#is a bit buckwild. but the more I think about it that actually one of the funniest jokes I could accidently make. So it stays

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Remembrance and Forgetfulness

[First] Prev <–-> Next

#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #wei wuxian #lan wangji #I originally debated whether or not to have lwj in the first panel because the implications #that wwx spawned a bunch of kids and lwj assumes its from whatever the hell happened last night #is a bit buckwild. but the more I think about it that actually one of the funniest jokes I could accidently make. So it stays #I don't think wwx and lwj would thrive with their own children but they would be very good mentors #The cool uncles if you will. They let you have some fun. Unlike JC who is the uncle that thinks your parenting is too soft. #Speaking of chilren...my *god* the extra with wwx playing with the kids is *so good* #probably my favourite so far. I keep going back to relisten to it #The kids!!! The mini versions of conflicts between them that mirror the truth yet are distorted by rumours!! #Mwah - Chef's kiss. Go listen to S1 Extra ''Director''. #“op what about the second panel?” Fine. WWX is alternating between noodling around and remixing wangxian. #lwj is experiencing the non-flutist jealousy of having an instrument that is not easily played as you walk. The most painful jealousy.

[the-cookie-of-doom]

Kim and Chay Accidentally Develop A Pony-Play Fetish

So I saw this post:

And I thought to myself, you know what would be really funny?

Chay is the first one. Kim goes okay. I'm willing to work with this. A warning would have been nice. But he's going to power through any awkwardness, swallow his giggles, and ride his ass. And Kim gets into it. Not like, personally, but he's going to make damn fucking sure his boy is satisfied.

Kim is saying some dumb pony-play shit trying to play into what he thinks is Chay's suddenly-revealed fetish, grabs his hair and tells him to neigh, or says he's gonna break him in like the wild stallion he is.

Chay thinks Kim is the freak.

They're both like Okay, This Is A Bit Weird, But If You're Into It.

They're both very supportive boyfriends. Goals, honestly. One drops a buckwild (haha) fetish in the middle of sex? Fuck it! Guess we're doing that, now!

Afterwards goes something like this:

Chay: so you know how we talked about discussing kinks before, like, doing them? Kim, judging him: oh so now you remember? Chay: EXCUSE YOU??? Kim: ME??? Chay: you're the one that started the pony play!! Kim: You said you were a horse!?!?!

Once they figure out the misunderstanding they're going to die. Rolling on the floor laughing, can't breathe, haven't even put their clothes back on yet. Chay is wheezing.

Chay: you told me to neigh! Kim: and you did!!

Kim committed to the bit (haha) so hard. No hesitation. He just fkn went with it. If Absolutely nothing else, that man is RIDE or die.

But then it gets better. This could easily be a one-time occurrence. Something to laugh at later. But then they get kinky another time, Kim brings out a riding crop, and Chay just. Loses it. Then Kim loses it. He can't even defend himself! He's laughing to much to remind Chay that they already owned the damn thing, and he wasn't thinking of That Incident at all!! It takes him at least half an hour to clam down enough to even try fucking, and they're still giggling the whole time.

After that, one of them buys a gag that looks like a bit. Once again, on the floor cry-laughing for at least ten minutes. (But actually it's so much more comfortable than a ball-gag, may as well use it!)

One night Kim is tying Chay up and Chay goes, "Are you gonna lasso me?" grinning like a menace, then honest to god knickers. He's been practicing. He's going to kill Kim.

All that to say- they eventually, accidentally, end up with a full kit of tack, complete with Kim in this outfit:

thank you @snickerdoodlles for not immediately blocking me when I started this nonsense 🤣💛

#cookie speaks #kimchay #im SO sorry #im not into crack #but this got away from me #i was fkn DYING #it's about the devotion!!! #Kim is so ready to whatever insane shit chay throws at him #whatever you want baby lets make it happen #🤣

[lucabyte]

obligatory ramble about postcanon loop ask

also your art is amazing

Hiiiiiiiii :D thank you :)!!

and thank you for the excuse to post the. just absolute wall of text that i truncated down to form the tags of that post. (i did,,, hit the tag limit. i forgot tumblr had one of those...) so let me just paste that and tidy it up a bit...

I am putting this under a readmore because it's a bit long. but:

This is like. The General Context for all* of my postcanon doodles? (Except AUs obviously) Like this is the base idea I've been drawing them all in. So, feel free to backread with this in mind. I've basically had this 'postcanon' timeline set in my brain since finishing the game...

My general thoughts are that I like the idea of Loop (even if through dubiously ethical means) being able to slowly reintegrate with the party as a whole new person, because they are, in fact, their own person.

