#way way more proactive and excited to be there and stuff

[13eyond13]

I have no idea what possessed Anne Rice to write Interview With the Vampire literally as an interview and taking place entirely as a conversation between two people in a room complete with dialogue quotation marks around the entire thing, but it's both so funny and also oddly charming to me hahaha

[yeleltaan]

// Hello everyone! The time has finally come once again: I’m done with the semester and free from exams!

I’ll be gradually returning to activity here as well as resuming work on threads. My efforts are going to be divided between a variety of hobbies besides writing that I've also been neglecting, as well as working on some life habits, so this might be a steady but slow improvement. That being said I expect that the sheer stress that's been lifted from my shoulders is going to make a substantial difference in my ability to do things here.

I've mentioned before that I wanted to review my list of mutuals, and that's still the intention, but before taking that measure I want to get a better understanding of what my energy and mood for RP is right now. I want to test how comfortable I am in this blog and the dash without the outside influence of studying impacting my experience.

I hope you're all doing okay, and if not, I hope your next days are brighter :]

[nikibogwater]

Everybody sit down and strap in, 'cause I have a doozy of a tale to share.

I've had anxiety for literally as long as I can remember. I've had periods of my life where it was so intense it became legitimately life-threatening (don't worry I promise this is going somewhere funny). And this was really bizarre because I have zero childhood trauma. Like, my family life is so idyllic it's almost comical. Therapists would do abuse screenings on me and look utterly baffled when I told them everything was fine at home. They'd interrogate my parents just to make sure I wasn't lying. I have one friend who I'm fairly sure believed I was just severely gaslighting myself when I said my family was great, school wasn't too stressful, and I've never lived in a dangerous neighborhood or experienced poverty.

Anyways, despite no one being able to figure out where my disorder was coming from, my doctors were able to help me manage the symptoms so that I would like, not die, and actually be able to finish high school. Which was awesome. Now fast forward to late 2021. My big sister (who has also had intense anxiety her whole life which no one could figure out why) is finishing up her doctorate and getting her physical therapist's license. Somehow, during all her studying and schooling, she finds out about this thing called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, which explains literally everything that was going on with us. EDS is a connective tissue disorder that kinda fudges up your body in a whole bunch of little ways, including dysautonomia (episodes of very fast heart-rate that kick your body into fight-or-flight mode), and hypermobility (unusual flexibility). It's a spectrum disorder, so the severity of symptoms vary from person to person, but we definitely checked almost every box on the diagnostic list. My sister went to see a specialist, and yep, she was diagnosed EDS positive. She immediately calls my mom and goes "I know what's wrong with Niki" (thanks, sis, that's real encouraging lol). Initially we're like "okay Katie, that's nice" because honestly this kind of sounds like jumping at shadows, but I go in to see the specialist anyways just to make sure.

One consultation and diagnosis later, and suddenly my entire life makes perfect sense.

Now we get to the funny part. See, the diagnosis stuff happened in early 2022. So by the time late 2023 comes around and we're looking for a new dog (I promise this is relevant), we've been riding that chronic illness diagnosis for a while. Once again, my sister, ever the proactive one, decides she's going to help us get a new dog. She scours the adoption website, sends us photos of the cutest dogs available, and helps us make a decision. This is how we got Beverly, who has been an unstoppable force of chaos in our lives ever since we signed the papers (but she's also really cute so she can get away with it). Now on top of being a very excitable and anxious pupper, Beverly's got a weird little gimp in her hindquarters, which makes her sit all splayed-out and funny-looking, and while it doesn't seem to be causing her pain, we take her to a vet to get it checked out. Vet finds absolutely nothing. X-rays are taken and examined. Still nothing. At this point, they go "well, we could try a CT scan of her brain, which would run about $5,000, and maybe we could find something--" but my parents are already packing this dog into the car like "well that is a HARD nope." So we decide, look, Beverly seems happy and healthy, and those gimpy legs don't seem to bother her, so we'll just leave it be until it becomes clearer what's wrong with her because we do NOT have a cool $5,000 to throw around here.

Readers more astute than my family and I will likely have already figured out where this is going.

This morning, my mom is looking at Beverly sitting in her funny sprawled-out way, and something in her brain goes "wait...weird physical symptoms with no tracible cause that vets can see..." She does a bit of googling. Can dogs have EDS/Hypermobility? Yes. Yes they can. And the listed symptoms describe Beverly to a T.

So not only is my sister the one to finally figure out what's wrong with me, she also unknowingly got us a dog who has the exact same chronic condition as us. Meanwhile my poor dad, who is the only Normal Person in our house, is coming to terms with the fact that he is apparently just fated to always love chronically ill people and animals, and there's absolutely nothing he can do about it.

[drdemonprince]

In reading your latest piece, I think I've stumbled onto something akin to a personal epiphany. You describe transition as an act of "want" (Chu's longing for gossip and yours for the life of an eternal bachelor) and I've realized that I think as a consequence of growing up autistic, I've obliterated the concept of personal want. I don't know if I truly ever want anything? How do I even know what I truly want (versus what other people tell me I should want)? Is there an opposite of resentment I can tune into so I can tell what I want when my conscious mind is unable to provide me an answer?

I think the place is to start with what you don't want. What I describe as "wanting the bachelor life forever" in my piece is actually a desire born out of negation: I don't want kids, I don't want marriage, I don't want responsible adulthood and the weight that that carries, I want to feel free-roaming and open to random experiences. What i knew most viscerally for myself was what felt wrong, and owning up to those feelings no matter how socially inconvenient they might be was what made it possible for me to articulate what I proactively did find desirable.

I recommend rejecting a lot of things, disappointing a lot of people, being disobedient, setting boundaries, all of that stuff that I have been writing about for a very long time (check out the pieces on those subjects if you haven't already, but from the sound of it you probably have). And then when it comes to positively desiring things, you've got to start small. Find a little thing to look forward to every day, or every week. In my household, Wednesdays and Fridays are Dunkin Donuts days. Instead of making coffee at home, you get a little treat. That makes getting a coffee out of the house still feel precious and special while also making it attainable, and gives the work week a little horizon to peak over at its mid point.

I so look forward to the weekly streams on Friday with @testdevice, too. Afterward I usually get a meal somewhere and then go out for some kind of weekend activity -- drinking and watching Drag Race at Roscoe's, a movie, dancing, whatever. I make forming plans for the weekend a task I set out for myself at the top of every week. I find street festivals, concerts, craft fairs, protests, little things to do that I know will be meaningful to me. Small pleasures parceled out on a regular schedule provide a pleasing structure to life. It makes the forward march of time feel more exciting and keeps daily life from being defined by obligation and drudgery. Sometimes it's something like playing a video game at home or meeting up at a friend's house for a movie night and snacks. However you can swing it, you gotta have little things to look forward to, I think, in order to enjoy being alive and to get into the habit of thinking more expansively about what you want. you can making finding things that you want to do a regular project, a practice.

A lot of life is experimenting with new experiences and relationships with other people to find out what you actually like. It's not some profound act of introspection. People block themselves off from a lot of meaningful aspects of life by thinking the answers come from plumbing the depths of their soul and finding their true calling or true desire divorced from everything else. There is no self outside of experience and social connection.

