Tumgik
#if not maybe they can keep it and use it for educational stuff idk
Note
Hey, so for the Human Au, how do think Julie would go about her life? Considering her personality in the website, I would think that he takes up different part-time jobs, but mainly likes working at the community center, mainly for the summer/after school programs where they can come up with and host fun activities for the kids!
no yeah that's pretty much what i was thinking! she bounces from job to job - she probably has a roster of seasonal ones that she rotates between. Julie really does seem like an every-gal yk? doing just one thing all the time would be soooo boring
i like the idea of summer / after school programs a lot actually! since canon Julie is big on games and fun, i'm sure she'd be a great choice for those sorts of things. i bet she works a seasonal summer camp in their county!
#also it would be a cute frank-julie bestie thing#cause frank is a university professor#so then julie being in the education system as a camp counselor / school programs person whatever brains not braining rn#I Just Think It Would Be Sweet! and Fitting!#part of me wants to change Frank from university professor to like a uhhh elementary school teacher#but nah. but lets just say the local schools will have field trips and uh. idk a 'bug day'#yk how kindergartens and elementary schools would sometimes have a giant snake brought in or whatever#well i imagine that in this au frank keeps insects as 'pets'#(not pets as in companion animal but. he has a lot of arthropod tanks in his house lol)#so maybe a couple times a year he gets to interact with kids and julie's probably there too!#ohhhh maybe sometimes he'll go to the summer camp for like. education day or whatever#to talk about insects and animal safety or somethn#he's out there with a tarantula chilling on his head...#most of the kids are disinterested but one or two are so Intrigued and its. adorable. anyway this is about julie#rambles from the bog#wh modern human au#i like to think that both julie and barnaby have seasonal jobs at the county fair#it just lasts a few weeks but they have a good time! barnaby can put his clowning degree to Use!#but im having a great time picturing julie coming up with games and stuff and putting it to good use!#i bet she'd be great at finding compromises and solutions to those Schoolyard Problems yk#i said schoolyard problems and flashbacked to the multiple bad injuries at my elementary. & the seizure in hs...#hm. i saw a lot of serious shit. anyhow not the point#i bet julie is that one guy where whenever someone brings up an odd job she's like 'yeah ive done that'#slingin ice cream? catering? florist delivery? doughnut baker? budtender? running bingo night? Yes To It All!#i bet that in a way... howdy is jealous...
33 notes · View notes
critterbitter · 3 months
Note
HELLO HI ID LIKE TO ASK WHAT PROGRAM AND BRUSHES YOU USE CUZ IM LITTERALY EXPLODING EVERYTIME I SEE YOUR ART
actually actually... *pulls out whole stack of paper*...I have. a FEW,, a good few,, questions to ask. they are not many I swear 😇
OK SO FIRST OF ALL HOW DO YOU DRAW SO FAST???? everyday I log onto Tumblr I always see something new from you and I get very very happy. But then I start to question my own existence because not even I CAN SPEED RUN ART LIKE THAT. AND SO SPECTACULARLY TOO
Last question! how do you color and make it look so well?? just. How. I need to know. This is a CRY FOR HE-
anyway thank you for being one of my favorite artists that always feed my brain rot, pls keep making amazing art because like a little yamper I will follow behind and stay updated.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
(Stands there)
Response and thoughts under cut!
First question! What art program I use!
Mostly procreate, along with a handful of brushes! (Specifically the Jing Set and some custom stuff, which is really just a circle brush with the shape changed to a square.)
Second question! How do i draw so much!
Okay so. I am. Ahhah. Unemployed,,,,? No, I do freelance illustration, but hmm. A studio job would be nice.
i graduated college last year and I’m very used to eight hour art shifts. The body sort of remembers to keep working, even though I no longer have storyboards or visdev homework to do.
Also. The hyperfixation is a deep vast tunnel I STILL have not seen the end of the light to, good golly. (I have dreams now about the kids committing shenanigan crimes. I wake up in cold sweat and write them down in a journal. It’s like being the mouthpiece to an angry god.)
So the overall gist is: I was trained to be a storyboard artist with a visdev background, and I’m using that higher education to draw funny muppets because my brain’s funny.
I also DO have a queue, and I’ve been treating this as a sort of inktober project. I am definitely going to slow down soon though! Maybe. Hopefully. Ah… (sheepishly drops my kofi here)
Third question! How do i color!
I. I, uh. I dont know man the coloring demons have a grip on my soul and i just go along for the ride. But also, if it helps, i prefer to limit my pallets to only a few colors at a time. Lighting is king, so if you can figure out if you want to focus on either on your lights or shadows, you’ll have a much easier time composing. That, and symbolic colors— idk, something hits different about art drenched in gold with a tiny hint of a man staring into the blinding horizon, or a green leafy environment with a single dot of artificial red. I also like using blue and purple for shadows, and I’m a big fan of muting colors with only one or two that pop— one of the reasons why I was so attracted to submas in the first place is because from a design aesthetic, they’re both super funny muppet men AND really cool train guys that have a limited pallet and thematic apparel.
Overall response! THANK YOU SO MUCH. This goes out to a BUNCH of people who sent me inbox queries— sorry for not responding, it’s a tad overwhelming because some of them are story questions even I don’t really know will go yet, and others are words of praise and I’m selfish and like scrolling through the inbox to look at them when I feel down. I am more of an artist who sits in the corner and sprouts like a potato rather then a branching vine who socializes, but I really do see people’s responses and they make me go :)))))
Okay ramble over. Thanks for coming to the soapbox, and good luck on creating!
233 notes · View notes
cliobii · 1 year
Text
Tumblr media
the sillies ?? fitting for my first post here lol, they’re all I draw fr
this is from earlier this year, my style doesn’t rly look like this usually, I was trying out new things. maybe I’ll redraw this lol who knows
anyways hello!! if you know me from insta, hi yes this is the real thing, I’m the real guy. I’ve been on here TWICE before lol, I keep getting scared off of here oops, but I think I’m here to stay!
my name’s Clio and I use any pronouns! I’m an art teacher and the media coordinator for a nonprofit in arts education, but I draw silly fanart and original character designs for fun!!
I’m currently working on an original story/comic— working title is Little Red and the Twisted Tales. You can read updates about it on my Instagram for now, but I’m planning on sharing more on here (and maybe moving big lore stuff over here?? Idk)
so yeah !! it’s nice to meet you all :,) enjoy my silly art, this is just an archive for now, but I’ll upload new stuff too. bye !!
460 notes · View notes
heavenlyraindrops · 1 month
Text
smut writing tips (TW: sexual stuff cause like. Cmon. It’s smut)
I did one for character so now I’m doing one for smut what’s wrong with smut huh so what if I’m writing tips on how to make smut so what SO WHAT HUH
Smut scenes aren’t that different from normal scenes. Probably because they’re normal scenes. Remember that.
Therefore, they should have dialogueeee because boy oh boy the amount of smut I have read where they are just dead silent is insane I could rebuild the wall of china with allat
so… dirty talk
BUT DONT MAKE IT TOO LONG! OR TOO WEIRD…
“Do you think they’d watch?” he asks. “Do you think they’d enjoy the sight of your naked flesh on display? Maybe they would get off on seeing your dripping pussy reflected back at them everywhere they look. Or the pretty flush on your chest when you come. I think they’d even enjoy watching your eyes roll to the back of your head when my cock fills you so fully, you can��t fit any more of me inside you.”
That’s from haunting Adeline… and… just.. no. NONONONO ITS DISGUSTING ITS GROSS…. WHO TF SAYS THAT BRO. Why is tHIS BOOK SO POPuLAR
more gross examples: “You want to know what I’d do?” he questions. “I would let them watch. I would let them watch me claim you as mine and own every inch of your body. They would watch my cock fill every one of your holes and then watch you cry because of how hard you came. And then I’d fucking kill them. My cock would still be wet from your cum as I’d slice their throats for even daring to look at what’s mine.”
dont write like that guys… like ew. Just ew
also.. epithets.. ok idk what they’re called because English = not my first language but
like
”his member” “sword” “love button” “seed” “her peaks/ nubs”
look my dude if you can read a smut scene like “he inserted his sword inside her cavern and spewed his seed inside her while fondling her mounds” then sure pop off I guess but tbh
no.
JUST USE COCK DICK AND PUSSY OR SOMETHING IDK WHY U GOTTA DO THIS TO ME I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO SEE CERTAIN THINGS THE SAME WAY EVER AGAIN
“his member” I’m sorry is his dick joining a club?
anywaysysystst
research human body stuff. Like, dicks need to recharge before they get hard again yk
“Recharge” idk bro yk what I mean
cumming more than once for women do be kinda painful unless there’s an amount of time in between the orgasms
like depends on the woman, can range from a couple of hours to at least a whole day
although this doesn’t apply to everyone and some people do just go for it a bunch of times in one session so it’s a very variable thing
so yeah! Make sure to educate urself on biology
spemd more time talking about how they feel physically and emotionally than what they are doing so that the scene actually does have some depth
consistency! I have read shit that goes along the lines of “he grabbed her waist then with his other hand stroked her cheek and then she wrapped her legs around his feet and he pressed his elbow againts her knee flipping her upside down while she nibbled on his ear” how am I supposed to imagine any of that
they keep sprouting a third arm
or do things that completely contradict the position that they are in.. he can’t slap ur ass if ur in the cowgirl position..well, not very comfortably
so. Consistency! :)
that’s all for now ermmmm so yah tell me if this was helpful guys
113 notes · View notes
Text
An Unnecessarily Comprehensive Sandman Reading Order
Having now read EVERY comic that I could find based on, using characters from, or tying in with @neil-gaiman‘s Sandman series, I thought I should provide what is, as far as i can tell, the definitive list of everything Sandman, in roughly the order of publication, and also what I thought of them. Warning: there’s a lot of it (over 580 issues in two and a half months).
