining THE WHOLE PLOT.... Though I will absolutely elaborate on any given character's Whole Deal if i'm prompted. (OH MY GOD I DIDNT EVEN TALK ABOUT CHROME AND TABITHA. WAIT. OKAY THERE'S. OK NO IF I TALKED ABOUT THEM IT'D JUST END UP AN ESSAY ,SORRY..)

So here's some bonafide classic images for the road.

(IF TUMBLR BREAKS THE FORMATTING AND JUST PUTS THESE ONE AFTER THE OTHER INSTEAD OF IN A GRID IM SO SORRY LMAOOOOO)

... And as for the other folders on my toyhouse!

Misc and Fandom are what they sound like. Self explanatory,

Then, Ysden is @samhainian's fantasy setting. It's where our DnD games happen to be set but it's also a general fantasy setting :)

and Monster of the Week... Is currently being revamped! It used to be a modern world setting with hidden magic, now it's going to be more... Adventure Time-y. Fantasy world get iphone. Yknow. It has a lower Age Rating than MYMK's "anything goes", as it started as a Pitch Bible Project in my animation class. They're a little neglected but I still love them :) The revamp is extemely recent and not reflected in any of the art/writing yet but I'm workin on it. It still doesn't have a proper title..... OTL

So yeah!! Uh. This wasn't as comprehensive as I was hoping but it turns out I have way, WAY too many thoughts on my guys. And no idea what to do when im actually asked about them so !!!! This was not a very coherent ramble but it was a ramble !

There's things like essays on Chrome and Tabitha (Link) and also The Queer Gender Identities Of The Whole Cast (Link) hiding around on my toyhouse, and once again, Purrgatorio (Link) serves as my sandbox for playing with how these characters act in situations.

But..... ! I did try to make my toyhouse approachable for the average layman. Every character in the MYMK folder (Link) has a *blurb* of information, rather than a giant wall of text explaining everything about them. I want people to be able to understand their general vibe at a glance rather than be overwhelmed.

In any case ???? Uh. Fun game for everyone: If you know your homestuck classpect, every single MYMK character has a classpect and lunar sway. and a birthday. Try and find your andrew-hussie assigned kin! As a Prospitian Witch of Heart, I share my classpect and lunar sway with Chrome. No I don't know what this means. It worries me honestly he's kind of an asshole.

[bthump]

I’m really curious about this one thing and if the perception of it is different for other fans because i don’t think i ever saw it brought up. In the scene where guts is gazing up at the moon and thinking of griffith, beside the fact that the scene is overall very romantically loaded, the specific panel where guts is picturing griffith’s face on the moon was straight up a forward and undeniable love confession to me and i’m just now realizing that might be because the moon in my culture is always linked to lovers, so theres always mentions of it in romantic text, the subject of attraction is always compared to the moon by the lovestruck fool, so to me that was basically guts associating griffith with the moon thus admitting that he’s head over heels in love with him. Is that view a universal thing and present in other cultures? and did other fans perceive it that way too?

I'm no sociologist so I can't say how present it is as romantic imagery/symbolism in other cultures in general. I do know that it's often, but not strictly, romanticized in American media. Moon imagery isn't always going to be romantic, but it's often used in romantic moments. From that perspective Guts' rooftop dedication has strong romantic vibes to me, but not undeniably so.

The only connection between the moon and romance in Japanese culture that I'm personally aware of is the phrase "The moon is beautiful," used as an indirect love confession. The story behind it might be apocryphal, but the origin is apparently writer Natsume Soseki telling a student of his not to translate "I love you," into Japanese directly, because it's too blunt and feels out of place in Japanese, and to instead translate it as, "The moon is beautiful, isn't it?"

It's apparently well known enough that there's a romance anime called The Moon is Beautiful, and I'm pretty sure Go Nagai referenced it in Devilman lol, which is how I'd first heard this.

Anyway, not sure if that's relevant to this scene in Berserk, or if there's other romantic moon imagery/symbolism in Japanese culture that's relevant, but it's a fun fact at least.

If anyone else wants to jump in with their own take on moon imagery and romance and how it fits their culture, please do! It's an interesting subject. And now I'm curious where you're from Anon, if you want to share (but no worries if you'd prefer not to).

Thanks for the ask!

[bewareofthenewphannie]

Hey sooo could u pls share the twitter essay here👉👈

context

thank you for the ask, I'm honored that you want to hear my thoughts on this, and thanks char for sending your anon over to me!

okay, you see the thing is, the reason I blurred it out is a bit anticlimactic: I have no actual clue what I was talking about.

I don't actually know too much about this topic of what the dynamics between dannies and phillies looked like in the past because I've only been here since november last year and have never seen someone really discuss this in depth, I've only seen it being mentioned in passing. So everything I wrote was assumptions I made based on vague posts and my general understanding of dnp's and the phandom's history. I feel like this was enough to get the gist of this across to someone who doesn't really know dnp (apart from my previous elaborate ramblings about them) but not enough to post it on tumblr.

so if somebody has any input regarding this topic please tell me! and if I'm saying anything that's wrong (which is very likely) please correct me, I'm genuinely curious to hear thoughts on this by someone who actually knows what they're talking about :)

I will put what I wrote, along with some commentary, under the cut!

