#this is primarily all like act 1 of the story stuff

[my-mt-heart]

Idk how to say this but I am not as bothered about whatever is going to transpire between Daryl and Isabelle (bcoz for one thing - we know what is going to happen in the end- and for another - I honestly believe that the male execs are not at all confident abt their vision for these two as they would like to be and the whole thing would prolly boil down to ambiguity and ultimately- it will fall upon the viewers to dissect how Daryl feels - the Caryl fandom especially is really adept at reading into storylines - even stupid ones) None of this is good by any means. It cheapens the integrity of all the characters involved. It blatantly insults and reduces female characters - I believe that Isabelle deserves better. That a story should hold space for multiple female characters. Also - I am worried about putting the fate and the story of one the best female characters on TV (Carol) in the hands of someone who has proven that he can't be trusted to handle them with care. Reading S2 reviews - I am sort of reassured that Carol is treated well enough in the story - which I believe - has a LOT to do with Melissa McBride's input. Going forward - it is going to be more difficult bcoz once we have dealt with old traumas - we do need to evolve these characters and make sure they don't stay stagnant. I don't believe Zabel has the chops to do that.

sorry for that rant. I am just really frustrated.

What I worry about is the way all of this bts stuff amongst the male execs is going to impact the Caryl dynamic. Whatever the antis may think - and while McReedus has insane chemistry - I do believe that the romantic energy is generated between them by a lot of their acting choices (bcoz the underlying story is teasing a romance). What happens to all that when a romance is completely off the table? When AMC has been pushing this friendship narrative down our throats in a very evident bid to do damage control - the insecure/defensive promo that we have been getting last few weeks is proof enough that Caryl was always more than friends?

The problems were already glaringly obvious from the very beginning. the fact that Melissa isn't billed equally for a season where she is proclaimed to be the major focus? It is not even about Caryl going canon for me anymore. I love Melissa and Carol way too much for me to give up yet but I treasure the Caryl bond primarily bcoz they have always been each other's everything. it is truly a bond that evades definition. Both Carol and Daryl doesn't have what they have with each other with anyone. THAT IS A CANON FACT. I don't think I can watch that dynamic that I treasure so much being butchered - s11 was painful enough - I can't go through all of that and more again.

Going to watch s2 and then my further commitment will depend entirely upon how the characters are treated and their dynamic is portrayed?

It sucks that I am dreading watching Carol and Daryl back together on screen.

been here just for a few months but the way AMC has been fumbling with this promo - have you guys always experienced this whiplash or is it a new thing?

I’m going to include big spoilers in my response, so proceed with caution ⚠️

I respect your opinion, but I disagree with you on the point about Daryl’s and Isabelle’s arc. It seems like the male EPs (Zabel, Nicotero, Gimple) are overly confident that an explicit romance between their male hero and a younger blonde nun who accused Daryl of being like his abusive father just for trying to go home to his family will attract a larger male audience and they aren’t sparing any feelings with it because we aren’t their ideal audience anyway. To them, we’re just a bunch of “hysterical” shippers whose POV’s don’t matter and we can just take their crumbs. AMC is a bit more complicated, but I’ll get to them later.

Daryl and the nun kiss in 202, so there’s little to no room for us to dissect how Daryl is feeling. Isabelle’s death is the furthest thing from a relief because 1) it reduces her character down to man pain like you said and 2) from what I’m gathering, it completely overshadows Caryl’s reunion and then their entire arc. We get another hug that does absolutely nothing to elevate their relationship and then Carol has to face that Daryl didn’t need her to rescue him because he found a new family and become his emotionally supportive friend to help him through his grief of a lost love interest he’s known for a few months. It almost feels like it’s going to be a retread of Beth’s death, only worse. We know how Greg Nicotero views both of those relationships and to be blunt, the man needs to stop projecting his creepy fetishes onto Daryl and making it our problem 🤢

The way the story is framed, it’s not even about Caryl at all. They’re the relationship we’re the most invested in and yet all the emotional weight is given to a highly problematic relationship that developed over a dozen ish short episodes (compared to Caryl’s decade+ of emotional depth) and it’s all for nothing too. Zabel just resets Daryl like the hokey network procedural writer he is. And Caryl fans are rewarded for their years-long loyalty by getting more ambiguous subtext to analyze? Really?

I think you’re spot on about Melissa though. The reason she’s the bright spot of the season, the reason Carol’s individual arc feels true, and her spiritual connection to Daryl stays alive is because Melissa influenced all of that. She’s shown us time and time again that she understands her character so deeply and respects her fans. It really breaks my heart because I think she had a beautiful story in mind for Carol and she deserves all the support in the world, but as I’ve said many times, if damage is done to the character who has been written as her soulmate for over a decade, damage is also done to her. And I can’t watch that. I can’t watch the destruction of my favorite characters and my favorite relationship and put money in AMC’s pockets for gaslighting me. Retconning Caryl’s relationship into a platonic friendship is their way of protecting themselves from backlash. “Daryl isn’t emotionally cheating because he and Carol have always been besties?” “We didn’t mislead you. We told you they were friends, so you dumb shippers are doing this to yourselves. Please watch our slop anyways ✌️” They’re even trying to shift responsibility to Melissa by making her answer the shipping questions despite the fact that it’s Daryl’s arc throwing a wrench in everything and I expect that to continue at NYCC/Palyfest. It’s completely unethical and it’s backfiring.

Zabel cannot write for Daryl and Carol. He keeps showing us that he doesn’t understand their bond nor does he value it. A couple of the reviews mentioned it felt like Carol was shoehorned into certain aspects of the story, which tracks with what I already knew—that he and the other EPs think she’s hindering the story they want to tell about men doing manly things. That’s why they try so hard to challenge her significance to Daryl’s story and that is not going to change just because they’re moving to another location. Somebody like that should not have power to decide her trajectory. Fuck whatever he has planned for S3. I don’t want it. I still want Caryl and I still want to see them get the stories they deserve, but that’s only going to happen if we get a new showrunner who respects them and respects their fans. In case it needs to be said, Gimple is not that guy either (he can fake his enthusiasm on SM all he wants 🖕🖕🖕). A complete rebranding of the show to something that honors the characters and gives Melissa her dues (equal billing, title, etc) is the only way I’m tuning in now🤷🏻‍♀️ I don’t have the emotional capacity to sit through S2, but I will be here, speaking up, to make sure Melissa gets all the necessary praise and those assholes can’t blame her if the show tanks.

I’ve only been here a few years and there’s been a lot of turn over at AMC even just in that time (I kid you not, all of our problems can be traced back to Josh Sapan leaving. He loved Caryl and Melissa). That being said, I cannot for the life of me understand why any of the guys over there (even the misogynistic ones) would approve of the Daryl/Isabelle arc after the PR disaster that Leah caused not even that long ago and at least for that, the arc tied back to romantic Caryl and we weren’t subjected to any uncomfortable physical intimacy. Why the fuck would they make the same mistake? Why the fuck do they have to spend more time cleaning up messes than avoiding the mess altogether at every fucking opportunity they had (and they had a lot). I just don’t get it. And I’m so tired of taking the abuse.

[calronhunt]

im so interested in whatevers going on with lionel and this sun god, would love to hear any rambles about that/how lionel is treated by her (that one drawing you posted of them a bit ago was what make me go 👀)

YEAAAAH I love to talk about lionel! For just a little bit of context, Lionel is a paladin part of the order of the Sun Wolf. Lionel's past is very shady, being a part of a gang practically since birth and having done a lot of Less Than Stellar things growing up, and was forced to join the order after being caught during a heist that went wrong. Lionel was only given the choice to join because he ratted out his fellow gangmates. If he didn't join he would've been killed with them so ya know. wasn't REALLY a choice.

Lionel is a bit of a special case in the Order simply bc they're pushing him as a "see we can FIX anyone!" kind of person. However, Lionel's background also means he's punished way harsher than others when he makes mistakes. He was a criminal after all! They gotta beat all of that evil stuff he learned out of him. Corporal punishment is super common for him (though at the start of the story, it hasn't happened for several months and he's been allowed to do normal paladin duties without an overseer). But that's why Lionel's got all the cuts in the piece/got scars on his back!

