#and human beings get so creative trying to figure out how to express all the complex minute details contained within verbal communication

[bakuhatsufallinlove]

Who Wants To Talk About Japanese Orthography In Manga???

Me, it's me, I do, and I have been chomping at the bit to get the chance to.

Orthography refers to the conventions of written language to represent sounds. That may bring to mind the idea of rigid grammar rules or spelling standardization, but in a linguistic sense, orthography simply describes observable trends across language use. This isn't about authority--I am not going to talk about what schools teach or say people should write one way or another. This is about examining how real people use written language creatively to convey different things in popular media.

This is a huge topic, so I'm only going to use examples from MHA to highlight Horikoshi's style.

First, let's get a run-down of the main parts of written Japanese and how they tend to be used.

We've got kanji and kana; kanji are logograms, while kana are syllabaries. Kana refers to both hiragana and katakana collectively, but we will delineate the two from here on.

The Wikipedia page for kanji, describing this more succinctly than I'm about to.

For clarity, I'm gonna color-code each one.

Let's take a quick look at all three in action.

Chapter 65

By virtue of being the syllabary that grammar particles are written in, hiragana can get away a lot that kanji and katakana can't.

You can write simple sentences in hiragana alone, like so:

The sentence is perfectly comprehensible like this, but it reads as casual or perhaps a bit immature, like the person is either leaving out kanji for speed or simplicity (like online) or they aren't confident using kanji. Although, the word hito (person) is extremely common and its kanji is simple, so this would probably look more natural:

But there are also kanji for the word kawaii, so you could also write it this way:

On the other hand, writing the whole thing in katakana looks weird as fuck:

bECAuSE iT kINDA reADS LIKE THis, or maybe L I K E T H I S

It seems almost alien, overemphasizing the phonetic sound of the words, implying there's something notable or unusual about them.

But what if you write it like this?

Both ways use katakana to put flavor on a specific word. The first puts it on person, which could be used in a situation where someone hasn't been named yet, but the speaker tonally emphasizes your knowledge of them--like "oh, you know who."

The second emphasizes cute, which could read as sexually suggestive, teasing/joking, or even a threatening tone, depending on the context. "Real cute, ain't they?"

Basically, the connecting grammar bits need to be in hiragana, but nouns, verbs, and adjectives can typically be written in any of the three systems. That introduces choice into the matter, and these choices may have some cultural connotations.

This is a subtlety in written Japanese that manga loves to take advantage of. Orthography contributes a lot to characterization and tone, so individual creators develop little quirks as part of their own writing style.

Now let's finally take a gander at some of Horikoshi's!

Kanji instead of hiragana for semantic emphasis

Chapter 48

Best Jeanist could have used only hiragana for the word "good" (いい, ii), which is a very common way to write it. But he's not just commenting that they are nice kids, he's talking about them as "goodie two-shoes" and even puts brackets around the idea. The kanji emphasizes the cultural idea of a Good Child™, a well-behaved, morally upright, obedient young person.

Kanji instead of hiragana denoting a serious or severe tone

Chapter 36

Katsuki's "you" pronoun omae being written with kanji comes across as markedly serious, especially compared to how his dialogue is normally written. This is actually the only time Katsuki says omae and it is written with kanji--all the rest are in hiragana, which tends to read as more casual.

Hiragana instead of kanji denoting a gentle tone or youthful/childlike language

Chapters 129 and 183

Katsuki and his omae show us how kanji use can be seen as more mature and serious; Eri's dialogue does the opposite of this by using hiragana when it could use kanji, emphasizing her youth and innocence.

Katakana instead of hiragana or kanji for emphasis or slang

Chapters 209, 207, and 2

As I detailed above, one of katakana's most common uses is similar to italics or all-caps.

But you also tend to see slang written with it, and depending on the slang, the word being in katakana can immediately clarify it from other, perhaps more standard meanings. In Jirou's case, her personal pronoun uchi can mean a couple other things, so it being written in katakana clarifies her usage. It could arguably also imply she is taking a bit of an argumentative tone--Katsuki's slang is typically written in katakana for both of these reasons!

Katakana denoting regional dialect/accent, nonstandard pronunciation/muddled speech, or confused articulation

Chapters 102, 208, 394, and 2

Ochako gets flustered and defaults to her regional Kansai dialect. Instead of "chigau wa" (Tokyo dialect), she says "chau wa" repeatedly.

Katsuki and Toga both drop the w- sound from a word. Katsuki says "ore a" instead of "ore wa," while Toga says the word "kawaiku" as "ka'aiku" and "kawaii" as "ka'aii." Notice how the katakana which represents the vocal omission/hiccup is actually smaller than the others? That's also a little stylistic detail for communicating this kind of nonstandard speech.

Izuku repeats All Might's words, chikara wo, in a confused daze because he isn't following All Might's point. By removing the kanji especially, this kind of katakana emphasizes him sounding the words out without recognizing the underlying meaning.

Basically, Japanese has some excellent ~vibes-based~ orthography because of how the language is structured!

Of course, you find this kind of thing in English as well--especially in the age of the internet, where people note that "how dare u" reads as tonally distinct from "how dare you." As you develop language fluency, you tend to pick up these things subconsciously more than anything, but it's one of my favorite things to analyze and compare.

These are just a few examples and my own interpretations of them. I'm sure there are many more uses and flavor-nuance I'm not picking up on. Since any given choice can be read a few different ways, context is very important. My examples aren't definitive proof of anything, but it can be fun to keep these kinds of details in mind while reading.

Shueisha and Shonen Jump surely have in-house standards for text, and mangaka must operate within that range. That said, I have indeed seen every one of these examples in other manga as well.

And on the independent side of things, doujinshi and online manga are basically the wild frickin' west--I have seen tons of totally crazy, highly creative ways to take advantage of the unique flexibility found in Japanese, but that's a post for another day.

I will probably write more about this kind of thing in the future when I can pinpoint some more observations, but I hope you all enjoyed the ride. <3

#meta #linguistics party #this is the nerdiest shit I've ever written and I'm not sorry #I find this soooooo fascinating and fun to think about #people are so cute we think of all kinds of ways to properly convey ideas and feelings and reference shared cultural information #almost all human languages are first and foremost spoken out loud #and human beings get so creative trying to figure out how to express all the complex minute details contained within verbal communication #through the written word #mha 2 #mha 36 #mha 48 #mha 65 #mha 102 #mha 129 #mha 183 #mha 207 #mha 208 #mha 209 #mha 394

[bumblequinn]

hi @sourpatchsquids! thank you for your question.

as an artist with ADHD, i know this struggle very well. unfortunately offering advice on this kind of thing can be tricky, because what works for me may not work for you (and vice versa!). nonetheless, i can try; take whatever works for you, forget the rest, or reshape any part of it as you see fit. :)

but before i offer any actual tools, i have one caveat. i want you to take a moment to reflect and consider if you should be:

changing expectations

the timing of this question seems fated, because just the other day i had a therapy session wherein i expressed my grief and frustration over struggling to work lately due to my seasonal depression. it's not fair that i'm struggling just because it got a little darker outside! i just want the spark i had in the summer! i was so much more consistent!

my therapist's response: nothing about human beings is consistent. we get sick, we get tired, we get hungry and thirsty (and thirsty) and sad and lonely and restless and stressed and overwhelmed. this all gets amplified for folks who are atypical in some way or another.

when my therapist compared our seasonal cycles to those of plants and other animals, who wilt and slow down and hibernate, i protested aloud that i wanted to be a perennial instead. at this she said: even perennials change with the seasons. rose bushes have to be pruned, sometimes down to half their height! it was a dose of perspective i didn't particularly want, but really needed.

so when you're struggling to work through executive dysfunction, burnout, or brain fog, it can help to first check in with yourself about a few things. what do you have the capacity for right now? do you need any accommodation? and if so, what changes you might make to accommodate yourself?

with practice and self reflection, i've learned a handful of specific routines that help me when i'm struggling with creative work, which i'll detail next. note that while your question is specifically about music and i am specifically a musician, i believe that all of these suggestions can apply to most any form of digital creative work.

with that in mind:

#1: work slower

when i'm at the top of my game, i can get a LOT done in a day. but when i'm depressed, fatigued, or distracted, i just can't go full steam. sometimes i'll try to convince myself that i can if i just push harder, but what actually ends up happening is that i'm just fiddling with settings and going in circles rather than moving forward.

instead of that, when i want to work a lot but can't, i try to work slow. how slow? however slow i need to. take four hours to figure out the melody for a single verse. take all day to figure out that drum groove. yeah, i take a lot of breaks in between. who says i have to be my Absolute Most Productive Every Day Or Else? that's the puritan work ethic talking. kill it. be kind to yourself.

i'm reminded of advice i once read about some super successful and prolific author (gaiman? king? pratchett?) who said they wrote only four hundred words every weekday. that's already less than the word count of this post, and i'm only—[travels into the future to check my final word count]... 22.8% of the way through writing it!

now, i don't think i could function that way, because ADHD means some days i'm hyperfocused like crazy, and other days i just have no steam at all (more on that in #4-6). but it seems to me that if even someone highly respected in their profession can achieve what they have with only a little bit of work on a regular basis, maybe i don't have to punish myself for not pumping out a finished work every single week.

doing less work per day means you're much less likely to burn out, which does a lot for working more consistently. if that consistency still doesn't look like a five-day work week, that's okay! as long as it helps you work even a little more often when you want to, it's something worth doing.

however, if you're still feeling truly stuck, all hope isn't lost. you can still try:

#2: switch projects

sometimes the reason i'm moving slow is because of a bad brain day, but sometimes the reason is that i just cannot muster the motivation to do the specific task i'm trying to do right now. ADHD is fueled by novelty and interest, and if i'm not interested in what i'm doing, or it's feeling stale, that's a sign that i need to switch gears.

this is why first it's helpful for me to have more than one project going at a time. this might mean completely unrelated works, or it might just mean related tracks as with the music for a game like SLARPG or susan taxpayer.

the idea here is not to start a dozen different projects and bounce around them like i'm playing whac-a-mole—though i have done that. (i don't recommend it.) the idea here is to have a manageable number of different projects i can be working on so that if i get bored or stuck on something, i have fallback options.

what that number of projects is depends entirely on the week. maybe right now it's two, maybe another time it's three. i would probably be getting carried away if i tried more than that, but that's just my own limit. maybe yours is different. that's something for you to think about.

but it doesn't have to stop there.

#3: switch focus

maybe there is this one project that i just HAVE to work on, but the task i'm trying to do at this stage just isn't coming to me. okay, well, why don't i try working on a different task?

let's say i can't figure out what i want to do with the melody in one part of the song:

what if i try jumping ahead to a different part of the melody? ...no, i'm stumped on melodies today. okay, how about working on the drums instead? ...hmm no, i think i'm just completely tapped out on writing parts right now. alright, what if i organized my tracks, making sure they're all grouped and named in a way that i can work with easily? what if i did a rough volume balance for the mix?

and so on. if that's not enough to shake the off stuckness, i might consider: what can i do to make this project more interesting to me?

what happens if i try using an instrument or effect that i almost never reach for? what if i try sampling something obscure? what if i bang out the drums using my midi keyboard instead of drawing it in on the piano roll?

any approach that breaks me out of my usual habits is bound to get that feeling of novelty and fun back when i need it.

or maybe i can't do any of that right now, and so i take the time to answer a question from a fellow musician instead. i consider that part of my work, too, in a broader sense. check in with yourself and figure out what you can do right now. the rest will still be there later.

but okay, let's say you try switching gears, and switching again, and again, and nothing is moving. you try new approaches, but that wall of awful is insurmountable in this moment. it happens! the next thing you might try is:

#4: learn something new

when you aren't able to make progress on your projects, you can still make progress on your knowledge and craft. i often find this stokes a flame of inspiration in me where there wasn't one before. and even when it doesn't, it still gets my brain out of that feeling of stuckness and dread and into one of thought and action. learning also benefits in the long term because it adds to the well of knowledge from which you draw for all your future works.

for all the awfulness that exists on the internet, it remains an absolute treasure trove of teaching. there's an endless ocean of videos, blog posts, and articles from which you might learn something about your craft. (and if you sail the seven seas, plenty of book PDFs as well. 🦜🏴‍☠️)

it's true that the quality and depth of information out there can vary wildly, but in my experience most resources get at least some things right. and the more you research, practice, and figure out what works for you, the better you will learn to differentiate between the advice worth keeping, and the advice to forget. (that goes for all of what i'm saying here, too!)

that said, since our shared focus is music, a few resources i would highly recommend are:

music theory and composition music matters, 12tone, charles cornell, music with myles, 8-bit music theory, and this introduction by andrew huang

mixing and production dan worrall (especially this series for fabfilter), kush after hours, red means recording, andrew huang, alice yalcin efe, in the mix

general inspiration nahre sol, ben levin, david hilowitz, game score fanfare, posy, jerobeam fenderson, open reel ensemble, and ELECTRONICOS FANTASTICOS!