And so the best way to find out what you want is to try a lot of different things. Go watch your friend at their competitive poker tournament. Volunteer to clean litter off the beach. Foster a bunny rabbit. Make a casserole. Darn a sock. Buy some handmade jewelry. Visit a museum with a coworker you kinda might like the company of. Invite someone over for dinner. How it plays out and how you feel about it is all data about the kind of person you are becoming.

I also wouldn't get too bogged down in the idea that wants can only come from the pursuit of happiness. I got a few really well intentioned asks this week that I never answered about what brings me joy, what makes me happy. Truth is, I'm not someone who experiences happiness easily and i might never be. That is okay. I still have a life that holds meaning because I AM very good at finding things interesting. i like talking to people, learning from them, watching things play out in real time.

You don't have to feel some kind of abiding soul connection to an activity or sense that a way of life will absolutely make you happy in order for it to interest you, help you grow, bring your life meaning. Other people might not want to read long history books about genocide and the social construction of race in order to bring their life pleasure, but those activities engage my mind and make me feel more firmly rooted in the actual world. they're interesting and rewarding to study, and so i do it. i say yes to a lot of invitations purely because i've never seen what horse racing is like or because i want to see if i'll still get nauseated if i ride a boat now as an adult. it's interesting. it might not make me happy or be fun. but i like a life better with those experiences. those are the things i gravitate to and want. and you can find what you want, too, and it will always keep changing probably.

[zenala-art]

Do you have an infodump on your captain Agent 4?

Firstly, thank you so much for the ask and interest!!

Secondly, I sure do! Conelia's my first and main Splatoon OC so she has. a lot. of lore, and I'll gladly infodump some stuff :D

Let's start with her general reference sheet! I think it makes for a nice introduction:

I think the first thing anyone asks (reasonably so) when I tell them that she's the captain is "Why not Agent 3?" In my agent story, Agent 3 is completely MIA since the end of Octo Expansion, and even without taking that into account, Conelia spends a lot more time with Marie and Callie than he (being very introverted) ever did, and she's definitely more dedicated to being a good fighter. So, when it came to choosing who's going to be the next captain, she was a very clear choice.

Being one of the captains of her competitive team, she was already used to this sort of responsability, too! The NSBS sure can sponsor her dream of being a professional competitive player, and this just meant more time to be spending with the Squid Sisters, which can't be a bad thing in her opinion.

Here's an overall of my (active) agents:

Asra and Radish are a bit outdated since I've added more interesting things to their lore since I made this picture, but the rest pretty much remains the same!

Conelia really enjoys Asra's company as her first pupil, being much more proactive and giving more pieces of random advice than we see the Captain do in the game. After the events of ROTM, the two of them very often communicate mostly through sign language, since it usually feels more comfortable for Asra (who is mostly nonverbal due to some circumstances in their life, but with Conelia they sometimes speak). She's super excited and wants to teach Asra everything she can, acknowledging that they "have a lot of potential".

She also has a long friendship history with both Agent 3 and Agent 8, but they might not be super relevant to the conversation at hand? I do have this relationship chart from some time ago that could be a fast, superficial view however (don't mind the old designs, drawings are a little old, but the info is still correct):

So yeah, if we talk about the general character, Conelia has most of the attributes usually associated with Agent 4 (the excitedness and general perceived vibe, the "always busy with school" aspect of it, living far from Inkopolis or Splatsville, etc). The most important aspect of her personal life that I feel affects how she handles leadership (and therefore her work as a captain) is having inattentive parents who forced her to be independent since way too young.

It took her some convincing from the Squid Sisters to accept recruiting a new agent, even though 8 is mostly not working with them anymore - she just wants to do everything herself all of the time, even though she knows that workload would be too much for her.

I won't go too far into detail on her personal life right now (or I'd make an actual essay here), but hopefully this infodump was interesting to you :D once again thank you for the interest and the excuse to dump about my ocs in public

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I've been dreaming of the Benevolent Sovereign of the Oasis.

Sun and shadow. Two existences, locked in a perpetual cycle, unable to be without the other.

It hurts to part ways, but reunion is that much sweeter.

How does a moment last forever? How can a story never die?

His eyes flutter open, and the instant his awareness hits, so, too, does the lightning in his veins. He throws his covers off and scrambles out of bed. His phone is in his hand in seconds, the calendar app opened.

It's just as he anticipates.

“Today’s the day!!”

Kalim's exhilarated shout stirs the entire mansion. Various hired help glance up from their tasks—private chefs in the middle of their prep work, housekeepers tending to the laundry, gardeners watering the flowers—and tut or sigh.

"There goes the young master again," they’d murmur amongst themselves. "He's so excitable."

It's not an unusual occurrence, but this time is especially special. The notice had gone out months in advance, the most skilled laborers called in from all corners of the world for the event. He had counted down the days, cancelled all his meetings.

Just for this.

Kalim breaks into a sprint down the corridor, his sandaled feet pounding the polished floors. He skids around a corner and continues his frantic pace, almost knocking over a valet. The servant stumbles, but Kalim grabs his hands and pulls him up into a spin.

"It's today, it's today!!" he squeals, earning a blank stare from the valet.

"Yes, sir. The staff are all aware. The preparations are well underway, so you needn't be concerned."

"Gahahah, everyone's already hard at work this early in the morning!" Kalim’s boisterous laugh bounces off the high ceilings. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Oh no, please leave the work to us... Y-Young master? Young master, where are you going?!"

"I'm going to check up on some things, don't mind me!!" Kalim calls back. He has already taken off, leaving the valet stunned.

"... Well, he's certainly become more proactive."

Kalim sticks his head into the dining room. The table is large enough to host his entire family plus several guests, but today it is set only for two. The seats are intimately situated across from one another, their best plates, silverware, and cloth napkins set out to welcome the diners.

The centerpiece, an ice sculpture of a viper with its hood flared out, sparkles in the morning sunlight. It would be a puddle by now, had it not been enchanted to never melt.

Servants are busy setting up a banquet: crisp vegetables, steamed fish, crusted breads, seasoned meats. His stomach tosses uncomfortably when he passes the seven kinds of curry laid out in a row--but he reassures himself with the reminder that his guest is sure to love them.

The kitchen didn't skim on the beverage selection either. There are sparkling juices, rich soups, spiced coffee, and black tea, accompanied by a large pot of white sugar with which to sweeten it. For dessert, fresh fruits (no dates!), flaky layered pastries, ice-creams, and cakes dipped in sugar syrups, topped with crushed pistachios and candied orange peels.

"Care to sample, sir?" a servant asks Kalim. They offer a trey of appetizers, each with an odd stone-colored dollop.

He obliged, popping one into his mouth. "Mmm! What's this gray stuff? It's delicious!"

"The head chef's secret recipe, young master. He thought to bring it out of his recipe cards today in honor of the celebration."

"Wow, he's really going above and beyond for this!!" Kalim glances at his staff. Now the orchestra is filing in with their instruments, and a massive roast duck on a bed of fried garlic and scallions is being laid out on the table. Another team is stringing up lanterns, and a skilled animal tamer enters, hauling a crate of colorful parrots. "Everyone is. I really appreciate it.

"... Oh, hey!" He snaps his fingers, a spark in his eyes--as though he has just come up with a great idea. "I know! Since you've been putting your all into this, I think it's only fair you get to get off work early and have a chance to relax too!"

