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biggrump · 4 months

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Video Games I played in 2023 (and maybe even enjoyed)

A completely unorganized list of games I played this year that I wanted to talk about because they were great.

1. Ultrakill - My biggest time sink of the year. Found out about this game about a year ago due to FUNKe talking about it a lot. Was hooked from the first level, and after beating it I replayed several levels until I mastered the mechanics, then looked for all the secret levels, then P-ranked all of Act 1 and then the P-1 boss fight several times over (Act 2 is hard to P-rank). However enjoyment did kinda dry up for a bit after I actually got good at the game but then Hakita dropped the first part of act 3 a while ago and it started all over again. Here's hoping the last 2 chapters stick the landing and keep scratching that itch (which they probably will let's be honest)

2. Metal Gear Solid series - Played all of the games aside from 4 which couldn't run on my PC (had to watch a long play for it) and Peace Walker just cause I got distracted by other stuff. The first game didn't really resonate with me on a deeper level but its storytelling, gameplay mechanics, and 4th wall breaks are amazing, especially for the time. 2 and 3 hit far harder and are some of the best games I've ever played. I could talk for hours about every facet of 2's creativity with its meta narrative and constant questioning of reality but then I wouldn't have time to talk about other games here. Just know that it is now my favorite game ever made. 3, while not quite as crazy and predictive with its plot, is just a really good story about a small group of characters that is incredibly written and told. I also really enjoyed 5's gameplay and a lot of the more subtle storytelling, and while 4 has an utterly incomprehensible plot with tons of holes, the character writing, voice acting, and graphics are phenomenal. I want whatever Kojima smokes when he comes up with these.

3. Red Dead Online - I played this with my brother and encountered a modder on my first day. Think that really informed my take on this game because he gave me a shit ton of money and I was able to use it to get a bounty license which took up most of my time in that game. We'd just queue up a bounty mission and play some Oingo Boingo and Talking Heads while we ride, do the bounty, then watch random videos while we waited till the last minute to drop off the bounty bc of how Rockstar decided to set up the system. We also met a couple people online and overall just had a great experience bein a rootin tootin shootin cowboy. Also my guy looks doofy as fuck.

4. The Artful Escape - Impulse bought this game after I watched a vid by Jexonite where he played every game published by Annapurna because the premise seemed fun and I thought it looked cool. Turns out the game does look cool, incredible even. But the art style is kind of all this game has going for it, aside from some solid voice actors (Jason Schwartzman and Lena Headey were cool and Mark Strong was completely unrecognizable). Gameplay is basically just a walking sim that occasionally tells you to press buttons to play notes on your guitar and the story took a pretty generic turn. Has absolutely zero replay value but I did enjoy playing it.

5. BPM - The first roguelike I've ever gotten into, probably because it has a guns in it. I got all the way up to the last level then died to a low level enemy and have not gotten that far in the game since. The OST goes insanely hard though and is part of the reason why I keep coming back to it. It's also insanely addicting so be warned.

6. Hotline Miami - Probably holds the record for the game that pissed me off the most this year. An insanely fun and fast paced shooter game where your reaction timing is everything and that every nerd with a YouTube channel has already picked apart. Even though some of the AI is complete jank it is so satisfying clearing rooms in this game. The art style is also quite good and the soundtrack introduced me to a ton of new artists. Also is a strong case for environmental storytelling needing to be more prevalent in games. I can figure out what's going on I'm a smart guy.

7. Katana Zero - A very Hotline Miami inspired game aka a game with a pixelated art style and a synthwave soundtrack where the goal is to clear rooms and you die in one hit. I feel a bit more mixed about this game compared to Hotline honestly. I really liked the time slowing mechanic, the mobility, and the way you can reflect bullets with your sword. I also like how the enemy AI actually stays consistent through each run of the level, whereas with Hotline there were some enemies who could move erratically and fuck everything up even if you plan a solid route. However, I think because of how the story was told I don't think it had as much of an impact on me. I can't really remember a lot of the important details but I can remember that a lot of plot threads were left unresolved. Also, while I do like the combat a lot, I feel like it's missing the sandbox approach that Hotline had. Honestly not a game I would necessarily come back to, but if the dev made a sequel I would buy it (especially if we get to play as Dragon more he was cool as fuck). I'll also give the game props for actually having an OST unlike Hotline.

8. Undertale - What could I say about this game that hasn't already been said by the entire population of South Dakota? It is very fun and I am glad I finally took the plunge and played it. Now I just have to finish the other routes at some point lol

9. Lethal Company - I played this game with multiple friend groups and it was incredibly fun but also terrifying. If you haven't played yet, the best advice I can give is to just go in completely blind and figure shit out on your own. Also, try to actually go into the buildings instead of staying in the ship like a goo goo ga ga dingus.

Other stuff I played worth mentioning (Smaller stuff or games I revisited/haven't finished a full playthrough of):

1. A Hat in Time DLC - Played the original game late last year and loved it, but didn't get the DLC so I didn't play it for some time. Played it this year and had a blast. The Nyakuza Metro level is so detailed, you can really tell the devs poured their heart and soul into making this game look as great as it does. Made me rediscover my love for the base game.

2. Titanfall 2 - Not my first time playing it but replayed the single player on PC for the first time (played on Xbox before) and realized the characters and level design were way better than I remembered. I then started pestering everyone I knew to play it and the ones who did seem to like it too. I also popped off multiple times in the multiplayer so it was nice to have a multiplayer game that I'm good at.

3. The Magic Circle - Played for a few hours and then stopped, but the premise is quite fun and I am eager to revisit at some point in the future.

4. The Looker - This one was just funny idrk what else to say. (I have not played The Witness)

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romaine2424 · 10 months

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Daily Blog June 23, 2023

When I used to post on LJ I would often have a post called Tidbits, that is what I think today's post will be like. A lot of unrelated things, but then again some are. Hope you enjoy.

What I'm Reading:

The Light More Beautiful by @firethesound. It's 4 chapters and around 81K. I'm close to finishing chapter 3 and will do so later tonight along with the last chapter. Family and house responsibilities intruded on my fandom fun. LOL I'm so enjoying the story. I really really like reading and writing about older H/D (meaning not Hogwarts or 8th year). Here, I think they're in there late 20's. The fic is canon divergent at some point in HBP where a potion accident happens that effects them greatly, however, the main part of the story takes place 13 years later.

Draco has been trained as an Auror in the US and specializes in creating spying instruments and other things that help Aurors (think of Q in James Bond). Harry is training Aurors since he was waylaid by an injury, which I've yet to discover what happened to him. Draco returns to the UK to find out Pots and Pans (I love this so much), who are Harry and Pansy are best buds. And Draco also returns with his huge crush on Harry fully intact. The interplay between H/D is top notch with lots of sparks, hilarious banter, but also soft moments. Truly lovely. Oh and the acronyms!!! Highly recommend! Can't wait to finish it tonight.

Tumblr Posts of Interest:

Francesca Coppa, one of the original OTW founders, made a post about joining @fanhackers (A place where fans, academics, aca-fans and all manner of enthusiastic fannish people can come together and squee over cool research.) If you enjoy meta and fandom research definitely give a follow, too.

2. The the @thedrarrylibrarian hosts Happy Hour on Fridays with friends of the Library. I'll do a separate post later about @thedrarrylibrarian because they're awesome! But what caught my eye is their hosting @phdmama. Usually, the person they select recs a story that they love that hasn't gotten much play. @phdmama, however, chose to discuss re-reads. This is the way she so artfully stated her reasoning, "Reading, quite literally, has saved my life and transformed it. So I thought I’d highlight of few of those fics that have impacted me so profoundly. These fics are comfort food for my brain. These are fics I come back to, over and over and over again. They live in my soul." And I nodded my head reading her choices. I hope you check out the post and her selections.