It's a muddle of thematic threads im pulling on and "wouldn't it be fucked up if", but. (at its core, it's powered by the fact that like, while narratively isat's theme of 'the only person who can truly take the first step to help you is yourself'. (wrt: loop helping the party help siffrin in act 5) which i LOVE AND IS GREAT NARRATIVELY…. would be super fucked up irl to learn that your friend 'learned as a lesson' while you stood by kinda uselessly. I know i'd be upset about it. but thats mostly background here. doesn't really come up. at least not until loop has to explain who they are and the party realises they had to fall back on literally themselves again for help, but i digress,)

The real core concept is: Occam's razor. It is like, inherently, a buckwild thing to accuse a person of being somehow a clone or copy of your friend. Even if they start vaguely alluding to a backstory it's far more likely they were some other person before all that. (I still think Odile has that theory in the back pocket but she's rational enough to know it's a really long shot without a solid explanation. and i think Loop deep down knows this, and would, if cornered into confessing, turn the situation around to go J'ACCUSE and make HER explain it instead. Ever longer dodging being direct with their emotions...)

And the party are nice! And if someone has changed and wants to keep stuff secret it's kind of not their business? (Though it's hard not to speculate… see: the main joke of the doodles) And they seem important to Siffrin so they just try to accept them abrasive quirks and all. And eventually the question of their prior identity just fades away since, well, they're Loop. Their friend Loop.

but yeah. personal headcanon is that a few months/weeks after picking up and getting aquainted with Nille** (since that was presumably the IMMEDIATE TASK postgame), Loop reappears (either after a literal period of nonexistance, or just spending a few months wandering the french countryside alone being attacked by wild dogs). Since Siffrin has had a while to be therapised by the party they're doing mostly okay, but Loop showing up and still being agitated/aggressive pulls them both into a bit of a backslide behaviourally and puts the party on the back foot again.

Hooowever, I do think that due to no longer being literally stewing in the worst pressure cooker of all time together, the two do mostly actually sort themselves out with productive conversation. (Via a cycle of: genuinely distressing argument -> weeeird lovebombing -> ok we're good -> repeat, that gets less intense over time)

Thus, allowing the party to just. Integrate loop as a new person. They and Siffrin shuffle into different ecological niches (Loop taking over stuff Siffrin is now too squeamish for, etc (see: hunting, mostly)), and while it's not exactly what Loop wanted they generally get that beggars can't be choosers and it's a pretty good deal. And the rest of the party does straight up just like them as a friend, especially when Loop quits trying to actively antagonise them after a few weeks of being around them, since they just can't keep up being mean to people they like forever.

As for how I think the truth eventually drags itself out. This is where I invoke The Isabeau Torment Nexus™. So its gonna get shippy here for a bit hold on.

Which is, I think giving them time before Loop reappears long enough that Siffrin and Iseabeau actually manage to become established, Isabeau has to be the one to nudge the pair of them and go. "Hey. You know we're in Vaugarde right. I'm okay with polyamory if we all communicate." Before Loop and Siffrin actually even acknowledge that whatever the fuck they have going on kinda looks a lot like a relationship of some kind. (or have already been agonising about that via fighting and arguing, depending) (Obviously this comes after Isa "Emotionally intelligent enough to keep a lid on the jealousy" Beau has managed to use that big brain of his to Not just go Scream somewhere on the daily because oh godddd they keep talking like theyre suicide-baiting each other jesus chriiist. is it overstepping his boundaries to bring that up?? god)

This, taking a bunch of the tension out of Loop and Isabeau's relationship (Since I imagine Loop is a. being weird for the obvious reasons and b. feeling kinda guilty about 'getting in the way of' Siffrin and Iseabeau), allows them to actually get close in a normal friend way. (I think an interesting turning point could be Isabeau actually taking Loop's side in an argument vs Siffrin, which would absolutely break Loop's brain. Especially if it's an argument that matters. Like what do you mean he isn't just going to play favourites. What?)

Then Isabeau, just actually open minded and charmed by Loop (and maybe even somewhat at Siffrin's suggestion?) tries to close the final open side on the polyamory triangle here and that's the final straw for Loop on "This lie by omission is too unethical to keep up, this is just actually sick and wrong. I can't do this while he doesn't know who I am." Though. Obviously it probably goes. Very poorly with emotions high like that. And the added element of several months of deceit. Getting dark here for a second but that dagger is going MISSING and so are THEY for a hot minute.

Then yaaay everything works out in the end 👍 yippieee!! all it took was maybe a lot of harrowed recontextualisation of all the weird shit your new friend said and did when it turns out they're your old friend. It's fine.

But yeah. this is basically the context all of my postcanon doodles have existed within? And those exist to give other people something to chew on. So this does too.

I suppose TL;DR: Imagine if sloopis almost fucking happens before isabeau knows who loop is. can you fucking imagine. can you imagine having to navigate that. nightmare.

