#this was originally gonna be multiple characters but i couldn't make it work

[lover-of-mine]

Me? Wanting to talk about the locker room scene in comparison to the cemetery scene to make a point no one asked about? Raise your hand if you saw this is coming 🙋‍♀️

Anyway, this is madness written by a gifmaker/video editor who hates coloring the cemetery scene with a burning passion and who spent the better part of the past 2 days trying to make a coloring work for the locker room scene, who also did some asking around with other editors who also seem to be having issues with the scene, and who spends way too much time thinking about Buck and death (someone drown that man, please).

I'm gonna start this off by saying that I don't really believe the cemetery scene will be directly addressed on the show no matter how much I wish it would. But something about the cemetery scene besides the actual content of the scene that keeps me up at night and had me writing multiple fics dealing with it, is the fact that the sky is only blue behind Eddie.

Why is that relevant in any way, shape, or form? The colors when the focus is on Buck or both of them have this almost yellowish tone that the focus on Eddie doesn't have. The sky and colors strongly imply that they added a filter to it in post-production to ensure the colors looked like that, along with the fact that it is a scene that's really weird to color something that happens when they go too hard on the filters *cough* crossover *cough* pilot *cough*. What does that have to do with the locker room? The locker room also has this almost yellowish tone that makes it hell to color. But based on my 2 days of testing different colorings and techniques, it seems to be a hell of a lot worse when the shot has that wall over there where the sun is hitting as a background.

That suggests that they wanted the scenes to have a specific lighting that they achieved later. Considering the way that the tendency of the cemetery is that the colors get muted or weirdly blended together and that the locker room goes YELLOW, I am assuming that they messed with the colors on the cemetery to make the colors look faded, giving it that gloomy feeling, which in turn made the sky almost white, and that they needed that sunlight reflecting on the wall to look that bright, which made the scene look a lot more yellow than it should. Seriously, trying to work this out I legit make it look like Buck is a Simpsons character.

Okay, but Anna, why did you make this particular connection? Well, the word is muted when Buck is talking about starting to date Natalia and then the sun gets brighter when he talks about them breaking up? COME ON. He's calling the relationship boring and the word literally gets brighter as he says it, madness.

Buck talking about dating Natalia -> Buck talking about breaking up with Natalia (please don't judge the gifs I don't want the stress of coloring them combined right now lol)

But that's the same reaction. Dude is smiling going in, he's smiling going out.

And considering Buck's relationship with his own death and the way I strongly believe that what drew him to Natalia was the fact that she didn't think his death was a tragedy and he wasn't ready to deal with the reality of had happened to him yet, to get him to the point where death is boring is progress. Makes me fear for my Buck breakdown wishes, but it is progress for that particular aspect of Buck, considering he has a very intricate relationship with death down to the fact he was born as a hail mary to prevent it. We have multiple near-death experiences, we have him saving the lives of people loves multiple times, the first time we see him he's saving a kid who drowned, his first big conflict is the fact that he's not handling not being able to save someone's life all that well, I can keep going, but you see my point, right?

The arc with Natalia, even though we didn't see the originally planned conclusion since the actress couldn't come back, had this point of Buck looking at what happened to him through the eyes of someone who didn't know him before and was actually excited about that happening, so he could distance himself from what happened and look at it from a "safe" distance. That distance also allowed him to ignore the very important "I need to do this for myself" thing from the coma dream because Buck is terrified of being alone, and that definitely includes the fear of finding out who he is by himself. Buck is bad at being alone, from meaningless sex, to hanging on to Abby too long, to hanging on to Taylor too long, to jumping in with Natalia, the first pretty girl who looked his way, it all makes this part of him very clear (parenthesis because I just had a thought, yes, Buck latches on to Taylor out of fear of being alone triggered by Eddie almost dying, but he thought he could have died himself considering the crane and everything about it and also the way he could very much have been shot at the same time as Eddie, he latched on to Natalia because he did die, he also almost died on his first date with Abby and Abby actually reached out to him when he was feeling all sorts of bad over someone dying, and he is held at gunpoint and watched a death that deeply affected him before he started dating Ali, so we have death as a connection here too, if that makes sense, I might have to come back to this thought later).

But the thing is, when you look at 6a for Buck considering the fact that Buck is passively suicidal, in a very I'm not trying to get killed but I don't think I don't care if I do die way, and how he probably thought he was going to die in a blaze of glory saving someone, and how he actually died in a pretty run-of-the-mill call, by something no one has any control over it, Buck's relationship with what he thought death was and would be for him changed. For one, Buck was not ready for how much it affected everyone around him, he never considered what the grief of losing him would do to the people he loves, but also, Buck's main excuse for his near-death experiences/impulsive behavior that puts him in mortal danger was "but I didn't actually die" like with the blood clots or "I didn't get the worst of it" like with the shooting, I think even the tsunami a little bit with how he felt about losing Chris. But he did actually die, and considering the fact that he went up that ladder when Chimney was ready to go up and Eddie also got hit by the lightning, he also got the worst of it. So he lost his own coping mechanism.

So he arrived at a point where death is boring and he is smiling like an idiot at Eddie welcoming him "back to the world of the living" and that could have fun implications going forward. Because, one, he still hasn't dealt with a big emotion in a healthy way, and two, Bobby is in mortal danger. Considering his reaction to Bobby being dead in his coma world and the fact that he has no coping mechanism left when it comes to death anymore along with his own relationship with water and danger we could have some fun reactions to these types of triggers for him there.

And thinking about the way Oliver keeps talking about Buck learning more about himself and also about Buck leaning on Eddie, someone who had his own journey dealing with multiple layers of his relationship with death, they have a fun space to play with there, with Buck's relationship with death, Eddie's relationship with Buck's death, and everything else that could happen with Eddie fully dealing with Shannon's death, and Buck dealing with anything really, Daniel, his own death, his fear of being alone, all as someone who actually wants to live, who's not just moving because he's alive and has no other alternative.

That's it for today, as always, if you reached this I love you 💜

[maladaptiv3]

you're not a kid anymore (pt. 1)

Pairing: JJ Maybank x Reader

Content: JJ's dad is back, JJ self-isolates to deal with it!

Warning: allusions to past abuse, angst, past trauma, JJ is mid-20s in this, I don't like to write teenage characters (since I am not one)

Word Count: 3,811 - this is long, sorry! I got carried away (it will be multiple parts)

this playlist would be nice to listen to while you read

*original content by maladaptiv3* please do not repost my work

(new screen name hey)

Time was slowly creeping into the territory where you would begin to really worry about where he was and what he was doing. Sure, he would get sort of distant and spend time by himself on the water once in a while, but you always knew where he was and you always, always knew he would trudge in here in the morning before you left for work. This time was different. His dad was back in town. You didn't know much about their relationship, just the small pockets he would share with you and rumors that would make it to your side of the island back in high school. Even as a sometimes acquaintance, you knew no one deserved to be treated like that, especially by someone meant to protect them. Now, you feel an ache in your heart whenever he shuts down because you know why it is happening. Trauma was not just something that one could get over just like that. No matter what you did to try and take his pain away, it was always there, just right behind his bright blue eyes. You often wondered how his eyes could be so soft and inviting when they held onto so much pain and anger. 

*four days ago*

He texted you while you were at work, which he rarely does. You opened the message and all it said was, "He's back." You knew exactly who he was, but you did not know what that meant for him. You wanted to run out of your classroom and go to where he was and just hug him—to catch him when he fell. You knew you couldn't. It was remarkable how he could make you want to give in to reckless abandon like you were a teenager. Unfortunately, you were not a teenager. You sent a quick text back, "I love you, baby. I will be home right after school." Your hands trembled for a second as your attention turned back to the lesson you were supposed to be teaching. 

The instant the dismissal bell rang you grabbed your bag and walked as fast as you could to your car. The short drive home seemed to take hours. You could not get there fast enough. Thoughts swirled in your mind. You did not know what to expect when you got there. You felt like you needed to prepare yourself for the worst. His car was in the driveway. You slowly turned the key to your front door and cautiously pushed the door open. You walked in and it was quiet. His hips weren't swaying to the radio while he did dishes, how you usually find him when he gets home before you. You set your bag down and peek around the corner and see the back door is open, "Babe?" There is no answer. You make it to the open door and he's sitting in one of the patio chairs, his eyes are red, and he has a cigarette burning between his swollen lips. Your heart sinks as he just holds a hand out for you to take and join him, "How was work?" You begin to sit in the chair next to him but he lightly pulls you toward him indicating he wants you closer, "It was fine, J. Are you okay?" You settle on his lap swinging your legs over the side of his chair as he wraps his arms around you. He flicks the cigarette into the ashtray and buries his head in your chest.

You being to stroke his hair and you feel his body simultaneously relax in your grip and begin to tremble. He's crying, "I don't wanna go see him." You try to pull him closer to you than he already is, "You don't need to, baby. You don't owe him anything."  It was quiet for a minute as you ran your fingers through his hair. "I'm gonna go see him tonight." The tears begin to form in the corners of your eyes as he continued to fall apart in your arms. You try your best to keep it a secret, "I can go with you." He looks up at you, his face wet and hair matted to his forehead, "You don't need to." "I want to." He presses a kiss to your clothed chest, "I need you to stay home. I need to do this alone." You tenderly cup one side of his face with your hand and he relaxes into it, kissing your palm, "J, he can't hurt you. You're not a kid anymore." He just takes a deep breath, "I know."

He leaned back in the chair and you guys sat on there for what felt like hours just listening to each other breathe and the waves crash onto the shore. He broke the silence, "I gotta go, sweetheart." You stood up and he followed you. You threw your arms around his neck, balancing on your tip toes, "Be safe, please." His hands found their home on your waist and he squeezed it lightly, pressing a long and deep kiss to your lips. He broke the kiss and looked down at you with those big blue eyes, "I love you." You sniffled and wiped a tear from falling down your cheek, "I love you, too." He kissed you again, "I'll be back tomorrow." You couldn't hide your tears anymore, "Please come home tonight." He kissed you on the forehead before walking away, "I love you so much. I'll see you tomorrow." You shouted after him, "I love you. Forever." He didn't look back as he walked out of the back gate. You knew if he did he wouldn't have left and you knew he needed to, no matter how much neither of you wanted him to go. 