Sandman (1989) #1-28 [Neil Gaiman] (x) (x) (x) (x) (x) (x) (x)
Obviously we start at the beginning (I hear it’s a very good place to start) with the first 3 main arcs of Sandman plus some single issue stories. This is where the series really leans into the horror side of “dark fantasy,” and I for one love it. Idk, there’s not really much to say here. This is a Sandman blog, we all love this series here, or at least like it enough to talk about it. Go reread this stuff. It’s fuckin good.
The Books of Magic (1990) #1-4 [Neil Gaiman] (x)
The original Books of Magic series is essentially a guided tour of the DC universe’s magic side. Each issue focuses on a specific part of the universe, most of which are callbacks to comics that, I promise, you do not need to have read. The main three reasons to include this is: a) it’s fun, b) Tim as a character gets his own series which becomes part of the Sandman Universe relaunch, and c) it’s a nice place to learn a bunch of DC magic stuff which might show up later without having to drag yourself through the wiki and or read a thousand other comics. Then again this list is over 570 comics long, so maybe that second part’s not much of an issue here.
Sandman (1989) #29-31, Special #1, #32-50 [Neil Gaiman] (x) (x) (x) (x) (x)
This begins with the Distant Mirrors collection (rather than placing them in the Fables & Reflections TP) and runs all the way to the end of Brief Lives and the Ramadan issue (essentially the end of Distant Mirrors, albeit two years later). Brief Lives and A Game of You are still my favourite Sandman collections, the best examples of what I call “human Sandman,” focused on dreamers and their lives and all that, and “Endless Sandman,” focused on the affairs of Dream and his funky family.
Death: The High Cost of Living #1-3 [Neil Gaiman]
The first Death spinoff! It’s based on the one-day-as-a-human thing she does, it’s a lot of fun, and other side characters from Sandman make an appearance! Look, we all know these are good. I don’t have as much to say about them as I do about the obscure comics from the early 2000s that it feels like only I read.
The Children’s Crusade: The Children’s Crusade #1, Black Orchid Annual #1, Animal Man Annual #1, Swamp Thing Annual #7, Doom Patrol Annual #2, Arcana (The Books of Magic) Annual #1, The Children’s Crusade #2 [Neil Gaiman, Nick Foreman, Jamie Delano, Nancy A. Collins, Rachel Pollack, John Ney Rieber, Alisa Kwitney] (x)
This is a crossover between all the big Vertigo titles, focused on the children of each series. Don’t worry about what’s actually going on in the individual series the annuals are from, but the overall plot (by Neil Gaiman) focuses on what the Dead Boy Detectives (Charles and Edwin from Sandman #25) have been up to since escaping Death. They get more very good spinoff content later on, and apparently they’re getting a tv show soon which should be fun.
Death Talks About Life [Neil Gaiman] (x)
This is the short AIDS educational comic. John Constantine has a banana. I like it, I think it deserves a place in this list. Apparently Neil Gaiman almost got arrested for it which is some king shit honestly.
The Spectre (1992) #19-22 [John Ostrander]
This is a very meh arc of a Spectre series that I have not read anything else of. But Lucien is in it briefly so I did read this bit. And in my opinion? Completionism was not worth this boring comic.
Sandman (1989) #51-75 [Neil Gaiman] (x) (x) (x)
The big finale! Worlds’ End and The Wake bookend the massive 12 issue The Kindly Ones arc, so I think keeping all of them together makes a certain amount of sense.
The Books of Magic (1994) #1-20 [John Ney Rieber] (x)
The start of the proper Books of Magic ongoing series (this series being one of my favourite things I’ve read for this) expands nicely on what we know about Tim from the Neil Gaiman miniseries. A lot of plotlines also get picked up from the Children’s Crusade event, and stuff from there is explained and expanded upon. Look, I love this series so much and I think that, while what the Sandman Universe reboot did with it was entertaining, this is still much better.
Sandman: Midnight Theatre [Neil Gaiman, Matt Wagner]
This explores the golden age Sandman, Westley Dodds, and also gives a look at Dream in captivity. The actual Sandman content isn’t a huge part of it, mostly focusing on character that are presumably a part of Vertigo’s Sandman Mystery Theatre series of which this is technically a spinoff. Still, it’s enjoyable, the art is nice, and we get a nice look at the Order of Ancient Mysteries that we don’t really see in Sandman.
Death: The Time of Your Life #1-3 [Neil Gaiman]
Death spinoff 2! This one focuses completely on Hazel and Foxglove after A Game of You and The High Cost of Living, and is less about Death herself (although this isn’t the Death spinoff with the least Death in it. We’ll get there).
The Books of Magic (1994) #21-32, Annual #1, #33-38 [John Ney Rieber] (x)
More of a transitionary period in the series, Molly gets sent off on her own subplot while Tim wanders aimlessly around America for a bit. The America stuff can get confusing and disjointed and doesn’t quite fit into a compelling coherent narrative, but Molly’s plotline more than makes up for it
The Dreaming (1996) #1-16 [Terry LaBan, Peter Hogan, Alisa Kwitney, Bryan Talbot, Jeff Nicholson] (x)
While the best bits of this series are yet to come, there are some good stories in this first, more loosely connected section. That being said, the first 3-issue arc in particular isn’t exactly a perfect example of what the strengths of this series will be, and really it’s just treading water waiting for a writer to come along with a good overall vision for the series. Don’t worry, that’ll come.
The Books of Faerie #1-3 [Bronwyn Carlton]
This seems like a fairly standard telling of an origin story, but it actually ends up providing insights into Tim’s actual true parentage which was left entirely up in the air in the issue of Books of Magic that this picks up from. Which is nice, because I was kinda confused.
The Dreaming (1996) #17-25 [Caitlin R Kiernan, Al Davison, Peter Hogan]
This is really where this series starts to show what it’s gonna be good at. The arc that begins in #17 is the first to be written by Caitlin R. Kiernan, and introduces characters, concepts, and themes which will become very important when they eventually take over writing the series, as well as just being really fucking good.
Vertigo: Winter’s Edge #1 [Neil Gaiman, Caitlin R Kiernan, John Ney Rieber]
These winter specials are always something of a mixed bag. For what’s relevant here, Neil Gaiman offers a Desire-based story which is confusing and vague and has little to do with Sandman aside from featuring an Endless, the Books of Magic segment is just a short and inconsequential adventure for Tim, and Caitlin R Kiernan clealy shines when they provide a Cain and Abel short which is both a fair bit of fun and establishes concepts and themes which will become very relevant for some of their later writing.
The Books of Magic (1994) Annual #2, #39-50 [John Ney Rieber]
It’s time for a big ol’ finale for the John Ney Rieber run on this series! A whole bunch of characters return! Excitement! Action! Magic! Chocolate! A surprise twist involving a character from very early on in Sandman! What more could you want, really?
Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold #1-3 [Alisa Kwitney]
This is essentially a series of historical stories that loosely connect to one character who is somewhat linked to Destiny. It’s good, even if the stuff about a huge plague in the 21st century is a weird read now, and the individual issues are also pretty long. Don’t go in expecting a spinoff starring Destiny or providing insights into how all his shit works. The story is rather built around him, like a lot of Sandman around Dream, or the next-but-one item on this list around Death, and if you take it with that in mind you’ll enjoy it more than if you expect something it’s not.
The Dreaming (1996) #26, Special #1, #27-34 [Caitlin R Kiernan, Len Wein, Peter Hogan]
The Many Mansions arc, beginning with #27, is the first section of The Dreaming that’s felt like it’s really shaken up the status quo, and has taken big risks with the characters in service of the story. One of the main strengths of the series, in my opinion, is the fact that it allows what were simple running jokes, exaggerated horror hosts, or side characters to Dream’s angst a time to shine, both in the sense that they get the spotlight, but also that they are allowed to change, grow, and don’t end up in the same role as the series continues.
The Girl Who Would Be Death #1-4 [Caitlin R Kiernan]
This is a spinoff of The Dreaming and ties in with characters that Caitlin R Kiernan has already established, as well as establishing a few more, rather than being a sequel to Gaiman’s previous Death series. As with much of their writing in this universe, it’s got a brilliant atmosphere and fascinating characters. Also, it’s now canon that Death was at least one lesbian’s gay awakening which I think is the most realistic thing that’s ever been shown in any Sandman comic.
Vertigo: Winter’s Edge #2 [Neil Gaiman, Peter Gross, Caitlin R Kiernan]
The Sandman segment in this one is much stronger in my opinion, pulling on threads that are hinted at and explaining things from Sandman to give a good look at Death as an actual character. The Books of Magic story is the same sort of thing as the previous years, just a nice inconsequential short story with Tim. Again, though, Kiernan’s The Dreaming story is the best of the ones that I bothered to read, setting up things for the future and also providing some down-time to acknowledge the way that the status quo has shifted.
Sandman Presents: Lucifer: The Morningstar Option #1-3 [Mike Carey]
The beginning of another major spinoff line! This one’s fun, and also the start of the Sandman Presents collection of miniseries that came out from 1999-2004. Its plot also sets up the events of Mike Carey’s subsequent Lucifer series, so read this is you want the start of that to make any sense at all.
The Books of Magic (1994) #51-56, Annual #3, #57-63 [Peter Gross, Peter Hogan] (x) (x)
Idrk what to say here, I’ve already talked at length about how much I love this series. The exploration of private school culture is interesting even if it doesn’t last, and the multiversal implications of the Other are also very fun. That being said, sometimes the Peter Gross run does feel like it’s repeating what happened earlier (awful things happen to Tim’s dad, Tim gives away his magic, an imposter Tim takes his place, idk).
Sandman Presents: Love Street #1-3 [Peter Hogan]
I have no idea if this miniseries contradicts any of John Constantine’s established backstory from Hellblazer but personally, I really enjoyed this one. It finds a way to involve itself in the Sandman universe that justifies its Sandman Presents title, even if the fact that it’s a Hellblazer book could have been more clear. It’s also good to see more of the dreaming during Dream’s absence, and show what the dreams themselves actually did then.
The Books of Faerie: Molly’s Story #1-4 [John Ney Rieber]
IF you can get past the fact that this series has the ugliest art out of any comic I’ve read, the story here is really neat and it’s always nice to see Molly back, and any exploration of Faerie is usually enjoyable. Just, give yourself a second to get used to the art. Molly really doesn’t look like herself.