THE LAST BIT is that The Order is like. a 99% female order. Lionel transitioned after joining, and everyone was cool about it (nobody's misgendering him or anything, there are several t-girl paladins). HOWEVER, in the order, it is expected that that Sun God herself will sometimes give a paladin a child to carry. and for this current cycle, Lionel got picked to be the one to carry to like "prove that he's been fully rehabilitated." And lionel doesn't want that!!! He really really doesn't want that!! but once again, no isn't really an option, what the sun god says goes.

The Sun God tries to treat all her paladins fairly and justly, and she genuinely believes she's doing that to Lionel. She thinks that Lionel deserves the punishments and to have this final test of loyalty. She's like an abusive mother who tells you that she's doing this because she loves you, it's for your own good, you don't know any better, but i'm going to teach you the correct way to be. I know it hurts but you won't learn any other way. The pain will teach you to never do that again. And lionel, having been in the order for years now, thinks this is the way to be. That he's fully unfixable, he's a broken person and she's the only one who can offer him guidance.

It's not until he meets Raphael and they start becoming close that he realizes he wants some freedom, to be himself and to make mistakes. That he doesn't have to be good and pure all the time, and that it's okay when he's messy. That mistakes don't need to result in something painful. Raphael's carefree nature helps him realize that.

And The Sun God is not happy about that at all.

[rabbit-surfboard]

Fictional podcast recs

One of my friends got into audio drama and I just sent them a whole list of recommendations to go through, I thought someone who follows these tags might also appreciate it and perhaps have some more to throw in. I resisted the urge to throw in the little blurb about audio dramas as a weird little medium and their tropes that I wrote up. It was something to the effect of nodding at how the medium has rapidly been improving since Welcome to Nightvale started, also how a lot of the tropes that tie the medium together are products of the indie podcast scene being accessible and primarily based in audio. Also at how well horror works in the format. Those paragraphs went unsaved but writing first about the medium in general helped me to reflect on a lot of the things that make audiodramas appealing or repulsive to me for discussing each show in brief beyond just explaining what they're about.

All recommendations are tagged for the tldr.

Fiction podcast recommendations in no particular order:

The Magnus Archives

Horror

The biggest criticism I ever had of this podcast’s voice acting from episode 1 turned out to be a relevant plot point. This thing is probably the best of the best, but I would never recommend it to someone unfamiliar with podcasts because the listener only notices a plot hook somewhere between episodes 20-40 and that’s daunting in the face of a 200 episode show. Getting sucked in rewards you with 200 episodes of thoughtful content and a great explanation for most of the weird things this show chooses to incorporate.

Old Gods of Appalachia

Horror

Fantastic production quality on this ongoing show. Many seasons with interconnected lore and a hell of a narrator. It’s not my personal favorite but it’s quite excellent.

Red Valley

Found footage mystery

One of the newer shows I’ve gotten into, Red Valley is well-crafted. It becomes compelling very quickly with a rapid pace that slows down to land in a neat spot for a while so you can savor the cool parts. The production quality is excellent and the two main voice actors have excellent chemistry. The third and final season is currently being produced.

The Silt Verses

Horror

Often compared to American Gods, this newer podcast made by an experienced team is doing a lot of creative and fresh things at once. The magnificently fucked up religious system of The Silt Verses is both a neat plot vehicle and cleanly works as a criticism of late stage capitalism, where many podcasts like to jab at capitalism this one is much more pointed in its commentary. Episodes are long and very well produced. All the credits in the third season have been mostly diegetic and add flavor to the world.

Archive 81

Found footage horror

Slow to start but by season 2 the production quality and plot are among the best in the game. Unfortunately, on an extended hiatus.

Ars Paradoxica

Science fiction, historical

Very well produced considering its age, this is a highly regarded show among people who follow the medium. Excellent time travel mechanics here. The plot drags a bit by the end because time travel stories must violently contort themselves into a conclusion, but the first season or two are fantastic and it’s always nice to have an ending instead of interminable hiatus.

Caravan

Gay demons n stuff

Showed up, did magic and gay shit, disappeared and went on hiatus probably with some kinda unsatisfying cliffhanger seeing as I don’t remember the plot. Could I recommend it in good faith? Not until they at least cough up season 2. I don’t remember it being bad and that alone is notable for the medium.

Mabel

Gothic horror

This is the deepest cut on the list except for maybe Caravan. Lesbians pine at each other for increasingly complicated reasons, eventually devolving into them doing datura and then spewing cryptic poetry together for the rest of their days. The production quality is fair. The slow windup and creepy house are American-gothic af. This show has had a few hiatuses, but each time it comes back significantly more intriguing.

Welcome to Nightvale

Goofy spooky news broadcast

Old and iconic, not very consistent. Sometimes explores emotional, tense, spooky, or funny scenes well, but the show is really focused on being local news for an ooky spooky desert town because Cecil is damn good at his job. Don’t come here looking for plot, it’s a fun vibe and I don’t know that anybody’s ripped it off and notably improved on this classic. Above average production quality for its time which improved through the years.

Alice isn’t Dead

USA road trip, horror

Made by at least one of the Nightvale writers, totally different show with a lesbian trucker making wry observations of some magnificently twisted shit seen around the United States. The producers know how to run a show, so the production is pretty good.

Tanis

Found footage horror

Tanis is not good. However, it was the first fiction podcast to make me ask “Is this real?” and hesitantly believe it for a frankly embarrassing number of episodes. The stories in the first season were interesting and the lore is just some big-tent conspiracy style of cramming a bunch of fun Wikipedia research into what turns out to be an increasingly nonsensical plot. Every season after the second, I return to hate-listen and am gaslit into thinking the show might low-key rock a few episodes before the finale, which is routinely frustrating and makes sure to throw out any good plot points Terry Miles comes up with. The acting is routinely terrible, and the frame narrative allows lazy and frequent retcons, ruining what I think is a good premise. Also it’s incomplete.

The Black Tapes

Horror

Terry Miles started this show before Tanis began releasing about 5 months later. I think of it as one of his earlier works because it behaves like Tanis with an added layer of cringe from a time waster of an awkward romance(?) between the two main characters. I couldn’t finish this show. You won’t see this recommended as often as it used to be online because there’s many better shows now, but this used to be a big deal. There’s a bunch of memes making fun of the annoying cadence of the characters’ speech and iconic sponsorship reads in both this and Tanis. If you’re interested in some cringe atop your creepypasta podcast, the two are interchangeable.  

Rabbits

ARG investigation

Not as horror focused as Terry Miles’ other shows, the cringe is dialed down and the show is better for it. Tanis and The Black Tapes are more well known, I think the only reason more people don’t think about this one is because the first two don’t inspire trust in the production or narrative quality of this show, but I remember it being fine for a season. I have not gone back to catch up now that more is out.

Malevolent

Horror

Inspired by The King in Yellow, one man performs two voices and verbally abuses himself with aplomb. Having a blind main character with an extra voice in his head is a frame story I haven’t heard yet (unless it came up in the magnus archives and I don’t remember), the concept works out great for the frame of a podcast to deploy the environmental imagery that foley cannot communicate. It also prevents the podcast trope of lengthy exposition about visual surroundings from sounding awkward or potentially impacting someone’s character development to show setting.

Wolf 359

Comedy, science fiction

A crew of whacky characters is stuck in deep space, hanging out and researching a star. Since that’s not actually very interesting they crack jokes and fuck around for a slow burn until interesting stuff happens. Good but not great, this one is long and satisfying and a bit less heavy than all the horror this medium often focuses on. Decent production quality.

The White Vault

Found footage horror

I lost patience with this podcast even though the overarching story seemed very cool – it progresses very slowly yet appears to grow bigger and more confusing instead of deigning to answer basic questions for a frustratingly long drag through the first four seasons. I worry that this frustration may be the point and the Patreon gated stories are the drivers for this tendency towards the confusing patchwork of ideas this show communicates. The production quality is good though.

