#ignores everything the concept of the show is trying to explore

[dreamspring]

why do ppl still believe the Apple/Raven switched at birth theory like. tell me you didn’t understand the show without telling me you didn’t understand the show

#eah #ever after high #IM SORRY BUT IT JUST DOESNT MAKE SENSE. it complete negates the entire premise of the story #this entire theory is based on such a misunderstood reading of the characters that completely strips them of all the nuance that makes them #interesting as characters #it’s the fact that the binary of ‘good/evil’ is CHALLENGED and subverted within the story #that makes it so compelling #saying apple is ‘evil’ bc she’s ‘mean’ and ambitious is not only a complete misreading of her character but like. #ignores everything the concept of the show is trying to explore #like raven isn’t ‘good’ because she’s secretly snow whites daughter. shes good because she’s innately kind and that’s just who she is #snow white and the evil queen also aren’t clearly good v evil. like did yall who believe this even watch dragon gamessss #i could also go on an entire rant about how the moral complexities of both Snow White and the evil queen are subverted but I’ll spare us all #mossy posts

[dhampling]

I've had this idea in my head ever since I first played as a Dragonborn or Tiefling in BG3, and I have no idea why it isn't discussed more. But what if a Tiefling! (Or Dragonborn, whichever you prefer) Tav shows affection by coiling their tail around their s/o? Like they're close by and are just overwhlemed with love and adoration, and their tail just kinda wraps around their lovers leg? Or wrist or anywhere they can reach! Like Tav is hugging Astarion and then without really realizing it, their tail coils around him as well? Idk, I just think the concept is super sweet/cute. I would love to see this as a small story, or even just head cannons if you want to explore the idea as well. No pressure, obviously, ignore it if you wish to ❤️ hope you're doing well!

a tail of... insert pun here! tavs with TAILS. tails with tav. tav tails with dal.

hello sweetling! can i start by saying that i loved this - genuinely, absolutely loved this. i started by writing HCs and got a bit carried away, so i hope you enjoy the little bit of both here! thank you for giving me something different - this is absolutely not something i'd have thought of and i had SO MUCH FUN. a/n: species isn't mentioned, and I've tried to keep it as generic as possible so it could be applicable for tiefs or dragonborn tavs!

headcanons;

As far back as you can recall you’ve been particularly expressive

It’s not something that you’ve ever seen as an issue, beyond the occasional mishap you can laugh over with any tail-whipped parties later

Frantic little licks of excitement when playing with your peers as a youngling come to mind as an immediate example

Running amok and jumping with the widest of smiles as your tail oscillates behind you

Your family chiding you playfully whilst rubbing their stinging ankles after a particularly jovial day in your presence

Your parents holding you whilst you were still small enough to be held

Your tail bony and light, and yet tightly winding around their forearms as you rested on their torso like a twisting vine

A sign of comfort, safety

A sign that hasn’t lost any significance as you’ve aged

Many a time you’ve run into an old friend and accidentally lashed them in sheer glee, loosely wrapping your tail to whichever limb you can to keep them close as you agree to wander the local bustling market together

And so when you begin to bond with your fellow escapists as you search for a cure for your unfortunate parasite problem, it’s inevitable

It doesn’t even cross your mind

Not until the day where everything just went right 

For the first time since your abduction you’ve emerged your battles all victorious, casualties kept to a minimum, and with enough variety in supplies to have a proper meal 

Spirits are high, wine is flowing; and your party has a real energy of optimism

Your tail flitters back and forth like a moth to a flame as your take to your feet and search for the one who has captured your attention

fool's errand;

It takes Astarion a little aback when the wine steers you towards him.

A few weeks in each others’ presence, sure. A night or two; possibly three, maybe even four at this point, of mutual enjoyment under the stars. Frequent back and forth exchanges while on the road, bantering like old friends. You give him your neck, he offers you moral support.

But on a night where the joy is positively spilling from every cup in camp, you step to him?

He’s unsure whether to be flattered or cautious.

If you’re to end your arrangement, surely tonight - where the conversation is so effusive, so effortless across your party - would be the optimal time to do so. Laugh it away as a lapse in judgement between ‘old friends’, as you often joke, and drift from him to a more viable prospect as the coming days pass. Leave him as the least amicable in camp once more. He’d understand.

Not that he’d like it.

But he’d understand.

Or, he’d try to. He might be a little upset if Lae’zel wins Lady Congeniality over him, but it’s not the end of the world.

He’d have to hope the group still would still want to keep him around of course. Be a little nicer to Gale. Offer to help Karlach carry your packs between camps. 

What is he offering you if not his nimble fingers? Maybe he went too hard on gunning for you. Or not hard enough, perhaps?

You quirk a brow as you snap your fingers in his face, wine sloshing gently in your other hand.

Clearly his face is now showing his displeasure.

“You ok? Hello?”

“Oh! Yes, my sweet. Lost in thought.” 

He waggles his fingers and lifts his goblet to toast alongside yours. To new friends.

“I must say - you being lost in thought is entirely unusual. Still wondering about the left handed tongs Gale sent you searching for earlier?” You laugh warmly. He scowls.

“I don’t eat! I haven’t eaten for two hundred years. What use would I have for tongs in a dungeon, darling?’

He sips.

‘A fool’s errand in very poor taste, if you ask me.”

You still. He pauses.

He’s feeling sour, and he’s ruined it for you. Sapped the joy from your evening. Gods.

He wracks his brain for ways he can come back into favour. 

Suggest other things he’d like to taste in order to clear his palate. He hasn’t eaten in two hundred years, and he’s absolutely famished. Whet your appetite a little. Win you back round.

“I can hear your brain whirring, you know.” You whisper, leaning close.

He freezes. Can you see it? Through the tadpole? His horrid scheming?

And you do the most unexpected thing.

Your arms come around his torso to envelop him in a tight hug.

You aren’t fervently clutching at his waist, running fevered hands over his abdomen or pulling yourself close just to feel his body against yours.

It’s soft. Clandestine almost. He doesn’t know how to react. 

“I do so adore you, you know? You make this sordid little adventure a little more enjoyable each day.’ 

You hum. Your head falls to his chest, your tail wrapping around his leg steadily.

‘You can talk to me about these things if you want to. If you figure out what you want to say. I’m here.”

He wouldn’t have anticipated a single one of your actions in the face of his sullen behaviour this evening.

Yet the one that touches him most is the tail now secure around his leg. 

A reminder of every tired day you flit joyously against him as you trek together, the curiosity and jubilee when he powers through a wholly trapped room with nothing but a single tool and a flourish - for good measure, of course.

Your little happy whips as you stumble on dire-needed pouches of gold alongside him. His lockpicking skill that you find oh-so enthralling, providing for the party in making use of his talent.

And every once in a while when you’re aside him, the way this happens.

A moment that reminds him of the beauty within bodies past their use for sexuality. How genuinely happy those little mindless touches make him. How his undead heart could maybe be cajoled into beating again over this one.

He coughs. Smiles. Brings his arms around you, though delayed.

Head resting atop yours. 

“You’re full of surprises aren’t you, treasure?”

Your tail flits against his leg in a happy shiver.

“Naturally, darling.”

You imitate him in a way that makes you both laugh like fools. Toast once again.

"To us."

#astarion x reader #astarion x tav #fluff #my writing #headcanons #tavs with tails #request #thank you anon i love you!

[keshetchai]

Heyyyy do you have any advice for a potential convert/person exploring Judaism going to services for the first time. I have big anxiety and want to show up respectfully but not totally sure what to expect and how to approach it.

Sure! I definitely have advice.

First, like I said recently, we're currently still in the month of Tishrei, and every Jewish professional is absolutely drowning because this month is jam packed with the high holy days, & Hebrew school/Sunday school is starting back up. This is the absolute busiest time of year for anyone who is a "professional Jew." (Rabbis, cantors, synagogue front admin, etc etc).

