#which is relevant because this fixation on trains

[nyxelestia]

There is a good argument for increasing the usage of trains and fighting back against car dependency, but trains also require you to somehow get to and from your home to the station, then from the station to your destination. Not everyone can walk that distance, nor can everyone live in a place without that distance. Cars don't fix everything, but neither do trains.

please god above can someone explain to me why we're still working on self driving cars when trains exist

[thelawsofdaylight]

Every single mention of Feuilly ever /Feuilly meta masterpost

Because it's barricade day and because my fixation on Feuilly has only grown these past few months, I've compiled a list of every single time he's ever mentioned in the brick. (Twenty-six times, for those wondering.) Below is a rundown of every single Feuilly mention and what this tells us about Feuilly as a character, with meta from fandom discussions past sprinkled in wherever relevant.

WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD!!!

1. Feuilly's name listed amongst the members of Les Amis de l'ABC, in the following order:

Enjolras, Combeferre, Jean Prouvaire, Feuilly, Courfeyrac, Bahorel, Lesgle or Laigle, Joly, Grantaire.

Bonus Feuilly fact: Lesgle is singled out as the only one NOT from the South. Ergo, Feuilly is from the South.

Fun information on the meaning of Feuilly's name (spoiler alert: it's a pun) here!

2. Basic Feuilly information from his intro paragraph:

Feuilly was a workingman, a fan-maker, orphaned both of father and mother, who earned with difficulty three francs a day... He had taught himself to read and write; everything that he knew, he had learned by himself.

A lot of information in relatively few words. I won't reinvent the wheel of Feuilly meta and instead I'm going to direct people to posts discussing Feuilly's financial/employment situation here and here and here and posts about fanmakers/the Paris fan industry in general here and here.

3. Information about Feuilly's political beliefs from his intro paragraph:

Feuilly had a generous heart. The range of his embrace was immense... In this club of young Utopians, occupied chiefly with France, he represented the outside world.

Key Feuilly fact here: Feuilly cares about international politics. Like, really really really cares. He is not content with only liberating France and will not be satisfied until the whole world is free. He learns about a place's history and politics specifically so he can advocate for the rights and freedoms of its peoples! Ah, Feuilly <3

4. Feuilly's internationalist politics from his intro paragraph:

He had for his specialty Greece, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Italy... Above all things, the great violence of 1772 aroused him... All contemporary social crimes have their origin in the partition of Poland. The partition of Poland is a theorem of which all present political outrages are the corollaries... Such was Feuilly’s habitual text.

More internationalism! For more information about why Feuilly is interested in Italy see here. For 1772 and Poland specifically see here. Also this wonderful post about the historical context of Polish solidarity in French Republican circles (+some Enjolras/Feuilly propaganda.)

TLDR; Feuilly WILL find a way to bring the conversation back round to the injustice of Poland's partitioning and he's actually so correct for that! It's so important to me that people understand why Feuilly is so vocal about Poland and that he's not just bringing it up for shits and giggles, it serves a very real purpose in an organisation whose focus often doesn't extend beyond France!

5. Enjolras et ses lieutenants; Enjolras is directing Les Amis around Paris and he asks:

"Feuilly, you will see those of the Glacière, will you not?"

At least, this is how it's translated in the version I'm working from (Hapgood) but there's some interesting meta over this line as in the original French it goes "Feuilly, n'est-ce pas? Vous verrez ceux de la Glacière" Note the use of vous and the strange way the question is phrased! Interesting meta on this here and here and here. There's also a really sweet fanfic about the two of them discussing it here

I know, I know, only point 5 and we've already got contentious translations and multiple meanings. What can you do!

6. Enjolras et ses lieutenants; Enjolras is thinking about his powder-train of friends scattered all over Paris and their strengths:

Feuilly’s cosmopolitan enthusiasm

(Original French: l'enthousiasme cosmopolite de Feuilly)

Enjolras admires Feuilly's internationalist politics so much he literally cites it as something he wants to draw upon to light the spark of revolution. A win for Enjolras/Feuilly nation. Also, some really really nice meta about the term 'cosmopolitan' and what it means in relation to Feuilly here.

7. Marius waking up the day of Lamarque's funeral and seeing:

Courfeyrac, Enjolras, Feuilly, and Combeferre standing in the room with their hats on and all ready to go out

Feuilly being present for the all important preparation the morning of the funeral- he's in the inner circle of the inner circle! I think we as a fandom need more triumvirate + Feuilly shenanigans, we really don't do enough with them!

Bonus link to what Feuilly might've worn in canon as this is the only quote that even slightly relates to it but I wanted to fit it in somehow.

8. At the start of the insurrection:

In the meantime, in the Marché Saint-Jean, where the post had already been disarmed, Gavroche had just “effected a junction” with a band led by Enjolras, Courfeyrac, Combeferre, and Feuilly.

The riot breaks out and insurrection begins. Feuilly is named as one of the leaders, alongside the triumvirate.

9. Describing what weapons everyone has and one of the only things Feuilly says in the entire book:

Feuilly, with a naked sword in his hand, marched at their head shouting: “Long live Poland!”

If you don't have much to say, better make it count right? He was so iconic for this. Also, background behind the cry and why it would've been a rallying call to migrant communities rather than just a funny thing he decided to say here. Yes, he's in France trying to overthrow the French king but Feuilly's a smart guy; he knows that no one is free until we're all free. He has a sword and he practices international solidarity. Feuilly Les Misérables no one is doing it like you!!!!!!

10. On the way to build a barricade:

Behind Feuilly marched, or rather bounded, Bahorel, who was like a fish in water in a riot. 

Not much actually about Feuilly here, but some nice characterisation of Bahorel!

11. Lesgle looking out the window of the Corinthe and paying particular attention to:

Feuilly with his sword.

Just in case you missed it the first time, Feuilly has a SWORD.

(Really sweet fic about how Feuilly acquired his sword here. Read it, trust me, it's so good.)

12. Building the barricade:

Feuilly, with his fingers skilled in painting the delicate sticks of fans, had backed up the barrels and the dray with two massive heaps of blocks of rough stone. Blocks which were improvised like the rest and procured no one knows where.

So that's two more important pieces of lore: Feuilly has skilled fingers and magical barricade building skills. No wonder Enjolras has a crush!

13. Sweet moment on the barricade:

Enjolras, whom it was impossible to divert, kept an eye on the sentinels, Combeferre, Courfeyrac, Jean Prouvaire, Feuilly, Bossuet, Joly, Bahorel, and some others, sought each other out and united as in the most peaceful days of their conversations in their student life... these fine young fellows, so close to a supreme hour, began to recite love verses.

Which is interesting because Feuilly was never a student! I couldn't find any posts that address this but if you know of them, send them my way! My guess is that Hugo is simply using 'student life' in the past tense as a way to remind us that they've left their previous roles behind and have now transformed into Heroes of the Dawn. Or something. Either way, it's a sweet moment they all share before the fighting begins in earnest.

14. Feuilly and his battalion on the barricade:

Six, commanded by Feuilly, had installed themselves, with their guns levelled at their shoulders, at the windows of the two stories of Corinthe.

Hugo tells us there were 50 insurgents total, 43 at the main barricade and Feuilly + his 6 in the windows. 6 men is a decent sized command! And they're stationed on the upper floors, so it'd make sense that they're the men best trained in shooting. Sharpshooter!Feuilly AU when? Also, lovely post about Feuilly and his six men here!

15. Night falls on the barricade. Enjolras tells everyone to sleep but no one listens:

Feuilly employed these two hours in engraving this inscription on the wall which faced the tavern:— LONG LIVE THE PEOPLES! These four words, hollowed out in the rough stone with a nail, could be still read on the wall in 1848."

This makes me so emotional and I'm not okay about it at all. + Hugo's possible inspiration for this scene.

And also I'm going to sneak in a link to the fic I wrote for this year's barricade day focused on this moment here.

16. Courfeyrac bantering with Feuilly:

“I am delighted that the torch has been extinguished,” said Courfeyrac to Feuilly. “That torch flickering in the wind annoyed me. It had the appearance of being afraid. The light of torches resembles the wisdom of cowards; it gives a bad light because it trembles.”

This is during the section where they wait for the city to rise with them. No dialogue from Feuilly here but he is at least present for this little interaction with Courfeyrac.

17 & 18. ENJOLRAS' BARRICADE SPEECH:

"Listen to me, you, Feuilly, valiant artisan, man of the people. I revere you. Yes, you clearly behold the future, yes, you are right. You had neither father nor mother, Feuilly; you adopted humanity for your mother and right for your father. You are about to die, that is to say to triumph, here."

NOW WE'RE TALKING!!!! Quote of all time for Enjolras/Feuilly shippers!! Enjolras giving his all important barricade speech ushering in a new world and he takes time out of all these metaphors of love and light to specifically shout out Feuilly and his glorious political worldview <3 Feuilly is right about the need to see beyond France, the need to encompass all of humanity in the scope of the fight for justice, and at that final moment before the end, Enjolras, our priest of the ideal, the logic of the revolution, literally tells him so. It's all so symbolic and Romantic and I could cry about it way longer than would be healthy.

