#though i guess they do go there irl and see the effects

[kingjasnah]

the trials and tribulations of a post from 2019 that still rings true

[amarrymeinbostonwriter]

I have no idea what I'm going to do for NaNoWriMo this year. I feel very uninspired lately.

I just want to do well in my class and my energy has been low lately (season change on my new medicine, I'm guessing???). I need some energy because it's Shakespeare and I need to keep my grades up to stay in the honors society (no pressure lol).

Much More in the tags as per usual... :P

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

Thoughts on Jason Todd’s choice of weaponry?

:D an ask! Yay!

Oooh, lets see, I'll start with the crowbars because I appear to be like one of three people on the entire planet who actually likes them.

They're a tacky as fuck riff on the fact that Jason's death is central to his character. They overemphasize the manner in which he died, muddy the waters about what part of his death is important to him, and strangely cheapens the manner in which he died through the parody feel of it.

No one seems to really disagree with my analysis here, but I happen to enjoy that about them and think it's very on brand for Jason. What can I say? They're fun!

Best Quality - His Wiggles

This ultra-sharp curved blade used to be his signature character design feature, the way the white streak in his hair is now, and I'm really not sure why it didn't stick!

Best weapon he's ever had, bring it back please!!!!!

The All-Blades

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...

I have mixed feelings about the All-Blades. Like much of Lobdell's work: phenomenal idea, poor execution. Giving the guy who is most known for being morally grey a set of powers that is exclusively based on moral absolutes sucks shit, I gotta be honest, and the trick he pulled on the blood blade was cool but ultimately does nothing to solve those problems.

HOWEVER

I want to love them so fucking badly. A set of glowy soul blades is a dope sicknasty off the chain concept and I wish the well wasn't poisoned with the moral implications and the restrictions to use them only on the "Untitled", a set of enemies that only exist for Jason so far as I can tell. If someone seriously took Jason down a magic based path that removed the DnD alignment chart bullshit, I would be so game to see them come back! Hell I wouldn't even insist on a better cooler design for them!

...though uh, yeah those are the least interesting magic sword designs I've ever seen tbh

Normal Ass Swords

They're alright I guess. Like, there's nothing in it really, but it's not bad?

Guns - Real Bullets

Excellent, evocative yet simple, straightforwards and to the point. It makes hella sense thematically to boot, love this for him, please give him back his pistols and miniguns and shit

Guns - Rubber Bullets

Hate. HATE. hate ick disgusting bad NO.

I just fucking hate rubber bullets, like, as a concept. I refuse to accept "non-lethal" bullets as a valid use of gun, either in real life or in fiction. Guns are for putting many holes in things very fast!!!! If you're gonna use a gun, fucking well own up to that!!! Do not play this silly ass game of pretending that you can change out the material and do the same things as with lead bullets but with the video game status effect of "non-lethal" applied. YOU ARE GIVING PEOPLE SMALL CIRCULAR BRUISES. This is still harmful, yes, ooph ouchie, but it is not even slightly a good use of a gun, you are wasting holster space, and carry weight, and the physical materials used to make it all!!

JUST USE A FUCKING STICK! YOU DON'T RUN OUT OF STICK AMMO!

My belief in his capacity to take out enemies is shattered the instant those fuckers are on panel. Maybe this ain't entirely rational, or realistic to how fights go with rubber bullets IRL, but I hate them so much on principle that I will ignore any counterargument you might have that they'd work. I will die on this hill. Rubber bullets BAD. Please stop making him use this!!

Bombs

Love it, give him more bombs forever

ka-BOOM!!!!

His Brain

This is actually his best weapon - sorry wiggly knife, you're being shunted down to number 2 on a last minute technicality! I think Jason is at his best when he's outsmarting people and making long term fucked up schemes to ruin people's lives.

He's so good at it! It's so fun to watch him do it!

Genuinely a shame that this facet of him was mostly lost after Flashpoint, though to give credit where it is due, in Rebirth Jason did ruin the Penguin's life in an impressively elaborate way, which I did really enjoy. I want to see him be a tactical deliberate menace to one person in specific again idk, that's part of why I do kinda agree that he works better as an antagonist than a protagonist - which it should be noted does not mean I think he works better as a villain necessarily, his ethics aren't what matter here - he's just had his best moments as the schemer, and it's hard to have a protagonist schemer even when you make them ethically the good guy.

I hope you enjoyed my nattering on about Jason's weapons :D thank ye again for ask!

[sneezypeasy]

*sigh*

Y'know, this really doesn't/shouldn't matter, but as this particular accusation keeps getting thrown at me over and over again - oh fuck it, I'm gonna take the bait this one time and set the record straight once and for all. Honestly my "appetite" in this context is truly not anyone's business (and if you don't care to hear about it this is the one warning you'll get to click away lmao) but I've reached the point where if you really wanna attack my credibility based on who you think I enjoy fantasizing about, I'm gonna throw you a bone and tell you exactly what type that is - cuz as much as I'm sick of the ad hominem attacks the Aussie in me is even more sick of watching them miss so fucking hard. If you're gonna roast me, the least you can do is hit me where it hurts, goddamn it. Get it right or go home you uncooked noodles. Capiche?

When it comes to my taste in men, my "type" is: big, strong, hairy brutes. There, I said it. Give me lumberjacks, give me cavemen, I want my Jason Momoas, I want my Ma Dong-Seoks, I want them broad shoulders and tree-trunk calves and I wanna see those muscles bulge. If a fictional character ever gets me biting my lip at the screen, it's never gonna be a fine-featured pretty boy, it's gonna be a good thick daddy who can take my wrists, pin me against a wall and [--------------------------------‐---sustained bleep sound effect---------------------------------]

1:38-1:51 🤣

Personality wise, I'm a basic bitch who has approximately zero defenses for the "jerk with a heart of gold" stereotype. Gets me every time, without fail. The smooth-talking playboy who flirts with everyone and who could bed anyone he wanted, but who only lets you see him at his deepest, dearest, most vulnerable moments? Sorry, am I supposed to not fall for that shit or something? Well frankly I don't understand how and I'm not ashamed to admit it. If he happens to be built like a fortress on top of that? Yeah, I'm done. Have me bathed and brought to your tent, sir, please and thank you.

I admit, it's rare that a character with the physique I like also has that heartbreaker personality I'm a sucker for. Guys in fiction are usually strong and mean or they make up for their lighter frames with silver tongues and barbed promises - rarely do writers create a character who's stacked with both brains and brawn, so to speak. Makes sense though, as while irl people can max out any combination of stats that they put effort towards - in fiction a character who's too good at too many different attributes can come across unbalanced or Gary Stu-ish and will fail to resonate with audiences unless the writer really knows what they're doing.