What that means is this: I strongly recommend waiting until after October 15th (which will begin the Hebrew month of Cheshvan) to try contacting anyone about conversion. You're just much more likely to be able to get in touch with someone, send an email or make a phone call and get a timely response and/or someone with enough bandwidth to really engage with you.

I'm not saying they'll ignore you right now, or to stay away! Just that your email could end up lost or the people in question might be hard to reach because they're doing 50 million things right now. And I wouldn't want you to think that was personal or to make you anxious!

Okay so, the list looks like this:

Try reaching out after Oct 15th this year (when Tishrei is over).

A good basic book you might be able to find in a local chain bookstore is Anita Diamant's To Choose a Jewish Life which is all about conversion! She is a liberal Jew (reform) and the book leans that way, but it does just cover some general considerations and topics as a good starter.

You can try browsing myjewishlearning.com or watching Bimbam videos (youtube) for basic 101 concepts.

If you've found a local synagogue you would like to try visiting, go to the website. See if you can find the admin assistant email or the rabbi's email. Then send an email explaining you're interested in exploring/learning about Judaism and have considered you may be interested in converting and would like to attend a shabbat service for the first time. This is basically all I did! I sent an email to two rabbis at two synagogues I was considering, and one of them replied immediately and I went that very week.

I have anxiety too but it was extremely easy for me, and I'm pretty lucky that my rabbi is pretty familiar with converts and conversion. Not every rabbi has had converts or even a fair amount of converts though, so some of them might be navigating a new thing to them too!

What made my first shabbat really easy was this:

- basically the response email answered my dress code question, assured me I was welcome to join the next service as a guest and he would be happy to meet/do introductions, and then he gave me the name of someone at the synagogue who would be a great community member to sit with/who could help me follow the service, and said he'd introduce me.

So like, to me, that was the most helpful part, which was that when I arrived a little before the start time, we got to say hi and then he introduced me to a woman who sat with me and was able to help me gain a footing. Or at least who could help me when I was totally lost lol! If no one suggests it to you unprompted, you can always ask if there's anyone in the community they'd recommend you sit with to help you acclimate. It's also totally okay to sit in the back.

You won't know everything the first few times! There's also no musical notation if people sing (so it doesn't matter if you read music or not)! I can't guarantee the synagogue will have full transliteration into English for the service! There's a whole other language you probably don't know being used. Lots of people who show up could do the service with their eyes closed. It is OKAY that you don't start there! It's okay to have no idea when to bow or to not know every prayer ahead of time!

Don't worry that you're not sure what's happening. Most of the time people will be super friendly! They'll also want to know all about you. You can either tell them you're wanting to convert/learn more or you can tell them a limited truth.

If I don't feel like explaining my whole backstory to someone, I usually just say "oh, my parents weren't really/super religious." (This is true for me! my parents werent super religious! But they are christians who aren't super religious. I usually just say I converted nowadays, I don't feel a need to hide it if pressed, but yanno. Sometimes I didn't want to have to explain I never went to Jewish summer camp to a stranger at a random event who wants to play Jewish geography)

Anyways most people will probably be very friendly to a new face/stranger and want to know allll about you at oneg (usually like, snacks after shabbat service) if they don't recognize you and you seem alone. (it's also highly likely there will be a lot of regular people who are a lot older than you, so don't be surprised if you basically get treated like a visiting grandkid. It's kinda great.)

Eventually you learn a lot just by immersion and showing up again and again. There's a pattern you can pick up. Tunes to songs may change and eventually you'll come to recognize the most common ones.

I know it's hard to like hear "hey it's okay don't worry too much" if you have anxiety, because, well, I have anxiety! I know you can't just turn it off! BUT I assure you, if you are made to feel unwelcome or bad, then that just isn't a good synagogue to be going to anyways. It's more likely they're just not a good fit for you than anything wrong with you, yanno? And the first rabbi you talk to may not be the one you want to stick with. That's okay too!

I was extremely nervous my first few services, and honestly everyone was just really nice and helpful. I think the other rabbi I emailed didn't end up replying to that email (it probably got lost!) and it ended up being fine, I stuck with the one who replied right away because we got along and clicked.

My last piece of advice is to go ahead and buy yourself a notebook/journal and keep a book for yourself.

This book can/should be any number of things!

For some inspiration, this book can be:

A journal about your religious journey prior to this point and currently

Write about what you believe now, what you think, what you aren't sure about

Write down the books you're recommended, given, or borrowed

Write down questions you have

Write down the complicated or uncomfortable things you worry or think about

Write about experiencing x or y thing for the first time and what you were interested in, confused by, etc

Cut out/copy down Jewish recipes!

Note things that you find joy in or are confused or bored by!

Take notes during classes/readings of books/etc

Write down notes during meetings with your rabbi!

Torah study notes! What'd you learn? What'd someone else say you found interesting? Questions? Thoughts? Etc.

It's a big process! A lot is going on, and it's worthwhile to record your personal feelings and studies in some way! It doesn't have to be a serious diary or a really studious study notebook, it can literally just be...a catch-all book and it is for no one but yourself to benefit from, so it doesn't have to look any which way. But it's very worthwhile, even if you later change your mind and don't convert, you'll still have all that spiritual exploration journaling and notes for yourself as part of your growth!

[fernsnailz]

OH ALSO. ik you said something abt how some aspects of your feelings on the shth game have changed - what would you say is different now? (again feel free to ignore this)

oh yeah! overall, most of my feelings about shth2005 have remained the same - that game is a contradictory mess and i adore it. i mostly have a few minor grievances with my big shadow 2005 analysis essay. i'll talk under the cut about some specific moments that i think a little differently on - if you haven't read the big shadow essay, i'd say read it first and then come back to read this post.

grievance #1: The Doom

"being Good or Neutral around Maria makes WAY more sense than taking the Dark path. The game’s morality system breaks so badly in [The Doom] that things start to make sense again."

i still mostly agree with my thoughts on The Doom, and the game's failure in design affecting the morality system is something that i think could prompt further discussion. but a couple of people pointed out that the hero mission is still an interesting indicator to shadow's emotional state on the darker paths, and i don't want to completely discredit that concept because i like it a lot.

The Doom's hero mission is grueling. 60 gun soldiers to defeat in a maze level is not something most players would be willing to do. but it may be something that shadow is willing to do on a darker path - rage leading him to hunt and eliminate every single human he can find is harrowing, and it's a malevolence that the darker paths of this game fail to really show. so as much as i dislike the morality missions in this game, i do think they're an interesting measurement of the lengths shadow is willing to go to if it means defeating his enemy. the guy just doesn't stop.

grievance #2: boy what on earth is that take about the hero cast

"They want Shadow to work for them because of a desire to prove their side of the cycle is the right one."

i'll be real with you i think there was a bit too much analysis going on here lol. the heroes want shadow's help because there's a literal alien invasion threatening to wipe out all life on earth. are they manipulative towards shadow? i mean sometimes, but i don't think most of them do it out of malice or intentionally, and i definitely don't think they really care about proving their side of the moral compass right during the Fucking Alien Armageddon.

the only hero character that i think would be deliberately manipulative (minus eggman) is sonic, and i don't think he would consciously realize it. best example i have of sonic's occasional manipulative attitude towards shadow is the whole "if he can't be forgiven, can you?" bit from the mr tinker arc in IDW. and this is really only something he does to shadow - sometimes he just wants to get under shadow's skin without realizing what he's actually saying. sometimes sonic's just an asshole! and i like that, it's an interesting aspect to sonic that i wish was explored a little more in shth2005, the game about his rival. idk that's all i have to say here

grievance #3: who is shadow even?