Also worthy of note: in line with his praising of Feuilly's 'cosmopolitan enthusiasm' in point 5, this part comes directly after Enjolras is talking about the international struggle for justice- Feuilly's influence!!!

19 & 20. A moment of quiet on the barricade:

Combeferre, wearing an apron, was dressing the wounds: Bossuet and Feuilly were making cartridges with the powder-flask picked up by Gavroche on the dead corporal, and Bossuet said to Feuilly: “We are soon to take the diligence for another planet”

First Enjolras and now Bossuet: people are obsessed with telling Feuilly he's about to die soon. Also! Second instance of someone bantering with Feuilly and Feuilly having no recorded response.

21. Enjolras and Feuilly barricade logistics dream team:

"In less than a minute, two thirds of the stones which Enjolras had had piled up at the door of Corinthe had been carried up to the first floor and the attic, and before a second minute had elapsed, these stones, artistically set one upon the other, walled up the sash-window on the first floor and the windows in the roof to half their height. A few loop-holes carefully planned by Feuilly, the principal architect, allowed of the passage of the gun-barrels."

I just think there's so much to be said for how much of a key player Feuilly is in barricade construction. He and Enjolras carefully planning and executing contingency scenarios, doing it so efficiently and with so much thought... and all just to buy them a few minutes more time!

22 & 23. More stunning teamwork from the dream team:

"[Enjolras] issued his final orders in the tap-room in a curt, but profoundly tranquil tone; Feuilly listened and replied in the name of all. “On the first floor, hold your axes in readiness to cut the staircase. Have you them?” “Yes,” said Feuilly. “How many?” “Two axes and a pole-axe.” “That is good. There are now twenty-six combatants of us on foot. How many guns are there?” “Thirty-four.” “Eight too many. Keep those eight guns loaded like the rest and at hand. Swords and pistols in your belts. Twenty men to the barricade. Six ambushed in the attic windows, and at the window on the first floor to fire on the assailants through the loop-holes in the stones. Let not a single worker remain inactive here. Presently, when the drum beats the assault, let the twenty below stairs rush to the barricade. The first to arrive will have the best places.”

Feuilly's longest recorded conversation. Short, sweet, to the point. Also emphasises his leadership and the trust that Enjolras has in him. Both of them staying calm and collected even under the immense pressure of a final assault and their almost certain deaths. The logistics talk right before the end... reference to Feuilly's six men who have now moved to the attic windows... the conviction of it all.... Oh, Feuilly <3

24. A conversation just before the end:

“Can any one understand,” exclaimed Feuilly bitterly, “those men,—[and he cited names, well-known names, even celebrated names, some belonging to the old army]—who had promised to join us, and taken an oath to aid us, and who had pledged their honor to it, and who are our generals, and who abandon us!” And Combeferre restricted himself to replying with a grave smile. “There are people who observe the rules of honor as one observes the stars, from a great distance.”

Longest piece of Feuilly dialogue! I think it's so interesting that Feuilly is the one who shows anger at having been abandoned by prominent figures- and for an idea of who he might've been referring to, see posts here and here and here (and thank you @pilferingapples for those links!)

I also think it's very relevant that his anger is directed at those people specifically and not The People at large. There's no blame placed on other workers, no anger in him for any of his fellow men- he specifically and explicitly blames the failure on a handful of named figures who had the power and influence to secure a different outcome but didn't. It feels hugely important to have this section of dialogue here, right before they all die. Feuilly man of the peoples always <3

25. :(

Feuilly was killed

26. Our last Feuilly mention :( Just a reminder that Feuilly is dead and the barricade has fallen:

When there were no longer any of the leaders left alive, except Enjolras and Marius at the two extremities of the barricade, the centre, which had so long sustained Courfeyrac, Joly, Bossuet, Feuilly and Combeferre, gave way.

And that is EVERY SINGLE MENTION OF FEUILLY EVER. If you have more meta or context that you think I've missed, please feel free to add on to the post, or link to other posts discussing Feuilly! I've done my best with the tumblr search feature but as we all know, that is by no means a comprehensive search tool anymore. All English quotes are taken from Hapgood because it's the best available version for copy + pasting online.

Huge shoutout to the various people whose blogs were invaluable in the quest for Feuilly meta, whether still in the fandom or long since deactivated <3

And remember:

VIVENT LES PEUPLES!!!

[l-ii-zz]

— ¿How the heck did Red and Zim start having their first feelings for each other? I'm intrigued.

I didn't want to answer your question earlier 'cause I was determined to write a whole bible about how RaZR works in my AU, but I was also hesitating because I always get embarrased whenever I talk about my otps in general.

I was also still discussing with myself if I should put this ship in the story or not, because I know about certain people not being confortable with ships in this AU and because I don't want my AU to be involved with people who just follows the story only 'cause their fav ship is there. I already had a bad experience with those kind of people with another fandom.

But at the same time; RaZR might not be a rare ship, but a quite underrated one that doesn't have a lot of content to dig in comparing it with other big ships that we already know. Also, when I said that I don't want shipping involved in my AU, I was specifically referring to ZaDR. Despite I like it, it is STUPIDLY overrated, to the point that it gets a little exhausting to see it everywhere in the fandom... So idk, RaZR wouldn't be much of a big trouble in my AU, and it's not like it's gonna be the main thing in the story.

BUT YEAH, About your question:

In my AU, Zim already had a crush on Red since they saw each other again by iniciating Elite training together. However, his feelings were mostly involved by this idealized image of Red being this "infallible", "exemplary", "perfect" soldier. You know: things that Zim wished to be. Thus becoming the reason why Zim always have seeked his approval.

On the other hand, Red was aware of this weird fixation Zim had on him, which was obviously very annoying. Despite this, Red never truly hated him; In fact, he always felt a little pity for the defective lil bug. Red also learned to deal with Zim's destructive shenanigans by taking advantage of that weakness he had over Red. However, this kind of manipulative dynamic made Red accidentally more tolerant and permissive with Zim, behavior that followed Red even after becoming a Tallest.

Then, AU shit happens. Zim has his own development arc with Dib on their adventures in space, but Red also has his own development arc with a number of situations; such as the coming of his adulthood, his responsibilities as a leader, memories of his abusive past becoming relevant in his life again, etc. Both Zim and Red don't see each other again until the events of Arc 4.

At this point, many years have passed and both have changed a lot. And the fact that Red and Purple have no power over Zim makes their dynamics change drastically.

The role reversal made it so that they could see each other as equals. Neither Zim nor Red are trying to like each other, so they both interact as how they truly are. Sure there is tension and hostility between them sometimes, but as they can act as themselves, they start to feel strangely comfortable with each other. And as suddenly as it starts, the curiosity to see how far one can go with the other causes the bickering and teasing to accidentally turn into a very strange and very Irken form of.... flirting??! The funny thing is that neither of them are aware of this until there is no turning back.

But there's something else that's even more relevant about Zim and Red's dynamic: There's a point in the plot where both of them are forced to show their most vulnerable side. With Zim, there's the whole trauma thing that he still carries around and that reaches a limit where he can no longer hide; on Red's part, due to a slip of his own, he was forced to tell Zim about the abusive past he had with Miyuki and how it has affected him in several aspects of his life, including his relationship with Purple. By uncovering their most vulnerable side, both of them maintain a silent truce that turns into mutual respect. Slowly and gradually, both of them start to feel comfortable to vent and share things that they haven't told to anyone, not even their loved ones (Purple and Dib respectively).

It's all a veeeery long process of understanding and trust that is slowly forming and needs some pushes to become stronger. It's very similar to what Zim and Dib had to do to form their friendship, except that Red and Zim feelings are growing beyond to just friendship.

However; even though it's clear that something is changing between these two, they both feel conflicted by these new feelings.

As for Red, he has never experienced romantic feelings before and doesn't know how to act in certain circumstances. This is all new to him and therefore he can't discern whether he is truly falling in love or if he is misinterpreting his feelings. Not to mention that these types of relationships are completely punished by the Irken Empire.

With Zim, he believed that he no longer had feelings for Red and that it would stay that way now that he discovered his true colors. Instead, Zim went from a childhood crush to being genuinely and hopelessly in love with him. However, he can't trust Red's intentions. In fact, he hates that despite all the awful things Red had done to him, he is still madly in love. Zim knows that Red had and will always have control over him, because deep down he has always wanted for Red to want him, and it seems like it will always be that way.

But, despite still being conflicted about his feelings, Red knows that he has stopped seeing Zim in the same way and that he even feels guilty about the things he has done, and he admits that he shouldn't reciprocate Zim's feelings, not because he doesn't want to, but because he knows he doesn't deserve it.