That being said, there really isn't any character in ATLA who fits my type - either of them, actually. There are some bit characters like Chit Sang who get close in terms of physical build - but Chit Sang has very gaunt, angular facial features that I'm really not a fan of and tbh, while I get that I can't expect all my big buff boys to also be masters of wit and cunning and charm, being dumber than a box of rocks does seal it for me, sorry. In terms of personality, I guess the closest character would be Jet, and he's cool and all but yeah, the whole "would go as far as killing kids" thing makes him a bit of a hard sell for me too. (And yes, it's worth questioning the writers' choices to create him with those flaws to begin with but look, that's a discussion for another day 😂)

All this to say, if you wanna tease me about coveting fictional characters and allowing thirst to cloud my judgment - COME AT ME BOYS. But not with Zuko, for fuck's sake. The character that makes sneezy.exe blue-screen ain't him. It's actually the late great Carthaginian General Hannibal Barca, the man the myth the legend may he Rest in Peace if anyone's seriously wondering. Look, I do like the scar, and the awkwardness is endearing - he's definitely not ugly or unappealing by any means so please don't misunderstand, I'm not trying to bash him or nothin' - but if I'm being brutally honest, he's not my type! Not physically, not even emotionally. If I ship Zutara, it's because aspects of the ship appeal to me that are unrelated to my personal opinion of Zuko as an object of fantasy, which if you must know (and now you do, congratulations, you're welcome), the kind of boy I do fantasise about when I'm in the mood for that sort of thing could literally and figuratively sweep Zuko off his feet - and then sit on him. In either order.

P.S. While we're on this topic, the character I personally relate to most heavily is not Katara either btw. It's Toph. If you're going to accuse me of bias, questioning my views on Toph would make the most sense for that reason. But really, it's hardly my fault that she's basically the most perfect flawless irreproachable badass in ATLA or practically all of animation as a whole. Come on now. *whistles innocently*

[nebulaleaf]

What color would u say Akira’s eyes are? I see a lot of people say gray and I’ve also seen red, but I always thought they were a dark brown

You’re starting a cult around him so I figured you’d have an opinion

ok 1) not starting a cult that's just an in-joke making fun of a silly anon i got. 2) yes i do have an opinion. but also ...... FACTS !!! I usually go grey as the normal default but I understand the confusion. Official artworks for merchandise range from black to a light blue 😭. Lets take a trip down model / reference lane, shall we? First up: P5D!

We'll rope P5 / P5R into this too, because it's the same colour. Akira's eyes appear this shade... almost always! The metaverse, the real world... grey as graphite. Ah, but "almost! almost!?" you cry! Yes, yes. There's one exception.

Recall the persona awakening scene. Recall *all* of them, actually. All persona users have their eyes turn yellow when tearing their mask off.

This holds true for their models as well! For a few frames, during the summoning animation, their faces turn black and their eyes turn yellow. It's easier to see on some characters than others. (Others being joker. this took me SO long to scrub for.) Now, lets look at his sprites! So I guess we can call this part uh, Persona Q.A? (That's what these sprites are from, anyway...)

Now these eyes definitely look black! Honestly I think you could argue that the previous set were black too. On their own, they seem grey but the key thing to compare them with here is Akira's hair. They're both the same colour in the sprites and uh, that's definitely not grey hair. Now the anime! I won't be covering P5A: The Daybreakers because. Well. It'd just be more "Wow it's black. Now it's black again." P5A Is interesting because I swear to god his eyes were red when they were in mementos. but i must've imagined that???

That's just not a thing that happens! It's grey! The only exception is the... [shudders] All Out Attack. (Which also happens in P5:the game. forgot to mention that earlier; but it could be chalked up to mere aesthetic choice)

My assumption about red-eyes is at least partially true though. Nnnot in the sense that what I thought happened, happened, but more-so... Whenever Joker is depicted with red eyes, it's in his PT outfit. And like... only that outfit.

Mementos mission loves doing it. p5a does it. Artists do it. my BRAIN does it. Q2 also does it!! (hi all out attack. again)

other notable mentions for Doin' It Red While Being Joker are Akirby and the Official Jonker Nendo. Idk what that means but! Yeah

A few promo arts do the red-eyes thing like this original key art and multiple official illustrations for p5's release. I think it's just a fun aesthetics thing honestly. p5 is red. akira is from p5. slap some red on that bitch on him eye.

[ key art | strikers art | og p5 art ] So that solves that mystery. I think the idea of brown eyes either comes from being realistic (black eyes irl are just really really dark brown) op's colour palette ooooooooooor.... misunderstanding an official palette!

This is Q2's cut in graphic. The eyes look kind of brown, right? But it's mostly just a lighting thing. The face is darkened and the eye's colour is lightened to give that slick piercing-gaze-through-the-shadows effect.

(Q2 Akira is pretty pasty, as we can see here. the skintone matches the brightest highlight in the cut-in image.)

striker's sprites eyes look pretty brown too, but if you look at the hair and shadows, you can see it's because everything has a brown hue. we're doing black without doing black! (...except for the deepest shadows and lines, but cmon. if you put black on black its just gonna look like a big ol' blob.) this same effect is often used in many tribute artworks for p5 that aren't in the usual black/white/single colour style or crossover artwork because............ well it's basic colour theory. The only exception to the "rules" i've laid out here I have ever seen is the artwork done for Persora The Golden Best 5th Album artwork.

WHY ARE THEY BLUE. THAT'S WRONG. anyway. hoped this post helps you. my personal opinion is grey / silver if i wanna get all OOooh FANCY when writing a fic and waxing poetic and then yellow when summoning a persona or using some kind of spell in mementos. don't see brown in the slightest and red... yeah, i'll pass on having that be his default in mementos? maybe? idk i go back and forth on it lol. just get jiggy with it

[juliawanag]

Decided to rewatch NATLA to properly form my own takes that’s been running through my mind: (I’ll have both things that I like and dislike.) Part 1

SPOILERS!

I like it like a friend from a hundred years ago: 

First and foremost, NATLA predominantly consists of Asian American Pacific Islanders. Good for them for creating a version that is more in their lens and creativity. 

The Bendiiing. All of the elements, except for Earth, are 10/10. I really want it to be more solid, especially on AangvsBumi. It’s not that bad though, so much better than…well u know. I’ll give it an 8/10. 

I rewatched it with a Filipino dub and it’s good, 9/10. Aang VO was convincing as a kid, so either they’re a great actor or a great kid actor. The jokes (Sokka’s sarcasm) hits better on my mother tongue

"You're my friend. You will always be my friend.” 

Avatar state under the ocean 

The costume. The only one that I do agree with everyone else that lacks is Zuko’s scar. They should’ve put prosthetics on the eyebrow. 

Zuko’s hair? Hello? They did a great job. Even though my sister and I sing Ariana Grande song whenever we see them swaying. It’s an integral part of his story, and I loved that they keep it. There’s an East Asian culture that indicates that kind of haircut as a punishment. I remember my History teacher taught me this in eighth grade but I forgot which it was, my bad. And the actor’s such a champ for having that hair IRL. 

My favorite actor performances: Gordon (Aang) superb acting. Liz (Azula). Utkarsh (Bumi). Justin Wong (Chong/SecretTunnelguy) sounds exactly like the character. Made up for my delusional expectation that Dee Bradley Baker would be in this. Ken Leung (Zhao) pisses me off so much, and that means he’s doing a great job. Dallas (Zuko) & Iroh (Paul). DDK's(Ozai) a natural idk if that's acting /j

Was it established in the OG that Katara's intro is a folklore/legend? Because yeah, I don’t mind that it is considered that way in this version. 

AAAAA, the Lieutenant Jee younger casting makes so much sense now! The 41st division is chef kiss. Zuko cryiiiing when he was being banished!? Dallas Lui ate! 