*Yes this includes the implied cannibalism comic. Uhh. Comes part and parcel with headcanoning that Loop went way off the deep end similar to A5 Sif But Maybe Worse before giving in. Add weepy half-asleep confessions to murder wherever you see fit in your mind palace. 👍👍👍

**Re: Nille footnote. I don't have anywhere to put this besides here! I have some thoughts on Loop and Nille having an odd dynamic. I don't imagine Nille to be super gung-ho on trusting a bunch of adults (even if they are majority around her age) given their implied backstory. It's probably a big shock to the system, especially since Bambouche is a good couple hundred Kilometers up north from Dormont and these guys don't seem to have trains. She would've been unfrozen and without Bonnie for some time....

Which is to say: I think she's suspicious of them. I think she may be looking for excuses to distance herself, keep Bonnie safe. SO.... A new guy showing up? And antagonising the party? What do they know that I don't...? I should find out.

And since... Loop didn't ever know Nille, they have no ammunition or real reason to be cruel. Plus, if they're trying to stay on Bonnie's good side (SINCE... if Bonnie thought Loop was cringe they may as well kill themselves. In their mind.) they SUPER have no reason to antagonise Nille.

Mostly, they might be able to open up to each other easier than they can the rest of the party?

I feel like this resolves with Loop feeling compelled to apologise for what they and Siffrin let happen to Bonnie, though... Hmm... Depends on how you interpret Nille that they'd be glad nobody else had been told about that yet, or furious it had been secret this long. I lean toward the former.

#PHEW THIS IS LONG. i wrote some extra footnotes and tidied it up a bit. but uh. here you go! my personal headcanon baseline for postcanon. #i could probably elaborate more but that would get unwieldy. like i have opinions on loop's dynamics w each party member but. LONG POST... #lucabytetalks #isat #isat spoilers #in stars and time #isat loop #isiloop #sloopis #WONT be tagging everyone thats absurd. loop centric post though with a chunk about nille at the end #isat act 6 spoilers

[evermorethecrow]

EVERMORE THE CROW 1K SPECIAL..... EXPOSING MY PAST.................

ages ago when i was younger i had to write this letter talking about times i got injured for school work and it was so bad i went through it with a friend of mine and because i thought i wouldnt hit 1k before the end of the year saying id post it if i did.

AND NOW IVE DONE IT

so heres my letter :(

Dear sir, I chose to write about a dangerous situation I've been in but I found it so difficult to pinpoint one situation.I am such an impulsive and spontaneous person and I rarely think before I act .Therefore instead of just one dangerous situation I have composed. Before i start i would like to issue a warning under no circumstances should a person attempt to recreate any action in this list for it is ill advised and i don't want to go to court again Kind regards -------

Okay so let's start out small ,i mean like when i was small really small i couldn't walk, but oh boy i could climb and unfortunately for the better of my own health climb I did,climb out of my cot and i know because gravity people who drop out of things tend to have this annoying habit of hitting the floor.Lets just say my mum put PE mats on my bedroom floor after that.

Next…uhhhhh incident??? Oooh it's another escaping story  maan maybe i should change my name to houdini or something,anyway this was a little later like i was able to walk (uh oh) i reckon i was good a walking, a little too good, my mum looked away from my pram for a second a second too long when she looked back i was gone, everyone in the park was looking for me and after 10 minutes of looking my mum saw me walk out the playground, i left and went to the playground.We went home after that.

Time for the third story  I was two years old and was running buckwild in Greenwich Park and having a fun time, in fact I was having such a fun time I didn't hear my mum shout “LOOK OUT”.  I had a comically large bump on my head got concussed and had to go to hospital, Not for too long though the very next day i got sent home for using a IV as a skateboard

Just a heads up befor the next story alot of these storys will be me being stupid and endeing up in hospital so if you have idiotphopia or are scared it would be advised to leave now or buy todays sponsor raycon earbuds.

Anyway next accident  When i was five I was in bed as a five year old should be when I had a genius revelation Hmmm i I dont wanna use my legs to get out of bed so why not roll out instead….i did roll out of bed,right onto a plastic dinosaur and cut my eyelid, there was blood all over my face.But hey at least i got to meet an old friend of mine.The hospital waiting room.