The Left Right Game

Found footage horror

Genuinely great reddit creepypasta got turned into an overproduced podcast – I say “over” in comparison to the voice acting quality because it’s kind of impossible to sell some of the lines, which makes sense considering the source. Brief, complete, punchy, interesting, and just a little odd to hear such a clean production but a creepypasta this fun deserves the effort.

Wooden Overcoats

Comedy

Surprisingly good production quality for its age, and also a refresher from the usual tropes of the medium. Just a chill sitcom about a funeral parlor in a small town. I haven’t finished this 4 season show yet but its good.

The Black List Table Reads

Movie script readings

Some movie scripts just short of making the cut to be turned into a full Hollywood production were well liked enough by a group of film nerds that sat down to act them out as a podcast. Half of the episodes are interviews with screenwriters, and the other half see a script read all the way through by actors. They’re all rejected for different reasons so there’s a pretty broad spread of genres. My favorites were Blood From a Stone and Balls Out.

[notyouraryang0dd3ss]

One lowkey thing that kinda drives me insane about Taylor Swift is discussion about her music. I don't know how to explain this properly but... (sorry for the long ask)

She's not an excellent singer. She's fine, but as a good example from her own discography: look at Florida feat. Florence. Florence singing her verse made me wake up in that album and made me realize how the song could've been delivered! She sings it in a much more interesting way than Taylor did. This isn't even to speak towards other popular artists like Beyonce, Ariana, Lana, Olivia, Billie, etc. who all have their own signature vocal styles and delivery that are impressive and make their songs.

I don't know. It feels bizarre to have one of the biggest pop artists in the world to have such mediocre vocals. TTPD as an album I feel partly got killed because of the way she's so samey about her vocal delivery.

But her fans would say no it's not about the vocals, it's the songwriting. But then TTPD songwriting was meh and just awful at some parts (the 1800s racist line is weird. period. I don't care whatever essay defense they give it). What now? What's the appeal? Why does she get to release something mediocre and get all the attention and praise when some artists have released great albums this year?

Then there's also when she gets the weirdest praise for the mildest things that other musicians have done. Album eras? "Oh, she's so cool and different for that!" No, she didn't invent them, shut up. An album of fictional songs with a story? They act as if concept albums don't exist! The most minor of genre shifts (she's primarily exploring different types of pop) are treated as experimental and groundbreaking. The most milquetoast and shallow political music she ever wrote (YNTCD and The Man) are seen as iconic moments of speaking out. Like what?

It's just frustrating me. I remember when someone told me she screamed in some songs in TTPD (Who's Afraid of Little Old Me and The Black Dog iirc) and I listened to that album and I thought they were joking with me because what do you mean scream??? Why does she get praised for so much mediocrity holy shit!

I think this is why when I hear people say that there's swifties that only mainly listen to Taylor and Taylor-adjacent artists, I believe them. I feel like they're making so many impressed remarks about her work because that's all they know. That's how we get genre takes like someone saying Rep is punk or how they want her to make a rock album. I feel like that's how we get stupid stuff like Gaylors too. Because why listen to actually out queer artists if you can just reimagine your fave artist as queer?

Honestly, I just don't understand the attachment to her music? Every time someone tells me it's because she's relatable, I just shake my head because she's never been relatable to me, even back when I enjoyed her songs. Maybe I'm too un-USAmerican for this, but she was never very universal for me. I enjoyed her because she did fun pop songs. But now I've realized she's so frustratingly shitty as a person, I can't listen to her.

Sorry for the rant, but it's been hard to find a space for this without getting attacked by swifties (especially as a poc).

(1/2)

[ot3]

Trying my luck here since you're the most trusted women in media person I follow: Can you recommend any media (movies, shows, books, comics, podcasts, whatever) that is centered around violence between women? I'm specifically looking for something with

1. A primarily female cast

2. Women committing violence against other women with minimal influence from men

3. Actual graphic physical violence, not just Mean Girls stuff. I want blood

Bonus points if the violence happens because of some female social dynamics, like mother/daughter relationships or toxic high school friendships, not just because the heroes and villains happen to be women.

Yellowjackets left a hole in my heart

honored to be your source for this.

If these are your tastes and you somehow haven't read the locked tomb trilogy, go read that for sure.

Ginger Snaps (2000) is a horror comedy about two sisters trying to deal with one of them becoming a werewolf and their dynamic is the core of the entire movie, it's one of my favorites.

The flower that bloomed nowhere definitely fits the bill, and i would say 'violence that occurs because of female social dynamics' is an area where it shines, but in a slightly different way than what you're looking for. Flower is a murder mystery so there's plenty of straight up killing, but the murders are definitely not the most fucked up and violating things that happened here even if they are the most gory. Flower is pretty much my go to rec for anyone who wants fucked up women

Umineko and Higurashi from the when they cry series would have a lot for you here. Umineko has more women by volume but less proportionally, and the men play larger roles in their lives. The women in umineko are all insanely well written but due to the nature of the story a lot of the way they act is heavily influenced by the patriarchal standards of their society/social class and the needs of the men around them, which is The Point but also may not be what you want. On the other hand girls are a higher proportion of the Higurashi cast and that's a narrative that's much less purposefully informed by the crushing vice of misogyny, and i feel like is slightly more in line with this specific request.

Worm is just about as graphically violent as it's possible to get in writing and although the massive ensemble cast has plenty of men in it the female characters, including the protagonist taylor, are much more interesting overall and they have great dynamics with each other.

that's about it off the top of my head but also this is several million words of stuff right here so im sure at least some of it will appeal to you. happy hunting.

[sgiandubh]

The 28th Amendment?

After a long silence, Sleeping Beauty's social media seems to be (somewhat) back to life, with this story:

This is part of a national public awareness and lobby campaign organized by a US NGO, Equal means Equal, aiming to promote the formal inclusion of a 28th Amendment (the Equal Rights Amendment) in the US Constitution.

This is the current state of play: what is needed, according to Equal means Equal, is a final push, in order to make something started in 1972 a reality. This state of play is unthinkable, to an European, by the way: gender equality became effective on our ravaged, postwar continent for many reasons, including the most practical you could think of. Those are usually related to voting rights, the acknowledgement of women's contribution to the war effort, the economic and social reconstruction process and even a faux-equalitarian ideology, like in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union (loudly promote gender equality, but at the same time, take away any legal guarantee and protection of private ownership of anything, from houses to shops to banks).

The final push for success is a public appeal to POTUS to act on it, launched as a side event at the New York FOCUS Art Fair, a contemporary art rendezvous' with a strong Gen Z flair:

C is a part to this event with a signed copy of Reserved, an independent media outlet with a clear progressive flair and all the bells and whistles of a Gen Z future icon:

I was particularly intrigued by this: 'Once a magazine, Reserved has evolved into an annual hardcover print edition collector’s item'. It immediately made me think of one of my favorite things in the art world, Franco Maria Ricci's FMR Magazine (https://www.francomariaricci.com/en). A mythical thing, the stuff of legend - to each generation its own, I suppose.

Time to make an important point, though: the Reserved copy up for silent auction was not donated by C herself, but by Jules Wood:

Meet Jules Wood, editor-in-chief of Reserved and fashion director of Ellen von Unwerth's VON Magazine :

Pretty much sure this is an old acquaintance, too.

In the couple of hours since I began writing this post, bidding started from 500 USD and has now risen to 2000 USD, thanks to a generous soul, who wishes to remain Anonymous:

You don't say. Anonymous, huh?

Cue in the Stans who will surely bitch it's 'just her US friends' (primarily BIF barking and/or Anon being dropped in Fascist inboxes in 3, 2, 1...) But hey, we have a different view, don't we?

And it's quite alright.

PS: Pics in that Reserved copy are taken from C's photoshoot for Ellen von Unwerth , sometime before June 2021:

[aroaceleovaldez]

A quick FAQ since I'm active on Deadangelos again -

"What is Deadangelos?"

@deadangelos is my PJO askblog centered around Nico!

"What's an askblog?"