(addition: as I'm writing this commentary I'm realising how little I actually know, so please don't take this as actual information but more as...an interesting case study of how a new phannie perceives the history of the phandom)

first of all some more background info:

the original question was "[are there any people who] only like one of them and hate/don’t care about the other one?".

some shorter messages leading up to the long one seen in the screenshot:

there used to be a dannie/phillie divide but afaik all the way back in like...2013. now there are obviously people who prefer one of them but not in a way that they actively dislike the other one. and within the phandom I don't think there are really people who feel indifferent about one of them cause yk the thing is, these days it's impossible to watch one of them alone. dan doesn't use his channel, we wouldn't even see him if it wasn't for phil and even when he did a live stream thingy for his solo tour, phil was there. and phil either includes or talks about dan in every video he makes. so I guess either you like both or neither, you don't really have much of a choice also, they make it so goddamn obvious how much they love and care for and apprechiate each other and what an important role they play in each other's life, it would be kind of weird to claim to be a fan of one of them and then hate the person they like the most, yk

this was asked in the context of us talking about why there's this phenomenon that if you have a group of famous people who are strongly associated with each other (for example boybands or actors that work together on a tv show), there'll often be one person that is "hated" by the fandom. Their hypothesis was that this happens when "the one hated is either problematic, doesn’t like the other(s), or is more successful than the other(s)".

okay first the relevant part of my answer: I think overall you're right. I feel like if someone's more popular an important factor for them being disliked is that it feels like they think they're better/more important than the rest of the group. or if they all started out together that they don't apprechiate where they've come from, which both obviously hurts people who like that thing this person dismisses. but this also goes the other way, the people who like that person who is more famous often dislike the others in that group for being "jealous"/"leeching" off of the more famous person's fame.

and finally the thing you actually asked about, the long messages froom the screenshot broken up into multiple parts with the afore mentioned commentary:

now the less relevant part which is just me yapping about dnp and why this didn't happen to them I can imagine that at the very beginning some people probably didn't like dan because he was just some random dude, just another fan, who suddenly was part of youtube and attached to phil.

did...did this actually happen? it seems plausible to me, and I obviously know about charlie etc but how did people really react to dan suddenly being part of the AmazingPhil universe? I know it was an entirely different youtube culture back then and everything happened on a much smaller scale, so it's really hard to estimate how people reacted to this back then. in fact, now that I think more about it, judging from old screenshots I've seen, even at the very beginning people mostly seemed to be quite supportive of them and I think dan got an overwhelmingly positive reponse to uploading his first videos?

can't tell you exactly what went down after that but I do know 2012 was incredibly difficult (long story). things were very tense and especially dan was reallyreally defensive during that time and he had his whole "we're two seperate people" phase.

okay, so if there was any time in the phandom where there was serious tension between dannies and phillies it must've been during this time, right? because from recent discussions I know that there was a point where especially phil wasn't exactly treated the best but I don't know when that was. I feel like it would make sense here though.

anyway, at some point dan surpassed phil's subscribers and I genuinely don't know but I would assume that strengthened that dannie/phillie divide.

Again, I don't actually know when this happened (I would assume some time around 2013/14?) and I have absolutely no idea what the actual reaction people had to this was. but if I know anything about fandoms, this definitely must've stirred up...something. I don't know how obsessed the phandom was with numbers but even if it wasn't that bad, I can't imagine this happening completely without drama attached to it.

but one thing you need to know is that phil was always incredibly supportive of dan and the other way round, dan never talked shit about phil.

correct me if I'm wrong, maybe we simply don't talk about this time that much (with good reason) and I know dan said and wrote a lot of things that were very dismissive about some stuff etc. but in the clips and old posts I've seen he still emphasised that they were friends and didn't hate each other.

and thennn they started their bbc radio show, their joint channel, released a book, went on tour in 2015/16, basically they fully embraced their DanAndPhil brand. this was their peak in popularity and from what I've heard people say that joined the phandom at that time this dannie/phillie divide was basically gone by then because yeah, people liked their seperate things but what really made them blow up was the things they did together.

this is based on something I saw the other day. some people who I know joined the phandom around that time were talking about how they luckily never experienced that dan vs. phil mentality. that's why I wrote the things before this paragraph based on the assumption that the worst bit of the dannies vs phillies thing was before that era and kind of fizzled out by the time tatinof came around.

thennn the hiatus of the gaming channel, coming out (soulmates etc.), dan disappers from the internet (phil's just always there chilling btw). okay the most interesting part comes now, dan eventually writes a book and goes on tour. alone. now if we look at our hypothesis this would be the perfect reason for people to start disliking him, but not with them. phil goes behind dan's back to promote his book, before dan leaves on tour they make this video (https://youtu.be/2M2dF_21ANc) [edit: this is dilm in case you're wondering] where they keep talking about ohhh we've never apart for longer than to weeks oooh how will we cope blah, disgusting. dan makes a youtube series promoting the tour which phil is heavily involved with. and yeah, dan has this "I'm a strong independent dan" thing going on, but it's mostly part of his tour persona. (and also he did have to figure himself out for himself because he's been attached to phil since he was 18, so literally his whole adult life.)

I know some people disliked dystopia daily (which is valid but just for the record, I will defend her with my life) and I know some people generally didn't like/were disappointed with what dan was doing during that era. however. I know that's not representative of the whole phandom and I don't think (look at me assuming things again) those people truly hated dan for it but more like wished that things were different.

and then and then! after the tour nothing...until *drumroll* the gaming channel is back! aka, phil pushed dan to start making dapg videos again and dan's actually enjoying it. and they're fully embracing their DanAndPhil brand again. tl;dr I think the reason why this divide isn't there between them is [because of] how vocally and explicitly they support each other.