What crossed my mind while reading the post was that there are fics that are in my top 10 favs, that I've only read once. I call them my Saving Private Ryan fics. Seeing that movie was an experience, one I'll never forget, but I don't think my heart could handle a second time. I put Frayach's The Price We Pay for Wings in this category. I will never understand how that fic is only 13K. It was written in 2007 for hd_holidays, and remains one of the most beautifully written h/d stories bar none.

Add-ons for yesterday's blog:

For Fan Fair, @phoenixacid heavily promotes commenting on Fair's fics, artwork, and podfics. There is a contest where you are put in a group of random folks who've asked to be involved. And the groups compete against each other for points. Points are given for comments and more points for a rec. So I'm not the only one commenting on all the fics. LOL @caroll-in and I were on the same team last year, I don't think that will happen again. We killed the competition!

@snowingalway commented on my blog yesterday with further clarification of what art is archived and what is reblogged. I found it very helpful. Here's the link with her comment at the end

Older Fic Rec:

So as I mentioned above, I hadn't re-read The Price We Pay for Wings, but when I went to get the link, I discovered something I didn't know existed...a sequel. I didn't know that Frayach had written one, I had left fandom just before. A Flame Undampened is as beautiful as the first, though I do think I could and will read it again. Scorpius had loved and is loved. And that candle, yep, it's a symbol. The fic is around 5K and was written in 2012 in honor of the Newton, CT slaying of innocents.

Oh FFS how can The Price only have 46 comments and Flame 25 ?????? sorry, just got to me. This is a subject for a later blog. :)

Have a good weekend! Rom

#romaine2424 daily blog #June 2023

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turtlesocksv2 · 9 months

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Kinnporsche 12 Rewatch Thoughts

God, Chay not going through with the university interview is fucking heartbreaking. But if I was Porsche I would kick his ass, my god given right as Older Sibling. Porsche spent years busting his ass off working at the bar to give Chay the opportunity at a better life, is encouraging him to go to music school which is one of the worst fields re: actually making any money, and JOINED THE GODDAMN MAFIA so that Chay could keep his house and go to school and this ungrateful little shit! just throws it away! because he's ~sad about a boy~! NOT IN MY FUCKING HOUSE. Chay would be suplexed through a table if I was his older sibling. (yes yes i know it's more complicated than that and Chay is going through a lot! but my older sibling rage does not care for logic or reason, here)

I know Porsche and Pete are Besties but Porsche and Arm have such a solid friendship. Arm is his Bro. Arm is Team Porsche. They have secret codes about stalking Kinn for jealousy reasons. Arm asks Zero questions. Code Red?! Here is your access to all our surveillance tech, Porsche! but also, Porsche really needs to learn not to listen in to conversations when he's not ready to hear them.

Just Normal Kidnapping Things - reading horoscope books with your kidnappers pet hedgehog and making fun of/psychoanalyzing your kidnapper by telling him that he is sensitive and needs love. Hmmm, also I think Vegas knows here that something is wrong with Khun Spikes. Not how serious it is, but that something is Off.

Kinn admits that Korn was the one really pushing for him to get Porsche to work for them by any means necessary and Porsche asks THE burning question: Why Him? Kinn offers to help Porsche get the answers, but Porsche realizes that Kinn can't help him, not really. Because asking the questions Porsche really wants answered is going to involve going against Kinn's dad. And Kinn is the wrong Theerapanyakul for that. (ask Tankhun, porsche! Tankhun could probably get you the answers! The tragedy that no one realizes how smart Tankhun is.)

Every time Korn opens his mouth in this scene:

just straight up lying! all the time! When Porsche storms out and Kinn gives his dad the "really? you just fucked up the best thing to ever happen to me i can't believe you." look, that is not enough!

Ok so I absolutely believe the meta that Khun Spikes died while Pete was asleep and Vegas was just waiting for him to wake up so that he could stage Pete's 'escape'. He made sure Pete knew there were no guards, he left the key, the shirt. it was on purpose. the clues are all there. He had one pet die in that fucking safehouse and didn't want another. But Pete can't bring himself to leave when he sees how sad Vegas is. After they bury Khun Spikes, Vegas walks away from Pete, he doesn't even look back. He's letting Pete go!!! But Pete chooses to stay!

RIP Khun Spikes. King. Legend. Your legacy lives on.

You know, i didn't notice the first time through, but the cinematography and art direction in the VegasPete Fuck Nasty bondage chain sex is like...really unsettling. with the music and the quick cuts and everything. these are not two healthy individuals making smart choices and I love that for them. glad it works out for them in the end.

aaaaaand we immediately go to Bread Product Placement. fucking love Farmhouse Breads for greenlighting the absolutely batshit insane product placement. them and Deutsche Bank.

Kinn is such a schmoopy, gooey bastard when he's in love. "i could live anywhere as long as it's with you" Korn is now terrified that Kinn is gonna pull a Nampheung and run off with a Kittisawat Boy.

here we go, the really fucking weird Tay-Porsche conversation where Tay says that Time doesn't really love him and it's not like it is with KinnPorsche. what an absolutely batshit weird thread that's just vaguely in the background. i have to know what was cut for time/pacing. also, I think Tay might have had feelings for Kinn at some point and even if he's not currently, like, in love with Kinn there's still a light "Kinn would treat me better than Time does :(" energy. and he's right! Kinn would treat him better than Time does! Dump Time's fickle ass! When Porsche tells Tay that he and Kinn are both out of the business now, Tay gets this look on his face like:

And of course Korn can sense that Kinn is happy and has to crash the party and ruin it. (I do like how in tune Tay and Time were here, they've been Kinn's friends long enough to realize it's about to go down and they should leave.)

I do have to wonder what that dude did to piss Korn off that he gave Porsche his picture and address and said "this is the man that killed your parents. have fun :)" He had to know there was the possibility that Porsche would go through with it. just like there was a possibility that he wouldn't. so did korn care if this guy dies? does he die a few weeks later in a mysterious accident anyway? HMMMM. Anyway, Porsche choosing not to kill the guy is such an important moment. We're on a Porsche Corruption Arc but he's not that far gone.

Chan just looms in the background and i am dying to know what he knows. what he thinks. he's been korn's right hand man and closest bodyguard for so long. he must know so much.

Kim realizing just how much he fucked up with Chay is hilarious. And Chay trying to have his post-breakup rebellion is even funnier. sir, you are a kitten you do not drink or do drugs or have dyed hair.

Uncle Thee is a dick for extorting Porsche, but you know what, Stopped Clocks and all that. He's right to tell Porsche not to trust Korn. I do wonder if he knows exactly what happened back then or if he's just bullshitting.

#kprewatch2023 #kinnporsche

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seariii · 4 months

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9, 13, 22, 25!!! <333

HIIIIII HIIIII SORRY FOR THE WAIT, THANK YOUUUUU ILYYY <3333

9. Best month for you this year?

Hmm... Probably around July? Is when I discovered milgram and I was still at... Work? Doing school practices? Idk how to say it, but yeah, I would take the bus almost for an hour to go and then to come back to my house, and would be my nice little time of letting my mind jump free with music. And the other people that were on my area during that month were lovely and made me feel welcomed!

13. How was your birthday?

... if I remember correctly, this year I made a small dinner on my house, I invited like... 8 people but only like 4 came... I remember I stressed a bit because I didn't know how to entertain them, but ended up putting up the switch and gossiping with them... It was actually really fun!

22. Favorite place you visited?

This one is difficult too because I didn't travel so.... Oh! I went to the lagoon this one time! I've told this story before lmao, about how I was gonna go with a friend and I arrived, but the friend was late, I waited for an hour and got a call from them that the bus left them and they would take like an hour and a half or more, I was being pessimistic so I already had thought of that possibly lmao. At the end, tho, it was nice to feel the cool breeze and watch the sunset, which was the scenery that inspired my Kotoko's bday art. I also bought some Sanrio washitape that someone was selling over there.