The Dreaming (1996) #35-43 [Caitlin R Kiernan] (x)
The culmination of Echo’s story has a big ol’ pile of transgenderism, and despite what certain other sandman blogs will tell you, the ending of Fox and Hounds is not just a repeat of The Wake and really, I don’t know how one might come to that conclusion. For one thing, it’s not the end, nor is it as grand in scope, and for another, it scratches my brain in a particular way because, on a more meta level, the ending grapples with how the concept for The Dreaming differs from the concept of Sandman, and how that difference impacts the story and the characters.
The Books of Magic (1994) #64-67 [Peter Gross]
While I know that part of the whole point of this series is that Tim can’t really settle down anywhere for long, this little home he makes in these issues is by far my favourite and I wish it had lasted longer than the Peter Gross run on the series. Also, this is where I started my “hey Tim... you ain’t cis” crusade and I need everyone to know that this child is very very queer.
Vertigo: Winter’s Edge #3 [Neil Gaiman, Caitlin R Kiernan, Peter Gross]
Another weird Desire story that I’m not too fond of from Neil, and Kiernan’s Dreaming segment is nice enough, but my favourite is the absolute pure fluff of the Books of Magic part, which crosses over with Sandman again and also seems designed to make me ship Mary and Joh as hard as humanly possible and, believe me, I do.
The Books of Magic (1994) #68-75 [Peter Gross] (x) (x)
Another big finale, and this one actually represents more of an end of an era than #50 did. Gross ties it back in with the very beginning and resolves a bunch of loose plot threads, as well as giving cameos to a bunch of characters from the John Ney Rieber issues so that The Names of Magic can transition to a different sort of story. It’s just a shame that we have to ditch the entire recurring cast again. Ah well.
The Dreaming (1996) #44-49 [Caitlin R Kiernan]
This is just the Trinket arc which resolves, or at least brings back, most of the loose ends to do with faerie, with Cluracan and the Nemesis and Nuala returning, and also brings back everyone’s favourite transphobic witch.
Sandman Presents: Petrefax #1-4 [Mike Carey]
Look, word of warning, there are a lot of slurs used here by a writer who evidently does not know that’s a slur for romani people. Gritting my teeth and putting that aside, when this series actually gives Petrefax something to do that’s relevant to his skills it’s quite fun. But that only happens a couple of times in the whole series, a significant proportion of it is just fantasy worldbuilding I really don’t care about, and also did I mention they keep saying a slur? Because they do.
Lucifer (2000) #1-13 [Mike Carey]
I wasn’t immediately a fan of this series, but once it starts building out its recurring cast and gets into the characters a bit more, this is really fun. I was 100% sold by #4.
The Dreaming (1996) #50-60 [Caitlin R Kiernan, Bill Willingham] (x) (x)
Another series draws to a close, and while the last arc could have maybe done with another issue just to give it a little more time to flesh things out and provide a satisfying conclusion for every character, this series is so good, if you don’t mind it the fact that it all basically gets erased from contuniuty by the time of the Sandman Universe publishing line (I guess due to the New 52 or some other DC relaunch, or at least that’s the excuse that I expect they used) I would absolutely recommend it as a followup to Sandman, especially if you don’t want the shift to modern comic styles that the other option leaves you with.
The Names of Magic #1-5 [Dylan Horrocks]
Since Books of Magic #75 ended with Tim proclaiming that he finally knew who he was, was free from his destiny, and wasn’t going to be looking for someone to lead him, and now he was meeting his future on his own terms, having his first move be “ask for help” and then have him shoved in the direction of school by a bunch of more established adult characters seems kinda antithetical the the whole point of that last series. Still, this sets up the next series neatly and isn’t too annoying to get through.
Sandman Presents: Merv Pumpkinhead, Agent of DREAM [Bill Willingham] (x)
This book is one long extended James Bond joke. I do not care about James Bond. What’s going on? Why should I care? Why did the woman have sex with a pumpkin man? Help.
Lucifer (2000) #14-32 [Mike Carey]
Ahhh, now we get to the good shit. The Lucifer series reaches its first Big Event Where A Bunch Of Shit Goes Down in the Paradiso, Purgatorio, and Inferno arcs. I don’t know enough theology to tell you if most of this comes from Jewish or Christian teachings but it’s interesting and probably at least slightly heretical so I’m down.
The Little Endless Storybook [Jill Thompson]
This is cute. No other reason needs to be provided. Read it, it’s cute. (Also if you can find a copy I imagine it is a much better experience if you have a physical copy)
Sandman Presents: Dead Boy Detectives #1-4 [Ed Brubaker]
If slightly frustrating with its actual detective side, this is a fun series that explores the boys and how their ghost powers actually work, and I look forward to what the next writer decides to do with them (and apparently they’re getting a show!! fuck yeah) (also uhhhh more like gayboy detectives amiright gamerz?)
Hunter: The Age of Magic #1-11 [Dylan Horrocks] (x)
It seems the little nosedive Tim’s story took in Names of Magic was only a short one, because right out of the gate Age of Magic is fantastic. The timeskip is slightly disconcerting, but it means we can skip all the “Tim learns magic” “Tim fucks another girl” “Tim discovers things” stages of his schooling and just have him finish and leave as quickly as possible, after using the setting to establish all that it needs to, and Tim can be free to do his own thing rather than being stuck in a “misadventures at the magic school“ style story.
Sandman Presents: The Corinthian #1-3 [Darko Macan]
This one’s mostly atmosphere, but it’s good atmosphere. It’s nice to see a little of the original Corinthian (rather than the rebooted version from The Dreaming) and how exactly he went bad, and what he was doing while Morpheus was imprisoned. Apparently elements of this (with the Corinthian’s experience in WW1) will be involved in the show, which is good because I can point at the screen and go “ooh! ooh! I know this one!” while my dad’s trying to watch, which is always fun.
Sandman Presents: The Thessaliad #1-4 [Bill Willingham]
I really wish I could like the Thessaly spinoffs. I love the character (despite her being claimed by TERFs apparently) and I wish we got more of her history, more of her being ruthless and cold and calculating, I’d especially love it if we explored how her normal life functions and how she does magic, but no, instead we get comedy hijinks with Fetch, the most annoying character to be introduced so far. Also the art is by Shawn McManus who is by far my least favourite Sandman artist and the only thing I actively dislike about A Game of You.
Lucifer: Nirvana [Mike Carey]
This is one of those fancy graphic novels with painted art and so on, but all that achieves is making it harder for me to focus on the story really. Tethys the Raven shows up which is neat. At least The Dreaming is still canon at this point.
Hunter: The Age of Magic #12-25 [Dylan Horrocks] (x) (x)
Big wrap-up of everything established from Names onwards, and a good end to the series, even if bringing back Molly again starts to get slightly tiresome (just let her live her life away from Tim. She’d be fine).
Sandman Presents: The Furies [Mike Carey]
Some of the Sandman Presents stories are spinoffs, or stories that happen to be set in the universe, but this really does feel like somewhere between a sequel and an epilogue to The Kindly Ones, giving Lyta more resolution than she got in the few pages she showed up in during The Wake. The “fancy graphic novel” problems I mentioned with Nirvana do make it a bit annoying to read, but it’s a good and interesting look at a character who got slightly left behind by the story once she’d succeeded in killing Dream off.
Hellblazer: Lady Constantine #1-4 [Andy Diggle]
I’m sure there’s parallels and references that I don’t get because I’ve only read the first few dozen Hellblazer comics, but this was really fun! Johanna is such a fun character and I loved her dynamic with her kid even if I knew they were gonna snuff it the minute they showed up.
Lucifer (2000) #33-40 [Mike Carey]
The Naglfar arc is my favourite sort of comic arc: every recurring character thrown together on a mission and forced to get along. Also, shit goes down with god and while I’m not gonna pretend to know what the precedent is for all this in the Tanakh or in the christian Bible, I’m enjoying whatever is happening immensely.
Sandman Presents: Bast #1-3 [Caitlin R Kiernan]
This is Caitlin R Kiernan’s last offering to Sandman, and it’s also one of their best. The exploration of Bast as a character and how the death of gods actually works is really good, honestly just read it, I’m not sure what else to say except it’s a shame this is the last comic of theirs in this universe.
Death: At Death’s Door [Jill Thompson] (x)
This one’s just a fun look behind the scenes of Season of Mists with Death, Delirium, and Despair dealing with all the dead that have just turned up. The style is so fun, I love the vibes, and also anything that gives Delirium a lot to do is an instant favourite.
Sandman: Endless Nights [Neil Gaiman]
The first of Neil’s followups, and while some of the more abstract or disconnected stories like Desire and Despair’s feel like they’re just there to fill space and give a chapter to every Endless, the (small) through-line of Delirium’s grief is really nicely done, and, again, this captures the consequences of and provides a followup to the ending of Sandman in more depth than The Wake did
Lucifer (2000) #41-49 [Mike Carey]
This part of the series splits its time, mostly focusing on Elaine and Mona’s fates, along with the rest of the supporting cast, while Lucifer does important overall plot things with the angels. I’m not complaining, though, this series has such a good cast of characters and I’d happily read a spinoff with any of them.
Sandman Presents: Thessaly: Witch For Hire #1-4 [Bill Willingham]
Reaching the end of the Sandman Presents series and this is how the original line of spinoffs ends. Not with a bang, but with an aimless and annoying whimper that really isn’t doing any of the things I want this character to be (except murderous. I do enjoy when she kills people). But I think Bill Willingham is somewhat allergic to writing a story with a dark tone that isn’t filled with constant jokes. Like, yes, having comic relief is important in every story lest it become grimdark edgy nonsense, but I would rather see Thessaly at her most fucked up and evil without a ghost trapped in a mirror doing a Funny Bit every other page. Maybe that’s just me, though.
Lucifer (2000) #50-61 [Mike Carey]
Reaching the endgame of the series, and almost every element that was set up gets involved in the last few dozen issues. Not sure what to say, this shit’s just really fucking good. Go read it!