(if any readers have their own helpful resources for creating music or any other media, feel free to share in the replies & reblogs! 💓)

of course, on an especially bad day, it might be a challenge to seek out information, let alone retain it. that can feel pretty bad, but remember: be kind to yourself. the next thing you might consider trying is:

#5: consume art you love

not just music. books. shows. movies. games. illustration. animation. whatever moves and inspires you.

but do it intentionally. don't just pull up some random thing the algorithm suggested! check in with yourself about what you want (or are able) to engage with right now. choose accordingly. if you get a little way into it and realize it's not scratching that itch, hit the bricks. check in with yourself again. wash, rinse, repeat, until you find whatever it is that speaks to you right now.

and do it actively, if you can. don't just let it go in one eye and out the other! really pay attention to the work. what do you like about it? what are its themes and motifs? what makes it work so well? what are its flaws, and how much do they matter? what might you do differently? you can write notes as you do this if it helps, but even simply noticing and thinking goes a long way.

what you don't want to do is come at this with a lens of shame or envy. you're not here just to say to yourself, "ugh, if only i could do THAT." it's okay if it happens. use that thought as a springboard for curiosity: "well okay, how DID they do that? do i have the resources for it? if so, how could i apply that to my own work? if not, how can i adapt it, or what do i need to learn?" keep your mind open and approach the work with a sense of wonder.

as a creative person, it's very easy to think, "i should be making something right now, not watching a movie!" but that thought forgets something vital: your art is a response in a conversation. of course the "language" you use is your own, and maybe if you're lucky you'll invent a new word. but most of the words you use have been around long before you were born. you're just one voice in a dialogue that spans continents and generations, and that's okay. it's even the whole point.

none of us is an island. we are profoundly social animals. just as we can't live without eating, we can't make without learning. so half of making art is consuming it. consider this part of the process as well.

and finally,

#6: rest, and live your life

let's say you're in really dire straits. you've tried working slower. you tried changing focus, you tried changing projects. you want to take in new information or actively engage with your favorite art, but you're not in the headspace for it. what now?

take a nap. take a walk. take a shower. eat a nice meal, or an okay one. talk to a friend. maybe even do that chore you've been putting off (you know the one).

it's human to always crave making, but you're not a machine—and even if you were, machines need regular maintenance, too! you wouldn't drive a car that's completely out of gas, and you won't do yourself any favors treating your body that way either.

i know that when you take a break it feels as though you're not accomplishing anything, but you are: you're taking care of your animal self. and while you do that, your creative brain doesn't stop working! much like windows, it has countless background processes running at any given moment, with inscrutable names like "cbdhsvc_692da" or "Microsoft Edge Update Service." it's true, i checked.

when you're stuck on a project and you step away to rest, your brain is still chipping away at your ideas unconsciously. i like to tell people, "it's percolating." much like waiting for a pot of water to boil, that idea is still heating up, even when you take a step away. just be sure to check in on it once in a while. the time will pass, and it'll be boiling again before long. :)

before i go, i'll leave you with one last thing to keep in mind as you try all of these strategies:

be kind to yourself.

being human is just about one of the hardest things you can do. let alone being a human trying to survive capitalism while living with disabilities! the last thing you need on top of that is to overwork yourself, talk to yourself negatively, or treat yourself harshly. there are plenty of other people in the world who do that to you—don't be one of them.

i'm not saying that you shouldn't try to challenge yourself, to test your limits and go above and beyond your ambitions, if that's what you want to do. just remember that hard work and self compassion are not mutually exclusive. so be careful not to bully yourself. take pride in the progress you make, even when it seems small. encourage yourself like you would a friend who's going through a hard time. and when you challenge yourself, be your own cheerleader.

i hope you find this advice helpful! remember, this is just what helps me, so don't feel like you have to follow any of it exactly. maybe taking time to learn new information helps break you out of your rut more than working slowly, so you reach for that tool first. maybe having multiple projects going at once is too distracting for you, so you prefer to stick to one at a time. whatever your needs are, feel free to alter and adapt these ideas to fit you.

thank you for reading, and i wish you the best of luck in your creating.

with care, bee 🐦

#adhd #advice #asks #from #sourpatchsquids

[fellthemarvelous]

Invisible scars

(TW: religious trauma)

Looking at me, you wouldn't know that I've survived religious trauma. The marks of religious trauma are seldom visible. In fact, I had no idea for the longest time that I had religious trauma (I thought it was a thing that happened to other people). I simply spent decades questioning the reasons I felt like I was so broken on in the inside. I kept trying to figure out what I was doing wrong and why I never felt happy or like I was never able to connect to anyone. I had no idea that my experience with the church as a small child is what shaped me into the anxiety-ridden, majorly depressed disaster creature I am today.

I spent 12 years learning inside of Catholic schools. It has taken me more than 20 years to process and deconstruct, and I am always going to be a work in progress. I was brainwashed into believing the very worst about myself, and I was always just beyond saving because I had the misfortune of being a woman in a church that taught us that women experience pain during childbirth as a natural consequence of Eve eating the apple, which is why they enjoy making us suffer in the first place. They taught us that Adam ate the apple because Eve seduced him, so even though Adam also ate the apple, his sin still wasn't as bad as Eve's because she did it first and used sex to get him to do the same. They placed the blame for Original Sin squarely on Eve and thus onto every single girl who entered the church. If a boy did something to me that I didn't like, it's probably because I did something to provoke him first.

Do you know what I learned to do at a very young age just to be able to cope with that?

I learned to use humor to deflect when I was struggling. I smile when I don't want people to know I'm sad. I laugh at inappropriate times, especially when I'm uncomfortable. I learned to bottle up all of my emotions because expressing anything other than happiness is bad. I learned to compartmentalize. I taught myself how to pull out the right emotion for the right occasion because I was always striving to be who I thought everyone else wanted me to be. It was exhausting.

In the midst of all of this, I'm trying to figure out which parts of me are really me and which parts of me are things that were put into my head. If you've experienced indoctrination, you know what I'm talking about. They pulled us apart as small children and placed us in specific boxes and told us that deviating from the norm was bad.

Crowley is a fallen angel. His change from angel to demon is drastic on the outside.

You know he fell and that his wings turned black and he ended up in a pool of boiling sulfur. It's the reason Crowley is so easy to sympathize with. He suffered unfairly because of arbitrary rules that deemed him unforgivable. He's accepted that part of himself. He's clever and creative and it has helped him find ways to get out of doing his job for centuries. Hell doesn't care how jobs get done just as long as someone does them, and at this point humanity is doing more to damn themselves than the demons are able to keep up with. They're tired and overworked. Hell is overpopulated even though it should be infinite in size. Crowley wants no part of that system because he sees it for what it is, just as he sees Heaven for what it is. He has the marks to prove that he is one of the damned, but that has given him all the perspective he needs to see that both sides are fucked up and toxic and "irredeemable" (just like him). He has yet to fully let go of the hold Heaven has over him because of how badly he got hurt.

Aziraphale is still an angel.

He never fell, and he doesn't know why. He has lied to God. He has lied to Gabriel repeatedly. He lies to protect Crowley. He lies to protect humanity.

Remember, Crowley and Aziraphale started off in the same place.

They both started off as angels who were created to do God's bidding. Aziraphale is the one who told Crowley what he'd heard about everything shutting down in 6,000 years. He was simply trying to make conversation. He didn't think it was something Crowley would object to. Angels were just supposed to go along with God's plans, but Crowley had a different opinion and was vocal about it. Where did Aziraphale get his information in the first place? Why does nobody ever ask this question?

Aziraphale knows Heaven is toxic. He's not blind. We need to move past this idea that because he still has love for God that he doesn't know Heaven is fucked up. He never fell, and it's something he still fears because who the hell doesn't fear the thought of eternal torment, especially if you know it's real? God has never cast him out of Heaven though and he doesn't know why. It's probably something that hangs over his head like the Sword of Damocles.

Letting go is not an easy task. Aziraphale has always been an angel. He didn't have his identity ripped from him the same way that Crowley did. Crowley had to adapt to a brand new way of existing because he was cast out of Heaven.

Crowley's trauma is evident on the outside. Aziraphale's trauma is hidden on the inside. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there.

Crowley was an angel and then he was a demon, but he doesn't want to be labeled as either.

Aziraphale has only ever known how to be an angel. He's only ever known the ways of Heaven.

I'm only in my early 40s. It has taken me 20+ years to undo 12 years of religious abuse. Aziraphale is immortal. He and Crowley have abandoned their jobs, but four years in the space of millions isn't a lot. No one overcomes indoctrination in four years. Especially when you had millions of years of blind obedience indoctrinated into you. It simply does not work that way no matter how much you want to believe it can.

It has taken me more than two decades to learn how to stop hating myself. I still have no idea how to love myself, but it's something I'm trying to learn.

My entire identity was wrapped up in what the church told me it would be. Once I fully denounced it and all organized religion, I found out I had no idea who I was. No one had prepared me for a life outside of this one very specific identity and role that I was expected to fill based on a very specific box I was placed into.

I still struggle with black and white concepts. It's hard to unlearn when you have no other basis for comparison, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. It means that these changes do not and will not ever happen overnight.

The fall didn't just affect the demons though. It affected the angels as well. Look at how tightly wound the angels are. They're always trying to do the good thing, but they have no idea what that actually means, and you realize this when Uriel asks The Metatron if they had done something wrong. They are scared of making mistakes, but none of them know what they are supposed to be doing since Gabriel disrupted the status quo. You can see they are unsure of themselves and of each other. The concept of free will is so foreign to them, but Aziraphale showed all of them that it was in their grasp when he allowed Gabriel and Beelzebub to decide where to go so they could be together.

It takes a lot of audacity (and sheer ignorance) to dismiss Aziraphale as power-hungry and abusive.

Aziraphale did nothing to punish Gabriel and Beelzebub. He allowed them to leave because they were in love with each other, and he knows what that feels like. He thought he was about to get the same fate with Crowley until The Metatron showed up and refused to take no for an answer.

He doesn't want to fix Heaven because he thinks it's perfect. If he thought it was perfect he wouldn't want to fix it.

Aziraphale is going back into the Lion's Den. He knows what he's going up against. He's been humiliated and belittled and abused by Heaven for thousands of years.

His scars are there even though you can't see them, and he hides his pain with humor and silliness.

When I see people advocating for Aziraphale to suffer even more because they don't think he has suffered enough, I find myself sitting back in one of those classrooms in Catholic school being told that I deserve the bad things that happen to me because I somehow failed to measure up to some impossible metric. The cruelty of that mindset aimed at Aziraphale is kinda the reason Crowley hates Heaven in the first place because he's been there too.

And as someone who is processing religious trauma, it's disheartening to see people say that because Aziraphale has yet to fully let go of Heaven that he deserves harsher treatment. Crowley would definitely not agree with that sentiment.

#good omens #crowley #aziraphale #religious trauma #ex catholic #i don't know if this makes sense #i know the discourse on religious trauma is already another thing in this fandom #but this is how i process #deconstructing isn't fucking easy

[iamafanofcartoons]

100+ REASONS TO WATCH AND ENJOY RWBY

Let’s put this as simply as we can.

Now, I understand you’ll need further reasons to look into the show that was created by Monty Oum, Miles Luna, and Kerry Shawcross.

SO! Here is 100+ Reasons to give RWBY a shot, plus a resource list link at the end. ENJOY!

1) Sci-fi/fantasy show that balances the two aspects very well 2) Endearing characters 3) Deep underlying messages about the importance of human connection 4) Constantly improves on itself 5) Writers actually try to listen to what the fandom wants 6) Creative setting 7) Actually handles difficult topics, like communication, privilege, and the cycle of abuse in a way that is sensitive to the audience 8) Ending is already set, meaning the show is not at risk of selling out to corporate overlords 9) God-tier foreshadowing 10) Top notch fight choreography 11) EVERYTHING IS A GUN 12) RWBY unambiguously avoids Depraved Homosexual tropes - no evil LGBT characters

