One scene I simply CANNOT get over is the scene where Vox stops Val from going over to the Hotel and making a big scene all because of Angel Dust. Vox seems so disinterested/bored at first and only shows some concern when Val says he's going over to the Hotel. Even then as he's convincing Val not to go to the Hotel, Vox is putting up a similar front he does when talking to the public. It's a usual front you'd expect professional business men to put up when wanting to get a good deal. Or a game show host putting up the front to appear all nice, understanding, and friendly to the contestants and the viewers. Even after Val calms down, Vox seems to still be bored as he starts to rummage through some drawers. Even when Val says someone else is staying at the Hotel, asking "someone who owes you money?" in such done tone. But then Val tells Vox, likely knowing it'll set the TV demon off, casually mentions "the Radio Demon is also there" with a smug grin.
That's when Vox reacts. He claws the counter/dresser in anger, asking Val what he said as to reaffirm that "yes, Alastor is at the Hotel and has been for a few days"...and Vox is not happy about it. Not only because his rival, who has been missing for seven years (Vox being the first to announce how long he'd exactly be gone and remembered exactly how long the minute he saw Alastor on the monitor), but that Alastor's been back for around a week...and he's just hearing about this NOW???
Then Val makes his "hey, killing Alastor is your kink~" comment...which Vox doesn't deny. At all. And then Vox literally can't take his eyes off the screen or focus on anything else when he notices Alastor on the monitor. Not even when Val was screaming at him, Vox couldn't stop looking at Alastor. Electricity sparking off his head as he's just so angry and excited that Alastor is back.
It's like that one line from Val flipped a switch in Vox's head. Before he was told that, Vox seemed so detached from everything. Like life has become boring. But with Alastor in the picture again? He acts more motivated, interested, and sometimes even manic with how excited he is the fact his rival is in Hell again.
I just love how after Alastor is mentioned Vox acts so fucking pathetic and stupid. I often think about that scene, and how you can just see a match being lit in Vox's mind or some shit
I still find it incredibly funny that because of how pathetic vox is when it comes to alastor, it's so easy to forget the fact that he is actually in fact smart and manipulative. him being intimidating towards his employee about the impromptu angelic security production, manipulating val by using leading questions, interpreting val's fucking stupid zero brain cells "put something inside them" comment as having an inside man. like wow! he is actually pretty smart! and scary to his employees! too bad that all goes away when alastor's involved or it would actually be very useful
I do! I like it a lot. I really enjoyed all three books, blitzed through them easily and was much more excited to see how the plots unfolded than I'm used to these days, as a jaded adult, and I also really appreciated them as works of craft.
Especially the first one, I spent the whole time being all 'wow!' at how simple it was. So easy to read, but no waste. You really need to know what you're doing, to get that kind of pared-down elegance of form to work and still fit so much content in.
Like these are dense, there's a fantastic stylistic minimalism that allows El's character all the space it needs to breathe by making absolutely every other thing and person in the whole novel also do character work for her, which is exactly where the first person voice shines.
Also great use of character perspective to make the pacing feel really natural, so the fact that the first book takes three weeks, the second book takes one year, and the third book is like. Five or so incredibly stressful days spread out over the course of a few weeks? Doesn't feel imbalanced.
I actually got distracted from the story a few times by noticing the strength of Novik's technique. 😂 This is a me problem, in itself it's the opposite of distracting. Very low-profile.
I think the Scholomance is a great example of how far you can go in specfic when you aren't cringing from the label 'derivative,' because the Scholomance books feel very fresh ad clean specifically because nothing in them is concerned with standing out as 'original,' whatever that's supposed to mean, only with being well-executed and suitable to its task.
Hm, maybe that's where Liesel was born, the intersection of the efficient narrative style and the vast proportion of the story that concerns the maximization of utility and the instrumentalization of persons by themselves and others, and the forces that incentivize these behaviors. Or maybe she's just the narrative counterweight to Orion 'Head Empty' Lake lmao. How's that for a principle of balance, Galadriel?
I really did enjoy how beautifully it was laid out, over and over, in dozens of shades of humanity, how no matter where you go in an exploitative system almost everyone is being driven by the same survival instincts.