THE HYBRID ANIMALS LOOOK SO GOOD. The ostrich horse blended well with whoever rides them. It doesn’t look CGI to me. MOMO HIS MOMONESS, MOMO OF THE MOMO DYNASTY 

Any Zuko fight choreography (MY FAVORITE CHOREO DALLAS LOOKS FIIIRE). And Aang’s too (Oh hey).

Aang the Hype Man

The fallen Fire Nation ship behind Zukka fighting. (It’s in my notes idk why but I guess background details are a win) 

Aang and Iroh's interactions

NATLA Zuko (I don’t think there’s much of a difference though with the OG lol, and it’s probably because the NATLA directors/producers like Zuko) 

Camera direction 

The Found Family Hug™, what Netflix can do well.

End scene of Episode 1, is very cinematic. I can’t believe TV shows have come this far. I hope employees are paid well. 

The End Theme remains the saaame, and is added with cinematic effects as well.

The folly/sound effect at the start of Episode 2. Why is this the only episode with that flair? 

Creating a grave for Gyatso.

How Ozai’s forced unity/being totalitarian is represented. Reminds me so much of our own government, it amuses me. I know it’s not directly referencing that though. It’s good that they show it early on I guess. With the Fire Nation culty greeting as well. 

On a lighter note: THE AIR SPHERE/BALL whatevah, yes! More of this goofiness. How about instead of being inspired by GOT, NATLA should be inspired by Stranger Things in terms of fantasy + childhood simplicity balanced by this trauma they're going through. (Well, ST lacks worldbuilding cause it’s just normal Earth but anyway) 

Kyoshi Takeoveeer. I hope Roku gets more screen time someday though. Pls pls pls. 

They incorporated the OG character theme songs! Of course! The ones I noticed right away are the FireNation Siblings’. So if you watched OG Avatar and you watched the scene where a mysterious girl joins the infiltration of the FN Royal Palace, you’ll know who she is. 

Sorry not sorry, Daddy Dae Kim is daddying. (Although he did catch me off guard in Zuko’s Agni Kai lmao.) The plot.

The Aang VS Zuko fight! A reference to the Fortune Teller fight. The team did so well. 

Zuko The Master of Disguise Major In Stealing Clothes. Full-time Avatar researcher. 

A fourth wall foreshadows Bumi’s OOC for this version. Jet’s "he’s not like he used to be" in line. I mean they did warn us. 

Another 4th wall is the line “Things shouldn’t be here” referring to the prototype Fire Nation balloon. 

Nice animation with the retelling of Two Lovers legend.

Lu Ten Funeral scene ate. That single teaaaar. I recommend everyone who loves the animation to watch this scene. To feel something idk AHAHAHAH. 

The actors were convincing when interacting with CGI animals. Specifically the badger moles. 

ZUKO AND IROH SCENES! 

CGI’s great did not waste any money 

In Katara’s flashback. She experienced this in her present form. And when she was so scared to go to the place where her mom was killed, she immediately changed back to her young self. Like, I wanted that so bad when I was watching the flashback. I thought, this shouldn’t be the present-day Katara. There should be a moment when she switches back to young again. And they did. 

Big Iroh moment that makes you cry as an adult when Gyatso was reassuring Aang that the genoc*de wasn’t his fault, and shouldn’t blame himself. Ahh, and the subtle sadness as they say goodbye. 

Random eye drawing from Zuko. He’s an artist AHAHAHAH. Okay, I forgot which episode. Sincerely, unreliable narrator. 

Showing Zuko's scar when Aang says "Do you even know that lives are at stake". 

Basically every scene/plot they 1 by 1 copy from the show. Did not disappoint (well, maybe because OG showrunners were there). Blue Spirit, Siege of the North. 

Zuko’s room. I love me some character bedrooms. He’s like a TV Sitcom character for that. 

Gaang teamwork scenes! It works and it's dynamic. 

Hahn as an honorable man? Yes. I don’t like love triangles so much. I like me some camaraderie. And Ian (Sokka) acted well for feeling included and seen as Hahn recognized his value as warrior/intel. 

Zutara fight scene.

Two points that I don’t know if I like but it makes me realize some stuff:

Meek Katara. I know there are specific plot points that Feisty Katara is needed. But she was always nurturing, so I think it makes sense she’s…meek? That Jet scene explains it. Maybe because I relate to her being a log AHAHAHAH. But yeah, uh, I do not, ironically, have strong feelings against that water down.

Angry Bumi. IDK how to feel about him tbh. I always think Bumi is…harsh like that. Almost scary. But yeah, he never blames Aang. Still, it doesn’t feel out of place here. He will return anyway so he’s not this one-dimensional character that is only angry at his friend (hopefully). I never thought of how Bumi would actually feel. And that he will be upset, and now it’s sad because that’s like your friend when you were twelve years old and you wonder where he’s been all this time, and if he’s alive. And..war..never made it any better to process that emotion. So, we got two versions, one that is cautious and then eventually welcomes him, and another who's completely angry and blames a literal kid that he does not know the pain (from the war). Too real, and I personally don’t mind. 

[ashen-crest]

seeking thoughts on a type of character behavior

Starting with a behavioral question to see if this is Relatable (TM):

Have you ever found yourself refraining from telling the truth or hiding information because you’re afraid of what the other person will think, even though you know that delaying the inevitable will only make it worse?

Maybe you’re afraid they’ll be mad, or will think less/differently of you. And you know that you can’t hide the truth from them forever, but you still immediately default to simple lies like “I’m fine” or “everything’s fine” or “I definitely am not planning on being possessed by a spirit during a concert you’re going to attend.”

Real talk, irl I know someone who does this all the time (not the plant part, the other part). Has for his whole life. It’s like clockwork. “Hey it’s nice that you’re confiding in me about this, but you should tell X about this, too.” “Yeah, I will.” (doesn’t do it, X gets mad months later when they find out). Every single time.

Now, if I have a character do this, here’s my fear of what the reader will say:

That’s so dumb. Why didn’t he just communicate? Why didn’t he just tell them? This is just manufacturing conflict because he didn’t tell the truth. Doesn’t he know that they’ll be made if he doesn’t tell them?

And just like irl, the answer is: yes!! he does know!! of course he knows, but this is a deep brain pattern and he’s fighting an instinctual fear of shame linked to his low self-worth!! and his arc is to work through that and confide in people again!! It’s psychological internal conflict! Man vs self, babey!

So, I guess my question is: if you were a reader, would you find this sort of behavior/arc annoying, dumb, or angsty? Or would you relate to this character’s behavior?

Book-specific context below the cut if you’re curious, but it does contain spoilers for both book 2 and book 3:

Yes, this is about Emry Karic, because of course this is about Emry Karic.

I’m trying to solidify his character arc, and am currently targeting: not confiding in loved ones -> confiding in loved ones. 

Why doesn’t he confide in loved ones in the first place? Well, last time he was really honest with his family about his future, they kinda kicked him out, and last time he confessed all this to Cal, she left him. That all happened pre-book 1. By the end of book 1, he’s reunited with his family and Cal, all of whom apologize for pushing him away and reassure him that they love him.

(I’m actually doing a whole short story on the family’s apology.)

