#the reviews were quite something so i just wanted to form my own opinion

[smute]

so i just watched blonde (dw i 🏴‍☠️'d it out of principle) and yeah. ana de armas is brilliant but this shitshow is a waste of her talent. first of all it is SLOW. this guy thinks he's sergio leone but at least his films had something to say. marilyn has zero agency in this story, it's 3 hours of abuse abuse abuse, and it's genuinely hard to watch. there's a lot of tit in it but not in a cool european cinema kind of way where you sometimes see a tit because there happens to be a tit. no. it all feels super exploitative and unnecessary and contrived and porn-y and icky. a helpless and hapless womanchild like a deer caught in the headlights getting fucked over by assholes again and again with lots of closeups of doe eyes and areolas and the occasional breathy "oh daddy!" to feed the male gaze. the only good thing about this movie is that it doesn't even seem to claim to be a serious biopic? there's zero substance to the story beyond "marilyn was exploited by a patriarchal industry." and tbh the movie doesnt even make a statement against it??? it just... re-victimizes her. no perspective no reprocessing no commentary no message no actual storytelling. its her image for our pleasure. all over again. literally just 3 hours of "look what kind of shit she had to put up with! crazy right? alright, take it easy."

there are some beautiful shots in it though. the use of b/w and color is interesting... like. if you wanna put some lipstick on this pig lmao not that it matters. but yeah. andrew dominik is my new nemesis

[moineauz]

જ⁀ 𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐘 𝐘𝐎𝐔 , various !

synopsis: his voice lines about you as his beloved partner

including: veritas, jing yuan, blade

side comments: dw i promise i'm working on the house of musica requests... i just wanted to do this for fun! also this is the first time I've written for jing yuan which is kinda funny. i liked writing for blade again. originally i had welt and aventurine in the mix but i wanted to post this hahaha.

extra: gn reader, angsty and fluffy moments, mentions of marriage, aventurine jumpscare later favourites: blade word count: roughly 2,085+

𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐒 𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎

WHO ARE THEY? I "So you're asking about my significant other? Are you shocked that I have a significant other? At the very least consider your question."

FIRST MEETINGS? "I met Professor ( Name ) when they barged into my lecture, they said they were 'lost'. Since then we had several heated debates academically. Have I lost in these debates? Several times yes, consequently making debating with them all the more... interesting. Especially considering that Professor ( Name ) has a well-rounded vault of knowledge in most subjects of academic and social relevance. Finally, a conversation worth my time.

GREETINGS? "Professor ( Name ) considers a good greeting the highest attribute. A curt smile and a cup of coffee suffice, thankfully they know when to remain silent. However, there are instances when they will talk relentlessly. Initially, I used my headpiece around them. Nevertheless, their conversations do occasionally convey subtle insightfulness and definite meaning. Gradually I have come to share some liking towards their rather pleasant 'small talk'."

PARTINGS? "A small kiss on the cheek: be it on my skin or the headpiece, that is all. However, I... have always preferred it on the skin."

ABOUT US: ART "Outside of ( Name's ) academic career, they share a peculiar fondness for art. Be it painting or sculptures they could very well get lost in a museum. When they discovered my fondness for sculptures and anatomy, they were... oddly quiet; tracing their hands over my sculptures- or my face to be exact. ( Name's ) admiration is always shown in silence, one of the greatest forms of praise.

ABOUT US: TRUE APPEARANCES "I have questioned how ( Name ) has perceived our relationship. Considering that we are both colleagues, it can lead to speculation amongst other *sighs* inappropriate comments. Hence, I prefer to keep our relationship known only to those who need to. I believe them to be devout and... undoubtedly caring. I hope my attitude towards them conveys a similar message.

CHAT: WORK "Although we teach different subjects, we occasionally mark or review the work of our students. You may call it a 'second opinion'. Thus, their opinion is one that I trust."

CHAT: SERVICE "( Name's ) actions can initially appear simple-minded. However, underneath simplicity, lies thoughtfulness beyond comparison in both work... and at our residence.

PASTIMES DONE TOGETHER? "Film is not an art I deliberately take part in or seek out for leisure. However, ( Name ) was quite adamant and passionate about film. Thus, we've watched a myriad amount of films and TV shows together, both acclaimed and disdained. I have my own varying opinions. I must admit, after a long bath, a film in bed is quite soothing. Considering that ( Name ) similarly enjoys the pleasure of a bath, our nighttime routine is undoubtedly satisfying."

ARGUMENTS: "One must always think before they speak for there is a price to pay. ( Name's ) silence is decisive, deliberate and painful; burning right through your chest. Debates are loud, quarrels are bitterly silent."

SOMETHING TO SHARE: "Solitude is the greatest gift to civilization and self: introspection enlarges the expanse of the mind. However, the pursuit of knowledge is not only found in discovery and text. It is through experience alone. I have found much knowledge in solitude and an equal amount through genuine companionship. Hence, I share my deepest revere. "

WHO ARE THEY? II "My lover. That is who they are to me and all you need to know."

EXTRA: AVENTURINE'S OPINION "I met Ratio's lover when I visited for business matters. But, all that went out of the door! I saw a lovely individual by his desk and thought, 'Who is this?' Ratio never, and I mean never, allows anyone to screw his desk up. Yet, here they were, seated at the edge of his desk toying with his stupid chalk greeting me with a bright smile. We immediately hit off. I suppose Ratio does have some luck in him, but then again, ( Name ) was the one who first asked him out. Less to do with luck, and more to do with destiny. In my opinion, destiny is not something I fully believe in, however, when I watch Ratio and ( Name ), it's difficult to imagine a universe where they aren't together."

𝐉𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐘𝐔𝐀𝐍

WHO ARE THEY? I "You are looking for Commander ( Name )? Sadly they're on a business trip, however, I'd be happy to answer in their place."

FIRST MEETINGS? "( Name ) is an interesting soul. I've heard of their praised skills in combat and decisive thinking. Many assume I met them on the battlefield. Yet, I met them over a coincidental cup of tea."

GREETINGS? “I find it amusing how our everyday greetings have evolved. At first it was a salute. However, I find that a kiss on the cheek is a much more efficient way of greeting and brightening up the mundane tasks *sighs* of work.”

PARTINGS? “Why bid farewell when one hasn’t said hello? Partings have always been bitter. Yet, I find comfort in knowing that all things lead back from whence they came.”

ABOUT US: AGE “Time for long life species is fickle and plainly slow. Despite that, ( Name ) has constantly made time— less daunting and more fun. ( Name’s ) life span… is a touch shorter than that of myself. Hence, they have brought forth a new value in every passing year to which I cherish. This year I plan on doing something special for their birthday— though, don’t tell them that.”

ABOUT US: SILENCE "As much as ( Name ) glows in social settings, they equally enjoy stillness, if not more. There never is any obligation to fill the void when we're together. It is as natural of an act as breathing.

CHAT: PRODUCTIVITY "( Name ) likes to be on task. I, however, don't always find leisure in such activities. ( Name ) quote, 'holds me accountable'. Of course, there are moments in which I can distract them."

CHAT: FELINES "They are quite fond of Mimi. Unfortunately, Mimi is rather... aggressive when around ( Name ) and has been for a considerable amount of time. One time ( Name ) was attempting to bargain with Mimi for her favour. *Chuckles* What a sight.

PASTIMES DONE TOGETHER? "Master Diviner Fu Xuan would frown upon it... but I suppose napping on the Seat of Divine Foresight is considered a 'pastime' when done regularly enough."

ARGUMENTS: "I do not attempt to quell the frustrations of my dearest. It is not often they disclose them to me and it does pain me to be the cause of their anger. Nevertheless, if it means the two of us will grow closer, then I will gladly offer myself to the brute force of my dearest. Of course, the swelling of regret still stains the heart."

SOMETHING TO SHARE: I've lived one life yet many all at once. Companions scattered amongst the universe and enemies whose names I've gradually forgotten. Yet, underneath the breath of my dearest, I'm simply a man in his spouse's embrace. Nothing else matters."

WHO ARE THEY? II "My most loving spouse."

EXTRA: FU XUAN'S OPINION "When Commander ( Name ) came into the Seat of Divine Foresight to help the General... he grew all the more 'lazy'. A part of me feels sympathetic towards Commander ( Name ), imagine having your own spouse bully you into doing your work? Alas, it's not my business to speak about their marital life. Besides, the two go hand in hand, like a puzzle piece clicking together. Both can do well without, but when joined together, they are a force to be reckoned with."

𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐄

WHO ARE THEY? I "Their weapon may be thin, but it pierces holes even in the most... stubborn of enemies."

FIRST MEETINGS? "Elio's script is always followed. However, ( Name ) is a detail I did not anticipate or was foretold. My body met the tip of their spear before I saw their face."

GREETINGS? "Over time ( Name ) has grown close to the Stellaron Hunters- especially Kafka. Their presence is imminent despite not being a Stellaron Hunter themselves. ( Name ) smiles whenever we meet, it has always been more than enough."

PARTINGS? "My promised end will come, yet an absurd inkling of regret remains."

ABOUT US: THE BLADE "( Name ) believes the blade to be a form of art. They had said, 'The blade dances in air with undisturbed poise and precision, a kind of mercy not known to themselves.' I asked them why they chose a spear then. They replied, 'Because I could never dare replicate it's beauty.'"

ABOUT US: WOUNDS "( Name ) never wanted to be a traveller, rather, they opted to string fabrics together with a needle and thread. Perhaps that is where their skills come from."

CHAT: MIDNIGHT "The mara is like a ghost. Yet, ( Name ) is a fool. They embrace the ghost I can't seem to remember other than its bottomless spite and fear."

CHAT: SCARS "Their hands never 'keep to themselves'. ( Name ) prefers to trace their hands over surfaces and make shapes. They tend to draw stars... so many stars."

PASTIMES DONE TOGETHER? "When there are no missions, we sleep in silence. Under the guise of sleep and their warmth, immortality does not follow me."

ARGUMENTS: "When all is said and done, silence remains."

SOMTHING TO SHARE: "If there is life after death, then I wish to meet them in the same manner, again and again with that smile and spear."

WHO ARE THEY II? "The person who taught me how to breathe and pressed their lips against my skin."

EXTRA: KAFKA'S OPINION "Blade will never admit it. But, ( Name ) cares for Blade and Blade does too. The pair will never put a name to the push and pull between them. I caught Bladie once; staring out into the open universe searching for something with a spark of life that doesn't belong to a dead body. I wonder if ( Name ) put that there."

masterlist.

[wilteddreamsofbaldursgate]

Daybreak Ballads

NSFW || Astarion x fem!bard!Tav/reader || ao3 || masterlist

Rating: E, +18 Word Count: +3.5k Warnings: Smut. Orgasm delay. Soft dom!Astarion. Oral+fingering (fem!receiving). PiV sex. Praise kink?

And yet, Astarion did have an undeniably keen eye for beauty and dramatics alike. If he only put a little more of himself into his work, you were convinced people would adore his poetry. He only had to find his intended audience because one thing was clear: as much as you loved Astarion, his poetry simply wasn’t for you. At all.

a/n: This has been in the works for ages and when I wasn't pulling out my own hair over this, it was quite fun to write, I suppose. Special thanks to @tragedybunny , @bardic-inspo and @littlejuicebox for emotional support. The masterful poem at the end has been handmade for Gina. With love. By the pale elf himself.

You’d never said you disliked Astarion’s poetry, let alone that it was bad. When the pale elf had asked for your expert opinion on his poetic endeavours, you’d just assumed it was honesty he’d wanted. So honesty was what you’d given him. 

The form of his poem looked messy, unappealing even; its rhythm was off, contorted by wordy lines that lacked any pleasant flow. Astarion’s motifs were obvious at best and trite at worst, and his rhymes were, well, creative, you supposed. But most of all, Astarion’s pieces left wanting for personality. Where was his wit? His snark? His passion? Where was all the fun?

Try as you might, you just couldn’t see yourself performing Astarion’s ballad—at least that’s what you assumed he’d attempted to write—for your regular audience, not with your flute nor your lyre. It just felt wrong to translate his words into song, forced. You didn’t even need to take a closer look to recognize his work as haphazard, dull, and, worst of all, inauthentic.

And yet, Astarion did have an undeniably keen eye for beauty and dramatics alike. If he only put a little more of himself into his work, you were convinced people would adore his poetry. He only had to find his intended audience because one thing was clear: as much as you loved Astarion, his poetry simply wasn’t for you. At all. That, too, you’d told him. 

To your surprise, Astarion had taken your admittedly harsh review of his work with uncharacteristic grace—suspiciously so, in hindsight, at least. After all, the vampire could be quite…sensitive. That night, though, he’d just nodded along to your blunt words, an almost arrogant smirk tugging at his lips, promising you to compose a piece to your liking one day.

Just for you, Astarion had said with a wink as he’d retrieved his poetry from your hands, the dying campfire reflecting in the ink of his elegant handwriting. Crimson eyes sparkling with mischief as they’d wandered over your body. His tongue had slowly wet his sensuous lips as if in anticipation of...what? 

Just wait and see, darling…

If your brain hadn’t been all clouded by lust earlier tonight, you would’ve noticed that Astarion had been up to something. He’d been throwing you suggestive looks all evening, purring sweet nothings in your ear whenever he’d gotten you alone. Surprised you in your tent when your companions had been sound asleep, the campfire burned low. His hand had practically been glued to the small of your back as he’d guided you to a most charming little clearing, not unlike the one in which you’d first slept with him all those weeks ago. 

That Astarion had kept calling this idyllic, moonlit spot his perfect motif had somehow eluded you as you’d been too preoccupied with the telltale heat gathering between your legs. In fact, you’d followed the vampire like an eager little pup, already wound tight around his little finger. The promise of Astarion’s inviting touches and lingering kisses had lured you right into his honey trap—and how bittersweet it was.

Now, shivering from painfully drawn-out desire and cold morning dew settling on your skin, you could feel that cursed smirk brush against your dripping wet core again—a silent warning. 

Oh, fuck. 

Astarion’s lips closed around your almost painfully swollen clit, sucking at it leisurely as his lower arm pinned your hips against the cold earth as if you were but a sheet of paper threatening to take flight with the next gust of wind. Another gasp echoed from the trees as your left hand clawed at the damp grass underneath you, looking for support but finding little. Your other hand grasped at silver curls with as much success. 

Astarion was rather enjoying himself as your body squirmed under his sinful mouth, his fingertips digging into the flesh of your thigh as he adjusted your trembling leg over his shoulder, opening you up even more for his thorough ministrations. You tossed your head back at the gentle but intoxicating shift of position. His name was stuck in the back of your throat, suffocated by shaky moans as the tip of his tongue brought you ever closer to the edge of release. 

Feeling the coil in your lower belly tighten, your toes curled against the raised scar tissue on Astarion’s back, eliciting but an amused sigh from him before his lips released your wanting nub with one last lingering caress of his tongue. 

You wanted to cry; this was the second time he’d left you hanging somewhere between bliss and frustration.

Shaking from pent-up pleasure, your elbow threatened to slip on the wet grass as you sat up as much as the weight of Astarion’s arm allowed. Through the evaporating clouds of your laboured breath you only just caught a glimpse of Astarion’s crimson eyes gazing up at you from between your thighs; he was all messy curls and unfairly thick eyelashes. Smug smirks turned wicked. 

You swallowed.

“Astarion…” you breathed, not knowing if it was a warning or plea, but before the syllables had faded into the fleeting night, his attention had returned to your cunt once more. The tip of Astarion’s nose grazed your clit. You could feel his cold breath against your burning folds, feeling no different than the gentle breeze of dawn tickling your exposed skin. There was no gentle sensation snaking up your spine when Astarion licked down your slit ever so slowly, and for the first time that night, you truly registered how far you really were from camp. You let out a blissful cry, knowing there was not a soul to hear you but the elf feasting on your cunt. 