Because I don't think I've ever seen made so cleanly clear why you just can't expect any person or small group of people, no matter their level of goodwill or status, to unmake one of these systems from the inside; how it's not a matter of people being bad but of every single person being very...small.
And then not retreating into the idea of a person who is Big coming and breaking the cruel system from the outside as some kind of panacea, because 1) that is terrible, even if it's necessary and done in the best way possible and 2) that's not a sustainable answer to anything. Getting a balance between the protagonist being able to effect change and not subscribing to the great man theory of history can be really tricky!
Also did I mention, I love El, and I love most of the cast, even the dreadful ones. How am I going around with this many feelings about Li Shanfeng who doesn't appear until the actual climax?
The romance murdered me a bit, but it took up no more space than it absolutely needed to do its job, and I respect that. Also I appreciated Orion as a love interest; Novik has a slight record at this point of a version of that style of male love interest who's like a caricature of Mr. Darcy but old, which was shaping up to be my least favorite thing about her body of work.
...Orion is kind of like if you took the human king from Spinning Silver and gave him an alignment flip come to think of it, so he's not coming out of nowhere. Lmao.
Which reminds me (re: romance character typing) I've heard Novik didn't want it to be known she was astolat, which this series has renewed my sympathies if so. Because if I were a published novelist I wouldn't want people going 'you know, that resolution was really emotionally satisfying! reminds me of that fic she wrote where optimus prime and megatron get stuck in a hole underground and hatefuck about it.'
I don't even like Transformers. That fic almost made me cry. Actually I suspect it reads better if you don't like Transformers because I'm sure it does not give a shit about canon.
Anyway, whoever pointed out that one of the things El has going on is she's Enoby (and we're going to sit down and explore what the true reason to put your middle finger up at preps is, and what are some constructive ways to channel that socioeconomic wrath, and what it means that there is no ethical consumption under capitalism) was right and I'm not entirely over that either.
Fucking love El's mom as a character. Spectacular level of parent relevance and usefulness. A+.
Aadhya and Liu are also characters who fucking delivered.
Re: minimalism though, I laughed at the start of The Golden Enclaves when I realized that none of the enclaver characters who'd gotten development in the the first two books were from London, the enclave El was theoretically shooting for when we met her.
now all i can think about is matt asking jean if he and kevin have bumped baguettes yet and the chaos that follows
anon, the gift that keeps on giving...Matt's completely inappropriate use of french pastries:
*Jeremy, Jean, and Kevin return from hospital*
MATT: Hey, you guys are back! Great! We have a question for you.
AARON: *sliding hand over face* oh no.
DAN: *pointing finger at Matt* Matthew Donovan Boyd, don't you dare-
MATT: so, I mean, clear this up for us if you can, boys. What exactly are you doing with Kev?
JEREMY: *visibly confused* You mean...other than taking him home from the hospital?
MATT: And?
JEAN: And what?
MATT: Come on, Moreau, don't play dumb. Tell us - are you and Knox bumping baguettes together with him?
JEAN: *deadeyeing matt now* What.
AARON: Jesus fucking Christ, Boyd.
ALLISON: Shush, don't stop them - I'm recording.
MATT: Dude, I'm just saying - are you putting the tang in his tart? The cream in his eclair? The flake in his croissant? The meringue in his macaron? The pain in his au chocolat? The tutti in his frutti?
KEVIN: *brow furrowed as he turns to Jean* Are you suddenly opening a French bakery that I'm unaware of?
JEAN: *handing his coat to Jeremy and rolling up his sleeves* Boyd, in the name of Kevin's honor and justice for all of France, prepare to have your ass kicked.
Hello Internet Stranger looking up G Gundam on Tumblr dot com!
This is an idea for a fic set in an Alternate Universe involving Queer Non-Canon Relationships between the characters of the series.
If you are not looking for this content please scroll on.
If you ARE looking for this content - and you're ok with reading my and other's Headcanons for this Alternate Universe I've haphazardly spun up -
Then go ahead and feel free to:
Check The Tags Of This Post For The Pairings
and click the Read More below!
--------------------------------------
Ended up outlining a completely different fic as a Segway for an explanation instead of making progress on the Royal Flush Haunted Honk AU's Clown Motel Fic like I wanted to but uh....