13) No surprise plot twists for the sake of shock value 14) The soundtrack Not only does it slap, bits of lore and characterization can be found in the series music 15) Character design 16) Symbolism and metaphors and hidden meanings abound Can make for an enriching experience if you have knowledge about color theory and fairy tales and historical/mythological figures 17) Nuanced portrayal of morality between heroes, villains, and those who are neither 18) Layered writing where not everything, especially conflict, is clear-cut and easily resolved 19) Portrays trauma without over-dramatization 20) Production values improve with each volume 21) Hopepunk 22) Female-Centric main cast All the “Fix-it” fanfics and “Rewrites” involve Male-Centric Casts and/or taking time away from female main casts to focus on male characters, especially male side characters. 23) No surprise plot twists for the sake of shock value meets Thanos snap. 24) Good bits of humor sprinkled throughout without being overbearing 25) A few villians that while irredeemable, are interesting to watch in how they act. 26) Masterpiece of a comedy spinoff 27) You can legally watch the show for free 28) Subverts narrative tropes common to both "western" hero stories and anime 29) Gender dynamics and expectations are well-balanced Gender  tropes subverted, and addressed directly at times 30) Comfortably addresses class warfare, alcoholism, and other "mature" topics in approachable ways 31) Corgi 32) Combat Skirt 33) Women get to have pockets and pouches... 34) Women not requiring a man to save them 35) Large number of POC portrayed positively 36) LGBT are neither creeps nor villains, instead the straight people are. 37) POC are neither creeps nor villains as a majority...instead the white people are. 38) The “White Male Savior” with the mask, trenchcoat, and katana is the villain, while the underdog protector of the lower-income is a POC woman who may or may not be lesbian. 39) Meaningful facial expressions (that is, the animators spend time creating mood and reaction to elevate the storytelling) 40) Main antagonist is a woman, as are several of the other antagonists and they are NOT ditzes or idiots, nor are they fanservice. 41) The women are as intelligent as the men, where most anime try to have men be superior than women for the sake of shounen, the women are equal to men in screentime, plot relevance, intelligence, strength, personality, etc....though RWBY tries to have the women take precedence. 42) Men are support characters with their powers, while Women have more protagonist superpowers. 43) Positive half-sibling and stepmother representation 44) Positive honorary family member representation 45) Gay shipping and Lesbian shipping is encouraged by the writers and voice actors/actresses 46) The Main female protagonist's blood-based superpower is not broken or OP and has limits. 47) Well-executed humor (usually, ha). Basically trying NOT to make it fanservice or toilet humor or cringe. 48) Creators at least try to fix its less than stellar/problematic parts, which is more that I can say than the majority of entertainment. 49) Female characters are complex and interesting, also for the most part don’t woobified female villains. 50) Terrifying Villains and Monsters There is a difference. V1-V3 involved Monsters , V4-V8 involved Villains. 51) Every Character is based on a fairy tale/myth/legend/story and looking for those breadcrumbs just adds to the show 52) Already said, but emphasizing the fight choreography and the soundtrack. If you love over-the-top video game style fights this is for you. If you love epic metal playing over those fights this is for you. 53) Plays with tropes and story telling norms to subvert expectations in the best way 54) Not afraid to have tonal shifts to tell the story they want to tell 55) Not afraid to have the heroes lose sometimes 56) And plot points have consequences!!! None of this "bad thing happens and 1 episode later the status quo is restored" 57) Emphasizing foreshadowing again. Things that happened in season 8 were foreshadowed as far back as season 2. 58) The main characters are proactive. None of this waiting around for them to get up the courage to do something about the bad guys. Don't give me the “manor tea” stuff, they were trying to recover, Ironwood had it out for them and would have shot them for helping while refusing to obey him. 59) The Main characters are smart. They notice things (and come up with really cool strategies) 60) At least one villain does NOT underestimate the main characters 61) Everyone doesn't let characters use false justification for their actions regardless who it is! Everyone gets a consequence that fits! 62) Soundtrack is LIT 63) Gay Gay Homosexual Gay 64) Because I'm still on this, two autistic-coded main characters whose traits aid in their heroism! Ruby and Penny...possibly Marrow Amin 65) Kdin Jenzen, a Transgender VA, plays May Marigold, a transgender heroic side character who does not get killed off. 66) Chaotic teens saving the world with the power of stubborn optimism 67) Opposites Attract Tropes 68) Goth Uncle 69) Goth Milf 70) Himbo Dad 71) Non-sexualized Catgirl 72) Cat Cougar Milf with Tea Tray defeats Bat Assassin 73) Panther Dilf 74) Blonde Brawler Female who is also smart and can work mechanics 75) Female protag uses scythe and cape/cloak 76) It Portrays several different types of abuse ranging from romantic relationships to familial abuse along with accurately portraying them 77) Shows how harmful Alcoholism is 78) When/If a a character dies, it’s for a reason and isn’t for shock value Penny cheated death once...she would not cheat death again. Ozpin's immortality is a curse, and he is truly dead, a ghost. 79) One of the the main-main characters is disabled and isn’t treated as/seen as lesser 80) Male/Female friendships are a thing and abundant Normally if a man and a woman engage, its shipping, not friendships. But with Naruto and Sakura we have friendship. With Ichigo and Rukia its friendship....now that is abundant friendship in RWBY. 81) LGBT Voice Actresses Voice LGBT Characters. Kdin Jenzen is Transgender, Arryn Zech is Bisexual, and so are their characters. 82) All Romantic relationships, heterosexual or not, are given attention and emphasis on their interpersonal relationships 83) Balances tragedy and comedy, there are SEVERAL episodes where you both end up laughing your ass off and crying 84) Never goes all out depressing, the message is clear, it takes it to heart, and it shouts it for all to hear. Sometimes bad things happen. But you have to keep moving forward. 85) Has a variety of characters, each with their own themes/allusions (e.g. Ruby = Red Riding Hood, Team RWBY = Fairy Tale Characters, Team JNPR = Crossdressing Historic Heroes) 86) Amazing Music that builds on the characters' motives 87) You won't suffer vision problems after watching an entire cast that's blindingly white (shounen anime in general) 88) Gay doesn't suddenly die to leave heartbroken love interest Straight and angstily going back to the white guy who killed Gay out of possessive jealousy, which is super romantic. 89) Partners of dead Gays, should a Gay die, will not obligatorily be paired with someone str8   90) Character designs reference various fairy tales and stories, so you can get things like Mulan and Thor being a childhood friends romance, Beast and Beauty being one and the same and in love with Goldilocks, and Red Riding Hood maiming Cinderella, who is evil. 91) Everyone; good, bad, and the minor characters...are all hot. 92) You WILL get attached both to the good and bad characters. 93) All characters have very unique designs that fit their personalities and fighting styles. 94) Emotional/Physical Abusers get killed AFTER being humiliated 95) The Entire Show is full of metaphors and symbolism. The backgrounds, character clothing, the weapons they use... it's fun to analyze! 96) Stresses the importance of just being a nice person above all other stereotypical morally gray anime tropes 97) The people who work the the show. Seriously not just the main people; I'm talking about all the unsung heroes who do amazing background and scenery to sound design, etc. RWBY has some of the nicest, most hard working, and supportive crews I've seen. And considering the amount of harassment the anti-fandom can throw at them, they take and handle it so remarkably well. 98) Every character looks amazing from main to one-off. How their outfits convey who they are so well and sometimes subtlety. Also how the creators and character designers make it so cosplayers can have pockets on their outfits. 99) No  stupid twists for shock value, the twists that do happen are foreseeable but executed in a way that is still shocking. 100) Enjoyable Comedic Spin-off far better written than Teen Titans Go. 101) Awesome weapon concepts 102) Awesome growth of story, plot, and transition of it. 103) People hate it when you have fun watching RWBY....is that not enough?

Need to come up with a list of good youtube channels next.

#RWBY #rooster teeth #monty oum #rwby fandom #rwby community #ruby rwby #weiss rwby #blake rwby #yang rwby #bumbleby #rwby analysis #rwby discussion #rwby meta #rwby fans #rwby positivity #rwby is enjoyable #rwby is a good show #iamafanofcartoons

[darkcircles4lyfe]

labor of love

Thinking back on the books and shows that have captivated me most over the years, I’ve noticed that a significant part of my enjoyment comes through glimpses of the creator themselves. The human, fallible, subjective, personal, and unique perspective that bleeds through. I'm forever trying to see things from the other way around instead of as the audience. As I become more familiar with a person’s work, I almost imagine myself as the close friend who can see bits and pieces of their loved one in everything the write. 

When I deal with fandoms or read and listen to media criticism, I inevitably get slapped in the face by the absence of this habit in other people. Maybe it’s because of concepts like “entertainment” and “consumption” making art into a product we spend our money on, and therefore we feel it owes us something. Maybe it’s the trend of pretending arbitrary differences in taste are actually somehow a basis for objective criticism. Regardless, even though I see plenty of reminders all over fandom spaces encouraging people to just enjoy things without worrying about whether they have some sort of intellectual merit, I don't see much acknowledgement of the creator’s point of view here. 

So let’s talk about creative work as what it is: somebody’s dream, which brewed in the dark and solitary chambers of their mind, real but invisible to the outside world. By some miracle of good fortune and incredibly hard work, that dream is made accessible to us, the audience. It’s difficult to express how surreal that really is. Not all media is like this, of course. But sometimes you can see when a story is made with love, that the creator is so in awe of this miracle that they bring all of themselves into it. When that happens, I too fall in love, and preference no longer seems to matter. It’s not, “I enjoy this thing because it’s so ME,” it’s more, “I enjoy it because it’s so THEM.”  

I worry sometimes that I have rose-tinted glasses on, but here’s the thing. We seem to over-associate criticism with logic, and praise with delusion, when in reality they are both limited. What I’m talking about here is neither. Sorry if this sounds cheesy, but I think “to love,” means “to know.” It’s where flaws and strengths blend together into a whole that is understood as it is cherished. 

All these various observations have been tumbling around in my head more and more since I’ve gotten into this funny little thing called Boku no Hero Academia. It’s so popular, so polarizing, it draws in such a wide range of opinions from so many different kinds of people. I find it fascinating to watch, but, like I just said, it also tends to slap me in the face. Not out of personal offense, mind you. More than anything I’m stunned by how disconnected a lot of people are from this human element, whether they are being negative or positive. Even if they know enough to invoke the name of Horikoshi, they treat him like more of a figure than a real person. 

It’s true none of us can actually truly know him. However, I think that while the author/audience relationship is a somewhat parasocial one, it’s worth acknowledging the mutuality of it as well. Let me take you all on a little journey to bring “the creator” down to Earth. 

First, a few plain facts: Before bnha, Horikoshi was able to get two other manga into serialization: Oumagadoki Zoo and Barrage. The former lasted 37 chapters from 2010 to 2011. Barrage lasted 16 chapters, in 2012. Juxtapose this with Boku no Hero Academia, which as of writing this, has been running for over 370 chapters spanning 8+ years since 2014. Horikoshi is currently 36 years old (born in 1986). 

Now let’s go back even further. His first one-shot was published in 2007, when he was 21. It’s called Tenko, and you can read it in English here. Most obviously, we can see that this Tenko character was later adapted to the Tenko we know in bnha, with a similar power, backstory, and appearance. But I actually think there are a few other ways we can draw comparisons from this genesis of Horikoshi’s career, all the way to the present. 

Here is the intro that prefaces the 2007 one-shot:

^I get chills looking at this, and it makes me grin, no joke. Please take a moment to read all the little tidbits. It sounds like the intentionally foreshadowing first scene of a famous person’s biopic, but no one had a clue back then. I just find that so hilarious and moving at the same time.

So think of the Tenko one-shot as a window into who Horikoshi was as an artist and a storyteller pre- pro industry, with the assumption that certain aspects of his work are probably simultaneously a bit more upfront but also underdeveloped. You know, like a kid. There’s both honesty and naivety there. I can also think back to being around 21 myself (only a few years ago lol), about the stories I was writing in school, the workshop classes I was in with other people my age, what they were writing, the things that were important to us that we discussed informing our work. It’s a formative time, right?

One of the primary things I notice about the Tenko one-shot is that it centers themes of power, heroism, and trauma, and has a resolution which involves bridging misunderstandings. 

It’s all very ideological, but also full of raw emotion. I read somewhere (sorry can’t remember where) Horikoshi saying that in formulating his idea for the ending of bnha, he has kept asking himself, what does it truly mean to be a hero? It seems he started asking that question way back in 2007, through this little story about swords and their wielders. The Tenko one-shot acknowledges that people and power are morally complicated, as is the idolization of heroes. The ending is hopeful, and looks ahead to times changing for the better by the will of progressively-minded and determined people. 

This reminds me of the current arc of the bnha manga, and how the whole story might eventually end. Horikoshi has shown us that the villains are worthy of sympathy, that they are a product of society’s willful ignorance, that “heroes” have also done abhorrent things. But he has also embraced the pure optimism of youth. He seems eager to ask the big questions about right and wrong, and present us with both ambiguity AND certainty. The final fights are not at all a contest of strength, and there are no winners and losers. I’m very curious to see how far he takes this. I’m sure it will ruffle some feathers, and leave some people unsatisfied, but that’s probably a good thing.

The other major thing I notice in the one-shot is the character Hana. Now, as she shares her name with one of the main characters in Oumagadoki Zoo, and they are also similar in personality, that could be where the comparison ends. However, that’s nothing to say Horikoshi didn’t continue her themes elsewhere. The Hana in the Tenko one-shot is primarily preoccupied with her goal of becoming a warrior, and she was inspired some time ago by a warrior who saved her. This other warrior, conicidentally, turns out to be a brutal, a-moral, self-proclaimed demon, and he actually doesn’t take Hana seriously. In some ways, this reminds me of Hawks with his own idols, Endeavor and Lady Nagant, and more generally the idea in bnha that someone you look up to might not be all you imagine them to be. Like All Might and his hidden suffering. Or like Ochako looking up to Izuku up until his solo arc, after which she proclaimed, “special powers are one thing, but there’s no such thing as a special person.” 

Speaking of Ochako. Hana’s primary source of angst in the story is that since she is a woman, her “masculine” ambition is laughed at and dismissed. Her dialogue with other characters is very direct about this, which I find pretty interesting. 

You can really feel her frustration and see the blatant misogyny in how she’s treated. Even though things are stated kinda bluntly, it feels genuine, ya know? Note that she also wears men’s clothes, and nothing about her appearance is catered to the “male gaze.” I mention all this because to me it contextualizes Horikoshi’s more recent female characters. We can infer that he carried this perspective on, but in subtler and more nuanced ways that might not be immediately noticed. They may sometimes look like shonen stereotypes and be influenced by a misogynistic world, but this is likely an act of parody and/or criticism on Horikoshi’s part. For example Ochako’s fight in the sports festival illustrates a similar point to Hana’s struggle as Katsuki is the only one who takes Ochako seriously while other male classmates see her and other female opponents as inherently weak or potential love interests. 

Hana remains ambitious, fostering her own motivation beyond her previous idol, and her ultimate goal is to help people. She reminds me so much of Ochako’s recent convictions. Ochako is fully herself now, and I’m confident her fight with Toga will show this even more, in a way that is much more direct. Since ch 374, I anticipate we may be getting confirmation of things pretty soon, so I wanted to restate that ASAP. 