"Erm, sir--that's very generous of you, but we aren't even done setting things up yet. The decorations especially..."

"It's fine, I've got this!" Kalim turns to the rest of the workers calls out, waving his arms. "Hey, everyone! You're free to go! Grab some nice food from the kitchen on your way out. I can handle the rest!"

The staff look confused, but not one of them protests. Some shrug and immediately exit, others anxiously wait for their peers to go before they follow. Before long, the room is cleared.

"Alright, let's do this...!"

Kalim produces his magical pen and waves it in an arc. Golden sparkles rain down, animating nearby objects.

Plates, forks, spoons, and knives march to the long table themselves. Flowers settle into crystal vases. Banners and lanterns float up, pinning themselves in place.

There we go.

"Squawk, squawk, squawk!!"

Kalim follows the cacophony to the cage of parrots left behind by the animal tamer. They're scrambling around, looking longingly at the decorations that had been raised to the ceiling.

He brightens with understanding. "Oooh, I get it! You want to get out and stretch your wings too!"

Kalim hesitates, turning the choice over in his head. "'Hmm, well... Technically, you're not supposed to be released until he gets here."

A showy spectacle--that is how Kalim envisions it. A whirlwind of flashy feathers to welcome him back. But the longer he looks at the wide, wet eyes of the parrots, the more the sadness swells in his chest.

Poor little guys, bound to a cage.

"... Okay, I've decided! You can come out and stretch your wings, I'll just need you back on the ground before the big surprise. Then you can fly all you want when he gets here."

Kalim kneels, fiddling with the lock on the cage. The door easily slides open, and--

FLAP, FLAP, FLAP!!

The entire flock rushes out, sending Kalim flying back onto his bum. He braces against the powerful beating of wings, the talons and beaks nearly scraping his skin.

A voice cuts through the noise.

"Kalim!"

Someone tackles right into him, forcing him to the ground. The world violently tilts, and suddenly Kalim is staring at a ceiling swarming with golden lights and a vaguely shaped shadow looming over him.

"I thought you had matured a little since I departed, but it looks as though you still have your moments where you're hopeless without me. I didn't think the first thing I'd do when I got back was protect you, but here we are."

He blinks rapidly. His vision slowly corrects, lines drawing together and forming a crisper image.

That face.

He recognizes it.

His old friend, dressed in sandals, khakis, and a bright yellow T-shirt embroidered with pink tropical flowers. He wears a cap that resembles a cartoon character--a dog with floppy black ears. The man had entered with suitcases, which were dropped by the door the instant he jumped to Kalim's defense.

"Jamil...!"

Kalim yanks him into a hug. His face turns, tears welling in his eyes. "Y-You came!! And you came so early...!!"

"Of course I did. I promised you I'd return home after my travels," Jamil sighs, patting his emotional friend's back. "I was planning on surprising you first, but..."

He gives the dining room and its extravagant flourishes a glance. Parrots are roosting in the banners, popping the balloons, or stealing vegetables and fruit from the flatters.

"... It looks like you've beaten me at my own game," he says tactfully.

"Yeah!" Kalim sniffs, wiping at his tears. "I... I wanted to welcome you home with a huge celebration!!"

"... Idiot. I didn't come back for any of this. Not food, not music, not pets, not decorations. There's one thing that the Scalding Sands has that no other place in Twisted Wonderland does: my best friend."

"Awww, Jamil...!" Kalim's eyes wet again. He lets out a happy sob, reburying his face in Jamil's shoulder. "It's good to have you back!!"

He sighs deeply. Despite this, Jamil still manages a smile. "It's good to be back with you, Kalim."

[grif-hawaiian-rolls]

Anyways the “essay” about the energy sword to character development pipeline below the cut

Ok so like yea tucker-crunchbite-junior is, obviously, the first instance of the sword-quest-companion theme/trio that im like, rattling in my head rn

Tucker finds the sword, crunchbite shows up and theres the “quest” that challenges tucker both in the false intent (you need to be the hero) and the true intent (SA leading to Junior which is not handled well but it IS important) which is a push against tucker’s character thus far in that he’s the comic relief, make everything a sex joke archetype— he doesnt take it seriously, he doesnt see himself as important beyond getting just enough recognition to be “hot” and now he’s made to be the so called “hero” and the true plot puts him in the one position that he probably never thought could be him. Bc he wants to get laid so… yeah. Pushes his character if you give it like three seconds of critical thinking and not just the standard “haha alien baby bullshit” (that said, i do enjoy fics that explore crunchbite more and play with the potential of the “joke” shitty character into someone less sinister, but im doin my best to stick to canon rn)

And JUNIOR, oh man, because theres the thing that really solidifies this for me like

The dude who doesnt care doesnt bother is all jokes and ‘man whatever’ energy is a dad, and it starts with him trying to avoid it but he really fucking quickly steps the FUCK up for Junior and its the start of his development that people are like “oh he learns to be a leader on chorus” which i mean kinda yeah but he never struck me as a Leader even on Chorus even tho he does decidedly lead, its not the same as when kimball leads or when wash leads or carolina

He’s leads as a dad bc he is a dad

Not always a good one, but he’s trying and yea sometimes that means being the asshole, sometimes that means screwing up but it also means you fucking care and you take responsibility and you put yourself in danger first (the rescue mission, leaving the lieutenants behind)

And that doesnt start on chorus! Its the most evident there sure but

it starts with junior

It starts with him going after tex to protect his son, it starts with him trying to be a diplomat so they stay together, in sending junior away so he is safe while tucker buys time protecting the temple, it STARTS with him looking at church and going “leave my kid out of this” and yeah the way rvb was written and approached does Not take that seriously bc it wouldnt and if it did it would be a very different show but the implications are there and its acknowledged with tucker’s photograph of junior with his 5th grade basketball team (“i know right? Who carries actual pictures anymore” -tucker) which i could go on about THAT too but suffice to say its very clear that tucker cares so gd much about his kid and yeah his character development isnt super linear but you can basically pinpoint when it starts with the sword and junior

The second run of this trio of things is actually grif which is admittedly, a stretch, a big ol reaching for straws (okay, TECHNICALLY grif is the third run, but i’ll address that in a minute) largely a stretch bc grif… does the pattern backwards

This IS S16 stuff so if ur a shisno paradox hater i respect that, i however am gnawing on it with everything i have and will be going feral so this is your warning thank u for reading the tucker side of it mwah appreciate ya

Anyways

Grif does his plot backwards during timetravel shenanigans

He gets the alien companion/friend who contrasts his character first in Huggins

Grif is a loyal friend, but he is lazy, even after s15’s breakdown and apparent change of tune, he’s still looking to take the path of least resistance, avoiding the call, trying to keep things from moving

Enter Huggins: zippy, full of energy, excitable and just so different in that she is not only so proactive she puts herself in danger (which helps everyone in the long run/plot but its the principle) but shes so fucking lonely

As far as she knows, her family is dead, except for muggins who is so dettached from her, he might as well be a coworker and not her brother

Compared to grif, who has a family even when he tries to push them away (the reds, the blues, KAIKAINA) but hates taking action