"to him, doing what’s “right” means giving as many people as possible that same chance at life. It’s not a justification of morals or a desire to be heroic that leads Shadow down this path - it’s just what he wants to do."

i've circled around my final opinions in my shadow 2005 essay a lot because honestly. i don't really know where i stand on these thoughts currently lol. shadow is inconsistent enough that i struggle to really pin down what exactly he deems as "right" or what he even wants to do most of the time - it's especially difficult to pin these things down when trying to cover shadow as a whole across the entire franchise, which is what i was trying to do here. because man, does this guy feel all over the place when you look at everything.

i think there's truth in the idea that shadow doesn't really care about protecting the people of sonic's world (this sonic channel story explores that concept a bit). at the same time, i think it's also entirely possible that this "i don't care what happens to others" attitude is a bit of a front he puts up (especially around sonic). and as silly and non-canon as i think the sonic twitter takeovers are, i do think they were kinda cooking something when they made shadow work at a soup kitchen. these are all somewhat different ideas and interpretations of shadow, but i think they're all plausible for this character. personally, i'd rather embrace the inconsistency then try to limit him to one worldview.

the only solid "truth" i can formulate about shadow's motivations right now is this: whatever he deems right, or whatever he wants to do, he decides for himself because it's his life. he doesn't do these things for maria, or for gerald, or for the rest of the world. his choices and actions are his own - maybe inspired by others, but not for them. and the things he decides to do are often inconsistent because he's an immortal, traumatized, teenage hedgehog - a paradoxical creation that's still learning how to live. he might be the ultimate life form, but it's more important to me that he's just shadow.

#fernasks #sonic loreposting #FINALLY i can get these very specific critiques i have of that post off my chest lmao

[iamafanofcartoons]

r/RWBYcritics/comments/17ol6je/at_this_point_is_there_a_universe_rwby_can_even/

I honestly hate when people try to power scale Team RWBY to other character from other series. All they do is downplay their strength and call them weak. I bet if Team RWBY was all men, they would be calling them strong.

Well, that's not it, actually.

These people, when they "criticize" RWBY, they may watch the show, but they completely ignore what the show is about, its themes, what the writers are trying to do.

Here, I'll give examples. Star Trek vs Warhammer 40K Sailor Moon vs Dragonball Z/Naruto The former: women as protagonists or at least equal to men both physically and mentally, LGBT Themes, skill over strength, exploration of psychological and societal concepts, the women in the show can do amazing things that the guys cannot, you have to turn your brain ON to enjoy the show or at least think.

The latter: Women are lesser than men physically/mentally, fanservice, retcons, strength over skill, power solves everything, talking down women and telling them they suck, you turn your brain off to enjoy the show, and of course plot armor.

RWBY at the end of the day is not a shonen show....and many people hate on it because they want it to be. They WANT the men to be greater than the women. They want there to be power levels. They want women to be talked down to and made lesser. They want the show to "not be woke" Ironwood is only powerful because of his guns. Adam is a one-trick pony whose only a threat because of his semblance. Both are defeated using approaches that don't rely on screaming and power levels. The women win using skill, not strength or power levels. The theme of the show is about optimism not mary/gary stu stuff. The RWBY characters don't get plot armor, unlike shonen mcs. They suffer loss. People will scrape from the bottom of the barrel to find a reason to hate on RWBY, including somebody making a video claiming that Jaune wearing the dress was apparently offensive and bad writing.

RWBY still has cool fight scenes, but those fight scenes also mean something. Watts was nearly able to defeat Ironwood using brains, and Ironwood only won by powering through something, permanently losing an arm that he immediately replaced with a prosthetic. adam was nearly able to defeat yang and blake, who had to use brains and teamwork to win. Let me quote Vegeta from Dragon Ball Abridged "Power levels are bullshit"

You should watch Dragon Ball Abridged by Team Four Star, they recently wrapped up the Buu Saga.

They do a lot of trope inversion and deconstruction in their parody. And of course they're very respectful to the original show. But yeah, RWBY ain't a shonen show...it HAS shonen elements, but its more like a magical girl show with shonen elements mixed into it. Honestly the thing about RWBY is that its unique, you can't find anything like it anywhere...and that's part of the sad thing.

#rwby #star trek #sailor moon #shonen anime #magical girl anime #mahou shoujo

[that-ari-blogger]

Collateral Damage (White Out)

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is a series about trauma and recovery. I think it is important to understand the nuance of its depiction and exploration of the concept.

Specifically, because one of the main criticisms that I have seen of the series is that it ignores the wider effects of the character's pasts and actions. That it excuses the character's actions and the damage that they cause. I disagree with this premise.

I can see where the idea is coming from, but I don't think it is entirely correct. I don't think the series shies away from the effects that its characters behaviours have, and to that end, I present White Out as an example of what I mean.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD: (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

This episode explores trauma's effects on a personal level and on an environmental scale. Both Catra and the first ones' tech have gone through the ringer, and are taking that out on those around them.

I think that the decision to focus this episode on Scorpia is important, because it allows that personal side of the issue to show. This may be a hot take, but Catra isn't a particularly nice person.

"We weren't sent here to chase rumors. Hordak wants tech. If your bots can't dig it out, then maybe I'll send you down there"

This line reveals the reason Catra is acting this way, but it also shows her threatening someone close to her. This isn't how friends should behave.

And, throughout this entire episode, Catra is blunt and to the point. She is quick to anger, and impulsive. Take this exchange for example:

"Scorpia, good, you're here." "Yes, I am." "Entrapta brought all this junk from her lab. Help me find a space heater or something, since apparently, we live here now."

It's an instruction, not a request, and on a one off, this might be just rashness. But Catra phrases everything as is she is talking to subordinates, which neither of her companions are. Scorpia is of equal rank to her, technically, and Entrapta might be slightly higher.

The audience can see why Catra is so scared, it was there when Hordack removed her ability to breathe as a stunt. But I would like you to imagine, briefly, if you didn't know that, if someone you knew told you they would throw you in a pit unless you did your job better. The only reason Catra is getting away with this behaviour is because Entrapta is entirely unintimidated by her.

The audience perspective is actually spoken aloud by Scorpia.

"She's misunderstood! You of all people should know that! I mean, you grew up together..."

Scorpia is making excuses for Catra here, and I would argue that she is both right and wrong. Catra is misunderstood, but she's also doing real damage. She may be a sad kitten, but she is also the villain.

I feel the need to make something clear here. A character being a bad person does not make them a bad character at all, or even reflect badly on the story as a whole. The fact that Catra is the villain of this story is important, because it explicitly frames her actions as undesirable. This is unquestionably a strength of the writing, not a flaw.

"...I can't compete with that. No matter what I do, I can't seem to break down her walls. But you two, even when you're trying to kill each other, you can tell there's a real bond there. I just, I wish she would see me as being worth her time, too."

Scorpia's line continues, and I would like to quickly dwell on her motivation here. Scorpia is the friend who will always have Catra's back, the gal pal, the... roommate. Or at least she would be, if Catra gave her the time of day.

Catra is routinely presented with ways to get out of her situation, and Scorpia is one way of that, offering her emotional stability. Sure, she may not be interested in her romantically, but the offer of friendship is there at the very least, and Catra refuses to take it up. Well, until the end of the episode, but we will get there in a moment.

Enter Sea Hawk, who helps to ease the problem in the most Sea Hawk way possible. He listens, and he tells stories. The man is a bard, and while I don't find his struggle with "being cool" nearly as compelling as the rest of the episode, I think the way he uses that to empathise is fantastic.

Because, Sea Hawk is kind of a role model for Scorpia here. They work out together that they need to care for themselves as well as others, but Sea Hawk also demonstrates actions that Scorpia applies later on in the series, that being his ability to understand. Scorpia at this point has just been listening, but Sea Hawk drives home how important it is to actually understand, but also the importance of having limits.

As such, when Scorpia breaks the crystal, she disobeys Catra for her own good, and I think that her actions are why Catra is finally willing to open up herself, because Catra doesn't want power, she wants safety. Adora gave her that, not just through protecting her physically, but also by giving her some boundaries to comfortably sit inside, so that Catra had structure. Scorpia gives her that.