However, Emry’s issues of self-worth aren’t magically gone by the end of book 1, and it’s not like he’s going to be great at telling people things they might not like to hear. 

A couple instances of this through the book:

1- Oops, Aspen accidentally possessed me for a brief second while they were trying to generate a rainstorm, and as a result, they summoned a really effective rainstorm. Best not tell Cal about this- it’s not like it’s gonna happen again, and it would only make her upset.

2- Welp, turns out that me being possessed by Aspen can actually make our troupe’s music sound really cool and we can do neat tricks! But Cal and my sisters will be at the concert. They’re gonna hate it. I should tell them before the concert...but I can’t bring myself to do it.

3- Andddd turns out that I now have plant powers from being possessed by a forest spirit repeatedly. I have no idea how my loved ones will react to this, so I straight up do not wanna tell them. However, I have grown as a person (lol plant pun) and so I am going to tell them!! And guess what, they’re supportive and they love me and my worst fears didn’t come true!!

A couple fears I have:

like I mentioned earlier, would a reader be like “oh he’s just dumb”?

is it too close to his family arc in book 1, where he goes from actively avoiding his family until he can Achieve the Thing, to seeing his family despite Not Achieving the Thing, and finding that they love him and just wanted him back for years?

If I remove this arc, don’t want his self-esteem or trust issues to be erased, because he also runs into imposter syndrome/ “am I enough without aspen?” in book 3, and by the end of book 3, he finally comes to the conclusion of “yes, I am actually enough.”

So sorry this post got so long! I’m tagging a few people who know my bard boy and who might be able to assist: @sleepyowlwrites @akindofmagictoo @writeblrfantasy @zmwrites @chayscribbles

[m-a-n-g-o-m-i]

cw// suicide/ self harm mentions

Just wanted to announce for my like 8 followers that I will be taking a possibly permanent break from this site. Really I just can’t handle it and I know it’s mostly my fault but I also want people to be aware of the effects that ur discourse has on people. I saw a post about how transandrophobia truthers should kill themselves to rid the world of their disgusting presence yesterday and well, I wanted to take that advice but I chickened out and now I just have bruises. I’m sorry. I don’t want this to come off as a guilt trip, and I know some people reading this might think I’m making a big deal out of nothing, and this is nothing compared to the harassment transfems face. Maybe that’s true, and I know it’s a little ridiculous to self harm so dramatically over things people say online, but you know, i really believed them. I wanted to do the right thing, and I mean it.

I guess I just latched onto the word transandrophobia because I thought it described the way I could be assaulted for being a woman in other people’s eyes, and then be told to shut up about it, because I’m a man, after all. I thought it worked well to explain how I could be targeted by the sort of fetishization people put on Asian women, while simultaneously being seen as predatory for being masculine. And while I’m fine to stop using the word “transandrophobia”, I will never stop believing that my experiences exist at some legitimate intersection. I don’t know what it is yet exactly. I’m sorry that I don’t have a better grasp on all this. But because I can’t stop believing in the things I’ve experienced, i guess I’ll always be some sort of “truther,” to some people. And I know it’s wrong to be this— don’t think I don’t feel any shame over it! But I’ve tried to drive out those thoughts before, and they just crept back and back, whenever my back was turned. I cannot get rid of them. I’m not very connected to the big accounts posting about this stuff, so I think I also just don’t really comprehend the situation with harassment and everything that lead people to tell others to kill themselves. However, I do think that if you tell people to end their lives, you should be prepared for some of them to do it, legitimately. Maybe that was the intention all along, and this post doesn’t mean a lot, then. But I prefer to believe that people don’t actually want a lot of their fellow trans people dead.

I’m sorry, genuinely. I saw a different post last week that said we should drive transandrodorks out of every irl queer space until they realize they’re all alone, forever. Well, the people I know irl haven’t driven me out yet, and maybe it’s shitty of me, but I’m going to keep hanging around them until they stop wanting to be around me anymore. They love me so far and selfishly I hope it continues like that. Im sorry, genuinely, but I don’t want to leave. They make me feel like it’s a beautiful thing that I exist. I hope I get to live like that for a long time. They’re also telling me to get off this website so I might not see responses to this post.

You can reblog this if you want, even though it’s very personal. I hope people realize I’m being real with this. I don’t fully understand this discourse and this post will probably reflect that— I’m really not trying to play into a particular narrative. I’m very autistic and take things people say very seriously by default. I just want people to understand how it feels. Thank you for reading this all.

[bimtheory]

I have not been taking great notes in my ridiculous long-drawn-out research. Or maybe it's more accurate to say, I've only been taking notes, and as a result the book I'm supposed to writing has become increasingly overwhelming. So, from now on I've decided I'm going to post my annotations and ideas on here. @understandingbimbos seems to be in shambles a bit, and being able to reply on here makes things more efficient anyway.

So, for starters. I've been reading Dworkin, currently Intercourse. The following excerpts are from the preface of the second edition. Then I'll probably continue in follow-up posts going chapter by chapter, section by section.

How this relates to a fetish like bimbofication should be obvious. Not all bimbofication stories include a controller, but MANY of them do, especially some of the earliest stories. And even if they don't include a controller, or even a transformation, bimbo stories often fetishize the power imbalance of high vs. low (subdued intentionally, or not) intelligence. And, in that way, bimbofication can be seen as the ultimate culmination of dominance and inequality as erotic.

Force is a natural and inevitable part of most bimbofication stories. There are instances of consensual bimbofication in writing (and, arguably, numerous instances in the real world) but I honestly couldn't tell you about them, because I go out of my way to avoid them. There's a chance I'd enjoy consensual bimbofication stories if I gave them a chance, but the idea bores me. At the same time though, I'm not a huge fan of stories with controllers -- or rather, stories that feature the controller prominently. Although it is, assumingly, part of the appeal for people in the BD/SM sector of this fetish that play out bimbofication IRL -- the idea of personally turning women into dumb sex freaks (or even role-playing/self-inserting as a character who does that) is of zero interest to me.

My disinterest in consensual transformation has more to do with the inherent uselessness of it all, at least for me. With consent there's no struggle, and if there's no struggle, has there really been a transformation? Sort of a "Bimbo of Theseus" thing, I guess. I do like bimbos on their own, sans transformation, but if I just wanted bimbos I would not be reading a bimbofication story. The transformation is the whole point, the hottest part. Some of the best bimbofication stories I've read are JUST transformation, with little to no actual sex. Similar sentiments were shared by Tebra (May they rest in peace) and some fans in the comments of a Patreon post.

Put simply, there is no transformation if there's no transformation. Bimbofication (in fiction, at least) implies a physical change as well as a mental one. We should be able to see and experience a material change in how this character acts, feels, talks, and lives. Instead of just being told "they're dumb and have big tits now". There is no point to a bimbofication story if the bimbo springs from the character's former self fully formed like some slutty Birth of Venus.

Here's a very simple but effective example from Downing Street:

And another, a bit further down, from the same story:

There are discrepancies between her thoughts and actions, signs of struggle, and once there are no discrepancies left a transformation will have taken place. And in the case of bimbofication stories one could make the (flimsy and morally dubious) argument that consent is gained in transformation. A lot of stories, including pretty much all my personal favorites, focus on the perspective of the woman as she slips further and further into debauchery and pursuing personal pleasure. Bimbofication stories almost always end with the woman happier and more satisfied than she started. Of course, one could also easily argue this is just rape with multiple steps. Or coercion, but I'm pretty sure that's just rape too.