They go through a lot of tense moments and trust issues, but they will eventually talk it out and correspond each other. Not in a conventional way, though. They are still not sure about what they are or should be (although they are already doing what lovers do). Neither of them dares to make it completely official; because deep down they know that sooner or later the day will come when they will both have to go on separate ways, perhaps never to see each other again.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I re-read your Fellow Honest study, and one thing to mention is that Riddle is immensely proud of having no one drop out or transfer out of Heartslabyul/NRC, right? His dorm is the only one at full capacity? This means dropping out of NRC isn't that uncommon, whether it's a money issue or a grades issue, and that's more people discarded simply because they couldn't keep up.

[Referencing this analysis!]

Mmm, that's true 🤔 I wonder how NRC's dropout rates compare to those of other magic schools and regular schools that do not train mages... I can't imagine that NRC has a ton of dropouts though, because otherwise I feel like more dorm leaders and staff would express concern about it? Like if a ton of students were dropping out, it would reflect poorly on their leadership and teaching skills, wouldn't it...? Maybe it's not mentioned because it isn't that relevant to the main story or Riddle in particular is super fixated on it (given how strict he is). At the very least, we know that NRC has a non-zero dropout rate. Even at a school that supposedly has the best and brightest mages-in-training, some will not make the cut.

As cruel as this may sound (sorry, Fellow), it's 100% understandable from a school's perspective why they wouldn't want to keep supporting students who continuously do not succeed and ultimately dismiss them. Many programs irl (especially those in higher education) set standards that students must meet and maintain until graduation if they want to remain in their program. It could harm the school's educational reputation if they do not produce "results".

In some cases, schools that fail to maintain a certain "pass" rate on specialized exams their students take may lose accreditation (an official “quality seal”) for their program(s). For example, irl nursing programs in the U.S. and Canada are put on probation if they have a class of students with an 80% or lower passing score on the NCLEX exam. They are given 2 years to "fix" this low passing rate; if this is not corrected, then the school's accreditation is revoked completely. A loss of accreditation can result in many other negatives, such as less financial aid dispersement and fewer job opportunities (/your diploma not being seen as “legitimate”).

That's unfortunately how it works. Granted, a school shouldn’t spite a student for not being able to keep up with the workload (which sadly may have been the reality for Fellow), but it really is in the institutions’ best interests to drop a student they fear won’t perform well.

[kinemonsassbiter]

Kin'emon & his ADHD shenanigans

We all know that from all characters the most ADHD-coded is rather Luffy, BUT, while talking very much about my own ADHD and other's experience with it i came to rather interesting conclusions that i have a hard time to explain properly, but want for more people to think about

There's some symptoms that kinda look like Kin actually have ADHD:

1. Kin'emon is absolutely fine with sudden changing themes of dialogue, getting distracted.

One of the most basic things most people knew about ADHD is the lack of attention.

There are differences in how a neurotypical person and a person with ADHD are distracted during a conversation. Firstly, ADHD people do this much more often in general(there are only 3 examples specifically here, but I guarantee you, he still has a lot of them), secondly, to change the dialogue, it may sometimes be enough to literally "throw in" something (even if it is not related to the topic of conversation at all or isn't so important, like when Kin'emon got distracted on Sanji to joke at him, even when Kin was talking literally page before how he should find Momo and his body) and they will quickly continue this (while a neurotypical person usually either returns to the topic later, or is generally confused or asks about a sudden change of topic), thirdly, they can just drop the first topic or absolutely forget in the process what the dialogue was originally about (as in the example with Zoro, when Kin'emon is distracted during a conversation about the sword and does not bring it up at all later despite being very conflicted about it literally few panels before) and simply does not return to it anymore. Fifthly, this is all also happens due to the tendency to speak without thinking, without taking into account the time and relevance of the statement.

Also Kin can be distracted in this way not just specifically while talking, but in actions too. Brook, so that Kinemon would not be distracted by the dragon (there will be a whole point later about ADHD people's fixation on some specific goal), had to literally hold his hand like a child so that he would not run away from him in episode 606.

2. His connection with Luffy.

It does seems too obvious but Kin'emon cares about Luffy maybe as much as he cared about Oden, and Luffy cared about Kin as a close friend, probably on a same level he cares about Strawhats. They both got attached to each other, Kin is fine with Luffy's shenanigans, and Luffy even invite Kin'emon to join their journey when they were sailing off(plus, he even called his name firstly before Yamato and Momo(and it also means they all are honourable Strawhats as much as Vivi is, why everyone always forget that?)) There's just plenty of moments when Luffy cares about him but maybe that's for another talk.

People can argue about anything but not about Luffy having ADHD, because it's geniusly as obvious as possible tbh. This is the moment when two non-neurotipycal people understand each other's train of thoughts and quickly find a good trustful connection together.

3. His 'mastermind' plan moment.

Jokes (and Kin'emon's luck) aside, it also looks like true ADHD moment. From all people who believed in this 'strategy' it was Denjiro and Kanjuro, two most close person to Kin from Res Scabbards, while for others it was obvious that it wasn't the part of plan. Persons with ADHD have a trait, in which they can kinda create of transform a bit their personality for other people when communicating, but not out of deliberate manipulation or to appear better, but by itself, without full awareness of their behavior on how they behave differently with others individually. Kanjuro and Denjiro believed that he could come up with something like this because in their eyes Kinemon seemed smarter than he is (by the way, this is also a common feature when ADHD person seems smarter than they are), while for Red Scabbards it did not work.

4. His reaction after Kanjuro's death, or to be more exactly... he's lack of reaction about it.

(still my favourite meme) The fact that after whatever shit happened he didn't really thought about his, i remind you, former best friend that betrayed him in awful way, and seemed to be kinda fine would feel off, until there's one of things that ADHD people have - they are very easy to get attached to someone, but after experiencing traumatic event with someone they used to trust their mind cuts off all positve and negative memories for their own sake, kinda forcing them to just... forget about it. They still will remember if you will brought that up but it won't sound so bad for them anymore. Not thinking about what happened yet remembering how it felt. And, well, in general if there won't be any situation where they have to somehow come back to these memories they won't think about it at all mostly. It was painful in process but much easier after. So, after Kanjuro's death & betrayal Kin's mind just decided to forget everything about him, and that's why he doesn't seemed to really reflect or think about it after Raid.

5. Kin's loyalty to Oden.

Talking about how ADHD people are easily attached... It's common to not just get easily, but also deeply attached for a short period of time to them. Kin'emon could not care less about Oden chapter ago, but after seeing what kind of person he is his mind changed and Kin is now 100% wants to go with him and to die for him. And, firstly, he didn't really know him at that time, but had already decided to take such a huge turning step, and secondly, Kin never doubted his own decision, even when Oden clearly did not like their idea in first time, and thirdly also never regretted the rest of the time. Imagine changing your entire life just because of adoration over other person. Absolutely normal decision)))))))))

Other ADHD shenanigans, in short, can also include:

1. Very active gesticularity and artistry in retelling events. Kinemon is very emotional in general, but these traits are very common for ADHD people due to a very stormy imagination and a peculiar train of thought. Gesticularity, to be more clear, is one of the signs of hyperactivity.

2. Constant intrusive explanations. Everything is probably obvious here.

3. His impulsive behaviour.

It mostly all for this post. There were also things that i was able to point out but maybe I'll have it second part or add it later if i would found people getting interested in it.

[xjulixred45x]

WISH: the power of Wishes (RE-IMAGINATION)

okay, I know that many people have already done this, but I want to make my own version of this and above all do my bit for Magnífico Stands (the only salvageable character in the entire movie) and instead of just using the original concepts of the work (which is great) i wanted to mix both the concepts that i liked from the final work and the discarded concepts. we'll see.

First of all, Magnifico would not be the villain, nor would Queen Amaya. Is it simply too much to ask for a king/queen who truly cares about their people in a sincere way and does not want to harm them? although there would be a fixed villain. But I'll leave it for later. Asha and her family remain the same, except that Asha never really considered the stories her father told her about the stars as something real and thought it was another way of referring to the Magnificent King's wishes. which encouraged more fanaticism for him. I think Asha would be more studious, not exactly a book eater, but someone who has many hyper fixations and wants to know absolutely everything about those topics that she is passionate about. which causes some distance between her and boys her age. I mean, his clumsiness is a little more justified (maybe he's even neuro divergent? but I'll leave it ambiguous). Thanks to this and her somewhat more theatrical personality (which we see at the beginning of the movie), Asha participates in various activities to help the inhabitants of Rosas. In this way we would be introduced to the utopian way of life of the kingdom and perhaps even to Asha's few friends. I think that of his group of friends the only relevant ones would be Daliah and MAYBE Simon. Daliah would have a disability that makes her use a crutch (as in one of the old concepts) and she is like a book worm, she and Asha probably met because they had many hyperfixations in common. Simon dreams of being a knight of the kingdom, so he and Asha bond by having similar goals and helping each other achieve them. (Asha and Daliah even help Simón train and encourage him 😭Simon helps Asha get jobs). In general they are a fairly united group. then the main plot of the movie begins, Asha wanting to be Magnífico's apprentice, BUT not because of her Grandpa! But she genuinely wants to use magic to make her family's life easier by being just her and her mother (they're not going to put a 90-year-old man to work) and take better care of them. message about family in your face. The entire At All Costs sequence occurs but with a different context, not only does Magnífico open up to Asha but she also opens up and tells the above, that since her father died she feels that she has to do something to improve the life of her family, take care of them as best you can. generating not only empathy on our part but also on Magnifico. thus becoming his official apprentice. (no, here there is no problem with returning the wishes or anything else, because probably having removed the filling it could be explained in more detail why several dangerous wishes should not be fulfilled.