Dead Boy Detectives (2005) [Jill Thompson]
If your detective story ends with the detectives putting together the clues to solve the mystery and publicly confronting the villain and then the villain explains that actually it was all innocent misunderstandings and they’re not guilty at all, I think maybe you shouldn’t be writing detective stories. Also all the crossdressing jokes got old very fast. This is by far the worst of all of these, and there’s some bad shit on this list at points.
Lucifer (2000) #62-75 [Mike Carey] (x)
The gert massive finale of this fantastic series really doesn’t disappoint. Characters get their arcs resolved in a mostly satisfactory manner, it does what DC did a few decades earlier in Crisis On Infinite Earths with resolving a multiverse in a much neater and less confusing way, and we learn that the god of the DC/Vertigo universe looks like the stereotype of a tory civil servant from the 1970s.
Madame Xanadu (2008) #6 [Matt Wagner]
The way Death is used in this is really interesting. For one thing, according to Death the whole “i give you a __” ritual is just set dressing for the intent which summons the Endless, so either Burgess did something really wrong or Death can tell when it’s a trap and tell when someone just wants a chat (and Dream is too stupid to tell and was also understandably destracted in 1916).
The Brave and the Bold (2007) #1-12 [Mark Waid]
The "Lords of Luck” arc, if kinda confusing, is interesting and brings in the Destiny elements in a cool way, even if the way they write Supergirl is sometimes uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh gross. The “Book of Destiny” arc, by contrast, is just a series of tangentially linked stories and some of the most generic superhero comic stuff I’ve ever read, and the Book itself is only an afterthought in #12. Also, they gave Destiny the fancy Desire font instead of the harsh bold italics. Come on guys.
Action Comics (1938) #894 [Paul Cornell]
Another standalone Death issue within a broader series I have no interest in reading. She’s fun here too, and I always enjoy someone making Lex Luthor have a little bit of an existential crisis. This also seems to be the first significant appearance of Death outside Vertigo since the imprint began, as TBATB is for Destiny and Metal is for Dream.
Sandman: The Dream Hunters #1-4 [Neil Gaiman]
The story that Neil Gaiman accidentally trolled a bunch of academics in a tiny afterward to this story is very funny to me. I read the comic version rather than prose, I’m sure the prose is also very good because (shocking) Neil Gaiman happens to be a good writer.
House of Mystery Halloween Annual #1 [Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham]
Not much here innit just a fun merv story. If I wasn’t going for 100% I would not have even brought this up.
Dead Boy Detectives (2014) #1-12 [Toby Litt, Mark Buckingham] (x)
This is THE Dead Boy Detectives series, it’s the best by far because, amazingly, if you let your detective characters do detective work, the story is more engaging! Also, the series introduces a fantastic supporting cast, and actually delves into Charles and Edwin’s characters and all their masses of trauma from, y’know, being murdered. Also got me excited about the tv show they’re apparently making. Please let it be like this series and not like the shitearse Jill Thompson one. Please.
Sandman: Overture #1-6 [Neil Gaiman]
I have no idea why the reading list on the back of my copy lists this before Preludes and Nocturnes. Like yeah it’s a prequel technically, but if you hadn’t read Sandman before, reading it first would be a very bad idea since it hinges on lore from the series and also spoils the ending if you didn’t know what happened. If you have actually read Sandman though, yeah it’s fucking good idk what to say. It slaps.
Lucifer (2016) #1-19 [Holly Black, Richard Kadrey]
Honestly, I would have enjoyed this regardless of the writing because it has my favourite artist from my favourite Marvel series, Loki: Agent of Asgard (go read it. do it.), but the writing is also fantastic. It’s the perfect example of a followup that on the whole respects the original series, the themes established, and where the characters were left, before bringing things back into the fold in a realistic way to do something new with them, instead of just resetting continuity so that you don’t have to deal with somebody else’s recurring cast, *ahem*, the entire Sandman Universe reboot you do good things but you could leave some of this in canon, *ahem*. (Speaking of The Dreaming, the inclusion of Matthew makes this the first concrete confirmation that the 1996 series isn’t canon any more, which did make me a bit sad). Well worth a read if you’re a fan of the original!
Dark Nights: Metal #1-6 [Scott Snyder] (x)
It’s your usual boring comic book crossover event. Dream shows up and it sort of sets up the Sandman Universe series, but mostly this is about the usual multiverse bollocks that DC always does. "Batmanium” did make me laugh, though.
Sandman Universe #1 [Neil Gaiman, Simon Spurrier, Kate Howard, Nalo Hopkinson, Dan Watters] (x)
Plenty of setup here, but since I have no idea where any of it’s going I think I’ll just... Let my reviews of the series themselves do the work here instead.
The Dreaming (2018) #1-12 [Simon Spurrier] (x)
The issues with the start of this series are a lot more complicated than just “bad writer” or “incorrect characterisation”. In some cases the old characters are spot on, and the new characters are all fantastic, but something about the way Merv and Lucien develop in the first few issues feels a little forced. This series could have absolutely benefited from what the original Dreaming had - short story arcs focusing on specific parts of or people in the Dreaming that slowly, slowly come together to form a larger whole - and just slowed down the breakdown of Lucien and whatever they were going for with Merv enough that we get a good sense of where it comes from. Instead (probably more due to editorial rushing and a need to get the Big Threat of the first arc in the picture by the end of #2 to appease convention in modern comic storytelling, than the intentions of the writer), the political commentary and character progressions end up a bit hurried and I’m left with a feeling of “Yes logically I get how we got here, but like... how did we get here?”.
All of that being said, once it manages to get into the swing of things, this series is honestly a worthy successor to the original, even if I’m still annoyed about it replacing the original continuity entirely. The way that other Sandman characters are slowly brought in is really nicely done, and the development of the central mystery is intriguing and develops at a perfect rate to give answers, but also keep my interest going.
House of Whispers #1-12 [Nalo Hopkinson, Dan Watters]
Now this feels like Sandman. I love the characters, both human and godly, and the Ananse storyline makes me fall victim to my greatest weakness once again: stories that are about stories, that acknowledge that they’re stories, that twist the narrative of the tale it’s spinning and in doing so acknowledge the consequences of the characters existing in a world defined by narrative conflict. That’s my shit! Also I think it’s really cool that a comic published by one of the big two comic companies has a nonbinary character that uses neopronouns who also defines zirself as queer. Ze are iconic.
Lucifer (2018) #1-13 [Dan Watters]
The style and tone of this is very different to the other two Lucifer comics, and it exists outside of the continuity established by them (hence Lucifer having no scar, Remiel and Duma still ruling hell, Mazikeen’s dialogue takes a while to get used to, etc). Instead of being about the end of the universe and Lucifer’s attempts to get out from Yahweh’s rule while also saving the world surrounded by a huge supporting cast of characters we sympathise with instead of him, this series makes Lucifer pathetic in the best way. It’s much more introspective, and focuses on Lucifer, his ex-lover Sycorax, and their son Caliban, and how their relationships evolve. Also, the art is by far the best out of any of these Sandman Unvierse comics.
Books of Magic (2018) #1-13  [Kat Howard]
Again, a very different take on the same character. I’m not sure I like this one as much as Lucifer though. The focus is on the Cold Flame and Rose from the original Neil Gaiman series, although some elements from the Rieber/Gross series make it through, in particular some interesting things are being done with Tim’s dad. This is fun enough, and I’m interested to see where it goes, but I still much prefer the style of the original.
The Sandman Universe Presents: Hellblazer [Simon Spurrier] 
This one-shot spins out of the 1990 Books of Magic miniseries, and explores what the fuck was actually going on in that potential future they showed. I’m sure it also ties into various bits of Hellblazer but, as already mentioned, I haven’t read more than a couple dozen issues of that series yet and it still made sense.
The Dreaming (2018) #13-20 [Simon Spurrier] (x)
The finale to this series is so good! Like I said earlier, the way that the mystery is slowly revealed works so well, and bringing all the threads together slowly is so satisfying when a writer can do it well. Also, the things it does with Lucien as the narrator in a meta sense is very fun.
House of Whispers #13-22 [Nalo Hopkinson, Dan Watters]
The way that this series builds its characters and worlds is so good, the balance between the human and godly characters especially. I’m also a big fan of how weird-looking the Corinthian is, I think some artists forget to draw him like a nightmare who’s slightly out of sync with reality in a “he looks creepy as fuck sometimes” kinda way.
Lucifer (2018) #14-24 [Dan Watters]
Word of warning: you will need to find the 3rd TPB collection if you want to read the actual conclusion of the Wild Hunt arc, because #19 was never published and the next collection was #20-24. I think it had something to do with covid, idk. Putting that aside, the art here is great and I love the way Lucifer works in this series. Probably the best of the initial four Sandman Universe lines.
Books of Magic (2018) #14-23 [Kat Howard, David Barnett]
The second half is much better than the first (as it seems is the case with a lot of these) , and the finale arc pulls in a few other Sandman related characters which are all fun (even if they don’t always make sense entirely). It’s still nowhere near as good as the original Rieber/Gross series, but it’s fun in its own way.
John Constantine: Hellblazer (2020) #1-12 [Simon Spurrier] (x)
I have not read enough Hellblazer to compare it to what came before, but this is an absolutely fantastic series. The tone is brilliantly managed, the supporting cast is endearing, John’s arc is engaging, and the series knows when to be funny, when to be brutal, when to be horrific, when to be tragic, when to be political, and when to force me to look at a drawing of Boris Fucking Johnson.
The Dreaming: Waking Hours #1-12 [G. Willow Wilson] (x)
This is the most Sandman-feeling SU series, and I mean that in a good way. We get a good amount of seeing Daniel in action, the cast of new characters are all fun, and it feels like a good followup to The Dreaming without stepping on its toes - it uses the new characters as a natural part of the universe, and utilises the plotlines left hanging in a good way. My only real problem with it is a problem I have with a lot of comic series that only run for a dozen issues - the wrapup is a bit rushed to fit it all into one issue, we don’t really get time for the characters to settle into their endings before it’s over.