For y'all's review for the AU: A Prequel Outline - Divorce Saga Domon
--------------------------------------
Hey real quick - I'm thinking of maybe changing the timeline to 2 years post canon as opposed to 3 years and change post canon.
The reason being: I had a thought that this scene could either be part if the fic or if it's getting to big then it could be a stand alone tie-in prequel fic as part of this AU but - like
Immediately Post Divorce Domon Needs Space and runs off. As one does. And he runs to Earth because he just wants to Get Lost for a while.
He has Argo smuggle him out to avoid detection.
Argo has Andrew help stow Domon in a storage hanger of a Neo Canadian supply ship that's returning to the US - they have trade often enough and share agricultural resources - which leads to Domon ending up in New York when he hits Earthside pavement.
He's privately worked on his English the last couple of months and after being dropped in New York with a different hairstyle, outfit, and accent he's unrecognizable.
He considers making his way west to get some solitude in the wilderness, but something about that initial plan feels off now that he's on the ground.
Chibodee is also Earthside for a special series of prize fights aimed at raising charitable appeal for the US in the eyes of Neo Americans.
Domon decides to hit up Chibodee for a fight on a day between matches hoping it'll clear his head and give him the clarity to decide on a course of action. What ends up happening is an unexpected heart to heart via blows and a breakdown.
Domon is happy for Rain and Kyoji, and he knows it's not true; but he feels like he lost a piece of himself when his relationship with Rain fell apart.
Domon's instinct is to run after that but Chibodee knows this city and Domon doesn't hide out for long before Chibodee drags him back to his place to stay and just "Chill out and breathe. You don't have to be anyone but yourself here. You can take as long as you need to find out what everything changing means for you." Friends and teammates stick together.
So Domon spends a few weeks with Chibodee sparring and hanging out in New York. Chibodee does a frankly awesome job at containing his feelings because he's focusing on Domons feelings and being a good friend first and foremost. Whatever he's feeling can wait until after Domon is done going though it.
There's a bit of a twinge in Domon's heart as he leaves that he can't really place.
After he returns to Neo Japan and gets settled back into life with his family, The Dreams start.
They're mainly set in New York. Small things first like noticing Chibodee's smile and his eyes. Then sparring sessions that begin to turn lurid.
He thought these kinds of dreams would stop after he was married.... he doesn't know what to do about this.
I just figure it gives more clarity and sense of time for the journey from Comphet Marriage Dissolution to Feelings to Confession. Idk.
But I got stuck on a bit and then had this thought and needed to get it down before I lost it and it was so long it made sense to make it its own post as opposed to several replies.
The Maize and Clown Motel will probably still be 3 years and change post canon for clarification.
if dorian didn't show up, do you think louis would have shot minnie?
I do. I know some people think either he wouldn't have or he would've missed so that's why the writers had him shoot Dorian instead, but mmmmmm no, I don't personally think so. I like to think that if he had taken the shot, his shaky hands would've caused him to shoot her fatally.
Mostly because I'm already so normal about the fact that of the Ericson crew, Marlon and Louis are the only ones with a body count. Well, that we know of, but shown to us in the game, at least. Plus, we know it's Louis' first kill.
Like yeah, Clementine and AJ become part of the crew and they have bigger body counts, and if we're counting indirect kills caused by actions, then Tenn has a count... and I guess everyone has blood on their hands for blowing up the boat... but I'm talking about killed directly with a weapon like....... I lied, I'm not normal about that at all, Louis and Marlon are the ones who have killed someone in Louis' route. I'm also not normal about the fact that Louis kills Dorian and then even as he's clearly in shock, he tries to go with Clementine to get AJ, and then later on when they talk about it, he says it feels like bile but not quite and he's glad he has it in him to do it.... listen, listen, listen... I'm obsessed with that.
Anyway, so if Louis shot Minerva, I think he would've accidentally killed her and can you imagine? He's already enough of a mess after killing the woman who pinned him down and tried to cut his finger off [or succeeded] but he knew Minerva, they were friends before the twins were taken. Even Violet couldn't kill her even though that would've been the smarter thing to do, and we know thanks to meta knowledge that killing her would've saved lives, but Violet couldn't, and I don't think Louis would intentionally either.