That was four days ago.

day one

Admittedly, you hoped he was going to walk through that door sometime during the night. You knew deep down that wasn't going to happen, but you couldn't help yourself from trying to will it to happen. You lay awake most of the night, tossing and turning, worrying about what was happening between him and his father. You knew that it was not an easy decision for him to make—to go and see his father after everything that had happened when he was growing up. At the same time, you knew that he needed to go to see him. He had always wanted more closure than he was afforded when he left that day when JJ was a teenager. Still, selfishly, you wished J hadn't gone. Somewhere between putting your headphones in, playing your and J's favorite songs, and letting your mind wander, you had drifted off to sleep. 

You were startled by your alarm. You groaned at the sunlight peeking through the blinds you couldn't be bothered to close last night. You didn't have any messages from J and he still wasn't home. You had a sinking feeling, but he always comes home. Maybe he went straight to work to open the shop. You call him, but he doesn't answer. You swallowed the lump in your throat and decided to leave early to go drive by the shop. You pull into the parking lot and his car isn't there. You notice his motorcycle had been taken out of the garage, which felt unusual. You rummage through your purse for a minute looking for the spare key to the front door. You finally find it and make your way into the garage. It was still dark enough outside so the garage's sensor lights were still on. JJ's truck and the boat were gone. You still didn't like not knowing where he was or if he was safe, but you had some peace knowing where he likely was. You wrote a quick note and left it on his desk before locking back up and heading to work. 

Before going to your classroom, you stopped by the office to check your mailbox. You walked into the front office and noticed your box was empty. You walked up to the receptionist counter and you were greeted by the office manager's, Rhonda, smile. You smiled back at her, "Morning, Rhonda." She pushed her bowl of Jolly Ranchers closer to you, "Morning, honey. Want a Jolly Rancher for the road?" She knew your weakness. You picked a couple from the bowl and turned to leave. You stopped and thought for a second, "Hey, Rhonda. Can I ask you something?" She stopped typing on her computer, "Not if you're gonna ask me to change the toner." You smiled and laughed weakly, "No, you don't have to worry about that. I know you too well." Her smile was warm and I think she could tell something was on your mind, "What's on your mind?" I cleared my throat, "Did Joe mention seeing JJ at the shop last night?" She looked a bit puzzled and shook her head no, "I'm sorry, no. Is everything okay?" You quickly shook your head yes, "Yeah, everything's fine. He's just going through something right now. Have a good day, Rhonda." "You too."

day two

It had been just over 24 hours since you had last seen him. These days, he never disappears for this long without checking in. You tried your best to keep your mind from going to dark places. Sometimes those thoughts go the best of you though. You were at a loss. You checked all of his usual corners after school yesterday and came up empty. You couldn't exactly take the boat out and look for him on the water, he had the damn boat. 

You didn't want to get anyone else involved. What use was it to worry everyone if he was fine? Probably fine. He's fine. You were going to drive yourself crazy if you didn't at least reach out to John B. It was early, but you still dialed his number. You could tell you woke him up by the rasp in his voice, "Hello?" It was a question, not a greeting. He was still half asleep and probably very confused as to why you were calling him so early, or even calling him in the first place. You took a deep breath choking back tears, but your voice still trembled, "Hey, I'm so sorry to wake you." You could hear Sarah in the background, "Is she okay? Put her on speaker." They spoke almost in unison, "Is everything okay?" "Have either of you talked to JJ? He hasn't come home for two nights in a row." You heard John B. clear his throat, "He came by the other night before going to see his dad, but I figured he would have been home by now. Has he called you?" You clenched your fist, nails digging into your palm, to keep from breaking down completely, "No, I haven't talked to him since he left that day. I think I need to go to the police." Sarah chimed in, "Do you want me to go with you?" "No, I'll be fine." Her voice was reassuring, "Are you sure?" "Yeah, I am. I'm gonna go before work. Text me if you hear from him?" They answered together, "Of course."

You had two preps this morning, so you had plenty of time to head to the station before your first class. You parked and pulled down the visor mirror to make sure your eyes weren't too red. You took a deep breath, counted to three, and got out of the car. The walk to the door felt hundreds of miles long. Chills covered your body as you walked up to the counter. An officer you recognized as a parent of one of your students was sitting going through files when she looked up, "Oh, don't tell me this is about my son." You chuckled a bit, "It's not." "Thank god. What can I do for you then?" You leaned forward against the counter a little, "Is Shoupe in yet?" She sat back a bit to get a better look through the frosted office window, "I think so. Can I tell him what this is about? Everything okay?" You bit your bottom lip to keep it from quivering, "Can you please just tell him I need to talk to him about something?" She got up from her seat taking her coffee cup with her, "I sure can." "Thank you."

Shoupe stood in the doorway of his office motioning his head as an invitation. He waited until you were sitting to close the door. You fidgeted with the loose thread on the sleeve of your sweater. He sat down opposite you and took a sip of his coffee. The warm scent reminded you that you hadn't smelled coffee in two days, JJ drank it, not you. The scent filled your nostrils and you closed your eyes for a second basking in it. Shoupe broke you out of your thoughts, "What brings you in? How are your parents? I ran into your dad at the dealership the other day." You nodded, "My parents are good. Yeah, he mentioned you were in the market for a new truck." He just shook his head yes, confused about why I was making small talk about my dad's business at 7:30 in the morning on a Wednesday, "So, are you gonna tell me why you're really here?"

You smoothed down your dress nervously running your hands back and forth on your thighs, "JJ hasn't been home in two days." Shoupe didn't look surprised, "Isn't that kind of what he does?" You kept yourself from rolling your eyes, "It's what he used to do. He's not a teenager anymore, Shoupe. He has responsibilities now. A good life, he just wouldn't run off. He wouldn't do this to me. I'm really worried about him. No one has seen or heard from him in two days. I don't know what else to do. I'm freaking out." You felt the tears begin to form on your bottom lash line and broke down completely, "Shoupe, I need you to do something.  He wouldn't do this to me." He leaned forward in his chair and pulled paperwork from the bottom drawer of his desk. He offered you a box of tissues and a pen, "Let's just fill out the missing person's report and go from there." You nodded, drying your tears, and taking the pen, "Okay, let's do that. But then what?" He typed something into his computer, "We wait."

day three

The last thing you wanted to do was get out of bed and deal with teenagers all day. You loved your students to death, but it had been a long couple of days, especially because you weren't sleeping all that well. You were physically and emotionally exhausted. You finished your tea before you even made it to work, so you headed to the office to make a new cup and see Rhonda so she could fuel your Jolly Rancher habit. Rhonda can usually see right through you so you tried your best not to look as tired and worn out as you actually were, "Morning, Rhonda." She put her candy bowl on the counter so you could reach it, "Morning, honey." You stood there waiting for the electric kettle to heat up. You absentmindedly spun the ring that sat on your ring finger. Rhonda took notice, "Your boy not back yet?" You shook your head no, "Can you thank Joe for opening up the garage this week?" She smiled that warm and comforting smile at you, "Of course. He really did get you a beautiful ring." You plopped your tea bag into your mug, "Thank you. He had some help." She placed her hand onto yours, "He loves you. He'll be back." You just smiled back and nodded slightly, "Have a good day, Rhonda."

You really didn't want to spend another night alone in your and JJ's home. You texted Sarah. 

*text chain*

Hey, would you mind spending the night tonight?

Not at all, do you want me to come by after you get home from work?

That would be great. You know where the key is if you get there before me. :)

You pulled up to your house to see Sarah's car already in the driveway. You unlocked the door to see her drying some dishes. She turned around abruptly, "Oh, you startled me. You're home early." You pulled her into a hug, "I had a prep. You didn't need to clean my kitchen." She squeezed you a little tighter, "I know, I just wanted to help." You released each other and you thanked her. You changed and sat down on the couch. She sat on the loveseat adjacent to you, "You haven't heard from him?" You sighed, "No, but I talked to Shoupe yesterday." She rolled her eyes, "Did he say anything worthwhile?" "Nope." You enjoyed not being alone and got lost in reality TV to occupy your mind for a bit. 

Sarah broke the silence, "You hungry?" You nodded, realizing you hadn't eaten much of anything the last few days. She took her phone off the coffee table, "I can have John B. go pick up a pizza or something." You snuggled deeper under your blanket, "That sounds good." You were thankful for your friends. Even though they were JJ's first, you were welcomed quickly and found a best friend in Sarah that you had wanted your whole life. You didn't talk much in high school, she had a certain untouchable aura to her back then. She was far from untouchable, however. She was warm and fiercely loyal to those whom she loved. 

day four

You were thankful that both Sarah and John B. decided to spend the night last night. John B. took up residence on the couch insisting that he didn't need to sleep in the guest room if Sarah wasn't going to be in there. You insisted that you could sleep alone, you think she knew you didn't mean it. She was still asleep when your alarm went off. It was a half day and you literally could not be more thankful. All you had to do was make it through four hours of teaching AP English and you could retreat back to your safe haven, to your friends, and maybe to JJ. You couldn't help but think that every day when you came home this week, JJ would be there waiting for you. It hadn't happened yet, but you weren't about to give up hope. 

When you got home, both Sarah and John B. had left. Sarah left a note on the kitchen table: "Went home to get some stuff and John's at the surf shop. We'll be back later." You told them they didn't need to spend another night but you were thankful they chose to. You made a cup of tea and settled onto the couch, trying your best to take a nap. Your mind was racing but listening to music always seemed to help. You were startled awake by the door lock clicking closed. Sarah muttered to herself, "Shit." You sat up, "Hey." She looked apologetic, "I am so sorry, I was trying not to wake you." You got up from your place on the couch, the hair on the back of your neck was sticking to it and all you wanted to do was take a shower, "It's okay, I'm gonna take a shower." Sarah placed some grocery bags on the kitchen table, "You'll feel much better after that. I'll fix us some dinner. John B. will be by later, he's got inventory coming in tonight." 

The steam filled the bathroom as you stepped into the hot water. You let the slightly too hot water wash over your shoulders. For a just moment, you felt everything melt away. There was truly nothing like a hot shower. You sat with your thoughts for a few minutes. You missed JJ so much and were really starting to get concerned. You hadn't heard anything from Shoupe yet, though you were wondering if he was actually doing anything. You wanted nothing more than to go back in time and not let him leave or force him to take you with him. You regretted not going after him, making sure he was okay. You kept telling yourself you could have prevented this, but in reality, you knew couldn't have. 