Huggins is the start for grif’s arc of “it sucks but someones gotta do it” which in their case is best shown as the trudge across the bottom of the english channel which is so fucking funny to me but it really pushes both of them and puts them firmly in the friends category

Huggins cant zip ahead without grif, grif cant stop moving because huggins wont let him, so they find their little balance of gas vs brakes and together they cruise along p well

The actual push of the “quest” is grif having to be the one who steps up (kinda like tucker but its to the left) he’s the one who starts getting everyone together again across the timeline, even if he is very,,,

Well he’s very Grif about it, but it is still fundamentally, the change in character

Tucker isn’t a always good dad, Grif isn’t always a good instigator of action

But theyre trying and theyre working on it and grif’s arc suffers a Little from being so late in the show and thus not having much of a parallel to pull on but you could argue he gets the parallel from s15 anyways with the refusal of the call (from fake church/loco) and rescue mission but i hesitate to call that a parallel bc its literally back to back but an argument could be made for it which i love

Enter part two: the alien quest giver

“Wait wasnt that huggins”

NOPE huggins was alien companion! The Bestie in grif’s case,

The alien fetch quest comes from atlas, in that stupid wishing sequence but cmon it wouldnt be rvb if the character development wasnt sandwiched inbetween obnoxious gags and stupidity

The quest is less important here admittedly bc again, with grif doing this in reverse its not the challenge to his principle character that it was for tucker, his connection to huggins was the challenge, and this becomes the final push into the development, the “you have a role, now play it” that gives grif the final shove into Doing Things literal!! And his prize? For this character development arc? An alien sword

And thus the inverse version reaches an end, sort of (im pissed that technically he loses his sword, im also ignoring that he loses it in canon bc he fucking earned it okay this is a bit of canon i will ignore and loophole my way around it)

And now we track back to Chorus and to the second iteration of the sword-quest-companion plot

Locus

Now okay i will admit this is conjecture and pepe-silvia-on-corkboard-with-red-string fuckery at this point but hear me out okay!

He gets the sword with Felix’s death. We know this. What we dont know is how the fucking hell he gets off Chorus! We just see him show up later with A’rynasea. The vaguely alien (maybe sentient?? AI? Its implied with the way he addresses her but we literally have her for like two episodes) ship that seems to be the driving force (literal) (bc shes his ship) behind his chosen redemption arc where he pushes himself to help others at no apparent benefit to himself, but because it is, and i quote “the right thing to do”

Arguably, Santa could be Locus’ quest giver, seeing as how he is the one who triggers the whole shift in view for Locus in the first place and that is, technically, what crunchbite does and what atlas finalizes for grif! But the problem is we simply dont have enough of A’rynasea to draw the parallel between her and Locus as personalities, as companions for it to work for me??? But that might just be me overthinking? But it does make Locus’ version is a bit messier depending on who you consider his quest-giver but as far as I’m concerned, he’s still on his quest snd its just up to interpretation if A’rynasea is his companion?? or if theres a secret third alien for Locus that we never wouldve seen even if they planned for that bc its red vs blue and im just delusional about locus and his role in plot and this is just me firing concepts blindly into the sky at this point like - yeah i could still theorize what kind of companion characterization i think locus would work well with bc its more about the wielder than the companion in this sense (sorry junior and huggins i love yall i promise) but thats a completely separate rant at this point and not nearly coherent enough at this exact moment to add it PLUS its ridiculously self indulgent and only marginally canon compliant/adjacent but i will never not be amused by this very specific plot beat happening enough to draw these parallels, as tenuous and vague as the parallels are

[masterdetectivexx]

Hi Detective, what did you think of Movie 26?

Movie 26 (Black Iron Submarine) Review

Raw feelings:

I'm completely speechless by this movie. It was way beyond any of my minimal expectations. It was extremely good!

I was baffled out of pure disbelief at how much main plot stuff they were revealing in this movie to the point that my brain fried. You could immediately feel that it was a movie you needed to rewatch multiple times in order to fully digest and appreciate its greatness. It was pure fanservice in the best way possible, not the botched M20 way, where fanservice scenes didn't feel earned, mystery being completely gone and main plot/cast characters getting sidelined. Everyone had their moment to shine.

After 15 years, I get a DC movie that finally topped M13 as my new all-time favorite DC movie. I was so thoroughly satisfied that I couldn't help but clap at the end.

Haibara (Sherry)

Haibara truly shined in this movie. Not only did she have proactive role in rescuing herself, Naomi and later Conan, but her personal romantic feelings, childhood past and current relationships with her dear friends were further fleshed out. I was floored by the degree that she got exposed, to the point of the OG antagonist Vodka standing right in front of her next to Pinga, ready to kidnap her, and then later interrogating her about her identity.

I truly adore how the movie also revealed what started the bullying she went through in America (protecting her fellow half-japanese) and how Naomi's story complimented Haibara's childhood. It was a beautiful touch having Haibara's childhood classmate Naomi realizing Haibara's true identity by the end of the movie.

I also love how the movie depicted how highly Haibara viewed Conan/Shinichi and his protective reassuring face. It was cute seeing her face light up with happiness when he showed up. I was shocked, but also very appreciative of how respectful she was trying to be of Shinichi's relationship with Ran (more than the fandom clearly) that she went to the degree of passing on her CPR kiss with Conan to Ran.

Mizunashi (Kir)

Kir was one of the big standouts in this movie. You could truly feel the shift in spotlight focus between her and Bourbon, seeing as Bourbon was truly put in the backburner for Kir to get more shine, and it was perfectly handled and a true overdue for her (since she has been neglected in the franchise overall). I couldn't stop grinning and appreciate her nonchalant stunts to aid in Haibara's escape by pretending to not know how to open the exit tube in the submarine so Vodka could thoroughly explain it as Haibara overhears everything through the transmitter.

I especially loved her less indirect and confrontational move towards Gin, when she directly interferred with his murder attempt of Haibara & Naomi, and how she calmly talked back at Gin when he aimed the gun at her. She was a true badass worthy of her NOC title, that I've longed to see in the series, only to get it in this wonderful movie.

Pinga

I really enjoyed Pinga's role in the movie as well, and especially appreciated how he wasn't written to be similar to Irish and Curacao (who had a more sympathetic antagonist development) but rather to be a more selfish greedy psychopath with more ambition than Gin, but less talented. It was interesting to learn how he was deep undercover as an engineer for interpol since 5 years back while disguised as a woman.

I especially enjoyed seeing his fights with Ran, and how she became a troublesome enemy for him (giving Ran good spotlight like in M13), as well as how Conan straight up shit-talked to him while giving Gin praise in comparison, to the point of riling Pinga up.

Vermouth

Vermouth was the true MVP in this movie. She had such a central role in saving Haibara from the organization's suspicion. It was extremely exciting to see Vermouth immediately sensing the potential of Naomi's All-age Recognition System (ARS) and how it could expose the boss identity and whereabouts, but more importantly to her, expose Shinichi's shrinking, that she'd rather keep hidden like a pandora's box. I was shocked and loved how she manipulated the Boss into giving her the order to destroy the ARS for his own sake, when she in reality wanted to not only conceal the current APTX shrinking effects from him, but also protect Shinichi. The way she used her disguising skills to invalidate the ARS' accuracy was just a genius move by her.