THE END

if you've made it this far, congrats, you get a cat! ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

I genuinely meant what I said earlier, I would love to hear more "qualified" opinions on this! feel free to add to this post, completely unravel it...or ignore it if I was too offensively wrong about things :)

[dreamingofmuses]

New Year's Resolutions: RP Edition

Howdy all, Ash here. I've been having a think while with family this week, and I've decided I'm going to implement some new 'resolutions' to try and help make writing in 2024 be way more successful than in 2023. This will include things from the running of blogs to jobs I really want to get finished. I'm putting them under a read-more to keep the dash nice and clean.

I will say, this has taken me an hour to write up, and I'd recommend you doing likewise if you think there's little ways you want to improve.

-

Overall Running of Blogs

I'm going to experiment a new approach to running the blogs. For this, I'm going to put all active blogs to low-medium activity. In other words, even if I am personally lurking on mobile, I won't be constantly writing things if I'm not able to. (Work is just about to get super busy and I'm anticipating chaos)

A queue/schedule function will be used for all blogs. I intend to dedicate one weekday evening to working without interruption on replies. Taking commutes to the city and family visits into account, this is looking to be a Thursday, which is the only day I am neither travelling to the city nor have a guaranteed family visit. Of course, this may fluctuate, but that's what I'm hoping to work with, assuming those things stay as they are.

However! What all this means is that I am going to tentatively take skullandbowties off hiatus. With that blog being quiet, it should be possible to juggle it better now. Plus, it's officially off-season so the demand for him from new blogs ought to be low. I'm very smart :D

I also plan to update all pinned posts. I am aware some of them are marking a vacation from months ago.

Individual Blog Maintenance

Create "New Here?" posts to add to the pinned posts/info tags. This is going to be a very quick crash course on what to expect from the blog, especially where some characters might diverge from fanon expectations.

FINISH. WILF'S. BIO. It's not actually relevant to anything being written on the blog itself at present, but I really want to flesh out his character and show that he was stuck in stories for years, decades even! The doc has the word count to 4,888 at this precise moment. This is a mix of summary and brainstorm. Since it's getting a 'little' out of hand, I intend to have a 'tldr' at the start that people can read, and then longer versions if they're curious to get the full story. Maybe even have it that they can jump to particular parts but... I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Likewise, Noah's version of Space needs to be finished. This one is going to be a summary, but it's a case of making sure the pieces are in place sufficiently to have parts match canon Space, but also make it clear that there is a lot of differences between canon and what he went through, with his plot entirely spiralling away for 'Part 2'. This is at 5,794 words, and the ending has yet to be ironed out...

(I am going to stop creating needlessly long-winded projects for myself that realistically add nothing of value to my blogs. These two projects are exhausting...)

Theauthorlives is returning to a very small multimuse. Any muses that aren't ones I genuinely enjoy writing are being fully archived, unless they are muses that get no traction but I want to keep the possibility open. Details of that will be shared when I do this.

Redo some muse icons (not all of them!). Though the selection I have for particular sets is a lot, I still feel like I'm missing some expressions or poses. I would like to remake one batch of icons for three characters, and finish iconning a third. Replies seem to be shifting toward iconless, but I like them for asks or IC commentaries.

OOC/Mun Related stuff

Following matters that have happened both online and IRL, I've decided to take a step back from actively engaging with people. My focus will be people that I have been in good communication with for the last twelve months (as well as people I don't talk to frequently but am on friendly terms with) rather than people I feel I have to 'chase' after. Saying that, I'm going to try and not let past experiences meddle with anything in with new writing partners - whether these are brand new to the community or people I've not had the chance to properly interact with prior to this. Just be aware that I might not be super outgoing at first. (This is where setting limits and boundaries is good practice, everyone! Don't sell yourself short, and don't spread yourself out too thinly!)

Which is where I now say I want to send even more asks! Not just memes or sentence starters, but general questions about headcanons or muse opinions. I want to get people thinking more.

My stance on Discord still stands, in that it's solely for OOC stuff, but I'm not giving it out to everyone. However, I have been in two group servers that have little-to-no connection with writing rp threads in them. I would hope that I can fully regain my sense of comfort using Discord as a whole.

Art related

Despite socially stepping back, I still want to keep some semblance of 'community' where my blogs are active so people don't feel isolated. For instance, I want to do something that encourages invasions of ask boxes. That was good fun to watch as the chaos began to spread, and when people are good-humoured to go along with my silly ideas.

I want to have one huge art-related event at some point this year. I'm not entirely what or how to do it, but I think it would be a great excuse to practice something. Portraits, comics, something like that. I'll have a think. (For those who remember, the water gun event was supposed to have an art conclusion but plans for that fell through.)

I want to try and upload drawn responses to heythereneighbor once a week if I can. Obviously, this is depending on how busy it is.

I'd also like to try doodling more on other blogs? But I'm not sure if this is even something people want to see anymore. People might prefer I focus on writing if I have free time instead of doodles or little comics.

... the writing blog. I need to do stuff with that in general. Whoops.

Finally, I want to do what I can to the best of my abilities on a particular day. I've always told people over the years that real life comes before rp, and I still stand by that. Whether I'm around or not every day isn't the end of the world. The communities I write in are a lot slower paced than they were when I started, which is great! I need to remind myself that I don't need to be writing just because I have a bit of free time.