So yeah you can probably see how i'm quite an accident prone person but i never really did anything that bad.SO WHO WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT THE TIME I JUMPED OFF MY SCOOTER WHILE GOING SUPER FAST ON IT DOWN A HILL? I was seven and i was at our local park blythe hill and my seven year old brain wanted nothing more than to go down that hill at record speeds on my scooter,and i'm not talking about one of those fancy stunt scooters no i'm talking about a kids micro scooter, you know , the one where you would always put elastic bands on it, any way I was about halfway down the hill when i decided I was going too fast on it and i could get hurt and since id never had an injury before i wanted to prevent that so what did i do? I jumped of the scooter I was a smart kid. I jumped off my scooter and pretty much removed all the skin on that side of my body and too make matters worse it got infected and i had to take antibiotics for 4 weeks. Fun times

As you can probably see i might be a bit reckless and might be a bit bad at planning ahead  Which leads me to our next story, this ones a bit different you see this time  I didn't actually get hurt. I was at a friend's house and that friend's house had a garden with a tree,a tree and a garage which was placed close to the tree, and I, being a master climber since birth, scaled the tree with ease. But that wasn't enough for me no I wanted to climb the garage.So i went across the tree to the branche nearest the garage ,and climbed on top of the garage,the lovely,brick garage.my friends dad came out and saw me on top of the garage simply chilling and as you can probably predict he asked me to get down so instead of doing the rational thing and using the tree to et down.. I jumped of the garage onto the stone floor.I didn't go to their house for a while after that

I have another garage related story,This was in 2017 I was nine surely I was smateer by then and learned my lesson Right……Right? Me and my siblings were playing marco polo out the front of our house (never a good sign) And it was my turn to be blindfolded and find my siblings.I decided to run straight forward and hit the brick wall between two garages , I fractured my nose, chipped my front tooth and had to go to hospital.oops.

Now they say save the best for last and boy did i. It was 2020(oh god ) and we were celebrating my mom's birthday and all was going smoothly, well until i decided to leave our living room by jumping out the room from the sofa.it didn't go as planned.yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah i jumped off the sofa hi my head on the top of the door landed on my arm and spent 5 hours in hospital on my mums birthday.

That's all we have time for today However here are some honorable mentions 

.The time i used my scooter on a tall thin brick wall (someone really ought to take that thing of me honestly)

.All the times I hit my head on bins 

.And that time this year I literally without thinking put the hairdryer on my face after I used It and burnt stripes into my face 

Well thats the list of the most dangerous things ive done, of course ive done more dumb things but this paper has gone on long enough and I have school in the morning so bye I guess.

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

MY LIFE IS RUINED

#Evermore exposed

[ectogeo-rebubbles]

I have kind of a niche Garashir fic idea I want to write but I’ve never posted anything publicly before, so I am nervous. But I can’t seem to get over the idea? You’re one of my favorite fic writers, any advice? 💕🥺

Ooooh, you gotta try to write it!!! I always love to indulge my new ideas that are driving me insane as soon as I can hehe (because part of writing often has to be done after the initial idea no longer excites you quite the same way).

I like that you said it’s a niche idea, too! I do enjoy most of the common fanon tropes and worldbuilding, but it’s always so refreshing when people add something brand new to the Garashir body of literature. And the nicher and stranger the better, in my opinion!! One thing about writing something niche is that maybe it won’t get the same amount of attention as quickly as something that has broader appeal, HOWEVER... I can tell you from experience that when your niche stuff does find its audience (which may take patience and persistence) that audience will likely go absolutely WILD for it. And I always find that very rewarding <3

Is the reason you haven't started yet because you don't quite know how to start? If that's the case, I would recommend writing an outline first. I even sometimes will outline really short oneshots lol, not because I think I really need to, but because that way i at least have a good record of my idea and ALSO because sometimes I can trick myself into just starting to write by taking notes on in outline format until I get to the part I'm REALLY excited about, at which point I realize I'm just writing full sentences instead of notes and I just let it flow from there and go back to fix the beginning later. XD You could also just try to summarize the plot for a friend, that often reveals to me where any structural issues are tripping me up, and identifies what I need to think about more before I set words down on the page.

Idk if you haven't written before or if you just haven't posted any of it, but I want you to know that a few years ago, when I was easing myself back into writing, I worked on writing like 3 or 4 different garashir fic ideas privately before I actually figured out which idea I wanted to write all the way to the end and actually post. Most of those first wips never got posted (and my wip graveyard is still massive and always growing lol) and that's for the best bc I either got bored of the idea or could not yet achieve the story in the way I wanted to. Which is NOT to tell you that this is inevitable or that you should let your inner editor shut you down, but I just want you to know that it's perfectly okay and normal to, like, have to noodle around a bit before you've written something you're happy with.

Speaking of your inner editor, you gotta tune them out while writing a first draft. Don't even worry if the sentence makes sense, just get the words out, and then get the next words out, and then the next... If there is something stopping you from writing the next sentence (a name you need to make up, or something you need to research, or uncertainty about what a character would be doing, or even if you are just blanking on a word) and you are trying to maintain a flow of writing, then write a note for yourself (e.g, "[insert title of a Cardassian novel here]" or "[Julian makes some kind of expression. Surprise? Anger? idk]" or "[synonym for sinister, bc I've used sinister three times this fic already]") and then MOVE ON. You can go back in and fill in those blanks later.