The weight from Astarion’s arm shifted from your hips down your side. His hand wandered along your curves, groping the swell of your ass before it wound itself back up your inner thigh. He pushed your legs further apart, opening you up impossibly wide. You let out an excited squeal you would be embarrassed for by morning, but not now, no. For the better part of the night, you’d been a whining, trembling mess under your lover—always painfully close to release and yet no part of Astarion had filled you as of yet. But maybe he’d had enough now. Maybe he would finally deign to push you over the edge, with his fingers or his cock, you didn’t really care anymore as long as he finally let you come undone.

And, indeed, Astarion’s fingers inched closer to your core, though all they did was trace the course of your pulsing femoral artery he could no doubt sense underneath your heated skin. You relaxed a little under his sweet little caresses and wondered dully if he would soon exchange the fruits of your cunt for proper nourishment.

He didn’t. At least not yet.

Without warning, the tip of Astarion’s tongue teased your entrance, driving you wild. Your hips instantly bucked against Astarion’s face as your hand clenched around a fistful of his soft hair. Finally! This was divine, this was— 

Astarion withdrew from you in an instant, ignoring the undignified whine of protest escaping your lips—fuck, you’d been so close! By the self-satisfied look on his face, though, he was well aware of that. For a moment, he studied the heavy rise and fall of your flushed chest, his chin resting right below your navel as you lay beneath him, dumbstruck. His pointer finger still ghosted up and down the inside of your leg, the lazy movement a stark contrast to the blood racing through your veins. 

“Oh, darling, look what you’ve done…” Astarion pouted, his sensuous lips moist with your arousal. “You’ve ruined my rhythm.”

His fingers slowly wandered down, down, down your leg and curled around your ankle before he gently let it glide off his shoulder. With an outrageous nonchalance, he sat back on his knees and considered you. Crimson eyes darted over your feverish skin that glistened with sweat and morning dew. They trailed from your parted lips down your collarbone, through the valley of your breast, until they beheld the mess between your legs with blatant amusement. How you wanted to wipe the stupid smirk off his face; how you wanted him to finally take you.

Behind Astarion’s broad shoulders, you could see the sunrise in the distance; a gentle purple bled into the indigo of night right above the treeline. Day would break soon, but you didn’t have it in you to appreciate twilight when, suddenly, Astarion’s arms came down on each side of your head, eclipsing the waking world around you.

His hips settled against your core as he crawled atop you, habitually making you arch your back against his own growing desire pressing into your belly.

“But don’t you worry,” Astarion purred, clearly delighted as he lowered himself onto you until the silken tip of his nose brushed against yours. “Your body is a well of inspiration to me, my little muse…”

Astarion closed the small distance between you with a heady kiss; your mind went blank as you tasted yourself on his lips, the warmed tongue demanding access to you once more. You opened your mouth to him readily, moaned into the kiss as Astarion’s hands wandered up and down the curves of your body. Your head spun. Nobody—nothing—else could ever make you feel like this, and you cursed yourself when you had to break away from him to fill your inconvenient lungs with air. 

Spit and slick weaved like cobwebs between your parted lips as you beheld Astarion with dazed eyes, breathing hard.

He was perfect. 

From the fading light of the moon reflecting in his serene locks to his kiss-swollen lips that were a sharp instrument of the sweetest temptation. That smirk that promised unforgettable ecstasy, granting it only whenever he wanted. There was no song nor poem you could compose that could ever do Astarion justice, no instrument to capture the intricacies of his soul. He was a masterpiece.

Drunk on his lips, you leaned forward as his fingers continued to run down your middle, along the curve of your ass before taking hold of your thigh again. Your tired legs twitched to wind around Astarion’s hips, wanting to pull him closer to where you needed him most. 

But before you could even move an inch, you found yourself lying flat on your stomach.

Astarion’s arm wound around your waist from behind, roughly pulling your ass up against his lean middle before you could so much as gasp in surprise. Wet grass tickled your cheek as you tried to find your balance, take a puzzled look back at him, but you could only feel him bend over you again, his erection poking your lower back. 

Astarion’s kiss-warmed lips ghosted over your ear, “Now that you’re in proper form, let’s write some poetry, shall we?”

What?

He tossed your messy braid over your shoulder, pressed a wet kiss to the exposed nape of your neck as your knees struggled for support on slippery morning dew. 

“You’ll sing some more for me, won’t you, little songstress?” Astarion breathed against your spine. “I’m sure you’ll make a real show of my newest piece.” 

It took you a moment to process his words. Maybe it was the pebble cutting into the palm of your hand or the day’s first birdsong reaching your ear that lifted the fog in your head, but it finally hit you.

Astarion hadn’t brought you here for a tryst in the dirt, no. You were here because he was writing poetry. Except, this time, you weren’t his critic, but his choice medium. Which could only mean one thing: He rather had taken your criticism of his artistic endeavours to heart, and now you would have to pay the price for your honesty.

“Astarion…” you breathed, quick words of appeasement lost in a moan as he started to grind against you. Suddenly, daybreak felt like an eternity away. 

“Yes, darling?” He asked, the perverse amusement evident in his voice. “How do you like my work so far? Is it to your refined taste this time?” 

Curse the damn elf. You knew what he wanted, what he’d craved all along. What he’d expected from you the moment he’d shared his work with you. And as if you weren’t in a most precarious position already, he really wanted you to say it—praise him and his stupid poetry when he knew how badly your body was aching for him.

Clenching your teeth, you slowly rolled your hips up against his now rock-hard cock. Maybe, if you just got him to fuck you already, you would get away with your pride intact. All of this was embarrassing enough as it was.

Your efforts were repaid with little more than a chuckle, though—and two fingers that started teasing your entrance, carefully dipping into you without even slightly dampening your need.

“Fuck!” You whined into the grass as your hips chased Astarion’s digits, wishing they were his cock instead, filling you as you’d so lusted after all night long.

“What was that?”

Astarion’s movement stopped at once, leaving you empty once again.

“It’s good,” you hissed against the wet ground as tears of frustration threatened to spill from the corners of your eyes. “Your poetry—Astarion, it’s so good, I swear.” 

So much for pride.

“Oh, you think so, little nightingale?” 

You nodded frantically as he bent over you again, nibbling at the shell of your sensitive pointy ear. Astarion chuckled.

“Don’t get me wrong, this means so much coming from an expert artist such as yourself, darling, but I can’t help but wonder whether this is a professional opinion or empty flattery for the sake of indulgence…”  

You could feel his fingers ghost over your clit, knowing he would never touch you without a satisfying answer.

“It’s true—nobody does it quite like you,” you cried, not bothering to specify whether you meant his poetry or his more distinctive talents, and it didn’t really matter. 

Throughout your career, you’d gone looking for inspiration in quite a few beds but never had you written better poetry than in your rather short time together with the pale elf. Astarion was unlike any lover you’d ever taken, nor had you ever cared this deeply for another person whatsoever. 

“Nothing compares to you, Astarion,” you whispered, truthfully. 

“Ah,” Astarion’s fingers slid back into you the moment the words had left your mouth, curling deliciously against your walls—a reward for your generous recognition of his talents, no question. “But I’m sure there’s room for improvement still?”  

Hips moving up against his digits, chasing the sweet friction of his cold skin, you groaned. Fine. If he wanted a damn lesson in poetry, he could have one.

“There always is. What’s the point of art when there’s no growth—ah!”

There was a lewd sound as Astarion pulled his fingers from your core once again, though this time you could feel his body shift behind you. The two fingers that had worked you open so well now gently parted your folds. You let out a low moan as you could finally feel the wet tip of Astarion’s cock teasing your throbbing clit, though it was his lips brushing the back of your neck that really made you shiver.   

“So what would you have me do, little nightingale? Would you have me put more of myself into my work, again?”  

“Yes, gods, please,” you mewled, dragging the syllables out just like you knew he enjoyed. “Put as much of yourself in as you can.”

Astarion tried and failed to cover his quickening breath up with a sharp laugh, finally giving away the strain on his own composure. “Well, you are the expert, aren’t you?”  

The iron grip on your hip was the only thing keeping you from toppling over as Astarion buried himself inside you with one forceful thrust. The entirety of his impressive length stretched you painfully wide, and he only granted you one moment to adjust to the feeling of complete, blissful fullness before he pulled out of you again. Grunting, he repeated the movement, faster each time. His deep groans soon turned into a perfect rhyme to your breathless moans as he fucked you franticly. 

“Like my poetry now, darling?” He hissed, slamming into you over and over again as your hand found Astarion’s in the dewy grass.  

Your fingers wound around his wrist, up his lower arm, grasping for support. Couldn’t he see, feel, hear how much you adored his poetry?

“You’re an artist,” you panted through open-mouthed gasps, your entire body singing him the song of your desire, though you really doubted that he paid it much mind.

Astarion had buried his face in the crook of your neck, breathing in your scent greedily. His tongue traced the curve of your collarbone; you could feel his fangs scrape against your tender skin every now and then. He was a fast learner, you noted, dully—Astarion was already losing himself in his passionate work. 

“Have I found my intended audience yet?” He muttered, more to himself than to you, as his knee hooked under your leg, pushing it up until you lay almost flat on the ground.

“What do you want me to do, darling? Write down how divine your cunt is? Have everybody know what sinful music you make when I fuck you?” Astarion let out a choked laugh. “Fuck that! I don’t need an audience, because they only need to take one look at you and recognize you as a work of mine.” 

He wasn’t wrong. You would be deliciously sore when you returned to camp with the scent of your lover lingering on your skin like ink on thick paper. He was already written all over you; you were his creation. Who else could coax such magnificent sounds out of you but him? And who were you, really, to teach him about poetry when all you had to do was offer your body to him? You hadn’t lied when you said Astarion was an artist.  

Your fingernails left little half-moons on his pale arm as he fucked you half senseless. You could feel yourself dissolve deeper into pleasure with every relentless snap of his hips, knowing that this was when Astarion was most himself—buried deep inside you, chasing his own ideas and desires. Enjoying himself. Writing poetry.

You came fast and hard. Astarion gasped as your cunt clenched violently around him, his movement growing increasingly erratic. He breathed incoherent strings of pretty words into your ear, pulled your hips down on his cock with so much urgency it left you reeling far beyond your orgasm. He was close, too. His rhythm faltered as he slipped into a frenzy, cock twitching inside you as he lost himself in his poetry—in you. 

You brought your arm behind you to find Astaron’s sweat-drenched face, cupping his cheek. He groaned as he leaned into your touch. 

“You’re so talented, Astarion,” you said. “Fill me with all you have.” 

That was all it took. With one last grunt, Astarion spilled himself inside you. He continued rolling his hips into you for another moment, his pace slowing before he collapsed on top of you. 

You let the familiar weight of your lover ground you, enjoyed the way his hands wound under you to caress your stomach, your breasts. Astarion pressed a kiss to the crown of your head before gently withdrawing from you. His seed gushed out of you, leaving his signature on the insides of your legs. 

“You really think I have a thing for poetry?” Astarion asked, sheepishly, as he rolled to his side, pulling you with him to rest against his lean chest. “Or does my talent only reach as far as your pleasure?”

The sun had finally risen over the treeline, melting the morning dew from your skin. Drawing lazy circles across his chest, you considered Astarion’s question. 

“Talent means nothing without practice.” 

He hummed, clearly pleased with your answer. “Care to practise with me, then?” 

“Your poetry or my pleasure?” You asked, looking up to search his face.

Eyes closed to the sun above you, Astarion smiled. “It’s all the same with you, isn’t it, little songstress?”  

The pale elf pressed another kiss to your temple, pulled you even closer to him as you chuckled at his words.

“I would be quite honoured, Astarion.” 

The page had been ripped from your journal. It rested neatly folded in half next to your bedroll, elegant handwriting bleeding through the paper. Bards weren’t morning people—it just came with the job. Though, even as sore and sleepy as you felt, you would’ve never missed the note waiting for you to be found upon waking with the sun. You’d been expecting it, after all. With uncoordinated hands, you unfolded the piece of paper.

“Getting drunk on your

Sweet morning dew, nightingale.

Fucking you—such bliss.” 

—A. 

You scoffed at the poem in your hands, carefully folding it again before you reached for a small box filled with similar pieces of paper. You added the poem to the growing collection. There was no talent without practice, and Astarion and you had only just begun.

tag list:

@spacebarbarianweird @bardic-inspo @kawaiiusagichansan @darlingxdragon @herautumnmorningelegance @ayselluna @chonkercatto

[tricoloured-cat]

what better way to procrastinate than to write random stuff

reviewing the works that the abilities were based on

Part 1: Armed Detective Agency

I just realized that I've finally read all the works attributed to the abilities of the author's BSD counterparts, at least for the ADA. I plan to do this for all organizations in the BSD universe so I can direct my reading and actually finish something HAHA

DISCLAIMER: I am not an expert on literature, let alone Japanese literature, and my short reviews are solely my opinion as a casual reader. These are all for fun so please don't take these so seriously!

Nakajima Atsushi Ability: Beast Beneath the Moonlight Original Work: Moon Over the Mountain

This short story has the vibes of a folktale but with existential dread sprinkled throughout. The prose is calm but the agony still reverberates. I liked this more than I though I would, perhaps because of how clean it felt. Honestly this would be one of the OG works I'd recommend to a BSD fan who wants to try classic Japanese literature.

Dazai Osamu Ability/Original Work: No Longer Human

This is probably the one novel/work most BSD fans would pick up first - and for a good reason. The themes are pretty universal albeit heavy, the tone of the narrator throughout the entire novel is gripping, the translation by Donald Keene is very readable, and it's just in the most general sense a summary of Dazai-sensei's own life. The last point must be taken with a grain of salt, however, as he's a master liar - something you'll find out if you dig more into his life and other works. If you'd like to see depression in book form, this is for you.

Kunikida Doppo Ability: Doppo Poet Original Work: Doppo Collection (probably)

Here's a case of "I can't really find the original work so I'll be reviewing something else instead"

Reviewing: Those Unforgettable People

I chose to talk about this one since it's the one found in the Penguin Anthology. It's an interesting mix of forms: technically, it's a short story. However, the elements of poetry and even of the essay are present - mostly the latter, tbh. Of course the whole "ideal" thing is such a Kunikida-sensei thing that it appears it almost every story he wrote, yet somehow in this one you'll have to squint a little bit more to see it. The point of this story-essay-poem thing is at the very end (the first half is quite dragging imo) is what gives it a little oomph, but honestly I much prefer his other works (specifically Old Gen and Death).

Tanizaki Jun'ichirou Ability/Original Work: Sasameyuki

You like a slow burn? You like pain? Familial drama? Maybe you'll like this. Maybe you won't. It's a mammoth of a book that feels like a series of extremely detailed telenovela episodes - not that it's necessarily a bad thing. I enjoyed it despite the length because the way it ends, although hardly strong at all, ties the themes and messages of the novel cleanly into a single scene.

Miyazawa Kenji Ability/Original Work: Be Not Defeated by the Rain

It's a poem every Japanese elementary student would know. The message and style is so simple yet beautiful (I read Sulz's translation). It's joyful and so sunny... until I read the background on it. I cried over his work. Again. (Night on the Galactic Railroad PLS) Man I just love this author so much. But I'm not really a poem person to begin with, so take this review with a grain of salt HAHA

Yosano Akiko Ability/Original Work: Thou Shalt Not Die

The only complete translation I could find is written in painfully archaic English, so I won't comment on the style HAHA. But I do think the original was just as pointed in its words and message; its anti-war sentiments and middle finger to the Japanese emperor and military (at the time) so characteristically Yosano-sensei. It's sad she'd support WW2 later on - come on sensei WHY

Personally, however, I prefer her shorter poems, specifically the ones from River of Stars. But I'm not really a poem person to begin with, so take this review with a grain of salt HAHA

Izumi Kyouka Ability: Demon Snow Original Work: Demon Pond

It's been a while since I've read a play, and perhaps that's why I had a hard time getting through the first half - either that or it was quite lackluster as most of the actual story happens in the second half. Its influences from folktales and traditional Japanese theater (i.e. kabuki and noh) are very apparent - I wish I could have seen it instead of read it because of that. I think this is the first work of Kyouka's that I actually liked (I've read some of his short stories and one of his other plays) so I'll definitely recommend this one if you want to start with this author. There's also a movie adaptation of it that I haven't watched yet (but I do plan to). I think it could be much better than just reading it as is because of the visuals and mood setting, but a review on that soon. Maybe.