As an extra fact: I like to think that desires can also disappear on their own when they are fulfilled without the need for Magnifico, simply to give it a little more weight)

Asha and her acquaintances are obviously very happy, and proceed to have certain interactions with Queen Amaya, perhaps just giving more lore about her and Magnifico (God knows we needed it) and even about the founding of Rosas itself and the Magic sistem.

I like to thing wish Sistem of Magic is a mix between The Owl House and Harry Potter.

This would be where the villain would be mentioned for the first time (mention, not appearance), who would be the one who destroyed the Old Village of Magnífico. For now I'll just call him Morgan (like, Morgan Le fay). and then there is the matter of the star. It seems to me that both Magnifico and Asha would be interested in this type of magic to prove ancient myths about stars, so they spend several weeks working on ways to "bring" a star to Magnifico's laboratory. First they study in depth Astronomy, alchemy, traditional magic and then they go to the attempts. **funny sequence of all the failed attempts to lower the star from the sky** I think there would come a time where Asha would even stay the night in the castle to be able to investigate Magnífico's books because her attempts failed and they are both super sleepless. There may even be a cute moment where Asha falls asleep in the castle so Amaya and Magnifico give her a blanket and pillow to make her comfortable (these two are so cute, I can't----) and Magnifico, searching for more books, ends up coming across the forbidden book. the book he took from his old town... that belonged to Morgan. Now, I imagined a whole Dr Jekyll and Ms Hyde-like sequence with this(this was so long i'm sorry) Magnífico tempted to use the book, but as soon as he remembers everything that that same book provoked, what that book TOOK FROM him, it goes away, but he starts to reflect, if it is really good to keep that reminder, that constant nightmare, if he does well. and then (perhaps due to lack of sleep or a materialization of the book) Morgan appears. mocking him, laughing at him, like do you really think you will ever be free from what HE did? from all the damage he caused? He will NEVER be free of it. and Magnifico obviously denies this! Morgan should be dead now, this is just a bad dream. but "Morgan" lets him know that as long as he lives he will always be "there." Magnifico only sees it as all the damage he caused, he lets him know, that when he can completely get rid of his book, there will be no trace of it. That he'll be forgotten. Morgan makes it clear that he will never leave him, THAT HE WILL STAY no matter what he says while he struggles with Magnifico for the book.

AND WHEN MAGNIFICO HAS THE BOOK IN HIS HANDS HE SEE IN HIS REFLECTION THAT HE HAS GREEN EYES WHILE MORGAN SAYS THAT HE WILL BLOOM LONG AFTER HE IS GONE IF HE DECIDES TO FOLLOW HIS PATH (use dangerous magic, the star)... Magnificent knows Morgan well, he needs him to survive, he is a PARASITE, he may not be able to control him, but he will definitely rejoice when he knows that Morgan took his last breath. TRAUMA TIME, "Morgan" showing Magnífico a hallucination of how he destroys 1- the kingdom of roses 2- its inhabitants and 3- AMAYA. f for Magnifico. Magnificent, he's had enough of this, he just curses Morgan one last time, sending him to hell and throwing his book into the fire, which rises above his castle with a green flame... MEANWHILE Asha, still half asleep, settles in as she thinks about her failure with the star again, as she looks out the window at the northern stars, and JUST out of habit, she wishes she wished she could have one of those, so she could help people. and ZASSS! Before she realizes it, a great light appears in the room that almost blinds her and when she regains her composure she is a small creature! What a magic dust! A funny moment that my sister came up with for the inclusion of Star Boy is that Asha gave the star a simple nickname "little guy" and the star decided to change shape back into His kind of human boy😅 In any case, Magnífico hears the confusion and, with his adrenaline high, runs to see Asha and discovers a fucking star boy in his palace. He's shocked, obviously, but now he's much more cautious than before (lack of sleep + ptsd). I think it would take a moment with Amaya to calm down a little, remind him that he is not Morgan and that he would never use magic to hurt its habitants, and to get some sleep (another Amaya moment x Magnifico YEY!) Anyway, Asha, Amaya and Magnifico trying to teach Star boy the basics of human culture while figuring out how exactly it works without being too invasive.

But Star Boy dosen't make it easy, being kind of a knew-it-all(a little arrogant?), messing up some of the tries of Magnífico and Asha of get test material. Things like that.

I don't Even think he knows how frágile humans are at the Start, so it would take a little...incident to make him realize that. But definitely flying dust would be something fun 😝 I think Asha would have several moments with Star Boy showing her the kingdom of Rosas, just trying to use his magic for good and teach him human things.

But at the same time is hard with Someone who's never been with humans before, so when he tries to do something that Asha thinks is "good for the people" Star Boy misunderstand and end up doing something wrong, like grouwing too much the tries to the point the people can't reach them to get fruit, turn the water in ice for fun, etc. Her friends join in! but at the same time I think that some (especially Dalilah) would feel half done by having a new new person in the group (who is literally from another world).

Daliah Even Starts ti believe that Star Boy could be kind of dangerous, specially if she ever sees him mad, he literally is making a disaster without intention, what would happen if he DOES have intention?

But Asha tries to ressur her that Star Boy is not malicous, but just naive, and unexpefienced, and he's trying to learn! Trying to be better.

It would be Even better if Someone endup hurt or Asha almost gets hurt so Star Boy Star to realize, well, MORTALITY, and tries to make up what he did wrong And control better His own Magic. With the proper support ofc. which causes Daliah to distance herself a little while Asha and Star boy have their well-deserved romance (at all cost reprise? at all cost reprise) and Simon continues training hard to be a knight.

Daliah feels insecure around Star Boy, even if he is more careful and empathetic now, she definitely got the impression that his magic is dangerous, but does she feel guilty for distrusting Asha like that, for feeling jealous? so he is going to reflect alone.. That's when he runs into Morgan, probably while on the outskirts of Rosas. and in a certain way when they meet they have some worrying interactions. Morgan gets Daliah to tell him that she feels insecure about her friendship with someone and the whole thing, that she feels like someone is dangerous but they don't believe her, etc. Morgan, with a master's degree in Manipulation, tells her something personal to gain her trust, how he used to be seen as similar to where he came from, how he took refuge and distanced himself from everyone because he didn't fit in, how he had to find his own way of standing out, like her. It sounds like a very Evil Like me moment to me. I mean, Morgan manipulating Dalilah in an emotional moment by being passive aggressive and at the same time being "empathetic." You may even not only try to convince him to see his friends differently, but also his desires. Doesn't that seem archaic to you? Don't you think that having someone who fulfills your desires is something horribly selfish? Like? Are people going to learn if there is no pain involved? (a philosophy...valid, but taken to the extreme) Thanks to this, Daliah begins to hang out with her friends less, but with Star Boy around, they don't realize it at first. Star Boy and Asha do some experiments with their magic for Rosas' benefit, with good results, Magnifico is even being friendlier with him and not as tense. everything seems to be going well... but then Magnifico notices that some wishes have... disappeared. and in the distance, you can see a light on the outskirts of Rosas... a green light... oh no, no no no no- it has to be a mistake- a coincidence- The scene is made where help is sought from the town to find the traitor who stole the wishes, the people are worried, and they are attentive. Asha and Star Boy are confused: why would someone steal the wishes if only Magnifico can fulfill them? There is no way to know who it was? How could he get into the palace? Daliah seems especially distressed, it almost seems like she wants to approach Queen Amaya to tell her something. but at the last moment he decides not to and runs away. Asha and Star Boy get worried and go after her, following her through Rosas until they reach the outskirts of the kingdom. and that's when they see it. Morgan. He has his mirror scepter, Daliah is in front of him, tired from running.

Morgan has several orbs around him, stained and withered, it takes Asha a second to realize they are WISHES. THE LOST WISHES, HE WAS INFECTING THEM..