An askblog is a tumblr blog centered around a character or group of characters, where people can send questions to the character(s) and the mod/mun will create responses in-character! They're a little different from RP blogs in that it's up to the mod/"mun" if there will be any story elements or not, and the audience doesn't participate as "characters" in-universe so to speak (most of the time). There's a lot of different forms of askblogs, such as text askblogs which are entirely written, illustrated (like Deadangelos) which are more of a comic-form, cosplay askblogs, voice acting askblogs, and more! You can learn more about tumblr askblogs and ask questions about them [here].

"If it's about Nico why is it all Jason right now?"

Deadangelos technically is only primarily focused on Nico, and other characters can be asked questions too. But regarding Jason specifically - I'm doing an event right now! Deadangelos will occasionally feature story plotlines, and the current one focuses on Jason's backstory of his experiences pre-HoO at Camp Jupiter.

"How do I catch up on what's going on?"

Currently there's not a perfect way to fully catch up on the blog other than just reading it. All events are tagged as such, and you can append "/chrono" to the end a tumblr blog's url when looking at tags to read the tag in chronological order from oldest to newest. Unfortunately /chrono tags don't work on mobile, so the best way to read deadangelos is on browser! For your convenience, the plot-relevant events (more plot-relevant arcs bolded) in order are: Will Takeover Event 1 -> The Runaway Event -> The only semi-plot-relevant Clown Event (it's complicated) -> Solstice Event -> The Quest Event -> shadow!Nico event -> Chickens (Ongoing) -> Will Takeover Event 2 -> Firework Event -> Phantom mini-event -> Smintheus Event -> TBM Event* (Ongoing) -> Grace Event (Ongoing) (*The TBM event encompasses both the Smintheus Event and Grace Event, as well as other future events) I am however currently working on a Deadangelos Wiki! It's not done and doesn't have many pages yet, but it has some general overview of a few characters as of right now. If you really want to read the whole blog in it's entirety, most if not all in-character responses are tagged "pjo" and you can use the /chrono feature on that. The blog has been around for 8 years though, and so may reference fandom stuff from 8 years ago or be outdated regarding current events of the blog or similar. Also the art is old, obviously.

[intuitive-revelations]

While I've got critiques of a few choices (eg. bigeneration, the Season One reset), one thing I've got to commend RTD for is that the story arc of things getting "more supernatural" / the universe shifting from sci-fi to fantasy is actually a pretty perfect way of continuing the shows overall myth arcs without actually requiring knowing all the backstory.

Not only does this follow on from the Time Lords currently being gone again (which itself was kind of built up from the previous Gallifrey arcs and the Master's character development), but also is more or less exactly what the Ravagers wanted to do in Flux. They wanted to undo the Anchoring of the Thread, recontexualised in terms of the Division's universal interferenc. While time and its laws have somewhat stabilised for now, we are indeed now seeing Rassilon's laws of rationality starting to collapse. I would strongly argue this started even before the 60th anniversary, between the time loop in Eve of the Daleks and the constellations literally rearranging themselves in the sky in Legend of the Sea Devils.

Even outside of the shows main arcs, New Who has already dipped its toes into the concept that there are older creatures which don't necessarily run on science in the same way as everything else, or that are from outside the universe / incompatible with it. Primary examples being the Carrionites, Racnoss, the Beast and Abaddon, Weeping Angels, Solitract, arguably even The Timeless Child. The Dark Times have also been prominantly featured in stuff like the Time Lord Victorious series and Titan Comics.

We've also being seeing entities like Eternals gradually returning (Zellin, Rakaya, maybe Time) who were originally established as leaving the universe in the wake of the Time War in RTD's Series 1 backstory in the DW Annuals. We've even seen quite significant emphasis put on the Sisterhood of Karn and their connection to Gallifrey, something primarily developed in the EU with the Pythia lore, which also links into the likes of the Visionary in The End of Time.

All this being said, none of this backstory is (for now) important for new viewers to know. All they need to know is that Fourteen fucked up in Wild Blue Yonder, and now things which were once outside the universe, like the Toymaker, are starting to leak into it. They don't need to know, for example, that the TARDIS may only have been able to access edge of universe thanks to the scale of the Flux's destruction.

Ultimately this feels a lot like his approach with the Time War. While it was a logical conclusion to the classic series (hence why we get so many time wars / destructions of Gallifrey in the EU), with Genesis, Revelation and Remembrance of the Daleks all particularly serving as build up for a Dalek attack on Gallifrey, and indeed were all included in said prior-mentioned DW Annual articles along with the tension de-escalating 'Act of Master Restitution', none of that was important for new viewers in 2005 to know.

This being said, I do suspect some past context will return in the future, just as it did over New Who. For example, we're bound to be reintroduced to the idea that the Time Lords established rationality in the universe, maybe name-checking the Division as part of their interference. I also stand by my previous theory that we're likely to eventually see Rassilon return after his exile in Hell Bent. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if he served as the face of an effort to bring back the Time Lords in some form, opening up questions of their oppressive history (expect the Timeless Child's trauma to be emphasised) and whether the universe is better off without its fantastical elements suppressed, even if this does open the universe up to the dangers he fought like the Vampires, Carrionites, Great Old Ones etc. (Particular emphasis on the last of these, given it's sort of implied the only reason eg. the Great Intelligence isn't a full-power Cthulhu Mythos Yog-Sothoth is because of the Anchoring.) Perhaps the Sisterhood of Karn's newfound influence on Gallifrey in the wake of the Time War and Lungbarrow could play a role here.

[raayllum]

what type of princess do you think Rayla might be when she and Callum get married

I don't imagine Rayla will ever hold much of a tangible role at court. Not only would I not be surprised if Callum leaves the high council by the end of the series to pursue teaching magic / more studies in Xadia, we see that this duties are (seemingly) exclusively that of being a High Mage > crown prince.

He's allowed to pursue whatever magical projects he wants regardless of whether they produce applicable results (him researching the mirror for 1.5+? years); he has a welcoming role for political stuff with Ezran's invitation to Zubeia that was 1) established without consulting him or seemingly anyone on said council and 2) Callum doesn't even show up for on time; when Ezran does embark on a potentially risky questing adventure that's all the go ahead Callum personally needs to come with (4x03) even though there's no one else left in line for the throne; when Ezran does embark on something that is strictly political in S5 with his dragon mission, his crownguard, not his brother, go with him *

[ * This is because of technical internal story reasons, of course, with Callum needing to be freed up to go to the Great Bookery, but rather than letting him mill around the library only reading Ocean poetry, they could've had him be acting king in Ezran's absence, or hint at Callum dealing with any political issues while Ez was gone. Instead he decides and is able to leave in the early morning within one (1) night of making the decision to leave with zero fuss from Opeli, and zero reservations from himself, which even Ez had back in 4x03, hesitating to leave his kingdom even upon announcement of a global crisis: "Go with her." "But Katolis needs me." ]

Callum is also only crown prince and heir until Ezran has children (which means probably until Callum's around 30 maximum?) cause then they become the heirs.

All of this to say I think Rayla would be an advisor on the council, probably work with Soren in training the crownguard, do reconnaissance with Corvus when the occasion calls for it, offer a unique Xadian perspective of course, and at more upppity political functions/galas primarily be an ambassador standpoint, but I don't think she'd ever care to be much more than a princess in name and like being Crown Princess even less ("I don't care who's Comma-bore or First Whatsits!" / "'Oh I did what the queen told me and sat on my hands'"). While her position as princess is important and will probably help smooth over Xadian-Katolis relations, I don't think it'd ever be much more than that, and I don't think strict politics will ever be what her and Callum devote their lives to, per se

(But of course, she'll be kind and a lil bit flustered and witty / charismatic if uncouth in her own way wherever she goes, lmao. Princess'ing included)

[transmutationisms]

Hey I usually like your posts and the stuff you reblog but I was not a fan of one that came across to me as Hamas attack minimization. I know the babies thing is fake and based in Islamophobic stereotypes but civilians actually were killed by Hamas, some brutally. There's testimony from people who were actually raped; it's not really surprising or farfetched, as rape often happens when civilian populations are proximate to combat. You don't need to minimize the Hamas attack on Israel to support and fight for ceasefire, the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and Palestinian liberation, just like you don't need to condemn Hamas to do the same.