25. Did you create any characters?

*evil laughter* OH BOY DID I!! I created Saori, and since I've been outed as a selfshipper/yumeshipper, yes, that was one of her original purposes, the other one was because I love the milgram universe and because [personal information has been redacted] so I wanted to create a character that could fit in, and all that. It's a self insert at the end of the day, except she hasn't gone to therapy. As a fun fact, her first name is my irl name, so I gave her a middle name, Saori, which was the name my parents ALMOST gave me (and by pure coincidence is similar to Seari). But that's like meta information on her....

Her as a character... She is a people pleaser, and always tries to get along with everyone! She is really affectionate and her love language is physical touch, she grew up in Mexico (her father is Mexican) and at first she went on a student exchange to Japan during highschool but decided to stay! So.... In milgram, she really wants to hug people and at first is having such a hard time because she feels lonely being unable to hug anyone (but keeps smiling and stuff), also she knows that the Japanese culture is really different to the Mexican culture, so she struggles a lot with that. Eventually, tho, Mahiru and Mikoto (and probably other ones too) are unlocked as huggable and she feels a little better!!! (For a while at least)

#she probably hugs anyone who lets her. no one is safe #sorry for the wall of text hehe #saori oc #seari answers #ask game

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n7punk · 1 year

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Let Me Ride Fic Notes

These notes are going to be shorter/looser than usual, this was an utter lie and I don't know why I thought I could abide by it when I wrote it a month ago. Anyway, Let Me Ride is done and as always I have meta.

Epilogue Life:

It's all set up in the fic, but they start working on spending time together more, talking things out, and generally fixing their relationship. They still have more growing to do, and integrating their lives and new friendships is kind of a struggle, but they get there.

Catra focuses on street racing a while, which is honestly good for their relationship at first because Catra feels like her skill is finally respected, but it's also really dangerous. As she slowly gets brought on as additional help ("as needed") around the track, she also gets access to the track itself during downtime through favoritism, and though she finds street racing a lot more fun, she can also acknowledge it's a lot safer for both herself and others to race on the track. She never fully quits being a nuisance on the roads - and neither does Adora, even if she stops participating in organized races - but she does slow down ("You've made me boring," she accuses Adora. That kind of stuff), it just takes a while.

Entrapta and Scorpia keep living together for a while until Scorpia ends up meeting Perfuma through the track (context further in the notes) and they spark up a relationship.

Playlist:

Dressed To Kill by The Wombats, Disco Heart by Gia Woods, Lesbionic by Gia Woods, Pineapple Slice by Tove Lo, WET by Lauren Sanderson, uh oh by Tate McRae (again), Whiplash by Alex Cappelli, 20 Questions by Zolita (yeah, I know it's a cheating song and the hook-ups aren't actually a problem in here, but it's more the energy of "Oh, did you get everything you wanted? Was it worth it?" applied to Adora leaving), and finally: Kiss Goodnight by I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME. (All of this capitalization is correct).

Chapter 1:

"Let me ride" is... well we all know what it is, but it's also Adora quite literally going "Angella please let me ride", being told no, and then going sulking - accidentally - right into Catra's arms.

I don't think I ever mentioned this, actually, but there's been a steady amount of motorcycle catradora art over the years that of course acts as the big inspiration/motivation for doing a motorcycle AU.

Adora says she "shouldn't" look at the magicat because she's expecting one of two outcomes: 1) it's some random magicat and she might be in for another painful experience like she talks about in Chapter 4, or 2) it actually is Catra and everything ends up hurting more. She wasn't expecting a third choice.

As implied later and unsurprisingly, Adora is autistic in this, hence her strong attraction to certain sensations and need for them or else she gets deeply unsettled. She's just the rare case of an autistic not bothered by sound.

I decided to go with naming the bikes Swift Wind and Melog partially because Swift Wind just made sense for Adora's bike but also because Melog's role in the show as, essentially, a therapy animal for Catra underscores how much of her mental well-being is coming from racing at that point in her life.

Chapter 2:

Neighorhoods like Glimmer's are far from standard where I live right now, but I have seen them here and there when traveling in both fancy and Very Average (or less) neighborhoods. There's no driveway in the front, so the front yards have ~aesthetic~ paths to the front door, and then there's a normal backyard and behind the back fence is a hidden driveway with a back street between the street rows to reach it. It kind of doubles the amount of street needed for a "single street" of houses since they have the "real" (for show) wide streets out front and then narrower backstreets between backyards.

Mentioning them using the strap facedown the first time was supposed to lowkey be a reference to toht, which was the first time I wrote strapping, only I just realized I'm actually thinking of the first strap scene in SLAS so... listen all the smut blends together.

This whole fic was supposed to be 20k and then chapter 2 alone ended up 9k because I couldn't control them and I realized I was a lost cause.

Chapter 3:

Adora speculates on it, but Catra cut her hair both because it was getting in the wound on her neck and making it hard to care for and because it changes her appearance pretty dramatically and makes her feel better about avoiding the Horde and the cops.

Of course Adora blames herself for Entrapta leaving. She's Adora. It's not like she's the newbie and no one who knew Entrapta better could do it either - no, she's the reason Catra found out about Entrapta, so it's her fault.

Adora genders her bike because she has pack-bonded with it, but Catra (though Extremely attached to her own bike) finds it weird to gender cars and the like.

Catra and Scorpia are staying at Entrapta's apartment because Catra ended up moving in with Scorpia after the breakup, and then they were worried about the Horde seeking retribution on them (rightfully) so they moved in with Entrapta since the Horde hadn't actually had reason to learn her address yet, and that way they could all be together to fight back if someone came after them.

Shadow Weaver betraying Catra and the Horde is a mirror of that arc from season two/three, but in this case Catra ended up fully banished because she was never given a path of redemption (even one that was intended to be a suicide mission so Hordak could keep Entrapta happy) and she's lowkey a shoot on sight order for the Horde, only the Horde doesn't really kill people, it's just that if they did she would be the first. She knows way too much and supposedly is already willing to work with the cops, making her a bigger risk than Adora was when she walked. She isn't actually in danger of being killed, but it's best she steers clear from the Horde in every way that she can.

Hordak "seducing" Entrapta wasn't like, real seducing for multiple reasons. In this AU, Hordak is focused on getting in with the Prime organized crime group to work towards expansion, so he hasn't worked with Entrapta but he is around the shop enough to know how useful she is and thus tried to convince her to stay. Part of that "seduction" was stuff like offering her better builds, which is better than sex in motivation for Entrapta lol. In the end, though, he was threatening to kill her friend for something Entapta couldn't see being Catra's fault. Entrapta was also pretty close with Catra and Melog was enough motivation on their own.

She was kind of missing the racers back at the track, too, and sticking with the Horde through this meant she had little chance of going back. While she was free to build without legal restrictions, monetary ones were a much bigger confining factor than they had been at the track, and she wasn't really allowed to do whatever she wanted on most customer cars since they asked for one thing and that was all Shadow Weaver and Hordak wanted to give them. Giving out upgrades for free is bad business, as is doing expensive upgrades that weren't asked for and holding the car hostage until they're paid for. The shop had downsides along with its benefit.

Catra was out in the garage for several minutes because she was 1) composing herself but also 2) looking over "Swift Wind" and inspecting what changes Adora had made (basically everything but the frame) and especially how careful she was when she removed things, looking to see if she left dents or scuffs on Catra's bike (for the most part she didn't because she was careful). It was her trying to determine how respectful Adora was when she took the parts (an act Catra considers disrespectful in itself, but she's aware at this point that Adora doesn't see it that way, so she wants to see how well she did treat it in the process).

Adora just happened to throw her jacket really well so it stayed hanging up on it all night. It seemed like the kind of stupid, jocky thing that Catra thought Adora would practice so she looked smooth when she took off her jacket and acted all effortless - probably flexing her muscles in the process, which would be impressive if they weren't already making out at that point.