How you feel about and view it is up to you. I've read bimbofication stories that have bored me, and I've read bimbofication stories that have grossed me out. Execution plays a part as much as content.

Finally, here's another excerpt of my annotations from the preface. I think it speaks for itself.

[dodriotrio]

Introduction?

Hello? I see lots of people doing this. My name is Kane. I am a Pokemon ranger in Galar. I mostly stay in the Wild Area unless there is an emergency, but I also help rehabilitate injured Pokemon.

This is my team. They help me with my work!

They have names in Kantonian, but I call them their Galarian nicknames unless they're being given commands. That way only I can tell them to do things, for safety. I will be using those nicknames on here.

And also, here is a picture of me!

Galarian is not my first language. I speak mostly Kantonian, but I use a translator here. I don't have one in real life, so sorry if I get confused.

I want to spread awareness and positivity about Pokemon that are not well known! If you have any questions, I will do my best to answer them.

Hello! This is the OOC part of the introduction >:) I follow from @act11as! Muse is an adult, mod is a minor, don't be weird, etc.

Please note the blanket unreality warning in the description, I do not tag #unreality to avoid flooding the tag, but I do try to tag all non-out of character posts with #pkmn irl in case you need to block things from your dashboard at times! On that same note, OOC posts will be tagged as such, and I will mark them with green text (though often not past the first line, because it can be grating to look at after a while)

All trigger warnings will be tagged as "[word] tw" for the sake of consistency. And if I forget to tag something, please shoot me a dm or an ask!

Additionally: Please note that I am autistic and very chronically ill. I may have to end things earlier than they were planned to be because I just suddenly had a flare-up, and I often misinterpret/forget things, o7 please feel free to remind/correct me if I do!

-

Guidelines? I guess?

Literally any kind of pokemon irl blog can interact! Sentient pokemon, eebydeebies, evil teams, whatever. I'm chill with anyone, though the muse may not be, keep this in mind. If you want to do something, send me a dm! I'm more than happy to discuss things ^^

IN CHARACTER anon hate, be it just being an ass, homophobia, etc. etc. are perfectly fine. Note that I probably wont respond to all, especially if it seems to go a bit too far. (same vein: Feel free to start arguments with him if you want. It's always fun to write him angry <3)

^ Additionally, feel free to harass him for the bit. Just for funsies. I love playing into it if you can't tell!

As for all my blogs (so far) because I like unreliable narrators... Kane DEFINITELY is one! He will Blatantly Lie and avoid answering questions, feel more than free to interrogate him on things. Because he needs it.

Extra:

Pelipper Mail, un-mail, and Malice are always open! Feel free to torment this guy whenever you so please. (links go to the source posts for all 3 lol)

Musharna mail, (sending dreams) and Musharna malice (sending nightmares) are always on! Once again feel free to torment this guy.

Magic anons are usually off, unless I specifically specify otherwise!

Some organizational tags:

#[Nickname] the [Pokemon] - Tags for different Pokemon Kane owns!

#Mylah! - Specific tag for one of his friends, @/tinkatinktrain

#Reblog - Reblogs!

#Responses - Replies and reblogs with commentary.

#Ranger Ramblings - Ranger work stuff!

#Kane's Pokemon Talks - Pokemon facts/information!

Poke-Fostering journeys - Talks about foster pokemon that Kane keeps, updates, etc.

-

And... Here's his playlist. You could listen to this, or you could just listen to the entirety of Jhariah's discography. You'd get the exact same effect either way.

[artsyunderstudy]

Trope Grading Game

Heyyy! Thanks for the tag this morning @hushed-chorus you gave me a great alternative for WIP Wednesday since I got a head full of ideas and a word doc full of empty.

Also thanks to @stitchyqueer @brilla-brilla-estrellita @larkral @forabeatofadrum @ileadacharmedlife @wellbelesbian @prettygoododds @cutestkilla @cosmicalart @bazzybelle @aristocratic-otter for the tags today and yesterday. If you haven't done this yet consider yourself TAGGED!

Rules: How much do these tropes affect your decision to click on a fic?

-10 -> very dissuaded

0 - don’t care either way

+10 -> very enticed

nope -> if it’s a hard no and you’d never click on a fic with that tag or or you even have the tag blocked or you’d insta click out of the fic if it wasn’t tagged

Bonus points for explaining the rating and whether it’s conditional.

Age gap: -1

Mmm, no? Especially not for younger characters, but like, its not a thing I seek or or actively dislike in general.

Codependency: +5

LOL yes, I'm into fics that explore this. Either in a fun way or in a serious way, because its interesting no matter what. I suppose sometimes if we're talking really toxic codependancy that isnt dealt with it might turn me off in the long run but it definitely will draw my interest in the tags.

Obsession/Possessiveness, jealousy: +4

Complicated feelings. I'm kinda into it, so it definitely wont put me off, but jealousy as a trope can either be really fun in a story or really toxic. Like, I'm a little obsessed with Simon's jealousy in the series, because its not the kind where he gets mad at Baz, really, or lashes out at him, its very internal and about his own insecurity, but also really indicative of how very attached he is despite his assertions through wayward son that he was going to end things.

I love a bit of possessiveness as long as its not the kind that hurts their partner or turns really bad to the point of me disliking the character.

So, yeah, in most situations i'm a fan of exploring this, though I can't say I specifically look for it.

Opposites (grumpy/sunshine etc): +8

Yes, definitely. I love this in a romance, its really fun to explore those dynamics. Like, IRL I think really good relationships have people who make up for each other's shortcomings, or balance each other, like if one is really impulsive it helps when the other is level headed or a planner, or else you just get an echo chamber of rash decision making (or, on the other end, no spontaneity!) I like seeing how their differences effect the other. It's a really fun dynamic to read about.

Enemies to lovers, Enemies with benefits: +4

I mean, I'm a snowbaz fan so I gotta right? I do think though that the idea of true enemies to lovers is usually not done it a way that really works for me, because a lot of the time i cant see why these people end up together, because its all anger and hate lust and sometimes it doesn't ever evolve past that, or we just skip the bit where we see them getting along. Ideally theres enemies to friends to lovers, or at the very least friendship within the lovers realm.

I guess what I'm saying is they still need to like each other or else it make me sad.

Friends with benefits: +2

Ehhh is it benefits to full on love? I don't really connect with allo perspectives on sexual relationships, like I get them intellectually but I don't jive with them on an emotional level, so there has to be that emotional draw for me, that underlying romance. I mean tho, @fatalfangirl stacy is writing an excellent fic on this premise right now that I absolutely love because there are clearly feelings involved. But it also might fall more into the realm of the next trope on this list ... which is ...

Sex to feelings: +10

Oh yes yes yes. Pining while actively having sex is absolutely my thing.

Fake dating/relationship: -1

I am not really opposed. This is just a very romcom trope for me in that it rarely delivers really big honest emotions, its usually a lot of fun contrivance. Which is definitely a good time and has an appeal, but I generally don't take to these stories as much as others. I think its one that really depends on how its written, because I have read some REALLY good ones too.