The biggest surprise to me was how she was revealed to be the old woman from the start in disguise, who was given the sale ticket for a Fusae brand brooch by Haibara out of selfless kindness, and how Vermouth was basically revealed to also be repaying that kindness back to Haibara by protecting her from the BO, further deepening her motivations and multi-faceted nature in such a beautiful way as she gazes at the confused Silver Bullet (Conan) who is questioning them after getting Bourbon's intel.

Rum & Karasuma Renya

The Biggest shocker in this whole movie was without a doubt the big reveal that Rum, the no.2 of the Black Organization, is unaware of the Boss' whereabouts in recent times and that, apart from having Pinga request Naomi to sell the ARS to them so they can modify it and also use it to erase the BO's activities in security cameras (according the boss' orders), had intended to use the ARS to locate Karasuma Renya (the Boss).

This was a huge bombshell reveal, yet to be revealed in the manga, that further clarified the current ongoings within the organization. It basically as good as confirmed that the Boss is hiding a de-aged form from his subordinates (including his very close associate, Rum) and that no one other than Vermouth is aware of his hidden whereabouts. This revelation is further supporting my "Child of seven (Nanatsu no ko)" theory (the Boss being a shrunken 7-year-old who is only contacting his subordinates through phone to hide his child appearance and maintain authority). This also further established a distrustful relationship between Karasuma Renya and Rum, seeing as the Boss has kept Rum out of the loop, and how Rum has persisted to locate the Boss against his wishes, creating a very small divide within the organization's power structure. This is extremely exciting for the future of the series and has gotten me very hyped for what's left of Rum's development in the Rum climax.

Conclusion

This movie was overall a 10/10 product, that gave all the fans outstanding fanservice. Conan's devotion to save Haibara, Ran's supportive contribution to the point of almost getting shot, Agasa's deeply moving heartfelt tears after Haibara's kidnapping, Kuroda's helpful backing of Conan, Bourbon's informational support and Akai's loyal aid in taking down the submarine were all just the tip of the iceberg. All the beautiful callbacks to canon events were also among the best of the fanservice. I especially loved Haibara's callback to how a child (Ayumi) had once changed her life through their actions (File 437), Pisco kidnapping her despite wearing glasses (File 240), Ran reminding Haibara of Akemi (like in File 434), Kir's callback to her father sacrificing himself for her in response to Naomi's cry (File 604) and all the moments Haibara recalled when Conan comforted and moved her (Bus hijack, Haibara intro, Reunion, etc).

Gosho's involvement in the story was clearly noticeable, just by the sheer quality of the movie, and all of his many drawn keyframes were beautiful.

Screenshots

[trashytoastboi]

Hiiii

I’m really glad to hear that I’m not being rude to u (I was really worried about it (>_<))........i didn’t really thought through about which character to pick....(sorry about that) so i hope I’m not asking to much if i ask for law ;-;

Ps.i really appreciate ur writing~<3 i want u to know how cherished u are so u don’t forget u always be loved UwU (i always want to say that to u :D)

Heyya! 🍞🍀 I'm really glad that you enjoy my work! Sorry for the long wait on this one and hope you enjoy!

Headcanons: Law x Shy! F! S/O – Trying to seduce her lover.

(Female Pronouns)

Trafalgar Law

🍄 Law enjoyed teasing {Name}, mostly because her animated reactions always made Law smile. She was so shy even after being together for so long, she still seemed to react to his usual flirting and seductions with the same shyness. Seeing how she got all bashful and stumbled a little over her words. “What’s wrong {Name-ya?}” he asked innocently, acting as if he had nothing to do with why she was blushing so much with how cheekily he stole a kiss. 

🍄 Well after so much teasing and being on the losing end of having Law poking fun at her, {Name} decided it was time for her to stand up and turn the tables. Maybe for once she wanted to see Law being the bumbling, blushing and bashful one. She tried to plot for how she would actually do that, every idea had her getting so embarrassed just by the thought alone that {Name} wondered if she would actually be capable of pulling it off for real when the time came. 

🍄 Plan one of {Name’s}, flirting. Simple yet effective but {Name} failed. Mostly because she is not as witty with her words as Law who easily turned it back on her and made her speechless. She was unable to utter anything in response. Seeing Law’s smug smile, riled {Name} up. Curse Law and his handsome face. 

🍄 {Name} decided to move onto her second plan, she heard about something that a few people tried. When she had the opportunity, when {Name} and Law were alone she decided it was time. Oh he was so excited to see what she had up her sleeve this time. “So? {Name-ya} now you have me all alone.” {Name} could feel the heat rising to her cheeks but she couldn’t get distracted before trying. Her fingers hooked into his belt as she pulled him close, {Name} smiled thinking it worked when there was a lack of remark. {Name} looked up and she was surprised by Law’s kiss. “Wha-?!” she stuttered, Law smiled. “You made it so easy dear.” Law kept his cool but that actually did surprise him when {Name} did something so bold. 

🍄 Law watched her crumble again, “So cute…” He thought to himself. Seeing how proactive she is being in her quest to reverse their roles made him look forward to when she would actually succeed. Well, technically she had. Law just managed to keep his composure better than {Name}, internally he had reacted the same when she flirted with him, or pulled him in close by his belt. “She’s honestly too adorable for her own good.” Law muttered to himself. 

🍄 Plan three. {Name} gave Law a rather perfectly executed, adequately dramatic kabedon. Law mused, “Oh? What’s your plan love?” {Name} kisses him, more than a peck and she deepened the kiss before pulling away. Law swipes his thumb across her lips, as he grabs her chin and lifts it before pressing another sweet kiss against her lips. “A good attempt but not quite enough {Name-ya}” {Name} blushed and buried her face in his chest as Law just held her and chuckled lowly. 

🍄 {Name} ran out of ideas quickly after they all got foiled by Law. She soon got frustrated by her lack of progress, unknowing that everything she did actually worked and in fact she charmed Law so much with how cute her antics were. Law already knew she was not the most apt of flirting, but her sweetness and adorable nature made up for it. Maybe she didn’t seduce him in the way of wiles and wit, but she still managed to charm him. Well, he takes that back after seeing all the stuff she pulled. She was definitely capable of seduction. 

🍄 {Name} hugged Law, no extra embellishment to her action. Aside from a pout as she looked up at Law, “I want a kiss.” She asked, there was no reply. When her eyes curiously peeked up at Law she noticed the faintest blush on his cheeks, “Yes, yes {Name-ya.}” Law agreed and gave her a kiss. She had successfully flustered him. Her face lit up with the victory. Law noticed her smug little expression and had to stop himself from clutching his chest and exclaiming that she is adorable.