When Adora says Entrapta "cuffed" Swift Wind it's not supposed to be racing terminology, but rather personal slang they use do to their origins in this fic, referencing being arrested and handcuffed.

Adora calls Swift Wind "one of the few things Catra has taken proud in", which is partially true, but mostly that's because she's never had the opportunity to do a lot of things she's proud of. Her mechanical skill is about all she has gotten and Swift Wind, being a long time project of her with lots of funds poured into it, and being the only vehicle she has worked on other than Melog that she "keeps", is in another league. It's also missing the context that Catra wasn't only upset about Swift Wind being taken apart because she was proud of her own work, but also because it was the only damn thing she has ever been able to do for Adora with how Shadow cornered them.

Chapter 4:

I was really hoping this would be the last chapter. So hopeful, in fact, that my chapter headings looked like this:

(Obviously I did not end up needing a Chapter 6, but whenever I make a doc I always include a few more chapters than I think I need because I know myself at this point. Also I wrote this bulletpoint before I was halfway through Chapter 4, so hubris really could have gotten me there.)

Obviously Adora isn't really a pillow princess but Catra likes to rile her up.

Catra is so boneless after taking care of Adora because she has been soothed right down to her soul by Adora giving everything over to her like that, trusting her in a way she now knows Adora has only ever trusted her. And then it's her turn 🥰

Adora's speculation was right. Part of Catra's planning was just general scheming behavior and she absolutely wasn't sore after breakfast - and wasn't even really that sore in Chapter 3 either - but letting Adora think that gave her an excuse for slow sex without admitting that's what she actually wanted.

I had so many ideas for when they were laying in bed (pre- and post-sex) in both this chapter and chapter 3, it was ridiculous. Like there's no way I could have used all of them and some of them contradicted each other anyway. That's part of why the smut in this surprised me: 90% of what I had outlined was cuddling and conversation, and then that did Not end up being 90% of the fic.

The "dark edge" to Catra's voice when Adora said her time with the other magicat was gross was her being 100% ready to kill the other woman if she had mistreated Adora.

Honestly my first A/N in the fic was more about the emotional growth these girls still need to go through than the... questionable decisions they have made. Adora is still in her "don't be a burden" mode, and Catra needs to grow into vulnerability more, although she makes good progress in the fic. The rest of that growth is set up by them finally getting back together. They have more to learn and they are going to fight, but after going through the breakup, they can handle it now.

Catra isn't trying to be mean about the plushie - honestly, it makes her affectionate - but it's extremely Adora and that makes her laugh.

When I say the unicorn's mane is "plastic" I mean like really shitty synthetic threads that straight up feel like plastic and tangle easily. That shit is all over "little girls'" toys and it's a nightmare both to touch and maintain.

Adora mentions buying the lingerie for herself because she's never actually worn it in front of anybody else and she didn't want Catra to think she'd done it for some hookup. She had a lot of issues post-breakup, including esteem issues, and it was Glimmer's suggestion. She has put it on once or twice but mostly relegated it to a corner. Post-making-up, however, it finally gets some fun use.

My outline for the end of the chapter was: ["let me drive you home?" "no you cant" BECAUSE SHES ALREADY HOME].

When Catra mentions going back to check on Entrapta, that's partially because Entrapta is getting increasingly more unhinged the longer she goes without work, and because she wants to go talk to her about coming back to the track so they can move onto the next phase of the plan now she knows she wants to go through with it.

Obviously the chapter title is in reference to how I was supposed to have everything wrapped up in the fourth chapter, but it's also kind of the thread throughout the entire fic, expecting every kiss and interaction to be the last.

Chapter 5:

I like the bookending of music being in the first and last chapter, the mentions of sound distortion being in both, and each one ending with them racing off together. I find that kind of thing fun.

Entrapta "isn't a threat" in that everyone at the track knows she would never do anything to hurt them. Girl can absolutely be a threat if she wants to be.

Entrapta hadn't come back to the track immediately because, after becoming friends with Catra and hearing all her rants about Adora, she realized she might not be welcome and they could be mad at her for abandoning them, something that had never occurred to her. It's an aspect of relationships that wasn't immediately obvious to her, but she's been misunderstood and outcast before, mostly in school when she was the subject of a misunderstanding, so it was just easier to not go back and tell herself she liked the freedom of doing whatever personal project she wanted. It was really starting to wear on her though and she wasn't going to be able to hold out for much longer. Catra knew that and getting Entrapta settled back at the track was also part of her agenda when it came to going home with Adora. Catra promised her she could come back that night, after Adora had texted, and she wasn't at all surprised when Entrapta wanted to go immediately, though she convinced her to wait until morning. It moved up the time table on her though and made it harder for her to plan past that in time, something she couldn't do before without seeing how Adora would react to her first.

Entrapta used a simplified ("for younger audiences") dictionary to fall asleep (if she had it her way, it would have been the full thing, but 1, her parents were the ones who had final say and 2, kiiiiind of hard to find audiobooks of the dictionary), one that was designed to introduce new words to kids/teens without going into a million variations of them. I decided this because when I tried to use a real dictionary, I couldn't find my physical one and online dictionary databases are like, a word and then 20 variants of it before moving onto the next one, which didn't really work well for the joke. I ended up searching "words that start with 'au'" on wordhippo and filtering it to common words and then using a couple of the unique words.

Catra went the club a few times without Adora showing throughout the year they were broken up, but like half the times she went without Adora showing were very recent, once she put this plan together and just needed to run into Adora to enact it. As Adora made partying more infrequent, it was harder to find her, but since Adora was also pretty consistent on which days she went, it wasn't all that hard.

I got an ask about what "The Scene™️" is for LMR, and I couldn't answer it 100% honestly then, but I can elaborate now. If you're new, The Scene is the scene (or scenes) that I consider the "big scenes" for the fic, things that really motivated me to write it in the first place or that a lot was building up to/riding on, or that are just a part of the fic I'm super excited for, whether that means to write or share it. For this fic, I had so much outlined that I was excited to write that it's hard to pick one, but if I have to narrow it down to Just One, the conversation in the kitchen where Catra reveals she's hooking up with Entrapta and they finally start to talk things out is probably the answer, with runner-up the scene in the observation deck where Catra reveals the events of the entire fic were planned. When I wrote chapter one at the very beginning, I didn't really do it with that context, but by the time I was doing the final edit I think I knew that was going to be the big reveal, so it has been a secret throughline from chapter 2 at the latest, depending when it happened and how you want to count it. The fic was both building to it, and could exist outside of it, because while it contextualized Catra's actions, before that it was just a hookup and growing fic, and that worked too, but I do think this is a pretty solid moment. I was really excited for all the cuddling and morning after conversation, though, so it's really hard to pick one and say that's it.

I just realized I never said it, but Scorpia got Catra the leather jacket (along with matching ones for her and Entrapta, though Scorpia's is actually a vest because finding one that fit her arms and worked with her spikes wasn't happening. Entrapta doesn't really wear hers because it's a Restrictive Sensation to her) after the stabbing as a bonding, here's-the-symbol-of-our-new-group thing, even though they didn't really have a new group, she was just trying to make Catra feel better about being kicked out of the Horde.

I also never said it in the fic because the scene mentioning it got cut, but the Horde isn't actually based out of Bright Moon, they're like an hour away over the city line to the next town, where Glimmer drove when she wanted to see street racing hoping to avoid people recognizing her (and Bow went with her to make sure she was okay). Catra came to Bright Moon downtown to dance the first time she ran into Adora because they just have a better scene there and then after that she kept coming back for her. It means it isn't too hard for them to avoid the Horde and their old life once they decide to move on.

Sea Hawk is a racer and Mermista is his girlfriend who he has been trying to convince to be his umbrella girl for ages just because he wants to show her off (in a "that's my girl!" way not in like, an objectifying way) but she's refused because that means publicly acknowledging she likes him, something she'll still deny to their friends when they catch them in the middle of making out.