[clotpolesonly]

So, I started a cleaning job where I don't have to talk to anyone, which is lovely, but it also meant I started listening to audiobooks, and I've started listening to some book series I've been hearing about here and there, and the latest was The Raven Cycle. Why? Because you posted about it. You are literally the only person on my dashboard to post about it, but the few ones I have seen over the last months? years? have been enough for me to be assured in it having queer rep, being well written, and potentially worth my time. And yeah, it very much was, cause now I'm kinda hooked on it, like not just Adam/Ronan, tho very much them as well, but Maggie even got me caring about a straight couple with Gansey/Blue, cause she just writes such beautiful and unique characters!!! And anyway, besides asking you if you have some favourite AO3 recs (Don't even care much about the ship, as long as it's with these characters) I come having finished The Raven King a week ago, and now humbly but also very desperately asking, do you have any other book recommendations like TRC for me to listen to?? (Oh, and maybe also whether or not the dreamer triology will be just as good? Cause I'm curious about it having Ronan in focus, but more than the story, it's the characters that got me hooked on TRC, and like Maggie Stiefvater's writing style, but yeah I'm unsure how much of Adam there is in the trilogy, and the new characters, are they just as intriguing??)

YESSSSSS I LOVE SNAGGING PEOPLE AND DRAGGING THEM INTO MY FANDOMS XD WELCOME

the Dreamer Trilogy has its pros and its cons. if does significantly shift the focus of the narrative away from the established group, so if the Gangsey found family dynamic is a really big factor in your enjoyment and you don't want to be without it, you'll be disappointed by TDT because the rest of the gang simply isn't present 😭 it's very much Lynch-(and new characters)-focused.

Ronan is the main character and gets the most screen time, but honestly, Declan steals the show in that series. people can go into TDT Declan haters and come out of it with rabid Declan brain rot afdkjgh, i for one am obsessed with him. Matthew gets a real arc too, which i love for him. Adam doesn't have a huge role but he is around and relevant. i am IN LOVE with some of the new characters, and Maggie got us again with the straights!!! she makes us fucking YEARN WITH THE STRAIGHTS, on par with Bluesey imo, the new canon ship destroys me ok??

i will say that TDT doesn't feel as cohesive and satisfying in the overall narrative structure sense, compared to TRC. there are some things about it that confuse/frustrate me or don't make sense if you look at it too closely 😅 but there's so much really interesting compelling character/relationship work that it makes up for it, for me. i enjoyed TDT a lot, have read it multiple times, and will definitely read it again. it expands upon the world and lore, and i'm a sluuuut for complicated dysfunctional family dynamics so the Lynches get me good.

.

as for other recs! in case my unrelenting TRC blogging isn't damning enough evidence, i'll admit openly that i tend to just read the same thing over and over again instead of reading anything new lfkdjgh, so i don't actually HAVE anything else to rec myself, i am useless to you 😅😅😅 so instead i reached out to some other fans on discord and got suggestions from them to share with you!

The Scorpio Races (also Maggie Stiefvater)

The Wicker King (K Ancrum)

Aristotle & Dante (Benjamin Alire Saenz)

A Darker Shade of Magic (VE Schwab)

Iron Widow (Xiran Jay Zhao)

In Other Lands (Sarah Rees Brennan)

Hell Followed With Us (Andrew Joseph White)

The Darkest Part of The Forest (Holly Black)

All Of Us Villains duology (Amanda Foody, CL Herman)

Self Made Boys (Anna Marie Mclemore)

Legendborn (Tracy Deonn)

Folk of the Air series (Holly Black)

Six of Crows duology (Leigh Bardugo)

Winternight trilogy (Katherine Arden)

Gideon the Ninth (Tamsyn Muir)

The Atlas Six (Olivie Blake)

so, again, i have not personally read any of these books to make the recs more specific or say what part of them invokes TRC vibes, but it sure is a place to start?? 😂

.

for fic recs, oh god, my brain is SWISS CHEESE, let's see if i can remember and dig up anything aldkfjg

(ok first i rec my own fics #shameless self promo)

Magnetic i've read SO MUCH and will again, it's everything to me

don't it beat a slow dance to death is a timeloop thing A+

I'm an Empathetic Drunk, Ok? is the first long TRC fic i read i think

All That I Know is Gone has dreamer!Declan, obsessed with this

King by the Roadside Gansey-didn't-die-the-first-time + polyam

A Sound Of Thunder Declan died instead of Niall 😭😭

aaaaaand these are the ones that are coming to my mind as of right now, the first 3 are all Pynch. i think the 4th has Pynch but it's mostly brother feels - that one introduces some elements from TDT but i don't thiiiiiink anything that would be a significant spoiler as long as you've read the short story Opal, which was included in my physical copy of TRK if it wasn't in yours, i have the epub). could hold off on that one until you (maybe) read TDT (if you wanna), but i've read it too many times not to rec it. 5th one hooks up the whole gang in one big polycule and i love it for that, and the last one hurts my HEART as a Declan stan but it's otherwise a great fic 😂

anybody else with TRC recs, add on/reply/hit @so-very-asleep up with 'em!!!

[onaperduamedee]

Hello! I watched the wot show and liked it but I’ve been really curious about all the complaints that people made about how the plots don’t fit with what happens later on in the books. My assumption is that it’s not that major a thing but is just the critique people latched onto and repeat. But as you’re now a way through the series and I appreciate the thought you put in, would you say this might be a problem or is it overblown that some later plots can’t be salvaged already? Is part of it true

Hello, that's a really interesting question!

I’m trying to keep this vaguely spoiler-free with the exception of elements from The Eye of the World and The Great Hunt covered on the show, but this still got long.

I do think it is overblown, but I also liked the changes made, so I might not be the best judge here. I'm trying to approach your question from the angle of what is there and how it affects the story.