I’ve said this before, but it really does trouble me how a lot of people assume so much about bnha based on other shonen, disregarding the fact that Horikoshi is his own person. This either leads to undo criticisms or expectations that will likely not be delivered on. It makes me sad because I want people to enjoy this story for what it is. I hope this is a reminder that although it may seem on the surface like Horikoshi is rehashing the same old thing, his work really is a labor of love, of knowing. It is an homage, which both celebrates and deconstructs. Please remember that for the day when folks will be scrambling trying to figure out how we got here. Ironically, the signs were there all along, from the start of Horikoshi’s career, if you only care to look. 

#Im back? kinda #please be advised that I am busy and tired etc etc #bnha 374 #bnha 375 #bnha 376 #bnha manga #bnha meta #media criticism #shonen #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #uraraka ochako #toga himiko #bakugou kastuki #shimura tenko #lin speaks #long post

[ancientgoddessofegypt]

Learning The Pineal Gland : Remembrance ; Soul Mission ; Operating Within The Psyche & Opening Doors To The Astral Realms

The pineal gland is the motion that keeps the consciousness flowing. It is our everyday reality, but yet it is so much farther down the road than we are. It knows the reason we take the steps that we take and move the way we do, yet its the most mysterious of all. Holding the gifts, talents, and skills necessary to move towards your perfect dimension. the thing is, the pineal gland is preoccupied on the imagination as this is how what we see for ourselves comes into fruition. It is the pineal gland that understands the mission. And once its awake, its hard to turn back.

The imagination is where you can get a good grip on how the pineal gland shapes it self in your reality. Do you have a hard time remembering your dreams? Or do you have problems with creating in different outlets such as writing, painting, understand a new dynamic, etc? Writers block? Not sure what to do? Mildly confused? Can't seem to figure out your next move? All signs of a low third eye chakra. These issues come into play when the mind isn't able to focus and expand the mind that way the human brain is meant to.

The Third Eye Chakra is the point where we learn how to see beyond ourselves instead of whats right in front of you. This is where clairvoyant gifts can come in and show itself when the person is ready. Seer abilities, seeing things that aren't 'there' are also signs of a strong third eye chakra.

This chakra needs evolution because as we grow in this lifetime the mind needs to see more and free itself from any restrictions that may have blocked it from undergoing getting the truth & clarity it needs to commit to something.

When our minds aren't able to process what we truly want for ourselves, and actually see the vision for it this is a sign of the third eye being blocked. Sometimes lack of faith shows a problem with the third eye too. Lack of belief that is.

Our beliefs need to be strong in order for the third eye to show you what's true, and what is imaginary. Because in these times, the imagination is what visualization is all about (duh!) but when it's time to come into manifesting.. the mind is also a tool in how to get there.

It is a force for us to remember why we are here and what talents and skills we possess in order to make this world worth living. Create your reality by innerstanding what the mind is trying to confess through the art of storytelling that is your life. The imagination is a key to how your subconscious and unconscious side of your brain works, it is not meant to be soaked into logical formation. It is it's own thing. The more you allow the imagination to expand itself, the deeper the creative expression can form. It is like a child playing, and making things work for itself so that the child can feel alive. That is the imagination. This helps us open doors inside of the astral realm, because our brains form things into our mind in a way that only we could understand it.

Sometimes our dreams can be hidden layers of secrets, codes and messages for us to decipher in the waking of our reality. Again, the imagination is big here, and you've got to appreciate it the way your third eye sees fit. It's all about energy.

Our dreams give us insight on what is going on with us in the subconscious and it helps us see things in a way that in our day to day we aren't truly able to understand. There is an art in understanding and appreciating how these realms we dive into are trying to tell us what's going on around us and even people we know or barely said even a word to.

It is through this chakra we learn that all is possible, and anything we believe is impossible must be sorted out in the mind. Allowing yourself to see through the beyond makes for a master in this timeline, as your gifts will strive for more and triumph through anything you believed to be an obstacle.

#dejas blog #the third eye chakra #pineal gland #metaphysics #blogging #spirituality #mystic #tarot #thoughts #the chakras #chakra system #the pineal gland

[sn0wbat]

a friend of mine reread homestuck recently, and gave their non-hs ocs god tiers.... which in turn inspired me to try reconsidering the god tiers of mine!

(yeah they're still undead vampires. don't think too hard about it, this was mostly just for fun anyway)

UPDATE: reasons under the cut!

thoughts and reasonings

----------

MORTEN

moon - PROSPIT

optimistic, mostly

lives in the moment

mostly relies on instinct

doesn't always think things through

creative solutions

not exactly a huge rebel (their mom usually had their back anyway)

aspect - RAGE class - PAGE

a page starts out with a lack of their aspect. they're missing it, repressing it.

as a page of rage, they'd start out not knowing how to truly show anger, they repress it, it's fine it's fine everything is fine - negative emotions always take a backseat.

he's kind of a doormat about things, not really wanting to escalate things further, ever.

this is especially seen with mort's interactions with their uncle, who keeps pulling disagreeable shit while mort just. goes along with it. to avoid conflict.

the challenge for a page of rage is to learn it's okay to get angry, to express their more negative side, to let people know when things aren't okay!! to stop being walked all over!!

to embrace the more monstrous side that's been so pushed aside for a while - it's okay to be a vampire, you're just trying to survive. it's okay to let people know they're wrong. it's okay

why? yeah somehow they got rage on the official quiz. rage and prospit. very odd, but thinking about it, it made some sense. sure, the prospit feels obvious, but rage? took some time to figure that one out. sadly page is the class that suits them the most here. oops

------------

EINARR

moon - DERSE

very self-aware

can get very rebellious given the chance -- literally lead a rebellion against his sire -- also lead a whole jailbreak -- was literally a pirate at some point

absolutely hides parts of himself and holds himself back a lot

good problem-solver

introvert

usually thinks things through… unless he doesn't.

very powerful ally

has a tendency to cling onto the past

aspect - LIGHT (breath, space) class - MAGE

"One who Understands with Light or Understands Light"

knowledge-seeker. big nerd about everything. u get the vibe

not very concerned with laws and norms

mages are very hands-on with their aspect - einarr has been through a lot already, being as old as he is. most of his knowledge is first-hand experience.

mages have a deep understanding and often suffer from their aspect… being a thousand years old, there's certainly some things he'd rather like to forget. however, his memory is Really Good oops

on the flipside, also really loves knowing a lot of things. he is curious. it's in his nature. he's a knowledge sim

oh, so mages suffer from their aspect? let's see: bright lights hurt his eyes, yes. sunlight hurts him too, yes. he's a vampire so this bullet point about the more literal side of his aspect hurting him is really funny sorry

has suffered from the burden of being seen (target of vampire slayers), and tbh he avoids this like hell these days- constantly hiding, hates unwanted attention. mirrors Void aspect in this case - he often blends in out of necessity but dear lord is it harmful to his mental health

mindreader. easily knows too much. sir-

because of that, can easily tell when someone is lying

a bit superstitious. still believes in the old gods.

extremely hard to sneak up on. he's basically got satellite dishes for ears, He Can Hear You

this classpect can partially be summed up as "the mortifying ordeal of being seen" and that's einarr yeah

-------------

RUNE

moon - DERSE

bit of a pessimist

self aware introvert

finds the world alienating and confusing and mean

hides quite a lot about himself

generally lives in a state of dissatisfaction. either he's not human enough or the world isn't vampire-friendly enough. feels like shit either way

would rebel more if he wasn't too busy being a terrified doormat

rarely lets himself be vulnerable. unless it's someone he really trusts to not use it all against him yknow

aspect - DOOM class - MAID

"those bound to the aspect of Doom are fate's chosen sufferers"

misery loves company and he found that company in his fellow vampires <3

not the advice friend, not a healer, but will let you know you're not alone as his life is shitty too

maids are often treated like lesser, and tbh that describes rune pretty well

"dismissed or pushed around by those they rely on" his family at home i swear

all his life he has been trying so damn hard to just. be accepted by those taking care of him. by following their rules. he's not like other vampires, no! he's not evil!! he's not a bad guy! just as human as anyone else!

and he'd also just love to stop being excluded from literally everything his family does thanks <3

it's not working

overall, has a tendency to follow everyone else's rules and instructions, which is a very maid of doom thing to do

challenge is to draw his own lines and become his own master instead of being everyone else's doormat :-)

"aren't you tired of being nice? don't you just wanna go ape shitt"

---------

BAT

moon - PROSPIT (???)

intuitive

exists in the present

VERY impulsive

did worry about what mort would think of him yes

"trouble with deception" i mean he's good at it, but does it eat him up inside when he's forced to lie? also yes. that's the trouble

totally fine with not interfering with human shit. why bother

turning mort into a vampire instead of actually telling him sure was a… creative solution lmao

used to trust people but it kinda bit him in the ass so not much anymore

what doesn't fit:

still a bit of a rebel for sure

can get very negative - not quite "marked by optimism"

very used to hiding himself (unless you count his bat form as one of his true selves, which it might as well be. like nimona. sometimes he's just a bat.)

he's that kid who has the edgy derse vibes but is actually prospit somehow. secret softie.

look i put him on derse too at some point. he somehow fits both. this time the quiz put him on prospit. idk man he's kinda both

aspect - VOID class - KNIGHT

"One who Exploits with Void or Exploits Void"

not afraid of the unknown. it doesn't bother him

great at hiding… a lot of things

would rather stay confused than believe in something completely false

knights of void are very good at keeping secrets. (even from himself, especially when he can't remember shit)

lives in obscurity, hidden in the shadows

exploits unawareness to drink everyone's blood :3

usually knows way more about someone else than they know about him.

knights have a tendency to be very insecure about certain things and also not really being willing to show it. hiding behind a shield, figuratively.

so yeah that's very bat

this was the only one that didn't change from the last time i messed with classpects haha fun fact

maybe perhaps i will do a part 2 with more vampires later, but we'll see lmao! thanks for reading <3

#low stakes 🦇 #my art #homestuck #kinda #rune is the only one with a Valid Kid Name (correct amount of letters) #maybe i'll consider the god tiers of my other vampires too. this was fun. #loki is a thief and tiberius is a bard i think. just going by vibes. helena is giving witch. eli is more of a sylph #lmfao. au where all the vampires get roped into sburb. 12 vampire session. imagine #tbh they should also get bat wings #also their lunar sways shifted a bit. bat may be prospit. einarr is derse. hgjdg #rune and morten stay the same (derse and prospit respectively) #edit: morten is a page of rage actually #they literally got rage on the official aspect test and i was in denial for a bit LMAO #but thinking about it... it started to make sense #i'll elaborate on all of these in a reblog

[treppthroat]

I Want It All

Hello! This is the first time I have written anything like this…I really do not know how this is gonna go. I was a STEM major in college so don’t expect much lol. Let me know if a part 2 is wanted. I might go full smut, who knows? It's kinda predictable haha.

The day was finally here. 

“Y/N! Let’s go! We gotta be first in line for the VIP experience.” 

This was the first time you had seen them perform. It was more than you could ever dream of. You and Sarah had saved hundreds of dollars to be squashed in the pit, but it was worth it. The only thing separating you from the love of your life was a metal barricade…and 8 security guards. You couldn’t get enough of every sigh and gasp he made on stage. It filled your heart (and other places) with the warmth of a heated, luxury car seat. Your gazing expression fixated on those long, strong fingers producing the most satisfying riffs—his voice, so commanding and full, yet so trembly at times. 

His calm demeanor always made you feel so at ease. You figured he was a good actor since you’d heard he was a very shy and private person. You’d never know that by watching him perform (especially the performances from 2013 on). He seemed larger than life but there were certain interview moments where he just seemed so relatable. He’s just a guy, like any other. He’s had love, heartbreak, and any other normal human experience. You’d seen photos of him around your age and he just looked like the cute kid at school, but nothing extraordinary. You wondered that if he wasn’t a famous musician, would you be as obsessed with him? Would you still be into him if he had a normal job and just did music as a hobby? After all, you were never into musicians. You were used to dating engineering majors, without a fraction of the emotional intelligence and creativity that he had. You always thought that guys in the arts were pompous pricks. Nothing was worse than a guy who had the same boring take on Pulp Fiction. All the guys you knew that were in a band were in it for the girls, especially the lead singers. They were the worst of all— bonus points if they also played guitar. Yet, your celebrity crush was indeed the lead singer/guitarist of a band. You were convinced that he was a sweetheart, he just seemed too goofy and down to earth to be a dickhead. Was he the exception? Did you just think that because you couldn’t see beyond your obsession? 

I mean, he is a very famous lead singer/guitarist in a well-known band. He was used to having girls throw themselves at him. Did he enjoy it? You always thought he seemed uncomfortable by the attention. He sulked in interviews, scanning his surroundings, or saying something cheeky enough to garner a laugh, but not seem like an asshole. He loved to shout “Ladies!” right before that famous riff to get a few screams out of the crowd. In his AM and EYCTE eras, he always placed his arms around his female fans in photos. He was trying to keep up a certain image. You were sure he wasn’t the type of guy to touch a girl without their consent. He seemed too proper, too polite. Could it have all been a farce to make him seem more appealing?

Regardless of his public persona, he was just a human being, who sang and played an instrument or two. He was just a guy. 

He was just a guy.

Sarah gripped your wrist and pulled you out of the pit. Even though you paid extra for this meet and greet, you needed to be the first few people at the gate. You could barely grapple with the fact that you were right in front of the stage, let alone that you would speak to the band. 

It was all too much. 