Ok, so umbrella girls (or, apparently, just "the umbrellas" which is. insanely objectifying). I'm not going to pretend to know a lot about them, but I did google some stuff. I was introduced to them when I watched a MotoGP race to see what I was dealing with back when I was first planning this and there were tall supermodel ladies holding umbrellas over the racers before the race started to... protect them from the elements, I guess? Anyway, I don't know if they have to meet all these Requirements like cheerleaders, but it's my AU so I say that in Etheria they're Some Hot Lady who also does promo work for their racer/team and helps deal with sponsors. If you want to be more diverse (and/or get some publicity) you can pick a more unconventional choice like a dude or something. Perfuma is Adora's usual umbrella lady, and she's also a model with this basically being a sidegig she does because she finds the racing and racers hot. Also racing isn't a segregated sport on Etheria, which I'm Pretty Confident it is IRL.

Original Outline:

Surprising Nobody, Probably, this AU is actually two AUs combined. I had the backstory for Let Me Ride (MotoGP/street racing AU) with a few failed attempts at a story for it that never seemed that interesting to me (interesting to read, but not to write, at least not enough for me to actually do it) and I had what I called the "fuckboi drummer" AU, which is what half of the plot for this fic is, but that fic had no backstory or justification for why they were fighting and I just couldn't come up with one that matched the animosity between them, so the two ideas ended up fitting together well.

There were several original stabs at plot for LMR, but the most recent state of it before it became This was that Adora and Catra were both street racers, but they only had the one bike (Adora's bike) so Catra was mostly shoe-horned into the mechanic role, and when Adora got basically sponsored by Glimmer to become a real racer she was like "this is great, we'll move to Bright Moon and I'll pay for you to go to college and do whatever you want", not realizing what Catra wanted was to race and that had been totally discarded. Which like, still is kind of the backstory of the AU, just with some details changed.

The only plot I had after that was that Catra went solo in illegal races once Adora was gone and had her own fancy bike (thus not needing the one Catra built anymorer) and so Catra started tricking it out and eventually got sponsors. She was able to buy her way into low-level professional races and worked her way up through the circuit the traditional way instead of getting scouted and jumping straight to the big leagues. Aaaaaand that was mostly it. I took a couple stabs at coming up with a plot beyond "Oh Catra went up a rank and is getting one step closer to racing Adora" but nothing ever really materialized. At one point they were orphans who stole the bike and Adora was the only racer because they only owned one helmet lol.

For the fuckboi drummer AU, I'd been thinking for a while that Adora would like drums because it feels like hitting shit, and well, there's that TikTok, so I was bored waiting in the parking lot and basically started outlining the hook-up and morning after scenes with the vague idea that the backstory was they ran into each other again at a club and Catra is aware Adora has been hooking up ever since they broke up because she's a little broken inside. Catra comes home with her, they have one night together, and Catra Does Actually Leave in the morning.

The part that existed in the parking lot but that I was never planning on actually writing was that then a few days later Catra does a splice with one of Adora's TikToks - because Adora's drumming was vaguely plot relevant and she sometimes posts short drumming covers on her TikTok just for fun and the compliments she gets on her arms - where Catra sings the words that would go with that part of the song. The song in question was the one I was listening to in the car at the time, the chorus of "Good For Her" by Mothica. Adora comments back "this is so fucked up, Catra", leading to some mild internet drama since they both had a few thousand followers and people in the comments were like oo what 👀 Yeah I wasn't ever planning to write that TikTok part but I was bored XD After that Catra comes around for a second time and this time she stays and there's all that morning after stuff.

When I went to actually write the fuckboi drummer AU, it got condensed down to meeting at the club and going home together with Catra staying permanently after that and all the morning after type stuff. Of course, as I went to write it I found I needed a legitimate backstory, and that's when the "all backstory" AU combined with the "I'm bored in the parking lot" AU and we got the final version of Let Me Ride with at least a bit of an overarching plot in Catra secretly planning it all.

#lmr #ficmeta #fic notes

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jesron · 1 year

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Monster Roadtrip Hitchhiker Speculation/Wish List

I’ve been playing A LOT of Monster Roadtrip lately, and one of my favourite aspects about it are the hitchhikers and the conversations you can have with them While this series is usually so focused on its meta-aware humour and just sheer ridiculousness (and awfulness) of its characters, it’s honestly really interesting when they decide to shift focus on more down to earth and geniune moments for those characters. It’s honestly made me appreciate characters like Stu and Moss who I just thought of as nothing more than jokes, and showed that even they have more layers than one might have thought That’s not even mentioning all the things these convos do for the character that we already knew had a lot going on already. It’s just such a fun way to learn more about these insane characters (And also the lore? Which, I gotta be honest, I was not expecting this series to get into its own lore but I am eating it all up). The only problem is I wish there more hitchhikers to interact with... And so they’ve been releasing more of them! Via either free updates or paid DLCs, we’ve gotten even more of these guys to interact! We’ve got classics like Hope, entirely new characters like Adrien, and even Amira and Oz as hitchhikers (At the time of me posting this, we’ll soon even be getting Brian and Vicky! My favourites of the original PCs so yay!) So, seeing as the team seems keen on giving us more hitchhikers via updates, I thought it’d be fun to speculate(dream out loud possible hitchikers we could meet on the road in the future 1: Faith

The first Hitchhiker I immedaitely thought should be added was Faith. Can’t have the Coven with just two witches after all. Gotta complete the trio! Plus, since I feel Faith is the most down to earth member of the Coven, I’d love to hear her perspective on all the crazy magic stuff, foiling evil plans (and her evil alternate), and just in general all the weird stuff this group has gone through 2: The Interdimensional Prince

WE STILL DON’T EVEN KNOW THIS GUYS ACTUAL NAME! Like, we know just as the Interdimensional Prince. The hitchhiker convos are a great way to learn about the characters in this series, and oh boy do I want to learn the deal with this guy Also it’d be fun to learn if his goals of “Marry the first person he sees” have changed ever since the first game, especially seeing as character’s futures is a prevelent theme in Roadtrip 3: Batniss

(I did not realize her picture would be so small that’s adorable) Let’s move on over to Monster Camp! While Batniss was a bit of a joke character meant to take some jabs at common YA novel tropes in Camp, I think she could work spectacularly in Roadtrip Especially with the convos! Like, I’d love to learn what actually inspires this flying gremlin, it could easily turn a pretty obvious joke (just look at the name) into something a bit more interesting to dissect Also I bet her date ending polaroid would be really cute 4: Jerry

(Okay so I guess these pictures I took were just smaller in general, go figure) I am honestly shocked Jerry wasn’t a hitchhiker in the base game Like, “dangerous hitchhiker” is a trope that fits this guy perfectly and I’d love to see how the team would play with that, mechanics wise anyways And yes he may be a bit antagonistic with a the threats od murder... and the actual murders... and everything that went on in that basement But still, he’s not... not a nice guy? So having convos with him could be a fun(?) way to learn what’s the deal with... you know, the murders

5: Jacqueline

Let’s round this wish list with some of the new characters introduced in Roadtrip! Jacqueline I’d say is definitively one of the break out stars of the new side characters, getting some pretty cool art shown off in the buildup of the game’s release and even getting her own Merkingdom style portrait Plus, with the convos we could learn a little more about the farm life in the Monster realm, since I can’t imagine that being easy at all... and I also really want to learn about her messed up side like that face made her infinitely scarier than Jerry in my book ye gods 6: Whiskey

While there were a lot of other characters I’d love to see explored more (Nu, Mamimi, and the Human from WTF comes to mind) I just love Whiskey so much you don’t even know The expression they gave him are amazing, his personality is magnificent, and just the general idea of him and his design make me love him I would love to get a date ending with this guy (could you imagine him and Juan getting together. That alone picture in my head justifies him in my eyes as a future hitchhiker) But yeah, those were some mons I’d love to see in the future of Roadtrip. I know some of them don’t have that high a chance of getting in as hitchhikers, but it’s fun to speculate still Would love to hear if there are any other suggestions for hitchhikers from the community