"Hey, thanks for getting us out of there."

This is one of the only two times in the entire episode that the word "thank you" or anything approximating it is spoken. The other time being immediately after, with Scorpia thanking Catra for the blanket. Respect goes both ways, Catra needs to learn that.

But, and I want to be absolutely clear about my premise here, the moral of the episode is that you need to have limits to protect yourself. Because Catra may be misunderstood, but that will cause Scorpia some genuine problems if she doesn't have the ability to say that enough is enough.

This isn't just on Scorpia. The episode and the series explicitly frame Catra's actions as something that she needs to change herself, and that, while support groups are important for that, that has to come from within as well.

She-Ra doesn't romanticise the abuse Catra receives or gives off, it says "these are bad, and are getting in the way of her relationships".

On the other side of the story, I don't think that the murder virus is a virus. I think it's very much intentional.

Hear me out, the first ones were at war, and the series goes on to discuss that they were maybe not the best of people. The cost of war is an important theme in the series as a whole, and I don't believe it is out of the question to suggest that the first ones might have set up a kill switch incase their enemy ever made it to Etheria.

The important thing to note is that, whatever happened to the crystal, intentional or not, it is having massively damaging effects on Etheria as a whole.

Final Thoughts

I have seen a lot of discourse around the She-Ra fandom that seems to believe that Sea Hawk is annoying, and I will defend my boy to the end of my days. I am blind to all criticisms against this man, and will not hear any argument.

In seriousness, I think that when you see a take about a series that you disagree with, it is important to explain why you came to your conclusions. The purpose of analysis isn't to be all high and mighty, its to say "I like/dislike _, because..."

Discussion online has a habit of devolving into who can shout the loudest, and I think that is a shame, because it means that, specifically when talking about stories, a lot of nuance goes unspoken.

Next week, I am looking at Light Spinner, an episode that is one of my favourites, so stick around if that interests you.

Previous - Next

#rants #literary analysis #literature analysis #character analysis #what's so special about...? #she ra and the princesses of power #spop catra #spop scorpia #spop sea hawk #she ra catra #she ra scorpia #she ra sea hawk #she ra princess of power #mermista can do no wrong

[girlscience]

Okay, so, Bright and Murphy are more like concepts than real steady/solid oc's. I have so many versions of them at this point and all of them are equally real to me, but they all kind of come together to make one big amalgamation of a character concept. The point being, I have come up with a new backstory for Murphy. What if, and hear me out on this, what if Murphy is actually Madison Miller. What if I aged Jeannie up just a few years, made her have Madison a bit younger, and made Madison 12 years old when Jeannie comes up with her math proof instead of ~4/5. And then, I give them 6 years on Atlantis going from season 3 to the end of season 5 (originally was 2006-2009). This puts Madison at 18 by the end of the show (and allows me to ignore the real ending of SGA lol).

The reason for all of this is, I want Madison to know what is going on with her mom. I want her to see her make the proof, hear her conversations with Rodney, see them get transported to the Daedalus, and hear her conversations with her dad. I do not want her mom, dad, or Rodney to know that she knows though. I also want her to know what is going on when her mom gets kidnapped and the time her mom goes to Atlantis because Rodney is dying. Jeannie also does stuff in the books (which I SERIOUSLY need to read) but I don't know anything about that.

I want her, at 12, to realize there is a space program of some kind and decide that she wants in. I think up until that point she has been a mostly normal kid, but immediately decides she is going to finish junior high that year, finish high school in two years, finish college by 18, and then start applying to every single internship/program/job that might possibly get her into the unknown space program, while also working on her master's. I think she gets deep into conspiracy theories around it, there were a couple times in SG-1 where people knew or figured out what was happening with the SGC and I am assuming there are a number of internet forums/discussion boards talking about the space program conspiracy somewhere and she gets into them, amassing as much proof as she can. Specifically, she wants to know what is true about the program and what is false so she has a good idea of what she will actually be doing once she gets in.

She never once questions if she will get in or not. She is going to simply because she sees no other option for her future. She will do anything, give up anything, to make sure this comes true. It becomes her sole goal in life instantly.

I think because her mom and uncle are Jeannie and Rodney, she actually is incredibly smart, but her mom wanted her to live a normal life, so she didn't push her much to explore that part of herself. I think she realizes very quickly that she is actually incredibly smart and that finishing school is going to be pretty easy for her. I think she starts making a list of everything she thinks she needs to do if she is going to explore space. She stops ballet, starts taking martial arts, she takes first aid courses, takes wilderness survival courses, she starts reading books on every single topic she can, she starts learning some other languages (both to help speak with people from other countries working in the program and also to practice for when she has to learn alien languages), she gets rid of a bunch of her childhood stuff and replaces all of it with posters about science and space, she learns astronomy and buys a very nice telescope, she starts trying to make herself like MRE's, she decides to go to college for astrophysics with minors in biology, chemistry, and engineering (just to cover her bases), she learns computer programming and builds her own computer.

She keeps her hair short, cuts her nails short, allows herself to get her earlobes pierced once but will not get more than that assuming the program works with the military, only wears military surplus boots or hiking boots and no other shoes, her wardrobe consists of science t-shirts, large sweaters, and plain jeans or cargo pants. She refuses to shave or wear makeup because she doesn't think that will matter in space and when would she have the time. She times herself so that her morning routine takes exactly 10 minutes, getting out of bed, showering, dressing and getting to the kitchen for breakfast in order to practice for emergencies she may face in space.

Her sleep schedule is horrendous, but who has time to sleep when they have things to learn? She allows herself one cup of coffee a day, but no more than that. She doesn't want to become dependent on caffeine in case she can't access it in space. She is part of a lot of science and space related clubs, but has a very hard time making friends her age, and gets along a lot better with the adults in the clubs and on the conspiracy theory forums she is a part of. I think she finishes junior high that year by working very hard to skip grades/test out of the rest of junior high, and works so hard that last year to essentially turn herself into a genius that she convinces her parents it would be better to let her do online homeschooling high school, so that she can go at her pace and focus on things she actually cares about (this goes along with her plan to finish in two years). She starts college when she is 14 and continues to work as hard as she can. She drives all her professors and advisors crazy, but she is the best student possible and when she is old enough (so it's not child labor) she gets one of them to agree to let her do undergraduate research with them in their physics lab. She is thrilled.

I think everything does work out for her in the end, and when she is in her last year of college she applies for as many summer programs/internships as she can that are happening in the places she theorizes could be the space program's base. Once she graduates, I think she gets a summer internship at a very prestigious science facility (with the possibility of a future job that would also pay for her master's (if the internship goes very well, and she decides she will make it go very well)... I did think about making it be area 51 but decided that would be too out there. I do think the facility works with tech from the SGC though that they have decided could become unclassified relatively soon). I think one day, while she's there, Rodney goes there to help the scientists with something (what it is doesn't really matter, just that it's not what she is working on). They bump into each other in the hall and she goes "Uncle Rodney!! I thought you were off- out of the country!?" and he goes "What were you going to say?" and she says "....off world...". Which leads to an interrogation, her parents have to come, the military gets involved, etc etc etc, and her whole story comes out.

She does get a job with the SGC. They decide she is intelligent enough and definitely motivated enough, and she has done a very good job of keeping it a secret this whole time. They decide it will be easier to just let her come to work for them than to make her keep quiet about it longer and to give up wanting to work for them. They do make her stay on the base on Earth for now, because she's only 18, and even though she's technically an adult that's still very young and they don't want babies running around the galaxy representing Earth. She is entirely untested and they don't let just anyone into the program. Also, they won't send her to Atlantis yet because the wraith are a problem and they don't want to get a teenager killed. She stays on Earth for another year, working in the labs at the SGC (she is star-struck, head-over-heels, super embarrassing crushing over Sam lol).