Also, I really really really really like the writing advice of thinking of your first draft as your worst draft or stupidest draft. It's so true and it helps take the pressure off. One related amazing thing about writing star trek fanfic is that if ever you begin to doubt yourself, you can just fondly think about a beloved episode of Star Trek where something very silly or buckwild happens in a very contrived way, and then remind yourself that people LOVE that episode anyway. This is a genuine way that I have reminded myself not to be so harsh on my own writing lmao.

I really working with beta readers, but I know that's not something everyone enjoys and it's def not required. Still, a beta reader can give feedback on your writing to make it clearer, and they'll likely become invested in your fic and will cheer you on, and if it’s longer than a oneshot you can have someone to talk it through with during the writing process. But it might be hard to find someone you work well with and everyone’s beta reading style is a lil different, so I recommend always being very clear about what kind of feedback you want from them (grammar/typos, plot structure, clarity, brainstorming ideas for how to fix this plothole, does this one specific line of dialogue work, etc! whatever aspects you are uncertain about and want help with for that specific fic). And you should know that it’s okay to not take someone's recommendations too, it’s ultimately your fic, so anyone giving you feedback should just be trying to help you achieve your own vision. Still, even in those cases where you don't go along exactly with their idea for what to change, knowing what parts confused them can help you figure out how to get your vision across more clearly.

If you think concrit might actually be demotivational and intimidating (totally get that, back in high school I actually solicited concrit on my fics publicly, as was the custom back then, and received some critiques from some truly well-meaning friends, and the experience STILL rattled me so bad that it turned me off writing for awhile), or if the process of finding someone to beta read sounds overwhelming, I’d recommend that you instead just find a trusted friend who is willing to read over the completed draft, with the understanding that they must simply give you a sanity check and then tell you yep that’s good! Cannot stress enough the power of encouragement and support and having someone hype you up. ^_^

If you are too nervous to post it under your own name, you can post it to the Anonymous collection on ao3. This is a reversible process, so if you want to reattach your username to your fic later then you can!

Anyway, feel free to send follow up questions about any of this or let me know if there's an aspect of writing I didn't mention that is what you're actually stuck on. I hope this helps and good luck and HAVE FUN! Have fun is actually the most important writing advice haha.

(P.S., anon, if you want me to beta read a draft of a oneshot or at least look over a chapter or two if it's multichapter, I am down to do so, just DM me. If not that's fine too, I'm just so so flattered that you reached out to me and I want to encourage you in any way I can! <3)

#asks

[shen-daozhang]

ooh i saw your tags in the post about ppl hating female characters for the same things they love about male characters, and i thought about sqt vs jgy, so i wonder what you think about both of them! (if you feel like answering! it's not like a 1:1 comparison)

*vibrating* Yea I like those characters a normal amount why do you ask!! (Also I had a super busy week at work and I kept thinking about this ask and monologuing about it in my head, so thank you for the enrichment in my enclosure)

(very messy thoughts incoming!)

Ngl, I never considered how they are similar until this ask, and there are a lot of ways that they are! A background that includes abuse, being seen as less-than for the circumstances of their birth (SQT as a Butterfly Boned Beauty Feast, JGY as an illegitimate son of a sex worker), both gravitate towards powerful men to protect themselves, both are navigating the confines of society trying to move upwards, again, in order to protect themselves. Also both use torture (or at least the 0.5 timeline SQT does)! So that's a fun little similarity.

Now, a big difference is there is the element of revenge in JGY's actions on top of the base need to survive (and a desire to thrive in a world that looks down on you), and I think considering his intelligence he would have gotten away with his plans if not for the completely buckwild re-introduction of WWX back into the plot after his death. I personally think SQT is just focused on survival, and even when she is cruel to Chu Wanning in the 0.5 timeline, I believe she does so because considering TXJ's own treatment of CWN she thinks that is want he wants, and doing so will improve her standing with him (which, sidebar, I am always floored by people who hate on SQT for hurting CWN while they woobify TXJ). Her accusation of Ye Wangxi is only done in an attempt to survive, and I think should be viewed in the lens of the danger that Mo Ran's planted evidence places her in - she's a known Beauty Feast and you know in the world of Erha the second she is out from the protection of Nangong Si her life is likely literally over.

SQT is also just not as smart as JGY, which isn't a slight towards her, JGY is obviously brilliant on many fronts. But I think there is an element of SQT batting above her level, and that leads to her downfall in both timelines. Another glaring similarity is the fandom reaction to them and their actions being a smidge... shall I kick the hornets nest and say hypocritical especially when compared to the actions of the main character? Or other characters in the story who get woobified? (I will also throw Ye Bingchang from Till the End of the Moon into this category). At the end of the day, they are people who are just trying to survive in a deeply messed up world in the only way they know how. Now! Are they both innocent of any wrong-doing because of this? Of course not! That's what makes them interesting and why I gravitate towards these types of characters. The TL;DR: of this is essentially, "people doing fucked up stuff to survive in a world where you have to do fucked up things to survive? It's more likely than you think!"