Now, two possible ways this could end. one attached to the film, another more of my own interpretation. The one attached to the movie is that, Morgan uses his powers augmented by wishes and manages to temporarily absorb Star Boy, and with his powers he manages to keep the entire kingdom of Rosas under his thumb. even Mangifico (maybe controlling it and only true love's kiss can break it?). but Asha, using what Magnifico taught her, manages to make a collective spell to summon the star and thus weaken Morgan, allowing the wishes to leave him and Star Boy using his powers/Magnifico to lock him in the mirror of his scepter. My own interpretation would be that Morgan would rather use people's fears, using their Wishes as a base, infecting them and in a certain way controlling them (and taking away vitality from the people of Rosas). that is the source of the power of evil, fear and ignorance. Then the people of Rosas, seeing that they are all weakened and that the wishes make Morgan stronger, decide to give the remaining wishes to Magnifico and Asha, so that they can recover and be able to face Morgan. Just saying that not only do they not need the physical desire for it to be fulfilled, but they will work to make it happen all together, now the COLLECTIVE desire is to defeat the villain. and thus they manage to give a Power Up to both Asha and Magnifico to fight with Morgan and thus free Star Boy, who similarly ends up locking Morgan in the mirror forever. In the end there is almost no wish left intact, Rosas is a mess, but now they have a new aura of optimism, of desire to try, to work to improve, the people decide to help with their own hands instead of just using magic. There could be a time skip for when Rosas is completely rebuilt, there could be more equity in magical and non-magical users, people no longer depend so much on their desires and work as a team with the few sorcerers there are to make everything better. Asha is Magnifico's official successor, so she is crowned princess of Rosas. while Amaya and Mangifico teach new, younger magic users. Simon is a guard, Dahlia found a way to feel complete in her own way (maybe working with Asha's mom) Star Boy and Asha together, as well as Amaya and Magnifico. In general the message would be that there are dreams that are selfish and that can lead to destruction, that should not be pursued. While there are dreams that are sincere but you have to work for them, everything you can, even if you need help to fulfill them, it is up to YOU to make it happen. and like that, this story is over. END

Shares, reglogs and comments are very welcome!

This was by long shot the LARGEST work i Ever done, but i hope You guys like it.

[starfallensyndicate]

Aye, finally redoing the intro/pinned post.

Hi everyone, we're Starfallen Syndicate, a plural system. We will sign off with names in tags/post if we decide it is relevant to anything, but if we don't and our full sys name is too long, you can call us Blake, Zane, Joseph or Nikita.

This blog is mostly SFW, any occasional deviation from this will be tagged.

If it matters in regards to if you're following or blocking: we're inclusive of all the queer, alterhuman or plural labels, no matter how "weird" nonsensical or whatever they are. We are technically pro-ship/anti-censorship, but won't post anything too "gross" here. And, for that matter, we are strictly anti-contact on the base dangerous paraphilias (if it wasn't somehow the default stance). And we're anti-genAI. We will unfollow/not follow if we see you posting genAI content.

We will sometimes post about David Bowie, our six-years-long fixation at this point (there's no return, we're absolutely NOT normal about him nor his characters, most of which our brain introjected). You might also see us post about Warframe (in game as: blake-hydra, MR26, revenant main), Ghost, Warrior Cats (but we refuse to acknowledge anything after The Last Hope), Discworld, Hannibal and, if surroundings awake it: Marvel comics/MCU/Spiderverse. (there was also for example Good Omens or Sandman, but, you know, currently posting about these feels kinda wrong. There may be older posts about these on our blog, tho)

We are nonhuman (mostly feline, monstrous and alien, but there are also wolves, dragons, undead or robots, for example), also on a physical level (so we're holothere and transspecies), but we also belong in general non-human, therian and otherkin communities, about which we will (shit)post a lot.

We have shit ton of disorders and neurodivergencies (autism, ADHD, GAD, DID, a whole pack of personality disorders and probably a few things more) about which we may occasionally post. We may sometimes throw jokes regarding to our necro thoughts, but we will make them as sfw as possible in this case and, if it wasn't yet obvious it's about thoughts and nothing more.

We collectively are transmasc, publicly live as a guy, but most of us are nonbinary in more complex ways. We will post about these identities from time to time. We will also post about mspec (bi/pan) and aspec identities, because, welp, most of us fall onto at least one of these spectrums.

And ohhh we are in Poland, so different timezone than most of you, perhaps. And our English may be slightly clunky. And this means there will be a bit of polishposting sometimes. yay?

Caffeine and cigarettes enjoyers, swear like sailors irl (but try to control it online), could bore you to death by talking about modern and contemporary art (so we won't do that), clueless about life, love gothic aesthetic (and music, when we're at that, "In The Flat Field" is one of the best albums of all time, you can fight us) while we look like dad on holidays. Irl we're an art teacher and art therapist in training (but don't treat any opinion on art or psychology we post here as in any way professional), semi-professional painter, photographer and film-maker (one day we may post our actual work here, who knows).

[magnetarbeam]

Scandal of the Century (WIP 1)

[You probably have to actually remember the relevant scenes in FotJ (Backlash in particular) to understand a lot of this. I do not apologize for that.]

“Do they have any clue about me?” Zekk asked.

Jaina and Jag considered their mutual fiancee's question as Javis Tyrr's holonews footage revealing the two's relationship played on the viewscreen in front of them.

“I don't think so,” Jaina admitted.

“I haven't seen any evidence of it,” Jag agreed after a second. “And we would have.”

The grins that crossed Jaina and Zekk's faces told Jag that whatever they were plotting over their unusually strong bond could be nothing but mischief. That didn't necessarily mean it was a bad idea, but one of them had to be reasonable, and that was usually Jag.

”All right,“ he sighed, ”let's hear it.“

”Since the nexu's already halfway out of the cage,“ Jaina said, her mischievous smirk widening, ”I think we should have a little fun with it.“

—

As much as she would have wanted to see the looks on the Masters' faces, the three of them did feel that Jaina and Zekk's duty as Jedi obligated them to let the Council in on it.

”It would help draw media attention away from the Order,“ Kyle Katarn said contemplatively.

“Which we desperately need,” Cilghal agreed.

Acting Grand Master Kenth Hamner pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed in exhausted exasperation. He said nothing, and they all knew that a specific direct order would be the only way to stop Jaina and Zekk from carrying out their scheme.

Kyp had been grinning in anticipation ever since he heard the proposal. ”I can't wait to see the look on Daala's face when you finish with this.”

—

“You could start a whole new Imperial custom,” Jaina joked, making fun of Jag for accidentally shooting his deputy minister in the foot as he foiled the recent assassination attempt. Zekk grinned as the playful banter went on.

Not for the first time, Zekk thanked the Force for how much both of his lovers had healed in the last few years, since those days off on Kashyyyk when they had all collectively realized how they truly felt about each other, after Jag had had to deliberately set himself up for Jaina to deliberately almost kill him in order to get through to her about how much of herself she was losing to her fixation on her training.

“So, your imperial majesty,” he asked Jag playfully, “does Conspiracy: A Methodology offer any advice on the best time to start our little scheme?”

Jag hummed in consideration. “If I ever get my hands on a copy, I'll let you know.”

———

The viewscreen wall displaying an image of Alderaan blew out, and an assassin entered, followed by two YVH droids. Jaina, Zekk, Leia, Han and Jag felled the attackers before the Pangalactus security personnel even entered the room. But then they were standing amidst the wreckage, and Jag was on the receiving end of a fusillade of profuse apologies.

And Jaina shot Zekk a grin. Now? she asked over their bond.

Now, he agreed.

Conveniently standing behind Jag, but in full view of the other observers, the two pulled into a passionate kiss.

———

”Well,“ Lecersen remarked after a moment of stunned silence. “I didn't see that coming.”

”No way,” Treen laughed as the conspirators observed the immediate fallout of the expected failure. ”This is too perfect.“

Lecersen smiled and began drafting the holonews article, with the scandalous capture as the cover image.

———

Over their mercifully uninterrupted second attempt at that night's dinner, Jaina didn't even notice that her ADHD meds were starting to wear off, because she was so hyperfocused on her anticipation.

She found what she was looking for even faster than she'd expected to.

The rest of the conversation, whatever it was, stopped in its tracks as she collapsed into helpless laughter, dropping the datapad on the table.

”Oh, this has gotta be good,“ Han remarked in anticipation.

Tahiri, who had joined them on the way back from Pangalactus, was quicker than Zekk in snatching the datapad from the table.

“'Jedi Cheating Scandal!'“ Jaina's sister read excitedly, raising her voice to be heard over Jaina's cackling. ”'The revelation of Head of State Jagged Fel's relationship with Jedi Knight Jaina Solo has drawn plenty of criticism from many, particularly Fel's detractors among the Imperial Remnant.'”

Tahiri paused for a moment as Jaina finally managed to get a grip, but the ”Galactic Empire“ correction didn't come because Jag had food in his mouth.

”'But it appears the situation may be even more complicated than anyone had realized,'“ Tahiri continued. ”'Mere hours ago, Head of State Fel was dining at the Pangalactus restaurant with his girlfriend, her parents, and fellow Jedi Knight Zekk, when an assassin blasted through a wall and attempted to kill Fel, followed by two YVH combat droids that attempted to kill the Organa-Solos in an apparently unrelated attack.

”'As the local security personnel arrived and conversed with Fel, Jedi Solo and Jedi Zekk kissed each other in full view of the holocams.'“

[lemonadesoda]

It's been a while since I've aimlessly rambled about my ocs because it's been a rather difficult season and I had been struggling with creative block for most of it which has only recently broken for me (only to be interrupted by a great deal of real life things).