In the meantime, on Atlantis they are hard at work on the wraith problem and they create the vaccine (ever present in all forms of Bright and Murphy). They find a queen who is willing to work with them through Todd, who is also willing to work with them on this. Bright is part of this queen's hive (he is still baby in this universe). Human's start taking the vaccine, things are going well, the queen decides there needs to be a meeting with the other queens and the leaders of the Pegasus galaxy and Earth to figure out how to make this work long term. In order to facilitate this meeting, a neutral planet in the Pegasus galaxy is chosen and Atlantis, the queen, and the SGC start setting things up. It is very much an all hands on deck scenario and so Madison gets sent to Pegasus. She is not supposed to be around the wraith, but ends up running into Bright anyway in one of the labs. They start working together and hit it off right away.

Here are a few other changes that come after they meet. One, Madison hadn't taken the vaccine yet, so Bright doesn't start feeding on her immediately. That happens a while after they meet and he has been feeding on other people first. Eventually Madison decides she wants the vaccine (and also she's maybe jealous of the people he is feeding on and possessive over him) and so she offers to let him feed on her, and he does and it goes the way it always does in every other version of them, because of course it does, who do you think I am??? It was an entirely unexpected experience for both of them, but neither are opposed in any way. Two, during this time, Madison also meets the queen and very much has had an "oh no" moment about it (I don't have a name for the queen yet, but I am thinking about it a lot). She knows what's going on between Bright and Madison and finds it adorable (none of the humans know what is happening... yet). And three, the queen decides "hm.... I want involved" and tells them as much and they are like "yeah". And then all three of them are together.

I don't really have what happens next besides, the vaccine is disseminated to the whole galaxy, they bring peace and prosperity to Pegasus, and everything is awesome. A few years later, Madison will hybridize herself so that she can live with her wraith beloveds longer than she would as a human, and they live happily ever after, horrifying all humans and wraith alike with their freaky little triad 😌😇

#bright&murphy #sga #stargate wraith #I HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS NONSTOP FOR DAYS #SOMEONE PLEASE TALK TO ME ABOUT THEM 😭😭 #I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

[adonis-koo]

So.. I was researching why Haunting Adeline was banned.

Apparently the story is like a stalkery yandere "romance" between the two main characters. I won't say more than that.

And, from what I know, I've read fanfiction stories more graphic than this story in my opinion. Sometimes I enjoy reading graphic stories.

Yeah I was doing some research on it as well and found quickly that It does have some pretty triggering content but TBF the author has a trigger claim at the beginning of the book warning about some of the content, which is appreciated.

I found a PDF online to read and I’m about six chapters in (might’ve skipped around and read a few of the smut scenes cus I got impatient and curious) and so far it’s been okay, I have to say I can’t decide if I like the MC or not, which says a lot because I can usually ignore a lot of stereotypical annoying or ‘bad’, her cynical attitude towards everything gets old really quickly and it seems like she’s never caught off guard, or always has something quick witted to say, but in a ‘always one up’s someone else’ kind of way.

Same thing for MMC, like I LOVE the descriptions and the author does a great job setting the mood but the atmosphere is constantly broken by the corny dialogue 😭 it makes it really difficult to take the story seriously.

I also feel like all the characters suffer from ‘cool character syndrome’, like the story tries to make them seem so cool and badass, it feels like the author is trying really hard to convince us they are, rather then show us. and look maybe I’m being hypercritical MAYBE it’ll improve as the story goes on, but it’s really setting a precedent that’s difficult to ignore so far.

As I said before I did skip ahead and read a few smut scenes because I was curious and honestly, if you been around the block few times on NSFW ao3, it’s really not as shocking and outrageous as some have said, however if you’ve only read vanilla then I can definitely understand the shock value for a first time reader for kinks, a lot of it is very dub con/non con, which the author did mention in her triggers but definitely not the most graphic for me, as I said before I explored a lot of similar concepts when I was writing serial killer!JK

Am I in love with the book so far??? no, however I will still keep reading and maybe my opinion of the MC and MMC will change as the story continues, we shall see

#missy answers #anon #i did not mean for this to be so long 😭 #but I saw the opportunity to talk about it a little and couldn’t resist #maybe I’m just being really critical IDK 😭 #but I definitely believe in the writing concept of SHOW us don’t TELL us #a lot of that applies to both characters so far #I’m seeing a lot of telling us but not actually showing us #or if they do show us it’s over peperee by telling us yk??

[000marie198]

Remember how Everyone was at the beach when Amy presented The Palm Tree to Sonic?

The Grim has sand everywhere, similar to a beach.

I wonder if that’s part of the reason why Nine likes The Grim so much and thought Sonic would like it just as much as he does. The Grim might’ve been made out The Groups favorite hangout spot.

There is so much that could be unpacked about The Grim.

For one, I think it holds the silence and solitude part of Green Hill. Like how the og world has a little bit of everything, the Shatterverses have pieces of OG Green Hill. Boscage Maze has the wildlife and nature, No Place has the sea and water, New Yoke has the technology and Ghost Hill had the essence.

Meanwhile the Grim could hold the sand. It could only be the empty or treacherous parts of the previous world, or isolated parts. However you out, something uncanny about the Grim is that it's empty.

Another thing that sets apart this world from all the rest is that all the others sorta originated as Green Hill and there are signs of it in one way or the other.

The whole of New Yoke in Rouge's as well as the Chaos Council's flashback show the very much untainted Green Hill, and New Yoke has the same base map (with landmarks such as Hedgehog's Pass, Loop-de-loop and the location of Tails' lab). And the most important part, the palm tree.

Boscage Maze also had the palm tree, ancient and overgrown due to the life forming energy of green shard but the same palm tree (that has no business existing in the middle of a jungle with completely different biome).

And No Place is Green Hill drowned, everything was seen below water, the loop de loop.

But the Grim seems to be a weird case. There are no signs of life there, neither are there any signs of Green Hill landmarks. One of the theories that were shared with me in the asks to understand this said it was due to the purple light being the slowest and as it was shown in the series that a couple of days for Sonic in other zones were weeks for the inhabitants of New Yoke. And red light is the fastest. So it's possible that Grim hasn't completed forming fully.

It is quite literally a clean slate, an unformed world.

This is why Nine loves Grim. Because it's empty, nobody is there. The kid has been shunned or ignored by an entire city with no conception of care and he tends AND prefers to avoid people. He loves the Grim because he can live there and make his home there with no interruptions from people trying to hurt him. A peaceful place. Perfect for what he wishes for and needed.

Responding to this Ask has provided me with a particular perspective which made me notice something I didn't see before and I wish to explore in its own post.

#ask answered #sonic the hedgehog #sonic #sth #sonic prime #sonic prime spoilers #sonic prime theory #shatterverse #shatterspaces #nine the fox #tails nine #prime sonic #anon ask

[queensectonia]

THIS POST CONTAINS DETAILED DISCUSSION OF THE MAGOLOGUE AND ITS ENDING UNDER THE CUT

please avoid reading further if you wish to remain spoiler-free! all spoiler posts from me about the remake will be tagged “spoilers” and “dreamland deluxe spoilers”.

so this is where i’m going to expand on that interesting point i mentioned in my other post

i think HAL is trying to pull a fast one on us with the magologue, lads.

so basically, at the very start of the magologue, when you get the flashback cutscene to magolor being defeated and going poof, it's actually magolor soul being shown.

now, we know that for as much as HAL loves to write agonisingly vague figures of speech and outright leave things out, they don't get little details like this wrong - especially not with this game. making it be magolor soul in that cutscene was an informed choice.

this comes around to be very interesting during the credits sequence where we see magolor supposedly crossing over into the clash universe.

magolor soul is from an exmode. exmodes aren't canon - HAL has told us this many times, that they are “what if” experiences exploring alternate ways things might go down. they've never been canon, and it's really only been as recent as "exmodes" becoming whole actual self-contained Entirely New Stories (specifically, HiAD and Isolated Isles) that you can even make an argument for them being canon.