Locke & Key/Sandman #1-2 [Joe Hill]
The first three-quarters of this are very fun, but it does get a bit boring once they go to hell. Lucifer feels out of character, and I do not have any idea what the normal Locke & Key series is about, so there’s no way for me to be invested in these characters. The stuff that actually takes place in the Dreaming itself is fun, though, and I like the look into Fawney Rig during Sandman #1. Also, it’s always very funny to see a series have to write itself around continuity and go “hey hang on, why don’t the various dreams go rescue Dream?” While we don’t get a satisfactory answer to that, it’s not really what they were focusing on anyway so I have no reason to get angry about it like some people might.
Nightmare Country #1-? [James Tynion IV]
This series is only four issues in at the moment so I can’t say anything conclusive, but it’s got some great creepy shit in it (some of it reminds me of Caitlin R Kiernan’s work with the Corinthian in the original Dreaming) and I was convinced enough by it to pre-order the next two issues, which I look forward to reading!
---
I’m probably meant to put a conclusion paragraph here but my English teacher would probably agree when I say I’m kinda crap at them. The best long series to spring from Sandman are Lucifer and Books of Magic, Caitlin R Kiernan was the best writer on The Dreaming, and Waking Hours is probably the best of the Sandman Universe books but you’re absolutely in safe hands with any of them. The Sandman Presents comics are good for the most part, but the quality varies wildly. Every time there’s a non-Vertigo series which involves Sandman characters it’s probably not worth it. Don’t bother with the Dead Boy Detectives graphic novel, read the Litt/Buckingham series instead. And most importantly, don’t tell me that I forgot that one 2008 (?) House of Mystery series. I did indeed forget it, but to be fair I didn’t know it existed until I saw a copy in the library the other day and I cannot be bothered reading it now.
897 notes · View notes
wembleygoodboy · 5 days
Note
Wembley, may I ask where you got your name? Were you named after the puppet?
itis actuolly kindof a Lomg Storey, so iwill let dadmom tellit! 😊👍 (it also doubols as My Orogin Storey!)
[story time! this is gonna be a long one, so strap in, ahaha
so, i went to college for music (education and performance; flute performance, specifically. i can wipe my ass w that degree now tho lol), so i was in a couple different ensembles at any given time. in 2013, we were playing a multi-movement piece called "3 Ayres from Gloucester" by Hugh Stuart. the 3rd movement is called "The Fiefs of Wembley." you can listen to a performance of it here. wembley is apparently a location within london. think "wembley stadium!"
i always joked with my fellow flutist friend (we'll call her M) who i shared a stand with that Wembley sounded like the name of a mischievous cat. "wembley get off the counter!!!" "UGH NO why always on the carpet, wembley?!" etc. it helped that the tune itself totally sounds like the theme song of a somewhat skittish yet naughty little cat, parading around causing chaos until he's spotted, then darting away.
on october 3rd, 2013, i came into rehearsal and find M looking pretty distraught. i ask whats up, and shes like "i think i saw a kitten in the middle of the club lawn, it was just laying there, maybe its hurt, idk what to do!" im like okay lets check it out together, and our conductor (huge sweetheart) gives us the okay to go investigate.
sure enough, theres a tiny black blob just laying there in the middle of the lawn; not hidden away in the bushes where a mama cat wouldve left him. as we approached, the blob got up and awkwardly darted away towards the lil decorative pine shrubs dividing the lawn from a small parking lot. we followed it, and there he was: a small black kitten, crouched in terror, hiding in the shelter of the shrubbery.
i dont remember when exactly it happened, but it suddenly dawned on me. i turned to my friend. "M... its WEMBLEY..."
we tried to coax him out to no avail- not even food would persuade him, and he looked very thin- and he was a bit too close to the road for our comfort, so i asked my roommate to keep an eye on the lil guy while M and i went back to rehearsal. after it ended, we recruited a small gaggle of band geeks to capture the kitten. it was the bassoon player who finally caught him, plucking him out of a miniature shrub he'd tried to climb.
i swaddled wembley up in a black bandana i kept in my back pocket (for the Fashion™️), hopped into my roommate's car with my stuff, and headed back with my roommate to our little on-campus apartment. as i stood in the living room, waiting for him to bring our stuff from the car, wembley began to purr in my arms :,)
(to be fair, cats may purr to self-soothe when theyre stressed; its not exclusively an indicator of pleasure. but. Still, lol.)
turns out lil wembley was only a month old: just old enough for solid food, thankfully, but much younger than the age at which kittens are generally separated from their mothers for adoption, which generally occurs after 3 months. he also had a sprained leg, which made walking very difficult and painful for him. the leg was likely the reason he was abandoned by his feral mother, as if he couldnt keep up, she couldnt afford to stop for him when she likely had a whole litter to care for. understandable, but her loss was my (and wembley's!) gain. 💚
i had to tame him, as he was feral, and EXTREMELY fearful of humans, but i spent hours that night sitting on the opposite side of the bathroom, slowly earning his trust until, little by little, i was able to scoot close enough to him to pet him. he'd obviously never been petted before; the look on his little face was pure magic. he completely opened up to me after that moment.
i totally had myself fooled, thinking id find a home for him once his leg was all healed up (my vet major pal showed me how to make him a splint), but... then he started sleeping with me and... well..... yeah. nope. he was my son, and i was his dadmom.
and i always will be. 💚
BONUS PICTURES:
the first picture i ever took of Wembley (thats the bottom of a red solo cup i sewed fabric around so he could drink water from it without risking him getting cut on the plastic):
Tumblr media
baby's first petting 💚:
Tumblr media
he relaxed a lot after discovering the joy of Petting :)
Tumblr media
settling down for his first night with us, too sleepy for this world 💚:
Tumblr media
days later, with his lil foot in a splint, sitting in his temporary makeshift litterbox. the Poopie Prince!
Tumblr media
...TL;DR, its the name of a part of london, and i chose it because of an instrumental piece of music. coulda just said that, i suppose, but I'll ALWAYS jump at the chance to tell wembley's Origin Story and share baby pics, ahaha 💚
-dadmom]
32 notes · View notes
majoris · 6 days
Text
✨tag games merger✨
was tagged by @kakinou🖤 thank you!
Are you named after anyone? No, my parents just fell in love with the name When was the last you cried? hmm, a long time ago. It is time to schedule another crying session probably Do you have kids? no What sports do you play/have you played? played volleyball but it's been years tbh Do you use sarcasm? it would seem so, yes What is the first thing you notice about people? level of openness What is your eye color? blue going on grey when suits Scary movies or happy endings? if it's between the two then happy endings, I don't really do scary movies Any talents? honestly idk ? maybe remembering situations in excruciating detail - mostly those that do not matter much 👀 but if you talk to me and then try to gaslight me into thinking you did not say that then better think again Where were you born? hospital ?????? What are your hobbies? writing (questionable), reading, graphics, walking, watching good stuff, being weird, gazing, daydreaming (old people hobbies) Do you have any pets? no How tall are you? 170/5'7 Favorite subject at school? literature Dream job? ? headwriter/screenwriter/writer/film editor ?
tagging (as always, feel free to ignore 🖤): @carlithiel, @bourbon-ontherocks, @lesbiangabriellle, @fatalgift, @stpauligirl
was tagged by @stpauligirl 🖤 thank youu
Age when you joined Tumblr: around 17 I think ?? Favorite coffee mug or tea cup: I got a few in rotation (because of the size), currently it's a big boi (over half a liter) with flying golden cranes on it Morning showers or night showers: depends a lot, percentage-wise probably morning Pets sleeping on your bed, yes or no: no (but I've been persuaded before) Favorite type of vacation (relaxing, adventure, educational, staycation): being somewhere new with people I adore, exploring, relaxing etc etc (or being alone, everyone leaving me alone, moss absorbing me etc etc) Can you keep plants alive: depends 👀 I've tended huge gardens with no problems but I've also managed to kill 'unkillable' plants SO Type of kid you were (sport kid, art kid, music kid): as stpauligirl I was a reading/books kid (also a writing kid, can't deny that) Your current ringtone: part of this song
tagging (feel free to ignore ofc 🖤): @sothischickshe, @sarahlancashire, @lonely-night, @inyoursheets, @nynazenik, @kakinou
was tagged by @bourbon-ontherocks 🖤 (thank youu) to put a link or a screenshot of what you're listening to rn or the last song you listened to: it's been a good few days of listening to Strange Times by Until the Ribbon Breaks tbh
for the music rec purposes tagging all tagged before so: @carlithiel, @bourbon-ontherocks, @lesbiangabriellle, @fatalgift, @stpauligirl, @kakinou, @sothischickshe, @sarahlancashire, @lonely-night, @nynazenik, @inyoursheets 🖤
11 notes · View notes
Text
This is just my opinion btw, it could be a horrible stance to take idk lemme know if it is
Okay so I understand that some celebrities are in certain positions and have contracts with certain company so they can't talk about the stuff with Palestine or they lose their jobs. That's fucked up as hell but in this economy I understand (and that's also another conversation for another time how certain companies won't let their employees talk about a literal genocide openly or they lose their jobs. Like wtf) BUT then those celebrities shouldn't say anything at all. Because if they do say something about the situation they're gonna say something like how they're neutral or even vaguely or directly say that they support Israel's actions.
And news flash, even taking a neutral stance on this whole thing is less helpful than just staying silent. If you can't talk about it, don't talk about it. Don't say anything. Keep your mouth shut. There are just some situations where if you can't say anything, then DON'T SAY ANYTHING. Because trust me, there are plenty of other people who will scream about this situation until they lose their voice. Will make content about it until that's all they're known for. My whole point is that we can't rely on celebrities and well-known people in this situation to talk about this. We shouldn't rely on them in these situations anymore. This post isn't "all celebrities bad" cause I straight up don't think that's true. This post also isn't "give celebrities a break" because I don't care. This post is that anyone who CAN talk about this horrific genocide should be! As much as they can! Even if you just make posts about it that's better than nothing!