After your shower, you and Sarah sat down to eat dinner. You spent it reminiscing about old times—talking about everything and nothing at the same time. You have to admit, the banter was a welcome distraction. Shortly after dinner, you guys settled in to watch a movie. You were tired but you enjoyed doing something other than worrying about your wayward fiancé. You could feel yourself starting to fall asleep, "Hey, I'm gonna turn in." She nodded and pulled you into a side hug from her spot next to you on the couch, "I'm gonna wait out here for John B. Shout if you need anything." You squeezed her hand, "Thanks, Sarah."

You rummaged through JJ's drawers searching for his favorite t-shirt—his faded Sex Wax shirt. You wanted to feel close to him. He had had the thing since high school, so it was perfectly worn in. You slipped the shirt over your head and crawled under the pile of blankets that you couldn't sleep without but JJ always complained about. You had been lulled to sleep by the sound of the TV in the living room. For the first time in the last few days, you were actually asleep. 

After a couple of hours, you were woken up by whispering coming from the hallway. You didn't think anything of it. You checked the time on your phone. It was 2:38 in the morning. You had a message. You opened the messaging app and it was from JJ, almost an hour ago. It just read, "I'm sorry." Before you could manage to untangle yourself from your pile of blankets (JJ was right, you really didn't need all of these), the bedroom door opened slowly, the light from the kitchen peeking through. Your heart sank when his familiar backward cap and his blonde locks fluttering out from beneath it were illuminated in the doorway. You choked back a sob, "JJ?" He rushed over to you taking you in his arms. You wrapped your arms around his neck, tears streaming down your cheeks. He broke the hug and your eyes met. He wiped a tear from your cheek. You were so unbelievably angry and thankful at the same time. He kissed you. You cried harder. He pressed a kiss to the top of your head, "Shhh, I'm here. You're safe. I'm safe." You pulled back a bit, "You look like hell." "I feel like hell."

part 2

[lincolndjarin]

Best Kept Secret : What If...?

a series of alternate/unused bks story lines!!

contains spoilers for all of bks!!

alternate torture @ the end

i grappled with this a lot. i very strongly believe that the worst thing you can do with your characters in a high stakes situation is coddle them. if i've learned anything from dnd it's that you cannot be afraid to hurt you characters.

yet for the first time in my life i've become so attached that i just couldn't do it.

the tongue in a box scene was something that caused me a lot of turmoil. in the original cut it was elaine's tongue, but i talked to my friend catie about it and we agreed that cutting off a lesbians tongue is fucked up. then i considered actually cutting off din's tongue, i thought that that would make for something really interesting with the big reveal if he couldn't talk to her but it just seemed too brutal? i couldn't really wrap my head around it so i eventually just made it someone elses tongue.

my replacement for that was din's leg, that was something that sort of came on at the last second, i gave him the limp as foreshadowing and then said fuck it, lets take the whole thing.

dress maker

the scene in chapter 4 where din walks in on her in the bath was originally a much longer sequence where a modiste visited the castle and there was a lot of stuff around making new dresses for her and din was going to walk in while she was getting changed.

eventually i scrapped the entire concept and gave elaine the seamstress trait instead.

multiple parties & balls (masquerade)

i briefly mentioned this in the q&a but in the original bks outline there were a lot more parties and big scenes like that. i realized pretty quickly that balls and parties are a visual medium. the reason why i like those scenes so much in other things is because they're so visually appealing which is harder to do when writing. there was going to be a readers birthday ball, a few other parties or wedding for kodos siblings etc but it always felt like filler.

the masquerade was my dream sequence that just never really fir naturally fit with the story so i eventually had to let it go.

no breakup/rules storyline

there was no break up in the original bks story board. instead, everything after chapter 7 was gonna be based around breaking each and every rule.

each chapter following would have been dedicated to breaking a few of the rules up until the last one that would have been; no falling in love, stop when i say to stop, and no kissing would have all been one big climax chapter. it would have been very little women in the 'we have got to have it out jo' sort of sense where she begs him to stop talking but he just keeps confessing.

eventually i realized that a rule or two break every chapter wasn't very sustainable. it was a fun idea and it might work in a different setting but bks at its core is supposed to be an overly dramatic period piece and there just wasn't enough conflict with that so instead i went with the breakup.

alternative ending

i had a similar ending for quite some time and one day i was listening to music and thinking about bks and realized that she loved naboo. originally they fled after kodo was killed. they built a cabin somewhere far away etc. etc.

but the character seemed to make more sense as someone who would want to do right by the people she had grown to love within the kingdom so i decided to make it a sort of thing where she disassembled the monarchy.

(there was also an ending where she faked her own death, framed kodo, and he was ripped apart by the citizens of naboo)

and of course i briefly considered genuinely killing din and having her raise the baby on her own. but the idea made me so truly upset that i just couldnt do it.

hoth story line

not much to say here other that there was going to be a thing where she went back to hoth to visit her family accompanied by the mandalorian. another thing that was fun as a concept but ended up feeling like filler so i dropped it.

elaine plot twist

another case of me really loving elaine and being conflicted about her character.

originally elaine was going to tell kodo about their relationship. it was going to be a situation where kodo suspected something and threatened lysa forcing elaine to take action but eventually i decided to use my backup which was leo since there had been foreshadowing for that anyway

neutral kodo

for quite a while i planned for kodo to be just a bad husband and not a villain. but i needed more conflict and i needed a driving force and he was easy to mold into that.

there was an alternate storyline where he fell in love with the reader and “killed” din out of jealousy

[qourmet]

hello, hope you’re doing well :D! i’ve been obsessing over all of your art and hcs of the mdzs older gen and i was wondering what your thought process of the names you chose for them were because they’re really cool!! like i was thinking how yixi’s name is probably referencing that she came from tibet or how qhj’s courtesy name is maybe referencing his position as heir then later sect leader, like him inheriting the responsibility of leading the lan clan, and maybe the night character is in reference to his quiet personality but also his future loneliness in seclusion? or maybe im just looking into it too deeply (Ｔ▽Ｔ)

hello hello!! i've been very busy, this new years is starting off with lots of farewells on my end & promises to see friends as they settle in to their lives, i hope you are well & i hope you've had a good holiday & will have a good year.

WAH you're too sweet 😭 i'm gonna be honest, a Lot of my thought process when Naming characters in general has been:

• "follow the naming process of mxtx," which means you can bet your butt i've been Carding through Tang Dynasty poetry for Months • making Absolute Sure that None of the names i settle on are homonyms for anything with a double-meaning such as: modern swear words, innuendos, or just anything in general that would make them look like a clown • do NOT be Airplane (Shang Qinghua) when naming characters- which in essence if you haven't read svsss means do Not give characters names that spell out the core of their origins. no "risen from the frozen river" names, "don't be too on-the-nose i'm Begging you do research" @ me • do your absolute Best not to choose characters with a ridiculous amount of strokes Especially for given names (a rule i've struggled to actually live by) • do your Best to not have too many overlapping characters that Canon names use • sparingly looking at the tao te ching because i'm too scared of being culturally insensitive to nitpick a name from any pinyin i might come across

i won't claim ever to be a native chinese speaker: i have enjoyed the incentive to learn characters that are the building blocks to actual words that reading mxtx's works (& subsequently other cnovels) have given me, but it is not a culture i was raised in and it is not a language i read fluently. can't speak mandarin or cantonese or suzhounese or any other dialect and have been blessed with multiple friends who do and have done their best to help steer me in the right direction. all that being said, here's some dumb facts with the names:

• regarding the last-most point, i've picked ONE name from the tao te ching. i'm glad you enjoy Chengye/承夜's name but i've deliberated over it too long and have come to the conclusion that it Will be changed. taking inspiration from qiren's name, there needs to be a verb in there paired with something abstract but innately Human & i've found a passage in the tao that i Really liked that i feel alluded to my own characterization of him had the phrase Yǒuqíng/有情 which is Just as abstract and ridiculous as Chengye (which i cannot remember where i pulled that name from), but comes with the added bonus of being from the Adjustment of Controversies. to Have affections but understand where they should be going or how they should be distributed, to question why a person favors One thing over Another despite the inevitable conclusion that All of it is working towards an inevitability completely out of a person's control, it all feels just absolutely peachy to thrust that onto qingheng-jun when he couldn't in his lifetime maintain the favor between his family & his wife. plus Wangji's name being tao-derrivative made me feel i needed at least one of the prev gen in this boat with their successors. i've studied the tao in a scholarly setting Once for a semester, and Once more for a week or two on my own time so Please do Not take my word as any level of expertise i'm begging you. • I Do remember when picking out a name for Qingheng-jun, coming across a name that in essence meant "Bear the Night" felt a little too on-the-nose. there was no double meaning though i tried applying one. he's a Leader, he's a Cultivator, it's Expected of him to bear this and bear it as if it weren't a burden. and the more i thought/think about it, the less it made sense especially when All cultivators are expected to soldier through the same conditions, yanno? • Cangse-Sanren is the only girl i've headcanon'd so-far with a courtesy name! and i Really Really wanted it to be something to do with celestial bodies Exclusively because Xiao Xingchen has the Most celestial name on this show outside of Lan Xichen but he doesn't count in my head. i also wanted it to have Anything to do with the moon because Xiao Xingchen's name has a good chunk of sun radicals in there, but also Moonbeam is what you'd call a fairy and she's a fairy and i Will Never let that go. the most buckwild batshit fairy you've ever met but a mortal worthy of being a celestial being. her Surname means Wish, so go wishing on the moonbeams because her husband certainly did. • Cangse-Sanren in my headcanons named herself. She was a whimsical child, she named herself something outlandish for her surname, & she was obsessed with the cowherd & weavergirl story as a child so she named herself Liu/浏 with the milky way in mind (here i go breaking my Not Too Many Strokes rule). • tragically Yixi's name was more utilitarian than anything else. i needed something that worked in multiple languages based on my headcanons of origin & with the limited selection i had to work with, 益西 was by & far my favorite. plus the implications of her having value, of being benificial to some far-off location that was as far away from Gusu as you could possibly get, how could i Not see the poetry in that? • Yixi has no surname. Yi is not her surname, her full name is Yixi. where i headcanon her From, surnames weren't particularly commonplace outside of nobility and i don't headcanon her family to be of major importance (though i believe they're relatively self-sustaining). She might be associated with a specific clan her family works under or for & that may come up in the future, but for now it's just Yixi until or unless you think of her as already a married Lan. jury's out on whether the Lan clan would've ever called her Madam Lan tho. • confession: Bu Xin's name was directly inspired by Unchained Love's Bu Xin. different spelling but iirc it's completely a homonym. second confession: i have yet to finish watching Unchained Love please go Easy on me