Fukuzawa Yukichi Ability: All Men Are Created Equal Original Work: An Encouragement of Learning (Sec. 1-2)

I couldn't be bothered to read the whole thing, but the essence of the ability only comes from the first two sections (which I'll be reviewing).

It's an essay that imo serves as a good introduction to Fukuzawa's philosophy. His views and arguments are built primarily on morality with logic acting mostly as a way to expound on his points. It's interesting, nothing really new for a contemporary reader, but at least it gives a nice background on the changing environment during the early years of Meiji-era Japan. Of course there are personal biases here (specifically the one with China - one of the greatest criticisms against Fukuzawa, even though he was supposedly progressive for his time) but imo that reflects some views of many Japanese at the time - not that they're right, of course.

But what about our special non-gifted boi?

I guess let's look at what one of the episodes was based on instead lol

Edogawa Ranpo Episode: The Murder on D. Street (S01E05) Original Work: The Case on D. Hill

I will tell you now: they have almost NO similarities whatsoever. Doesn't mean it's bad tho...

Okay ngl I was pretty disappointed HAHA. It's the same type of disappointment I had with Poe's Murders on the Rue Morgue (which was ironically referenced in the story) but it at least had some sense to it. I blame myself for not seeing it coming tho, given that this story is very typical of Edogawa-sensei. If you do plan to read it, however, be warned that there are implicit (?) themes that may be uncomfortable for some readers (this warning applies to most of Edogawa-sensei's work not made specifically for children HAHA).

[andipxndy-writes]

I saw that you read The Ones We Burn by Rebecca Mix this year and you enjoyed it. I've seen a number of people saying that its racist and antisemitic, but I noticed that a lot of those reviews are based on a twitter review that came out quite a while before the book itself. I've also seen more recent reviews (after the book was released) from both Black and Jewish readers stating those claims are false. Did you find anything like that during your read through?

Not gonna lie, as soon as I mentioned that I'd read The Ones We Burn I know someone was going to come into my ask box and ask this question so I've been waiting for something like this.

In short: No. I did not find anything like this. I am a black woman, and I did not find anything racist towards black people in this book (and I've read the HP books, I have a good idea of what racism looks and feels like in writing lmao).

Not gonna lie, this book was on my TBR list for ages and I pre-ordered, and when everything came out I was ridiculously disappointed by the number of people who would go out and slander/cancel a book without reading it simply because someone lied. And I was especially disappointed in the black people who went online and started rallying to cancel the book. The whole "reverse racism" claim was a lie, the two main characters are black because, spoiler, their mother is black and their mother was a witch from another coven (so not a white people in power constantly thing; I'm due a reread to confirm this, though). Not only that, but they're surrounded by rich white people the whole time, and there are witches with different ethnicities/skin tones throughout the whole book. I could not find ANYTHING suggesting racism or reverse racism in this book and for someone to imply that without having read the book is absolutely obtuse. (I also absolutely HATE cancel culture because some of the people I've seen get cancelled by people spreading rumours and lies. Absolutely ridiculous.)

As for the antisemitism claim, I didn't spot any of that in the book either but I actually went to research that because I wanted to know exactly what people not on twitter were saying, and I found this review which was pretty long and has links. I didn't find any, and neither did this Jewish reviewer.

Honestly, there were a lot of reviews about the book before it even came out, and even though ARCs were sent out I get the vibe that not many (if any) of the readers actually posted any of those reviews attacking the book. All those reviews came from people who were talking about another review and basically saying "this was on my tbr but because xxx said racism and antisemitism I'm taking it off bye", which isn't how reviews work but go off I guess. It got tanked on goodreads for what I believe was a couple of lying or jealous reviews that everyone jumped on as true. And people actually thought it was okay to bully someone off the Internet and send them death threats? And don't sensitivity readers usually get called in to prevent this happening when the book comes out? Sensitivity readers were called in on this book. It just baffles me that so many people cancelled the book so quickly based on a couple of pre-release reviews and probably aren't even looking at the post-release reviews because they think they've done their job or some dumb shit like that.

Anyway tl;dr: No, I didn't find any racism in the book, and any claims of racism in the book from before the release should be taken with a pinch of salt, imo. Or a load of it. The affected communities need to actually look to reviewers from their communities post-release and see what they're saying before attacking, and they certainly shouldn't be attacking before having the chance to form their own opinions.

Anyway, people are gonna come after me for this but I've said what I've said and I believe it. I've stayed away from making comments online mostly because I 1) would probably not be heard online because I tend to stay in my little corner for the sake of my own mental health; and 2) know that people are stubborn once they've formed their own opinions and didn't want to say anything before reading the book myself.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 3/14/2023

one of the good things about the tuesdaypost series is that it reassures me i did actually do things in a particular week, even if the week felt very much like an unmemorable gray blob

listening

Aretha Franklin's Chain of Fools this came on last night as i was making dinner. two (three? let's not think about it) years ago i found the las vegas jazz station bc i wanted something on in the background while i wrote cowboyfic. and now (when i remember internet radio exists) it's in the rotation of things keeping me company while i tend to my databases

-

reading

it's been just over two weeks since philip marlowe has burrowed his way into my brain. i have read through most of The Simple Art of Murder, which contains the titular essay and eight novellas/short stories. if you enjoy reading and thinking about criticism as its own genre/art form, this seven page essay is well worth reading. chandler had extremely strong opinions about his colleagues that he kept to himself with varying degrees of success. aside from a brief catty snit at what we now call "cozy" mysteries, it's a very level look at the challenges and limitations of detective fiction as a genre.

The realistic style is easy to abuse: from haste, from lack of awareness, from inability to bridge the chasm that lies between what a writer would like to be able to say and what he actually knows how to say. It is easy to fake; brutality is not strength, flipness is not wit, edge-of-the-chair writing can be as boring as flat writing; dalliance with promiscuous blondes can be very dull stuff when described by goaty young men with no other purpose in mind than to describe dalliance with promiscuous blondes. There has been so much of this sort of thing that if a character in a detective story says, "Yeah," the author is automatically a Hammett imitator. And there are still quite a few people around who say that Hammett did not write detective stories at all, merely hardboiled chronicles of mean streets with a perfunctory mystery element dropped in like the olive in a martini.

i had a tremendous amount of fun reading through the novellas and picking out elements he reused and expanded upon in later full novels.

im yoinking this example from wikipedia but this sequence in The Big Sleep:

The room was too big, the ceiling was too high, the doors were too tall, and the white carpet that went from wall to wall looked like a fresh fall of snow at Lake Arrowhead. There were full-length mirrors and crystal doodads all over the place. The ivory furniture had chromium on it, and the enormous ivory drapes lay tumbled on the white carpet a yard from the windows. The white made the ivory look dirty and the ivory made the white look bled out. The windows stared towards the darkening foothills. It was going to rain soon. There was pressure in the air already.

first appeared in the short story The Curtain:

This room had a white carpet from wall to wall. Ivory drapes of immense height lay tumbled casually on the white carpet inside the many windows, which stared towards the dark foot-hills. The air beyond the glass was dark too. It had not started to rain, yet there was a feeling of pressure in the atmosphere.

when you are an exacting self-editor who will spend five months on one short story i imagine it's quite easy to go back and expand on a previous framework? it is fun to see how the sausage gets made

-

watching

the westerner (1940, dir. Wyler). really had me thinking about the Types of westerns i like. this is a perfectly adequate, well-acted little open range vs. homesteaders film with an impressive prairie fire sequence. walter brennan (a guy i love to see) more than deserves his oscar. gary cooper is great as a quick-thinking drifter who scams his way out of a noose. our heroine looks very much like olivia de haviland around the eyes. the original nyt review points out that cooper is very much overshadowed, and cooper only did the movie under duress bc he was worried about this very thing (p. 138-140).

between the fact that the movie thinks cooper should be the lead but brennan steals every scene he's in, this movie does not grab me by the lapels and shake me like some others i could name. part of it is that i do not like brennan's character. he is a self-appointed judge with a 100% hanging rate. i also think this is a totally different movie if you are not a woman, bc his character is INCREDIBLY weird about women. the ending tried very hard and failed to make me go "aw he was all right deep down anyway huh".

the other part of why this movie does not work for me: it starts off as my favorite genre "Some Guy has an incredibly fucked up day" but most of it is about good bible-thumping homesteaders enacting the american dream. what if we all got along??? america's big enough for everyone isn't it?? this movie really pulls its fuckin punches re: any sort of a theme, and i do not like cooper as an actor or brennan's character enough to say i had a good time. this movie does not delve into an aspect of the cowboy western mythos i am particularly interested in, but it is on kanopy, and it is part of my goal to watch every western on kanopy in order to convince the boston public library to add more westerns.

-

playing

man i wish fallou/t 4 was good. ive really got to fucking suck it up and start rdr2 even though i know it will consume my life in a time where i do not have a ton of time to spare

-

making

chicken fajitas. no pics all gone.

also: 6/10 baby blanket repeats. im trying to get this out by midapril so if i decide to fly down and look at apartments in person i can deliver it in person. so far i am happy with this rate of progress. i am going to frown about the edging for a while when im done knitting the body but that's a problem for future kay

[arsonasher12]

#1 Dead Poets Society (spoilers)

Dead Poets Society is one of my favourite films of all time. For a number of reasons and I hope to touch on all of these in this review.

First I want to start with the setting and tone of the film. The film was shot at St. Andrew's School Delaware, from 1988 to 1989. And I couldn't have picked a better place to film. It is incredible and so picturesque and it gives us beautiful shots like this.

These shots convey how remote the school really is. It also makes the film incredibly immersive. You can almost feel yourself being there.

I ,as I said, would also like to touch on the tone of breaking conformity. And something I have only noticed on my fourth watch of this film. That Neil ,in my opinion, is a metaphor for creativity and his father is a metaphor for conformity, and the film as a whole is a story of how conformity can (quite literally) kill creativity. That people should be allowed to express themselves and how they should be fulfilled in life by something other than their career that they should be filled with a deeper meaning, and purpose.

I also think the film benefits greatly because of the order they filmed it. They filmed it in chronological order. So the friendship of the boys formed naturally and you can really see this really translates through the screen. I think it really gives the film an extra sense of something.

The next 2 things I would like to mention are some of the things I dislike about the film. Such as the romance between Knox and Kris. I feel it is unnecessary, pointless and provides no greater meaning to the plot. It is shabby and not very well thought out, it also feels rushed and unrealistic. The only thing I like about this plot point is that them talking about girls all the time finally pays off. But I think it is an unfulfilling pay off u as an audience member you don't feel a great sense of wanting them to be together because it is so rushed. E.M Forster said that you have rounded characters, characters that are well thought out and planned, and you have flat characters, characters only used to move the plot along. In my opinion for an on screen romance to work you must have 2 rounded characters or the romance feels flat and without life.

The second thing I would like to mention is that I hate Cameron, and how that is a good thing. In DPS Cameron is one of the antagonist and throughout the film I always, even on my first watch, feel a great sense of hatred for Cameron. Even from his first line, "seems you got the new guy looks like a stiff." I hate him, and that is the exact emotion the film is trying to convey towards Cameron. I would also like to touch briefly on why I think his betrayal to the boys at the end of the film is amplified. I think it is amplified because of the loyalty the boys show through the film to each other. One example of this is when Charlie takes a beating from Mr Nolan and after that he still refused to give up the names of the boys. And for Cameron to just save his own back by giving there names up is utterly heartbreaking to see.

My last point will be about the casting of Robin Williams in this film, and what a red herring it was at the time of its release. Because prior to Dead Poets Society he had only portrayed comedic roles so everyone going into this film though it was going to be funny. But oh how wrong they were. I also think he is the perfect choice for this role. I couldn't have picked anyone better. He perfectly portrays the warmth and passion needed for the role of Mr Keating. I honestly can not praise him enough.

Anyway that was my review of 1989s Dead Poets Society. I will leave you with some of my favourite quotes from the film.

"O captain my captain."

"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play *goes on* and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be? "

"Carpe diem"

"I was good, I was really good."

[nagichi-boop]

My thoughts on the Knuckles series

I want to preface this by saying that if you haven't watched the series yourself and have the means to do so, I suggest watching it yourself and forming your own opinions on the series. The episodes are about 25-30 mins long, so it should take about 3 hours. But if you'd rather give the show a pass, I understand, especially given that so many people have given rather mixed reviews on the series. I don't think I have much to say that hasn't already been said, but I thought I'd share my personal thoughts on the series.

I will be discussing spoilers in this post, though I won't be breaking apart the plot per se. I just want to discuss some thoughts on the series, good and bad, since I know some people have been very harsh on this series. And as a disclaimer, these are personal opinions rather than outright critiques.

For a tldr rating though, I'd give the series like...6.5/10?

Things I Liked

I really enjoyed the plot of the first episode or so. The scenes with the Wachoski family was probably some of my favourites for the series, even if only brief. I wasn't sure that they would include the other characters, so it was nice to see most of them. I wasn't super keen on the GUN agents necessarily, but I thought their story parts were the most enjoyable. I enjoyed watching Wade scheme to save him and immediately fumble the bag, but ultimately sort of recreate his plan? I also appreciated him using the siracha to free himself from the GUN agent since it was starting to wear a little that he seemed utterly incompetent - more on that later.

I once again appreciate the references to the Sonic universe. I only really noticed the Knuckles hat (which if I'm not mistaken is a reference to the OVA cartoon?), but I also saw someone mention Sonic 06 before watching it, which helped me recognise the reference to the game (both Knuckles' power and the creature that I assumed to be Iblis). I also saw a Reddit post pointing out that the alien attack mentioned by the bowling tournament announcers took place 50 years ago, which could be a reference towards Shadow, but it's not outright stated to be that.

The animation was surprisingly good. Part of me thought the animation quality would be off, but it was more or less on par with the movies from what I could see. Some scenes were a little off, but I can't really fault it since they're trying to incorporate an entirely CGI creature interacting with everything, but for the most part it was awesome.

Things I Didn't Like

I think one of my bigger issues with this series was the humour. That's not to say I didn't find it funny, but the constant surreal/cringe humour eventually wears on you. It worked at the beginning because Knuckles and Wade alternated being the 'straight-man', but for the most part, the characters fell into the same 'I'm dumb' type of humour. I don't quite know how to explain what I mean by this, so I guess I'll give a few examples to illustrate what I mean.

There's Knuckles himself, whose 'stupidity' mostly comes from him not fully grasping human culture. There's also Wade Whipple, who is portrayed as an idiot or loser, something he's called by the other characters. There's Jack Sinclair who acts intimidating while still being dumb behind his seriousness, and was the kind of character that seems threatening until they're dethroned, by which time they start wailing like a baby. We see this mostly when Wade is captured and 'duels' with him, only for him to lose and plead with Wade not to take his clothes this sounds really sus out of context. I didn't particularly care for him, which made some scenes drag as Wade's story with him was being addressed, but he's more of a stepping stone character for Wade's development.

I thought Knuckles and Wade themselves were funny for the most part, but it does begin to grate a little when their goofy humour is pretty much all you get. I get that Wade is the underdog guy, but it didn't feel much like he actually grew as a person. I thought perhaps he would learn to be more self-reliant and competent, but even at the end of the series, he mostly just stalled for Knuckles. This sort of ties into the complaint a lot of people have that the series focused less on Knuckles and more on Wade, which I agree with. It was set up at the start that Knuckles was looking to find his home and purpose, but it didn't feel like that was fully explored. It was sort of implied at the end that the Whipple's were his home, but it felt like a lose end more than a solid conclusion. I also wouldn't have minded if Knuckles actually spent time training Wade, but that didn't really happen either. Most of Wade's 'development' happened away from Knuckles, which made Knuckles feel more like a bit character a lot of the time.