(and even then, Isolated Isles is... dubious, but that’s a topic for another post.)

so i think the magologue actually happened in two slightly different ways.

magolor from the canon game went through the magologue, and at the end his portal out lead back to popstar, or wherever the fuck in the real world, and he went on to build his amusement park and get back in with the good guys like we're all familiar with. magolor from the exmode went through exactly the same thing, but his portal out lead to the clash world.

the concept of magolor going through his whole purgatory thing and ending up in the clash world instead is weird. it completely fucks with both the pre-remake established canon of him coming back and being a good guy, and with what the REMAKE ITSELF establishes with magoland!

speaking of magoland, there’s definitely some weirdness going on there, but most of it is explainable by out-of-text reasons.

firstly, the entire concept of unlocking magoland practically the second you start the game is just one big instance of “haha hey everyone, please ignore the giant continuity hole this makes, we just wanted to get our crazy-popular character who is arguably the entire selling point of this game front and centre! thanks lmao have a good day!” understandable, frankly.

they even go out of their way to tell you this, to your face...

this wording is clunky, but it gets across the necessary point of “please pretend this happens after you clear the game” because, well, it does.

the pop-up you get initially telling you that magoland is open contains something that might be a mistake? in the context of the introductory spiel and everything else the game shows us.

saying that magoland is on a “distant planet” is just... not true?? dream collection downright tells us it’s on popstar, and the remake explicitly shows us where it is! it’s still on popstar! you can literally see magoland in the background of levels. it’s not even floating in the sky or on its own little planet, it’s whole ass on the ground.

which makes me wonder if saying it’s on a distant planet was a small misunderstanding on the translators’ part regarding the whole “different world (figurative)” vs. “different world (different planet)” distinction.

either way, that one tiny touch of showing magolor soul in the opening cutscene instead of his main game design is both deviously subtle and explains this apparent discrepancy.

it was exmagolor who ended up in the clash universe as shopkeeper magolor, and it was the real magolor who came back to make magoland on popstar and mend his friendship with kirby.

this even fits in perfectly with exmodes being “what if” scenarios and the clash universe being so self-referential.

#kirby #spoilers #dreamland deluxe spoilers #magolor

[henrysglock]

Do you think a lot of bylers dismiss el too much, largely because of the shipping war?

I think a lot of byIers are overly annoyed with EI not only because of the ship war but also because she "sidelines" Will. That's how you get "deus 'el' machina" and "EI has too much screen time" arguments.

When it comes to the former...They don't like that Will hasn't been incredibly super central to the supernatural plot since ST2. I get that. But that frustration leads them to ignore the fact that deus 'el' machina has never been portrayed as a good thing. It's not something that works, and it's actually part of her growth arc as a character. El as the superhero is unsustainable, and we see that in ST4...but it's an arc we could see coming since ST1. El can't fix everything by putting her hand up and screaming. It never works. Deus 'el' machina, as a concept...doesn't exist.

For the latter...arguably, EI is at least one of the big 5 mains, the others being Nancy, Will, Mike, and Henry (ooh I know people won't like to hear that, but Henry's the crux of the HNL plot and the starting point for filmed canon...you literally wouldn't have El or HNL or the Vanishing without him. Pony up the cash). Will's supernatural arc was put on-hold in ST4, but that doesn't mean the supernatural plot doesn't continue. Will is not The supernatural plot. Actually, I'd argue that EI, Brenner, and Henry are the big three question marks when it comes to the HNL/supernatural plot, and that's all a core part of the story. Hell...it's the central plot of the show, and it exists separate from Will atm. You can't get around that. Obviously, the girl who came from HNL, the product of Brenner and Henry, is going to have a lot of screen time to explore that whole part of the story and show us how we got to Will's story in the first place.

This ^^ all is borne of a behavioral pattern/mindset I like to call "will-stan-itis". Bylers and Will stans love Will, and they think he deserves more attention. I understand that, but it also means they feel they have to find someone to blame for Will's reduced relevance in ST3/4. It can't be Mike, he's half of byIer. Can't be Nancy or Joyce, they're the exposé girlbosses (same for Hopper, but only in the exposé sense). Can't be any of the other supporting cast, because it's just not true at that point. So EI gets blamed for "taking" Will's supernatural importance and screen time. They've done the same thing to Henry and his backstory irt "copying" Will's trauma (even though Henry came first chronologically. Try to figure the math on that one).

#and it's annoying as shit #sorry the lab subject girl is a main character and her story feeds the boy's in a way that requires backstory. #personally I find her arc very compelling both mentally and emotionally but hey whatever. #asks #bitchposting

[v1model]

!! [ LONG RANT I GUESS ] !!

Long ass rant incoming regarding V1 and V2 as characters and their personalities. I might add art to this later on if I'm bored enough!

i like the vmodels a lot [can you fucking tell???????????????????????????????] and i think that characterization is important when it comes to these two characters who have had absolutely no words to say but speak in their movements. i like the idea of a bratty asshole v2 and i like the idea of a quiet efficient v1. but i also cannot ignore or neglect other aspects of them!!!!!!!!

my most favorite of all characterization of v2 happens to be inkfaire's, which is like. to quote them, "i just enjoy the idea of them being someone's precious creation; only to fall to its own sense of hubris... we love a machine made to guard times of peace being ended by its desire for violence!"

and i like that, i like that it's coded to be human at first and slowly descends into its own form of madness trying to compete. that would make sense, it fits nicely with the story too.

but v1 i feel is also the same, but in the opposite sense......?

war is also a very human concept, and i think that because of it things like comrades also exist. i feel like v2 could have been a friend, a partner, a comrade. for stuff like gabriel and other enemies with healthbars on-screen, they're almost immediate. v2 always has moments of hesitance? like v1's waiting to see if v2 will actually strike or not, assessing if it truly is a foe. i like that idea. i like the idea of them wanting to be friends. then again, that wouldn't really make sense for 'You're not getting away this time', or even when we Know v2 will fight us again in 4-4 the healthbar doesn't show up (or gabriel's speech in 6-2 either for that matter) rendering it kind of a dumb theory but whooooo knows.

anyways my point is, i really think while it's not exactly programmed to, i feel like v1 carries weight of its death around with it. it grieves. they were born together (though its unclear if they were together at the time of making), and i think they're extremely bonded. the game isn't designed for that, there isn't any special text for it, but i think most people stayed around or at least REACTED when v2 fell and died. i think v1 would do the same. there's even an animation in which v1 flinches upon impact. even if hakita didnt give v2 the closure i think it needed for such an important enemy to v1's life, i think v1 definitely takes v2's death around with them.

and i think violence as a layer is going to fuck with us the absolute most because of how its designed. it's a war themed layer, i think there's going to be callbacks to v2 and humanity somehow. v1's special spot in hell.

in a less serious version of humanity, i like to think v1 is kind of like wall-e...? fascinated by peace itself, to inverse v2's fascination with violence. being stylish during combat, finding secrets, literally just looking around. some people like to write the secrets into their work, i've read a fic where they mentioned that v1 liked to stall around layers and explore basically everything. i think they have an extremely expressive body language, whereas v2's expression comes moreso in their voice. asl can be optional (i like to project and say that they sign, because i sign and i rlly love v1). some people like to think it collects little trinkets and such. holding florp and other things very gently in their hands. doing challenges (which i take as completely canon) just for the fun of it. yeah they're a war machine and yeah they're wiping out all of hell but in their scourge it develops their own humanity and its own identity and they have fun. WE have fun, playing as v1, so they must be having a fucking blast.

anyways uhh v4v sweep uhhh gay people BBRBFBRBBFBBR or something idfk im sorry if this doesn't make sense or is stupidly off canon i just think they should hold hands