Tbh it's also been an internal fight of me wanting to make more regular creative posts bc it just is fun to share that stuff instead of keeping it private or to a single discord chat vs the feeling that it doesn't really make a difference if i post it or not so why bother. Now that life has eased up a little again, I will once again try to actually blog on my blog.

Things I've been dabbling in lately:

I made a dreamwidth a while back but never advertised it. Haven't updated it in a while either, but I hope to put more things on it, hopefully more original concepts and such, but links to my fanfics are the main thing there for now. Find it [here]

Currently working on: a somewhat long short story reflecting on Lemel's aroace identity and the relationships that illustrated their journey with that. (Icarusverse canon)

Random AUs as usual. Predominant ones lately have been the Fae AU where Tevane is a fae prince who Lemel, a botanist, and their young apprentice Jose (@doodleimprovement) meet and befriend in the nearby forest. DnDads AU, haven't written anything for that because I have been paywalled spoilerwalled from much of the content on account of not being caught up yet. Tevane joins with Jammy (@jam-blue), Cassius (@banyanas) and Azar (@rindomness) on a journey in the Forgotten Realms to seek the people they lost there.

Lots of thinky thoughts on character interactions because that is my one true obsession. There's a lot of text in a google doc that's literally just the play by play of various conversations between my guys that's very indulgent but not really the meat of any particular narrative so. Lol idk if anyone wants to see any of that. I can basically infinitely write character interactions as a hobby. Like, stories have to pull the plot and narrative relevant stuff only, but I'm always fixated on the little conversations that happen behind the scenes, the small talk off camera where you know a lot of relationship building is actually happening. What do they talk about when they're walking to the next plot point? When they're eating dinner together, or getting ready for bed, or waiting for the train? Fascinating stuff to me. Boring for a story tho. What can ya do

[notebeans-galaxy]

looking for therapists that take ur insurance and have availability and have actually relevant expertise and DON'T FUCKING PUSH MINDFULNESS/CBT when that shit is USELESS for me is so exhausting and i'm just frankly sick of therapists being either kind of shitty people (internalized bigotry that manifests in their sessions like sanism, ableism, transphobia, exorsexism, ageism especially adultism which was more relevant when i was a teenager trying to talk about active ongoing abuse from an older sibling and how my one of my parents enabled it) or fully unqualified to treat me given the breadth and diversity of my issues. like i went to my university's counseling center and very specifically asked for someone trained in DBT (the literal only evidence-based type of therapy that's widely used other than CBT, which is contraindicated for some PTSD and trauma cases and mine is among them) and they basically told me they could not help me. In other words literally none of their therapists are fucking qualified.

Looking for trauma-informed therapists and queer-friendly therapists and chronic illness aware therapists just gives you more CBT, more mindfulness bullshit. Looking for autism-aware therapists gives you ABA "therapists" (I want an actual therapist who doesn't try to force me to do things incompatible with my capabilities and skills as an autistic person, who puts in real effort to understand my communication style, rather than trying to use operand conditioning to train out my autistic traits. Autism is not why I need therapy.) I don't want to argue about what parts of my childhood constituted abuse. I don't want to have to sit there and justify why I think I need therapy, or why I make the choices I do regarding what I prioritize.

I don't want another situation like the therapist I tried in high school, who I told I would not graduate because I was too physically ill to do anything school related, and who spent two sessions refusing to talk to me about anything else when I explained pretty clearly how it was a dead end until my health improved and that it was not actually possible for me to move out of my mom's house at the time. Two different therapists I went to fixated on my need to move out of my mom's house when I was still stuck in a poverty cycle that was making it impossible to do that and I made that pretty clear early on, and what I needed help with was emotionally navigating that. I am so sick of therapists who try to fix my issues that are pretty definitively unfixable precisely because I am powerless in them when those are not what I want therapy for.

I have moved out of my mom's house now. My health has improved (still dogshit, but the best it's been since I was 14) and I now have a good degree of control over almost every aspect of my life that a person can control. I have graduated high school, moved across the country, and am working towards a degree in a field I love. I feel fulfilled in my academics and have better finances despite being below the poverty line, and I've got enough going for me to pull shit together and make ends meet. I am still emotionally unstable and I still need therapy. And I'm afraid that trying to see a therapist now would just be a waste of time because the 'actionable' parts of therapy are things that I learned how to do on my own, and they don't fix the fucking source of the problems or help me emotionally regulate. The further I get in my education, and the more I learn about what mental health professionals do, the more obvious it becomes to me that they're straight up not equipped to handle literally anyone who has any degree of self awareness or who is both autistic and traumatized. All the obvious treatment methods are things I know about and they do not work on me. If it worked, I wouldn't need therapy. The breathing technique shit especially pisses me off because my breathing is so impaired due to asthma that I literally cannot do biofeedback for dysautonomia; wtf makes you think breathing exercises would somehow help with mental illness when it is actively painful to control my breathing in that manner??? I physically cannot do it to regulate my autonomic nervous system because it's so painful and makes me feel so short of breath. Of course that's not gonna help with fucking anxiety or depression.

Combined with the insurance nonsense of trying to find a covered provider, the hassle of looking just feels like it won't be worth it when the chances of finding a decent therapist are so astronomically low.

[lovesickeningly]

pulse (2001) review

★★☆☆☆

──── ♱ ────

likes:

- ryosuke. he kinda reminded me of ryuji from p5, and I liked his outfits, but of course I’d watch a horror movie and be thinking about the outfits. it was funny that he had to write down, “print screen,” or else he’d forget to hit the button that’s right there on his keyboard.

- the overall aesthetic. I feel like this isn’t exactly praise tho, as it’s just what things looked like in that period of time, and not some crazy accurate present day imitation. my partner and I kept pausing to try to see what video games ryosuke had.

- the sound design. this was honestly the best part about the movie imo. the screeching dial-up-internet-esque sounds provided so much tension on what would’ve otherwise been mid or boring scares. I loved the scare that had the sound build up only to go completely silent.

- leave it to japan to still have the trains running during a ghost apocalypse lol

──── ♱ ────

dislikes:

- the relationship between harue and ryosuke. it just didn’t feel fleshed out, and I didn’t feel like there was really a connection between these two characters. harue as a character was a let down as well. I thought there would be some connection between her and the killings or the way they started, and that would be why she was so fixated on this whole thing before it even blew up, but we literally know nothing about her motivations. and why wouldn’t she be the one to tell ryosuke about the maximum capacity ghost realm theory (mcgrt) and not the rando grad student that we never see or hear about again? why wouldn’t she be the one to point out the ghost kid in the library to him and not the random grad student? they literally already had a scene in the library together where it could’ve been added in. I think she just existed to give ryosuke somebody to save or lose, which is lame and lazy.

- the inconsistency. there was no clear, singular pattern to the killings. if we’re to believe mcgrt, then what was all that talk about loneliness, and people wanting to die because they felt alone? if mcgrt is true, wouldn’t the pattern be: ghost leaks into room > room is taped off > somebody goes into taped room > has a traumatic experience because of the ghost > deletes themself days later. this would make the whole internet and technology thing completely irrelevant.

alternatively, if the internet IS relevant to all of this, wouldn’t it be like: the original video (the one shown multiple times of the guy with a bag over his head and writing on the wall behind him) is some sort of cursed video that has set off a chain curse that latches on to people online like some sort of virus. this curse, or virus, makes people feel overwhelmingly lonely until they decide to delete themselves days later. the virus is also watching these people through computer screens. given the time period, with the whole y2k scare and it being the dawn of the internet, I feel like the movie was trying to have some sort of “internet bad” message, and this second theory would fit into that while making all of the loneliness talk make sense.

however, the movie unsuccessfully combines these two things…I guess? I literally don’t understand what this movie was trying to say was going on. the thing is, I LOVE horror media that doesn’t explain itself. I have a whole shelf filled of junji ito’s works. I love ARGs because of the work you have to put in to understand them. being spoon fed a word for word explanation absolutely kills a horror media for me. BUT there’s a fine line between show-don’t-tell and just straight up throwing things at the wall and having the audience make up whatever they want out of whatever fucking sticks. so many good horror movies nowadays do the show-not-tell thing, and because of this, people have started to think that not fully understanding a movie right away = cinematic masterpiece. that’s why shitty writing like this ends up being lauded as a “cult classic” in the grand year of 2024.

- why was the computer lab that harue was working in trashed? it’s literally never brought up.

- there was all this build up for what people see when they go into a taped off room, and then once we finally got to see it from ryosuke’s pov, it was literally just some guy…

──── ♱ ────

overall

I’d give it a 2.5 out of 5! I don’t think I’d watch it again because two hours is a long time for basically no payoff, but I don’t regret watching it either.

[stevensavage]

The Future Was Never What It Was

(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, Steve's Tumblr, and Pillowfort.  Find out more at my newsletter, and all my social media at my linktr.ee)

“The Future Isn’t What It Used To Be” has been a saying for a while. In a time of resource-sucking hallucinating AIs, climate change, and ad-saturated social media, the saying seems more relevant. We’re not getting the future we expected, want, or needed.