I've seen a lot of people rely on well-known public figures to do something about this, but they either CAN'T or WON'T. So it's up to us. The kids and adults and senior citizens on the internet with silly little accounts on silly little apps. And we've already started and have been doing a great job! Go onto any app and look up "Palestine" and you will see THOUSANDS of videos or posts from well-informed adults educating people on the history on this situation to 5 year olds attending protests with a sign in their hands and a watermelon painted on their faces. We can't rely on celebrities anymore. And a lot of us can't even rely on our governments anymore! So it's up to us. Just because you don't have a million followers or haven't starred in a Netflix show doesn't mean you don't have a voice! It doesn't mean you can't do something! Speak up! Donate! Boycott! Go to protests! Make posters and hang them around your neighborhood or something! Make art! Even if you can't do much, which is totally fine btw, do whatever you can! Because you CAN do something. We can't rely on public figures to be our voice anymore, we have to be our own voice.
Like yes, there's a lot of history of completely normal people standing up against injustice but I'm talking about today. How people are relying on public figures and celebrities today. Let's not do that anymore and let's do something ourselves. And almost everyone has a phone nowadays and almost everyone has access to social media. If you're reading this, you probably have access to social media. Use that to your advantage. We've got this guys! We can do this! I know we can! I believe in us.
Side note but if there are celebrities that are taking a neutral stance on this or even openly supporting Israel, as long as they aren't actively causing harm or spreading misinformation about Palestine, then don't focus on them. Don't waste your energy. Stop supporting them, talk about it once, twice, maybe even three times, and then leave them alone and focus on the active genocide going on in Palestine. Those celebrities aren't worth your time, the people in Palestine are. We can't let this genocide just happen right in front of us.
This all also applies to the situations going on in Congo, Sudan, and Haiti. But I'm just specifically talking about Palestine cause that's what this applies to the most. I'll talk about Congo, Sudan, and Haiti as well soon.
7 notes · View notes
nameforadragon · 2 months
Text
I keep seeing posts being like "omg. The kids don't know how to use computer! They don't know how to use a mouse! They don't know what a command line is! They can't even use a browser. The kids don't know anything about technology if not app on phone:("
And idk dude like. I'm not gonna accuse these people of lying but I am gonna accuse them of being completely biased with absolutely no self reflection at all. You sound like your parents. Like holy shit. First of all, LOTS of us [aged<20] have had computer classes. "Computer lab" was a class all throughout primary school for me, and in grade 8 I had a required course where I learned some Python, had to use Adobe Photoshop, that kind of stuff. I know so many people who go further than that (including myself) and take elective coding classes. Now, it would be incredibly fucking biased of me to conclude that, because almost everyone I know is at the very least functional with a computer and can use a mouse, this means everyone is. Of course not. But thats what these posts do. "I only interact with children who don't know this, therefore no one under 20 knows anything and they're all stupid with their little tik toks" you have a very incomplete sample of kids at this age, and you barely acknowledge it.
Secondly, more on the self reflection bit. This is absolutely a privilege issue. Not a "the kids are so dumbb omggg" issue. Kids don't have computer classes? It's a privilege I was able to get that education. Should we mock people who didn't have music classes growing up and don't know the difference between a rhythm and a beat? If your answer to that is no, then maybe we shouldn't mock kids for not knowing the difference between a search engine and a browser. I know plenty of people bring up the issue to try and get at this, but I cant shake the undertone that all of these posts have in common, which is essentially this air of superiority, like people who grew up with desktop computer access are somehow better than people who didn't, which is just kind of terrible?? Like no joke, I've seen people complaining about uni students who don't really know the ins and outs of programming yet in undergrad and its like,,, did you just not want them to go to school because they didn't know that prior to post secondary? Like, what do you think school is for? Being perfect all the time and telling the teacher that you know everything already? I was under the impression that school was for acquiring knowledge and skills that you previously didnt have.
I also know people who are much older than me, and could have been coding all of their life, but didn't so much as touch a computer until after college, and they learned how to use it, and how to code, and now it's their career! You don't need to learn how computers work when you are five! I grew up scribbling on ms paint and being confused how solitaire worked, and struggling to comprehend minesweeper strategy on a very old version of Windows. I could functionally operate a mouse at the age of one, and that's all privilege. I'm not smarter, or better or more refined or anything, I was literally just born into a family that had desktop computers. And again, to point out the bias, I know way more adults that fit the whole "don't understand it if it's not an app on my phone" than kids.
Finally, a minor nitpick but I feel like it's warranted since the people authouring these posts often present themselves as being more knowledgeable about computers than the average teen? Don't go just saying incorrect bullshit. If you mean PC, say pc. If you mean a desktop computer, or a laptop, say that. Phones are not "fake computers" they just ARE computers. They are computers that have been engineered to be tiny. Their size does not mean they are not computers, it just means they are small. Furthermore, an "app" isn't a "thing u use on a phone." It's literally just the word application shortened. Anytime you use an application that you download on a laptop, or a pc or whatever, you are using an app. Your browser application is an app. I hate to tell you, but it must be said.
Sorry if anything I said in this is straight up wrong, I am not immune to hypocrisy, yadda yadda you know the deal. I also AM NOT an expert on computers, I have (what I, a teenager consider to be) a relatively baseline understanding of computers. And I'm writing this exhausted because I can't sleep. Admittedly on the mobile app, (which explains any typos) but I swear to you that I have a laptop and I use it more than I use my phone most days. I doubt anyone will really see this post but thanks for reading if you got this far I guess. Maybe let's just not fearmonger about "the kids these days" when we should be trying to help kids become functioning adults. I didn't get past my struggles with reading as a kid by being told that I was stupid, or getting mocked. I got past them by finding a book that I loved, and by being encouraged to read by adults who genuinely cared about my education. I really don't see how computers are different, that's all I have to say.
7 notes · View notes
mariacallous · 3 months
Note
Im watching a mutual ive always respected radicalize in real time. She's always been driven and passionate, but recently she lost her job and only recently got a temp job she hates w a passion. All she wants to talk about now is how much she hates her job and how we have to tear the system down etc. And then now shes started saying theee most out of pocket shit abt the I/P conflict and the houthis??? Like WHERE did this come from??? We used to be able to talk abt things even if we disagreed but i feel like a fucking QAnon relative now. Im so annoyed like being unemployed (AND ON UNEMPLOYMENT which the Rs obviously want to curtail) was enough to turn off her democracy switch??? Idk how to talk to her anymore i keep trying to get back to normal topics but i feel like she's just circling back to the same 3 things bc of anxiety and maybe all this free time. Is there any reading you know of that i can at least point her towards so she stops being a 30 yr old tik tok zombie?
Any reading on how to deradicalize or to educate about [x]?
Because those would be two different things. Let me know more specifically what you might be looking for.
My best recommendation would be for her to just do more of a social media and especially tiktok detox - shift to reading and doing other things.
Otherwise you may just need to say "Hey, we've been friends for a while (or however you'd want to open it) but I just can't keep talking to you and having these same topics come up and have you saying this stuff. I'll be here if and when you need me (or whatever) but I'm just not willing to put up with this."
8 notes · View notes
cerastes · 2 years
Note
Man that autism post resonates so hard for me rn. Had a 'friend' of mine start randomly calling me an "egg" and "in denial" of being autistic because I... enjoy asmr and rock in my seat sometimes. Like straight up arguing with me over it in front of other people. It was so uncomfortable and really upset a few of our mutual autistic friends. Idk what this trend is but I hate it so much
No yeah that's outright disgusting, like it's one thing if someone autistic makes a gallow's humor post about it or not even necessarily something gallow's-ish, just, you know, talking about it, making a humorous spin on it, the works, that's totally fine, we all do it about our own life experiences. It's another thing entirely to make it into a trend or "fashion-nize" it as some sort of quirky personality trait that makes you a 'freaking awesome bean' or whatever and then do what this acquaintance of yours did, like, without even getting started with the use of 'egg' here and calling someone else an 'egg in denial', that's a whole other can of worms by itself, just going at someone with the whole "you're actually X you just don't know it yet" is incredibly irresponsible. One of my sincerely least favorite arcs of Tumblr is when this was happening to ADHD, and having to see a lot of friends reblog those posts like "oh no I identify to so many of these posts... Perhaps I Am One Of The Abnormals" like man, read the room, I'm The Abnormals, and I don't hold it against anybody, because I know for a fact that none of them meant anything negative by it nor did they mean to insult, and I know this because I know my friends, but it was a tough period of time to have a dashboard, and I can imagine anyone less secure about themselves, of their conditions, or of their online social group feeling upset or offended by it.
It's like (the most mainstream) mental health things all go through their own turn in the Trend Spotlight, and right now, it's autism, before that, it was ADHD, and many years ago, in a real Tumblr Classic, it was the whole anti-recovery stance ("um, drinking water isn't gonna help my depression, KAREN") that even some supposedly educated-ass people I personally know backed up for some reason that transmogrifies me into The Jonker for half a second before I calm down ("uhhh maybe some people had a bad time with their own therapy :(" shut the hell up and leave people making helpful little posts about stuff that's helped them alone). And even before that, it was the Wild West of people going ham self-diagnosis with absolutely everything they could, objectively the worst period, and it wasn't just self-diagnosis, it was sometimes diagnosis others, for instance, one person that shall remain politely unnamed one time responded to a vent post I made many years ago "hey those are signs of depression, you should get that checked out".
To me.
Not just an actual professional psychologist that literally does this shit for a living, but most importantly, someone they don't really know on the internet. That was one of the few times I've actually gotten so pissed I went off, because holy shit my man you can't just diagnose people like that, you may be unknowingly predisposing someone who otherwise was just having a bad day into actually developing depression, which is a thing that happens.
I'm not going to say "stop talking about my field reeee" on the contrary, mental health needs more discussion about it, but it needs to be given the proper respect a topic as weighty and sensitive as mental health deserves. Properly inform yourself and, to help with this, ask. Ask mental health professionals, ask autistic people, ask ADHD people, ask people with OCD, ask people with Schizophrenia, ask them what's up, and always keep in mind there's no universal experience. I wish these things were universal, it'd make my job much easier and life much easier for me and many more people, but it isn't the case, so tighten your pants and do your due diligence.