#v1model #v1 ultrakill #v2 ultrakill #sorry for maintagging

[steveharrington]

https://youtu.be/HZOppCkC5UM

what do you think of this?

i think some good points were made! and also some bad points were made! i will break it down sorry if this is long but i love talking about st as you all know and this guy packed a lot of discussion into 10 minutes!

good points: he's absolutely 100% right about jonathan and joyce losing their Point in the story. it's so so so obvious specifically with jonathan that he was written and conceived to serve the plotline that revolved around his family, and when he's taken out of those relationships he's basically.....nothing. i've never seen anyone point out how jonathan didn't really need the nancy/steve plotline in s1 because it only really diluted his A plot centered around will before, but it's so true. i also strongly agree with his point about the russia storyline and how taking the characters out of hawkins and trying to bring in the world at large is a big mistake. it's one reason why i felt the russia plotline in s4 specifically was so hard to watch and literally had me wanting to skip every time the scene cut to hopper/joyce/murray because like.....why should i care about this! im invested in whats happening in hawkins, in vecna, and like the california plot okay fine it's tangentially related to hawkins and it brings back brenner etc but the russia stuff just feels so far removed and pointless. also he's so right about the tone of s3 feeling off specifically with scoops troop and how they tried to make a very serious dark plotline into a slapstick comedy.

bad points: the story is not all about will. sorry i will never buy into and subscribe to the whole "it starts and ends with will" thing and that's not even me being a hater, that's just me watching season one and understanding that el is just as relevant to the story as will. the author of this video essay sets up the s1 storyline and concept for the show as a whole as if it was Only ever supposed to be about will going missing and the results of that, which completely ignores the fact that we still have an entire parallel dimension and government sanctioned child testing lab to talk about? if the story was only about will going missing, it didn't need to be about supernatural elements at all. it could've literally just been will getting lost in the woods. but will's disappearance is the entry point for our characters into the upside down, and once they're aware that it exists, it can't just be nicely tied up in a little bow at the end of s1 and everyone moves on with their lives. i will never understand the "stranger things shouldve been one season!!!!!" argument because like how on earth can you expect joyce to get her kid back from the parallel dimension that also ate another teenager, with the lab that tortured a child still operating in their town, and just be like oh okay its over? HUH? like there's no further implications to discuss, no consequences of these discoveries? will went to hellworld and hid from a monster and he's just fine now that he's back home? we're just gonna all ignore it? whew sorry anyways im really defensive over s2 and i hate the suggestion that it's like hastily cobbled together just for the sake of a sequel when really it's such a rich season full of necessary and fascinating further exploration into the UD, the effects it had on the characters, the trauma they endured, etc.

new paragraph but still talking abt the bad points. i also don't agree with the assertion that s4 ended with everything tied up nicely and all the characters having closure. in fact i really don't understand how anyone could reach that conclusion (sorry to the author of that video essay if ur out there) like how can you watch the s4 finale and think "yeah everyone's pretty much good" like hello? eddie's death traumatized dustin and im sure there'll be conflict over the decisions made that led to it, max is literally in a coma, lucas still hasn't received any sort of closure or resolution irt any of his experiences or feelings, will still feels alienated within his friend group and tied to the UD, el still views herself as a monster, nancy/steve/jonathan are an absolute mess with no resolution either relationship-wise or just like personal storyline-wise. even if you don't care about these characters, or you feel like they were never important, the show can't just drop them into oblivion and leave each of their storylines unresolved. and that's what'll happen in s5.

also saying the agent orange speech was the best aspect of the russia storyline is um.....interesting. to me its not "bringing hopper back to his emotional roots" its a very lazy rehashing of the story arc he already overcame i.e. blaming himself for sarah's death and feeling like a black hole. like we already did that. and now we're doing it again

all in all i think the general thesis of the video is very correct--s5 is not going to be very good. the writers have written themselves into a corner, many of the characters have ceased to serve any function, and the non-stop action that the duffers keep teasing is going to feel like a different show and probably not play to the strengths of the series, which is character work and dynamics. and also he's right aliens is the best sequel ever <3

#long post #sorry im passionate #overall good video essay though he articulated his points very well and even if i dont agree on all of them they're well thought out! #anon #answered

[tolbachik]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you! get to know your mutuals and followers <3

Hi Zia!! Thank you so much for the ask, I'm really excited to share my answers here! It was real hard to pick, but I had fun!!

5 - My girlfriend!! We met on tumblr years ago when I was looking for an artist to commission, and found out she lived real close by! We became friends, and then it all just kinda snowballed from there really. We really enjoy each other's company, and usually call once a day at night before bed to spend a little time together! She means a lot to me, and I'm really happy to have met her! I really love her, she means the world to me, and I always do my best to make sure she knows that. y'know what she's asleep right now but I'm gonna message her and tell her how much she means to me thank you for making me think about her

4 - My family! My sister especially; we're very close, and love to do pretty much everything together. I usually watch her play games on some of her consoles, maybe we'll watch shows together, all kinds of stuff. She's always been there for me and helped me be the person I am today, so I really appreciate her and all she's done for me! This also includes my cats. Me and my sister jointly own three cats; Quinn, the oldest (and my profile picture), Binky (looks just like Quinn but smaller), and Leon (typical white and orange cat). They all mean a lot to me! I try not to take their companionship for granted, even if they wake me up at all hours of the night lol

3 - Space & space exploration! Really, mostly just in our own solar system. And for the exploration part, just stuff from the 70s-80s and concepts from then. I really love the optimism of the 70s, and all they had thought we would achieve by now. And honestly, a lot of concepts developed around that time still hold up to this day; O'Neill cylinders, space-based solar power, maglev-based launchers, stuff like that! I really hope someday we can get rid of these capitalist chains and focus on making the world and universe a brighter place. I'm a firm believer that we're here to spread the gift of life as far as possible, allowing for as many beings as possible to enjoy the experience of… well, being. Life is very precious, and I fully believe that the exploitation and development of space is something we need to do in order to help bring the gift of life to as many worlds as possible. That being said, I hate Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and every single astrocapitalist asshole who dreams of turning the stars into nothing but lifeless ash with a burning passion. I hope they all choke. Also, my favorite objects in our solar system are Uranus and her moons, and Venus lol

2 - Music! I know it gets said a lot, but music is a very important thing for me. I don't listen as much as I used to, but I still try to as much as I can. I usually listen to stuff only from the 1960s-1990s, but I do branch out every now and again! I really love folk music from the earlier part of that time frame, with musicians like Norma Tanega, Emitt Rhodes, Jim Sullivan, and more taking up a large amount of my favorites there. I also really like international music, especially Soviet stuff! It's so interesting to hear the different melodies and instruments, as well as singing styles. It's such a neat crossroad of cultures, there was so much interesting & beautiful sounding stuff! It's a shame that it's largely ignored over here in the west.

Also, I'm currently on a big Telex kick right now, though! They were a Belgian band from the late 70s into the 80s, and made music that was synthesizer only. I've liked them for quite some time, but it's just kinda coming back full force right now! On top of that, I will admit... Sometimes autism gets the better of me and I can and will listen to a song dozens of time in a row lol.

1 - My book series I'm writing and developing! I really don't like to talk about it (shy + nervous), but it means a lot to me. I'm chronically ill and can't really do too much, so writing has been one of the only things I can do when I get the energy. Even then, progress is far and few between, but it's better than nothing! Long story short, it's a hard sci-fi novel series about an alien race's journey in exploring their world, system, and beyond. Despite being about space exploration and first contact between them and us, it's more about love, friendship, and finding your own place in the universe than it is about war, action, or anything like that. I wanted to write this because I was tired of the typical "woahhh aliens are invading..." type of thing; I wanted something more about understanding and kindness, rather than about hatred and fear.