From where I stand in my reading, the majority of the changes in the show can be categorized in:

moving forward some arcs (dagger theft, visit to Tar Valon),

new material introducing important groups and dynamics early (Aes Sedai, warders),

plainly streamlining those THICK books (cutting the 14578 villages Mat and Rand visit, merging certain elements)

To me, those changes will serve the story going forward, both in terms of pacing and clarity, and do not affect the core of later arcs. The plot points still happen, just differently or later. The complaints about some changes are honestly hair-splitting, like making the girls ta'veren or Lan not being stony enough: it’s POV adjustment, not plot-damaging.

Some important discarded encounters will obviously come up later when there is more time. I get the frustration of fans who wanted to see those relationships play out now instead of new material (Nynaeve/Moiraine dance battle, how I mourn you), but I disagree shifting them around altered the story. The Eye of The World consists of A Lot of traveling and encounters, with a clear focus on Rand, despite the established five main characters. I think these changes allowed the show to lay the groundwork more evenly, particularly for the girls. 

Now, the biggest change that could affect storylines soon is Moiraine being cut from the source. It could change her arc significantly, short and long-term, but I don't see it as a major hurdle since Moiraine gets a meatier arc that is thematically relevant to book 2. I have qualms about how it could make later arcs redundant, but the execution will do a lot of work here. Mirroring is good in a narrative. 

Another aspect is Siuan/Moiraine potentially affecting their respective story. It may require some reshuffling/cutting characters, which will happen anyway with so many side characters gallivanting. But I'd absolutely argue their love life is not the most important element on their gripping journey in the books. Also, although I loathe admitting it, being together now does not necessarily entail being together always: there's wiggle room here, even if I don't want it.

Giving Perrin a wife only to kill her is dumb, but does not really change his later arc, come on. It will certainly add a certain weight to the story, like with Siuan and Moiraine.

Overall, I find the criticism all the more unfair that fans admit the first book is not representative of the rest of the series (it’s mainly Lord of the Rings references with more innkeepers and jugglers). To me, there's a fair margin of improvement in the books, pace-wise and story-wise. If fans come from the books thinking not one line should be rewritten, of course they're not going to enjoy the show doing away with dated or slower elements. I do. Ultimately, we don’t know how the story will be told: even if certain plots seem barred to them now, it may not be always so.

I hope I answered your question and I profoundly thank you for asking it because I could talk about these books/this show for hours.

[mincedpeaches]

final batch of earthspark s1 episodes post

One thing that I kind of sort of praised in my first earthspark post, the slow trickle of information the show was giving us, is something that I look upon much less favorably now that S1 one has ended. Not because a slow trickle of information itself is bad, but because in this batch of episodes more than any other it was clear that the information hasn't been always given in a way that makes sense from a story prospective. Rather it's been given in a way that very clearly telegraphs "okay the writers want to introduce this now, so here it is". Most egregiously with the backstory on the kids sleeves. Why only NOW, twenty episodes in, was the crew heading down to Teletraan I to google the info about the Prime that gave them the sleeves? Well, because the sleeves and the emberstone were about to be plot relevant.

This is also something I remembering thinking with the energon bear in the last batch of episodes too, in that NO ONE really questions or follows up on why the the fuck the bear was like that. Which doesn't really make sense, except from the Doylist perspective that it looks to be like A Plot For A Later Episode, when the energon waste dumping might become relevant.

And these episodes only bring up even MORE questions that should have been asked in-story but aren't, like what the fuck was up with the tunnels and the doors and the dweller inside them.

AND my point STILL stands about wanting more of the OG bots. It's even worse when there's five kids instead of two. Once again I'm sorry kiddos.

Like the best "finale" per say in terms of action was undoubtedly the first batch of episodes, where big bots were fighting big bots. I was really hoping the actual finale would bring more of that when the second batch "finale" felt pretty lackluster in comparison. But then this finale had the OG bots out of commission for the ENTIRE thing. There were some visually cool moments (Mandroid's terrifying new look, Croft getting fucking vaporized) and fun moments (Schloder becoming part of the team) but. Idk. I think about the first batch of episodes and how much fun I had watching them and the potential I thought they held, and the show hasn't quite hit anything higher than that for me. Yet. Curious to what a season two could be about with the main antagonist gone and most of the intro-to-their-alt-modes and learning-about-themselves-as-terrans stuff is out of the way. I thought maybe with the kill and heal waves going over the entire earth they might cut to some as yet unseen bots as a little teaser of things that might come but nope. (I still might bet on that tying into a plot of a potential season two though.)

All that being said I love what Hashtag has going on. Both overall and in-particular her thing with Starscream this batch, which was giving Armada Starscream & Alexis vibes for sure. I actually mentioned in my earthspark post that I started for the second batch of episodes (that I never managed to finish and post): Hashtag is my fav of the new kids. She's so #cringebutfree, pun not intended, and I love that for her. Also she a has rad alt-mode and color scheme and her satellite turns into a little ponytail. How cute is that. Also digged how they had Twitch gearing up for an arc about being the team leader in the previous batch of episodes and then there were moments where she was making calls when it was just down to her and Nightshade/Bumblebee etc in this batch. Would love to see that expended upon even more in potential future eps. I love her. Can I get a yeah women?