[diabolikpersonals]

sorry for such a broad question but in your opinion is laito a well written character relative to everyone in diabolik? i really Want to learn more about him but i also dont want to subject myself to All That and i just want to know if he's worth reading about or just a pile of interesting plot threads thrown together for shock factor and unfulfilled thematically.

like my current personal opinion (may be wrong) is that i dont feel satisfied with the idea of yui's love or proactiveness fixing laito in any way because it doesn't mesh well with the actual ideas surrounding his character and unpacking that love is not poison goes beyond romantic love or a singular place of understanding. additionally it doesn't feel earned it feels like a chore for the player to trudge though for the sake of reading. i dont want to read laito's story that bad if it's the case yet im intrigued by the things offered by his character like the processing of the deeply visceral way csa shatters who you are

I wanted to wait till I finished his CL to answer so I'd be fully caught up with laito's routes, but that'll take too long so.....!! I might change my answer later!! lmao

[tw laito stuff, csa and suicide, yeah]

I do think Laito's a well-written character but his stuff is really difficult to get through if you have certain triggers, so it's tough to recommend. Even beyond the csa stuff, Laito is in a real hurry to die and he makes several attempts throughout the series. There's a certain unique sort of awfulness, at least for me, involving scenes where a character fails a suicide attempt and then get even more upset and desperate about it. So I understand what you mean when you say you're not excited about putting yourself through it. They were the hardest routes for me to get through too :')

A lot of earlier games suffer from endings that are like "And the two lived happily ever after, and we're not gonna unpack all that stuff!" and Laito's routes are no exception, but if you can look past that and make it to LE, I wouldn't say that Laito gets fixed. He has an ending similar to Ayato's that's like, it feels like we fixed everything but in reality we couldn't overcome the core issue! They really seem to believe that Laito absolutely can't be happy or live a normal life the way he is now. He has to die and/or rewrite his memories to be comfortable loving someone. It's up to your tastes if that's satisfying or not, but I kind of love the bittersweetness of LE endings, and the way they feel like a happy ending until you think about them a little too hard.

What's interesting is that Yui's purehearted love often hurts Laito more than it helps him. He responds to love, from Yui or from his family members, with revulsion. There's jealousy when he interacts with straightforward characters like Yui or Ayato, like "If only I could be as simple and pure as you, but nope, I can't." He's very self-aware for a diaboy, which only makes it hurt more when he keeps arriving at the conclusion that he's rotten. He definitely makes progress, which is really satisfying to see, like how he gradually allows Ayato back in his life emotionally. But as of right now, the end of his arc is so, like, "I tried, really I did! But my perspective on love is fucked and I need a hard reset! Maybe I'll be normal in the next life but definitely not this one!! Bye!"

...So, it's hard to say if you'll be happy with it. I see a lot of mixed opinions concerning the LE endings. They often give the diaboy what he wants but not what he needs, so you're left going, "Wait, I don't know about this...!" A lot of people really hate these endings, but they actually get more interesting to me the more conflicted they make me feel...and oh boy, was I conflicted about this one! :'D

If it sounds interesting to you, too, and you don't mind some pretty brutal scenes along the way, give Laito's routes a try. His HDB will definitely make you mad though lol

[captain-mj]

I love your PriceGraves stuff ❤️❤️ Could you maybe do some jealous Price or Graves?