I do know that Israel is wielding the language of Islamophobia to justify their genocide in Gaza. But there's got to be a better way to talk about that then simply saying "well, Israel was mostly lying about the Hamas attack", when it seems to me what they're doing is looking at fucked up things that really did happen -- that happen regularly to civilians in combat, in fact -- and saying "this is unique to those savages and we could never do that" even when they definitely do. If you do know of sources that are exposing Israeli disinformation, I think it would be cool if you could share some of those...it just doesn't sit right with me, the way that post was framed.

i don't think that saying "here is the narrative the idf has been pushing to justify committing genocide, and parts of it are false" is "minimising" the deaths of israeli civilians. indeed, the deaths that have been systematically "minimised" are those committed by idf forces, both on 7 october and for the entirety of the occupation of palestine (over 10,000 palestinians have been killed since 7 october alone).

i think we can all agree it is generally bad when civilians die. i also think it matters that the narrative pushed by israel and its allies, particularly the us, is inaccurate and intended to stoke outrage in order to manufacture consent for the ongoing genocide of palestinians.

i am fully aware that rape and sexual violence frequently occur in tandem with (ie, as part of) combat violence. the specific claims in dispute are narratives that hamas used rape as a systematic, widespread tactic in the 7 october attacks. this is a narrative that, since day 1, has been pushed by the idf in order to play off fears of violence toward settler women, and us media in particular have happily run with it, spreading a racialised notion of palestinian fighters' 'barbarism' against settlers. this is despite the fact that, as of 5 days ago, israel was still investigating "several cases" (per the headline; the article states that israel will not even name a number of how many cases at this point) of sexual assault and rape, and that these investigations are "complex" and could take months to resolve. this is also despite the fact that joe biden 'condemned' hamas for committing widespread rape on 7 october before the idf itself officially stated it had happened.

i think this goes beyond "wielding the language of Islamophobia". this is a specific and established narrative portraying settler women as a priori innocent victims, who are uniquely in need of being protected by settler men against the threat of brutalisation by racialised, colonially occupied populations. indeed, although islamophobia is certainly present in a lot of coverage and commentary, this is not primarily a religious conflict; it is a colonial occupation. we have seen versions of this specific narrative of sexual violence in many, many settler-colonial states before; just look, for example, at the settlement of what is presently the us, where the violence of the act of occupation was (and frequently still is!) discursively elided in stories about native 'savagery' and attacks, including via the supposed threat of systematic sexual violence against white women. countering such narratives is not equivalent to claiming that rape and sexual assault could not occur or never have occurred, including in combat.

here is an article about the music festival claims specifically, and here is one (from the new york times, no less) confirming that the official 7 october death toll has been lowered to 1,200.

[voxofthevoid]

just wanna say I really appreciate your work. It feels like a lot of m/m fandom content isn't written with queer men as the target audience, so your stuff is really refreshing.

The secret to that is having a target audience of one(1) queer man—me, myself, and I.

In all seriousness, I've been told this a few times over the years, after I pivoted to being primarily a porn writer, and I've never been able to narrow down precisely what about my writing gives that impression. Not that I mind, obviously, but it's also not a conscious thing, if that makes sense. My target audience is quite literally just me.

It's freeing. I can mix fluff tropes with vore or gore, write porn that's more funny than hot, experiment with sex acts that are known to turn many people off, and just do all sorts of stuff in my writing because I'm the only person I'm catering to. I love sharing the results with others, and it's always incredibly flattering and satisfying to see them enjoy my stories. But at the creation stage, it's a party of one.

All that said, it's always a pleasure to see my writing resonate with specific people or demographics. Thank you for telling me this, anon 💗

[the-afronick]

Normally I like to tally up everything I've beaten on an annual basis but I've been lacking the last two years, so this is three years' worth of finished games: 2021-2023. Also been lacking in finishing stuff until the last third of this year but I think I've got the swing of things again. There are other games finished/completed I've chosen to not count here as they were simply different ports of games I've already done before, but I'm still counting MW1 Remastered to make it a nice even 50.

Since this is all getting typed up right now in one afternoon, enjoy some quick thoughts on each of these.

Finished

Yakuza Kiwami (2017) - Yeah it still feels like a weird version of the immaculate Yakuza 0. I'm not the authority on these but I'm unsure if I'd recommend this over the PS2 game to someone who is willing to play the original.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012) - I liked the split campaigns, though moreso the 80s one. Probably need to play Arma 1 or Reforger to satisfy that Cold War craving now that '83 is canned.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered (2016) - I think I got this with Infinite Warfare off of a keysite primarily to use this remaster as an excuse to replay CoD4. Still enjoyed it and really ended up liking the enhanced visuals/touch-ups in animations. 2007 is still fine to play but this was a fun detour. I want to try the Wii version at some point.

Death Stranding (2019) - A game I was way more curious about its story than I was its gameplay pre-release ended up being enjoyed the other way around. I loved Hiking Simulator 2019, cresting peaks and sliding down into cities while some Low Roar kicks in... and everything about the environments as you head west are the greatest. I'm probably gonna get the PC version of Director's Cut to play it again at some point.

Shellshock: Nam '67 (2004) - What should be a simple arcade third-person shooter ends up being frustrating because reticle bloom is way too much for some of the engagement distances. Not the worst I've ever played but I'm probably not going back to it ever.

Thunder Force AC (1990/2020 Sega AGES release) - I mean I like Thunder Force IV more but hey III's pretty good, and so is its arcade version.

Vietcong (2003) - Originally recommended to me by a friend and I kick myself for not getting to it sooner. Fun, tense campaign of having to take caution every with every move, guns felt great, and overall I had a good time. Regrettably couldn't play the online but ah well.

Postal 2: Paradise Lost (2015) - More of what I remember from playing Postal 2. It's still silly.

Touhou Youyoumu ~ Perfect Cherry Blossom (2003) - This is the one. Yeah, 6 gets the recognition because it's the reboot and has the top-tiered fan favorite characters but 7 takes the wrinkles of 6 and irons them out to a fine crispness. Good patterns, good bosses, and good music. I have no complaints. Want to play a Touhou game? This one.

Touhou Reiiden ~ The Highly Responsive to Prayers (1997) - I first played this at an anime convention in a hotel room full of Touhou cosplayers on their laptop they had hooked up to their TV, mainly wanting to show off where it all started. Touhou's kinda fun as a Breakout game, but this is more of a curiosity than anything nowadays.

Ninja Gaiden (1988) - My second favorite Castlevania game, but man FUCK Act 6.

NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... (2021) - I mean what else can be said that hasn't already. It's nice that Nier 1 got a revisit after Automata set the world on fire and even though this didn't do its numbers, I missed my friends :)

U.N. Squadron (1990) - Glorious. The SNES/SFC version offers a fantastic and better conversion from the arcade game allowing for choice in mission order and choice in plane selection (though the YF-23 and F200 are effectively the only way to win) to work in tandem with your pilot's unique skill. Not particularly a great adaptation from Area 88 if you're looking for its story and characters but that's not what this game is aiming for - instead, it takes the elements that would work in a shooter and only those elements. You're mercenaries so money is the key to everything, mainly your weapons loadout. There are large superweapons, some taken straight from the manga. The only downside is the grinding element to get more money for better planes in the form of a strafing run special stage that you'll have to play over and over. Highly recommend.

IKUSAAAAAAAN! (2018) - I actually can't comment too much on this one since I only played it through once but it was fun and highly energetic, and Iku is my second fave 2hu so that's a plus.

Halo: Fireteam Raven (2018) - "hey let's play this since we're all together and it's a Saturday night which means bad co-op game night but now IRL!" (moments before friend temporarily lost their wallet.) We finished the fight, but at what cost? About $20 and an hour.

F-Zero X (1997) - Everyone likes GX (and you should) but I like to describe X as the first five feet of stairs on the difficulty curve of F-Zero. You absolutely can lift yourself up those missing steps but wouldn't it be better to ease your way on up? Very fast and grippy compared to SNES F-Zero. I also like the rock/metal soundtrack as opposed to GX's industrial (which again, still good, just not as good). Dream Chaser the greatest. Also that arranged music album is killer.