[otogariado]

barbie movie was kinda bad to be honest.

if you're super attached and sentimental abt this movie you might not wanna read this bc i don't really pull punches with this one. but here is my first impressions rant lmao. i might come back to it when i've collected my thoughts more and let it stew a little (and maybe see it a second time just by myself at home?)

the way the movie ended was really bad and it left a sour taste in my mouth (📌), but even from just earlier in the movie i already felt like smth was off. and i mean, it's not like i wasn't excited for it even if i tried to avoid a lot of the stuff to not overhype myself (and i usually like going in blind anyway). but even as the movie started i already got the feeling of, oh this is what kind of movie it's gonna be. and for the most part it proves that initial assumption right.

and by "this" i meant like.. a really shallow preachy "feminist" tone. y'know, those kinds of movies/shows that pretend like they're going to say something meaningful about a mature topic but they end up just being shallow and mostly filled with platitudes and such. it's just kinda weird cz i expected more. but it felt like the movie was just using every character as a direct mouthpiece to the audience, and it could still work i guess if they actually had something to say. i think the movie was kind of a mess. i don't know what kind of lesson i was supposed to take away from it at the end, especially when they just start word vomiting at you. at some parts of the movie i wanted to turn my brain off but i still paid attention in case it was gonna pick itself up but like, it really didn't.

i think the rest of the movie was ok. the cinematography was enjoyable still, but the writing was just. so shallow that i couldn't bring myself to fully say i had a blast watching it. it felt like it was more interested in going through a checklist/outline of feminist things to say without being interested in elaborating any of it. it felt like they had too much they wanted to talk about that it just felt scattershot; i feel like it would've had stronger writing if they had just picked a topic to focus on and spent more time with it. they had the chance to explore something more—heck, they had this pretty diverse cast, why exactly did it still need to be focused on "stereotypical barbie" if they really wanted to explore something else? plenty of movies have been successful with an ensemble cast... it wouldn't fix their issue of splitting themselves amongst multiple things they wanted to talk about, but it could help with the focus. maybe have one barbie deal with one topic or throughline then another barbie with another topic, etc. idk. i also found it weird to make a snarky comment about how "if the movie wanted to make a point about barbie not needing to be [conventionally pretty] then they shouldn't have cast margot robbie for this" and like?? you're right lmao. you don't get to be cheeky by saying "guess we were wrong about this one :9 shrug". if they weren't interested in addressing this issue then they shouldn't have just called attention to it in the first place. it just makes it worse. feels like saying "ha! you can't criticize us for this decision because we already did it first."

i also have a problem with the thing near the end of "how about normal barbie? barbie doesn't need to be extraordinary! why can't she just be a regular person?" umm. the point of barbie wasn't to make women feel like they should be extraordinary to be accepted?? the point of barbie is that anyone can BE barbie. you ARE barbie no matter what kind of path you choose. it's kinda like spider-man in a sense that, "anyone can be under the mask." ANYONE can be barbie. i feel like the movie made a strawman out of misconstruing the original intent behind the "empowerment" of barbie. the point of multiple versions of barbie and the different playsets and shit comes from the appeal that she can be ANYTHING you want her to be. who are you fighting against, movie?? that type of misogyny where women should excel otherwise they don't matter certainly exist in the real world but like, i feel like it's a bit disingenuous to pretend it's what the barbie franchise wanted to convey as well. (i am by no means a barbie toyline history expert so i'm open to be corrected on this.)

and the whole... storyline with ken/the kens?? like i get what they're trying to do, have "the boys get a taste of their own medicine", but it's just. It's Just Weird. what did they wanna accomplish with it? i feel like this movie suffers from a shallow understanding of how sexism and misogyny and toxic masculinity actually works... like "oh teehee what if men were the ones oppressed by women instead and women were the ones oppressing men?" but they didn't do anything interesting with it, they just switched sexes and that's it. it's still the same except you just switched the men and women label now. (and the movie has a very black and white view of sex and gender. but that's another point to discuss entirely.)

what makes it worse is that the kens rise to power because they craved more appreciation from the barbies, but then they get knocked down a peg by the barbies and they "lose" like they "deserve". like, what is THIS meant to convey if we try to use it as a parallel for real world feminism, if kens = RL women and barbies = RL men?? that women shouldn't demand to be seen and appreciated more by men and that if they try to take on equal footing and power they should get pushed back down the hierarchy or something??? like WHAT??? and even if you could argue that the kens lost because of their egos/pride/toxic masculinity, it still feels off. because yes, there is a certain "masculine brand" of being too prideful but like. anyone is susceptible to getting too egotistical for their own good. idk??? the way they just handle it is so messy. it's not even like, ambiguous in the "open for interpretation, there are multiple readings of this possible that all try to say something different" kinda way. it's ambiguous in the messy, "we don't know what we wanna say" kind of way.

another thing i wanna talk abt is the teenager character. and the mom character too. i feel like they could've done more with them tbh. they hardly feel like actual characters—the mom got more than her daughter, but the daughter is so stereotypically rebellious "i hate feminine stuff" teenager. so much of this movie feels like telling instead of showing. the mom feels undervalued and depressed and she's struggling. yeah, but so what? we don't actually SEE any of that. even if you can argue that the movie tries to tackle stiff happening IRL so it doesn't need to show any of that any more, that's just bull. you still have to establish the setting in your movie's universe and you still have to do actual character work for your characters even if they're meant to represent real people. ESPECIALLY if they're meant to represent real people. like yeah, we do get some flashbacks of her daughter not appreciating her near the start, but that's it. they're just flashes. and that wasn't her only problem that she mentioned. why didn't we have the mom try to pitch ideas to the executives early on, have that be her introduction scene? have the executives belittle her ideas bc they're misogynistic chauvinist asses? like yeah, from context clues of the whole boardroom being men we can see the irony there and we can tell they don't value women enough to give them positions that high up the ladder. but still, implying the lack of something is not as good as actually demonstrating the lack of something. i feel like it wouldn't have been that hard to include at least one scene of the mom pitching her ideas, and then cut to her scribbling sadly on the desk like she was when she was introduced cz they didn't listen to her.

the sentiment of "they hardly feel like actual characters" extends to the rest of the cast, too. like, i wouldn't expect something substantial and be disappointed if they weren't marketing themselves like "all barbies are important :) this is an ensemble movie :)" like no... not really. none of the other characters matter that much and they didn't get a lot of actual distinguishing features aside from their actual job titles. which just feels reductive lmao. maybe that's the point. maybe they're all just meant to be bit characters. but it just adds to the shallowness of the movie i feel like. just bc the point is they're bit characters doesn't give it a free pass for not going anywhere w any of them. i saw someone say they felt like all the other barbies and kens were mostly just there as set dressing and you know what? that's undeniably true. which AGAIN i maybe wouldn't have as much of a problem with if it weren't for how they marketed this movie.

the previous paragraph also ties into what i mentioned earlier abt the quip they had abt casting margot robbie (and by extension, ryan gosling) as the lead(s). like... why did the lead HAVE to be the "stereotypical barbie"? why did the white, blonde, presumably cishet* barbie (and ken) HAVE to be the leads? hell, the mom and daughter characters are women of color and they don't even do anything with them (aside from some jokes abt how the white dad sucks and is very inconsequential?). i'm just saying... it feels like the diversity casting (not just when it comes to being people of color but also in other areas, like having a barbie in a wheelchair and a pregnant "barbie" (even though she's not barbie) and whatnot) of the other barbies and kens was just that. Token Diversity. fodder for The Typical White Leads. idk. i'll say this again but if they didn't advertise themselves the way they did with all those barbie and ken posters making it sound like they were actually gonna give a shit about any of the other colorful cast of characters then maybe i wouldn't be this harsh with them. this didn't feel like an ensemble movie to me at all.

*(bc i don't think this movie was made with any genuine queer intentions behind it lmao. and ik people latch onto the aroace "coding" of the characters and like. if you're aroace and you like it then power to you. but i think this is more of a "technicality"/"by semantics" type of """coding""" so i honestly don't think it counts, speaking as someone who's some flavour of aroace)

idk i feel like I'M word vomiting now too. maybe i'm picking on this movie too much. but tbh it's just. eh. it just feels shallow. it's a shallow nothing movie tbh. it just feels like a movie filled with quips without any interest in exploring any of the topics they bring up. i wanna list specific examples but tbh it's hard to remember them because of just how overloaded it is, like they just keep shooting talking points at you but there's no meat to any of them. i wouldn't be this harsh on this movie if it didn't hype itself up so much. like, i WANTED to like it coming it. i WAS excited for it ever since it was announced, even though i wasn't a super fan and wasn't buzzing about it as much as most people were online. because it had a lot of potential behind it, but it ended up just. being a mess.

📌 i think it's funny that the ending (as in the last scene of the movie) left most people confused, but the most interesting thing abt it is the takeaway i got from my cis mlm cousin where he's like, "oh barbie chose to be a mother at the end and she's pregnant and that's why she ended up at the gynecologist". like. I Guess??? that can be your take??? but it's a weird scene to end your movie on.

like idk what i'm supposed to feel about it. she's a real human now because she has genitalia?? the genitalia was the last crowning step for her to achieve the "human" status? that's kind of reductive. she's a real woman now because she has a vagina?? that's just straight up transphobic. like. what am i supposed to get as my takeaway here with the last scene??