Friends to lovers: +6

I like this a lot, I think it can have a good amount of tension when done right which is important for me in a story. Plus I love the slow burn of feelings, and also just the depth of emotion and comfort you get from friends to lovers, and sometimes it can be genuinely hard when one of those friends is dating other people, or if theres a really interesting thing keeping them apart. Yeah, I like it.

Found Family: +1

I don't feel a specific way about it, definitely not a turn off. I've read a few really really sweet fics that frame the trio (Baz, Simon and Penny) as found family, which is nice. Generally just fine about it.

Hurt/Comfort: +10

PUT IT DIRECTLY. INTO MY MOUTH. I am a fucking sap for hurt/comfort. It gives me the swoops. There is fucking nothing I like better than lovers (or almost lovers) comforting each other and taking care of each other, emotionally, physically, spiritually, whatever. It's sexy to me. It affects me deeply.

Love Triangle: -7

I fuckin hate love triangles actually, in all manner of media. Like, it's not a sure thing that it'll put me off a fic on sight, but I seriously can't think of any examples where this trope didn't make me deeply unhappy.

Poly, open relationships: -5

Mmm I'm very monogamous and also have bad history with open relationships so I definitely don't seek this out and it's generally a big turn off for me in a fic. But that being said I am deeply interested in the complexity of managing an open relationship (something sort of touched on in Someone Wicked) and there are definitely some throuples that I can totally get behind. I am allergic to most snowbaz throuples except sid/simon/baz (catch me one day writing some delectable threeway smut for Dre.)

Mistaken/hidden identity: +2

I truly don't know if I've ever read a story with this that like, really drew me in a specific way? I don't think this is a regular snowbaz trope either, and I admittedly don't wander too far from the snowbaz fic these days. I'm not opposed, just don't have a specific affinity for it.

Monsterfucking: +6

I like monsterfucking, but its gotta be tied to emotions. (Those emotions can be overwhelming incoherent ecstasy tho.)

Pregnancy: -9

I want kids and I like kids, don't care to read about them or pregnancy. That being said, I have read nearly every mpreg fic in this fandom (snowbaz) because you all are too talented and too fucking powerful. But it took me a while to click on them, generally.

Second Chance: +8

I do actively seek this tag out, because I am a sadist, but breakup angst also really truly hurts me. As someone who's a well known angstweaver (which I definitely just made up) most angst is appealing to me, delicious to read, exquisite, etc, but breakup angst wounds me deep ya'll. I hate thinking of them not together. I hate thinking of them thinking they are better off not together. I hate IT it makes me cry all of my tears.

But I love the path of recovery and finding their way back to each other. That shit is GREAT.

Slowburn: +10

Yeah baby gimme that pining. I love a slowburn because I love tension, and you get such good fucking tension when it takes a lot of work for them to get together. Also you just see more rounded, complex characterization because they are generally working through feelings and spending time together and just building up that relationship. And I'm a sucker for it, makes the get together all the sweeter. I love all kinds of burns, but slow burn gets me good.

Soulmates: +9

Yes, absolutely yes to soulmate fics. I also love a trope reversal here specifically, because there's a part of me that's also obsessed with the choice over destiny factor and seeing how that comes into play meaningfully, but I will say that the vast majority of Snowbaz soulmate fics have been really fucking good and it's a tag I purposefully seek out.

Also tagging @shrekgogurt @theearlgreymage @bookish-bogwitch @moodandmist @messofthejess @raenestee @facewithoutheart @martsonmars and @you-remind-me-of-the-babe

[fitzrove]

🖤or 💜 or 💛!

(Sorry for taking a bit of time to reply!! I wanted to answer all of them hehehe)

🖤 Black: Do you think about your story when you're not physically writing it? Does it help with plotting scenes, character arcs, etc.?

Yes, always... Most of my stories begin with rotating ideas in my head, so concepts and ideas, even dialogue, will usually have to exist as a starting point before I actually write anything down. And for actual plotting - I really like using outlines and outline almost everything I write, so really it is a thing where I will be thinking about a fic and then a random moment will turn into an outlining moment if I go to write new ideas down :D

💜 Purple: Name one song you're listening to while writing your next/current fanfic. How or why does it help the writing process?

Ahh... I wasn't really listening to anything while writing my most recent fic xD Actually, listening to songs with lyrics while writing can be tricky for me, I prefer to listen to music while doing the aforementioned rotating ideas in my head thing 😁 One EXTREMELY fitting todolf song though is Poison by Alice Cooper... everyone listen right now... don't want to touch you but you're under my skin (deep in) etc

💛 Yellow: Do you ever alter, highlight, or de-emphasize certain canonical traits in a character? If so, why and describe how.

Ahh, this is such an interesting thing to think about!!!!

For something like Tod/Death, every writer has to kind of come up with their own interpretation. We never get insight into what he's thinking (kkog doesn't count that's not canon...), we don't have a clear view of his motivations because of the layers and layers of lies by Lucheni (up to the viewer how many layers there are), all we know is that he's There and there is some sort of deep connection to Elisabeth and, to a lesser extent, Rudolf.

However, the more fic I write, the more I write Tod as somewhat of an extension of Rudolf's personality. The idea really is that he's whatever you want him to be, he taps into all your weaknesses and insecurities and approaches them in a way that will be the most effective on you for the purposes of You Know What. Mirrors etc,,,,, Unfortunately for the kind of Rudolf I usually write, this mostly means that tod is pretty b*sm about it AJSJDJJF. So I guess for Tod I tend to emphasize the sexuality aspect which is a side effect of the kinds of fics I write LOL.

Rudolf, on the other hand... I keep saying his canon personality is "sad, queer and rebellious", he is literally on stage for like 10 minutes and most of it is being gay s*x depressed ajsjdjdj. There's a lot of portrayals to pick from... I think one of the main things I do is try to add historical facts into the mix while keeping the canon meow meow personality. Fic Rudolf usually has noble goals but despairs his life away because the environment makes it impossible to fully pursue or reach them - IRL Rudolf was similar but also fanatically obsessed with hunting I'm told (by stephanie xD) and a raging misogynist. I guess, though, that the way I write him is influenced by the fact that when the fics take place (because of what todolf is...) we're seeing him at his most private and emotionally vulnerable.

Ooh the question also asked "why"... For Tod the "why" is that I just don't really care about the paranormal entity interpretation, I mean I tried my hand at it with my todesengel fic but even with that I tried to make it fit together with the force of nature interpretation and not "god" or "demon" or idk "Satan" etc. I don't like the god or paranormal interpretations, or stuff that leans too heavily into Tod as a "creature", because 1) it would shift the genre of what I'm trying to write - idk I try to go more for toxic historical fiction metaphysical romance or whatever and not for dark fantasy or paranormal romance, 2) it's hostile to religious beliefs, like, it precludes the existence/validity of other god-like entities in this universe and more "atheistic" belief systems like Buddhism. I don't want to base my fics on a take where, for example, the Christian tradition is in a worldbuilding sense "more true" than another religious system. I think that's lazy and lets author bias show through too much - though perhaps I have a different kind of author bias, as someone raised culturally as a member of a pretty hands-off organised religion, but with a cynical attitude towards its impacts on society XD Anyway um yeah to me Tod is usually more like gravity or temperature and not like an actual Dark Angel King Of The Underworld...