And then there's Wanda Whipple. I'll be honest, I really disliked her character. For the first few minutes it was fine, but the entire scene with the Whipple family dinner just felt awkward and annoying to me. It felt like I was watching two children argue, which I suppose was the point, but watching a grown woman act like a child was just uncomfortable and felt like it was dragged out for ages. I think the only scene I found her funny in was towards the end when she dislocated her thumb, but that was about it. Every other scene she was in felt unenjoyable for me, and frankly I hope she's not in the third movie at all (or if she is, please make it short).

I suppose I could sum this complain up as there being too many comedic relief characters without there being straight-man characters to balance out the chaos. The beginning worked well because Sonic, Tails and Maddie worked as straight-men for Knuckles, so it was funny to watch him be a menace since we could see everyone else's reactions. But for the rest of the series, it was mostly just silly humour. Even the 'adult' jokes weren't particularly funny to me (thinking specifically about the metal detector scene), but maybe I'm just not the right demographic for this kind of series? Who knows.

I watched the series with my dad, and I agree with his thoughts on the series. He felt it could have been done in a movie instead of having a tv series that seemed to drag on a lot. I do agree that some scenes felt like they were going on for too long, which at times felt like I wasn't even watching a Sonic series at all. I guess they want to flesh out the characters unique to the movie universe, but it felt a bit weird to have Knuckles barely involved in the plot given the series was named after him.

It's unfortunate because I think that they initially set up something interesting. I thought they'd focus on the GUN agents pursuing Knuckles, with Knuckles training Wade along the way. But the GUN story got shelved almost immediately to focus more on the bowling stuff - Wade and Jack had an awkward sword dual, and Wade had a bowling match with his dad? I honestly thought The Buyer (that ex GUN weapons guy) would be Wade's dad, but instead we randomly got introduced to Pistol Pete...I dunno, it felt weird to me. It felt like they mashed three unfinished stories together into one weird amalgamation.

I feel like they could have focused more on the GUN agents plot. Perhaps they could have clashed a few times with Knuckles and Wade, but ultimately fail over and over. Wade would have learned indirectly from his warrior training to be strong enough to defeat Jack at bowling and show his progression. The GUN agents would be replaced by The Buyer after he grows tired of waiting for them to fulfil their deal, and who would be more of a threat. While that's happening in the background, we could watch the bowling tournament with Jack losing instead, then have The Buyer crash the party like he did in the actual series. But this is all just me brainstorming what I would have done.

Anyways, those are my thoughts. It's a shame since I love the Sonic movies a lot, but I'm not too worried about Sonic 3 based on this series. Jeff Fowler (the writer for the movies) only wrote the first episode of the series, which was arguably the best episode, so I am confident that Sonic 3 will be good. Admittedly it has me a little worried, but I'm trusting them to do Shadow justice with his debut.

Sorry this is such a long rambly post, but hopefully it's cohesive enough to follow for anyone actually reading it.

[shinygoku]

Please Please Me (1963)

Part 1 in the CutCat Reviews Beatles Albums series, and what better place to start than the beginning?

Dang... they were sure Baby Bugs back then!

I ain't yet listened to every song on this here album, so this'll be interesting and strangely new, haha (Though I should disclaim that I'll be listening to the highest quality versions I can find on YT, so some will be innately more advantaged than others)

SIDE ONE

I Saw Her Standing There: One, Two, Three, FAUWH!! While part'a me raises eyebrows at "Well she was just 17, and you know what I mean" part (which is also somewhat mitigated by their own youth at the time! lol), the rest is such a fun, high energy bit of Rock n Roll that I enjoy this quite a bit, and it makes a great energetic opening to the album to boot!

Misery: A sad song set to jaunty music, if I didn't understand English I'd prolly miss that detail XD - Though I defo prefer said upbeat instrumentations to the otherwise kind of stock breakup song

Anna (Go To Him): Ahh, our first cover! Not keen on their harmonies here, something sounds Off. The song itself is fine, but as they didn't write it I won't be going into much about the words :P

Chains: Harmonica! Another cover so I'm gonna skip the lyrics, but the instruments and harmonies are on good display here~ I'm sorry to say I didn't notice it was George on vocals until I checked though, sorry! ^^;;

Boys: Ringo's turn with a cover!! He puts a lotta energy into this, and I like that they didn't change it to Girls or something instead lmao - His range works well for this, there's great guitar and Paul screaming in the background too, but the lyrics themselves don't stick in my mind much, it seems to be mostly "Talk about Boys, [Yeah Yeah Boys]"

Ask Me Why: We leave the sea of Covers for this side, for a lot of stringing out single words lmao, it kinda feels like an inverse of Misery, being much lower key but being Glad, though again the lyrics ain't really making a strong impression on my memory so when I get to the next side I doubt I'll be able to recall it well

Please Please Me: NOW WE'RE TALKING, BAYBEE! The words may be cheeky and arguably shallow, but it's got such energy and rhythm that I really do feel motivated to stand and move in response! The instruments all do a strong job here, and I think I actually first heard this as an instrumental and knew I needed to check it out more lmao. I can't think why Love Me Do got the #1 and this didn't, man!!

SIDE TWO

Love Me Do: I do not care for this song! Objectively it has a lovely bass, nice steady drums and impressive harmonica. But URGHHHH I cannot stick the vocals saying such inane, repetitive words! I feel like this is the only Beatles song that Beatle Haters hear, and form their entire opinion on. I can't fathom how it reached a #1 slot, other than it having been an exceedingly slow period for Tunes, or maybe the mouth organ really WAS that novel?! But when playing the Number Ones CD I always, always skip it, and even the newest version with the Now and Then release fails to win me over. And Ringo ain't even the drummer here!!

P.S. I Love You: Really benefits from following LMD, lmaoooo. It's a nice little tune with some instrument I can't identify (castanets?). I feel like From Me To You kinda does the long distance thing better, but there's a nice rhythm and harmonies that make this pleasing. It's also not Ringo drumming, again - no offence to Andy White, but y'ain't one'a the Lads! :T

Baby It's You: We're back in the Cover Realm. This song is nice. When I first heard the "Cheat" I thought they were saying "Shit" though, which I think woulda made it better XD ...15 mins after listening to it I have no memory of how it sounds :v

Do You Want To Know A Secret: In original and George territory! Gotta say the "secret" was extremely predictable :P The music is perfectly nice, but it doesn't strike me as Beatles Standard, ya know? That applies to a fair few on this album, not just this, but it's now that I really Am Thinking it ^^;;;

A Taste Of Honey: Cover! Less to say! They do good! When I listen to it my brain tries turning it more into a meme song, like it goes "A taste of Honey! Tasty!!", so idk what that says about the song itself but it's not the most glowing of reviews lmao

There's A Place: Ahh, the last Original on this album~ Sounds oddly modern in the sense of maladaptive daydreaming...! They really WERE ahead of the time (or having a Mind Palace is old as Hunter Gatherers maybe, both work lol). It's another inoffensive but hard to really talk about number, musically.

Twist And Shout: I've been pretty Cool to all the covers here, but this is quite the exception, and OOOOH IT'S SO RAAAAW (Infamously so, we all know John had to save this one for last as it shredded his vocal chords somewhat!). Another one that actually makes me Move, which is impressive, and it closes the Album on a very strong note~

CONCLUSION

Best 3: I Saw Her Standing There, Please Please Me, Twist And Shout

Blurst 3: Love Me Do, Anna (Go To Him), Baby It's You. [To be honest I kinda wanna put LMD here three times instead, but myeah]

Overall Quality?: It's Decent! In the context of it being their debut album, it's more impressive, but knowing how much the songwriting and music would develop does rather cast this in a long shadow. My 3 faves here are also the only ones* that got Red Album remasterings by the looks of it, and I sure see why they were chosen over the rest (*Though Love Me Do's omnipresence baffles me!)

🪲🪲🪲🪲

Neeext Time on my Bug Music reviews, we shall be With The Beatles ;3c

[dullahandyke]

post got long whoops. tldr autism plus unmedicated adhd equals media hellscape

have recently come to the realisation that ive had a complex about art consumption for a long long time, stemming from when i was a tween watching playthroughs and reviews and never playing or watching the stuff the reviews were based on. and some of that was because i was young and didnt have a computer to play danganronpa on, but i've been pirating shows as long as i've been on the internet, yet i never watched any of the anime all the youtubers talked about because it was safer and easier to listen to them talk about it and the culture than it was to ever have to seek out something i liked, to have to have my own thoughts about it. and that's followed me for at least 7 years at this point, and like, fuck, man, i wanna get out of that, but like, it's just so easy to sink into fanon. i don't watch youtube reviews anymore, but i've gotten into more than one fandom almost solely by reading a shitton of fanfiction about it. and i (former owner of yourfavehasfewerficsthanthislamp [eimear lore, veterans discount, etc]) am well aware that fanon near-universally flattens and disregards its characters and stories, saying 'fuck canon' and often for valid reason but rarely making anything better than it, but hell, it's just something to shove down my gob. it feels like easy reading, like i don't have to have my own big thoughts about symbolism and characterisation because someone else has done it for me, and it's shitty to treat fanfiction as inherantly less meaningful, but i do it anyway because it feels like the reading equivalent of having momma bird chew my food for me, and it makes me feel guilty but it keeps me fed! and i've found that a solution for this is to get into something that i've never seen anyone talk about, that nobody knows the Right Opinions for, and blade of the immortal has been wonderful for that! it's a good manga that's so long that it deters anyone from following me down the rabbit hole on a whim, and i like having my own little pit! but then i read another manga and i post about it and someone replies with an observation on the manga, and i think to myself, 'oh god', i think, 'now the neighbours are coming over and i have to clean the living room, i have to make sure my opinions are fully-formed and my appreciation is proper and there's not any mess', and even then there's a shitty bit that feels indignant because i liked to feel special, unique, like i was the only person that knew that manga and someone else has shattered that illusion, and i know i should be happy to share it but i never quite grew out of wanting to feel cool and obscure and like things were MINE. and the thing is that the more i read only fanfiction, the more i can literally feel my braincells dwindling, and i WANT to read something more substantial, because i know that if i pick up a novel or a manga or even the base material for the fic im reading, then i'll have fun and feel intelligent, but it feels like building myself up to opening that book is a chore that opening ao3 simply isnt. i've wanted to finished batman year one, i've wanted to read the hunchback of notre dame, but what i end up reading is a 33k batfam fic that i barely even read, that i only ever skim because slowing down and appreciating things and sitting with them, even just slowing down to actually read them, feels less like the direct hit of stimulus that skimming is. and so i've decided that the logical conclusion is to 1) get into media that i have never in my life seen on tumblr, that none of you fuckers could ask me about if you tried and 2) never ever post about it or search for community around it. to allow myself to read things wrong and to not have the pressure of feeling like there's someone over my back in all this, like i'm not in fandom or criticising fandom but just existing on my lonesome. potentially even to the point of going on break from tumblr for a bit, because i love you fuckers and this is a neutral statement but fandom is unavoidable on here. and i would for sure come back to tumblr and i would maybe come back to less obscure shit once i

hold on tumblr has a text block character limit. anyway once i built up more confidence in myself and didnt feel any pressure to have the right opinions about shit, even if i never engaged in fandom again but instead just kept up with some popular stuff, like an office worker who casually watches breaking bad or whatever. and this is really what i should be doing, and maybe not now because the leaving is in *checks watch* literally a month and a half oh fuck. and i need to focus my brainpower on that (lol as if thats gonna happen) but i cant make a concerted effort towards the leaving if im working on reforming my media habits. but even in the summer i could do it and i should do it, and cut back a little now to make it easier than going cold turkey.

which is why now was THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME to get into batman via take-a-fucking-guess ding-ding-ding fanfiction osmosis, something which is both 1) undeniably mainstream enough that the odds of me meeting people in real fucking life to ask me about my Correct Opinions are higher than i would like them to be and 2) a labyrinth thats been built over the course of like 80 years, out of comics and movies and shows and games and the comics alone are a mess of timelines and reboots and crossovers and whoops-this-character-is-in-this-comic-now-better-fuck-off-over-there-if-you-want-to-find-them that wreaks absolute HELL upon my 'i wanna be sooo well informed and read all the stuff and take no shortcuts' approach that kicks in whenever i DO start actually engaging in shit instead of just the fandom.

like sigh ill muddle through it because i picture dick grayson in motivational posters nowadays to help me do shit like get out of bed and climb stairs and take out my books, and i wanna return the favour, and like im getting closer 2 figuring out how to approach it (turns out the answer is 'one step at a time'. fucking shocker) but also fucking christ. idk idk idk ill go finish batman year one and then at some point ill watch the 2022 batman movie and then ill figure out where to go from there

[lgcjinyoung]

once JINYOUNG enters the meeting room, he’s met with his manager, NAM JINHO. “please take a seat.” he advises the model while quickly reviewing through his pile of papers. turning his attention towards the model, JINHO began talking, “like AECHA has informed you before, we’re taking this time to talk to each of the models and see what their future goals and if it aligns with what we have in store for you. in my files, the coaches have recorded how your performances were during the musical and while they were pleased with your performance, they did bring up something that caught their attention and it’s regarding the skills you’ve been working on in the last several months. because of this, it brings me to the question that i wanted to ask and that is what do you see yourself doing in the near future? i hope and believe that modeling will still be your priority, but are there specific types of gigs that you’re interested in — hosting, variety, acting?” JINHO knew he could list more, but he leaves it to JINYOUNG to express what his future goals were if he had any. “we’re aware that you’ve had your meeting with HYUNCHEOL so this helps us figure out your interests, but if there’s something specific that you want to do, now would be the best time to say it.”

his own manager. jinyoung still can’t quite believe it. he smiles at the male and greets him with a bow. the male before him seemed like a dream to him, leaving jinyoung unable to do anything but smile throughout the review and giving the occasional nod to signalize he was listening even if it seemed like he was completely spaced out. “this all still feels surreal,” he begins with a chuckle, running a hand through his growing strands. “I am very much still interested in keeping my main focus on modeling, no worries there, hyung,” he reassures his manager with a short laugh before folding his hands together to truly think about his options.

“the musical was fun and the opportunity given to feature on a b-side was additionally a fortunate surprise. when I was still a trainee I really enjoyed performing on stage. being a model is what ended up being my main profession and I have every ambition to further my brand and reputation in that regard but if possible I would like to use any opportunity I can get to stand on a stage; be that as a musical actor or potentially even a part of a future line up for the lgc boys. featuring on b-sides, appearing in music videos; this is where I would like to focus my energy on. I’m just seeing myself with a few things I could still use guidance on,” he continues on with a contemplative frown, hand on his chin while he hums in thought.

“I’m not sure if advancing both my rapping and singing along with performance and dance won’t be spreading myself too thin. considering my main focus is modeling too- so I’m a bit torn in that regard. I feel like singing would benefit me more and make me more versatile in terms of getting gigs. and then I’m not sure how much further I should focus on variety and hosting. i'm not aiming to become a host or guest on many variety shows but I would like to have my own channel and be authentic with my content to be closer to my fans and provide them with more content,” he concludes with a solid nod before meeting his manager’s eyes again with another smile. “I think that’s the path I would like to progress on if possible. thank you so much for taking my opinions and wishes into regard, hyung.”

OOC NOTES:

the content of this submission is fully ic and doesn’t reflect our opinions ooc. once you have responded to this prompt, please tag this as lgc:perfreview and send the form below to the points blog before FEBRUARY 12, 2023 11:59PM EST so you can claim your points. as for the points, you can distribute the 10 points to ANY skill (and can distribute across multiple skills if you wish). your reply must have a minimum of 300 words (and this will count as post activity).

KIM JINYOUNG ∙ PERFORMANCE REVIEW

- PR SUBMIT: +3 modeling, +3 hosting, +4 dancing  [ LINK TO SUBMIT ]

[glamrockerfredbear]

broim tired

jealousy w/ a shit ton of animatronics!!!!