#monster prom #monster camp #monster roadtrip #hitchhikers #speculation #faith #the interdimensional prince #batniss #jerry #jacqueline #whiskey

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hua-fei-hua · 1 year

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Hi Huaaaaaaa I'm in your askbox :3

10, 19, 23, 45 for the Fanfiction Questions, I simply must know

hiii naviiiiii we are hanging out on my blog :33

totally forgot i rb'd those things hehe but anyway~

10. Is there a fandom you read fic from but don’t write in?

at first glance, my thought was no, bc i don't really fandom-ize every bit of media i absorb, just a few special ones (i can be normal about things!! for real (not clickbait)!!!)

that said, there are a few fandoms i've read fic for that i've never written for! going all the way back to my roots, i read so much mlp fic, n although i technically wanted to write mlp fic back in the day (n have like. two paragraphs of an ancient pitch rotting in my gdocs), i never really committed to it.

nat made me read some pokespe fics too back in the day, so i've read a couple of those too despite never really reading a ton of the manga. one pokespe author also recommended some kingdom hearts fic that i ended up reading, despite having never played kh or knowing anything about it really!

i also used to read a lot of miraculous ladybug fic (once in a blue moon i'll also get update emails for some of them c':), n although i had some ideas for mlb fic, i never wrote any of them.

i think the most recent fandoms i've read but never written for have been the adventure zone (balance), since i'd read taz fic as it crossed my dash after i listened to the podcast, and princess tutu, bc i had a mutual who got into it, so i started w/their fic after i watched the anime, then poked around the archive a bit hehe

19. Is there a ship which you wished you could get behind, but you just don’t feel them?

hmmm i'm honestly kind of a "once a hater, always a hater" kind of person, so it's kind of hard for me to think of a ship that i see around, know the basic appeal of, but don't really Understand in a way that makes me more proactive or picky w/seeing them portrayed.

that said, i would love to read some kokosara meta that elaborates on how a relationship btwn them would further kokomi's character, why sara is the only character who would be able to push her in that particular direction

23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it.

oooo that's tough, since i'm very fond of p much all my fics for various different reasons, even if i don't think their writing is particularly up to my standards anymore.

like, even tho jjk was technically a while ago for me now, i'm still obsessed w/the idea of a constellation au (zenith); and the diner at the end of the night is still easily one of the most well-written high-energy comedies i've ever pulled off.

it's also really hard to pick out of my genshin fics which one holds the most specialest place in my heart bc most of them hold niches in my heart!!!

typically, though, i pick disjunct bc during the writing process, it was the first time where i really felt allowed to give a character Mixed Race Struggles(tm) wholesale w/o feeling like i was just making them mixed for the sake of it. i'm also really happy with the way it ended up resonating w/people on a core level, and the experience of artist-viewer connection n just having an Art Moment(tm) that resulted!!

45. What is your all time favourite fanfic?

i used to say A Miscellaneous Tale of Night and Day, which is The 200k word pokespe fic nat made me read when we were in high school that hasn't updated since 2012 that has effectively inoculated me against "abandoned fanfiction sadness", and the plot n premise are still a ton of fun, but i've been rereading it a bit as of late, and you can feel the early 2010s casual transphobia and misogyny in it lol. i'd say that it helped shape my comedic tastes/ability to just write self-indulgently, so for that, i'd categorize it under "influential fics"

honestly my favorite fics tend to be long multichapters, but there are honestly so few that line up with my tastes and have an ending in genshin, n i didn't read enough in jjk to have any longfics to really be fondly subscribed to. thinking about it, i genuinely think my fave fics are just the ones nat n i make up together over discord until five in the morning LMAO

in terms of fics that exist(ed, at least at one point), i'd say the now-deleted snk fic tower of babel would probably qualify as one of my all-time faves, n i can say that's not just the nostalgia glasses bc i do still have a copy on my hard drive lol. the premise is that five girls, each hiding their own secrets from each other or the world, end up renting one apartment together, n they learn to trust each other enough to communicate n rely on one another. there's also a bit of romance happening in the bg, but it's not the biggest aspect of the fic, n i really liked that!!! also the way it dropped the title in the end, basically stating its main theme as "it's a lot easier to fix your problems if you communicate abt it" CHANGED MY LIFE the first time i read it lol

ANYWAY YEAH that's all of them hehe thanks for the ask~

fanfiction questions

#asks #kanonavi #long post #bc i do not shut up <3 very real of me #ask game #interestingly enough in genshin i'm pretty lukewarm on any ships that didn't already exist when i got into the game #i really do just pick one ship n then cling to it for years every time i'm in a fandom #so i'm kind of perpetually in the mond/liyue sphere of characters lol #although i am v fond of the inazuma cast!!! wish mhy did smth with them #although i do like ships in sumeru n stuff i've never rlly sat down n thought abt them too much w/nat #though we should rlly return to that one red string of fate au we started planning when we first got into the game #that's meant to span the ENTIRE PLOT of genshin so we have to put it down every so often for game plot to progress #bc in planning that we get to hash out our ideal character dynamics across large casts n that rllly rlly helps w/getting into ships n stuff

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rubykgrant · 2 years

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for the ask prompt: York?

i really love your art, stories, and interpretations on the characters!

hope you have a good day! <3

First impression

I saw the Freelancer flash-backs before Out of Mind, so my first impression of him was a little different than some people; I at first thought he was kind of the "office slacker" kinda dude, like he's really chill but not especially close to anybody... and I wasn't entirely wrong about him being chill, but obviously there is MORE to him than that~

Impression now

A lot of his aloof attitude is intentional to either put people at ease or make them underestimate him; now that I've seen a small glimpse of him VERY early in the Freelancer program (thanks to Wash time traveling), I feel like York used to kind of set aside his real feelings. When he put his armor on, he was Mr Serious! After a while though... this attitude clearly wasn't working. For one thing, EVERYBODY was super stressed-out, and it started to carry over to when they were supposed to relax. So, York would try to make them laugh, remind them of what fun was, but not in a totally irresponsible way. He was just really calm and funny, and it worked! Not only did his companions feel more hopeful because of him, when he started joking around with guards or other enemies, they assumed he was no threat... which meant he had an advantage. York was just an effortlessly charming dude, and the only thing that got in his way was when he tried to hard to no-nonsense

Favorite moment

All the bits with him on the mission to get the Sarcophagus; he was very York-tastic through it all

Idea for a story

I had an AU idea once for a Freelancer/AI/Sim Trooper swap; in which the AI were Freelancers (with Greek Alphabet code-names; Alpha is still the original AI, but he's had his memories taken away and given a false identity as a Freelancer), the original Sim Troopers are now AI Fragments (because they're still supposed to be Alpha's friends that represent ways to help him), and the PFL agents are now Sim Troopers in Blood Gulch. York and North were the dudes on Red Team who just stand around talking all day. York also picks locks so he can hide in closets or storage rooms to take naps and get out of work

Unpopular opinion

I'm not sure how "unpopular" it is? I think York would have bonded fairly well with the other AI as well, and while he perhaps wouldn't have become the Meta (that feels like a specific Maine and Sigma situation), he also would have listened to Sigma and tried to help him (again, the situation would have been different... would it have been better? or worse? hmm!!!)

Favorite relationship

My MOST favorite is him with Delta; they were so close and genuinely cared about each other so deeply... and Delta wanted to stay with him, even when York was dying. That's just EVERYTHING. Obviously him and Carolina is wonderful, and his friendship with North and Wash is good too... but remember what I said about him having a serious side, while also joking around with people? I wish we could have seen more between him, Maine, and Wyoming. I feel like they actually worked really well together (they were even a team against Tex), and had a unique sort of bond. Still, nothing tops York and Delta. I got the vibe that, they didn't always understand each other BUT they understood that it was alright, they could talk about pretty much anything, and they just made each other feel comfortable and safe

Favorite headcanon

I can't think of too many that aren't canon in some way... my own personal HC is that he was genderfluid, York just never got to really talk about it much

Thanks for asking~

#answer #red vs blue #agent york #copperphysics106 #ask

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memes-saved-me · 2 years

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I have a few thoughts on your last anon (feel free to ignore/delete). Part of the problem is a purity and righteous canon view mixed with fanon.