Well, you weren’t the first ones at the gate but you weren’t too far back in the line either. The line was bustling with screams and whispers. “Oh my god, here they come!”, you heard behind you. Your 5’2 body attempted to peer over the gate. A couple of security guards carefully opened the gates and out came a group of PR people, directing us to form a single file line. 

And then you saw him.

The whole band, standing against the hedges that lined the VIP area, was a sight to behold. Jaime, Nick, Matt, and of course, Alex. They stood with their hands behind their backs, giggling and conversing with each other. One by one, fans came up to each of them for pictures and autographs. You clutched onto the AM poster you bought before the show so tightly that you thought it might rip in half. Sarah put a hand on your shoulder to calm you down, but she was just as nervous as you.

“Y/N, it’s okay, we got this.”

There were three people in front of you, then two, then one. Then-

“Next!”, the PR lady screamed. You gulped and stepped forward. This was happening.

“Hi, how are you, what’s your name?”, Jaime asked.

“Hi, it’s Y/N”, you trembled, your whole body visibly shaking. You handed over the poster for him to sign. He was so sweet and genuine. He reassured you with a smile, and you went down the line, repeating the same process with Nick and Matt. They were equally as polite and inviting. Whatever idea you had of band members being rude and disgusting left your mind immediately. These guys were so humble, honestly. 

And then you got to Alex.

“Hi, how are you? I’m Alex, what your name?”, he asked with a grin in a deep, Sheffield accent. 

You paused for what felt like an eternity. You simply could not fathom your celebrity crush asking you for your name. 

“Hi, I’m great. I mean— my name isn’t great. My name is Y/N” you fumbled. Nice one, now he thinks you’re some inarticulate fangirl. Oh wait—

He chuckled as you gave him your poster to sign. “Well, it is very nice to meet you, Y/N. Did you enjoy the show?”

You could just die right there. His crisp blue suit, with his gold chains draping his bare chest void of any tie, was enough to put you into a coma. His hair was so fluffy and perfectly quaffed in the front. He was a vision of heaven. 

“Yeah, it was amazing!” you replied with enthusiasm. 

“I’m glad to hear that”, he said with a grin as he handed you back the poster. The PR lady took your phone as you posed for a picture with the whole band. You knew you looked like a complete goober but you didn’t care. You met your favorite band, finally. You asked Alex and the lady for a separate picture with just the two of you. He obliged and posed next to you, standing with his hands behind his back and sporting a smolder. You wondered how it was legal to be that devastatingly handsome. 

“Thank you! It was great meeting you guys!”

You waved goodbye at all of them while you waited on the side for Sarah to take her turn. Your heart was racing and you had to pinch yourself to make sure you weren’t dreaming, as dreaming of Alex was a common occurrence. But this was real. 

“Sarah, we met them, we spoke to all four of them”, you said in shock.

“Y/N, I still cannot believe it. And it just happened.”

You both exchanged photos and giggled over the whole ordeal. You made your way to the parking lot while fangirling over the fact that you both have spoken to and have pictures with the Arctic Monkeys. 

It was all too surreal. You went home that night with a smile and your new favorite memory.

As the weeks passed, you looked back on that moment fondly. The moment your eyes met Alex’s deep brown oceans, you were hooked. You felt relieved that he was so polite. The whole interaction was not rushed one bit, even though there were about 150 people behind you. You felt as if he really took his time with you, to make you feel special. Or was that just a part of his facade? After all, why else would he have taken his time with you when there were so many other desperate people waiting to have the same experience?

It was a crisp Saturday in Autumn. After working your 9-5 that week, you were much in need of an outdoor stroll. Work had just been kicking your ass lately. Demanding clients, more responsibility, and bad management. You needed to get away from it all, even though you never had to actually speak to anyone in person. Still, it felt good to walk away from your laptop and out of your apartment. 

As you stepped outside, you felt a gust of wind knock you off your stoop. It was finally getting chilly in the city, and you could not wait for what the season had in store.

You were never much of a coffee drinker, but you couldn’t resist a good chai latte. You strolled down the street to your favorite coffee shop to get your sweet treat. 

Something about the season felt different this year. More excitement, more possibilities, maybe something was waiting just around the corner. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking. You had too many negative thoughts swirling around your head constantly so it felt nice to be positive and dreamy for once, even if it was unrealistic. 

You turned right onto the street with the coffee shop on the corner. Right before you opened the big glass doors, you halted. Your heart sank as you saw a familiar side profile. You thought you were just seeing what you wanted to see, as your delusions have tricked you before. You blinked as you gripped the handle of the store. People pass you by staring as they use the opposite door to enter the building. They must think I’m a nut. 

You are a nut, that’s not him, it can’t be.

You compose yourself and enter the establishment like any other sane person would. You get in the usual long line to order. As you survey the room of the place you frequent at least once a week, you glance behind you to see that your delusion has unfortunately persisted. You shake your head and blink three times—this usually does the trick. 

You feel a sense of relief, and you turn back around to confirm that there is nothing to see. 

You were dead wrong. Or you had finally lost it. Either way, the frontman of the Arctic Monkeys was sitting behind you at a small table, sipping on a cappuccino and reading a novel. 

Shit. What the hell is he doing here?

#alex turner #arctic monkeys #fanfic #music #bands #concerts #live performance #meet and greet

[onyx-archer]

Some Thoughts on Luz Noceda, and How Some Critics Don’t Get Her Arc.

I’ve been kicking around the idea of doing some sort of post about The Owl House for a while, and now that it’s over, I have a lot of thoughts on it. Specifically, I have a lot of thoughts on the series’ protagonist, Luz Noceda. Obviously, I’m going to be talking about spoilers for the series, so if you haven’t watched it, or are just not finished with the series yet, don’t read this. I just have a collection of thoughts and opinions about aspects of the show I want to put out there. More under the cut.

To start, I wanted to actually talk about Luz as a character, because I think there are certain critics *coughcoughLilyOrchardcoughcough* that don’t really get the issue with Luz’s arc, and how it likely was intended to come across. In particular, the small crowd of people who think that Luz feels like a different character starting in Season 2B, but I don’t think that’s really the case. Well, I sort of do, but I see it as a development based change that was affected by the cancellation, rather than a flaw in the writing.

Luz’s character, throughout the first Season, is somewhat static. Sure, she does experience some development, all characters do to some extent after all, but she isn’t on a specific path of development. As many characters in the series would likely point out, just as the critics of Luz’s depressive spiral do constantly, Luz in the first season is the character that largely facilitates change in others, rather than being the one who experiences a ton of growth herself. Early-series Luz is functionally the match to light the fuse that is the character development for characters like Eda, Amity, and to a small extent in the beginning, King. The show outright says in Season 2′s first episode that Luz made Eda’s life better, and Amity’s affection for her is rooted in how Luz inspired her to be a better person. I’d go as far as to say that King wouldn’t be able to deal with his lack of living biological family if not for Luz’s influence on him, with his older sister figure truly helping him come to value Eda and Luz as his family being a cornerstone of King’s growth as a character.

Season 1′s conclusion works because it’s really the first time where Luz’s more reckless behavior bites her in the ass. Luz feels she is at least partially responsible for Eda losing her magic, and it’s obvious that it weighs heavy on her heart, even with Eda’s assurance it’s not her fault, because it’s the kind of person she is. We don’t see her really have to come to grips with her actions having consequences for a long while because most of those consequences get undone or aren’t really worth worrying about. Then her mentor and second maternal figure loses her magic, and Luz had to sacrifice her only way home to help her. Luz has an emotionally tangible reminder of her actions, and this obviously has a negative impact on her.

Remember, Luz is a bundle of creative energy, and is misunderstood because of how she expresses herself. It’s the only other instance where her behavior has a form of consequence, as she was being sent to a camp to “correct” the issue... but then a magic door happened and she didn’t have to face that responsibility. She could shrug off the consequences, and if things got too bad, she could always just go back to the Human Realm for a bit. She was never placed in a situation where she’d have longstanding consequences for her actions until “Young Blood, Old Souls.” Her actions made her an easy target for Lilith to draw in Eda, who would lose her magic trying to save Luz, which while not entirely her fault, she still feels responsible because Eda was only in that situation because of her existence on the Boiling Isles to begin with. Sure, Eda would have to eventually be put in a similar spot, but with the added context of Luz’s Dad being dead, and still being a sore spot for her due in part to being so young, yeah, of course she’s going to feel responsible.

Luz paid the price of her desire to become a witch when she had to give up her only way home to save someone she cares about. Even if it meant never seeing her mother again. Her actions expedited Eda’s curse reaching it’s final stages, and while Eda’s no longer in immediate danger because of her being able to save her from petrification, it’s still something she feels she has to take responsibility for. Why? Because she gave up her ability to go back to the Human Realm, potentially forever. In that moment, she had to make a choice, and that choice had consequences that ripple through her and the events of the story until the end of the series. I know I’m repeating myself to a degree, but I want to make it clear that Luz’s “trauma” was never really a thing that factored into the story until she had to actually face the fallout of a choice she made that could negatively affect her life forever.

With the added context of Luz’s lingering grief of her dead father, and Eda becoming something of a maternal figure for her, Luz made the choice she did because while she could potentially never see her mother again, she was alive and well... but Eda, another parental figure in her life, could die. She was able to prevent it, and she did, and if you have a positive relationship with your loved ones that could potentially die, you’d likely do the same.

Luz is able to move on, relatively normally, after this point, because she has something to work towards: a new portal. She’s given hope because she learns of another human being in the Demon Realm before, and that gives her something to hold on to. When combined with the budding romance with Amity, Luz is able to deal with the consequences of her decision to stay in the Demon Realm, and her choice to save Eda over going home. It’s a dam, holding back a torrent of negative thoughts that she’s likely been burying for a while.

Then she sees her mother again. Then, the dam begins to buckle.

I think “Yesterday’s Lie” is something of an under-rated episode, because it’s this moment where you can see Luz’s wall of positivity start to break down. She’s reminded of her selfish wish to be a witch is something that can, and did, hurt her mother. Yes, her mother didn’t know that she was gone because Vee took advantage of Luz going to the Demon Realm to be able to (more or less) safely live in the Human Realm... but upon Camila learning the truth, and learning that her daughter effectively ran away to another world, it became harder to ignore the consequences of her choice to stay on the Boiling Isles. Camila blaming herself for Luz’s situation only makes things worse by compounding consequences with guilt... and Luz is only a 14 year old girl.

It’s this that has Luz begin to truly slip into the more depressed mindset she develops over the course of Season 2B. This is really the first real time Luz has shown to be truly traumatized, and this is where I think a lot of people misunderstand how trauma works.

Trauma is something that lingers, and affects you in ways that are more often than not negative. It’s something that is triggered by a distressing situation that rattles you, not just distress in general. I myself have PTSD that genuinely keeps me up at night, and while I’ve been better at managing it as time goes by, it still has me panic enough that life is made harder by it being there. Luz’s “trauma response” was never proactive, because Luz wasn’t dealing with trauma, she was dealing with issues in the moment. This is fundamentally why it bugs me to no end when people like Lily Orchard blatantly shit on Luz being depressed in Season 2B; Luz didn’t really have long lasting consequences to her actions begin to pile up until she destroyed the portal door. That’s not something a proactive and positive attitude can just fix, nor is it something that can be dealt with in the same way that Luz deals with other problems that have cropped up during the course of the series. Luz’s choice to stay in the Boiling Isles was born out of her seeing it as a way to escape... until it wasn’t an escape anymore. She could have left at any time and went back home. But she didn’t, and that is why Luz ended up in the mental state she did. It’s the ripple effects of an act of selfishness catching up to her, and leaving her emotionally damaged as a result.

Luz’s decision to stay and the guilt associated with not being able to properly tell her mother that she isn’t at fault for Luz staying in the Demon Realm is further compounded on by Luz unknowingly helping Belos by teaching his younger self the Light Glyph, and then learning the truth of this in Hollow Mind. While I don’t think the episode is that great, Hollow Mind is critical for Luz’s decent down the emotional spiral she’s on because it only serves to build on top of the foundation of consequences and guilt by adding a wrinkle that, while we figured out pretty quickly as the audience, Luz didn’t know about because, realistically, why would she?

Luz learning that she helped a tyrant rise to power because of the choice of staying on the Isles is where her dam breaks, and the negative thoughts become so loud they’re practically screaming in her head, and it’s perfectly justifiable that she, in that state, would believe she is at fault for everything. Remember, this all started because, and say it with me, Luz decided to stay on the Boiling Isles until leaving was no longer and option. Her decision to stay would lead to Belos learning of her existence, which would lead to the Door being destroyed, which lead to Luz looking into Philip, which lead to her meeting him in the past and teaching him the Light Glyph, which lead to Belos being able to rise to power via the lie of the Coven System, which lead to Belos being a factor to begin with. It’s a self sustaining feedback loop, and it naturally leads to Luz downing a big old cup of depresso espresso. This is why Luz feels so responsible for Belos. This is why she ends up so depressed. This is why Luz’s ability to deal with things in a healthy way falls into her depressive downward spiral, and why she needed to hear her mother basically say she’s sorry for ever thinking that Luz being different was a problem to pull her out of it (and ultimately cause Stringbean to hatch). It’s why I think that the way Luz is in “Thanks To Them” works. I do think it being dragged into “For The Future” was a bit much though.

Luz is an example of a character that goes through a negative character arc, but still walks out on the other side a better person where others might not. It’s not done the most gracefully, but it’s something that, given the circumstances, worked for what they were able to do within the time constraints.