Project Wingman (2020) - Did you like Ace Combat Zero? Of course you did. Here you go, have some more. It's kinda weird how even with the option to bring in multiple types of special weapons, the strongest thing you're armed with are your normal-ass machine guns.

Neo Contra (2004) - The Shock Troopers 3 we deserved. All I have to do to sell you on this is show you the opening to the one stage where Bill and Jaguar are running on top of helicopter blades.

Udongein X (2021) - There are a surprising amount of Mega Man-inspired Touhou fangames out there to the point where they can be divided into inspired by classic series and X amongst others (maybe there's a Battle Network one too?) This is the latter and since it felt most like MMX1 to me, I liked it a lot.

Dimension Tripper Neptune: TOP NEP (2022) - Welcome to the Fantasy nep Zone.

Mega Man 8 (1996) - I hate this fuckin game.

Made Man (2006) - Frustrating. I was expecting a mafia clone of Max Payne but instead it's a cover-shooter with the most mediocre gunplay and braindead AI I've seen in a while. Also the bullet time only activates once you fill the meter and upon manual-deactivation, you lose all of the remainder. Kind of a shame too because some of the setpieces are fun (one of my favorites being a gunfight in the rafters above a rock concert at Madison Square Garden) but it just sucks otherwise. The main voice actor, Rick Pasqualone, does too good of a job for this game when everyone else is phoning it in and I'm glad he got a second shot in a better game as Vito from Mafia II.

P-47 Aces (1995) - Recommended by my friend @bizarredawdler. I got my ass beat.

Carrier Air Wing (1990) - If you liked the arcade version of U.N. Squadron specifically, this is more of the same. Not as good but hey, dogfighting the space shuttle isn't something you do everyday.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge (2022) - This was fun, and probably the first beat'em up that I began to understand rather than just fumble my way through. Would like to do a co-op run with friends at some point. Played as Donatello, he seems cool.

Freedom Planet 2 (2022) - My GOTY 2022. Despite my teasing in numerous late night calls that this was one of those games where the slightest inconvenience resulted in a delay, I can honestly say my expectations were met, exceeded, and blown away. Enjoyed Freedom Planet 1 a lot back in 2015 and while originally hesitant that the artstyle change would bring a gameplay change, all of that faded away when that first demo came out. It's still just as fast and hard-hitting as the first one if not moreso. The reworks to each characters' movesets are nice. Neera is a great additional player character. God I wish someone could get these homebrew'd onto a Saturn because that's the only way this could get more perfect. My one (1) complaint is now Classic Mode being locked behind beating Story Mode once which, while I like the cutscenes and characters, makes it a little harder to recommend to people who just want the pure gameplay that you could immediately access in 1. That's the only thing I'd change.

Panzer Dragoon: Remake (2020) - It sure is Panzer Dragoon 1 but prettier, but oh boy I would not recommend it for full-price precisely because it is Panzer Dragoon 1 with all of its under-an-hour length intact. There's an achievement for playing it for 100 hours... also one for dying once. Don't have either!

Drainus (2022) - Team Ladybug caught my eye and captured my heart with Touhou Luna Nights, and ever since then I'm on board with whatever they've thrown at me. I still haven't finished Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth but I did play this, which was a pretty fun, if not easy STG. Looks nice too!

Call of Duty: Black Ops III (2015) - God the campaign sucked except for one part (you know the one). If you get this, only get it because Zombies workshop support is still alive and well.

Halo 5: Guardians (2015) - I cannot, cannot, cannot stress enough how many times I said "Halo 4 did this better." An absolute goddamn slog of a singleplayer with a dumbass story. The teammate AI will not save you or will kill themselves trying to save you despite the game being designed around squad mechanics. Halo's never been good at boss fights, so here have the same one over and over and now there's three of him hahahaha! I hear "multiplayer is good though!" sure it might be, wouldn't know, don't really care to know.

Dolphin Blue (2003) - Neat little run and gun. Liked the 2D sprites on 3D backgrounds here, very vibrant.

Demonizer (2020) - Neat little shooter, though it does punish you harsher later on for taking hits and losing your allies. One of those if you mess up late you might as well restart.

Ace Combat: Joint Assault (2010) - I really enjoyed Skies of Deception, the other PSP Ace Combat. This one is not that, dropping the Strangereal setting for our own and going with a plot involving insurance CEOs I think. Back to linear mission structure, no choosing the order. Could not play the Joint missions in which you and friends tackle operations at the same time affecting one another which is this game's entire gimmick. I don't remember any of the original music but there are plenty of AC2/3 tracks here which are good.

Demon Front (2002) - Kinda hard run and gun, though it's something I'll have to put more time into to get the groove of it. Otherwise, neat Metal Slug-inspired game! Recommended by a friend who I'm not sure wants to be named.

Raiden II (1993) - I like Raiden. Raiden II is more of that. Simple as.

Burnout (2001) - Another one of those games where you probably played a later one and went back only to discover there's kind of an idea here but it needs to get flushed out a little bit more. I started on this one back in the day and only finally got around to finishing, this time on the Xbox version. Not a whole lot going on here apart from being a standard AA racer of the time with a crash mechanic that's more discouraged than encouraged like its later entries. That AI rubberbanding isn't nearly as bad as NFS Underground 1's but it gets pretty bad. I don't regret playing this but I don't see myself going back, especially now having started 2 which is the ideal form of early Burnout.

Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn (2013) - After teasing my friend @thathomestar for years about it, I finally caved. I don't know MMOs or their systems or what makes for a good one, so I won't speak to its quality. I can make my catgirl fish so hell yeah.

Quake: Dimension of the Past (2016) - Where's the ammo? My gun needs more food!

Quake: Dimension of the Machine (2021) - Gameplay-wise it's more Quake which I love but holy shit do some of these levels look good.

8-Bit Commando (2011) - I thought this would be an okay Contra clone but instead it's subpar. I do like the verticality of your path, but it does feel more linear than it should be. Difficulty is easy even on Hard Mode. There's this weird thing where it'll upload replays of your gameplay as workshop items if you let it, so turn that off as soon as possible. Otherwise, you can't buy this anymore outside of keysites. Done to get footage of the dopefish in it.

Operation C (1991) - Quick, easy, but it is Contra, and nobody does it like Contra.

Contra III: The Alien Wars (1992) - Much like Super Castlevania IV, the jump to the Super Nintendo meant that Contra was gonna get a boost in just about every aspect... and much like Castlevania, I still prefer the original NES game to its SNES sequel. That said, I do think Contra III comes out ahead of CV4 with the amount of cool moments that happen, and abilities like locking the aim direction or standing in place and rotating your angle of shooting are accounted for in the increased difficulty. Very cool title, but personally not my favorite.

The Citadel (2020) - This is a fascinating game. While riding the retro-FPS wave, it still includes mechanics from modern shooters like bullet drop, travel time, weapon condition, hunger(?), full-body awareness (even as sprites!), and so on. Levels are really monochromatic. Very bloody and loud when it gets violent, and boy howdy does it get violent. And yet, there's this certain bleak serenity during level exploration that I haven't felt in a while. Looking forward to the sequel.

Castlevania: The Adventure (1989) - You know what? "Battle of the Holy" isn't just a good song, it's good even by Castlevania standards. And that's about the only good thing I can say about this dull game. I'll have to play ReBirth at some point.

Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (1991) - Better, but I'd rather be playing something else.

Risk of Rain 2 (2020) - This is cheating since I've only seen credits twice or three times, and I normally don't do the roguelikes so again I won't speak too much to it, but I like this one. I've had a fun time alone but it's definitely a lot of fun with friends, and I hope we can come back to it.