I will say the fandom's feelings towards JGY has chilled a bit lately, but people were nasty towards him back in the day. Unfortunately, people still are towards SQT and I don't see that changing. I actually ended up including her in my 0.5 fic because I was tired of seeing fics that she either didn't appear at all OR was killed off in a way that was obviously done with malice on behalf of the author. Now she uh doesn't meet a happy end in either of my fics where she features but she's actually a character I really enjoyed writing, and I hope I did it with some sense of sympathy.

There was more I wanted to say but this is already long so I shall post this before it withers further in my drafts! <3

Also gonna link my own fics in case anyone is curious since I mentioned them. SQT appears as a character in this one here - my take on "hanahaki but worse" which has a sad ending - and her death is an inciting incident in this one, an AU where Chu Wanning is the one who got the flower and has become a zealot trying to cleanse the cultivation world (a WIP but I will finish it!).

#jin guangyao #meng yao #song qiutong

[kaylor]

Is campaign 3 worth watching 😭 im somewhere near ep 45 and there have just been so many arcs that do nothing for me. The stakes feel absurdly high for uhh level .. 6? and i thought it would get good at some point but if they still cant make a plan by ep 80 i dont think i care to waste my time 😭😭

yuhhhh i don't know man. the malleus key and the fallout of it is pretty dope, and idk how many spoilers you've seen so i'll leave it there. but after that it gets very boring again i can't lie.

you're so right about the high stakes!! these characters haven't had any space to breathe or grow since like episode 20 or whenever it was they found out about predathos and the world ending. they've been chasing a plot they're not ready for without doing any of the character work that makes you care about their goal. it's difficult to see why the party is together in the first place because they don't talk to each other or have any reason care about each other (except fearne/orym and imogen/laudna but the latter is so bland it's actually painful).

the party doesn't gel, there's no motivations from anyone beyond orym having a personal stake in it. imogen is so wishywashy about everything. none of them care about the gods except FCG, and no one in the party cares about FCG. except ashton, who is played so passively and unpleasantly that it doesn't even matter. there's no caleb/vax doing his biweekly checkins with each party member to unlock new dialogue. there's no fjord/grog to make a buckwild (yet thematically relevant) decision to direct the party in any direction. there's no driving force behind any of these characters like sorry liam and travis, turns out if you take a backseat to let your friends have the spotlight, they will do sweet fuck all!!

another problem i think is how they're given so many pieces of the puzzle at once, whilst the big bad is already in play. i don't know if that was matt's intention, but it's led to them barely following up on any character driven plot points because, well, the world might end. so any extracurricular character development is nixed in favor of chasing a maxxed out uberbaddy who is almost definitely going to kill them. any cool character moments kind of happen in spite of rather than thanks to the events, and honestly feel a bit forced sometimes because the characters have all been so stagnant for so long, and honestly the most interesting things about the characters are their backstories, which have already happened. their current motivations are a mystery and none of them seem interested in learning more about each other. it just feels very awkward and stale.

PLUS, the stakes are absurdly high but also there are no consequences for anything!! laudna dying didn't feel important because it wasn't permanent! because they can apparently just ask a member of vox machina for a resurrection!!! absolutely bizarre choice from matt to allow that, if i'm being completely honest. like sorry i know that's your wife but marisha should be 40 episodes deep into her backup character by now because there's absolutely no way anyone in VM would agree to resurrecting a delilah briarwood puppet let's be so serious. the party (especially imogen) dealing with a PC death would have made for some really interesting development, and would have created an opportunity for imogen to either take a leadership role to get revenge on otohan, OR break bad and turn on the rest of the party. some delicious pvp. but unfortunately laura doesn't seem to know what to do with her character and therefore does nothing, so it felt extremely flat and meaningless, which kind of sums up c3 tbh. some of the highest stakes but barely a PC who gives a shit.

the past say 10 episodes have been a slog for only a handful of cool moments, so i really hope post episode 82 it picks up a bit. plot is fun and situations are fun but i'm struggling to care about any of these characters because it doesn't seem like any of the cast care about them either. which is a shame because some of them have huge potential, FCG is literally an aeormaton!!!! my god you have GOT to get into it. why is no one getting into it!!!! will someone PLEASE pick up what sam is putting down!!! the payoff is always so good!!!

#also if i were matt i would ban the use of the guidance spell #some of them just seem to only care about rolling high and winning d&d #critical role

[neighboringheart]

I'M IN HARDCORE SUPPORT FOR THE PREDATOR/PREY DYNAMIC YOU POSTED ABOUT !!

I'm an absolute simp for Bumblebee so any ship with him as the prey is perfect in my eyes.