I think it’s blatantly obvious that Dana likely had this sort of things planned to be more gradual than it was, but had to cram a whole bunch of story stuff into Season 2 (especially Season 2B) to make up for the fact that she wouldn’t have three full seasons to do this kind of thing more gradually. It’s sort of like if you lost a season’s worth of context for Walter White in Breaking Bad: you’d get that dark spiral, but it’d be a bumpier ride because of the lack of time. It’s pretty safe to assume that early Season 2 was written and approved by the people in charge before Dana even knew cancellation was a thing, as you typically write treatments for this kind of thing WAAAAAY in advance of full blown production from what I understand. And now, to pivot to something related, but less important than Luz’s handling of her growing depression.

There are things about Luz’s arc that I find to be somewhat disappointing though. Specifically, how they handled Stringbean. Stringbean feels like one of those things that was a victim of the mass amounts of cuts that had to be made because Disney execs were going too hard on the Apple Blood and decided a 3rd Season would have been too much for something that didn’t fit the Disney Channel “Brand.” If I had to speculate on the intended direction of Season 2B, it seems likely going to be the climax of the season where Luz got Stringbean, rather than what we got. Like, I firmly believe that most of Season 2A was written and approved for production before Season 1 even ended, because it feels like a more logical extension of Season 1 than the later half of the season does. Stringbean was basically set up as far back as “Hunting Palisman” at bare minimum, and you could argue it’s an even older concept because of Eda’s mention of young witches needing to earn their staffs/Palismans in earlier episodes (I can’t recall the exact episodes). The seeds had been sewn earlier than even Hunter, so Stringbean was likely a victim of the cuts.

The other reason I think this is because of when Stringbean first appears. She debuted in the second-to-last episode, and then is truly relevant for all of 5 minutes of that episode before Luz dies, and comes back with Titan Powers. Sure, Stringbean is used in the final battle after Luz gets said powers, but it could have just as easily been Owlbert and not much would be different. It’s clear to me that Stringbean was meant to fulfill an emotional climax of the story, but due to time constraints, barely managed to get squeezed into the series by the end, and that’s a damn shame.

If I were to write elements of Luz’s arc, as far as getting Stringbean is concerned, I’d have it serve as a connection to Luz’s father. While I love what we got of Camila in the specials, I think it would have made more sense from a writing standpoint for Camila to lack the understanding of Luz’s more eccentric traits because that’s something Manny was better at understanding. I’d even make the idea of a Snakeshifter something Luz and Manny came up with together when Luz was little, and that Stringbean’s form is born from Luz finally feeling like her mother understands her, and from Camila finally being able to truly begin understanding Luz like her husband did before he died. I think that would have at the very least made Luz’s dead dad thing be a bit more relevant to the story, make Camila have a bit of an arc that has a bit more punch to it, and it’d give Stringbean a better debut as a more emotionally potent moment. Even if this had to be saved for like, a Season 3 mid-season finale, it’d still have done more for the story to handle it in a way like this in my opinion.

Anyway, those are some thoughts of mine. Feel free to let me know if you agree or disagree with anything I’ve said. Just be respectful and stuff.

#The Owl House #Luz Noceda #Analysis #toh analysis #Owl House Spoilers #TOH Spoilers

[sergeantsporks]

Writing Request: The culture shock that the witches are going through by being in the human realm. Particularly dealing with the fact that the Boiling Isles being free of homophobia and transphobia while the human realm isn't like that. Maybe Luz trying to figure out the best way to explain that horrible aspect of the human realm to her friends so that they stay careful. Or she started by explaining the bi flag in the house that Camila got to support her when she came out before going to the demon realm.

Combo attack. @bee-bee-loves-things, one of them is yours :D

Warning beforehand about. The most mildest of suggestiveness. I probably don't even actually need a warning. Anyway.

Luz paced back and forth across the room. “Guys, I need to come out to my mom in the coolest, most creative, and rad way possible. Any ideas?”

Amity raised a hand. “What’s ‘coming out’?”

“Coming out of what?” Gus asked, “Your skin? Oh my titan, are you molting?”

“Do humans molt?” Willow asked him. He shrugged.

“No! Come out! As in, tell her I’m bi?”

Hunter raised a hand.

“Yes! Hunter! Idea?”

“What’s ‘bi’? Is… are you sick or something? Are you dying? Is that why you haven’t told her yet? You should tell your family if there’s something wrong, she can help you!”

Amity grabbed her girlfriend’s face in her hands. “You don’t feel feverish. Is it interna bleeding? Are your organs bursting?! Ohhhhh I KNEW catching the common mold might have been really bad for humans!”

“No, no, I’m okay, Amity. I’m not sick. Hunter, bi is short for bisexual.”

“Which is…?”

“You know,” Gus interrupted, “she can reproduce in two different ways!” He squinted at Luz. “What’s the second way?”

“No. Gus, just… no. Bisexual. I’m attracted to multiple genders? You know, like some people are attracted to guys, and other people are attracted to girls, and then I’m attracted to both.”

There was a collective “ohhhhhhh” from her friends.

Right. Sure. Probably the boiling isles had different words or something. “Sooooo… any ideas for the most spectacular coming out of all time?”

Amity clasped her hands together, pressing her index fingers to lips. “Riiiiiiight, there’s that. So, that’s like… telling your mom that we’re dating?”

Luz gave her a thumbs up. Finally, some progress. “Yeah, that’s part of it! But also just letting her know that I like both in general.”

“…Why? I mean, why’s it such a big deal? We’re dating. We tell her we’re dating, right? Why’s it matter if you’re… bi-sechs-ual?”

Luz hissed in. Thing had been so much more relaxed in the demon realm, she’d forgotten until now that it wasn’t always so simple. “Welllllllllll… it’s… not a huge deal in the demon realm, but here, in the human realm… people can get really weird about you liking the same gender as yourself. Or about you expressing your gender in different ways.”

“What?!” Gus yelped, “Why?!”

“Lots of reasons. Religion. It’s how they were raised. Someone in power told them to. I don’t know how it all started, but… that’s how things are here. So telling people who you are, who you like, it can… well, it can be dangerous. A lot of people have to hide who they are from the people around him. And ‘coming out,’ or telling people about it, can kind of be a big deal!”

Luz shrugged. “My mom’s not one of those people who would be weird about it, at least I don’t think so, but… this is really important to me, and I want to do something amazing about it so that my mom will know just how much it means to me.”

“I can help with some illusions!” Gus suggested, “What’s some stuff about being bisexual? I can make them appear!”

Luz opened her computer. “I’ve got a couple of pictures of Amity and I on my phone. I could do a little presentation. Then Gus’ illusions… maybe I could get her an ally pin? But what if she doesn’t want to wear it?”

“Let’s just stick with the presentation and the illusions for now,” Amity suggested, “Afterwards, maybe the pin?”

“Yeah. Yeah, okay.” Luz pulled up a picture of a pink, purple, and blue flag. “Okay, Gus, listen super close, here’s what I think we should do…”

Xxx

“Luz?”

Luz twisted her new bi pin around on her hat with a small smile. “Hm?”

Hunter tapped his index fingers together. “Do you think… you could explain it again?”

“Explain what?”

“Being bi.”

Luz blinked. Weird request. Maybe it was different, but it was hardly the strangest thing she’d ever had to explain. Had she been unclear about something earlier? Maybe she’d been too vague? “Uhhhh okay, so, I’m attracted to more than one gender, right? Guys, gals, nonbinary pals—”

“Right, right, what does that mean?”

“What?”

“Being attracted to someone? Like, literally? You’re being pulled towards them?”

“Oh.” Luz hummed. “In a way, I guess? But not literally. More emotionally.”

“So… like how people were drawn towards Belos?”

Luz’s spine straightened. “No! Well, maybe, I don’t know what went on in anyone’s heads, but no, not like that, it’s… mmmm… okay, well, it’s like… you like them. Like a LOT. And you want to spend a lot of time with them, and be near them all the time.”

Hunter frowned. “So, more like how I want to hang out with you and Gus?”

“Uhhh I doubt it.” Luz let out a short hiss. “Wow. Okay. You know what, romantic attraction is weird to explain, let’s do something easier. Hunter, do you, uhhhhhh… do you know how babies get made? Not, like, however grimwalkers get made, the normalish way?”

He flushed bright red. “Of course I do. I’ve taken anatomy lessons.”

“Okay, well… attraction is… wanting to do that with someone.”

Hunter frowned. “Attraction is… wanting a baby with someone? That’s… weird.”

“No? I mean, yes, but you don’t have to… actually have a baby.”

“Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy would you do that if you didn’t want to make a kid? What would be the point?”

Luz’s cheeks burned, and she yanked her beanie down over her face. “Uuuuuuughhhhhh forget I said anything. Just… mmmmmmmmmm… yeah, forget it.”

“Wait—no—Luz—sorry, I’m sorry, I just…” Hunter took a deep breath. “I don’t think I understand it? And… I’m just… I don’t know if it’s just one of those things that I never got exposed to in the coven, like having friends, or if it’s… you said it yourself, grimwalkers don’t get made the same way, so maybe… maybe that’s why?” Hunter tugged her hat up, looking her in the eye. “Basically, is this something I’m going to figure out eventually? Or is it something I’ll have to pretend I feel so that they don’t realize I’m a grimwalker?”

Luz perked up. “Oh! Well, actually, good news on that, I don’t think it’s a grimwalker thing. Hang on.” She grabbed her computer, typing “asexual” into the search engine and clicking on the wiki. She handed the computer to Hunter. “Here.”

Hunter scanned the page, his eyes widening. He looked at the page, then back at Luz. “You want to make babies with Amity all the time? And that’s normal?!”

Luz choked, coughing and flushing red. She dropped down into her desk chair, burying her head in her arms. “Not all the time,” she whispered hoarsely.

“Does Amity know that? Have you told her?”

Luz clutched at her beanie, thumping her head against the desk. “Hunter! You can’t ask people that! Quit talking about me, talk about you. Obviously you don’t want to…”

“Nope. Not even a little. Gross, Luz.”

“It is not,” she protested.

“Very gross.”

“Hunter, that’s how 99% of people are!”

“99% of people are very gross,” Hunter insisted.

“Okay, okay. Whatever.” Luz spun around in her chair. “You want to make a powerpoint?”

“What? No, I don’t think it matters that much.” Hunter pointed at the computer screen. “I like this. I’m keeping the word. You know, technically, grimwalkers do reproduce asexually! So I’m asexual in all respects, yeah?”

Luz burst out laughing, gasping for air. “Yeah,” she wheezed, “Guess so.”

Hunter marched down to the basement with the computer, and Luz followed. Hunter plunked the computer down on an old card table and cleared his throat. Willow and Gus looked up from the earth book on plants they were looking at, and Hunter pointed at the computer screen.

“This is me,” he announced, “It is a totally normal thing for humans—and presumably witches as well—to be. There are no strange or hidden reasons for me to be this way.”

He beamed and gave Luz a thumbs-up over Willow and Gus’ heads as they examined the computer screen. Luz put her face in her hands.

Very smooth, Hunter. Not suspicious at all.

“Aw, cool!” Willow cheered, “Hey, maybe we could get you a pin like Luz’s! But with this flag instead!”

Gus drew a circle, and an illusion pin appeared on Hunter’s shirt. “It suits you.”

Hunter pulled his shirt out, going cross-eyed as he looked at the illusion. “You think so?”

“Yeah,” Willow agreed, “That looks good!”

“Yeah,” Hunter said softly, smiling at the fake pin, “Yeah, I like it.” He looked back up at Luz, a big grin splitting his face. “I like it a lot.”

#toh #the owl house #toh fanfiction #my writing #writing requests #asexual hunter #asexual #aspec #toh hunter #luz noceda #asks

[aloev3rathings]

im thinking of random toh headcanons ive got floating around in my head:

1. i feel like this is pretty much fanon all across the board for the most part, but luz “weak nerd arms” noceda grew more physically active post-boiling isles but the difference isn’t really noticed until she’s in the human realm again and oh hey! that nerd from gym class? luz has got endurance in spades; she’s a regular at free running now. and she’s gotten an offer from the cheer squad to join once she returns but she turns them down. she and hunter go running in the park on the weekends bc luz is now a flexible speed demon and hunter’s kind of glad she can keep up with him.

2. hunter definitely gets into gaming. not just board games but mmorpgs and turn based games and all sorts. does he get into CoD? yes and no, bc on one hand, battling it out with a team with no lethalness involved helps burn out a lot of his anxiety that springs him into fight mode, but he can’t do mics bc his team mates are annoying and rude and will not take the match seriously like he does. he likes leisurely decision based games, like nitw and oxenfree, bc one, exploration and two, lore. the boy loves mysteries so he gets super into video game lore, im talking YouTube essays talking about themes and Easter eggs and pop culture.

3. willow tends to keep her insecurities close to her chest. she likes being the voice of reason and dependable for her friends bc she’s no longer considered useless “half-a-witch” willow, but she’ll avoid talking about her own emotions if she can. she’d rather put her energy towards something more constructive like her gardening and working out, and while her friends do their best to make sure she’s included in any and all bonding activities, willow will internalize. she will speak with Gus about it on occasion, and she feels only a little bit distant from Luz now since she and Amity are dating and she’s understanding, so inevitably she reveals bits and pieces with hunter. as a result, they spar whenever she has to deal with bouts of frustration. it’s shameless how they flirt.