Kid Dracula (1990) - What if Castlevania was Mega Man? is my clickbait attention grabber, but also a pretty apt description. It's easy apart from this one railcart section which I felt like I got through on sheer luck than anything else. Still enjoyable.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992/2021 Absolute Version) - I've never actually beaten Sonic 2 legit, half from getting pissed off by the special stages and half because I get bored by the time Oil Ocean rolls around. Now that the special stages are actually in 3D and have a draw distance, I finally was able to get through and grab all Chaos Emeralds for the first time without save states or sound test cheat codes. And I was finally able to appreciate just how good Sonic 2 is once that weight was lifted. The levels are fun and a vast improvement over Sonic 1's, and the 2-Act structure works a lot better for pacing. And during the final boss, doing it legit gave a level of pressure that a final boss should rather than turning on debug mode and spamming rings to help out. I think I can go beat this even more legit on my Genesis without the modern assists, but it is thanks to this version that I gained the confidence to do so. Just needed a little help up is all.

Sonic Triple Trouble 16-Bit (2022) - I had a big old dumb smile on my face the entire time.

Sonic After the Sequel (2013/2017 DX version) - I enjoyed this one too. A bit more lengthy due to a four-act structure per zone and the special stages are slightly more miss than hit for me, but it all worked out in the end. The true final boss had my friends and I laughing.

That's all. I'm gonna try to finish up a couple more Sonic games in the new year and also try to beat the Burnout series, with some other stuff along the way.

[multicolour-ink]

I read your post about both Mario and Luigi being reckless and dreamers and it got me thinking a little about that scene with their family, specifically their dad. And after having seen the fandom around this movie go nuts with fanfics and stuff, I have to ask, do people really believe Mario and Luigi's dad is a bad father just because he doesn't agree with Mario's reckless decision to start their business?

(I say only Mario here because the dad's words are clearly aimed at Mario, even if it was both their idea, but this is more about Mario and his dad rather than both brothers)

Like, when I see the scene at the dinner table, all I see is a dad who is concerned for his kids going into a business without a safety net or backup plan. Mom is trying to be supportive and loving, but dad is clearly the more 'realistic' of the two or at least more vocal about it.

Like, if you have a kid who had a stable job then suddenly quit said job to do freelance and also spent all their life savings on a commerical, you can't tell me you wouldn't be a little worried their future. As a parent you wanna be supportive but there also were you might go "um, are you sure you know what you're doing? have you thought this through? if something happens what will you do, will you have health insurance?" that sort of thing.

It's like quitting your day job for pursue a career in acting or photography or just starting your own company in general. It's probably smarter to do it on the side rather than up and quit your job and lose a stable income as you work to purse your actual goals.

And yeah, he definitely could have worded it better, (why call him nuts? why belittle their dream? why say that he was dragging Luigi down with him, that's mean!) but he does seem like a caring father who wants the best for his kids. And yet, so many stories depict as a horrible father and mistreats both Mario and Luigi and I don't think that's fair.

And given how Mario acts and reacts to certain situations (like jumping into the sewer without a second thought, running and climbing across construction sites, picking fights with people etc.) I get the distinct feeling that this is not the first time Mario has made some questionable decisions or at least acted rashly without really thinking things all the way through.

Tell you've never had kids without telling me...

Ooh this is a long ask! In order to answer this, I will need to divide it up into numbered points, as it is easier to organise my thoughts. I will also be drawing reference from this, this, this, and this (because I love OP's thoughts here).

1. Papa Mario

You are right in your thinking that Papa is trying to be a realistic in his opinion about the business venture! I've said it before myself, but Papa Mario does not strike me as a strict parent, but rather just voicing the opinions of his generation. It is far more common for someone of his time to be more fixated on the idea of getting a steady job and supporting family etc. It's not that they are being mean, it's just the society they were brought up in. I've heard this myself from older members of my family (including my own parents).

Nowadays there are much more opportunities and ways for people to venture into independent careers, but those always come at a risk. More often than not it requires more skill, heart, and sometimes luck to make it work. While Mario and Luigi are fortunate to be able to have a roof over their heads and be served food, sooner than later they will need to support themselves. That's primarily what I believe their father is getting at; while their Mama is happy they are being adventurous (wonder where Mario got that from? 😉) and is happy to support them, their father just fears that they will fail and be back to square one.

I personally haven't seen anyone explicitly say that they believe Papa Mario to be a bad father - and he is not! What he says comes from concern and love, not neglect.

2. Mario's Relationship With His Father

"You're bringing your brother down with ya."

I've seen some people come forward and admit that they see this line to be confirmation that Mario and his father don't get along, that Mario is seen as the "troublemaker".

I personally don't think that there's any bad blood between the two, but it is obvious that Mario gets most of the blame for the idea of the plumbing business in the first place - despite the fact that Luigi is just as much centre focus in it as he is!

We don't really get much of the family to get any idea of the history there...but I believe that the shaken relationship between Mario and his father could just all be down to Mario's assertiveness. Papa knows full well that his eldest son is very overconfident and brash, and will always stick up for Luigi (evidenced by scenes like with the baby Bros ❤️️) - but it's clear Papa wishes Mario would stop with that mindset, for fear of his son failing.

Notice how Papa never suggests that Luigi find his own path, his own job, and let his brother learn his lesson on his own? Because he doesn't need to. He knows that his sons are always in it together, no matter what. Luigi is just the more quieter of the two. So in order to make sure that he gets his concerns across to them, he instead directs it at Mario (which backfires spectacularly).

Which leads me on to...

3. The Brother's Bond

There are two ideas I have over what the relationship between Papa Mario and his brothers (Uncle Arthur and Uncle Tony) is like:

Papa and Arthur are twins, with Tony being the younger sibling (which makes sense for Tony's more carefree personality - with two older brothers taking the brunt of responsibility)

Papa and his brothers are different ages, with Papa being the oldest

Regardless which one is correct, it makes Papa's words to Mario at the dinner scene all the more impactful - because he knows what it's like to be an older role model to siblings and set a good example.

However, whilst that bond is strong, I don't think either of the family could have even predicted just how tightly bonded Mario and Luigi would become - even with knowing they are twins.

Not to say Papa doesn't love his brothers (or is not as close with Arthur if they are twins) but what Mario and Luigi have together as brothers goes far deeper.

Whatever you want to call it - fate, the stars, destiny - it's clear that Mario and Luigi have a bond that is unlike any other. They are intertwined together so tight that just being away and out of sight of each other causes them both great distress. It is like they are one soul split into two, and those two halves yearn to be together in order to feel complete.

They are each other's emotional and physical support. Without the other it's meaningless. They ride or die together - no matter what.

[1moreoffkeyanthem]

17. talk about your writing and editing process <3

Man apparently I’m allergic to checking my inbox but HEY better late than never my love!

So my process, if you can even call it that, is chaotic as FUCK!!! I stare off into space writing it mentally first, type all my bullshit in my notes app like a heathen, don’t proofread, drop unsolicited personal lore in the notes, all that. Gonna use TWITR as an example again btw

I’ve said it before, but The Webs In The Rafters is based on a WHACK ASS DREAM I HAD. specifically chapter 17 and the climax of the story. Like I was the Kenny character, Sansa the dog was telepathically speaking in my mind, there were piles of cuddling cats everywhere, the sound of helicopter blades and a trail of spiders in the hay. I woke up like bro what the hell this is a story right here and I went from there. And in fleshing out the plot, pinning the story beats, the time I was writing it was PERFECT TIMING. Because I had a six hour drive to make for a friend’s wedding. And what did my insane ass do? I FUCKING RAWDAWGED that drive. No music, no audiobook, just silent highways and plotting TWITR. By the time I got home I had a very clear idea of where I was going with the story that at that point was only a few set up chapters and a title.

Speaking of titles, a lot of the time I have titles before I have plot, which is kinda weird bc I know a lot of people struggle with titles, but that’s one of the first things that comes to me. Especially with my one shots, like my kysterion fic All The Punches That I’ve Thrown. That lyric popped into my head and a fic idea with it. Song lyrics inspire a LOT of ideas for me.

So does art. Like with In The Truly Gruesome, I saw a drawing emilyartstudios did of Stan and Shelley working a booth for Tegrity at a fair and I was like YO WHAT IF I FUCKED THIS UP AND STUCK ZOMBIE ALIENS IN THERE lmfao. And ofc, the OrangeJuiceVerse wouldn’t exist if I hadn’t seen foxydodo’s art of basketball player Kyle and mascot Stan.