The 3 ships that comes to mind immediately are BlitzBee, StarBee and MegaBee.

The Megabee scenario about a concerned Megatron worrying that Bee is distrustful of him while in reality the autobot is having the most insane thoughts were really funny lol.

So I'm curious in how you would go about the other two ships, if in all cases Bee is already into the idea and find it hot or if it's a life or death scenario as he is being hunted down by various deceptions ?

I'm rambling here, but all Im saying is that I need to hear more from you about this specific Predator/Prey dynamic bc I CRAVE MORE.

(also maybe a crossover with Bee ending up in the shattered glass universe to throw in some twisted autobots into the mix too 🫡)

ough ough ough okay I am home from work and have a keyboard to properly go buckwild with and yeah there's not gonna be much punctuation happening sorry but I'm feral and I am politely grabbing you by the collar to keep you here

adding a read more bc this got a lot longer than I thought it would but I hope you enjoy my brainworms

okay so for BlitzBee it would absolutely be something that Blitzwing brought up first and you might think "oh was it Random joking about it or something?" no it was Icy looking Bee right in the eyes and just going "I want to hunt you for sport. would that interest you?" and at first Bee did not get it at all and was unsettled but he ends up getting curious which is how the first occurrence of them disappearing into the woods for a week happened

Bee would end up finding out that oh it actually is kinda hot to have all that adrenaline going kinda like right after a really tough race except the bit of fear tingling up his spine makes it interesting and then being caught and having Blitzwing roughly fuck into him with barely any prep at all hurt but still felt so so good and after waking up the next morning and thinking for a bit yeah he got it he got exactly why Blitzwing was interested in that and it ends up becoming a regular thing for the two of them where they just disappear and then show back up again like a week later Bee looking like he went through a wood chipper and his abdomen a bit bloated from all the transfluid he's been stuffed with the last week but his field brimming so brightly with a fuzzy happiness that no one wants to bring up that he needs to stop whatever he's been doing

aside from Ratchet that is lol he makes it very clear how much he dislikes having to do a full systems check on him but also does NOT want to know who he's been fucking bc he knows it would have to be a decepticon and he doesn't wanna know a damn thing about it

as for StarBee tbh I really couldn't see either of them being interested in it or bringing it up aside from like...rid15 StarBee bc rid15 Starscream is feral in a very specific way and yeah I could see him wanting to hunt Bumblebee down and then claim him once he's victorious

idk how Bee would feel about it tho I feel like he'd try it just the one time bc Starscream keeps suggesting they try something more adventurous and Bee would much rather one of them gets tied up instead of being forced to go galivanting through the woods at the behest of his—frankly deranged—boyfriend but he goes with it just to try it once and afterwards they'd discuss it and Bee didn't hate it but again he'd rather that Starscream just tie him up next time which Starscream would be happy to do so they just stick to berth activities that involve less of bee ending up facedown in the dirt...took a while to get everything out of his seams lol

and then idw StarBee it would never happen bc Starscream would be too busy trying to convince Bee to put him on a leash (which Bee is so tired of this conversation he doesn't wanna do petplay) to think about predator/prey shit lmao

and then MegaBee...oh MegaBee my beloved...this could work for so many continuities in my head but yeah earthspark would be the funniest but the extra size difference in tfa is also very sexy I would imagine in either scenario the seed would be planted in Bee's mind after either getting chased by Megatron for real at some point or in a dream and then the image just sticks there for a while

in earthspark it would be easier ofc since they're allies so eventually Bee would get the courage to bring it up to Megatron who would just be bewildered beyond all belief like "you want me to what??? why would you want that?? I've hurt you before!" and it would take a lot of convincing on Bee's part to get Megatron to agree especially bc he'd be like "but aren't you and Breakdown an item? I could have sworn he mentioned it last we spoke" and Bee would just be like "yeah we are but like you know how some humans have an agreement with their significant other about like having one other person that their partner would give them a pass about fragging? mine was you...and his was Knockout but I won't give you the details...he's got some interesting kinks that I don't have the literal claws for"

anyways Megatron would eventually relent in that scenario and agree to it bc he does find the idea of fucking Bee to be much more appealing than he'd expected and he wants to try something new but as soon as he's actually caught Bee and starts to manhandle him a bit Bee would start struggling and begging him to let him go or something and Megatron would definitely end up using their safeword he just wouldn't be able to do it

they'd have to sit down somewhere Megatron shaking a bit bc even tho he knew it was just a scene and that Bee was just playing the part the thought of him returning to how he once was terrifies him and they'd end up having a long conversation that ends with the decision that if they were to try something like that again they'd change it to be more lighthearted bc Megatron did enjoy the chase and doesn't mind getting a bit rough with his partners but even Bee pretending that he's scared and trying to get away is too much but yeah they'd figure it out and have a lot of steamy fun