85 notes · View notes
three--rings · 1 year
Note
Hello! Sorry to bother but I am waaay too curious
Tumblr media
If you have time/energy/mood, could you please elaborate? I am curious about your perspective. Psychology is one of my biggest passions and I want to start a degree in it (with possibility to advance further with the degree maybe) I am aware of some of its flaws, and the fact that it can be biased and inconclusive and not exactly exact and precise like the other sciences. Is there anything else that perhaps I should keep an eye out on? Thank you for reading and if you reply, thank you for replying as well.
So the thing about studying psychology, especially at the undergrad level, is that you spend all your time being taught about these landmark studies that defined the thinking of decades of psychology theory and practice.
And then at some point, which may be during or after your education, you learn all of those studies were terrible research bullshit that can't be reliably reproduced even if they could get past a modern ethics board.
Psychology is a field that is really uncomfortable with itself because it desperately wants to be taken seriously as a hard science and not be thought of as just people thinking about people. But it is REALLY REALLY bad at being a hard science. The research is just not rigorous at ALL.
My senior year of undergrad for my research methods class my group of slackers who rarely went to class put together a research study where we drew up entirely new models and tools that looked far better than the published ones, applied them to a much larger and more diverse population of subjects and basically put the leading research in that little niche to shame. On the weekends. Our prof wanted us to publish but we were graduating and it never happened. We sent it to the leading researcher in the field and he was all...uh, yeah, I'm working on some new stuff too...but good for y'all. He was a known prick though.
Like, it's not that there's not good stuff in there somewhere. But my god there's so much chaff.
Then you get into the grad school degree maelstorm and...ugh. There are a lot of options. They are split into practical i.e. you want to help people in the real world and clinical i.e. you want to do shitty studies and publish.
I worked both in psychology research (so I got to see how the sausage was made on the ground) and in social work for mental health care and...most of my coworkers at both jobs had some kind of advanced degrees and were making something around $30K doing the same jobs as me. There are far too many people with masters in psychology because they are easy to get and even if you get your LPC they are still way too many people with them with no idea what they are doing. Like you can go to Christian College Number 304 and get your Marriage and Family Therapy masters and come out and have only learned to Pray On It and do some supervised hours and now you're licensed and yeah I worked with these people. (Go get your masters, they told me. It is SO EASY they told me. Uh, yeah that's not winning me over to your program.)
Anyway, if you can't tell I'm jaded. Besides the fact that the field is one that will eat you alive, burn you out, and then spit you up, with no money and no accomplishments. I also deeply loved it even though it destroyed me. (I mean also my spine exploded, which didn't help.)
If you want to do hands-on helping people stuff I like the social work programs out there. And if you want to study hard science of human behavior neuroscience is killing it. Psychology is...IDK. The most hopeful way to look at it is that it's a discipline going through a transitional period maybe. But I'm also fairly out of touch with the field these days so talking to someone actually in the field now would be a good call for further advice. Unfortunately most faculty in my experience are...deeply behind the times. You would not believe the kind of 1960s relics I had to deal with teaching me.
And most of what I learned about mental health I learned on the ground, in mental health crisis work, on the go. Most of psychology doesn't really enjoy dealing with "abnormal psychology". Which is literally the term for people with any mental health diagnosis. I had one class on it.
So that's my entirely personal experience based opinion. For more, look into the replication crisis of psychology research.
39 notes · View notes
creature-wizard · 9 months
Note
Hey, what do you think about the placebo effect, or just "keeping a positive mindset " in regards to the manifestation community? For starters I am not intrested in manifesting stuff, but I keep seeing these videos on my pinterest or Instagram, about manifesting a lifestyle, job, career, money, body, etc, you got the idea by either using visualisation, or by using grabovoy codes. As far as I researched, Grigori Grabovoy was having some delusions of grandeur on how he's the 2nd jesus and his codes have the power to heal anything, even cancer, and bring people back to life.
The Carl jung discussion reminded me about him , because he also based his theories on things outside of the human perception, that exist without us being aware of them, but they have heavy influence on us , and can be used to " treat us ". His methods weren't... the healthiest, since he would basically do nothing, but make it worse because he would just exploit the victim's traumas for his own research and glory. He went to prison for fraud, yet people claim his codes work. I haven't looked that much into the codes yet, but he developed them based on radio waves or something, with some sacred geometry sprinkled in there.
Idk , I find these people on tiktok be really gullible and dummy for being so obsessed with using these codes , when the man behind them is a total scammer who profits off people's hardships.
Back to my original question, I was thinking that maybe these people believed so much these codes work that it changed the perspective they had of the world. Like, they'd received a small amount of money and go " oh yes it worked " vs not using codes and receiving those money a go like " oh I got some money. Cool" if your mind is hyper focused on something, it seems obvious that you will think everything manifests and your life is improving.
There's lots of evidence that a positive, optimistic outlook can be helpful to you. For example, the Pygmalion Effect is a real thing. Also, if you're stuck in a defeatist attitude, you just won't try to do much of anything at all, whereas optimism makes you more encouraged to try things that could potentially benefit you.
And yeah, people on TikTok are gullible - but do keep in mind, we're dealing with younger people who are very stressed out, schooled in a gutted education system, living at the mercy of algorithms that are prioritized to show content that brings clicks, rather than content that it accurate.
12 notes · View notes
Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)
Chapter Three
Tumblr media
Warning: one trippy moment for reader, anxiety talk
Chapter Two | Chapter Four
Tumblr media
Steven Grant is a pretty cool guy! He seems meek, shy, a bit anxious too; yet, this man can be brutal in his quips! Twice he caught you off guard when another employee tried to basically jerk him around. His old job's director used to do that along with never calling him by his name.
A condescending bitch is what he wouldn't say but you said it for him.
Steven also lives in the same apartment complex as your father! Top floor attic style, from what he has told you. Fancy in your mind, he says it's okay. Steven is self taught in almost everything when it comes to history and French. He likes burritos and his friend is a guy who pretends to be a statue.
Overall a guy you have no problem having a minor crush on.
In Steven's point of you: you have a lot of energy! Steven is trapped in the maelstrom called you each afternoon on a Wednesday, you said Wednesdays is your day off. He would be at lunch eating and you slide next to explaining how you are going to fist fight your art history professor. Or, showing him the sketches you got done while on the bus here. You are harmless and he found himself enjoying the company.
It took some getting used to someone talking to him back.
To have a friend who responds back with eagerness and ready to talk about any subject, he isn't used to that.
"Aw, you still have it!" Today he is walking you to a vegan cafe he enjoys from time to time.
"It's a lovely sketch. Are you studying art here?"
"Pft, no, for that I would be in South Korea."
"South Korea?"
"Animation and stuff." Shrugging, "I'm studying history and figured why not try out the international problem plus see my old man." Hands moving as you talk, "You never seen him before?"
"Never met most of the residents. We tend to keep to ourselves." The alternative text was that at the time he was afraid of everyone and scared an old lady when Khonshu was walking towards him through a dark hallway. Steven thought he was crazy, completely batshit nuts.
You nod then glance at your phone checking the time, "Saturday you wanna see an art gallery? A classmate invited me to come see their show." Then you nudge him with your shoulder as he orders some food, "Unless that guy at the cafe finally asked you out, ay ay?"
Steven gets flustered easily, "N-no, anyway he tends to flirt with everyone."
"Booooo." 
Lunch with Steven is always educational, he tells you something new or helps you find a better way to remember key dates for a test (it's a pain in the ass). You in turn let him vent, you love when he vents about work!
"Ya'know," Sitting down enjoying the scenery of the cafe and cute Steven. "It's good to know even at thirty years old life is still confusing as fuck."
"You make me sound old, (Name)."
"Older than me! You're at the age my dad helped make me."
He groans, putting his face in his hands while you laugh.
*
Thursday.
Forum update.
New theory support but a new picture! Which said picture looks almost unbelievable. The costume is completely different from the other two though it fits the moon theme.
CapPuertoRico4Prez says: Could be a fake
IntoSpideysHeart says: Idk man it looks real af
Thunderclapping says: Could there be more than one? So far all of them look completely different from each other. Maybe there's more than one??? Like tht one issue of The Bat and Robins where there were more than 1 lady bat.
The forum blew up from there going over and re-analyzing reports and pictures. You just liked seeing the posts. 
*
Saturday could not come fast enough and your dad of course had to embarrass you. Dressing nice means you like him (true but just cause he is cute!) and since he is a boy (your dad though learned to apply that to anyone now) and is meaning you at your door.
Conclusion: scare the man!
You begged him not to be weird when Steven came down to the apartment to pick you up. Your father had to go do the dad-cop move! 
"Thanks, bye dad see you later!" Grabbing Steven out of the kitchen and out the door.
Neither of you spoke until you both were outside waiting for the ride you booked to show up.
"Nice man."
You groaned as Steven broke the silence as you walked. "Listen, I'm sorry about interrogation—"
"(Name), it's alrigh'. I can say now I was interrogated by a bobby."
"American one. Retired veteran and officer." You sigh, "Dads… So extra."
Steven wouldn't know but he nods. He envies you from what you told him about your family. Close with you mother, kinda close with your dad; overall connected to your parents.
"Thanks for being cool about it, Steven."
The gallery your classmate rented out is in Soho which is far from your place, and there are a few spots around to eat and window shop around.
Ideal date vibes. Downside, uber fare prices.
"Are you sure you don't want to take a bus?" Asking as you showed on your phone map the places they should go to after the gallery's presentation.
"Bruh, I one time walked all of Manhattan because Spiderman was seen swinging around."
"Spiderman?"
"... Seriously? You never heard of the Amazing Spiderman!?" Steven can't help admiring how easily excited you get and energy you have, the saying 'kid at heart' really suits you. "Okay, uh guess makes sense given.. Seriously, you never heard of him?"
"Busy adulting." Sharky, "Finding a job, shopping, basic functions for being alive. The economy." 
You snicker at how he copied your complaints from before though you were more dramatic, "Okay, valid."