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

tw - moon’s headcanons have sexual undertones

𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤 ⭒ 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐲

Ooo jealous big oaf Freddy? Interesting interesting 👀

Freddy has a good amount of self esteem so he doesn’t worry about losing you to any other. He also has a tremendous amount of trust and faith in you being loyal to him and the relationship. I’m talking he’d laugh if a man flirted with you because he knows you’d end up in his arms anyways.

He’s impossible to get jealous purposely or any other way. Freddy is just, too confident in himself and your relationship it’s almost, almost prideful.

But…alas, even the most perfect man like Freddy does get his moments of weakness.

A band came to PizzaPlex in contract to the company to boost reviews by performing. They weren’t a big band but they were quite well known for their pop music and their rising charts; so of course, corporate snatched their bookings. Not too expensive but not too unknown for the Fazbear brand.

Freddy, like always, greeted them with his kind and soft voice and his strong handshakes. He was ready to perform side to side with these new friends! Even Monty seemed happy to have them around. He was getting ready, letting some employees polish his rougher spots on his face as he chatted with the managers. And then he heard you and Vanessa laughing. He turned his head, ears wiggling on habit. You were here?!

“Wow! You seriously like that? Frogs legs aren’t good at all.” Vanessa chuckled, arms crossed in a relaxed pose. She looked at you as you joined in with your opinion, smiling. The band member who was speaking to you, the drummer as Freddy remembered, looked at your hips, legs, and then your lips. He smiled to himself more than your words and that’s when Freddy felt a tinge. Like he was just insulted by a parent or yelled at by Vanessa.

He didn’t know why, but he did not like how that drummer was looking at you. Ears still wiggling, he stood up and made his way to you; chest puffed and his heavy steps loud for all 3 of you to look at him. His face seemingly conflicted between wanting to look friendly and threatening.

“Freddy, they’re done polishing you?” You cheerfully asked. He nodded and stood behind you, his arms wrapping around your stomach—his bigger form hunching down to rest his head on your owns. Freddy’s claws gently moved some stray bangs off of your cheeks.

Neither you nor Vanessa said anything, as you both were quite used to Freddy’s silent yet physical affection on you. You were the apple to his eye, after all.

But the drummer looked directly at Freddy, confused and questioning. He spoke up quickly interrupting you, which Freddy thought was incredibly rude,

“Wait- You two are dating?”

“Oh- uh, yeah. Something like that.”

Freddy scoffed, amused at your awkward tone. Something like that?

“Yes. Me and my Superstar are together. And might I add, for a few months as well.” Freddy said all too cheerfully. You looked at up him suspiciously; he sound too sweet. You then turned to the drummer who seemed a little intimidated. What was he doing? You’ve only heard him use this tone on rude customers who were making his patience run thin…

You got out of his hug, looking at him more directly and gasped silently—Freddy’s face was spoiled and had become close enough to being a scowl! Was he trying to intimidate the band members?

“Freddy!” You scolded causing the big bear to look at you surprised, his ears drooping a bit.

“Superstar—“

“Can’t you see you’re scaring him?” You asked, lowering your tone. You didn’t want to make Freddy feel bad but what were you suppose to do when he was just glaring at someone like that?

He sighed and crossed his arms. It took everything in you to not hug him and smooch his face.

“He was looking at you funny! I-It’s against Fazbear policies!” Freddy accused, pointing a claw at the drummer who raised his hands in defeat and in fear. Truth be told you think Freddy made up that Fazbear ‘policy’ on the spot.

“Hey hey! Don’t worry ‘bout me man! I didn’t know they had a boyfriend!”

Freddy let out a huff, sounding unsatisfied with the drummers response. Vanessa patted his shoulder, doing a poor job at holding her giggles in.

“Awww, looks like the one and only Fazbear really does get jealous!” She teased with a big grin.

𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐠𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐆𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫

I think we all know how Monty is with jealousy.

He’s not very good at handling it. So imagine that if he can’t handle his own feelings, how will he react for outside forces messing with him? Monty is also sort of, explosive with his emotions. But you don’t need me to tell you that about him.

It was a nice calming day at the PizzaPlex with not many children running more. Any children were stuck with Sunny at the daycare so most of their older siblings where in the atrium either exploring or giving employees headaches with how much trouble they were causing. Unfortunately one of those employees were you, stuck behind the register of a Fazbear merch store.

You were busy all day scolding the teens with sticky fingers and restocking things that mysteriously went missing. You were wishing the crowds of people would soon stop so you could sneak out to meet up with your favorite gator. But your luck was running poorly, as a gang of teen boys entered. You sighed in defeat and got ready to either scold them or answer any of their questions.

“Hey uh….” One of them began, wearing a decorated Monty hoodie. You looked at the hoodie and began to wonder what your tall gator boyfriend was up to; smiling to yourself, you imagined he had probably gotten his tail stuck somewhere in Monty golf, again.

“So…When d’you get off?” The teen asked with his friends in the back giggling like madmen. He gave you one of the most awkward smiles. You scoffed,

“Scram, bud. I got a boyfriend.” You gave him your best uninterested voice, looking up at the ceiling light. He tsk’ed before leaning closer over the counter. Your glare hardened as you leaned farther back.

“Back off, kid—“

“Yeah? Or what sweet-cheeks?” He gave you another awkward grin that reminded you of those cheesy 90s movies. Clearly, he’s been at Faztheatre for too long and it’s influenced him. Pressing a palm to his forehead, you shoved him back.

“Don’t call people that and also—“ your eyes jolted at the shades of green and reds entering the shop. You smiled as Monty eyed the group suspiciously,

“Hey babe. ‘M here to take you for your break…” Monty said and you could already tell jealousy was strolling up in his face and the way he clenched his claws. The teen, who was far scrawnier than your Monty, got the gist and backed into some Roxanne Wolf plushies that fell all over him.

“Sorry boys! You’ll have to pick that up!” You smiled at them, walking out of the shop with Monty laying a protective arm around your shoulder giving them that infamous Monty snarl you loved oh so much.

“Damn teens.” Monty angrily spouted, turning around and slowing his steps to give the group a final glare; that infamous Monty glare that you loved oh so much.

You pressed a reassuring kiss to his cheek then to his neck, “Relax Monty. I’d never ditch a rockstar like you.”

✭ 𝐑𝐨𝐱𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐥𝐟 ✭

You had never been more grateful for your Faz Fast Pass! You were absolutely starving so you rushed through the crowds and mobs of family’s trying to desperately stick together in such a huge building. Once you placed your order, a STAFF bot had come to deliver your food and drink. The pizza was delicious! To die for, even! You had to give your regards to chef later on.

To your right, you spotted nothing but glitter, confetti, pretty streamers and the big pink headlines of “HAPPY BIRTHDAY DIANA” placed above a party table. Soon, the family who was behind you had crowded the area, putting plates and all types of drinks and foods on the table while the birthday girl, Diana, sat patiently at the end of the table.

You smiled and waved as Chica and Freddy made way towards to table, with Freddy’s grin being noticeable from miles away. The birthday girl squealed with excitement and happiness and rushed straight towards Chica giving her the biggest hug you’ve seen a kid ever give her.

Chica giggled and gave her a bear hug back. The way these guys worked so well with children made you think they were crafted with black magic, sometimes….

Everything was peaceful. The soft noises of the crowds were background noise while you gulped down as much pizza as you possibly could. It always seemed too peaceful, even. Like you were waiting Monty to start raging in his room or something…

“YOU ASK AGAIN AND I’LL USE YOUR HEAD AS MY CLAW SHARPENER!”

There it was. You sighed and got up, heading towards the commotion. But when you had made way to the yelling, Freddy had also gotten from his post to check the disturbance. He gave you a soft smile,

“I believe it’s Roxy…” he said, with an apologetic smile

“Nooooo..”

Another scream, which definitely had the raspy tone of Roxy’s voice. Yep, it was her. But why was she screaming so loud? Did some weirdo ask her a weird question again?

With Freddy’s help, you parted the sea of crowds and mobs of families sticking together. You took his hand momentarily since you weren’t a giant bear animatronic who could easily part crowds. Reaching Roxy, you saw her give a cowering employee another snarl. You rushed into action,

“Roxy! Wha-“

She let out a low huff, hands still clenched as the employee took his chance to escape her rage. She crossed her arms and turned to you.

“Listen to me first,” she began, her eyebrows still furrowed and her snarl barely even melting,

“Me and Freddy are hear to listen to—“ you said, causing her to stiffen and perk at the his name.

“You…came with him?” She questioned with a tone that sounded full of jealousy and the want to get into a heated argument with you. You sighed, putting yourself in her line of vision to stop her from saying anything dumb to Freddy.

“Roxy, what has gotten into you? You usually aren’t so…explosive on employees. I don’t want you to say ‘whatever’ about it, either. So what’s going on?” you watched her jaw stiffen, knowing her plans had been foiled.

“Listen it’s… he…that idiot asked if I could get your number for him and so I, I guess I freaked on him.” Roxy grumbled, reaching a hand out towards you bashfully. You, now full of smiles, took her hand and pulled her close to you as you kissed her temple. You caressed her cheek lovingly in a way to soothe her nerves.

“Oh Roxy…just relax. He probably didn’t know I was with such a cool rockstar, either.” You giggled, causing her to smile at you and share a kiss with you. She then turned to Freddy who stood quite still, doing nothing but smiling.

“Don’t you got a party to be at, Fazbear?”

✭ 𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐅𝐨𝐱𝐲 ✭

Foxy’s pirate cove had just recently been added to the atrium; with the Fazbear brand reclaiming Foxy to their brand on Freddy and Chica’s behalf. Now the fox pirate stood next to the main stage, his turquoise and sea green stage covered in pearls, shells, coral and all pirate like decorations. This stage also doubled as his green moon with Foxy having his own recharge station and room inside the pretty sea green curtains.

You and Foxy had barely began speaking thanks to Chica having you two become acquaintances. You shook his hook as he gave you a large toothy grin, his golden tooth shining brightly under the bright lights of the atrium. You two grew close on the fact Foxy had struggled with feeling like an outsider of the group, as he was just reinstated back into the group. You also felt that personally with your own coworkers, so Foxy would often speak with you about feeling left out.

Foxy came out one night, grinning as he walked to you, his decorated chest full of stars upon stars. He looked so polished and so pretty, nothing like how he looked before. This new Foxy was pristine and pretty. You greeted him with a smile as you heard Chica and an employee struggle to connect cables to the lights. But hey, they could manage right?

“Hey Foxy!” You greeted, letting go of your work as the pirate nodded and curiously looked over your shoulder.

“Hey there landlubber! I say, what are the lassie and them doing back ‘ere?” You looked back, seeing Chica and your coworker reading a manual on how to connect electric cables. You stifled a giggle at how they bickered,

“Probably trying to connect the cables.”

Foxy grinned at you, “An you ain’t gonna help ‘em?”

You shook your head making Foxy roar with laughter. You felt your cheeks flush a little; you were always fond of Foxy much more than any other animatronic. He always seemed so much more, easier to speak to for you. You weren’t sure if it was because he wasn’t well acquainted with everything, but it was just so easy to speak with Foxy. Truth be told, you may or may not have developed a teeeeeny tiny little crush on the pirate.

But you could never tell him! It be embarrassing and you were 200% that either Roxy or Monty would make fun of your crush. You rushed to your coworker, excusing yourself to Foxy by saying you were going help your coworker. When you walked in front of him, your coworker gave you a mischievous smile. One you’ve only seen on Monty,

“So…You and the captain huh?” He teased, elbowing your arm. You scoffed,

“Shut up.” You giggled. From far, Foxy watched intently. He frowned and stood stiffened on the stage just watching you laugh and joke with your coworker. He knew that guy; a real nice guy at that too. Always willing to help him or any other animatronic with whatever maintenance problem they had. He liked the guy a lot, really he did! But if he was going to be all touchy with you, Foxy wasn't sure if he'd like him as much anymore...

Foxy, the ever curious fox that he was, made his way to the both of you and began to craft some perfect little white lie in his brain.

"Lad, could ye help the big man? He's havin' some issues with his fans n' he's worryin' real hard 'bout it." He said, with a perfect expression that could've fooled even him. Your coworker gave you an apologetic smile for finishing your conversation so short and then took his leave, leaving Foxy smiling to himself.

"Hope Freddy gets that fixed out." You said out loud, gesturing Foxy next to you. The pirate immediately came to your side, gently knocking some hair off of your shoulders with his metal hook.

"Ah, don't worry so much, seashell. Yer friend gonna fix 'em up real fast!"

𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤 ⭒ 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐞

Listen, Bonnie isn't normally a jealous guy. But when he saw how you were so kind to a certain guest who wasn't so bad looking, He just sort of...acted off.

The usually cheery bunny had made a crack on the bowling ball he carried. He hadn't even noticed until a little girl next to him let out a whimper.

He gasped and looked down at her with worry, kneeling down to her level.

"I-I'm so sorry, cottontail! I didn't mean to frighten you! I just- my. uh, friend is speaking with someone and I'd rather they didn't."

The little girl titled her head, her pigtails bouncing with her head, "What do you mean?"

Bonnie gave a timid giggle before ushering her to her mother, who thanked him. After his exchange he heard your playful.

Something that would usually put him in the best mood possible now was tormenting him with the fact it wasn't him making you laugh. Bonnie turned his head again, his studded bracelets becoming his nervous fidget object. He felt his fans trying their hardest to relax his already overheated and bothered body.

Why was he so damn close to you?!

He made a straight path to your location, ignoring the map bots and STAFF bots bothering him. Bonnie even ignored Freddy, who seemed extremely confused by his intently focused face. His heavy stomps made you become aware of him.

"Bonnie!" You cheerly called, completely forgetting the guest as you rushed to Bonnie and gave the bunny a big hug. You heard the soft rumble of his fans inside his chest plate, his strong arms returning the nice and cozy hug. Bonnie smiled and gave your cheeks a gentle caress with his big hands.

"Hey , who’s this?" He asked with a big smile and watched as the guest made his awkward exit after seeing how you and Bonnie had embraced so lovingly.

"Oh...well, he was a lost guest but I guess he figured out...?"

"It’s nice he found his way around...Want to come back with me to the bowling alley?" Your big smile already made him knew what your response was.

𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤 ♡ 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚

Woah. She did NOT just see that happen! That guy totally didn’t just put his hands around you!

She shoved her food at Monty, who was awestruck at Chica giving up her food. He turned to Roxy about to ask if Chica was alright before Roxy pointed at the man trying to touch you and convince you to a date; however he worded you, you kept leaning back and repeating that you had a girlfriend. This guy just wouldn’t back down. Well, not until Chica came with the fiery pits of Hell opening in her wake.

“Back off pal!” She squawked, her voice becoming high pitched; it had even made some of the STAFF bot jolt. The man turned to her raising an eyebrow. “Who the h-“

“I’m one of THE stars in this establishment for your information! There’s no way they’d ever leave me for someone as nasty as you!” Chica scoffed, a cocky tone enveloping her already angry voice. You made a move to grasp her hand and screamed as Chica snatched your hand as soon as she could, never letting her eyes off of the man.

“You’re a really confident duck…” the man grumbled and you swore you saw Chica grow ever so slightly more murderous.

“I’m a chicken! Are you blind?!” She leaped at the man only being stopped by an army of STAFF bots who were programmed to stop anything that could potentially put Fazbear entertainment into a lawsuit. The man, clearly shaken and unsettled, made an exit straight for the main doors and shoved his way through multiple families and kids running around.

Chica sighed as the bots let go off her, some even patting her back in reassurance. She looked at you with sad eyes, “I-I’m real sorry I-…I must’ve scared you.”

“It’s okay Chica! That guy was a creep anyways.” You smiled, kissing her cheek and straightening her pink bow that become crooked in her angry rants. She returned your smile, holding your both your hands,

“What if we ask Monty for a round at mini golf? Get our minds off of things.” She pecked your cheek. And with that, you two had almost completely forgotten the entire situation.

Well, except for Monty who still seemed incredibly confused and a little bit frightened of Chica.

𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩 ☽

Moon was doing his nightly stroll of the PizzaPlex, keeping his eyes peeled for any suspicious activity just like how you asked him to. The company had kinda made you give him orders since you were the only person he ever really listened to.

But could you blame poor old Moon? Your charming good looks and soft hands made him practically swim in the clouds (literally and figuratively). So when he was able to finally make it official with you, he was in the clouds!

He couldn’t wait any longer, he had to finish this final rundown of the PizzaPlex so he could return to the daycare and put on a movie so you both could finally relax after a hard day of tending to children.

As he swam through the skies, sighing dreamily at the giggles you gave him over his stupid jokes and pretty outfits you secretly brought to show him, he heard something familiar. Your giggling.

And it was coming from that nasty alligator’s room! Moon felt as if he was dropped hard onto the tiles without any protection. His smile morphed into a deep lengthy frown.

What was that alligator saying that was so funny that you just had to be in his room?

Moon stepped onto the floor, his light footing making no noise above his loud joints and grunts of jealousy. He was at the doorstep deciding whether or not to barge in and steal you from Monty.

In the end, just so you wouldn’t be upset, he knocked. And he got the rudest response ever!

“Huh? Go away. We’re busy in here.” The gator mumbled, with you chastising his rudeness. Moon huffed and knocked again; he could not believe you, a kind hearted person, was in the same presence as this rude unforgivable gator! He would’ve much rather preferred you with some stupid STAFF bot!

“I said get lost pal!”

“Monty you’re so rude! Coming!” He still could not believe it for the 3rd time. Was that truly your voice inside? Oh, tell him that it was a recording.

You had opened the door and the first thing Moon had noticed was that proud pin of his face on your Fazbear employee shirt. But next to it was Monty. He, again, couldn’t believe it.

“Hey sweet pea!” You smiled with Monty in the back sitting on his couch, his legs spread just his arms above the couch. He could see Monty’s devilish smirk forming behind your back.

“Why are you in here with this fool?!” Moon questioned, not taking any time to beat around the bush. You blinked,

“With Monty? We were just speaking—“

“And what about? Oh no no this just will not do…” he mumbled, more to himself than you. You sighed and gave Monty a quick glare when he chuckled.

“Moon. Relax. Me and Monty were just talking about some rude kids we came acROSS- HEY PUT ME DOWN!”

Moon had plucked you straight from the ground, carrying you in his comically skinny arms. Although, he was very strong despite how skinny his arms was. You held a death grip onto his back as his arms snuggly wrapped around your waist and you subconsciously wrapped your legs around his waist as well.

“Oh no no…this just will not do. We must hurry back. Yes yes, then, we will have fun my sweetness…” Moon murmured, his grin returning and those biddy red eyes full of mischief. You could feel those sticky fingers become attach to places on you that you knew Moon knew not to grab you on.

As Moon made his exit, Monty called out. That gator always had to have the last word on everything.

“Don’t have too much fun you two!! There’s cameras everywhere!”

[pumpkinpaix]

mdzs fandom, diaspora, and cultural exchange

Hey everyone. This post contains a statement that’s been posted to my twitter, but was a collaborative effort between several diaspora fans over the last few weeks. Some of the specifics are part of a twitter-localized discourse, but the general sentiments and issues raised are applicable across the board, including here on tumblr.

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ve probably seen a few of my posts about this fandom, cultural exchange, and diasporic identity. For example, here, here, and here. This statement more directly criticizes some of the general issues I and others have raised in the past, and also hopefully provides a little more insight into where those issues come from. I would be happy if people took the time to read and reblog this, as the thought that went into it is not trivial, and neither is the subject matter. Thank you.

Introduction

Hello. I'm a member of a Chinese diaspora discord server - I volunteered to try and compile a thread of some thoughts regarding our place and roles in the fandom expressed in some of our recent discussions. This was primarily drafted by me and reviewed/edited by others with the hopes that we can share a cohesive statement on our honest feelings instead of repeatedly sharing multiple, fragmented versions of similar threads in isolation.

This was compiled by one group of diaspora and cannot be taken to represent diaspora as a whole, but we hope that our input can be considered with compassion and understanding of such.

For context, we are referencing two connected instances: the conflict described in these two threads (here and here), and when @/jelenedra tweeted about giving Jewish practices to the Lans. Regarding the latter, we felt that it tread into the territory of cultural erasure, and that it came from a person who had already disrespected diaspora’s work and input.

Context

The Lans have their own religious and cultural practices, rooted both in the cultural history of China and the genre of xianxia. Superimposing a different religious practice onto the Lans amidst other researched, canonical or culturally accurate details felt as if something important of ours was being overwritten for another’s personal satisfaction. Because canon is so intrinsically tied to real cultural, historical, and religious practices, replacing those practices in a canon setting fic feels like erasure. While MDZS is a fantasy novel, the religious practices contained therein are not. This was uncomfortable for many of us, and we wanted to point it out and have it resolved amicably. We were hoping for a discussion or exchange as there are many parallels and points of relation between Chinese and Jewish cultures, but that did not turn out quite as expected.

What happened next felt like a long game of outrage telephone that resulted in a confusion of issues that deflected responsibility, distracted from the origin of the conflict, and swept our concern under the rug.

Specifically, we are concerned about how these two incidents are part of what we feel is a repeated, widespread pattern of the devaluing of Chinese fans’ work and concerns within this fandom. This recent round of discourse is just one of many instances where we have found ourselves in a position of feeling spoken over within a space that is nominally ours. Regardless of what the telephone game was actually about, the way it played out revealed something about how issues are prioritized.

Background

MDZS is one of the first and largest franchises of cmedia that has become popular and easily accessible outside of China. Moreover, it’s a piece of queer Chinese media that is easily accessible to those of us overseas. For many non-Chinese fans, this is the first piece of cmedia they have connected with, and it’s serving as their introduction to a culture previously opaque to them. What perhaps is less obvious is that for many Chinese diaspora fans, this is also the first piece of cmedia THEY have connected with, found community with, seen themselves in.

Many, many of us have a fraught relationship with our heritage, our language—we often suffer from a sense of alienation, both from our families and from our surrounding peers. For our families, our command of the language and culture is often considered superficial, clunky, childish. Often, connecting with our culture is framed as a mandatory academic duty, and such an approach often fosters resentment towards our own heritage. For our non-Chinese peers, our culture is seen as exotic and strange and other, something shiny and interesting to observe, while we, trapped in the middle, find ourselves uprooted and adrift.

MDZS holds an incredibly important place in many diaspora’s hearts. Speaking for myself, this is literally the first time in my life I have felt motivated and excited about my own native tongue. It's the first time I have felt genuine hope that I might one day be able to speak and read it without fear and self-doubt. It is also the first time that so many people have expressed interest in learning from me, in hearing my thoughts and opinions about my culture.

This past year and a half in fandom has been an incredible experience. I know that I am not alone in this. So many diaspora I have spoken to just in the last week have expressed similar sentiments about the place MDZS holds in their lives. It is a precious thing to us, both because we love the story itself, and because it represents a lifeline to a heritage that’s never felt fully ours to grasp.

It’s wonderful to feel like we are able to welcome our friends into our home and show them all these things that have been so formative to our identities, and to be received with such enthusiasm and interest. Introducing this to non-Chinese friends and fans has also been an opportunity to bridge gaps and be humanized in a way that has been especially important in a year where yellow peril fear mongering has been at an all-time high.  

History

However, MDZS’ rise in popularity among non-Chinese audiences has also come with certain difficulties. It is natural to want to take a story you love and make it your own: that’s what transformative fandom is all about. It is also natural that misunderstandings and unintentional missteps might happen when you aren’t familiar with the ins and outs of the culture and political history of the story in question. This is understandable and forgivable—perfection is impossible, even for ourselves.

We hope for consideration and respect when we give our knowledge freely and when we raise the issue of our own discomfort with certain statements or actions regarding our culture. Please remember that what is an isolated incident to you might be a pattern of growing microaggressions to us. In non-Asian spaces, Asian diaspora are often lumped together under one umbrella. In the west, a lot of Chinese diaspora attach themselves to Korean and Japanese media in order to feel some semblance of connection to a media which approximates our cultures because there are cultural similarities. This is the first time we've collectively found community around something that is actually ours, so the specificities matter.

There is a bitterness about being Asian diaspora and a misery in having to put up a united front about racial issues. Enmity towards one group becomes a danger to all of us, all while our own conflicted histories with one another continue to pass trauma down through the generations. Many of us don’t even watch anime in front of our grandparents because of that lingering cultural antipathy. When the distinctions between our cultures are muddled, it feels once again like that very fraught history is flattened and forgotten.

Without the lived experience of it, it’s hard to understand how pervasive the contradictory web of anti-Asian and, more specifically, anti-Chinese racial aggressions are and how insidious its effects are. The conflation of China the political entity (as perceived and presented by the US and Europe) with its people, culture, and diaspora results in an exhausting litany of criticism levied like a bludgeon, often by people who don’t understand the complicated nature of a situation against those of us who do.

There is often a frankly stunning lack of self-awareness re: cultural biases and blind spots when it comes to discussions of MDZS, particularly moral ones. There are countless righteous claims and hot takes on certain aspects of the story, its author, and the characters that are so clearly rooted in a Euroamerican political and moral framework that does not reflect Chinese cultural realities and experiences. Some of these takes have become so widespread they are essentially accepted as fanon.

This is a pattern of behavior within the fandom. It is not limited to any specific group, nor does it even exclude ourselves—we are, after all, not a monolith, and we should not be placed on pedestals to have our differing opinions weaponized against one another in fandom squabbles. We are not flawless in our own understandings and approaches, and we would appreciate it if others would remember this before using any of us as ultimate authorities to settle a personal score.

It is difficult not to be disheartened when enthusiastic interest crosses the line into entitled demand and when transformative work crosses into erasure, especially when the reactions to our raised concerns have so frequently been dismissive and hostile. The overwhelming cultural and emotional labor we bring to the table is often taken advantage of and then criticized in bad faith. We are bombarded with racist aggressions, micro and macro, and then met with ridicule and annoyance when we push back. Worse, we sometimes face accusations of hostility that force us to apologize, back down, and let the matter go.

When we bring up our issues, it usually seems to come with the expectation that there are other issues that should be addressed before we can address ours. It feels like it’s never really the time to talk about Asian issues.

On the internet and in fandom spaces, Western-coded media, politics and perspectives are assumed to be general knowledge and experience that everyone knows and has. It feels like a double standard that we are expected to know the ins and outs of western politics and to engage on these terms, but most non-Chinese have not even the slightest grasp of the sort of politics that are at play within our communities. We end up feeling used for our specialized knowledge and cultural background and then dismissed when our opinions and problems are inconvenient.

As the culture represented in MDZS is not a culture that most non-Chinese fans are familiar with, we’d like to remind you that you do not get to decide which parts of it are or are not important. While sharing this space with Chinese diaspora who have a close connection to the work and the painful history that goes along with being diaspora, we ask that you be mindful of listening to our concerns.

Cultural erasure is tied to a lot of intense historical and generational trauma for us that maybe isn't immediately evident: the horrors of the Pacific theatre, the far-reaching consequences of colonization, racial tensions both among ourselves and with non-Chinese etc. These are not minor or simple things, and when we talk about our issues within fandom, this is often what underlies them. This is one of the first and only places many of us have been able to find community to discuss our unique issues without feeling as if we’re speaking out of turn.

With the HK protests, COVID, the anti-Chinese platforms of the US election etc., anti-Chinese sentiment has been at the forefront of the global news cycle for some time now, and it is with complete sincerity that we emphasize once again how important MDZS fandom has been as a haven for humanizing and valuing Chinese people through cultural exchange.

Experiencing racial aggression within that space stings, not just because it’s a space we love, but because it feels like we’ve been swimming in rapidly rising racial aggression for over a year at this point.

Feelings

This is a difficult topic to broach at the best of times, and these are not the best of times. Many of us have a wariness of rocking the boat instilled in us from our upbringings, and it is not uncommon for us to feel like we should be grateful that people want to engage with something of ours at all. When we do decide to speak up, we’ve learned that there is a not insignificant chance that we’ll be turned on and trampled over because what we’ve said is inconvenient or uncomfortable. When it is already so difficult to speak up, we end up second-guessing and gaslighting ourselves into wondering whether there really was a problem at all.

We’d like to be able to share what we know about our culture and have our knowledge and experience be taken seriously and treated with courtesy. This is a beautiful, rich world built with the history of our ancestors, one that we too are trying to connect with. When we find it in ourselves to speak up about it, we would appreciate being met with consideration instead of hostility.

We don't have the luxury of stepping away from our culture when we get tired of it. We don't get to put it down and walk away when it’s difficult. But if you're not Chinese or Chinese diaspora, you get to put this book down—we'd like to kindly request that you put it down gently because of how much it matters to all of us in this fandom, regardless of heritage.

What we are asking for is reflection and thoughtfulness as we continue to engage with this work and with one another, especially with regards to how Chinese issues are positioned. When we raise issues of our own discomfort, please take a moment to reflect before reacting defensively or trying to shut us down for spoiling the fun—don’t deprioritize our concerns, especially in a fandom for a piece of Chinese media. We promise most of us are not trying to start shit for the sake of a fight. Most of the time, all we want is acknowledgement and a genuine attempt at understanding.

Our hope with this statement is to encourage more openness and understanding between diaspora and non-Chinese fans while we navigate this place that we’re sharing. Please remember that for many of us, MDZS is far more intense than a typical fandom experience. Remember that the knowledge we have and research we do is freely and happily given, and that it costs us both materially and emotionally. Please don’t take that for granted. Remember too that sometimes the reason for our discomfort may not be immediately evident to you: what seems culturally neutral and harmless might touch upon specific loaded issues for us. We ask for patience, and we ask for sincerity as we try to communicate with one another.

We are writing this because there’s a collective sense of imposed silence—that every time the newest round of discourse crops up, we often feel as if we’re walking away having created no meaningful change, and nursing new wounds that we’ll never get to address. But without speaking up about it, this is a cycle that will keep repeating.

This is not meant to shame or guilt the fandom into throwing themselves at our feet, either to thank us or beg for forgiveness—far from that. We’re just your friends and your fellow fans. We are happy to have you here, and we’re happy to create and share and play together. We just ask to be respected and heard.

Thank you. Thank you for listening. Several of us will be stepping back from twitter for a while. We’ll see you when we get back. ❤️

* A final addendum: here are two articles with solid practical advice on writing stories regarding a culture other than your own.

Cultural Appropriation for the Worried Writer: Some Practical Advice

Cultural Appropriation: Some More Practical Advice

The thread on twitter is linked in the source of this post. Thanks everyone.

[aacappreviews]

hi ! I want to start this by saying I received a copy of speak for yourself for free , which I am so very grateful for , not just so I can write this but also because it has helped me so much in my daily life. I am using the app to write this review , just because I find it so much easier than typing! as always, I have no affiliation with the creators of SfY, but i think they’re absolutely awesome.

speak for yourself was created by two SLPs,  which is really reflected in some of the features found in this AAC program.

speak for yourself has only one grid size, 8x15,  but with a unique feature - the user can begin with as few as two words accessible, and those two words will stay in the same place as their vocabulary expands.

in fact , all of the words in speak for yourself will always stay in the same place, no matter whether you're working with 2 words or the full 14,000 available in the app!