[halo-lll-odst]

can you tell us abt your ocs :]? any one of them maybe even multiple of them !! if you want

SCREAMS SOFUCKING LOUD OH MY GOD THANK YOU LOOKSS AT YOU WITH MY BIG AUTISTIC EYES ok well i have a handful, but the one i've been posting about most is spring/her universe!!! i should probably post about her more but thats a different subject lol spring is a character i made in 2019 i think? tbh, she used to be a throwaway character. sorta character you made when you were younger simply because you wanted to, but with me getting into ultrakill in recent months and rediscovering my love for robotic characters i decided to revamp her and rewrite aspects of her story basically, she was human at one point. she went through a procedure called a "transfer", because she was terminally ill. what a transfer entails is basically just turning a person into a computer. converting biological workings to those of a computer's. this grants the patient virtual immortality, but of course with limited technology, loss of many senses physically. the biggest problem is that spring did not give full consent to have this procedure done on her. in fact, she didn't even know it existed. the only reason it was done is because her widowed mother was a scientist working on researching and refining the technology, working at a facility a ways outside of the town they lived in to advance this. also before i go forwards i should say that the story takes place in the past actually. only by about 20 years, so early 2000's, i'm thinking 2001 specifically. though, when spring's transfer happens, it's 1988. since spring was terminally ill, she was in and out of the hospital a lot, getting check-ups, physical therapy, or otherwise. when her condition dipped, long hospital stays weren't out of the ordinary. in 1988, this same thing happened. she went into the hospital, expecting to be out in just a few days, maybe up to a week. this wasn't anything new to her. she had danced with death before and had basically accepted it. (btw in 1988 she's 19) but her condition quickly begins to decline, and she falls unconscious, having to be put on life support. her mother, in a panic and frankly having planned and prepared for this since she expected the worst, packs her up in the middle of the night, and heads to the facility in an ambulance, just with her and her daughter. there, the procedure is done. she couldn't bear to lose her daughter, what else could she have done besides just letting her slip away? i'm still working out the logistics of this story (despite how illogical it all is) so this part i'm still torn on? but for whatever reason, spring goes dormant. she won't respond to anyone or anything in this new state she finds herself in, and her mother panics. she thinks she killed her daughter. she failed, everything she worked for just reduced to nothing in an instant. a year or two goes by, and spring's mother, overcome with guilt and sadness, moves away from the state that she lived in with her daughter after her supposed death and subsequent funeral, and throws herself into her work harder than ever. she never wants anything like this to happen to anyone ever again, and wants to make sure others can live happily with their relatives for as long as they want to. she wants to be able to save those lives that are so kind, so pure. those who went before their time. needless to say, spring's mother is. fucked up later, in 2001, spring is still being housed in the facility she was originally transferred in. however, she is just being held as more of a case file than anything in a storage wing of the facility, or so everyone thinks. OK I'M GONNA NEED TO POST THIS IN PIECES BECAUSE TUMBLR IS BROKEN AND WON'T LET ME POST IT OTHERWISE LMFAO. ALSO I HIT THE TEXT LIMIT. ALSO SORRY FOR TAKING ALMOST A WEEK TO ANSWER

[cuips-not-cute]

Heya cuips! Long-time listener, first-time caller (not entirely true, I've left a comment of each brl chapter so far 😂)

blinking red light has permanently burned itself into my brain at this point, and I'm so keen for the next update! I, no joke, stare at the AO3 tab in my Chrome app like it's my husband who's currently at war.

Other than the GO fic that you have labelled as the main inspo, what inspired you to write brl and fanfiction as a whole?

Ps. Hope you're having a good day❤️

aww well hello!! you are such a sweetheart omg,, however i could not find a comment under this same username on ao3, what handle do you use on there? (and if you use the same one and i somehow missed you then i am so so sorry<3)

ahhh it really means a lot that you're excited about the next update, i'm sincerely hoping to post it within the next few days, but if i can't finish it by this sunday i'll put it up next weekend for sure!! it's at almost 12k now, super chunky.

hmm i think it really was just closed set that inspired it!! i remember being at work last july and daydreaming about the fic & thinking about how much i loved it when i suddenly realized, "hey wait a second, i could steddie-ify this" and i kinda let that idea simmer for a while (was still working on cyclical at that point and i am not the type of person who can write multiple wips at a time) before reaching out to @racketghost about potentially writing smth inspired by their fic!! and they of course were really lovely about it so i started the planning process which took FOREVER because i actually ended up rewriting ch1 several times,,, fun fact originally the plot was gonna be "eddie lies about making tapes with steve harrington to a gang of bullies in order to save his ass from getting beat, except now he feels bad about it and goes to steve to come clean, cue shenanigans when steve offers to actually make the tapes" but i reallyyy wasn't liking what that was doing to eddie's character, plus i couldn't figure out how to make it fit within the post s4 timeline i wanted to write it in because i am just a SUCKER for post canon fics. however it was a bee in my goddamn bonnet and i was GOING to figure out how to make it work because i really really wanted to write a steddie sex tape au inspired by one of my fav stories in the world, so through a hearty combination of bitching and moaning about it to my most incredible friend @lollaika, actually rewatching zack and miri, and generally pacing around the kitchen while the puzzle pieces slowly fell into place i finally figured out how i needed the plot to work and voilà, chapter one!!

as far as writing fic as a whole tho? i can't pinpoint one thing that got me into it, but i've always kinda been a writer, used to have a blue glittery notebook i carried around everywhere as an elementary schooler for that exact reason, and that love for stories has just stuck ever since!! and then getting into fandom opened my eyes to a whole new world of writing that i gotta say i like a whole lot. like so much. you people are the fucking greatest❤️❤️

[mokeonn]

hey so your notes on the internet safety post made me realize that we watched the exact same internet safety video as kids. and i found it! its a mcgruff the crime dog animation called faux paw the techno cat, and its on youtube

Yeah!!! Faux Paw! I remembered all the cat stuff so clearly with the cursor helper and the horrible cgi that I completely forgot that it was a Mcgruff the crime dog animation.

I looked into it, and it turns out that some reposts of the animation online cut out the McGruff part, so I probably watched a version without it and just forgot about it.

(Version from 14 years ago with the Mcgruff into:

And version from 3 years ago with the Mcgruff opening cut out, reposted by the channel behind Faux Paw: )

Also, it turns out that Faux Paw has multiple shorts made as recent as 3 years ago... but the animation quality has gone down a LOT.

And just quality in general.

Here's, for example, a really bad short, also uploaded 14 years ago, with completely different animation, tone, and just general... everything.

Also, it's kinda racist. It takes place in China, and it handles it about as well as you think it will.

https://youtu.be/hGfjyDALM2Q

I think a detail that stuck out in this is probably the fact that whoever animates or draws this keeps giving Faux Paw 6 fingers. Like. When she points to say something, you can see a pointer, 4 folded fingers, and a thumb. This is jarring in normal contexts, but I think it's even weirder when a character was previously shown with 4 fingers (which is just the 4 digits on a cat's paw and no dewclaw)

Turns out! This is on purpose! Sometime between the original short and now, they decided to make Faux Paw a polydactyl cat! Which is kinda interesting, and I was gonna list it as an animation mistake above before I went on the official website to read about her.

Another fun fact! I googled Faux Paw to see if there was a former collaboration with McGruff and if there was more information on the production of the series. The first result I got was Faux Paw trippy/drug/high shirts that were likely a stolen design.

Which like, if it wasn't for my dislike of general "trippy" art and the fact that it's likely a stolen design being sold by a random quick cash t-shirt business, I would consider it. (The website itself is super iffy and relies on a lot of "buy now before it's gone!!" Tactics. It does have a lot of artists that work for the site and is not just a t-shirt printing machine like some sites... but the specific artist behind this trippy Faux Paw shirt has a lot of designs I've seen before. Since there's no dates on the designs, I can't confirm if this artist team is simply the mastermind behind every Spencer's shirt, if they're just taking designs, or some third thing. But that's a whole separate rabbithole.)

I also saw a listing involving her that was 2,000 dollars and was from a company called "Robotronics". I thought with a name and price tag like that, it was going to be a little Faux Paw robot or animatronic...

It was not.

You can see the extra fingers in the suit costume. Apparently, this is a website dedicated to making costumes, robots, and (for lack of a better term) merch about safety for children.

In the end, I couldn't find much information on the development of Faux Paw, her relation to Mcgruff the Crime dog, or the weird fall from grace (well. Whatever grace the original short had). If you simply google Faux Paw, you're gonna end up with a LOT of pdfs from teachers. But it seems like some form of internet safety is still being taught by some teachers. Yippee!

Basically: I did remember the name Faux Paw, but if you didn't mention McGruff the crime dog, I probably wouldn't have gone down this rabbithole. And I thank you for that.

[infriga]

Finished watching Bodies. Not bad! I liked the characters and was glad they eventually got a happy ending. The minority theme between the detectives ended up not really playing as big a part as I expected thematically or narratively, but I still thought it was neat. I think they could have tied it in more to the utopia Elias wanted to create, maybe Elias could identify with them and want to build a better world where people like them could be treated better, and then he could see how he's actually stepping over the corpses of people like them, those ostracized or mistreated by society just like he felt he was. And then that could play back into him realizing how everything he ever suffered through was actually ultimately orchestrated by himself in order to uphold the loop. But as is I'm not gonna complain about the main characters being minorities cause it did still add a lot of interesting depth and flavour to them and their individual stories.

I will say, there were a lot of plotholes by the end, even for a time travel story. How was Iris in 2023 if the stuff that led her to the Throat never happened, and if she had been sent to 1890 in the first place? She hadn't aged so it couldn't have been the version of her that originally went back even assuming she was unaffected by the timeline reset for whatever reason, and she wasn't 30 years younger either so it couldn't have just been a younger version of her, plus she knew Shahara's name. How did Elias exist in the first place to start the loop if he only existed because of the loop? The "it existed so it exists because it's a time loop" explanation doesn't really work in this case since we see first hand that time can be changed and is not set in stone, so something had to have caused the time loop to begin with, right? But if that was the case then the loop would just start back up again without preventing the original thing that caused the loop in the first place, and yet the loop DID end when he decided not to blow up the bomb, which is pretty blatantly framed as him committing timeline suicide. It's not even a case of multiple timelines because we see an immediate effect on people within the current timeline when small past stuff is changed, and the full reset only happened when the loop was ended. Before the reset we see both Elias and future Shahara vanish into thin air and other characters react to it, showing that the loop ending is actively changing and resetting that timeline specifically, not making a new one that split off from the past. So that means it's one timeline and changing the past changes everything in the future. People who were affected the most even seem to sense something about the world and each other, though they otherwise don't remember anything from previous versions of the timeline. Except Iris maybe?? Why did Dafoe split up and end up in multiple times but nobody else did? Why did the giant building billboard still have "KYAL" on it? And why was it there in 2023? I'm assuming it was still 2023 in that scene since Shahara hadn't aged. And so on. I would think maybe those discrepancies involving Iris and the billboard are there because they're baiting for a second season related to maybe something that did cause the original loop, but it's a limited series so supposedly no second season is intended. Maybe it's just meant to be mysterious and intriguing and not really meant to make sense because timeywimey shenanigans, idk.