As for Rudolf - I just write him according to personal preference and the theme of whatever fic I'm working on at the moment. Part of it is my reading of historical events (heavy emphasis on the "troubled hero, huge loss of potential" line of thinking) and part of it is just what sorts of performances I like best and want to incorporate into my belief system ajajsjdj.

[yourtoradorasextendedwarranty]

So, I'm watching a show called Oshi No Ko. And the story is a pretty complicated one. It focuses on the kids of an Idol. One who was extremely famous for a long time.

This screen shot, is from the most recent episode and got me to start thinking. We really do tend to be heartless monsters sometimes. I lose my head sometimes but I will often refrain from stuff that goes further than "Fuck You" or "Fuck off". Why? Because I want to be better than the worst of the things I see around me.

I saw this and watch as the episode progressed. It focuses on a very earnest girl that isn't the most pretty and doesn't stand out well. This despite being in the entertainment industry. An accident happens on set and as some fandoms do, they went straight for the throat. Moments later you hear rumor monologue which produces these:

And when I saw these my first thought was, "Oh......she's going to take her own life". Because the scene lasted for so long. She was trying so hard to just do her best. Except even if you take this away from Japan and look around the globe, we're all pretty fucked.

We took the idea of being anonymous with us from the birth of the internet, and now we walk around with are noses in the sky as if we own everything. Now a days you can just say whatever you want. And another thing dawned on me during this line of thought. "This is why it's so easy for people to dehumanize everyone they don't like nowadays. This is why it's so easy to see a person throwing a birthday party at a park, get pissed of that they are happy and you aren't and get them mobbed by claiming 'Nazis' knowing good well they probably aren't." It reminded me of this scene from a silent voice.

This is how we see people online. Not as real life people who have their own lives, thoughts, feelings, and circumstances. We see them as invalids who if they don't placate us, they are worth less than nothing. I keep up with people online and I can separate fantasy from reality. More than I can say for so many others. And I normally do not attack people so much as I just levy criticism of their views. Mostly only when it comes to things I find important.

However, I try to flush out my point in a way that is actual criticism, rather than something hateful or scornful. I'm not saying I always succeed in that. I do try though.

If I'm being honest. People who are depressed need to not be on social media at all. They need to seek IRL help. And we need to get back to a time we saw people as people. Once upon a time, there was a notion known as "Talk shit, get hit". Because no matter how you felt, being a punk wasn't acceptable. Now, not only is it acceptable. It's promoted, rewarded, and pushed as the norm. I now understand on a more foundational level why I see people say things like, "kys" in anonymous asks or similar things.

It's because they don't understand humanity at all. Moreover, their only experiences with "humanity" are fake interactions they have online. People being bots. And not in the sense of being "fake" so much as they are constructed versions of who they think others want them to be. They are bots in the sense that they are a robot, with a mask of their own face. Programmed to look as good an acceptable as possible.

Hell.....this is frankly hard to write about. And in truth, this message may land on deaf ears. I might not be able to save anyone or make people second guess sending disgusting levels of hate to others. Hell half the time I don't think I'll be able to save myself from the bottomless well I seem to feel like I'm drowning in almost every single day. When I'm mad most times. It's normally because I've seen the effects of things i'm talking about in my own life or the lives of those around me.

Realize that no matter how much you may think you hate another person......on the other side of that screen is a person just like you. They may be ignorant. They may be stupid. They may be downright appalling. They are still human.

Now I'm going to stop writing this before I'm overwhelmed with the worst parts of myself and I'll instead leave this.

[birdantlers]

You know, it wouldn't even occur to me that certain ships might even exist... if authors of fanart like yours (even before your dragonball phase) didn't insist on bringing that fact to my attention by screaming murder at anyone who might dare interpret their stuff in a certain way. And it's exactly that disclaimer that causes me to look closer at the art in question and realize that... oh wow, right, Gohan is really acting like a jealous lover here, huh? Assuming he must be the One Person (1/3)

My condolences about your daddy issues or whatever, but you're the one that's reading weirdly deep into this, dude. I genuinely don't know what kind of 'gotcha' you think you wrote but... damn.

Is this your first day on the internet? People tag and draw blatantly-platonic seeming art that's actually ship art upon closer investigation constantly. Now idc what people do as long as its properly tagged, but it's a different story when my art is involved. Of course my DNIs are to prevent "misunderstandings." I'm not a moron; anyone can pick out supporting evidence for their bias if they look for it, which is exactly the point of saying I don't condone it. It's me going "Hey, these are my boundaries! If you don't respect them, that's shitty of you!"

I can't control how people interpret my art. I know this—but I can sure as hell clear the air about my intent and opinions. So I'll make myself very clear: I don't like my content being seen in a romantic context. Unless I confirm otherwise, it's platonic. Why? Because I fucking say so. If word of god isn't reason enough, that's on you. Your inability to see emotional intimacy between two adults as anything but romantic is not my fault—nor is it my responsibility to overcorrect.

It may shock you that, yes, this is how many families do interact. Not everyone's idea of a "convincingly portrayed" family dynamic is going to be the same. I'm a very sappy person irl and so is my family. It's honestly kind of pathetic that you obviously think my content is too much for a paternal relationship.

Even aside from that though, your arguments are just bad. I mean did you even reread this before you sent it? Sure. "Gohan acts like a jealous lover..." of his preschool-age daughter. Yeah, that's a totally normal take. Really makes you seem like a well-adjusted individual. I don't even know where you got the jealousy thing from since he spends the whole comic actively trying to leave and stop Pan from sticking up for him. Your other points are just conspiratorial; I see no point addressing them.

So yeah, take your final proposition and shove it. Maybe focus on how to "effectively and convincingly portray" whatever content measures up to your standards instead of preaching to me like I shouldn't do the same. I don't owe you jack—especially when you're too much of a coward to talk down to me while hiding behind anon.

And if this is who I think it is (given the timeframe you let slip), get off of that damn high horse already. You're not the patron saint of correct characterization, and your unwarranted criticism doesn't make you look smart. It makes you look like an entitled tool who can't resist hearing your own voice. Quit tearing people's hobby work down because you can't find enough fan content to satisfy your own standards.

I love found family. I love sickeningly sweet """unconvincing""" found family, and if you think that's trite, ooc, or—I guess, romantic—keep it to yourself. You're not going to 'con'crit me out of creating exactly what makes me happy, and this weird victim-blamey diatribe sure as hell isn't either. If anything, you've only convinced me to keep using DNIs.

[babacontainsmultitudes]

15 Questions for 15 People

@locke-n-k3y thanks for the tag :] ah hm tbh I feel like my answers for these might be a bit boring but let's see...

1. Are you named after anyone?

Yes! (Referring to my legal name- which I still use), I was named after a character from the soap opera "General Hospital" haha.

2. When was the last time you cried?

Last week lol- which was... The first time in a couple months? It was nice but not enough.

3. Do you have kids?

Absolutely not. Never lol.

4. What sports do you play/have you played?

Never did any sports outside of gym class! Not formally, anyways. I do workout (mostly strength/weight training) fairly regularly... But I don't think that really counts here lol. :0 Been thinking a lot lately about picking up boxing.