(an image of the speak for yourself home page with all words open)

speak for yourself bases its language system around the concept of motor planning,  meaning that once a user learns where to find a word , they never have to learn that word again - it’ll always be in the exact same place, allowing language acquisition to be supported by the motor plans in the user’s mind. not only that, but all 14,000 words are available within just two taps. this hugely improves speech rate and also makes the app very easy to navigate, in my opinion it’s an absolutely brilliant feature and isnt found within any other software.

words are organised by association, rather than parts of speech - so “book” is found under “read”, rather than under “nouns”. i personally think this makes the app more accessible for young users or people who struggle to understand parts of speech, words are more intuitive to find than in other AAC apps.

this isn’t to say SFY doesn’t focus on grammar at all - the opposite is actually true. verb inflections are always organised in a certain order (eg. the “-ing” form is always two buttons to the right of the root word.) this is really helpful for people learning language through motor planning, and has helped me develop my own grammar skills over time. an inflections folder is also included, so almost any word can be altered to its plural form, past tense, etc.

specific words can be made visible or invisible to the user through the “open/close” feature, to allow progressive language development and to stop the user becoming overwhelmed by too many words. all words can be made accessible through the “babble” feature - great for exploring new words and building motor plans! the search feature is also very robust, it highlights the path to the word and automatically opens the word to make it visible in the future.

once typed into the speech bar, sentences can be stored by touching the “hold that thought” button, which saves sentences to be spoken later. this is an invaluable feature for AAC users, as we so often get interrupted with another question and don’t get to speak what we were preparing!

the typing feature in SFY is very well-integrated. it uses your device’s keyboard, and has the option to read out each letter. it loads quickly, so switching from symbols to typing doesn’t interrupt your sentence flow. however, it doesn’t include the symbols for each typed word like i’ve seen in other AAC apps, and it doesn’t have in-app word prediction.

sadly, SFY is only available in english right now, and it’s unclear whether other languages will be added in the future ; as a bilingual user this is something i’d really love, so i hope other languages are one day supported in SFY!

speak for yourself uses Cereproc voices, with customisable pitch, and Acapela voices are available as an in-app purchase. the supported Cereproc accents are australian english, indian english, south african english, irish english, UK english and US english. however, the former three all sound quite automated and child voices are only available in US english (and british english if you purchase an acapela voice). i’d also like to mention that while i really like a lot of the Cereproc voices, they can sometimes begin to glitch towards the end of very long sentences. not really a big deal, but again, still worth mentioning.

pros and cons!

pros:

words available within two taps

14000 words

organised intuitively

words are easy to add

can be made accessible for visually impaired users

hold that thought feature

robust search feature

variety of voices

good grammar support

free trial version

cons:

only english available

slightly unusual symbols (eg. photo of a witch for “which”)

quite expensive, although often half price on disability awareness days and autism awareness month

only available on iOS

in all honesty, SFY is the most robust AAC system i’ve ever found, and at least on an individual level i can vouch that it has really improved my life. if you’re looking for an AAC system for somebody, no matter how young, i really urge you to consider this as an option, there isn’t really another program like it.

thank you for reading my review, and if you’ve used SFY and disagree with anything i’ve said, please let me know!

[greysfall]

My 4444-word review of NEO TWEWY (with personal illustration + heavy spoilers)

My overall critical score for the game is 7.5/10, while my personal enjoyment score is 8.5/10. This review is posted as I have 80% completed the game, got the secret ending and achieved the Angel psychic rank. I’ll first start with the main pros and cons as follows.

PROS:

-        Enjoyable as a whole, still upholding the first game’s spirit in world building and sharing the same backbone - which was mostly revealed in the Secret Reports, it’s impossible to grasp the story without reading them.

-        The new cast and new game is charming in their own way

-        The old cast’s return is one of the biggest highlights for sure, it was fun and impactful. Everyone stays true to themselves and also had their own stories wrapped up nicely.

-        Boss designs are cool, new pins are fun to use and collect

-        The connection between the old and new cast is well written and executed, including but are not limited to the tension between the old and new protagonist, the weird but fun interaction between the 2 Composers, the new friendships revealed and formed

-        Sho being in the main cast is something so uniquely TWEWY and uniquely Sho

-        Still good music

-        Still many fun side quests, some of them really uphold the same quirky spirit of the old game and some are surprisingly touching

-        Many new nice stores and yummy looking foods to explore

-        The map is really easy to memorize for me, it’s fun to travel around the “current” Shibuya to see all the differences compared to the past

-        The social network is crazy and interesting to read through

-        Has an anti-frustration system to help 100% complete the game more easily and earn money faster, so post-game is relatively managable.

-        Overall, I really feel the efforts the team poured into making this as their passion project, not just during the development process but for all the last 14 years. They showed the vision of what they wanted to make, at the same time giving something to both the old as well as new fans.

CONS:

-        The biggest problem with the game is scenario writing. The story is so heavily back-loaded. The director himself thought it would be better to balance out the tension flow by adding more at the beginning but gave in to the scenario writer in the end, probably due to time pressure. This results in an underwhelming execution of characterization and lots of wasted potentials for the first half of the game.  

-        I struggle to view it as a stand-alone game, since the backstory and the old cast both play such an important role in the core of the game. If someone plays this game without having played the OG, they can only enjoy it on surface value at best.

-        The new cast is nice but most of them aren’t quite as intriguing as the old cast, maybe it’s cuz they’re all too nice deep down that they lack a little bit of an edge, of that batshit craziness that everyone in the OG used to have? I think some characters (Fret, Nagi) ended up weaker in terms of characterization because the writer is too afraid of making them unlikeable – which kind of backlashed cuz they only became likable in the most expectable way to cater for a specific group of fans. I would have wished for the other team leaders to be more crazy too, had they not suffered 30+ loops of the Game…

-        The CAMERAWORK IS HELL.

-        Gameplay does get tedious at certain points with all the time travels.

-        Shiba is so badly written as a villain, some Shinjuku characters should be given more screentime cutting into Shiba’s– like Hishima or Kaie or even, Hazuki (though his limited presence also solidified his importance).

-        Some of the main character designs, for example Beat’s hairstyle and his food reactions are hilariously bad. What’s the point of covering up most of his unique facial features?

-        Some of the minor/side characters’ design are too cool for them to have such a small role (eg: Ayano, Eiru). Ryoji did get much screentime but is nowhere as fun as Makoto was.

-        Overall the scope of this game is made a little too big for the team to handle as perfectly as the last game that was very compact, it felt somewhat rushed in development too so the missing pieces are clearly there in the final picture

The entry fee versus paying for it all in the end

An important difference between the Neo game and the original Shibuya game was that the Shibuya rule asked for an entry fee that is the Player’s most important asset, stated as a chance the Composer gives them to reexamine themselves. Meanwhile, the Shinjuku rule neither encourages nor allows personal growth and ultimately aims to erase as many Players as possible. It’s a pity we were never introduced to the full Shinjuku rulebook, as it seems like the system there focuses more on building up power and a grand government to compare with the individuality-driven system of Shibuya.

When you have to compare the new game and the original game (OG), this is an important factor to consider. Also, the OG has a serious storyline running through and through, locked with a different partner/GM creating unique atmosphere for each week and you don’t get to see your old partners again until the end. NEO’s team system does not allow such deep insight and communication between the Players. All of your teammates are always there throughout, the dynamic does change with each new addition but it is not as prominent as a partner change.

Another important factor is how the OG was built from scratch for a new platform as “something no one has ever seen before”, while Neo recycled a lot of old unused ideas from the previous development (check out this interview for more details). The development team for NEO lacks 2 key members and had a change of writer so the final product is not as strongly bound together as the last game.

The new cast is definitely inspired by today’s teenagers (from the view of creators), compared to the old cast they’re more sociable and always seem to take whatever works for them despite feeling unstable inside. They are all innocent and genuinely nice kids, avoiding to hurt each other to a degree that they end up keeping some sort of distance. They’re also unable to communicate at deeper levels, always stagnant at this half-baked stage of equilibrium without any motivation to get to the core of things. That is the cost of entering the game without an entry fee, without even dying or having a reason to be there/to fight seriously. These kids were stolen from the RG into a Game that was decidedly the worst environment for them to change or develop, just wandering around cluelessly to find a way “out” until tragedies started to unfold one by one and they ended up being charged the total sum of the price for their actions – ultimately losing everything in the end.

That is, I believe, a story arc which can resonate more to the youth of today rather than of my generation. If the message of the old game was to “listen”, enjoy life to the fullest and accept to trust others, the message of the new game is to “speak up” from the inside, trying to understand yourself and take actions instead of just going with the flow and finally, to take responsibility for such actions.

If Neku was handpicked by the Composer for being the special one with an all-dense soul to ensure victory of the game then Rindo was just a normal kid chosen out of random by Kubo to be his back-up plan, who just happened to have a high enough imagination to awaken the incredible power from his pin. Rindo was then officially chosen by the Composer as Josh picked up and handed the pin to him again, this time not as Josh’s personal Proxy – but as the Proxy to represent the normal people of Shibuya and via whom he could gamble if humans can fight for their own fate.

The underworld heroine and the hero with little of his own

Shoka is for me a refreshing and layered heroine. She’s the kind of character that took at least 3 trials of creators to form as a complete individual – that included Nomura who gave her the base design and Reaper background, Gen who gave a more cunning touch and the writers who made her English dialogues more punchy. Dishonesty equals “tsundere” is such a cliché, so the English writers tried really hard to avoid that trope in my opinion, while still letting her good intention come through.

She serves as the character who is informed of everything the players should have known, and there was almost nothing she could do about it. Almost. Until she met Rindo.

They were drawn to each other by sharing a state of “not having anything of their own”. They both started out with not being able to truly know themselves, Shoka even hated her RG life but also managed to mature from that stage before Rindo. She must have vibed with Shiki’s love and passion in the Gatto Nero threads, initiating her connection with Shibuya and understanding herself more. With Shoka as Swallow, they were able to open up to each other and offer mental support… but was still not getting to the centre of their problems because for all this time, Shoka could not tell Rindo the most important things about herself.

How did Shoka feel when she met Rindo at the UG? She probably didn’t want to hope that he would live the day until she witnessed the Twisters’ potentials. From the very beginning, they were both incredibly conscious of each other and also constantly frustrated that the person they happened to “notice” was such a condescending bitch/a clueless loser. The Shinjuku Reapers are overall quite drunk in power and uncompassionate to Players, Shoka included. She is also a master of dissociation, which results in her constant boredom, tone swings, haughtiness and subconsciously distancing herself from the friend – the boy she cares about – from false hope, as she judged from facts that it was a hopeless situation where nothing could ever be. Maybe she is naturally a bit of a chameleon just like her name suggests (Shoka 紫陽花 = hydrangea, the color-changing flower), so putting on an act and always dissociating herself from what’s important was easy, while hiding her contradiction was impossible. It was the ex-Reaper Beat who broke it out to her, that she should decide whether she really cared and wanted to do something for a change. He knew how it felt like to cross that line, and knew she wanted to too.  

Shoka is endeared by many of the Shinjuku Reapers and has shown independent acts of kindness (the Shinjuku ghost), proving that her kind and truthful side is as real as her harsh and dishonest side – which makes her a nice mirror to the previous heroine Shiki, who also embraced a dichotomy of self-complex and self-love within her character. In the end, she was the first of the new cast to ultimately accept all that is important to her and independently made the decision to help save Shibuya despite all costs.

She was jealous at Rindo’s interaction with Tsugumi and Kanon but remained silent cuz she wasn’t at a place to have any say about it. She also didn’t reveal about Swallow because that would only add an awkward irrelevance to their current situation, as she was too ready to face erasure at the end of the Game. She only wished to “play a game” with him, be it FanGo or the Reapers’ Game. The tension that the team could only feel at the end, she’s felt it the entire time. The song “DIVIDE” is applicable to not just one bond in the game, but it always makes me think of theirs. There is always a “divide” between her and Rindo throughout the course of their journey, as the living and the dead, as a Player and Reaper, as someone who has a place to return to and someone who doesn’t, someone who knows little but wields too much power and someone who knows a lot despite not being able to do much.

“If only I had the chance to connect with you on the other side

But time goes on, and without us realizing it

The battle is getting heated

Time goes on, and without us realiazing it

Divided again”

To be honest, maybe I didn’t grow any affection for the new main cast from Rindo’s perspective but from Shoka’s. Since I started to sympathize with Shoka, I started to see the boy in a more “real” way. The real Rindo, behind his peaceful façade with others, would lash out on Shoka for her unfairly harsh attitude while none of the others cared. He could also subtly feel that mantle of unspoken secrets from her, her own contradictions, the unresolved chemistry between themselves – and not knowing what to do with it rather than to feel angry with all the unfairness he could not process. (As a Libra too, he’s triggered the most by unfairness!)

It is actually a positive development as he’s at least “reacting” to something strongly now rather than to keep evading his problems. During my replay, I clearly saw the difficult situation Shoka was in, her remaining harshness after the Motoi incident was due to her internal struggle with a mission to save her own life, versus a chance to really be with the team. Her decision was to do both at the risk of losing favour from both sides. Rindo started to accept her layer by layer, as the person who resonated the most to her contradicting nature from the start and knew that via learning her resolve, he has learnt his too.

Later into the game, she even got too much of his attention. Maybe even without knowing she’s Swallow, he’s familiar with her thinking direction and Swallow had always been closer to him than any other friend. It was only after she had to betray her important ones twice that she could start being truly honest. The scene when she died a 2nd time left a strong impression in me, the little reveal let Rindo know that he is also losing Swallow as he’s losing Shoka – and that only death could drive the last secret out of her. Her final “Later, loser” echoed through Rindo as it was the final truth, with only him remaining to hear it: they had actually, already lost everything.

Rindo was the boy who never dared to face all that matters to him until he lost it all, fighting an unfair battle in the faith that they would somehow still win. Shoka was the girl who always knew what was dear to her, but never dared to think she could be together with them ever after and still threw her all into a battle she knew was losing. I think they stir each other on naturally to fill out their gaps, similar to what the Shibuya game partner systerm would have aimed for. The end reward was a little divine intervention to help close up the divide between them once and for all.  

During the game there was not enough space to process anything personal so at the ending when they officially became “friends”, it was an important affirmation of their bond. Some people complained it was friendzoning but it’s not, they just have arrived at the perfect place to start something more. “From now on, we will truly be together” – I read it as that kind of message.  

The heroine from a lost battle, with her story taken away

After reading the secret reports and playing the game to be surprised of how small a role Tsugumi had in the main game despite being the “Hype-chan” thought to be a major character of the next TWEWY installment, many fans would feel sad at a missed opportunity to see the Shinjuku arc in full depiction.

It was shown clearly that, a Shinjuku arc was very carefully planned out and is a vital part of the whole story, yet it could not be made due to various circumstances behind the development scene. I would assume, that the team were not able to make a TWEWY game that ended on a despairing note, but it already happened in their mind, thus becoming a mental burden that forced them to break away from it and started the game anew with NEO. A significant part of NEO became the healing arc for the Shinjuku characters, especially for Tsugumi though I really wished more emphasis should have been placed on her rather than Shiba. We didn’t even get to see her brother – Shinjuku’s Conductor who had a vital role and instead was given the clueless Shiba, who had absolutely no idea what’s going on all the way until the last day in NEO. It’s as if Tsugumi has had her story stolen away from her, because her own battle ended with a saddening loss.

I think every time the game creators look at Tsugumi, they would feel that sadness too. Maybe to them, she is a bigger character than what is seen by the fans, as despite their failed effort to depict her story, she’s lived in their mind for all these years through periods of destruction, healing and rebuild.  Though it is a pity we could not get to experience the full scope of the Shinjuku story, the creators was clear about the place they wished for it to arrive at.    

Individuality, connection and the social network

The team system adapted from Shinjuku rulebook does not allow much room for personal development, as the team dynamic is closer to a work relationship forced to bear results, than a spiritual bond to max out all corners of understanding as found in the partnership system. The old Shibuya system allowed only 1 winner and 1 week limit per game, while the new rule declares for a 1 winning team and only the team at last place will be erased – the other teams will enter another loop. Furthermore, whichever team to challenge the unwinnable Ruinbringers will face the risk of ending up dead last followed by erasure. As a result, the longest-standing teams are most likely not the strongest ever recorded, but the ones who have figured out a strategy to simply survive until something changes, enjoying their newly found social constructs while they are at it. Basically, it is a system to hypnotise players into the illusion that they are still “living”.