But even with all that, I still liked it. The good characterization and interpersonal drama carried it pretty hard tbh lol. I think Elias's character was the weakest, I would have liked to see more of his internal struggle, more moments shown of him changing and becoming a better person over time and feeling bad about the actions he needs to take to set up the loop. It would have made his sacrifice hit harder if I didn't still kinda hate his guts by that point. I actually felt worse for his mom when he just Marty Mcdied in her arms but I guess her loss was short lived since the timeline reset right after that lol. But aside from that the detectives were all very compelling and I was invested in their stories and happy to see their doomed narratives become undoomed by the end.

[the-darklings]

Hello hello i hope you're having a great day! I just finished reading COA yesterday (read it in Ao3 and binged it for 3 days straight), i figured i would finally read them since i was busy when it first came out, and while waiting for tibyim finale. And holy shit it's amazing literally the best fanfiction I've ever read and the longest thing I've read since middle school (attention span got fucked up when i got older). The way you weave your OCs/ reader inserts in stories is absolutely amazing, so amazing in fact i keep forgetting they're not canon. Everytime I would read a chapter, either coa or tibyim, i get motivated to write myself, in fact I have written multiple chapters of my own story because your writing had inspired/ motivated me so much. So thank you do much for sharing your wonderful works with us. Can't wait for the continuation of coa ( no pressure! I will literally wait for however long it takes) and the finale for tibyim. And if you're gonna post your original stories here I will definitely be reading it. Again thank you so much, you have definitely rekindled my love for reading.

Ps: you made me love Santino even though i couldn't care less about him in the movies. You just have that way of making me love characters throughout the story (ie: hector, step and cori too lmao) s/v forever and wanderer/ dream endgame.

Sorry this was so long, i just realized this is like a love letter lmaoo

-🥭

It’s been so fascinating seeing the crossover of some tibyim readers going back to coa. I really appreciate it. In all honesty coa could def use an edit to tighten it up (younger me loooooved to over-describe!!! everything!!! and my writing style is already descriptive) but I love coa lots and don’t worry it’s not cancelled or anything. She’s just taking a nap while I work on other things.

But have I got great news for you!!! You know how you said you love coa OCs? Well guess what that original novel I keep mentioning is about? This entire collab universe im making with a friend? : )

V? Why she’s going to be her own person, with her own arc and agency. Hector, Step, Lucien, Julian, Dario? All going to be major characters working as a team with V, or Clara now. You know how Marvel was too cowardly to give us that 2012 Avengers All Live Together And Are Friends And Do Domestic ThingsTM story we deserved? Well, I’m giving it to you. Do you love deep friendships/relationships? It got that. Do you love a torturously slow burn with heavy doze of sexual tension? It got that. Do you love a dark academia inspired setting, a mystery, power games, and a cast centred around ‘antagonists’? That’s the first novel. Do you enjoy a diverse group of misfits with their own demons all banding together for a heist/rescue/revenge mission? Good old found family and healing? Lovers to enemies? Why that’s the second novel : )

[imthefailedartist]

There's really only diminishing returns on The Strangers sequels.

It's a small dinner with large ass windows. Were you not looking at your car to see if someone went under the hood.

This is why you always stop where there's multiple fast food chains. Especially an Arby's. Not McDonald's even the most bum fuck nowhere town has McDonald's, but only towns of select size have Arby's.

With the original, they had stakes because their relationship was fraught. Making them cloyingly happy does nothing. Unless they are going to work extremely hard to keep that happiness. Spoiler alert: they don't even try.

The conflict is right there. She might get a job in a new state. He's a marriage guy she's not a marriage girl.

Spoilers below. . . I guess. It's a "slasher" and the third film. You know what's coming

What was the point of the rude ain't married yet scene if it's not something they're worried about.

10,000 is civilization. 2,000 to 9,000 is small town quaint. 1,000 or less is you naked on all fours and being told to "squeal for me fat boy".

Oh girl, no, he got asthma. He can't protect you, he can't even breathe right.

Why is the town so suspicious.

Creepy stranger continuously ringing doorbell in middle of the night in the middle of nowhere, and hearing creepy sounds procedes to prance around in panties and socks, plays music and smokes weed.

Pants and shoes. Put them on.

Opening the door. Big no no.

Stepping outside even bigger no no.

In ya damn panties.

Put on your Goddamn pants and shoes.

Passes the kitchen butcher block full of knives to hide in the bathroom. "We need weapons."

See I would just burn the cabin down. With all of us in it. Pete just gon have to see my insurance.

Why does this cabin have an upstairs if it's not going to factor into the movie.

Who returns to a dark house and don't call out?

Also, that motorcycle was loud as hell she couldn't hear it.

They are the dumbest.

Under the house was smart. Everything they did after was very dumb.

Too much in-house unseen lurking. It stopped being scary.

They aren't even trying.

What was that, not mormon mormon pamphlet?

Not him trying to gas light her mere hours after he had a meltdown over the locals allegedly scamming them.

The water bottle. Are you fucking kidding me.

The person who made this clearly doesn't have asthma. He'd have been better off pouring the water on his shirt and breathing through that. And it's quiet.

The music cues. My god, stop.

I knew this movie was going to be bad when it opened with text, implying it was sort of a true story.

But let's be honest. We knew this was going to be bad when the strangers talked in the trailers. My first thought hearing their voices, "Oh, they talk now, that sucks."

Shoot her!!! Why are you talking?

Why the fake out with him coming back being creepy?

They would've been better off sleeping in their car.

These characters are so dumb I truly thought this was a cold beginning à la Scream, for much too long. I'm talking he still hasn't come back from the late night dinner run long.

RIP AirBNB dude. The cabin was nice.

This movie is too big. I don't need to see them stopping at a diner full of weird townsfolk, I don't need to see a mormon, not mormon cult. I don't need to see a motorcycle being blown up. Just get em in the cabin and let the "haunting" begin.

If you're going to show me the town. Him going back to town, specifically, make it count. I thought he was gonna sit for a minute and have a beer all while the Strangers really torture her mentally. For him to come back and find her cowering, and the shit really kicks off.

Why are they so loud. At no point are they quiet.

"They caught us." Yeah, you didn't make it very hard.

Wait a minute. This takes place well after the first one. Why is it chapter one? You know what, don't tell me. I don't care.

Sackmans car is still running. Get in it. Drive.

I need movie characters to understand they'd get a lot further in the woods by walking.

At some point, these characters were so stupid I forgot this movie takes place in modern-day.

I was like, oh yeah, this is the 50's they thought the world was safer.

Do they just stab them one time in the original. Is that how it ended? I guess it was scarier because they really were just there doing this for no reason. This movie makes too many suggestions.

Maybe this is just me being nostalgic for the first one and how I felt watching it. Maybe the couple is just as dumb. Who knows? I haven't watched it in a few years.

What the fuck was that end credit scene? It ain't like they ghosts or demons.

She lived. Okay, so what? It's not like she knows who they are.

I know these characters have to be this dumb on purpose. Why a person would want to base their whole movie around them is beyond me. It does not make an enjoyable watch. Not even for the of it were me game, that only works if you're characters aren't total dumbasses.

There's a way to make your characters so unbelievably dumb that it's fun. But the Strangers franchise is not that place to do that.

[teodoraioana221]

(Posting this one here, ‘cause it has a few short OC trivia moments, if you're curious)

I was tagged by @eve-to-adam, so here we go! It might get long, so buckle up for the ride. 😂

1. How many works do you have?

I couldn't tell you a number, because I've had multiple stories over the years. Some were short comics for semester projects I had to do back in uni, others were WIPs I started and abandoned, others are ongoing personal storytelling projects I'm working on at the moment.

2. What fandoms do you write for?

I don’t really write for any fandom right now, I prefer to focus on my own, original stories and OCs. But I wouldn’t put that idea past me entirely, with the way my hyperfixations work, you just never know. 😂

3. What are your top 5 stories by kudos?

I don't really want to make a top, but some of my favorites include a few short stories I wrote for Project Paranormal, which is a shared universe I'm co-creating with Andreea (@eve-to-adam) and about which I'll be talking about at Question 9.

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Absolutely I do! I even went to war with the “promote it on ->” bots on Instagram at one point, by replying with passive-aggressive comments, so. 🤣 Jokes aside, people who take their time to interact with my work and express their support mean the world to me, and I’m incredibly grateful to have them around. And those who even come back regularly? You deserve the world and I love ya 🥹✨

5. What’s the story you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hmm… Depends what you'd consider “angsty”. I guess one that could count would be a short, horror graphic novel I've done for uni. One of the main characters dies, while the other ends up in a mental institution, unsure whether the previous events truly happened or not, but haunted by some… otherworldly things that tend to suggest everything has, in fact, happened. I wouldn't necessarily see it as angsty per se, because that was never the aim when I wrote that ending, but it’s the only one I could think of.