If one looks at things from meta (canon interpretation), you should be able to have discussions about characters and situations. Meta is where the racist billy and abused billy talk should be - different people look at things differently and it's a good discussion to have (lets you see things from other's points of view with a common denominator of the show).

Fanon is the transformative part. Someone has Billy be a mean, angry villian, or a sweet kid who got abused, or a smart guy, or ignores him entirely. It's not interpreting characters, it's expanding on them. The fun part for a lot of people

Now, you can take your meta (interpretation) and put it into fanon (the made up part) and that's fine and good and everyone does it. However, you cannot force your interpretation onto someone else's fanon and I think a lot of fighting comes from that (top/bottom as an example). But this can be okay, because its fake fake fake. It is not real. It's all fiction.

A problem arises when it stops being about canon or fanon and becomes about the people. E.g. X is a gross ship vs X shippers are gross. The shippers and the character lovers are real, while the ships and characters are not. Bullying people because they don't do make believe the way you want them to is asinine. Block tags and blogs and move on. Harassing actors for the characters they portray is even more stupid. Some antis take this view that their interpretation of fanon is the only true way, the only right way, and anyone else if bad/wrong. Somehow it gets to a point where a real human thinks that liking some fictional thing is a reflection on that person. I have seen a post that said writers don't make Billy racist enough - as in they want more racism? Or that he should be abusive (explicitly) in every story? That doesn't sound healthy to me.

Though, to your point, there can be good discussions to have for fanon. Are racist stereotypes common? Is misogyny a problem? Is biphobia, ableism, etc? But these are (usually) community concerns and while I don't have answers, I know bullying random strangers isn't the answer.

Billy isn't real. Why do people like/ship him? Why not.

Welcome to humanity, someone likes it and someone doesn't.

Yes exactly. I couldn't agree more. Characters are like pieces of art or music, people see different things in them. Someone might look at Billy and see parts of a person who hurt and abused them, other might see a part of them which was abused and hurt. Both are fine. Both are human reactions and thoughts. You can hate a character that people love but guess what? You can avoid that character very easily if you block tags and don't follow people who like them.

As you said its when the bullying and harassment starts against real people that it is a problem. Hate Billy all you want but don't come and tell abuse victims they deserve to die like he did. That's just fucked up even without the context.

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shadowed-dancer · 2 years

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Thoughts on Episode 114 (S6 E1)

Badass bunny, best bros, and a season starting. Let’s talk about it

I may try and do these little thought summaries every Saturday, mostly so I can remember and look back later. I’ll try to do it earlier next time so my first impressions are still fresh

Spoiler free because I don’t mention specific moments or future events but like… if you know the manga you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about

The op and ed are so cool. I was honestly a little nervous with the op at first (when it just showed the title I was like “umm what is this?”) but as soon as I saw Deku and understood what was happening I was so hyped. The whole comic style was so cool, and there’s something very fun and meta about this being the arc manga (comic) readers were most excited for, and then showing some key moments like a comic book

I do feel the song is a little too… happy for what’s coming up, and part of me feels a sense of tonal dissonance hearing this upbeat song with footage of… a certain character on the attack. Like… that’s not a badass moment of “look how cool this guy is,” it’s a serious scene. It’s not a big deal, like I said, it just feels weird seeing that with this music. But it’s a great op overall and I love it so much

The ed actually made me misty eyed. Something about that shot of Tomura with the billowing cape is so calming. Big flashbacks to Sesshomaru in that one ed, big nostalgia hit

Also the shot of young Deku and Tenko… bro I feel so vindicated for Season 5

Also the Toga and Twice shot… and Uraraka turning around… and the UA teachers… and Dabi… and the SONG ITSELF… yeah you get it, the whole ed was amazing. I think it’s officially my favourite

As for the episode itself, I’m honestly impressed how well paced it was. 3 chapters AND some added filler? And yet nothing (that I could remember) was cut? Between this and the op and ed it makes me wonder what the hell was happening with Season 5

Hawks and Twice are getting along so well! Wow! Such friends. Much brotherhood

They added a little frame of Dabi sitting in a chair. If you know you know

Wash got 4 whole frames. I was legitimately so excited. I was expecting only 2 so when I saw those other ones I had the biggest smile on my face

Everyone was animated so nicely

This is so random, but I love that scene with the Todoroki siblings. In the manga that scene is a single panel of Fuyumi coming home and Natsuo greeting her (with no dialogue), which is fine in of itself but later in the arc we see Fuyumi and Natsuo at school. It’s a minor detail that most readers probably wouldn’t notice, but that fact that someone decided to fix this and have them head out for their day means someone in the writing room was actually paying attention to the small details, and that gives me a lot of hope going forward

That being said…

They added some dialogue like “team Endeavor will do this while team Edgeshot will do that” and while I like the explanation, I wish they’d included the fact that there are also attacks happening at bases all over the country, not just these two locations. Like they could have mentioned that these are the most important zones, but they didn’t mention the others at all. It makes the scale of this operation seem so much smaller than it is, and I’m nervous anime-onlies will think it’s literally just these two

The lighting in the doctor’s lab is so pretty. I can’t wait for next episode because I want to see a whole fight scene with that purple glow

I haven’t seen anyone mention it yet so I will. I think the new commercial break screens are cool as hell and I can’t wait to see different characters get them each week. I know a whole bunch of characters got art during the build up to this season, so let’s see it put to use!

Rip Johnny. Forever in our hearts, you will be missed

Overall? Despite a few minor nitpicks I thought this was a great episode. It was a wonderful way to start such a highly anticipated arc, and I’m so excited to see the rest of this season play out

#bnha #bnha season 6

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literarydemerit · 2 years

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While I'm catching up with the podcast, here's a question: how would You go about writing a trollfic/badfic/jokefic, or rather, what concepts/tropes would've made a ~good~ trollfic in your opinion? You've mentioned the obvious My Immortal inspiration in many a trollfic over the years, and as someone who's been fascinated by bad fanfiction as an art form since, well, early 2010s, I've been wondering. I just think there's more to it than bad grammar and gratuitous ikea erotica.

Siobhan's thoughts on this, which I agree with, are that a quote unquote Good badfic/trollfic is one where you're able to tell the author is having fun and it doesn't feel mean-spirited. I really like this question though and I spent a while thinking about it, so here's some additional thoughts:

I think you're absolutely right that there is more to it than bad grammar and IKEA erotica. A lot of trollfics, in particular, aren't very good specifically because the authors think all you need to do to write an entertaining trollfic is write badly and include gratuitous sex (&/or violence, or anything else "shocking"). The trollfics/badfics we think are Good are ones that are honestly very creative — My Immortal has all sorts of crazy plot twists and a fun central premise (mall goth vampire wizards time traveling to seduce an evil wizard, also there's a bisexual love triangle), and Forbiden Fruit parodies similar Twilight fics about an original character breaking up Bella and Edward's relationship before going totally nuts in the last two chapters in a way no one could have seen coming. (I don't want to get ahead of myself talking about Blood Raining Night when we've only just started it, but it's also definitely a creative one. It has its own fanime!)

Regarding writing style specifically, there's definitely more to it than just making a lot of spelling/grammatical errors. To again use the two fics we've already covered on the show as examples, My Immortal and Forbiden Fruit are both very "badly written" in a technical sense, but they each have a distinct writing style that goes beyond just typos. Those two fics have very different writing styles, too! I think we may have said this on the show but they're kind of at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to badfic writing. In the case of Forbiden Fruit, it's also very apparent that the author knows how to write and is writing in purple prose, constructing nonsense metaphors, etc. on purpose.