Therefore, we as players would not get to the core of each Player individually as fast and directly as we did in the last game. The Twisters were able to stand out not because they’re powerful, they only started to have a real chance after growing enough to each form a meaningful and personal connection to another teammate. It did not come as a team, nor did it intiate from the existing friendship between Rindo and Fret. In fact, I did not find much solidity or anything truly note-worthy about the main team and new characters within themselves until they started clashing with other team members, Reapers and new recruits from week 2 onwards. Rindo found his personal development with Shoka (via a clash with Motoi and pretty much a mini dating sim between them), then via the confrontation of his role with Neku; Fret found his with Kanon then Nagi, the team learned about the real Neku via Beat, Neku entered the UG via Coco’s wish to save Tsugumi… it was not the team but their personal links that empowered them to fight and solve each of their problems.

The other team leaders may have failed because they did not form such personal links, after 30+ hopeless loops Fuya’s team all fell apart to pursue their own interest even at the cost of erasure, Motoi quit his KOL façade to work like a dog for the Reapers (probably to save just his own ass not his team), while Kanon dropped her tricks to find changes via honest cooperation in acceptance of a fair loss. The despairing note in that is huge without making much of a scene because their failure didn’t happen at their best effort to “win”, but in their last attempt to find a way “out”. Even Shiba got his way “out” in the end thanked to his personal friendship with Hishima and Tsugumi.

Something has shifted in the mindset of the game creators in the last 14 years, as both games are about “connection vs individuality” but the last game focuses more on connection between just individuals and this one on the overall network that is formed out of those individual connections.

The introduction of Beat into the main cast was truly the bridge between old and new, they helped each other out in several turns before officially recruiting him. Beat is a character whom a lot of fans including myself have felt somewhat concerned about after Neku disappeared from the RG, so when the new kids welcomed Beat with warm and organic interaction and Beat seemed happy, I started to feel like I wanted to help them out too! I think the overall team chemistry is enjoyable enough for new players, but I could warm up to the new kids more from the pov of a returning character – whom I’m glad to be Beat, as the older brother figure who is genuinely kind, fun, serious and upbeat at the same time; who is needed and needs the kids in return.

The social network is a fun and refreshing feature. You can read all of the crazy tidbits about Shibuya and the links each character have formed with the town people, it’s also fun to visualize how the characters act off screen. Characters’ profiles provide extra insight into their background too, like how it reveals Tsugumi has been friend with Coco during her time in the RG. During the game when not all characters have showed up, you can sometimes guess which empty spot will belong to whom. For example there is a 1 character linking to Neky that is not linked to anyone else, so I could guess that was Joshua, and that another character linking only to Joshua was probably Hazuki, hinting that the 2 Composers are related before either of them even showed up.

Hazuki only showed up for 5 minutes, but his presence is so vital and true to the game that I think he is the most memorable out of the new cast. The two Composers have such an intriguing bond, with their yin/yang or phoenix/dragon themes, opposite color design, the sempai/kouhai tone and the way they keep some sort of distance/work relationship as if it’s mandatory between Higher beings, yet at the same time they can talk so casually because they are truly equal – and different from one another. I have written a separate meta on them here.

Some people pointed out, that all Shinjuku characters’ names and themes are based off Hanafuda cards and the Phoenix in Hanafuda belongs to the Paulownia suit – which is Joshua’s name flower. This is so interesting because it feels like the creators somehow saw it as a sign to interweave the Shibuya and Shinjuku storylines together. Though it doesn’t come out much on the surface, it’s fascinating nonetheless considering both Josh and Haz had at some point interfered with the other town’s affairs.

“Shibuya tour with Haz” was such a special scene, as it happened between 2 characters who do not/no longer have a reason to care about Shibuya, on the subject of what is worth saving about Shibuya. Hazuki carried out the purification of Shinjuku and stepped in to restore Shibuya just as part of his job and unlike Hanekoma or Joshua who both possess profound understanding of humanity, he really didn’t know humans at all. Rindo’s irrational wish invoked in him a sense of curiosity, to try gambling on something irrationally and learning a bit of what his senior have experienced. With all the pieces put together, it provides an overview on Higher beings as a whole, and that Joshua and Hanekoma are really the odd ones out with Hazuki being somewhere in between them and the rest.        

The old friends

It’s easy to have returning characters overshadow the new cast as they have already matured out of their personal story arc and stayed in our hearts for all this time. In the end, I have managed to enjoy both the old and new cast separately and altogether, and they will both find their own place in our memory of this game for the long term.

Sho is truly as crazy as ever, the game wouldn’t be the same if Sho is any less of what he is. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like Neky or Beat is younger than Nagi at all, with moments when it seems like Neky has aged 14 years instead of 3 years. His friendship with Coco surprised me pleasantly, and their interaction together with Beat was fun to watch. Rhyme’s found a new dream and her friendship with Kaie is precious too, especially considering that she can still talk to him online after the game ended. Josh and Neku’s interaction suggested that they have resolved the past and are on equal terms now, they even parted ways in good spirit and I don’t feel any worry about them like I did before.

Neku and Shiki’s reunion scene was beautiful, theirs is such a special bond that it has grown and supported them even without being able to see each other. I am so happy to see them all again and that they stay true to who they are, albeit looking more grown up, cooler and happier than ever before.  

Overall, NEO can’t become a classic on par with the OG, but is definitely a good sequel and a good game in its own rights. I’m happy with whether or not there will be a 3rd game to complete the 3 monkeys theme, but if there will be – I hope the creators can really find the time to learn from the last 2 games and start over with a fresh mindset and strong core.  

[darlington-v]

I know different interpretations of a work are generally enriching and cool... but c!dream villan interpretations is like how to tell me you only watch Tommy without saying you only watch tommy.... which would be fine but its not a great place to be making statements about the whole nature of the dsmp lol

Wild speculation, but sometimes I wonder if like, because the dsmp didn't really start as a narrative, and a lot of fans don't nessecarily enter it expecting a narrative, but then there is one and the fandom is really discourse heavy and everyone is sort of excpeted to have an opinion while maybe not expecting to form one from the begining or not having a ton of experience with narrative in a way that would "expect" them to have an opinion or not take things at face value??, I don't know if I explained that well at all... and I don't really even think thats right nessecarily... but like wow sometimes some of the takes about power and government and villany...

Honestly, it makes sense!!!

I think something interesting is like.... looking at how animatics have shaped the like tone and culture of the fandom essentially. Like, an interesting fact that I didn't really fully grasp until SUPER recently is like...

c!Wilbur out the gate admits he is manipulating c!Tommy. Like his first youtube video on the Dream SMP he admits his goal is to manipulate c!Tommy and people like c!Tommy into helping him achieve a potion ("drug") empire to monopolize on potions because there were a lot of people on the server who like to min-max, which is to put all of your effort into this one specific skill essentially. so like... i know minecraft doesnt have a skill tree but if it did, it would be putting all your points into that one specific branch of a skill tree. So he wanted to exploit the labor of all the TommyInnits to.... maintain a Potion Empire.

THIS IS A LONG POST BC I GOT CARRIED AWAY SO BUCKLE UP

And I don't think a lot of the fandom who joined later on knows this. I certainly didn't until like a week or so ago? Like... I knew c!Wilbur had been manipulative from the start because I'm a mod of (shameless self promo incoming) @dsmpanalysis and we have a lot of different POVs in that mod team and discord and we talk about it really frequently. I joined the fandom as someone who was really big on L'manburg ESPECIALLY crimeboys, and have turned into.... *gestures vaguely to my blog*

And ngl I owe a lot of it to @1-michibiki-1 in terms of c!Dream "Apologism" but all of the mods there have expanded my thoughts and views on the storylines of this narrative.

My application consisted of like largely essays about like... how I think Dream was the villain but he was meant to be the villain because you don't get any insight into his character WHICH.... IS A FAIR ASSUMPTION AT FIRST GLANCE. People are easily villainized when you cannot get a glimpse into their thought process. It's easy to dwindle someone down into this flat character and starting out I knew Dream didn't stream the SMP on purpose.

And I personally came to the conclusion of "Oh! So Dream is supposed to be the villain." However as the story continued and I learned more about what Dream went through I began to realize that... it's more than likely a form of a red herring. My opinions on this were immediately solidified when I watched Ranboo's 2 MIL stream because both Ranboo AND Dream agree on enjoying red herrings.

There have been MANY times were Dream has said that c!Dream is a complex character and he's not a wholly evil guy and there have been times where the narrative has honestly just proved that.

Anyways, what's important though was that... I learned most of this from other people who were more focused on c!Dream rather than myself. Eventually I shifted from c!Tommy to c!Ranboo and c!Techno after c!Tommy betrayed c!Techno and I began to realize.... everything I learned before hopping in wasn't exactly what it seemed.

Part of this is because I'm older, I heavily identify with c!Techno's sense of loyalty and philosophies on government, but I especially identify with the anguish c!Techno voiced in... a lot of lore but especially the lore around Doomsday.

I'm not 16 anymore. I don't always feel wronged by adults, or older people in my case, whenever they absolutely have done something wrong by me, but I do feel wronged by my close friends. I also felt like c!Tommy's sense of loyalty didn't line up with mine after what felt like him constantly flip-flopping and refusing to understand c!Techno's morals on government didn't line up with his.

In short, it was easier to identify with Tommy in these animatics versus in the actual stream content because c!Tommy is played by a 16 year old. I'm not a teenager and my line of thinking doesn't entirely line up with people that age anymore. It's harder to place myself in the same shoes of someone's OC who is played closer to their actual age, because I'm not that age.

Regardless, I was still on the c!Dream is a villain train. I wasn't ever like... c!Dream is repulsive I hate him, but I was like omg hot villain lad go brrr.

Even when the first like... mellohi, panic room, Ranboo lore stream popped up I thought "Oh! c!Ranboo corruption arc?"

And I was excited because I really wanted this shy, nervous character to turn into villain buddies with his good pal c!Dream. I'm a total sucker for villains and corruption arcs and all that good shit.

SO I STARTED GETTING REALLY INTERESTED IN ENDERSMILE. I'VE BEEN ON ENDERSMILE SQUAD OUT THE GATE. NOT THE SAME WAY I AM NOW, BUT I'VE ALWAYS WANTED THEM TO TEAM UP.

So... upon not really keeping up with c!Dream and being relatively??? indifferent? I don't think I started arguments on c!Dream back then, but I might have. But I remember like... starting to participate more whenever c!Dream came up and looking more into Dream's character BUT ESPECIALLY TALKING WITH OUR SERVER'S C!DREAM SPECIALIST MICHI ABOUT DREAM A LOT MORE.

And because Michi has been a watcher since day one and was a DTeam fan rather than a SBI fan, she was able to provide me with more information on how the server worked pre-Tommy but especially pre-Wilbur.

Now, you could definitely argue well Michi probably has clear bias but it made sense to me when I looked back on how the storyline had been constructed and was going along, and everyone in the server talks a lot about our own biases and how we want people to maybe not lean so hard on them. Michi would also provide like anecdotes on what had happened and I'm sure links were probably provided at one point but the point was I felt like Michi had no reason to lie or manipulate how the story was told and if she did, eventually someone would have pointed it out because... Group of like... right now it's around 20 or more analysts but I don't remember how many at the time there were. POINT BEING, WE'VE ALL GOT POINTS TO PROVE AND IN MY EXPERIENCE NOT MANY OF US HAVE BEEN SHY TO PROVE THEM.

So if anyone ever had any differing opinions they would be talked about and we literally had and still have discussions.

REGARDLESS.... I DIDN'T FACT CHECK IN DEPTH BECAUSE I THOUGHT PEER REVIEW WAS ENOUGH WHEN YOU HAVE LIKE HOURS UPON HOURS OF STREAMS TO WATCH.

Anyways. Eventually I started paying closer attention and looking more into c!Dream lore but only recently have I started to triple check before speaking about c!Wilbur lore because I know everyone has biases and while I did trust everyone's thoughts and analysis in the discord, whenever I make essays I typically like it to be largely air tight and if theres a mistake, I want it to be because I forgot not because I just trusted what was said. Plus, I wanted to get down to the specifics of how Wilbur had always started with manipulation on the mind.

SO I WATCHED HIS FIRST VIDEO ON THE DREAM SMP.

AND WHAT I WAS NOT BY ANY MEANS EXPECTING WAS WILBUR TO SAY WORD FOR WORD, VERBATIM,

"SO WHY DON'T I START AN INDUSTRY WHERE I USE THE TOMMYINNITS OF THE WORLD TO WORK FOR ME, TO CREATE THINGS THAT THE MIN-MAXERS OF THE WORLD WILL WANT."

Like... this is in no way an attempt to like hardcore villainize c!Wilbur like everyone does Dream, it's just more so to like REALLY outline how far off a lot of fandom interpretation of c!Wilbur is....

Because of SBI focused animatics.

Now, when I joined I watched A LOT of animatics that really highlighted like... Wilbur being this self-loathing JD-esque, "I destroyed it because I had to because the world was against me because no one loved us, Tommy" type of character. At least... that's what it came across as.

And it definitely highlighted the fact that Tommy was a victim, which he is. He is undoubtedly a victim and no not even any dream apologist can change my mind otherwise. Tommy, despite being an instigator sometimes, didn't deserve the abuse he received.

But these animatics never shown the fact that c!Wilbur started L'manburg as a shady ploy to exploit people like c!Tommy and vilify c!Dream so he could have power.

And that was easy because Dream and Tommy had wars before. They had spars and pranks and here's the plan to take back my disks and here's the plan to out smart the thieving little child etc etc.

And all of the animatics I watched never mentioned this. Neither did the recaps though. The recaps gave the events flat out, there didn't sound like there was bias, and honestly I don't really know if there was rather than like... a lack of nuance. And it's hard to provide a recap with that much nuance in a short period of time for a youtube video, to be perfectly fair.

However, this creates a perfect formula for entirely rewriting the history of a server. c!Wilbur quite literally fucking succeeded TO A META LEVEL. He slandered and ran smear campaigns against Dream and like he even does that with Sapnap in the beginning. But what's crazy is that it transferred over into the meta! Most of this fandom understands Wilbur as a victim of mental illness, and yeah maybe? He definitely wasn't mentally well by the end of pogtopia, but he never started out with honorable intentions. L'manburg was never a victim, only its citizens. The TommyInnits of the world.

I just think it's like... such an interesting case study. Because this is like... an opinion like shared by at least half of the fandom, but the vilifying of c!Dream is shared by MOST of the fandom I would argue. Which is like even more crazy for me because that was c!Wilbur's goal!!!

LIKE I GO INSANE WHEN I THINK OF THIS BECAUSE HIS REACH IS JUST TOO POWERFUL. HE'S NOT EVEN ENTIRELY REAL, JUST A MANIPULATIVE PERSONA OF SOME BRITISH GUY.

And I mean... maybe people who have watched Wilbur's video on the SMP still maintain this idea that Wilbur wasn't always the bad guy, but honestly... I wouldn't be surprised if their introduction was still an animatic. Like bias is hard to check and I'm not going to lie I could have sworn I watched both Wilbur's AND Tommy's video on the SMP in the beginning and yet I STILL was a ride or die for tragic yet on some level still honorable Wilbur and a resilient Tommy.

Like... upon watching Wilbur's first video... possibly again I was surprised because I thought I did watch it like right before I even started watching the streams and yet I was still so invested in c!Wilbur as this tortured anti-hero.

It took 6 months of... not being in an echo chamber, full of multiple different people of different ages, different stream POVS, and people who joined the fandom at different points in time.

IDK IF THIS WAS EVEN ENTIRELY RELEVANT IT JUST FELT TANGENTIALLY RELEVANT AND THIS WAS SOMETHING I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT FOR A HOT MINUTE AFTER LIKE WATCHING WILBUR'S FIRST VIDEO AGAIN.

TLDR;

SBI CENTRIC ANIMATICS HAD A LASTING AFFECT ON THIS FANDOM AS IT'S HARD TO GO BACK AND ACTUALLY CHECK THE NARRATIVE FOR SOLID FACTS FOR YOUR OWN INTERPRETATION BASED ON THE FACT THAT THIS NARRATIVE SPANS OVER HUNDREDS OF HOURS WORTH OF TWITCH STREAMS.