The conversation goes off and on, comfortable silence then you pointing out things like a tourist.
You stole glances at him during the car ride.
"When you said gallery," Getting out of the car then assisting you out. "I thought it was going to be small with pictures on the wall." You shrug after giving thanks to the driver and closing the door.
"They're loaded." Most of your classmates are of the privileged percentage. "They're one of nice ones and they offer me some good critiques. They worked really hard for this." Taking his hand tugging him along.
You aren't labeling this a date.
Marc is telling Steven this has all the signs of a date.
The gallery is full of paintings, sculptures, and video presentations of music. Your classmate is a modern day Renaissance person!
Steven is distracted by your hold on his arm, firm and secure, as you show him the different paintings or sculptures you witnessed while in the art workshop.
"They love space." He finds himself enjoying this almost as if you infectiously passed on your excitable nature to him. To say he is enjoying himself is putting it mildly with you by his side.
Then Steven suddenly wasn't by your side as a crowd rolled in.
It happens! One moment you are with someone the next they are missing. The crowd going around checking out every inch of the place, you figure to stay where you are. You stood there standing in front of still life painting, your eye taking in the details and brushstrokes seen in the light. You hope they make it out there in whatever field their art is going to take them.
You turn around figuring to do a lookover the crowd to see if Steven is wandering around, then you freeze up. 
A large creature with a body made of what seems like stars and nebulae, a human-like face, and a scepter.
You rub your eyes, blink twice, and pinch yourself.
Holy shit. Not again.
You don't know who or what you are seeing standing next to a man who is talking to your classmate. All you know it looked at you and you turned around pretending to be reading the gallery brochure. Silently praying it didn't see you, praying you maybe are just tripping out.
What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck!?
"Hello," The man's voice right behind you. His accent is not British.
Don't freak out, just breathe, "Oh, hello!" Awkwardly turning fearful to see the– Nothing is there. You are so confused right now. "Uh, hi." Maybe it's the paint, yeah totally the paint fumes.
The man holds out his hand, "Thank you for coming, this means a lot to them."
"Oh, it was nothing! I mean this isn't nothing, no problem getting here." You gather your thoughts, "Who are you?"
"A family friend. I have been helping them achieve their goal to break into the art world." So pleasant with a firm business grip, "They told me you are also an artist."
Just when you are about to relax… The creature is back right behind him looking down at you.
Shake your head very quickly and take your hand away, "N-no, just a hobby. Would be in South Korea for animation if I did! Haha." You want to bolt so bad but you know you would look crazy. You feel crazy! "Sorry, um I gotta go to the powder room." Smiling nervously as waved goodbye then speed walking away.
The bathroom is empty and you lean forward against the long sink counter, closing your eyes and counting from ten backwards. Maybe your anxiety triggered you seeing whatever that, God, you wished mom let you figure out why you sometimes see strange things! Google can only do so much! You groan as you reopen your eyes taking a slow breath in then out. At least it was a jackal this time.
When you leave the bathroom, you hear voices coming from the hall just beside where you are.
"Khonshu."
"Ptah."
You stay hidden as you grow curious about the conversation.
"The Gods must be desperate for more avatars. You never cared to just observe humans."
"And you must be desperate to have an avatar. Lots of talk about how broken his mind is. That's pretty low but no surprise coming from you."
You blink a few times, very confused by the way these people are talking. So you take out your phone putting it in camera mode on the selfie view. Peeking it a bit out, you cover your mouth when you see something freaky as all hell.
59 notes · View notes
adrianasunderworld · 2 years
Note
Considering how popular they can be in the fandom i wonder what Headmistress Rosehearts would do with a child Yuu
Since they got isekaid there at 8-12 yrs old and didn't have any guardians the school staff just kept them with Grim and looked after child Yuu collectively while Yuu and Grim still went through the story chapters just with some changes (because they might be cunning but i don't think Azul would leave a child homeless nor Jamil would force them to do the Scarabia training)
I feel like she'd either try to make them and educate them like Riddle or send them to the orphanage so they'd probably never see the cast again
I mean if she sends them to an orphanage, there isn't really much of a plot. Maybe because Yuu is a ward of the school with various caretakers, the staff collectively has to agree to give them up, or else she legally can't. Idk how that would work, but for the sake of the au let's pretend that's how their guardian ship works. Idk maybe that's what was decided, so if anything happened, Yuu would always have a legal guardian available to take them to avoid them going into the system. So Mrs. Rosehearts can't just get rid of them.
Also I don't think Yuu would live in Ramshackle. I can't logic out a reason for a child to live by themselves in a run down house. So they have their own room in the staff quarters. But they like to play in Ramshackle, despite everyone telling them not to. They sort of claim it as their club house and the ghosts are very fond of them. Anyone who sneaks into Ramshackle will find children's toys and books scattered everywhere and the kitchen pantry with snacks and candy. Everyone knows that's where Yuu runs off to play.
Mrs. Rosehearts decides, if she has to look after this child's needs, she will. But her way. She sees how Yuu is being raised and finds fault in everything. Yuu goes to school in town, using the mirror to teleport down, because seven knows the commute down the mountain will be hell. Mrs. Rosehearts decides the schools available on the isle of sages aren't good enough. The place is small, there are only a couple of schools and none of them are prestigious private schools. So she pulls Yuu out and will have them be homeschooled with the curriculum she had for Riddle. Tweaked only to exclude magic lessons. Next she took every toy of Yuus that she did not approve of. "These dolls clothes are inappropriate. The show these action figures are from promotes violence. These video games are not good for your development. These posters are a distraction as well." Yuu keeps sobbing. Half their stuff is gone and they can't even see their friends. Headmistress was not done yet though. Yuu was not to interact with certain students she deemed a "bad influence". So no Trey. No Ace and Deuce. No Octo trio. Yuu was to study with Riddle so he could set a good example. Vil was one of the ones who were allowed. He was after all an excellent student. (And her bias towards his father.)
But the thing that broke Yuu was when they finally managed to sneak off to Ramshackle. Only to find it boarded up. The doors were locked and all the windows nailed shut. "This place is dangerous." Said a voice behind them. It was Headmistress Rosehearts. "It's old and dirty, and you're likely to be hurt. You are not to play here ever again. Understand?"
Yuu looked down at their shoes and sniffled. Int he smallest voice they replied. "Yes, ma'am."
36 notes · View notes
satsuha · 3 months
Note
hi!! correct me if i’m wrong but you played octopath traveller 2 in japanese, right? if so then you might be able to clear up some confusion for me and if i am mistaken then i at least wanna hear your opinion. i’m a fellow hikari/temenos (hikanos? temehika? whatever people call it) shipper!! i love their dynamic. just putting that out there so you know where i’m coming from.
i don’t really like the hikari/agnea ship. i just don’t like the idea of pushing them as a romantic couple just because they have a shared story (which barely even supported them being a thing in the first place imo) and i find the idea of them being supportive friends so much more sweet.
you know that travel banter in agnea’s chapter 2, the one where hikari calls her dances hot? everyone seems to interpret that as romantic and it’s constantly written as a scene that pushes their relationship in that direction. i just don’t get it? because to me that scene felt like a very obvious demonstration of “hikari is awkward socially and he’s just copying what someone else said because he can tell it’s a nice compliment when coming from that person and wants to imitate it”. i don’t know if it’s just the fact that i’m aromantic and autistic so i prefer to put neurodivergent meanings to these things but that was so clearly what it was to me. and then everyone made it romantic? idk i just hate that, i feel like it takes so much away from both of their characters to force a relationship from that.
i’m wondering if it’s a translation thing. does it read as a more romantic interaction in japanese? if so then i’m far more willing to accept it. but if not then i’m just so confused about this and i wish people would talk more about hikari being a neurodivergent icon (also hikari/temenos is sooo underappreciated it makes me so sad so maybe i’m just biased idk)
sorry this was super long i hope you’re okay with me rambling like this!! if not feel free to ignore it
hi thanks for the ask! and i'm happy to see a fellow temehika enjoyer 🥺
i need to preface this with the fact that i don't have a japanese education, and though i have picked up on things on social media and such, i could definitely still get things wrong! with that being said, here's my take on it under the cut:
anyway yes! i played octopath2 with japanese voice, and am now replaying it in korean text (has a vocabulary and is grammatically similar to japanese, and a language i can actually understand)! i also cross-check a lot of stuff with the original japanese text, so i did that for the banter you're mentioning just to make sure.
funnily enough, the japanese actually pushes it in the opposite direction... gil uses the english word "hot" in his speech, hence hikari's (and agnea's, initially) confusion at it since it isn't a word that exists in the japanese language. and as far as i can find, "hot" (the english loanword) doesn't have the same connotations as english of being "sexy". the sources i can find online list "new, trendy", "spicy or hot (food/drink)" and "intense" as definitions, but i can't find anything that matches the common english interpretation.
in gil's case, i would say he's either going for the "intense" or "popular, trendy" definition, and given that he treats agnea like a kid (literally calling her "kid" in english and "嬢ちゃん" in japanese, something like "little lady"), i don't think his intent was romantically or sexually charged when he used the word to refer to her.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
(sources: weblio and goo)
now, you've probably seen that i'm biased against this ship as well so there's that to keep in mind but... yeah, in my opinion this was absolutely not supposed to be a romantic thing, and while i can't fully speak on the localization's decision to just keep the word "hot" as is, it bothers me that they either failed to realize or were trying to push the added connotation in english.
at the same time, i know a lot of english fans tend to not care about the original text at all and the localization is meant to work as a replacement for it if you don't know the original language, so i can't completely fault people for taking it that way... unfortunately i am a nitpicker and also a translation nerd and in this case i blame the english version for having that added nuance which did not help!
also i complained about this enough elsewhere but none of their later banters have any kind of interesting topic that tells you more about either of the characters so i don't even think this one works as a turning point for their relationship ...
but yeah anyway again, thanks for the ask! i don't always feel very comfy with analyzing japanese since i don't actually speak it, but unfortunately there isn't anyone else doing this kind of comparison so... i'm always happy to answer and look into it if anyone is curious about anything!!
6 notes · View notes