The other thing (Siobhan mentioned this too but I wanted to expand upon it) is that a good badfic/trollfic can be read as satire or meta commentary (on the work the fic is for, on that work's fandom, on fanfiction in general, etc.). Of course many trollfics are mimicking/referencing My Immortal and thus are making some sort of commentary on My Immortal, which may or may not be interesting/insightful/entertaining. I think Forbiden Fruit is particularly good because it serves as commentary on Twilight fandom (of course lots of people have written fics about their OC getting with Edward, and from what little I've seen I think the "gothic new girl arrives in Forks" premise was pretty common). Twila The Girl Who Waz In Luv With a Vampyre isn't as strong by comparison because it focuses too heavily on trying to be similar to My Immortal and doesn't really develop its own style. I think it's fun that so many people enjoyed My Immortal and want to reference it in their own stories, I just feel like the story should have more to say than "I thought My Immortal was really funny," you know?

#i could easily keep talking about this but it's already a Long Answer!#so we'll leave it there #askbox

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slightlygaming · 4 months

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Happy end of 2023, here’s my list of my favorite games I played this year!

Fable Anniversary - I feel like I’ve been missing this game all my life. It’s fantastic and has given me such a deep appreciation for fantasy RPG games and the way they’ve progressed over the years. While very dated in some ways, Fable holds up and still feels unique in the modern gaming scene. It has a humor and joy to it that I just haven’t seen in any other game. I highly recommend to anyone who hasn’t played it before, or who feels overwhelmed by modern RPG’s. Fables main story is only around 13 hours making it a lot more approachable then most.

Inscryption - Inscryption is a fantastic game that will change what you think a card game can be. Its fun, addictive and has a really strong narrative and mystery that kept me hooked and excited to see what came next. It’s gameplay and structure is really unique and makes it stand out from any other in the genre. Highly recommend you check it out!

Disco Elysium - Disco Elysium is a fantastic game that narratively stands as one of the strongest out there. Its very fleshed out and features a compelling diverse arrangement of characters. Its emphasis on text is both its feature and detriment. If you don’t like text based games, Disco Elysium might not be for you, but even as someone who isn’t the biggest fan of text based games myself, I found Disco Elysium more then makes up for it through its narrative and environment design. The art and music are both fantastic. While I don’t think I look at with the same fondness as I’ve seen expressed, I found it had a lot to offer and is definitely a must play in the realm of narrative games.

God of War Ragnorak - (replay) Truly one of the best AAA games I’ve played. Ragnorak is filled with heart, warmth, and such a strong belief in the characters and what growth and progress actually looks like. Ragnorak is a manifestation of more then just the growth of Kratos and the God Of War franchise but also Santa Monica as a studio. It embodies what massive triple A games can be when the people making them have a clear vision, and are given the tools to see it through.

Stanely Parable - (replay) if you havent played Stanley Parable you need to change that right now. Its one of the funniest games out there and knows how to do meta humor right. Theres so much to do and I highly recommend checking out the Deluxe Edition which features a whole sequel game in it. You might fall in love with a bucket though, just warning you…

Celeste - A game that isn’t afraid to challenge you for the best. But while it can be incredibly challenging, it also can be incredibly rewarding. The game relates to issues of depression and anxiety, and does so with care and thoughtfulness. It is incredibly beautiful, both in design and in narrative. The story centers around Madeline, who feels stuck in her dreary life, and feels she must climb this mountain. The plot is a fairly common one within indie games, but the satisfaction of climbing to the top is something very few games have made me feel.

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naughtygirl286 · 1 year

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We went to see Scream 6 (Scream VI) This past Tuesday and yes there was plenty of collectable goodies too! you can see them here.

Now I'm a huge fan of the Scream Series/Franchise I loved all the movies and where I did watch the TV Series I didn't like the first 2 Seasons it didn't feel like Scream to me but the 3rd Season was excellent. I loved the original Trilogy and thought Scream 3 had the perfect ending but along came Scream 4 in 2011 which I thought was great and then surprisingly Scream 5 in 2022 Which was excellent and which reached back to the very beginning of the series. I was watching Scream 4 before going to see this one and I had to laugh being at the beginning of Scream 4 they are making fun of franchises for going on for too long and the target they use is Stab 6 which like I said made me laugh being here we are at Scream 6 so is this a bit of life imitating art or did Scream see it own future? lol

but seriously though as for the movie I thought it was excellent! when we went we were surprised to get seats were we did (I went with like 6 other ppl) being the theater was packed for this. Now were I would be excited to talk about all the details about this I don't want to give to much away and ruin any of the surprised or twists.

The movie leaves the town of Woodsboro for New York as "Core Four" the Carpenter Sisters (Tara played by Jenna Ortega and Sam played by Melissa Barrera) and the Twins (Mindy played Jasmin Savoy Brown and Chad played Mason Gooding) try to start new lives after the horrific events of of a year ago (the previous movie) as Tara and the Twins attend college and deal with things in their own way Sam is seaming to have a hard time and might be suffering from some PTSD as well as a online smear campaign claiming that she is the true mastermind behind the Ghostface killings of the previous year and claiming that Amber(Mikey Madison) and especially Richie(Jack Quaid) were innocent pawns of hers. While these people are trying to get their lives back together a more brutal and seemingly intelligent Ghostface appears to make it known that they will never have a normal life again.

Now like I said the movie is was excellent there are plenty of twists and turns and it will keep you guessing! the opening kinda throws you off a bit at first being they do something and its like wait what? you can't believe it is reviled in like the first 10mins but this is kinda like the first twist in the movie.

but having the movie set in New York and at Halloween time sets it up perfectly becasue there are plenty of people in costume and that includes Ghostface ones as well so you don't know where he is or who he is in a sea of costume party goers which I thought it was a great way to do it he can blend in anywhere at any time and the city itself is used as a character also.

And speaking of Ghostface like I said this one is far more brutal and violent and seems to be more intelligent and always one step ahead. This Ghostface and the movie in general is not mainly focused of being meta when it comes to horror movies there is plenty of that and movie references but it also tackles some things like internet and social media culture as well which I think fits into the current world we live in now and makes lots of sense. Some of the kills that were done were very graphic and interesting in how they pulled them off there was plenty of reactions from the audience during the movie when ppl were killed. alot of the physical effects and make-up work on this was very on point and great.

Also this movie just like the previous digs into the last of the series where Scream 5 mainly focused on the events of the first movie this one also does a bit of the same and references events and characters from Scream 2-4 and with that bring back "Legacy Characters" namely Hayden Panettiere as Kirby Reed from Scream 4 who is now working for the FBI and is studying the Ghostface murders. I thought she did a great job returning to this character you can tell that her experiences from Scream 4 have hardened her and made her more serious and cynical I though and her interactions with the other character was awesome especially with Gale Weathers(Courteney Cox) I also thought Courteney Cox really shined in this and her showdown with Ghostface in Gale's apartment was awesome. She had this "fuck around and find out" attitude which was great and yes they did mention Dewey (David Arquette) and of course they did mention Sidney Prescott(Neve Campbell) I though her absence was handled perfectly and respectfully and it worked for this movie and the movie did go on and did work with out her. The story of Sidney Prescott is over and the movie and series does work with out her.

but in the end this movie was great I loved it it has plenty of action and some gore and plenty of twists and turns and a good mystery that seems to be fueled by a sense of paranoia being anyone can be the killer and the characters express this perfectly. so I was happy and excited about how it turned out. and if you enjoy this series and especially the previous one I would highly recommend it.

#Scream #Scream6 #Scream 6 #ScreamVI #Scream VI #Scream2023 #Scream 2023 #Scream movie #Scream film series #Scream movie series #Shannonj286 #NaughtyGirl286 #Ghostface

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