Sure!

~~~~

Price noticed the woman was flirting with him after a while. Honestly, a rather embarrassing amount of time. He hadn’t meant to let it go on so long, but he had been so excited to talk about old military cars, most of the crew didn’t know a thing about them and although Graves would listen, neither did he, that he missed it. 

Graves hadn’t. He could see his boyfriend white knuckling his glass and watching her with unchecked aggression. There was a dark raincloud above his head and when Price made eye contact with him, he swore he heard lightning from it. 

Ah. Price realized his mistake. He went to excuse himself to go to his boyfriend but Graves was already making his way over. 

Fuck.

Graves grabbed Price’s drink and sipped it, half bending over his lap to grab it. “Are you going to stay busy with...” He glanced at the lady before back at Price, making a big show of it. “Other people all night?” 

“Excuse me, we were talking.” She said politely, though it was clear she wanted to glare at him. “You are?”

“I’m sure you can talk to two people at once. Or is that not a skill you developed? Maybe you can practice?” Graves smiled at her. 

“He’s my boyfriend.” Price answered, putting his arm around Graves. “Sorry, love. Got caught up in the conversation.” 

“Yeah. Sure.” Graves twisted around to face him instead. “When you decide we’re dating again, I’ll be heading back to base.” He jabbed him a little hard in the ribs, glaring. 

Price followed behind him. “Love, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t want to hear it, John.” Graves called back, but he noticeably slowed down to let Price catch back up. 

“Graves.”

“You sat there half the night! While she flirted at you!” Graves grumbled at him, glaring at him again. “Do I need to make you wear a ring when we go out so you don’t let anyone who bats their eyelashes at you steal your attention?” 

Price smiled. “That’s a little unfair. I didn’t mean to spend so much time with her.”

They had made it back to the room in record time, mostly thanks to Graves’s furious pace that Price had to keep up with. He shoved Price down and straddled him, immediately tugging his hair.

“Fine. Better idea. You can slip a ring off, can’t cover up all of the bruises.” He sank his teeth into Price who bit back a groan.

“I only have eyes for you.”

“Well other people have their eyes on you. Don’t want them to even think they have a chance.” He bit him again, sucking lightly to deepen the bruise. “Clearly I need to take proactive measures.” 

Price pushed him away for a moment, but only to slide off his shirt and give him more places to work. Graves marked every inch of him he could, dragging his nails down. 

“All yours, love.” Price promised, gritting his teeth at a particularly harsh bite. His words soothed Graves a bit who switched to kissing as he slowly slid further down. 

Graves bit hard into his hip. “And don’t you forget it.”

[hologramcowboy]

Recently, there was a video of the main J2 panel in Indianapolis (https://youtu.be/VWS4URkl-sg?si=nf8C7scfim0Jyx8o - 25:50-31:42) and someone asked J2 a question about sending highlight reels for acting roles, which they laughed at and said they don't really do that anymore. Both commented that their time in the industry and lasting connections they've made have allowed them to share relevant clips related to a specified role they want, get straight to meetings to discuss if they're a good fit for the script and role, etc. Jared mentions he's sent clips of when he was younger for more heroic roles. Jensen specifically details stuff like having experience with the showrunner and lead for Tracker, going on a Zoom meeting for when he was gonna be on Rust, and how his role for The Boys was the most intensive one to try out for. I wanted to know your thoughts on what both of them were saying, but also would like to know if the lasting connections made on the set of Supernatural (or other sets) are maybe the only advantage Jensen has when it comes to obtaining his current roles without more effort.

Also, this is related but unrelated, Jensen mentions ten minutes before that he's busy and excited with his new roles, trying to be a dad, and also mentioned that Chaos Productions has something in the works, but I felt like him talking about his own work had more enthusiasm than him talking about his family or his company.

It used to be that all actors required a reel to submit (by agent) or self submit. These days due to digital, there’s been a shift towards clips that are on brand. For example, if you are a leading lady you need to identify your main types( roles you’re most likely to get cast for) and record shot clips of such roles. You might do one where you are in procedural show, a comic one, one where you are the teacher or sister( because those are a part of your types) and then once a role pops us where the breakdown of the character matches that essence (e.g Fiesty Medic) then your agent will send the relevant clip directly to casting to show them you can indeed do fiesty and medical. This goes for any type of character. Basically casting requires hard proof you can do *that* specific character well and cares less about your reel overall. Of course, this doesn’t mean reels are obsolete, they are still a great marketing tool for actors, it’s just that once you reach a certain tier or when you have little experience, clips will serve you much more. They can get you in the room and on your way towards being booked. So, if you are an actor, I highly recommend identifying your main castable types and then creating on brand clips of scenes that match those types. Your agent will thank you for it and you could even post those online and get even more visibility.

As for headshots, sorry to break it to Jensen and Jared but they are still the actor’s calling card, no matter what tier you are at. They aren’t A listers so they won’t be shortlisted for a lot of roles, they need good headshots. It does help.

As for Jensen, it all depends on his team, he is pretty clueless about his own industry and so far has only been able to land roles thanks to networking. I hope his team pitches him to the right people outside of his SPN circle. Countdown might give him more visibility, if it goes well, and so might the SB spin off.

he’s always going to be more excited about work because that’s where his core value lies. We are each different and our core vary, one of Jensen’s core values is definitely having work as an actor.

As for what they both said, my fear is they are relying too much on their current status instead of being proactive, which is what any actor should be at any tier, especially if they plan on becoming A List. Marketing materials for actors are highly important, don’t just rely on your agent finding and sending a YouTube clip. You can do so much more.

Thank you for this beautiful question. 🧡

[blujayonthewing]

17, 28, 31 and 32, for Melliywk!

17. how did they spend their summers/free time as a child?

In general, gnomish childhood is for exploration and trying new things, so a little bit of all kinds of things! But, in particular, she got into tinkering really young-- one time as a little little kid she woke up early and borrowed her dad's alarm clock to take apart; it made him late for work, but it also resulted in Mel getting her very own alarm clock, as well as her own beginner toolset and strict instructions to please ask for her own things to muck about with, lol. Her mom's the handyman of the house, so she learned a lot about various hand tools and basic repair tasks from her, and she was definitely doing rube goldberg setups and Sid Toystory type shit in her room all the time. She also has a lot of really fond memories of going out on bug collecting daytrips with her dad!

28. how do they show that they care about someone? how do they express that they don't like someone?

Melliwyk does a lot of teasing and playful banter; she's a little bit just like that in conversation in general, but for example she (lovingly) picks on Zhartook a lot, lol. She tends to be kind of self-absorbed-- not in an egoistic way but just, you know, wrapped up in her work and not really thinking about other people, so she's not always proactively caring towards others, but if she can get outside her own bubble at all once in awhile she can be surprisingly thoughtful. One of her main love languages is acts of service-- she's always delighted to put down whatever she's doing to help others when asked, and does a fair number of projects just on the basis of 'might be nice/ useful for [friend]'.

On the other hand, she's not subtle about disliking others, or even being temporarily mad at them, lol. She can be kind of a petty little shit, frankly-- biting sarcasm and cold shoulders. At the very least, she's not as warm and friendly as usual, and certainly not playful. She's had sort of a... precarious falling out with our bard that I frankly don't wanna get into but the point is it kind of doesn't feel safe for her to be obvious about her dislike for him :') But she's just sort of withdrawn from interacting with him more than she needs to, and maintains a baseline politeness at most, neither of which is too hard to manage when she can tend to be kind of a recluse anyway.

31. do they like receiving gifts? giving gifts? what is their ideal gift?

Gift giving is her other biggest love language! She loves making things, much more than she cares about having things, so she really likes making stuff for her friends, whether it's something she thinks would be useful for them or just something she thinks they might like or appreciate. She's also (usually) happy, if not excited, to get magic items into the hands of whomever in the party would make the best use of them, or to loan out hers if she's not willing to give them up permanently (like the cloak of elvenkind, which was a gift, or the ring of the depths, which has shockingly powerful magic in it for a novelty item [at-will shapechange, but only into very low level sea animals] and is an artifact of an ancient artificer she admires; she's even offered to let our fighter borrow the enchanted nightcap she literally never takes off because of chronic nightmares, if she thought it might prevent nasty people casting Dream on her to fuck with her).

She also does absolutely like receiving gifts! On the receiving end she's very much an 'it's the thought that counts' person-- any gift that the person clearly meant sincerely is going to make her happy and be greatly valued, whether it's something really thoughtful and personal or just a gag gift they thought she'd think was funny. It'd be hard to nail down a specific 'ideal gift' for her, but obviously any magic item would be top tier.

32. do they have any habits that aren't particularly self-destructive, just maybe odd?

I don't roleplay this as much as I'd like because it'd be kind of disruptive over video calls as opposed to in person, but she talks to herself a lot, in the form of thinking out loud. She was a hermit for a really long time, and kind of a loner even among others for awhile before that, so she's quite strongly in the habit of rubber-ducking to Baxter, even when he's not actually around. When they first started traveling together I imagine there was a significant adjustment period where she'd start talking conversationally through some problem, Zhartook would answer (likely in confusion), and she'd be startled and maybe a little annoyed because she's not talking to him and also not expecting any kind of response at all aside from maybe encouraging 'hmm's now and then, lol. She also talked to her house's ghost a lot, despite not believing he actually existed; 'Now cut that out' when the wind was noisy in the chimney or 'I'll be back soon, don't get into too much trouble while I'm gone' when she had to go into town, etc.