As I muse over this, I think the problem is that we had expectations as opposed to asking what we really needed. We wanted a future that was past and present.

Let’s take the Cybertruck, which is one man’s vision of a futuristic vehicle. The Cybertruck - for whatever valid critiques may be made of it - a deliberate creation, from its tech to the low-poly appearance. It’s something out of past science fiction, shoehorned poorly into current technology The thing is it turns out what we want isn’t, well, that vision or its janky implementation.

Or Microsoft’s Recall feature, which records what you’re doing for some kind of recovery purpose, all while basically being a security nightmare. A cybersecurity writer noted that maybe this is just what you get when an aging group of leaders keeps forgetting things. Is it evil opportunism, or just people thinking of a future that solves only something they might think of?

I could of course go on, from wasteful AI today to cuecat in the past and so on. A whole lot of people are inventing, selling, and sometimes just lying about how they’re making the future we want or expect. Which really means what too many people wan tis a future based on old videogames and movies and current ill-thought-out-needs.

We’re not humanity wants or needs because it really seems we’re not trained to think about that.

We look at what we want, and assume it’s for everyone. We look at our childhood media fixation and figure it’s how it should be. Even when people are lying their butts off trying to make “number go up” they’re justifying it with such explanations. I’m pretty sure enough supposed “leaders” of the tech world have been justifying things so long they actually believe it.

I’d feel kind of better knowing I’ve been lied to more, but am really starting to feel a little too much kool-aid has been drunk. A lot of that kool-aid came from 80’s direct-to-video.

And right now people’s egos and money are on the line in these various bad tech decisions, so they’re not going to reverse without some pretty hard bumps. Delusion, short-sightedness, and personal income and reputation are pretty compelling. Besides The Market doesn’t reward you for insight and the news doesn’t fawn over you for saying what a dumbass you were.

I’m starting to think being able to make the future (and make it better) is sort of its own skillset. Clearly a business degree doesn’t help you. But neither does a writing degree as you might just create a new mental straightjacket. Designing a future that works doesn’t necessarily come from pushing around numbers and making pretty words.

But it’s a skill we desperately need right now, and maybe recognizing it is a start.

Steven Savage

www.StevenSavage.com

www.InformoTron.com

[sirorca]

I think it’s also why she is so terrible at keeping her ambition a secret pre-timeskip.

She clearly wants so hard to talk about her ambitions. But in her current situation she can only do so if she subtlety hides it under layers of subtext. The problem is that she struggle a lot to effectively communicate this way: being blunt has always been the natural way she express herself. And that’s despite how her environment should have made her the complete opposite! She has the social training of a noble, she’s at the center of Adrestria very tense political climate and she has the Agarthans watching down her every movement. While C-PTSD and the lack of a normal childhood could partially explain this, Autism does seems like a strong explanation emcompassing a *lot* of her behavior.

I’d like to add that there’s a tendency within quite a lot of autistic people to reject some traditional norms and structure, which can translate into a strong sense of justice. This tendency certainly fit Edelgard to a T! And I’m inclined to believe the extent to which she’s invested could also lend itself in the scope of a special interest. She made her life revolve around it, and even beyond being “simply” a political interest she genuinely seems to enjoy it just for the sake of it. She’s the only student who has the Monarch study book in her gift list, she has “debating historical viewpoints and strategies” and “outdated values” in her like and dislike and, forgive me for the questionable source, she casually say she’s making a new form of government in her mind in Heroes. It’s to the point nearly all of her support are strongly impacted by her fixation on Fodlan politics at some poit. Actually she only has one support, Berndetta, where her interest is not relevant one way or another. This lead to believe believe it’s a very notable trait of ther as even student who are interested in politics like Claude or Sylvain do not match how strongly invested Edelgard seems to be. As an aspect that set her out from the rest of the cast, I think it really make sense to interpret it as a neurodivergent trait.

Furthermore, I believe looking at her intense interest for the flaw of Fodlan current system actually tell us a lot about how she deals with other people. Edelgard hold a systemic view to a fault, often lacking a personal approach to many situations. For example you see her spare and mourn common soldiers, but not extend the same action towards her former childhood friend Dimitri: she never ever consider her own feeling, he is the enemy leader and as long as he live the fighting will continue loosing more lives in the process. I think this mindset shines in many of her support. The strongest example of this is probably her Caspar support where she makes wrong assumptions as she’s only really analyzed him through systemic lense: less talented brother get tittle instead of him because of crest -> common unfair situation caused by the crest system -> as it’s unfair he must be upset about it. She never consider he actually didn’t show any of signs frustrations towards his circumstances, it’s all about how the average person would feel in this case.

Note that I do not believe its necessarily a bad things. As we’ve mentioned with the soldiers, it helps her to extend empathy to complete stranger which to me is an extremely important quality for a political leader to have! And in term of more personal relationship, I also believe it helps her connect with people of widely different backgrounds than her like Dorothea. She can understands much more quickly certain elements of their lives than she would with a personal approach!

Can you tell us more about Austistic Edelgard? I love this hcs to death and wrote about it many time- I'm so sad at how rare it it, especially when it seems so obvious to me! Your post are always well articulated so I'd really love to see your thoughts on it

Oh thank you this is so sweet! ♡ yeah sure I could talk about my interpretation of her neurodivergence more. I’d love to see your writing too if you wanna share anything with me lol

I do want to preface this with the fact that I am not autistic myself. I have a lot of family/friends that are autistic so I *might* be slightly better than the average (maybe) neurotypical person at reading into this. But I am by no means the number one guy to go to abt it, and I probably won’t articulate as well as an actual autistic person could. So feel free to not listen to me about any of this lol but I’ll try my best!

I did read Edelgard as being neurodivergent —possibly autistic. And haven’t seen many other people talk about it. I think the characterization is a little bit more subtle, and possibly on accident. This combined with her being a woman probably contributed to it not being a thing people speculate on.

But all that being said. I think the biggest example to me would be her three hopes Ferdinand supports.

It’s hard to point to any specific line here because the whole support chain is Ferdinand attempting to imply he wants her to console him her not understanding the indirect communication. She *is* attempting to be helpful.

(Even though It would be TOTALLY understandable if she did just tell him she was not comfortable doing that given what his father did to her. But she seems pretty emotionally unphased so I’m going to claim that she’s not intentionally dodging this)

But anyway! What she’s doing here is taking everything Ferdinand says extremely literally. When Ferdinand says he can’t connect his father to the corruption he engaged in she doesn’t take this to mean he is having trouble processing it emotionally. She takes this to mean he doesn’t have the paperwork. When he explains that he does actually have said proof of his corruption she, reangles her approach and attempts to give him the kind of encouragement that *she* would want to hear and well. She goes straight for challenging him— attempting to coax him back into an earlier version of himself that exuded more confidence and drive. (It does not land well)

And I’m not claiming that autistic people are incapable of empathy or of using or understanding subtle communication. It’s just more common to find some of these tendencies among neurodivergent people.

Edelagrd will also frequently be indirect with her attempts for emotional intimacy as well but seems unadept at reading that same communication style from other people. (Ferdinand is the same way)

Also I want to preface this with the fact that I think Edelgard is a selfless person at her core. And I do think she cares about Ferdinand and is actively trying to be helpful. (Even though he is not inherently owed that from her!!) But selflessness doesn’t always translate to being able to read other’s emotions well. She’s very much someone who’s instinctive response to problems is that they need a logical pragmatic solution. (I think it’s a nice foil to how Dimitri is more of a ‘how can I emotionally cope without changing anything’ type person lol)

Anyway feel free to @ me if I fucked up somewhere— again I am not autistic. I’m not even sure that I’m neurodivergent. But I tried…my best!

[freyjas-musings]

I have had enough of reading, not so bright, interpretations of the bonus...

The point of that bonus was not the kiss or the necklace, two things people have completely fixated on . The points that are actually relevant to the bonus....

Azriels mental state:

He is lonely and desperate. He is jealous of his two brothers finding their mates .

He is obsessed with the mate bond

He has severe self esteem issues ... of feeling unworthy of love ❤️

His unresolved issues around Mor and the extremely loud silence when asked about her .

Azriels thoughts about Elain and the dynamic...

They had hardly spoken to each other beyond shy glances and brief touches so they basically don't know much about each other its very surface level.

The wrong math... he basically refers to her as the third sister ... so his obsession with the mate bond is his motivation... 3 brothers and 3 sisters( attention on how Rhys reacts to that) (the author wouldn't bring that up if she was going that route how do you miss that yikes!!)

He hasn't really planned for a future with her ... not beyond the fantasies he pleasures himself too ... this is a male who plans the snow ball fight for a year...

His shadows that are a source of his power and a major part of who is ... a shadowsinger .... hide and disappear around Elain.

While he feels attracted to her he also simultaneously feels he is unworthy ... which is sad and pathetic.