Also the way that Megatron (along with the majority of the OG bots) had so few lines this batch BUT almost every single line Megatron DID have managed to showcase his Scottish twang? They did that for ME. Thank you Mr McCann.

tl;dr I wish we got more (back)story based on the things already teased/things already shown, and in a way that made more narrative sense, and I really REALLY wish there were more OG bots. And at this point it kind of hurt my enjoyment of the show a tiny bit. It was still fine and I understand that as a show for kids it's very good and also, as always, not really for me but for children. And I'm still hoping there is more potential than what season one has given, which I don't think is an unreasonable thing to hope for. Like remember how rough and kind lame season one of Cyberverse was? Yeah. There's still a ton of potential here. Here's to hoping. I will still undoubtedly be tuning into season two if when it gets made.

P.S. rescue bots reference. :)

[blicketdabest33]

FINAL CABIN PLACEMENTS I DON'T WANT TO EDIT IT AFTER THIS

So many of y'all had so many good ideas (and since a lot of these i came up with without any real reasoning) here's my updated version that i think fits A LOT better

#1 Zeus Cabin: Jimmy, Joel Jimmy: He's a Zeus kid, but everyone somehow forgets about it. Joel: He's competitive and strong. Also, because Jimmy is his half brother through godly parent, i get to make a fun bit about him dating Lizzie. And one of his origins in Afterlife SMP was a thunderborn

#2 Hera Cabin: Scott, Impulse, Ren Scott: Scott's whole thing is loyalty. Hera is the goddess of marriage and is insanely loyal to Zeus. However, I feel like Hera should get at least one affair. So now Scott can use peacocks as weapons. Impulse: According to @dawnfire7 Impulse is known for loyalty, which i did not know. He's also known to hold grudges. Perfect Hera kid. Ren: He's apparently known for loyalty (and i didn't really like his Nike placement anyway)

#3 Poseidon Cabin: XB XB: Something about water temple guardians

#4 Demeter Cabin: Sausage, Shelby, Bdubs, Stress Sausage: This man built Sanctuary in a jungle and has flowers in his hair. He sells wood. There is no other place to put him. Shelby: Mushroom gnome, spooky mangrove witch, powerful storm witch, i need not continue. Bdubs: Moss man. Stress: SHE HAS FLOWERS

#5 Ares Cabin: Martyn, False Martyn: His planet is Mars, which is the roman version of Ares. He ended Limited Life in such a violent way, i can't help it. He was also red for the majority of Secret Life. False: I just feel like False should get to kill people more often.

#6 Athena Cabin: Grian, Pix, Owen, Xisuma Grian: This sums it up pretty well

Pix: Smart man. Archeologist and definitely a nerd. I wanna see him skipping out on training just so he can read history books. Owen: He likes to explore and discover new things in Pirates. In Rats, he's a tinkerer. In New Life, he's an explorer who wants to study hybrids. In Empires, he's a Llama who's curious about how humans work. Just a very curious character overall. Xisuma: Admin. I'm not elaborating.

#7 Apollo Cabin: Oli, Lyarrah Oli: MUSIC. MAN. Lyarrah: She writes the captions for the hermitcraft recap.

#8 Artemis Cabin: Pearl, Gem Pearl: Y'know, Artemis could've just like... had a kid, even though she took that oath. It wouldn't even have to be with a guy. Gods can change to whatever gender they want. Anyway, Pearl gets to be an Artemis kid because her symbolism is moon, she loves dogs, and will commit murder and hunt at night. Gem: Someone really wanted these girls to be sisters, and I think Gem and pearl should get to hunt at night and be fierce together. Oh, and she's got the whole deer aesthetic.

#9 Hephaestus Cabin: Doc, Mumbo, Tango, Zedaph, Fwhip, Iskall Doc: Redstone Mumbo: Redstone Tango: Redstone Zedaph: Redstone Fwhip: Redstone AND has a red scarf (don't ask me how that's relevant) Iskall: Redstone

#10 Aphrodite Cabin: Keralis, Skizz, Bigb Keralis: Okay, I don't know why, but Keralis gives me the vibes of a very charming person. His voice is nice to listen to, so imagine how useful it'd be if I gave him charm speak. Skizz: Person in the tags said he was really charming and you can't help but love him. I agree. He's here now. Bigb: Smooth talker. Someone (i think it was Scott) said in one of their videos "It's hard to kill him while he's talking". Charmspeak. Ma man, go do chaos.

#11 Hermes Cabin: Scar, Etho, Joe Scar: Trader Scar, scammer extraordinar. Etho: All i must say is Shady-E's. I get "jack-of-all-trades, master of none, often better than master of one" vibes from him. He's funny, he's mischievous, it just works. Joe: Comedy man. Excellent delivery. And, yet again, i look at this man and go "That right there is a multi-talented man with a habit for mischief."

#12 Dionysus Cabin: Joey, Beef, Cub Joey: *points at his season one empires theme* i need not say more Beef: Idk, food. I don't really have a reason. I don't know too much about Beef. Cub: Someone said Cub was really laid back, i liked this idea, he's here now. C'mon, go make ur empire.

#13 Hades Cabin: Zloy Zloy: Zombie man. He writes the Hermitcraft recaps in the dark at 2am with nothing but pure spite.

#14 Iris Cabin: Katherine Katherine: SHE. HAS. COLORS. and also I couldn't put her in Demeter cabin because Shelby is already there and i am NOT excluding Nature Wives from this au

#15 Hypnos Cabin: Wels Wels: @dingdinghq said something about sleeping during S6 and i completely agree

#16 Nemesis Cabin:

#17 Nike Cabin:

#18 Hebe Cabin: 

#19 Tyche Cabin: TFC TFC: Man goes mining and gets really lucky. That's it.

#20 Hecate Cabin: Lizzie, Cleo, Jevin Lizzie: Witchy vibes. Also, Arson. Cleo: Arson. She uses her magic for Arson. Jevin: He's a magic slime. Also, Arson. All Hecate kids love Arson.