Speaking of Violet, if Louis killed Minerva, I hate to think about what that would've done to Vi. I think she might've actually left at that point, like what was planned before it got changed to her being burned. I don't think she would've attacked Louis over it, though, like yeah she attacked Clementine in the cell but Louis? I don't know, but I don't think so just because it's Louis and he'd be a mess about it anyway.
Though if he did kill her, it would be a neat parallel to draw... y'know, because Louis forgave AJ for killing Marlon even though he was pissed and heartbroken, and Violet was annoyed with him the entire time... but could she ever forgive Louis for killing Minerva? Y'know? We already have a similar parallel with AJ shooting Tenn, but still.
If Clementine killed Minerva in that moment, though, then I could see Violet attacking her since in her eyes, Clem proved her right.
So yeah, I get why they added the Dorian kill to his route. It adds another compelling element to Louis as a character, but we also need Minerva alive for episode 4; Louis can't kill her, he can't miss, and he's not going to stay with her because we need Violet to stay on the boat and him to be on shore for all routes.
You’re writing is amazing! The post you made about the “Federation of Heros” application thing along with their “don’t forget to smile in the face of danger”
legitimately made my stomach turn a little, like these are just little kids! They shouldn’t be being put in danger-
It’s so clearly morally wrong, and the way it’s written to like show the Federation’s subtle propaganda use
Mwah 👌
But it’s made me curious, why does Forever ‘endorse’ it? Is he ignorant of what the reality of life is like for the children who enter the program? Did the Federation threaten him with losing custody of Richas? How do the reef of the Favela Five feel about Richas being in the program? Do they even know?
Oh and what happened with Richas! Like I saw the post about how Cellbit used his powers to help Richarlyson with nightmares-
Is Richarlyson an escapee from the program? Or is he still active in it?
Also does Cellbit’s power let him know what people are afraid of? Or does it just trigger the fear response based off their greatest fear without him knowing what it is?
Sorry for the long ask! These questions have been rattling around my brain. I am a huge fan of stories where the superhero society is corrupt with a side of child soldiers and your story is perfectly hitting that fix!
Okay so Forever the Mayor works a lot like canon Forever the President. He doesn't like the Federation, but he has to work with (read: for) them if he wants to stay mayor and do the good things he wants to do for the city. He's right up there with Cellbit and Bad and Max and everyone as Federation Haters, but he has to be more subtle about it, which has kinda put a big rift between him and all his friends except for Cellbit, who just gets it.
It isn't that Forever doesn't understand the dangers, but it's that he can actually monitor the program better if it's out of the FoH's hands and in his. The program won't be under their control if it's implemented in schools, it'll be under his because he's the mayor and, despite everything, the FoH can't get too involved in the public school system without running into a LOT of controversy, and he is going to use that to his advantage.
Richarlyson volunteered, too. He just wants to help :( He knows that he isn't that powerful and that he isn't that useful and that he's just a kid, but he wants to help :( If this lets him help his Pai Forever, then he'll do it no matter what!
(And his dads are all ready to pull him out and homeschool him if necessary, they are well prepared.)
And then as for Cellbit's ability, it's kinda like that! Yeah! He can find out what scares someone, but he doesn't always rely on his ability for that. He's smart, remember? He knows the general common fears of the general population, and he used to go through them one by one until one stuck and scared his victims to death- like 'the dark', 'public speaking', 'gun violence', stuff like that. Find the basic fear and amplify it by 100 until they're fucking dead, that's how he used to work. No need to use his ability to find their greatest deepest darkest fear, that'd take too long.
...But he doesn't do that anymore, of course! He's much better now!
people fr are like "do you expect Loki to always be in armour? 🤨" and I'm here to answer that Yes! Yes I do! In fight situations, at the very least! Take a look at Thor! Take a look at Loki in Thor 1! Or either of them in Avengers 1! Or even - dare I say - Thor 2! Loki's got LOTS of outfits, switching pieces between them and across scenes, even. He goes through the most outfit changes, and they were all cool and detailed and suited to the situations! Even when not armour! So Yes! I either expect him to reflect such bombardment of clothing in the series as well (within bounds of what is reasonable) or armour when he's fighting. Or at the very least for him to be wearing some green.