5. Do you use sarcasm?

Yup! irl I often go for a sort of deadpan delivery of my sarcasm- what I've learned from other people is that I'm a little too good at that (I sometimes say very ridiculous things very convincingly). I won't usually specify unprompted that I'm being sarcastic, but you're always welcome to ask. Not as sarcastic online in general, however.

6. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Irl? Hmm. Hard to say. Maybe: eyes, voice, posture.

Online? Typing/texting style I suppose!

7. What's you're eye color?

Dark brown 👁

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Not mutually exclusive lol. But, happy endings. I don't "dislike" tragedies but I'm not actively drawn to them either.

9. Any talents?

HM. I mean obviously I have things I'm good at but I'm never quite sure what differentiates a "talent" from a "skill". I suppose a lot of friends have said something to the effect of me being "good at reading minds" haha- also "good at explaining things" which is debatable but sweet lol.

10. Where were you born?

Halifax! Which I feel fine saying cause I haven't lived there for a long time lol. A foggy fishing city that I miss even now.

11. What are your hobbies?

I guess a large chunk of what I do on this blog counts as hobbies? Writing (whether it's fiction or analysis or shitposts), drawing, audio clipping and editing apparently (though much of that I just keep to myself- same for drawing tbh). :] I've also gotten into making iron-on patches. Tabletop and video games for sure but... Neither as much as I'd like these days. I tend to collect a lot of things as well- most notably coins.

12. Do you have any pets?

I've had MANY pets of many different species- but currently just my cat Bok! I do tend to take care of my older sister's bunny a lot too though.

13. How tall are you?

5'4, which all my 6'0 friends love teasing me over 😒. I've been told that I "seem taller from the way [I] carry myself", however. (Despite everything, I'm actually fine with my height!)

14. Favorite subject in school?

When I was completing my bachelor's (in computer science) I was particularly drawn to graphics-related stuff! In highschool my fave was definitely drama haha (gee I miss it tbh).

15. What is your dream job?

I HAVE NO IDEA no idea and that's kind of my issue rn tbh. Plenty of things that seem interesting, but I don't think I'm the kind of person who could have the same job for my whole life, no matter how perfect it is. I'll presumably end up in something programming-related eventually, though it's not what I'm looking for now. OH OKAY ACTUALLY dream job? Probably doing video essays (or possibly let's plays) on Youtube haha.

15 PEOPLE IS A LOT OF PEOPLE TO TAG AND I ALWAYS FEEL SO SHY TAGGING PEOPLE IN GAMES and I have no idea who's been tagged already ahaha UM NO PRESSURE WHATSOEVER!!! @llumimoon @happi-tree @kaseyskat @abeinginsand @nolassolace @goldturnedgray @swiffin @insomaniiiac @meiwks @calamity-unlocked @coolfire333 @supremely-unsupervised @b1gwings @giraffeskull There! 15! Tried to get a few new people in there lol. But fr no stress!

[lollitree]

Your tags under the pokemon poll are SO TRUEE and it hurts how many people dont understand that

I grew up in the change from pixel art to 3D and have nostalgia for bw, xy AND sm. So i think because of that, I can see the good and bad in all the games but don't feel like any of them 'peaked''. They're all different games, so they are really hard to compare.

On a related note tho, its so sad to see so many fans praise one of my childhood games and not the others. And like, I get it because gen 5 is more similar to what they grew up with.....but every time I say I love xy, sm and even swsh i get told they are terrible and usually imply that I shouldnt like them :/

That only happens online, though......irl all the fans ive met, no matter their ages, just say something like 'i didnt like it, but i'm glad you did!'. Growing up in irl fan spaces and having to move online during corona was AN EXPERIENCE omg

Yeah! It's super interesting how much we are affected by nostaglia.

There's usually a pattern you can notice with this stuff too. There are two lines that go up as time goes on. The one everyone talks about as being great and the newer one people hate on, usually to do with nostalgia of the now older original audience of the game.

My full reply got long so putting it under a read more skfjsh

My first Pokemon game was Colosseum, so gen 2/3 pokemon and gen 3 sound effects are pretty nostalgic to me.

Then I grew up mostly playing Diamond/Platinum/PMD2/Ranger2. I LOVED Team Galactic. I restarted the games so many times just so I could play through the story again with Cyrus and the Galactic Grunt theme. (I have also played through pmd2 many many times). I remember in my early teens seeing people on the internet hating on DPPt a lot and it making me sad. I recall someone saying that the gen 4 Pokemon sucked and I remember thinking "aw I guess they're right, some of these pokemon are really boring or annoying" and then I learned later that the pokemon I was thinking of were all gen 1 pokemon sdfkjsh

Gen 5 was hated when it first came out because it wasn't very fun for new players. I bet it also didn't help that the advertising for B2W2 was pretty poor and also came out after the 3DS did. I didn't even know it was a sequel until years later. That's why they went in the complete opposite direction for gen 6, and added gimmicks!

I have heard multiple people call the designs from gen 5 horrible over the years (And they're all wrong). Those comments are nowhere NEAR as frequent now, but they almost always come from people with nostalgia for the ones they grew up with.

I was 13 when BW first came out. I think I've only beaten it once, MAYBE twice. I'm not entirely sure why, because I was still replaying DPPt a lot. I would guess it's because the game is super linear in terms of gameplay and every playthrough will start exactly the same. You don't really get to make decisions on your team and how you play until later. Kid me loved the beginning of the main pokemon games the most because they were the most fun bits to play usually. So I suppose when you've already played it once, the beginning becomes quite boring.

And to compare. I did not like XY when it first came out. I was 16 and very against change and also my fav types at the time were dark and dragon so fairy type was the worst thing ever. I said previously that I really liked Team Galactic, so Team Flare was just a bootleg version of them to me. BUT I did immediately replay the game when I finished it. The character customisation plus the huge dex gives the game a lot of replayability. Because while I didn't like a lot about the game it was still fun to play, and it was the first time online was really accessible to me. I went back to 2013/2014 on my blog and there's SO much positivity about the game it's amazing! Over time people only remembered the bad parts and started hating it. I bet there'll be an influx of nostalgia for it before long. We can even see it in the hope people have for SV having Kalos DLC.

I need to replay sun/moon or play USUM because in my brain currently it sucks. But I'm very aware that that's because I only played it once, it's been years, and I played it when I started to grow out of Pokemon. So I'm excited to play it again now that I can appreciate it better. (Also the Sun/Moon anime is my fav so I have a lot of love for the characters now)

And finally, I loved SWSH! I didn't finish it the first time I tried to play it. Mostly because I spent HOURS trying to get a shiny hatenna before doing the fire gym skdfjhs. But then I SPED through the game with a bug type only run before Legends came out and I really enjoyed the story! One of those things that's more enjoyable if you're only focused on enjoying the story (and playing the game through with a joltik as the lead and trying to make sure they stay strong enough to beat the game with pfft) Also Leon was the first ever Champion I actually thought was cool and enjoyed seeing while playing the game (as ridiculous as his outfit is)

If I were to logically plot out the best for me based on how nostalgia works and taking into consideration that public opinion ABSOLUTELY influences me. I would have said BW was the best and XY(or SM) was the downfall, even though I had way more fun playing XY than BW as a kid