ask about my OCs :3

[rawliverandcigarettes]

I reread parts of The Empire of Preys today (being stressed out about how to make progress because I need to make some structural changes due to a great decision I took but that also messes up with some stuff that's already in there), and YEAH yeah, I mean it's a first draft and has first draft bloating and awkwardness and convoluted writing, but I still think it's really gooddd, I just...

I am really happy with the Vibes. Halfway Home had "two cockroaches having an existential crisis while drowning in warm beer behind a stripclub" energy, with a low-buzz of constant stress and misery and painful, non-productive bursts of rage (and that's fine that's what this story wanted to be and I let it be exactly that), but The Empire of Preys is so... almost preppy at times? Like the energy is really sunny and summery and bright and proactive, and even the darker parts come from a place of involvement and electric mental gymnastics; everyone knows at least a good chunk of what's going on, and every character gets to have fun being smart and ambitious and a little ruthless/unhinged. Also, given we're on Sur'kesh quite often, the aesthetic borders on solarpunk at time: everything is green and full of water and bugs and flowers and it's a welcome change from Omega let me tell you --even Illium feels somewhat neater than the Citadel as a location (on the surface of course) because there is, like, a sky.

I don't know it's just such a fun project. I was so correct to make a prequel that feels so much more saturated and complex and politically savvy (annnd it also puts everything that happens next in an even bleaker light also, just by sheer contrast and because of how tragic it is that it had to end up that way). Also the thematic explorations are really neat, even if they are far from their final form yet: I am soooo happy about the exploration of the crossroad of ultraliberalism, post-imperialims and gender from kind of higher up in the social ladder than we ever get to see in Halfway Home. Why do I love writing about money this much??? I don't know, nobody unpacks that please and thank youuuu

The Empire of Preys just ... *feels* salarian, in a really exciting way. I'm so happy about this since it's exactly what I always wanted to capture about why this fictional alien culture enthralls me that much! So it feels great to just, soak in that world and spend time there.

Again I'm sorry it's a lot of me throwing myself a lot of flowers and that might feel weird (also there *are* flaws, I see them, I'll address them in time I hope --and also it will just be a demanding story that won't be for everyone because of this, it will ask for a lot of brainpower to get through just because it's about a fictional political and economical system that interconnects and everyone operates at a certain degree of mastery over it --except for Rhanda, BLESS Rhanda for being the ultimate himbo of the team and asking all the dumb questions and being the Voice of the People in the middle of all the rich and/or vaguely aristocratic pricks), BUT. Every time I return to this project after a break, I'm so happy to see that no, it is really good!!!! It might really be a banger!!!!

[grokebaby]

HI WAVES MY HAND IN THE AIR. PLEASE TELL ME ABOUT JARMO AND THE RED HOTEL. You mentioned the whole thing is gaining sentience slowly, how does that work ? Do its residents (when there are any) notice it, and how does it manifest at first ? Does it feel fear and stuff when there's like bad people inside ? And what about Jarmo, can he talk ? Considering he's less a person and more just a puppet apparition, I'd suspect he doesn't actually have a voice, but rather just uses one that he THINKS the people staying in will recognize as friendly. OH and and. Do you have a front of the hotel drawn :3 /NF IM JUST GENUINELY CURIOUS BECAUSE I IMAGINE THE FROMT COULD KINDA LOOK LIKE A FACE IF YOU SQUINTED. ENOUGH. Sorry im excited this concept is fascinating

HII WAVES BACK AT YOU. LOVE THE ENERGY LOVE THE CREATIVITY MY BROTHER

I realise now that my wording made it seem like the hotel itself, first and foremost, starts developing personhood and while that wasn't what I intended to say,.... Oh boy the potential??? You always present ideas so awesomely I can't not be inspired by them like. Oh man.

Okok I wouldn't say the hotel develops sentience (or rather sapience, like Jarmo) in that way but like. I imagine that further along the line it would kinda become like the house in Encanto, bc the hotel, in some sense of the word, is absolutely alive. It's like a self sufficient video game map that generates whatever is needed and it's capable of expanding and generating more space and items (granted it has enough energy, ykno, it needs sustenance). It's reactive, proactive, and has the ability to adapt. So while, with Jarmo I kinda debated over the emotions thing, with the hotel I....... (stares off into nothing) uh.

To tackle the part about fear and bad people, no the hotel doesn't have the capacity for judgement necessarily but it definitely will get aggressively more defensive, if for example, there are guests actively breaking shit and trying to break into places they're not supposed to go. Jarmo is actually meant to take care of this part if the guests start going too far and getting too destructive towards the hotel, bc it too is just trying to survive. I feel that yes, the guests would likely notice that this hotel sorta.. "behaves" very differently from how normal buildings should (which is to say, not really at all). The hotel is aware enough to know when a certain door should be "locked" (aka not have the capacity to be opened at all), or where a hallway should lead (exactly the place the guest was looking for. Unless it contradicts with being a place the guest isn't allowed into). I wanna say, you might be able to trick or outsmart the house, but you'll definitely get hit with the consequences later if you manage to do so as a guest.. And since the hotel is Jarmo's "natural territory", he too can influence it. Going back to that locked door thing, the hotel will know to make a door or area unavailable if Jarmo tells the guests that it is so. Also, if Jarmo states that some guest in particular is banned from something, the hotel will act accordingly

The hotel is also capable of being injured.

ALSO that idea about how the hotel looks from the outside. Fucking mint, I gotta say. That is so cool. But no I've almost never drawn locations or buildings, so I've got nothing except word description of how the red hotel looks. Even then tho, it is a place capable of warping with your perception or even independently from it. So.

And, you are so correct about Jarmo's voice! He is always and in every way, customer service mode 24/7. He does have a distinct voice, so it's not just a different one every time (consistency is convincing), but yes, it is a very manufactured, ad-reading esque, customer service voice. Actually, as I mentioned in some tags earlier, this started as a (LIVE ACTION) Roleplay setting, which meant I had to voice act Jarmo, so he does have his own voice! It's generic tho, yes. But it very much fits his face, and it's nuances can change with what the guests would expect to hear from a face like that, but generally it's a jolly, enthusiastic but contained, warm buttery voice belonging to an older man. With no discernible accent. Simultaneously so full of personality and so devoid of life.

[thirst2]

I was going to reblog some further news I’d seen a few days ago regarding yet another anti-Trans bill being passed but I can’t find it; probably for the best: I don’t think anyone I follow is unaware or is remotely unsympathetic to what’s going on, right now.

But one of the thoughts that’s kept running through my head (other than the utter…disappointment I’ve been feeling for our own community turning on our own) is that, just a decade or two ago, we wouldn’t have been so defensive as it’s seemed we’ve been, thus far.

Maybe that’s a bit of a simplification; it took many years to get to that point (probably, at least, 3 decades) and we didn’t have to do it with the specter of full-blown fascism possibly arising in the process.

But I remember, in the late 90s (I think) and the 2000s, us outting closetted Republicans who passed anti-Queer legislation (https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/mike-rogers-outed-gay-republicans-108368/ is from 2014 but it covers some of what went on).

And – again, granted – that was a controversial decision within the community then, as well (even though it was as restrained as could be: the individual had to be actively foisting or helping pass anti-Queer legislation, etc.; if they were voting Republican but weren’t facilitating our destruction directly, they weren’t outted; but, again, I think the cravenness of today’s Republicans calls for more proactive measures).

It’s not like they’re acting smartly; they’re sloppy and the success of this trajectory is tenacious, at best.

We should be fucking burying them; Madison Cawthorn is example enough of how easy that should be.

Sure, I doubt many of them have done many of the social-conservative–transgressions that Cawthorn had but it’s not like they’re being any less hypocritical than when “Family Values” was their main cry.

We should be tarring them with every unsavory legal fight they have going on at any given moment; we should be (surreptitiously) invading their radio networks and pumping every “news” source they use with every passing rumor and image, the stuff we wouldn’t even begin to roll our eyes at but they rely on denouncing to keep up the charade of their political “platform”.

We should be keeping them in a state of disarray even further than they, already, naturally inflict upon themselves if for no other damn reason than they went after our own. I think it should be exactly the same tit-for-tat that outting was 2 decades ago – want to sponsor or cheer on a bill that bans hormone therapy? We make sure every OAN and Newsmax and smaller organization know about every story that ever made it to the light of day that would cut down any notion that you are what you say you are.

Ruin them; make them fucking terrified that, should they even start to talk about sticking their grubby hands into Trans issues, they can expect their past to get poured over and their currency amongst their base stamped the fuck out.

I know I don’t remotely have the spoons to begin figuring out where to start with something like this but, c’mon, it’s so obvious that the ground they stand on is shifting sand; they need a wedge issue to scapegoat because they have no idea how to govern or excite people; their base is getting smaller each year and they barely know how to keep captive their current one; and the majority of people just don’t care (which, admittedly, is a problem on its own) about whatever the Hell they’re blabberring on about.

And it was us who did it, 2 decades ago; not any kind of formal institution. Granted, it was in part because we were able to know who these people were because they wanted to have sex with us and then go write up bills that hunted us down; we don’t have that, right now.

But I don’t see us fighting back, in the same way; obviously, there’s groups working to get resources to those who need it (as usual) but that’s defensive, not offensive.

I feel like I definitely have more Queer friends and people around me, now, than I did in high school and I can still just be totally out of the loop but I don’t feel the same level of (informal) leadership we had back then. We have people out there providing insight and education (which is important!) but we don’t have…teeth.

I dunno; this is mostly just a train of thought, if anything; I wish I had something more substantial; but we need to do something different, soon.