[thoselethalarts]

A couple of those ask things I'm curious about

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

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw

12. Easiest part of body to draw

14. Any favorite motifs

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

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

You know, I haven't really thought about it much before 🤔 I feel like left vs right is about the same difficulty level for me to draw, both for 3/4 view and for profile view. Though 3/4 view is probably easier for me to draw of the perspectives. Front-facing is fun too to see a facial structure from a different perspective- literally!

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw?

WEAPONS! Dear god I am AWFUL at drawing weapons, all of them. Guns, knives, swords, bats, whips, spears, crossbows, morning stars, brass knuckles... I am absolutely dogshit at drawing weaponry without some kind of direct reference to trace over, which really sucks because I love weapons and think they're super cool! I have so much respect for people that design their own weapons, especially the ones that have to work with time period-specific limitations (lookin at you, Vinland Saga)

Also as a side note: fuck shoes. I can't draw shoes (or feet) for shit. Every time I draw a shoe I hope ya'll know that it took me at least 5 different references and a 3D model in order to make that happen.

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate?

Pixel artists and animation, ESPECIALLY animation. I simply do not have the patience for any of it, especially hand-drawn animation; I took a class for it in high school years ago and while I did just fine in the class it made me realize that I do NOT have the patience for the medium. 3D animation was a little easier for me but I'm still not skilled enough at timing and distortion to satisfy my creative image.

Also I have so much respect for pixel artists you wouldn't believe. I used to use Fireworks to fill out pixel art bases on DeviantART over a decade ago and while I did have fun with what I did and could still theoretically do it now, it'll never look as nice as I want it to look in my head 😔

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw?

Jackets and sweaters, but also I LOVE drawing things like scarves and capes that can billow in the wind and shift with the movement of the wearer, cuz it adds a whole new dimension of action to what could otherwise be a static pose!

Also also I'm a sucker for fishnets 😊

12. Easiest part of body to draw?

So fun fact about me- I actually LOVE to draw human anatomy. Whenever I draw a character I always start by fully drawing out the character's physical anatomy, and then I draw the clothes, hair, and faces on top of that! Here's some sketches from the Soul Archive to show my semi-chaotic workflow~

So I guess the answer is anything that isn't feet is easy for me to draw lol

14. Any favorite motifs?

Repeated phrases/symbols that initially appear to have no meaning but then the meaning becomes abundantly clear in hindsight as it's revealed throughout the story, or alternatively a phrase/symbol that has a specific meaning that's relevant only to the initial introduction of it which changes over time to mean something entirely new, symbolizing the growth and evolution of the character/identity that uses it, or the shift in tone/focus of the overall story.

EX: "It's eternity in there." and "Longer than you think." - Emesis Blue "One of us must die." - The Doomstar Requiem additionally: The Open Hand - Army of the Doomstar / SOS - Dethklok

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated?

Oh, EASY. My slipknot-inspired TWST piece I'm still incredibly proud of (even if I've redesigned Phobos since then)

[whiskeyswifty]

Genuine question--why is 3 billboards white feminist in your opinion? I'm coming from a standpoint of I started watching it without knowing much about it & it was so triggering I had to stop halfway through. I did read a plot summary/reviews of how it finished but obviously I don't have a fully-formed opinion. Just curious on your take because I had a lot of bones to pick with it but White Feminism™ wasn't on the forefront of my mind. But would love to hear from someone who watched more than me

I actually had this discussion with a friend the other day, funny you should ask. It's a dark and not very taylor swift relevant conversation so I'm not particularly interested in getting into the specifics of the sociopolitical american climate in 2017, especially as it pertains to racism and violence against black people at the hands of police. However, this and this are two of the best summations of the entire saga of that movie's reception and ultimate damnation. They collect a lot of the opinions at the time for why this movie was so deeply offensive, and offer some of their own feelings about why the movie is a failure on top of being offensive, that i personally agree with. Ultimately, if you're not american, you might not understand the larger context of americans' specific rage pertaining to depictions of racism that center white people, specifically cops violence towards black people, and why setting the movie in Missouri was the cherry on top of a very offensive movie to make. the articles don't really outline that either as they're both american writers for liberal american websites so they assumed their readers were aware of the issues at the time and america's history of racism against black people. If you're indeed not american, it's okay if you don't have an opinion tbh. because as an outsider who is not involved, not affected by the situation, and has not experienced it yourself, your opinion doesn't really matter and if you do form one, nobody really needs to hear it because it won't be helpful at all as someone who barely understands the situation to begin with. sorry if that's harsh, i don't mean it to be mean, but its true and applies to all sensitive and personal situations where you're not involved. most times it's best to listen to someone who has experience tell their story and simply empathize with their plight and then go on with your day.

I didn't call the movie white feminist, but rather i called taylor a white feminist for liking it and openly praising it. Overall, this movie in the pantheon of Green Book and Crash and many other movies that american culture generally rejects now because of how atrociously they handle american racism. If you declare your love for these movies, it's seen as a bit like telling on yourself as someone who doesn't understand the real issues of racism in america and is guilty of having a white feminist mindset. White feminism a bit of a derogatory catchall these days to refer to a person who is unable to support or relate to sociopolitical issues she's not directly affected by unless she finds a way to center herself in the issue/narrative, pushing the marginalized people out of the spotlight to make it about herself. while originally a criticism of white women, it has since moved beyond gender and anyone can be guilty of this mindset. The writer himself is guilty of it and this movie is guilty of enabling that poor behavior in its white viewers, as it features a subplot about police violence against black people and centers it around empathizing with a white cop. The articles above get into more of the details and nuances of it's failings if you're looking to understand it better than i can, or should, articulate.