I've got like... 7 books total planned, with three of those being "prologues" but still like +70k words each. It's a long, arduous process, but it's something that I'm proud of and happy to do. I honestly don't know what my long term plans are for it, if I'll publish it or not. If I do, I'll probably make sure I have at least two of the other books done first, that way I have time to let myself work on the others at my own pace. I do love talking about it, but more likely in private than on my public blog; I'm incredibly shy lol

Thank you so much for this ask, it was a lot of fun! I'll be sure to spread it to some of my friends here, then. I really appreciated this!

Take care, and have a good rest of your day!!!

#my posts #asks

[glapplebloom]

Which of these two are legit better?

So Sonic Prime ended and I really enjoyed the finale. I’m going to be doing a three parter, two of which are based on some stuff I saw on Twitter. The first being some people thinking Reverse Tails from Archie Comics is a better concept than Nine. I disagree with this assumption because, quite simply, Reverse Tails literally has nothing. 13 appearances in the comics in total. So let’s look at them real quick before we compare him to Nine.

His first appearance was in #11, which he does nothing. His next appearance #24, where he pretends to be Tails alongside the rest of the doubles. They get quickly defeated. Then #151 where he is part of a group beating up Sonic because they think he’s Reverse Sonic. They get the advantage for a while but are quickly defeated. I’m not even going to look at the Super Sonic Special #10 because it’s likely a flashback to a previous time. 

It’ll be #188-189 where he now refers to himself as Miles. He fights with Tails for a bit but in reality he’s part of an invading force with Scourge being the boss. #190 has him complain that Tails ignores his magical heritage and follows Sonic. Does he show any magic during this time? No. In fact, it is shown that all of Scourge’s crew are afraid of him. #191 shows him trying to use Scourge’s ego to have him face Metal Sonic alone. In #192 he suggested to the others that with Sonic on their side they could take over Scourge’s reign. 

#193 is when he enacts his plan. Going to the Mobotropolis to suggest to Sally an alliance to defeat Scourge once and for all. He also thinks little of Tails. #194 has the plan set in motion. Fiona was Scourge’s only ally. Of course, he double crosses them so he can send both Scourge and Sonic to the Reverse universe. #195 the plan was they expect Sonic to wear down Scourge enough so when they show up he’ll be easy pickings. And in #196, that plan blows up in their face when Super Scourge shows up.

This is the Panel I think of when I think of Reverse Tails. Someone who has a big picture, but when it comes time to step up he crumbles like a deck of cards. Even Tails went to fight Super Scourge. And the comic ends with Sally being in charge but her admitting who is really in charge. And that’s it. That’s all there is to Reverse Tails. If you saw Prime, you probably can see why thinking that Reverse Tails is better than Nine is. But for those who haven't seen it, here’s a summary.

Unlike Reverse Tails whose reason is “lol, Evil”, Nine was originally Tails who hadn't been rescued by Sonic when he got picked on for his two Tails. So he became a loner, not trusting anyone. He augmented himself and only works on keeping himself safe. Then Sonic came to town. To his surprise, he found someone he could put faith into; someone who he could trust. And that pushes Nine to be more outgoing and help others.

But when he was reforming the Paradox Prism, that’s when their ideologies clashed. Sonic wanted to restore everything back to normal. Nine wanted to recreate a world where they could live in peace without trouble. Seeing Sonic not going along with that plan, he felt betrayed and took the Paradox Prism so he can create his own world while letting the other worlds get destroyed thanks to the Egg Council’s Doing.

He would have too if not for the missing energy needed to solidify the Paradox Prism, which exists in Sonic. So Season 3 has him fighting to get Sonic. He created an Army of Mecha Versions of the Prime Cast, including a Giant Big, and when Sonic and crew got close he used the power of the Paradox Prism to fight them off himself, even though it was causing further destruction as well as taking a lot out of him.

And this is why I do not believe Reverse Sonic is a better Evil Tails than Nine. Nine has an actual reason, an actual story, a better design, implications that were explored, and most importantly he was actually important to the series. You could remove Reverse Tails from everything and nothing would have changed. You can’t say the same thing for Nine.

#research bin

[koinomegaluvr]

i watched insidious: the red door again with my sister, and it grew on me the second time around despite not knowing how to feel abt it initially.

At first i found the story was underdeveloped (and despite my opinions on the movie changing, i honestly still do feel this way lowkey ghgh) but like. i see exactly what they were trying to do, y’now???

i’ve always rlly enjoyed the insidious franchise, not necessarily because i found it scary, but because the concept of the further was absolutely FASCINATING to me. especially because it’s a place that’s like. an endless limbo that’s reminiscent of liminal horror (and i’m a sucker for that shit)

I rlly liked that they brought in more emotional depth & complexity for the lamberts and how they explore more of how the events of insidious: chapter 2 ultimately affected their family and each individual character.

I immensely enjoyed that they wanted to explore themes of generational trauma and repressed trauma, and how sweeping said trauma under the rug rather than trying to heal and resolve it at its root causes it to fester and ultimately harm everyone involved.

i like how they acknowledged how extremely traumatizing it must have been for renai and the kids to see parker crane josh trying to violently DESTROY them. like there ain’t no way that’s NOT going to have devastating effects on your psyche/marriage when you see what you think is your deranged looking father/husband, trying to beat y’all to death with hammers 😭😭 like i can’t imagine how that must have looked for the kids and i’m glad they explored that

i also really like how (at least in my opinion), the red faced demon and his lair is also kinda symbolic of dalton’s repressed & festering mental illness/trauma with how OBSESSED the demon is with dalton. and how he set up all those “scenes” of dalton’s past which makes him just. remember everything (and that made me feel SAUR BAD for him bc recalling that much repressed trauma would be overwhelming as fuck)

that said, i really feel like they could have executed these themes a lot better, in a way that would make a little bit more sense. during the scene with dalton and josh near the end where they’re in the further trying to close the door, dalton states that they have to stop running from the demon. and there i thought dalton and josh were going to slay the demon together once and for all, but dalton just paints over the door leaving josh in the further by himself and i was like ??????????? 😭😭😭😭 hello???

like. aside from it being a bit anticlimactic, i also don’t think it made very much sense of dalton to just paint over the door when he said they couldn’t run/ignore it anymore. i suppose in a sense, dalton painting over the door in of itself symbolizes that he is trying to break the cycle himself, but honestly? it would have made more sense imo if they somehow tried to relinquish the red face demon together, bc to me that would show that dalton and josh are finally trying to resolve their trauma together by tackling it head on, thus competing their arc more effectively.

i wish they could have introduced josh’s father a bit differently—i know the existence of josh’s dad probably wasnt planned from the beginning, so adding him in was going to be a bit clunky no matter what, but i had a hard time feeling anything at all for him as a character…..

i also wish elise had a bigger role in this rather than making a 5 second cameo at the end of the movie just for the the sake of it, especially since she is what makes insidious such an interesting franchise. but i am SO glad we got a specs and tucker cameo i genuinely teared up seeing them :,)

ANYWAY, overall, i’m quite pleased w the movie, even if certain aspects of it could have been executed better. it definitely isn’t THE BEST insidious movie. i think it had a lot of potential to be excellent. i have WAYY more thoughts abt it that i dont think i can convey in a single post but maybe i’ll talk abt them another time

also. dalton and chris my beloveds 🫰🏼🫰🏼

#anyway. i feel like i need to make art for this movie now #esp of chris and dalton #their dynamic was great. the actors for them had great chemistry #bruh i LOVE how daltons character and chris’ character compliments each other so well #i feel like i would watch a spin off of just them #he’s like. so reserved and clearly keeps to himself and chris is so much more rambunctious and quirky 😭😭😭 like they’re the dream team #like u know dam well chris would somehow STILL remain daltons friend after all that and even make fun of him for letting the + #red face demon possess him like that 😭😭 #also #i lowkey had a “’’hear me out’’’’ moment when the demon went inside of dalton 😭😭 #not 2 be a monster fucker on main but. it was rlly a sight to behold #insidious franchise #insidious the red door #p