Now change of dynamic to Gwyn

While he initially hesitates he actually takes the initiative to stay and engage even though Gwyn gives him an easy way out( the whole Happy Solstice you may go now)

His shadows dance and approach Gwyn , for that to be deliberately added to the bonus while in the first half them disappearing around Elain is highlighted is important . They basically made sure he met Gwyn in the training ring ... the shadows perhaps know things ✨️

Gwyn surprises him , prods and pokes and asks him unexpected questions. She seems unaffected about him being a "shadowsinger" .

He feels calm after a brief interaction with her ... something in him settles ... very typical mate language

His shadows calm down and like her presence .... his shadows lounged on his wings as though content to watch them both interact.

He feels a spark in his chest when interacting about Gwyn with clotho... again very typical mate language

He can picture how Gwyns eyes would light up .... he has perhaps observed her more than he realises . He buries that image where it glows quietly in his chest... again typical mate language .

Gwyn and Az aren't in love ... That's ridiculous and it would be really shallow to have Gwyn blushing around Az ... they barely know each other ... isn't that the shallow problem with E*riel?

The purpose of the bonus was Azriels thoughts and how his story is moving .... because the next book is Azriels.... it was a preview of his book ... his thoughts his current mental state .... How does one miss that??????

[askmerriauthor]

In reference to this post here.

That's actually a rather interesting way to look at it, especially given how much direct interaction the two characters have throughout the game. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Geeta sought to put Nemona into the Elite Four at some future point, especially if Hassel ended up bouncing for whatever reason. More discussion after the jump in case of spoilers.

Looking at Geeta with that parallel in mind also gives an angle on how she picks people for their responsibilities. When the Player first meets Nemona, the first thing she does when she realizes they're a capable Trainer is shower them with encouragement to become a peer/rival to her. It's this immediate reaction of "Oh my gosh, you've got skill! New friend? Please? Have some Pokeballs, have some Potions, here - I got you a fancy Tera Orb you're not really supposed to have but I pulled some strings for you!". She similarly challenges other people she sees as talented to battles, but the Player is the only one she goes all in for - particularly since the narrative sets it that we're the only one who actually fully reciprocates her feelings.

Geeta may be a similar case when it comes to how she places the Elite Four and Gym Leaders. Given her fixation on talent, she probably saw these capable Trainers (or at least their potential) and went "Oh my gosh, you've got skill! New Gym Leader? Please? Have some Pokemon, have a Tera Orb!" in the same kind of manner. Larry mentions that she "strong-armed" all the Gym Leaders and Elite Four into their positions - I don't take that as she literally forced them into the roles, but that she convinced them to take on the title despite them already having existing careers by focusing on the potential they had. Hassel was already from a prestigious family of Dragon Trainers before he became a teacher, and was likely picked up to be an Elite Four member after Geeta joined the Academy board. Iono, Tulip, and Brassius were already famous in their given careers before becoming Gym Leaders, so Geeta likely focused on convincing them specifically for the boost to reputation and attention it would bring Paldea. Larry already worked for the Pokemon League as some sort of office employee and was literally assigned to the role of Gym Leader and Elite Four member by Geeta. Geeta's priority is to inspire Trainers, foster talent, and bring Paldea greater prestige, but that isn't any of the Gym Leaders' core motivation, which leads to conflict amongst them. Geeta sees talent and potential first, but sidelines feelings as a result, like how Nemona later apologizes to the Player for being so overwhelming with her own enthusiasm pushing them to take on the Gym Challenge.

Characters like Larry and Grusha are interesting in this regard, as they're the sort who voice the most criticisms of Geeta yet could be the ones Geeta herself is being the most benevolent toward. After their rematches, both mention that they've found a new inspiration from battling the Player that they wouldn't have if they'd battled Geeta, whom they see as meddling-as-usual. Both of them are prior stuck in a rut; Larry by his own choice in preferring to stay in his lane, keep his head down, and grind away his life as an everyman. He learns to appreciate changing things up and getting out of his comfort zone because Geeta makes him use a different team in the Elite Four. Grusha lost his career as an athlete due to an unexpected injury, which likewise cost him his passion, motivation, and made him resent the cold. He was just stagnating where he was because he felt he lacked any other options. Contending with the Player lights a fire under Grusha's butt and reignites his drive to improve himself.

Katy and Kofu are tougher for me to put my finger on, admittedly. Kofu doesn't seem too involved in anything besides his restaurant, though the fact that he helped train Katy in culinary arts feels relevant. There's some history there that needs exploring. Katy, meanwhile, feels like she knows Geeta more personally compared to the others based on how she talks about their interactions. That's just a feeling I get, mind you, so I could be off the mark. I'm curious to see if we get some more information about the Gym Leaders and their involvement with Geeta in the DLC.

Honestly, the biggest issue I see in all this is the fact that Geeta herself isn't a very impressive Trainer by which to inspire others. It's an informed ability - everyone talks about how amazing she is, she talks herself up as being an overwhelming opponent in Pokemon Battles who can't possibly hold back her might, and her title is "Top Champion". That infers she's either the most powerful Champion of Paldean Champions, or that she's considered the most powerful Champion of all Pokemon League Champions. All of which are demonstrably not true in the slightest since her team is poorly designed and her fight is a total cakewalk. Past games' Champions have been far greater challenges than her, and even post-game Arven (who the game says isn't a very good Trainer) is tougher to fight than she is. I could understand it if it was an intentional design choice where she's self-sabotaging or intentionally taking it easy on the Player using a League-official team like she assigned Larry, only to have a "those were for charity, Clark" moment later on where she absolutely mollywhops the Player in a rematch scenario with her own personal team of aces. But, barring a reveal in the DLC, that doesn't seem to be the case so far.

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

Girl, im in the same boat as you. After the pandemic, things are finally starting to pick up pace for me and I began this year busier than ever. My twitter account was starting to collect dust and spiderwebs, and I said ok, perhaps this is it. It may be time for me to find a different hyper fixation or a new hobby. But these bitches saw me walking out the door and pulled me back in. See? Now this is why I got into kpop. It takes so little to make a woman's heart soften, and yet most days I had to sit through the most unhinged and boring drama ever. Listen, I just wanna be entertained, is that too much to ask?

Well, today it looks like my prayers have been answered. I woke up to some delicious baemin content. Loved that they showed us a little bit of the rehearsal, and have you seen how jimin talks to his hyung? I don't know how taeyang deals with the urge to pick him up and take him home. He's so strong and brave 🫡 then we finally got the live jimin has been promising since last year and i cant believe he keeps getting prettier and cuter every time i see him. How can a grown ass man be that cute and lovely? And he keeps talking about how much he's working and all the things he's preparing... honestly I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but really when it comes to jimin i cant help but get excited. And then, jk's weird ass back at it again! which i was especially glad for because I missed his live yesterday AND with the addition of jimin's comments?? he really got me feeling things ngl I was giggling and kicking my feet, I can't say I wouldn't pay them money just to see jimin tie jungkook's hair. I'm just a girl you know...

So yeah, just like that, I missed a good chunk of my morning looking for translations and staring at my phone like a dumbass. Maybe some other day i will find a more productive way to waste my time, but for now it looks like I'll stick around 😮‍💨

Girl!

We're having almost the same experience 👀

In my case, I don't need another hyper fixation or anything. I've had enough of such intensities since 2020, but as you said, mostly it's just witnessing mindless drama and the usual bullshit. And on top of that, in terms of the music and other content, what is there left for now? I've been through almost everything BTS. I'm not gonna write about the same thing until I get grey hair. Which means I'm left with paying attention to the solo projects. And since life's too short for me to spend time writing or watching what people do, especially if I don't care much about them, I'm left with the biases. Jungkook is on a break (those saying he's not getting work because the company doesn't offer him opportunities are simply demented) and the only one left is Jimin. And his solo work is starting to pick up and it's really the only relevant thing right now for me.

The problem is that it's become a habit. Keeping up to date through social media, which means that as much as I try to avoid it, I still have to see things and people against my own will and I'm too far into this thing and in my life in order to pretend that I still want to pay attention and write about it. I mean, lately I've made my position even clearer than it was before because it just doesn't matter at the end of the day. I'm in a speeding train caught on fire and at some point I will have to jump. Because I know what awaits me out there. Instead of reading and debating daily fandom bullshit, I can dedicate more of my time to watching films and pick up my dusty books from the library, knowing that there's no way I can be as disappointed as I feel after 2 hours in bts/fandom spaces. I need that dose in order to remind myself that there are things that bring me joy and I don't have to witness stupid people writing nonsense on twitter.

I also have fun here, with its ups and downs. But there's the risk of becoming repetitive and that's the death of passion. No thank you.

And then there's days like this in which it's fun again, starting with that performance rehearsal and ending it so nicely. I missed it. Like you said, I want to be entertained. That's all. And that includes everything, from frivolous aspects like watching JK eat chicken on a vlive, to a song release, a Fashion Week appearance or putting out a fascinating portfolio.