6. What’s the story you wrote with the happiest ending?

Do on-going storylines whose development I know, count? Whatever, I’ll pretend they count. 🤣

I would say one of the happiest ones would be Hubert and Dolly's relationship (two of my OCs from Project Paranormal). Even though they didn't start on the best of terms, they ended up progressively discovering they actually... enjoyed each other's company, once they started chatting like, you know, normal people who weren't looking for a silly argument just for the sake of it. Because that's what they were doing in the beginning; their personalities clashed in a way that turned all their encounters into a match of "who annoys who first". To the point where they couldn't even remember what was the precise starting point of that whole thing. 😂 But then, little by little, once they started opening up, they both fell for each other pretty damn hard. Their relationship was obviously not gonna be without any hardship, because they both had their own flaws and things to work through (especially Hubert), but they found a tremendous amount of love and support in each other. They realized they simply… get each other, you know, on a level they couldn’t have anticipated, but which was there to last for a lifetime! So yeah, they’re definitely getting their happy ending. :D

7. Do you get hate on stories?

Not that I’m aware of. And even if I did, I wouldn’t… really care that much? ‘Cause I’m not writing for them haters, lemme tell you. 😂

8. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I like to depict sex and intimacy in my stories, so yeah, my writing kinda covers that stuff too. I usually prefer to go with the flow in those instances and see where the scene is taking me, in terms of description. Whether it’s gonna get more explicit or it’s gonna be a “fade to black” thing, depends entirely on the moment itself. I also like to be as character-centered as possible in my approach (which applies to every aspect of my storytelling, for that matter). I wanna take into consideration each character’s relationship with sex and intimacy, when I’m describing them; slight nuances to convey the moment in the same way each character is experiencing it, you know. What things they like, how they like them, how they communicate with partners etc. Like, take Delicia for example (my OC from Project Paranormal): she’s an experienced gal who likes to be creative in the bedroom (and outside) and is slightly more into the rough side of physical love, so depictions might get more blunt and slightly more explicit in her case. But at the same time, it wasn’t always like that, was it? Because she, like everyone else, had her own starting point, her own journey with intimacy and self discovery. And I want to capture that feeling as I’m writing her character. I want to capture that feeling with all of my OCs; I’m always trying my best to write as naturally as I can, to make the story really feel as if it’s a close look into one’s life and experiences. The spicy scenes are no exception to that! :D Now, whether I’m successful in this approach or not, is a completely different topic, but that’s beside the point. 😂

9. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Not necessarily, but I do have one ongoing storytelling project that could technically count. It's a shared universe I'm co-creating with my friend, Andreea (@eve-to-adam). For the sake of this post I code named it “Project Paranormal” because it pops up for some other questions.

It's basically a story that revolves around two main families (Marlowe, written and created by me, and Elkins, written and created by Andreea) and their lives, as well as extra folks like friends, lovers, their pets etc. It's a romance meets supernatural (there are ghosts, ghouls n’ curses) meets historical fiction (it spans over the entire 20th century and goes until present day) meets drama type of story, with slice of life sprinkled all over. The slice of life aspect is kinda my favourite, because I generally enjoy writing the everyday experiences of my characters, those that don't necessarily tie into a specific plot point; like some sort of a “fly on the wall” approach. The story has a main plot, of course, and a main timeline of events, but under that we're essentially having fun with all sorts of storylines and moments. Right now I would say it's an open format story/universe, meaning we're drawing/writing different out-of-order parts and tidbits, but ultimately they all tie into that main timeline and plot we've set. So, at the end of the day, the story can always be put together chronologically, into a graphic novel type of format.

Ah shit, I almost forgot. The “crazy” bit about it (Andreea mentioned it in her own post as well) is that it all kinda started from a bunch of sims we created in Sims 4 one day. We were simply chatting and having a laugh about it and then we went “🤨…🤔” and bam! here we are today, with a bunch of Marlowe and Elkins generations and their storylines. 😂 ❤️

10. Have you ever had a story stolen?

Either I haven't OR the thief is hiding exceptionally well, I can’t tell. 😂

11. Have you ever had a story translated?

Does self translation count? 😂 If so, then yeah. I usually write in my native language, but I translate into English once I decide to post some of it online. The funny thing is, the English translation actually improves the writing in some cases (specifically the dialogues!), because I have some English, Irish and Scottish peeps amongst my OCs, and in their case I can play with things like slang, accents, cussing etc, which gives a more natural vibe to their conversations (and is kinda fun to work on).

12. Have you ever co-written a story before?

I’m currently doing that with Project Paranormal (see Question 9)! :D

13. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

— Aragorn&Arwen from The Lord of The Rings, always! They're probably one of my oldest ships, too, and they will always hold that special place in my heart. Aaand they’re definitely the reason why, to this day, I have a big thing for elf+human couples in fiction. XD

— Bill&Frank from The Last Of Us (show version), because people finding their lil’ corner of love and happiness in a dying world?? Hell yes, all the yes! 🥺

14. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Hmm… There is this one fantasy story I've been trying to put together for the past 2 years or so, but at the moment I kind of lost my passion for it. I tried to rethink and revive it in 2023 and it worked for a while, but ultimately I put it back on the shelf again, at least for now. In a way I wish I will regain that passion to continue, because I have some characters there whose stories I'd still like to tell, but right now I don't see it happening. Besides, I have other story ideas I want to test (and possibly pursue) right now. But who knows? Maybe one day?

15. What are your writing strengths?

Okay I totally suck at identifying my own strengths, lmao. 😂 But let's give it a try. I would like to think I'm good at allowing my characters to shape the language I'm writing with, instead of me shaping the language for them. I always love when, in literature, dialogues sound like things people would say in real life, or when the writing imitates the manner of speech people use on a daily basis (one of the reasons why I like Stephen King’s writing style, for example). I strike to achieve the same in my stories, so I give my OCs the freedom of talking in their own, individual ways.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

I tend to write too slowly for my own liking. I'm also a bit of a scatterbrained type of writer; let's say I write a certain scene, when suddenly I wanna jump to a totally different one. Nothing wrong with that, of course! But in my case, at the end of the day, I either end up in a writer’s void and I can't write for either scene anymore, OR I constantly switch back and forth between them and I can't concentrate on either one. Sucks to be me sometimes. 😅 But I'm trying to improve this in myself, so let's hope for the best!

17. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a story?

It’s a pretty cool thing and I like seeing it in stories. It's a concept I'd like to play with, too. For example, some of my characters from Project Paranormal have Portuguese ancestry and speak the language: Delicia was taught by her mum, Dolly, and by grandpa Thomas (Dolly's father). I'd like to think Dolly and her lil’ lass would frequently switch to chatting in Portuguese, during Delicia's formative years, which helped her learn the language and become fluent (and later on in life, Delicia will do the same with her own daughter). So, naturally, I'd love to have at least a glimpse of those conversations in the story as well! :D However, I will have to rely on the mighty internet to help me with that, because I don't know any Portuguese. XD

18. First fandom you wrote for?

Ooooh, you’re digging up very old memories with that one. I think the first fandom I ever attempted to write for was InuYasha, an anime I watched and enjoyed back in the day, when I was a bit more into the anime scene. But you can imagine how that went, considering I was like 12 years old or something like that. 😂

19. Favourite story you’ve ever written?

The most recent one I did. It's called “By The Alley” and it's a short story from Project Paranormal that features two of my OCs: Hubert and Paddy. I like the story flow I managed to capture there and I feel like I'm finally finding my writer voice, so to speak. I also had a lot of fun writing their dialogues! Both Hubert and Paddy were born and raised in Leeds, West Yorkshire (although Paddy has Irish heritage) and they are “raised by the streets” kinda guys. The way they speak reflects that pretty well, so I had fun trying to put some of those nuances in their speech. And the cussing, I loved writing the cussing. I discovered this to be a very odd pleasure of mine, writing people who curse. 😂 And Hubert's definitely the right person for that, because the man has no filter whatsoever (with Delicia being a close second – like father, like daughter, am I right?). 😂

—

That's it! If you actually made it this far, have a cookie and a beer: 🍪🍺

…along with my undying gratitude, of course! 😂🫶🏻

I will tag: @theeuropeanidiotverse and whoever else wants to join! No pressure whatsoever, though! <3

[littledinosaurarms]

this started as a comment but the autism won

(I have come to realize that I'm going to be a nerd with Opinions about Media for the rest of my life and I have to stop hiding who I am. If that makes me cringe, so be it.)

Hot take: Betty Grof is the actual villain in Adventure Time

Yall just gonna let FaC tell you Simon was a selfish jerk and what happened to Betty was his fault like Betty isn't totally yandere for their entire relationship.

Betty invites herself on a trip with Simon, Betty decides not to go to Australia because she finds out Simon likes her even though he didn't ask her to do that, Betty ignores Simon saying losing her was devastating to him and jumps through the portal to try to skip over whatever boring part of Simon's life he was talking about, Betty makes Simon be crazy again, refuses even talking to the Ice King until she has exhausted all other options (including giving him brain damage and stealing his beloved little guy), gives up trying to talk to him after like ten minutes, and then tries to kill him, then almost ends reality itself over him = Simon being selfish?

Why *would* Simon get on the bus with her? He doesn't have a ticket for Australia! He just wanted to tell her how he felt before she left!

Simon uses a poor choice of words when he says "I forgive you for leaving me" but he's not the best with people and he was clearly just trying to make sure she felt no guilt about his terrible fate or imminent death. And then she interrupts him in order to literally abandon his past self in his hour of fucking need so that she can skip the unpleasantness, without knowing what it was or how long it lasted. She put herself in Ooo. Then she insists he become the Ice King again so she can save him, but doesn't stay with the Ice King or even talk to him. She leaves him rather than work on the problem with him by her side. She is never apologetic for this utter rejection of the Ice King at any point. She is willing to kidnap Gunter just for a chance to give Ice King brain damage and see if that brings Simon back. She is willing to use IK as a spell battery (which is where he must get the idea to use Choose Goose- I felt like that was both out of left field and out of character tbh) to go back in time and prevent him putting on the crown.

No matter what the Ice King, who is a version of Simon, asks of her she refuses. She does not want to know his friends, she doesn't even know Marceline's name at any point iirc. We don't know if she ever sat down and listened to an explanation of what has happened, but I am guessing not or she would know that the Mushroom War would have killed them both if he hadn't put the crown on, not to mention left Marceline alone to either die or be corrupted by the vampires.

As another fan pointed out, she could have shared the crown with him, shared the burden with him, but she didn't want to do the hard work of loving him as he was. She wanted him to be exactly how she had originally perceived him to be. She was willing to risk the lives of everything in existence to force the mental illness out of him rather than help him deal with it in a healthy way.

Yeah, she sacrificed everything for him, entirely by choice! Simon never asked her to do any of it. In fact, both he and the Ice King asked her specifically not to do what she was doing multiple times.

Simon managed to take care of a scared little girl during a nuclear zombie apocalypse while going slowly insane, summoned her deadbeat demon dad in an effort to try to keep her safe when he couldn't anymore, and was basically guilty only of the crime of wanting a little closure.