4. since the day of unity and upon their inevitable return to the boiling isles, Gus wants to use his illusion talents in a more self-defensive manner? generally it’s used more for distraction and evasion, but when he starts working out with willow and hunter, combined with input from amity whose magic is mainly combat based, he becomes more flexible with how he uses his illusions.

5. on top of combat, Gus spends his time building his knowledge of the human realm, which goes without saying, but he partners with Eda on selling her human realm products now that they know what things actually are and what they’re used for. human realm technology becomes pretty popular in the demon realm bc of Gus.

6. amity and her father finally get closer. it’s really slow-going, but with her mother out of the picture they’ve gotten a chance to experiment with abominations with honest-to-titan creativity, and not just creating abominations for combat. as a result, they start trying to use abomination clay for more practical every day applications like construction and travel, but also abominations to explore areas of the isles that are too dangerous for normal witches to access.

7. Gus and Matt still help protect the looking glass ruins, and they’ve grown closer in their friendship. Gus is still leagues beyond Matt in terms of illusion magic, but Matt inspires creativity in mischief, so they become a prank trickster duo that rivals the Blight twins. and since Gus loves to express himself creatively, they end up reinvigorating Hexside’s long dead theater program. they are the most beloved theater kids in the entire school.

8. hunter and willow dance around each other for a good year and a half after the day of unity. their friends have a betting pool going on. Hunter fell first, but Willow spent a good while trying to figure out exactly why she’s so attached to this boy. when it finally hits her she adamantly refuses to talk about it, and they are the friends everyone thinks is already dating. Luz is in agony. Amity is amused. Gus is amused. all parties involved in the bet are just eating popcorn.

9. and I only just realized this like a week ago when I was rewatching the first season with my friend, and it’s not really a headcanon but more of an interpretation I guess BUT. but of course, magic is a gift from the isles, which is the Titan. and who was with Luz when she first discovered the light glyph? King. Luz was chosen not because she was destined; she was chosen bc she wanted to love and protect her friends and family. King chose her, didn’t even realize it, because of who she is as a person. because she loves him and he loves her and this realization MAKES ME SO EMOTIONAL TO THINK ABOUT. THE POWER OF CHOSEN/FOUND FAMILY IDC IF THIS DOESNT MAKE PERFECT SENSE IT DOES IN MY HEART.

#the owl house #aloe’s talking to the void #headcanons #toh spoilers #sort of #huntlow #just a leetle bit

[animeaandp]

Figure You Out

Pairing: Izuku x reader

Warnings: explicit language, nsfw (not really yandere but maybe a bit??)

Summary: You've been in a relationship with someone that everyone knows isn't a good match. He's not a bad guy but the two of you couldn't care less about the other, let alone have any real feelings left. It's obvious the relationship has run it's course so your friends leave you be; you'll end things when you're ready. However, a 'gentle nudge' never hurt anybody.

Note: Inspired by the song 'Figure You Out' by VOILA (creative title I know)

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Midoriya was said to be a literal ray of sunshine, or a cute little bunny, as sweet as could be. When you transferred into the hero course your second year, he was the only person you knew of other than your best friend Shoto. You'd heard only good things about Midoriya but when you finally meet he's nothing of the sort. He didn't smile back, said maybe two words, then refused to look at you a day after that. It didn't make sense but you found some comfort in that everyone else was just as confused. Later when his friends quizzed him about it, he didn't give a straight answer, waving off the interaction as nothing. Then halfway through the school year, once you started dating your boyfriend, 'nothing' become the only way Midoriya treated you. He's maintained this disposition for two years. And now, in your final year, you could manage a brief conversation albeit far from friendly. Like tonight.

While walking back to the dorms from a party, Midoriya acted as disinterested in you as always, but every time you walked faster or slowed down so did he. Everyone else was either still partying or turned in for the night hours ago. You left once you started feeling too lightheaded to keep dancing, and didn't realize Midoriya had been walking with you the entire time. He rolled his eyes when you finally noticed him but nothing else. Otherwise, it's a nice quiet walk and the night air refreshing, so if Midoriya was going to babysit you then he'd have to enjoy it as well. "Even if he is a big dumb dummy."

"You know most people act nicer when they're drunk."

"I'm not drunk yet and you're still you."

"Meaning??"

"There's not enough alcohol in the world Izuku."

"*scoff* fucking brat.." "Hey." "What." "How come you only cuss around me? Everyone else swears you're a saint but you're closer to a rotten sailor."

"No one else bothers me like you."

"Well why do I bother you.?"

"So damn chatty." Midoriya ignores your question until your footsteps fall too far behind. His hand drags down his face as he turns around, "Now what. Need to puke.?" but you're standing still, watching the tears bouncing off your shoes, just as confused as Midoriya. He takes a few steps closer and you snap out of it. You wipe your face, "I'm sorry; sorry, I don't know where that came from."

"...It's probably all the blood rushing to your head. Try sitting down."

"Yeah, okay."

You find a bench and take deep breathes but the tears keep falling and you keep apologizing to Midoriya. The expression he's giving you is some mixture of concern and irritation. Still, he sits quietly until you've calmed down enough to keep "AH!!" "Y/n?!"

Should you cling to your twisted ankle or scraped knees? Trying to stand was a mistake because maybe-just maybe-you were a little drunk, and the first (attempted) step proved it. Midoriya jumped to help you up and back onto the bench but instead of checking if you were okay like a decent human being, "WHat the hell were you thinking?!! If you weren't ready to get up then fucking say so! There's no point getting hurt just bc you don't want to admit your drunk-what if I hadn't been here?! What if something worse happened!?! If you can't be responsible and handle your alcohol then stop going to these damn parties! You don't-!" "SHUT.THE.FUCK! UP!" "!?!?!" "Shut up-shut up-SHUT UP already!! FOR FUCKS SAKE do you ever get tired of yelling at me!!?!?! I get it-you hate me(!) just shut up for a FUCKING SECOND-CHRIST do you not see that I am hurting-" The words catch in your throat so you turn away and silently cry, waiting for things to just go back to normal.

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"...? Huh-? Wait! What are you doing?!"

"It's getting cold. We need to get back to the dorms."

"What part of that means picking me up?!!?" You squirmed in Midoriya's arms but a weak breeze was more of a nuisance to him. "Isn't it obvious; you can't walk so I'm carrying you."

"But-!?! Why...like this?!"

"Least amount of strain on your injuries...worried you're too heavy for me to carry??" "NO! Asshole...but if my boyfriend found out-" Midoriya's laugh vibrated against your side and your righteous fury melted into shame. It's a common occurrence now a days, and no one laughed more than Midoriya did. He was just the only one to do it to your face. "That 'boy' wouldn't have jack to say about it. I bet he didn't even know where you were tonight. Go ahead, tell me I'm wrong."

"..."

"..."

"...No; you're right...and he couldn't care less."

"..."

"I know that he's not a good boyfriend okay-everyone knows, even he does I think. We hardly see each other anyways, so there's no point pressuring him to care. Things are just easier this way." You clear your throat, not wanting to start back up. "Besides, it's not the worst treatment; not like you could do any better so quit bugging me about him." You expected a typical Midoriya retort but he's quiet and continues walking. 'Whatever, I'm tired anyways.'

The dorms are up ahead and you start thinking about if the first aid kit in your room would have everything to treat your wounds. The scratches on your knees weren't that bad but your ankle needed proper wrappings immediately. Midoriya carries you inside and to the elevators, patiently holding you until the doors reopen but you're confused, "This isn't my floor Izuku." "It's mine." He takes you to his room and places you on his bed like it's no big deal. You immediately try to get up but "Don't be dumb" a soft shove sends you back down. He grabs his own first aid supplies, then sits at your feet. After re-inspecting your injuries, he begins tending to them one by one. The guy is the most accident-prone person you knew so you trust he knows what he's doing and look around his room. It's unsurprising how much Allmight merchandise there is but you did expect more of a 'guys' room than this; it's very clean and organized, even smells nice.

"Your favorite color is yellow"

"Hm? What was that?"

Midoriya's eyes are fixed on your ankle but "that's why your go-to snack is a banana, even though you prefer crunchy foods over mushy ones because of that time you accidently ate spoiled yogurt as a kid." "Wha-how did you know that??" "The question is why doesn't your boyfriend know that." His eyes look up between the ends of his hair and send a shiver up your spine. "*scoff* You don't think that I could do a better job than that idiot? Not by much, but I've known you longer, and easily know you better than he does, so don't insult me like that again. I'd be a far better boyfriend for you." Finished with your ankle, Midoriya's eyes trail up your legs, following his rough hands that push your dress up and out of the way. If he notices he doesn't say anything about the blush flooding your face right now. What was he saying-what was happening?! He begins treating the scrapes on your knees, only addressing your squirming with a quick regrip on your thighs that said 'you're not going anywhere.'

"You like to wake up early to go watch the sunrise, but you're not a morning person and go back to bed afterwards. That scar on your arm is from falling off your bike as a kid, that scar on the back of your left calf from falling out a tree. You're always falling, fucking klutz, and listening to music while walking around is why there's always a knot on your forehead; you've run into every lamppost on campus. You like watching scary movies with Tokoyami but they keep you up at night, then spend the next few days jumping at every.single.sound. *sigh* Your favorite animals are bees, again they're yellow, and you think that pollination along with their ability to fly is fascinating, all regardless of having been stung a dozen times because you don't know how to keep your distance." He switches knees. "You want to retire from being a pro hero one day; get married, have a big family, and be one of those over the top stay-at-home 'Pinterest moms'. I bet you'd be really cute with a little belly."

Your knees were both bandaged now but Midoriya's hands held on like the worst thing in the world would be moving an inch. His gaze was burning a hole into your thighs while your breathing was the loudest thing in the room, barely surpassing your heart pounding. His fingers inch further up "I could love you with my eyes closed; you have no idea how easily I can read you y/n. It's obvious how you like to be held" his fingers crawl higher "how you like to be touched" higher "how you like being praised" he looks up, knowing exactly what he'd find. With dark and hungry eyes that make you shiver, "What is it you like being called again.? Pet?" Midoriya starts lifting himself up between your thighs, face getting closer to yours, hands long gone under your dress "No, that wasn't-...pretty girl? Was that it.? Hmm no...ah, that's right. 'Puppy'." strong hands digging into the meat of your hips "Yeah that's right. You love being such a good puppy you melt. How embarrassing when Allmight playfully called you that and everyone saw how red you turned. He's been your favorite teacher since."

Your lips tremble trying to form a word but Midoriya pulls away to swim in dangerous waters. "I could praise the clumsy puppy too. The oh so dumb little puppy...I know her favorite music, cat café to visit on the weekends, even her sleeping positions." The first kisses over your thighs are electric and the lick of his tongue pulls the first of many strangled gasps out of you. "I'd make the puppy feel things...tell me that I can." His nose brushes back your dress further and you think of anything to do or say other than stop. This trance makes lifting your hips effortless, and laying you on your back. Midoriya stretches your thighs further apart "I'm gonna praise my dumb puppy" face lowers "tell her how good she's doing for me" then disappears "then she'll thank me with the prettiest sounds..."

You're free to squirm, rut, buck, and shake as much as you want. Midoriya wasn't letting you go. A world of color erupts in your mind and keeps you high in the sky. Things like "come on puppy" and "that's a good puppy" grow louder as Midoriya replaces his tongue with his fingers. They're relentlessly trying to send your eyes to the back of your head. "God you're doing so good, such a good puppy-dumb little thing.." His teeth graze your jaw and nip at the strained vein in your neck. "Cry for me more puppy; say my name...that's it...Izuku is so sweet to his puppy isn't he, spoiling her bc she fell down again. Such a big girl right now though" Your fingers dig into the arm picking up it's pace as he seethes in your ear "now ruin my fucking sheets.!" Broken whimpers and moans accompany the teasing kisses Midoriya's dragging across your face, the muses only pausing as that white-hot feeling washes over you and you forget how to breathe.

You remember as his hands maintain a vigorous pace and you’re begging him to stop. “Not until you take it back” Midoriya cages your neck in his other hand “I’d be a way better boyfriend than that pathetic excuse-APOLOGIZE.” But his hand was squeezing too tightly. You reach out to push him away but your strength can't compare.

“I..ca-can’t..bre..athe.”

“You better figure it out. Now. Before things get painful.” But they already were; that warm feeling faded away and was replaced by a painful twist in your gut. You're spent. Midoriya is just abusing your body now by continuing to keep his unrelenting pace “come on puppy, take it back” he forces his fingers even deeper “don’t be a bad girl” and squeezes your neck tighter. Strangled gasps escape his grip and you try to but “Aw puppy, don't cry. I know it hurts, you should've apologized, but you’re almost there, so hold on and try not to pass out yet.” He presses deeper-harder-not hiding the lust in his eyes watching you struggle. You begin clawing at his chest and at the hand on your throat "There it is.!" he cheers seeing you panic, and starts putting his back into it. Because you're feeling it. That radiating pain finally built up into the most painful knot, so much so you’re scared of the snap. You begin struggling under Midoriya but it’s no effort to keep you pinned, but “SIT.Still.!? Should’ve apologized. Now be a good puppy and give it up.! Come on, one more-stop.!struggling.! I swear if you're gonna be bad girl-!? Ohh that’s it, ha-YES. There you go puppy.!…atta girllll…that's such a good girl look at you, aw puppy yesss...yes. So pathetic-so fucking.dumb. Just how I like you-GOD I wanna just-!!”