While oneshots come together pretty fast for me usually, being written out in my head to be typed out in the course of a day (back in the days of janitor Riley bored as shit at work and having the time and energy for that lol), multichapters are require more thought structurally. So what I like to do with a multichap:

Think of it in three acts. In script writing, there’s something called the “page 12 event”, the event that gets the plot rolling near the beginning of the film. And I like to stick an event like that at the end of chapter 1 of my stuff a lot of the time, like ITTG and uhhhh yeeting Stan into a mineshaft after we find out the boys are being chased by monsters (jesus what is wrong with me). What I’m getting at: I like to know where my beginning middle and end are, how the characters are feeling at each step, how their relationships change, all that. And a lot of the time I think of the end before I do the middle or beginning tbh. Like I said, chaos. I think of a random scenario (as we know usually someone is hurt and getting taken care of bc I’m fucking evil and that’s where my brain goes constantly), hence the WhumpShots.

And I do primarily operate in WhumpShots. I picture a scene with a character getting their injuries tended, sick and dizzy but having a friend or loved one at their side, etc, and BAM that scene becomes a oneshot. Even the REALLY short ones, like the sot bunny I did last summer called So Only Say My Name, was about 700 words and one sequence of events. That kind of to the point structure comes easy to me, which is why I loved doing Style Week so much; new oneshot prompt every day. And while I don’t usually proofread after I finish a work, I edit as I go, sometimes post random lines on here or send a screenshot to the R.A.N.T. homies (I’ve definitely done this more as of late, a habit from when I attempted writing smut for the first time and would send neen a screenshot all “IS THIS CRINGE?!?” lmfao I love the Idea Trampoline tho). And I can’t spell so autocorrect is fr my saving grace unless it betrays me. Off the top of my head I can think of 3 words in 3 separate fics that I need to fix but am simply not going to bc that requires effort and oh fuckin well.

And I say that, but I may be lax about the more fiddly stuff but I care SO much about the big picture. Like “does this convey the feelings I want it to? Is this going to be a bright spot in someone’s day? Is the vibe I want there?” That’s my priority. If I can leave an impact on a reader, entertain them, make them smile, that’s what matters to me.

Jesus sorry this was a convoluted answer lmao it’s 3 in the morning and I woke up all “hey I should actually check my inbox” and here we are

Thank u for asking abt my chaos melda tâe

[babieshadowz]

sonic agere hcs!!

sonic- a flip!

-when he’s little he’s about 1-9. he didn’t really have a good upbringing, so regressing helps him make up for lost time. he likes napping, plushies, and snuggles. he’s very ashamed of his regression though and only tails is aware of it :(

- as a cg, he is super sweet and teases a lot!! he tells the best bed time stories! he’s like a big brother!

tails- flip, caregiver leaning

-tails will try her best to tend to her little one’s needs! she makes toys, let’s them play with her tails, and watches cartoons with them! a big sister!

-when little, she tends to keep to herself, and doesn’t really tell anyone.

amy- a flip, caregiver leaning!

- when he’s little he regresses to about 3-5! she likes playing dress up and making tea parties with her stuffies and friends! while she loves playing with caregivers, she doesn’t mind being an older sister to someone younger than her!

-as a cg, she dresses her littles in cute clothes and bakes yummy treats!! she would spoil the heck out of them!! a big sister!!

knuckles- a caregiver! knuckles doesn’t care give much outside of taking care of chao, but when someone needs him he’s there to soothe!

rouge- a caregiver!! rouge will spoil her littles to the brim!! she’ll give them little nicknames based on gems! she’s a mama!! primarily cares for shadow

shadow- a flip, more regressor leaning

-when she’s little, she regresses to about 1-6. he loves chewing on stuff and holding on to his plushies. he has a cat rattle stuffie that he hates letting go of! rouge is HER mama!! but amy/tails can help. she’s also a pet regressor and tends to act like a pup/kitty

-when they’re a cg they protects littles at ALL cost. she’ll call them cute names and tease them! she mainly cares for metal sonic!! (headcanons me and my friend bees-are-my-thing-bro made)

that’s all i have for now :3

[staghunting]

sirius' motorbike, part 1

i started researching stuff for a timetravel au where genderswapped harry potter was gifted an enchanted motorbike like sirius', got distracted from writing because real life is so much more interesting than shitty worldbuilding by a terf, and basically just hadn't done anything.

but i have headcanons!

hagrid rides two different bikes in the movies- a bonneville in the first movie, then a royal enfield with a watsonian sidecar in DH1.

in the first movie specifically, they used a 1959 Triumph 650cc T120 Bonneville. pretty fast, pretty big, pretty classic, and an incredibly British motorbike. it would make sense for sirius, freshly disowned and getting a not-insignificant inheritance from his uncle in golden galleons, to buy the most muggle thing he could.

and what's more muggle than transportation? although public transportation, arguably, is more human than having personal equipment you can use to get around (since the wizards used brooms to that effect before specializing in portkeys and manufacturing brooms primarily for sports), you cannot tell me that posh sirius, who grew up as a sheltered magical heir in the middle of muggle London but wouldn't be in a place to socialize with them, would care for the Tube during rush hour

being born with generational magic arguably means that inhabitants of 12 Grimmauld Place would use the floo or apparate instead of using the front door, where they had the chance of running into filthy muggles. and having a front door that is nothing more than decoration is such a rich people thing to do honestly.

so sirius would probably have bought a bonneville. he probably sat around the cafe racers in london, acting cool and undercover though everybody could tell he was too shiny and weird for the place, and more or less caught the motorbike bug. like a thrillseeking college-age kid with too much money to burn, of course he'd choose to buy a liter bike for his first motorbike, possibly secondhand from one of the racers he'd befriended because he believes it's much more better broken in and all that

now, as to whether sirius actually liked being a motorbike owner...

i reckon he did. i don't think sirius played quidditch, though regulus in canon played, but he would fly around with james sometimes- i reckon he's a speed demon gryffindor like his other half. him on a bike and james on a broom in the skies would lead to soooo many great shenanigans that the world outside of 70s london would not be able to handle

and there's two pieces of extra-canon stuff that give evidence to this. the first being this photo from the props department for DH1, a motorcycle manual that can be seen in sirius' old bedroom.

the motorbikes, motorbike company, and publishing company were all fictional, but if sirius had a manual presumably before he ran away in 1976, it would mean he was really serious (lol) about owning a motorcycle, if not riding

when he bought the motorbike is answered in the other extra-canon thing i mentioned. the terf once wrote a sort of prequel story for a charity auction (which later got stolen lmao?) which detailed freshly-seventeen james potter and sirius black giving the muggle police the run around in london

the story goes that they were on a night out, going beyond the speed limit, and when cornered in an alley they used the thing to fly abovehead

i don't have a copy of the actual story though i'm sure someone somewhere has it printed out and framed in their home. however, the story does have james and sirius lift up the police car to crash into three broomriders, who were also presumably about to arrest them for using magic in front of muggles (but NOT for underage magic)

the story took place three years before harry was born, so sirius black already had a motorbike and made some memories (and perhaps, highly illegal unregulated enchantments) on it on 1977.

this bike would've improved and gotten deadlier when he lent it to hagrid that night in godric's hollow, where he said that he "won't need it anymore."

i like to think sirius did not go ghost rider on peter when he could, because you can't really ride a motorbike safely when in a vengeful all consuming rage- that leads to death, and with death comes a lack of vengeance, and damn it if he won't avenge james.

the bike hagrid was using would look the way sirius rode it last. at first glance it doesn't look like it has any mods, so if sirius enchanted it to fly amongst other things, it would probably be spelled or carved into the engine or the body. the terf didn't really make it clear how the magic system in her fuck ass fictional world works, so we're left to interpret how enchanting stuff permanently/long term would work, as in the case of quidditch brooms or the entirety of hogwarts itself.

hagrid would use sirius' motorbike once more, to rescue harry potter from privet drive permanently (and for some, seven years too late to do so)

[more on part 2]