Hell, even the Ice King was better at caring about people. He was willing to walk through lava for his Goontz. His admiration for Finn and Jake led to him becoming a better person over time, once they accepted him, and he never forgot about Marceline even if he didn't remember how they became friends.

Maybe I take it personally as someone with a mental disability (autism) but I think the way Betty treated the Ice King, and Simon, was disgusting. Simon was a good person. He had a few character flaws, like everyone else in the universe, but fundamentally he just wanted to help people and to share his life with someone special. Hell, the Ice King's ability to treat Gunter better than Evergreen treated the original Gunter is what finally broke the curse of the crown. Did yall miss that part too? They're different versions of the same dude.

I cannot believe how dirty FaC did him in the ending. Totally uncalled for. Literally no one asked for that.

I'm with the people who wanted Simon and Ice King to interact, to have Marceline play a bigger role in the story both because she is literally Simon's best friend and because she's fucking awesome, and oh yeah- to not be condescendingly spoon-fed the conclusions that the showrunner wanted people to draw only to then totally contradict them two minutes later because he couldn't keep a coherent narrative running if his life depended on it. Man did us all dirty with that half-assed ending to a convoluted story.

Betty had to become Golb to clean up the mess she herself had made, and it seemed like she understood and accepted that. That act was her redemption. Why take that away just to shit on the character who arguably suffered more than just about anyone else in the narrative? Simon had magic alzheimers for a thousand fucking years and this asshole is saying he deserved it. I can't even.

And another thing:

If their genders were reversed, do you think people would still defend Betty so much? I highly doubt it, and I find that messed up. Women can be the toxic side of a relationship. Men can be victims. It's almost 2024 we're still not able to see a failed hetero relationship as anything but the guy's fault? Come on.

[hopeful-hugz]

♔

Get to know the RPer || Accepting

Send me a ♔ for me to describe a favorite rp character of mine.

🕯️ Okay so I'm sticking to this blog's muses for now and since I don't play favourites in general. I'll just talk about one of the muses that has had my braincell lately.

So, Leah! A muse I have yet to draw a reference for. His original iteration was made on Discord cause I wanted to expand more on the aethers' opposite species, nagete. That soon evolved into my wanting to test aether-nagete hybrids as well and expand on that.

I tend to test a lot of storylines with close friends on Discord so I can bring a more fine-tuned version of things here for you. I did that with Maria and Leah is another example of that.

Leah in particular I've struggled developing beyond him being a permanent antagonist on the blog.

His goals are horrific and terrible (something I'm not spoiling) and has accepted playing the role as the villain for the sake of that. But he really is just a guy who wants to run his radio, tv and online shows with his cast. He's a gameshow host mainly, but he's got some other things he films for the air too, more often than not having a live show or three every night when his shows are available.

Currently he's got a small group of four that make up his main cast!

Amygdala is one of them! Leah made her shortly after he ended up self-corrupting into a mix breed hybrid. Mixing nagete shadow manifestation and Hope's own DNA, she is to epitome of a stoic mad scientist and is responsible for making any beasts and creatures that are used for security and the games Leah hosts. Treats every creation like they're her pets.

The other two I can't go into much since they aren't officially debuted here yet and are written by a friend, but they are Leah's co-host and his best friend. Folks he originally thought would be interesting to save from a "bad end" timeline of their universe.

Originally he was gonna be "just the bad guy for this episode." Now he's attached and has lowkey started to make the amusement park grounds, the tower at it's centre where shows are filmed and the living spaces at the top of the tower a home he and his cast can use even after his plans come to fruition.

Lost Now Found from HOAAR is a good song for him regarding his Cast.

As far as his relationship with Cam, Hope and Teal, it's not a good one.

Leah originally tracked the two siblings down in regards to his investigations regarding Maria and the interest he took in her life, story and legacy. Things didn't exactly work out and he put them in a state of distress instead.

Naturally this got Chamyle's attention and made Leah pay dearly for even laying a metaphorical hand on them. [He's still salty about that and Cam's job as The Archivist having meant she was keeping an eye on him. Now he's more than aware of her "passing" and has instead directed that Pettiness towards Melody.]

Despite this, Hope still gave him another chance. The two talked for a while after that incident, exchanging questions on their views and goals. Until Hope gave him- a purebred nagete at the time- an answer to a question that made him start thinking. Too much logic can start turning an aether into a nagete or completely hybrid them; something that is considered the worst fate for any aether and nagete and something incredibly taboo.

In reaction to this, Leah snapped and had a breakdown. In the midst of said breakdown, he not only kidnapped Hope- having blamed her for the change- and demanded she fix him. When she couldn't, he decided if he was going down he'd take multiple universes with him. He really wasn't in his right mind at the time and even he will admit that if you ask.

Teal was the one to solve this issue and get back Hope. Still bears an aggressive view on the host; believing him to be a heartless monster who's only true goal is destruction.

Hope is terrified of Leah and tries her best to avoid him when possible. Though she doesn't hate him. If anything she feels sorry for him.

Leah still blames Hope for his hybrid state and hates her for it. Heavily dislikes Teal because of him being one of Maria's experiments among other petty things. He won't hesitate to actively mess with either sibling and will often do elaborate things to them just out of that hate and because he finds it amusing and interesting.

As far as the rest of the multiverse?

He's a heavy believer in people being free to do whatever they want or they should be given the power to wield autonomy. It's the main motivator behind his current overarching plan.

He takes freedom very seriously and treats his usual contestants and guests with that. Picking on a volunteer basis and making sure people know what they are getting into (and that they may not leave the studio ever again should they participate in certain games.)

But he can't tell the multiverse this. Doesn't care to with how bored and tired of everything he truly is. It has to stay all behind-the-scenes. He's their enemy of the multiverse; the Big Bad Evil Guy! The Villain!!

People need to believe he's such so they can come up with their own reasoning behind his actions.

He knows the path he's taking, but he's taking it of his own free will.

[aidendh]

Projects Update

Full descriptions of each project in this post

Lost Souls

[Mine and @abel-not-gaybel 's RAU's as their own Pre-BSD universe]

Almost finished, just some finalizing and setting up the posts

I'll be posting 1 character a day unless they have more than 3 posts, then it'll be split over multiple

I'm so happy its over, so I can finally go back to making other things for fun

Expect some Gacha's for Hinata family members to be made for the normal multiverse stuff too

Magic Mi! Hero Precure

[My original Hero themed Magical Girl Story]

I'll be finally working on the transformations after I've had a break from Lost Souls

I'll be posting this after the transformations are done, and I'll be working on Corruption's and the story gradually afterwards

If anyone would like to join in and make Magic Mi versions of themselves or OCs, I'd love to see them! Or even just your own take on a transformation

If anyone wants to create a Corruption, with your permission I could even work some of them into the story!

(Only Corruption's bc of the amount needed for the length of the story)

Other

Overall, feel free to send asks about the characters or story/mechanics in either project

Doing so could help me flesh some things out, or even realize when I haven't noted something down

Or even ask about my current progress, idm spoiling some things if someone asks (there is just gonna be a lack of context for awhile)

(I am so excited about Magic Mi if you couldn't tell \>•</)

Fake Wiki

A sneak peek for Aiden's Magic Mi and Lord Hesko's involvement in both projects, alongside Suke's and Adrik's fake BSD Wikis

[junosswans]

Explosion boy-critical rant, or more like a comment on fanfiction's interpretation of him but I'm going to tag it as character bashing and censor his name anyway so that ppl who don't wanna read it won't okie

It's really laughable to me how some fanfics interpret the bullying thing as "I hurt you because if I didn't do so others would have done it 3 times as bad, I was doing it to protect you" and such logic was surprisingly not an one-time thing?? That I've seen in multiple fics??

While there were a few (mostly fics that deviated greatly from canon) that managed to pull this off and make b*k*gou's incentive look at least a little convincing within the fic's context, the majority of them baffled me greatly. The top student in aldera with a whole bunch of minions (<– canon) most definitely did not need to do that to shield anyone. If dude would boldly state that whoever crosses his friend crosses him? no one would dare lay a finger on Izuku, at least not when he's around. But because he took such a leading role in the bullying, people jumped on the train to get included and not become the next victim. If there's one person, just one person in the class who dare to speak against it vocally, you could almost guarantee that it would temper down. That's how the psychology of group bullying typically works (as far as I'm concerned), that a few main bully start shits and others whose fear of isolation outweighed their sense of justice follow suit. Would there have been other bullies who's gonna step into Bak*g*u's place as the lead bully if firecracker boy didn't do it? Almost undoubtedly. But as the school's popular guy since kindergarten, I'm also 100% certain that if he wanted to "prevent others from bullying someone", it would've been as easy as breathing.

Now, I'm not chastising the character with durian inspired hairstyle, because the fandom had gone through that many times (though I might again), but that one would need to put up a better argument if they wanted an excuse for certain behaviours. Because this? This is not a convincing one (but I also feel the need to reiterate that fanfiction doesn't have the responsibility to be realistic, I'm just expressing my irritation at lackluster logic). I couldn't help but feel like some people just... Perhaps got too used to the idea of "boys are rude to you because they like you" or they have never witnessed group bullying situation. (Which is fine btw and I don't wish anyone in that situation) I guess it's just a bit of my pet peeve and if b*kug*u could at least admit it was his insecurities (still much work to do ahead) you could too my dear

Also, just a side note, Bak*go* redemption fics where Izuku tried to convince others that "it's the school that failed him it's not his fault"? Like, I'm not excusing the school obviously they deserved to be burnt to the ground and it did feel in character for Izuku to ask others to forgive mr dynamite, but also have you considered that just in the beginning of the story, in the midoriya origin episode, it was pretty clearly stated that the bullying and name calling started way before their quirk manifested and before they went to kindergarten even. Of course also before the whole "falling into river" shebang. So tbh I have a very hard time to wrap my head around why he would bully Izuku (and evidently others, as we saw Izuku tried to stop bkg and his friends from kicking another kid) aside from being born like *that*, and in general I just find the "his school failed him" argument also lacking in some way.

Anyways this has just been on my mind today and I wanted to rant a bit to someone that's not my sister (who is unfortunately subjected to a lot of my mha rantings while not into it) lol