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Midoriya sits up to revel in his masterpiece. You're on the verge of passing out and it's absolutely stunning. He leans down before your eyes fully shut, smiling innocently through his own sweat and labored breathes, as if he didn't just make the devil himself beg forgiveness for the past two hours. He drags a kiss across your face, "...Insult me again puppy; I believe I’ve made myself clear what will happen...sweet dreams, y/n. We'll get started on that family first thing in the morning."

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#mha smut #mha #mha x you #mha x y/n #mha x reader #mha fanfic #mha fanfiction #mha fluff #mha imagines #mha boys #mha izuku #mha deku #my hero academia fanfiction #my hero academia #my hero acedamia #my hero academia smut #my hero academia fanfic #my hero academia x reader #my hero academia x you #my hero academia x y/n #my hero academia fluff #my hero academia imagines #my hero academia boys #my hero academia izuku #my hero academia deku #mha midoriya #my hero academia midoriya #boku no hero academia #bnha #bnha x reader

[faioula16]

Y/n and Sebastian what are your favorite and least favorite things about each other

Y/N: My favorite thing about Sebastian...that’s a difficult question.... *She spoke in a confident tone just to tease her demon a little but in seconds she was letting out sweet giggles as Sebastian was tickling playfully her sides*

Sebastian: *The butler let out a smooth chuckle as he stopped tickling his beloved mate and returned his attention back to you*  Well since my love finds it difficult to answer your question I believe the best solution is to let me be the first to give you some answers. That will give plenty of time for my beloved to remember why we’re bound together for eternity.

Y/N: Pff show off *She whispered under her breath but unfortunately her demon heard her perfectly well and so she got a big smoochie to the cheek that made her face all flustered and finally let the butler speak*

Sebastian: *The butler let out a pleasant sigh while stroking Y\N’s hair lovingly* Tecneckly my favorite thing about my kitten is she herself, Everything about her is just so...perfect. The softness of her skin, her intoxicating scent, her amusing personality, how smart, creative and thoughtful she can be, and the adorable expressions she makes every time she gets angry are simply the best, or her sleeping figure in my arms is absolutely the most precious thing I have ever seen through my long life~. Also...the stare of utterly satisfaction she has every time her stomach is full of the delicious meals I make for her or the fact she thinks of me a lot and tries really hard to show that she appreciates the amount of effort I put when it comes to her well being and protection are more reasons for me to feel grateful for her existence as my one and only darling mate. It was a bit annoying though when she was denying my affection and desire to take care of her back through the very first stages of our relationship. I’ve come to realize very quickly that humans need time unlike demons to warm up to someone. Also, I find myself unable to tolerate when someone is trying to steal my mate away from me. This I will never allow to happen. My darling is mine and mine alone. That’s why I do my absolute best to satisfy every single need of hers, bring her to pure ecstasy and pleasure when it comes to our sexual life, give constantly affection, make time just for the two of us and help her develop and fulfill her dreams not only because I love her by everything that I am but also I want to make sure she knows there will be no other person in this world that will adore every inch of her existence as much as I do.

Y/N: *The gardener cleans her throat while trying to calm herself from the flustered state Sebastian has brought her to so far* I-I do believe Sebastian has spoken for both of our thoughts. I just want to say that I don’t like when women hit on him and he doesn’t tell them off immediately, you see he likes to tease me a lot but I know he’s never serious about such things otherwise he will lose me forever and I know he will never let this happen.

Sebastian:  *Chuckles in amusement* That’s right, I simply can't resist that adorable pout your face has when I tease you even a little....my kitten *He cups her face with his gloved hand and pulls her in a passionate kiss right before your very eyes*

#x reader #romance #fluff #kuroshitsuji #sebastian michaelis #black butler #fanfiction #sebastian michaelis x you #fanfic #black butler fanfiction #kuroshitsuji sebastian michaelis #black butler sebastian #black butler sebastian michaelis #kuroshitsuji sebastian #kuroshitsuji fanfiction #kuroshitsuji imagines #i

[septembersghost]

Sometimes it feels like people like to pat themselves on the back for dissing Elvis because it’s the cool thing to do

I’m the anon who deleted TikTok btw. I was tired of the same repetitive comments about Elvis and decided finally to delete that annoying app LOL.

i'm not sure what you saw on the clock app, though can guess it was probably the same stuff that's said on twt, but any reason you feel to get rid of that app, or anything that's stressing you out!, is a good/valid one.

when it comes to e, between misinformation, misunderstandings, and decades' worth of caricatures and this almost prideful disdain towards him - the origin of which i can't quite figure out? - he's been an easily mockable and reduced figure. like even beyond, idk, judgment of his struggles and addictions and health, or the massive volume of tabloid accounts, or the cardboard camp of impersonators, or the feeling some seem to have that he was too excessive or gauche, or define him by vegas as a kind of sideshow, there are some, i've come to find, that outright reject the idea he was in any way a serious artist. the article i read recently...basically posited he wasted his entire life and talent, in a way that was so cruel and dismissive of everything he ever did after sun records. things i can't even fathom saying about a person. ("success corroded and finally destroyed a budding talent who might have achieved so much more than just celebrity. He might have been an artist...by 1958, when he was inducted into the U.S. Army, his beauty and his creativity were behind him. A few brief echoing rays of the glory that had been might suddenly shine through, yet the sun had all but set." seriously? he was 23 years old in 1958! it's a complete erasure of nearly half his life. and it's particularly jarring as some of what's said in that piece is astute and well-written, yet some of the rest of it...i refuse to even quote.) he created so much wonderful music later, but it routinely gets ignored. (plus he wasn't a songwriter, as if that invalidates his astonishing musicality and gift of interpretation and arrangement). the movies, and critical view of them due to what they are, unfortunately do not help. this embarrassment surrounding him, the sense that his talent was squandered and his legacy tarnished, mixed with misperceptions of his character, is so ingrained in the pop cultural zeitgeist that there are always going to be people set to take him down a peg or deride him or shake their heads rather than lend any sympathy for how and why things unfolded as they did.

that video analysis i shared about the film mentioned him as this sort of quintessential american tragedy, the hollowness of the dream gone wrong, even though he was still trying so hard up to the end, still sharing that love with his audience, and i think sometimes we're uncomfortable looking at tragedy and illness and exploitation, so it's easier to ridicule or blame or turn into a joke. i also think his sincerity and emotion as a performer, the movement that came to him naturally that he couldn't switch off, the unique ways he utilized the power of his voice, read as, for lack of a better word, cringeworthy, to many, because society at large struggles with raw expression. a combination of factors thus make him an easy target. he's that halloween costume, spangles on a jumpsuit and what they erroneously view as shlocky music, or he's the worst perpetuated things, but never real, never explored or offered understanding. it's lousy and disheartening, but it unfortunately is what it is. (i can imagine only a fraction of why this stuff used to upset lisa marie the way it did.) i don't require people to be perfect to care about or be touched by them. human beings are not saints. he was flawed, he had a temper, he certainly misstepped, he made choices along the way that proved to be destructive. he was also generous and gracious and forgiving and compassionate, kind in a way that embraced people and made them feel seen and like they belonged, in a way that's still radiant in recollections, and in what we find in ourselves too.

catherine martin recently said, "elvis is a humanist. he believed in people and kindness and connection, and i think he wanted to use music to bring people together." he'd say, "i'm just a singer. i'm nobody special. do you think they'll remember me?" he always marveled that people came to see him, and held fast to that idea that the happiness and love in that connection of the music was worth something. as my friend wrote to me, there's a lot of dreck out there, but it's boring. there's no fire there, no passion. without the fire and passion you can't even get elvis at all. meanwhile, here we are, nearly fifty years later, on technology that didn't even exist while he lived, still finding reason to remember him, to wax poetic about him, to connect to him and to one another, to find that same joy and solace in the music. i have to believe that matters so much more. some of this other stuff is just useless clatter, you know? there's music and there's noise. i'll choose the music every time.

#anonymous #letterbox #elvis presley #i was a dreamer

[childlikegoblinqueen]

Writing Notes

I have ONE more chapter planned before I go on vacation but I am sooooooo spent from the last one I wrote. I have a bit of the next chapter mapped out and know where I want it to end, but I feel like I need to unload a bit about the last one, how I wrote it and why I head canon Bard Hunter.

Don't read anymore unless you have read Chapter 26 of Sweet Child O' Mine, and if you haven't read it yet, check it out :D It nearly killed me.

Spoilers below!

First, Why Bard Hunter? I will write another post later on regarding writing the actual fight scene and how music choices played into it.

So, while Hunter was in the Human Realm we pretty much see that he is creative. The sewing has been often noted as a way for Hunter to stay "close to Darius" since his "father figure" is far away and/or possibly dead, but he goes beyond learning how to "neatly sew".

After Camila shows Hunter how to use the sewing machine, he creates! His shirts and curtains etc. are chaotic! Patches every where! Very grunge/punk! We know that in the castle he had expressed curiosity which was constantly stamped out because he had a purpose and a path that he was not supposed to stray from or else ....

So being a music person myself I imagined that all the children would need MUSIC in order to heal fro their trauma, and there are likely a slew of popular bands/artists from the BI, but I would imagine that Hunter had not been permitted anything but whatever was Belos approved, which coming from a Puritan, was likely not great. Maybe some somber hymns to the Titan or to the emperor himself? Especially since Belos seemed to want to mold the grimwalkers into his ideal version of Caleb ("better version of an old frend". What an ass thing to say about a literal child!)

It has also been noted by some that when Raine seems to look back at Hunter during the scene in the castle where Hunter is ignored by the other Coven Heads, Raine seems low key concerned that this kid needs to get out of that place.

I do hope that Raine survives WAD. Part of my inspiration for Raine teaching Hunter how to mold Bard music is that not only are they both creative, but they are also the only two that have been possessed by Belos. In writing this scene and building their relationship, I thought about a simple way two people with shared trauma could communicate and heel without actually talking about the trauma. Music is perfect for that.

Eventually we will see how Hunter uses music to communicate in other ways, but we've already seen how he and Willow play a game where they try to guess the band and song based on a small portion of lyrics. They communicate non-verbally, but Willow realizes that Hunter is deeply depressed living with Darius, while living through the trials and dealing with the press. Likely Hunter doesn't realize this himself. Willow notes that Hunter is only playing while using Nirvana lyrics and having lived with him for months in the human realm, she’s aware that he listens to Nirvana when he’s depressed. Really, he's going through the motions and trying to appease someone he looks up to.

A lot of this story is about Hunter's own anxieties about becoming a parent, as well as the figures in his life who have parented him for better or for worse -- as well as parental figures like Odalia who are toxic, and Alador who knows that he messed up.

That was a flashback to the past. In the current timeline we know that Hunter and Willow have developed a healthy romantic relationship. He has strong bonds to his adoptive family of Camila, Luz, and Vee (his guitar belonged to Manny). He enjoys a good relationship with others in the Owl House universe. He has accomplished a lot, but prefers to stay out of the spotlight due to many things that took place both during his tenure in the castle and how he was treated by the public in the aftermath.

The thread about Perry's supposed protege, who alerted Hunter to other students trying to exploit a relationship with him during his first weeks at Hexside will be picked up again. I really try to leave bread crumbs without revealing too much upfront.

We also know that Dell has mentored him in palisman carving, and that he has somehow developed a healthy working relationship with Lilith who still works at the Supernatural History Museum.

I would hope that post Belos, the idea of "the savage ages" and "wild magic is evil" is a thing of the past as would be tracks at Hexside. So having Raine -- again being the only other one who hopefully survived possession -- teach Hunter to use the guitar he was gifted from his chosen family (Camila, Luz, and Vee) to generate magic was something I wanted to explore!

Which leads me to writing that dang scene.

#toh fanfic #ao3 fanfic #ao3 writer #huntlow fic #huntlow fanfiction #raine whispers #hunter deamonne #hunter noceda #hunter the golden guard #hunter wittebane #toh willow #the owl house raine #raine x eda #lumity #luz x amity #camila noceda #vee noceda #inspired by music #the owl house camila #toh boscha #fuck odalia #darius deamonne #alador blight

[champagnepodiums]

I think we have established that several of us here aren’t native English speakers so sometimes the meaning of things doesn’t become easily apparent. Writing can be even more difficult. I have to admit I have read the alpine anon three times to figure out were it went of from what you wrote. (I don’t think the anon has any I’ll intent, perhaps just a bad take that was badly expressed. I may also be completely wrong and they are an asshole) I support you just deleting the ones that are way of the mark as you see fit. 🙂🙂

I do want to clarify - it isn't just the one anon, it's something that seems to be getting worse and worse.

Like I said, I don't have an issue with disagreeing but like when I write something about how important national identity is in motorsports (it's a common thread that you can pull all the way back to the beginning of organized motorsports) and how that almost certainly played a part in Gasly ending up at Alpine (the original question was if Gasly being French had even a tiny bit to do with him being French), and the response is all of the reasons that I'm wrong without a mention of the whole thing my argument was about, in my mind at least, that says to me that they probably read like the first sentence and formed their opinion off of that.

It's frustrating and I try really hard to give every anon the benefit of the doubt but I am human and I'm at my limit. I want to have creative, meaningful discussions. I don't want to have 40+ messages in my inbox from anons YELLING their opinions at me when they're clearly not bothered to read and try to understand the discussion/my opinion on something etc. And that is what the majority of my anons have started to feel like and it just sucks the joy out of it.

ALSO I'm not saying it's not an English not being their first language issue but I actually got the impression that the Alpine anon was probably American so 😂😂😂