[macaronnya]

Fresh(?) Impressions (4)

Other parts: |Trickstar| |UNDEAD| |2wink| |Ra*bits| |Akatsuki| |fine| |Ryuseitai| |Knights| |Valkyrie| |Switch| |MaM/Double Face/Crazy:B| |Eden| |Alkaloid|

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Hello Enstarries~☆ Back again with a new part of my ramblings about Enstars' colorful and massive cast, this time about our cute bunnies Ra*bits! I really should hurry up with this series, so that I can actually start to read the main stories....

DISCLAIMER!: Everything said here is for entertainment purposes only and not meant to attack anyone. This is not an accurate description of any characters but my subjective rambling for fun, so please don't take it too seriously. (Just to be safe, I'm kinda scared of elite idol fans) Also, you will hear me mention other games a bunch of times bc I'm that bad and uncreative at explaining and I'm still grieving A3!EN's shutdown. Eng is my 2nd (or 3rd?) language so there might be some weird grammar or spelling mistakes.

Without further ado....Let's Ensemble!☆

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Cute, innocent, babies, spring, bun buns. These are the first words that come to mind before I read their Ep.1. Ngl, I was taken aback by how serious it all was with real things like, fans, images, staying relevant etc. I thought it would be more casual like Kaoru and Reis' but, uhhhh hm 😶 I initially thought, they'd be way more annoying bc somehow cutesy idol characters (Ruby (Love Live), I am looking at you) end up like that to me and their voices didn't help. They're all more....normal?....mature...than expected. Anyways, their image is, as Tomoya said, "good boys", and I agree. They do look cute and I really love their various renditions of sailor uniforms. I live for the mix and match of the different styles and colors for every member. AND their little fluffy pom pom or smth at their waist 💓 I like their music a lot. It's very upbeat and often bubbly, sometimes more peaceful. Feels like baking a lot of sweets with friends and then having a picnic under the shade of a tree on a sunny but slightly windy day. My fav songs are Melty Kitchen & FALLIN' IN LOVE=IT'S WONDERLAND. Also, the * looks like a censor lol

7/10 - I like them more than expected and think they're gonna be quite interesting

Tomoya Mashiro

Apparently one of the most normal guys of the cast, which by default should make him stand out again. He does seem very normal: blond hair, brown eyes, maybe a bit on the shorter side, but he looks like a normal person. Nonetheless, he doesn't come off as just a random dude. Maybe it's bc of what I just mentioned? He looks very friendly, chill, and overall just like a good person. Would probably share homework but also help you with it if asked. Also, might like vanilla (not derogatory). His voice is the least distinct from his unit, whiyh is why I kinda don't really remember his parts.

7.5/10 - I wouldn't mind being in a group project with him

Nazuna Nito

Sei Shounen Yuugi S L A P S and it's such a shame there aren't more songs of him with Valkyrie. But it was kind of a toxic time for him? So, good on him for moving on *pats on back*, know your self-worth ✊ He doesn't like called being cute but, it's kinda his unit's image...? Idk why but I thought he'd be kinda rude and often pouty. And he does come off a bit cutesy with his oiiii~ and ehe~. Is he not human or what did he mean with feeling more human now? I would not be surprised if he's an android or smth not bc he give off those vibes but bc I've seen an android idol before (Ai (Utapri) if I'm not wrong but also Guy (A3!), even though he's not a real android).

6.5/10 - I don't have a real feeling for his personailty yet but I am curious

Mitsuru Tenma

Dash dash dash~ The bread loving sprinting cinnamon bun is here. His model looks the tallest of the four. Is more what I imagined everyone from Ra*bits to be like: kinda dense, clumsy, naive yet very earnest and optimistic. He might be the baby of the group. Actually, isn't he almost a himbo? But like before being buff. Does he still believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth? His voice is more different than I thought. It's more like...a crunchy herbal baguette instead of sweet pancakes. Btw I don't think we, as Anzu, are that much older for him call us "big sister", so that confuses me a bit. At first thought he'd be Chiaki's younger brother bc of their similiar hair and eye color.

6.5/10 - He's either very amusing or annoying to watch, but he looks cute

Hajime Shino

What a weak voice. He sounds like I could snap him like a young twig. It's not a bad voice but I can't feel a certain strength, that usually carries when singing. He's sounds very soft. And I do think he's a rather softspoken person. He actually reminds me of Muku & Tsumugi (A3!): a worrywart, soft, shota, pastel hair, lower confidence, very thoughtful, might be a bit of a pushover and likes gardening. Oh, I love his color scheme as well. Blue and pueple are very pretty. I somehow get the feeling, that if Ra*bits were to be put into an apocalypse setting, he'd be the first to kill to protect his friends. Or maybe not.

7.5/10 - he'd slay cottagecore, idk what to say to him but I don't mind seeing more I guess

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Conclusion

I'm definitely intrigued by their clear division of idol persona and their own personality. Not saying, that they're completely different but it adds a little bit of smth. I think I'll also look forward their stories, which isn't what I expected.

On another note, even though I read their Ep.1 to get to know them better, I somehow focused more on the world building or how it acknowldeges real themes in the idol industry. Also, I'm not used to seeing idols, that aren't in high school in fiction.

That's about it this time, share your thoughts if you want and keep in mind it's all just for fun and games. Until next time~☆