tfa MegaBee would be wayyyy different tho Megatron would be so into it and Bee would be so in over his head but he'd be wobbling back to the autobot base later looking like he'd been in a ten car pile up but feeling more blissed out than he'd ever been lmao he'd think about it on and on for weeks hoping to get to do it again

as for if he ended up in shattered glass? oh primus help any poor Bumblebee who ends up in that situation and lets hope any of them would already be a little bit of a freak otherwise that would not be a fun trip for him lol

oh boy I ended up rambling a lot more than I thought I would lmao but I hope you're seeing my vision here there are so many Bumblebees and so many of them deserve to get chased through the woods and then bent over and getting their cute little valves stuffed until the only thing they can ever think about is getting to experience that thrill again

ough even just the thought of earthspark Bumblebee with his doorwings twitching and thick transfluid dribbling from his gaping valve after Megatron pulls out makes me feel so so insane I need to do unthinkable things to him

so yeah the individual scenarios would vary a lot but I feel like in most instances it wouldn't be Bumblebee who thinks of it unless there was some kind of inciting incident whether irl or some kind of strange dream but most people who get together with him end up wanting to hunt him for sport bc he's just so cute and even tho he's certainly not helpless he can play that act very well and look real cute while doing it and he's usually enough of a freak that he'd want to try it

...now that I think about it...tfa ProwlBee would also be interesting as I'm sure Prowl would love to finally shut that brat up and chasing him down to stuff him with a spike sure is one way to do it but I've prattled on long enough this post is getting wayyy too long lmao I am nothing if not a passionate man 😂

#nh text #ask #anon #valveplug #too lazy to tag the ships lol this is just for you anon

[puckish-rogue]

Lore Dump: Regarding the Supernatural

Note: This is gonna be a bit of a short one as it's more of a clarification for people who have Muses that are tied to the supernatural.

So, let me just get this out of the way and say that yes, there are elements of the supernatural present within the original SR games (although more so the first two, and that expansion I don't even consider canon). And while they aren't exactly anything that substantial, I've always seen that as an invitation to explore the concept further. Cause really, how the hell do you not love the idea of mashing organized crime and stuff that's far beyond the realm of comprehension together? It's definitely had a hold of me ever since a particular boss fight in the second game, but that's something I'll get to in a second.

Anyway, let me just lay it out like this; in the first SR, after the death of an important character (no spoilers on the off chance one of you actually wants to check out the series), you are given the chance to call up a number you might have seen around the map for a business known as Eye for an Eye. They are run by voodoo practitioners who can revive the aforementioned character, and have them come back as a zombie homie. This can also be done in the second game after the death of another major character.

Now, in addition to Eye for an Eye, we have a character introduced in SR2 who goes by the name of Mr. Sunshine. He is the second-in-command of the Sons of Samedi, a Haitian drug cartel led by a man who goes by the moniker of The General. Mr. Sunshine is important to our discussion because he is the first instance of The Boss encountering someone tied to the supernatural in the main plot, and not have it be just some silly little easter egg.

This is mainly shown during the fight you have with him (the mission is fairly graphic by the end), where Mr. Sunshine pulls out a voodoo doll that's able to both knock The Boss around, and keep himself invincible until the doll is shot out of his hands. Yet even on the brink of death, Mr. Sunshine is seemingly capable of reviving himself over and over again, right until The Boss decides to just decapitate him.

With all that said, you're probably wondering just what in the hell does any of that mean. Well, I think it's pretty simple; if the game is going to go out of its way to depict something as abnormal and clearly supernatural as that was, in a main mission no less, then what does that tell you about the rest of the world? What else might be lurking around that people might not be fully aware of? And yeah, I know it's kinda silly to go that buckwild over tiny little hints of shit being a little weird in this universe. But like hell am I keep myself or anyone else from taking the opportunity to explore that further.

And let me be clear, I'm not looking to do anything totally out there. There is a way to depict something regarding magic, the supernatural, and anything else that may fall under that category in a way that's both very interesting, and acknowledges that in a modern setting such as this, it's not commonplace. So I would absolutely love to do that with y'all. I love those kinds of settings, I love throwing Django into these situations where he has to deal with things that are soooo out of his league. It's a lot of fun! And I hope you can see that vision as well.

#Lore Dump ⚜ #When I said short one I meant that it isn't going as in depth as I normally would have done lmfao

[deafeninggardenerpanda]

ive been reading the samurai kirby novel test reads and oh Boy i am so so glad i called dibs on this novel ive been actively enjoying every second of it

tbh if theres like anyone Super looking forward to this novel, i recommend going in completely blind for a number of reasons. but to those who don't care here's some brief rambles

this novel has test reads published every week for a month like the rtdl novel, instead of just one test read about a week before the novel's release date like novels usually do. the rtdl novel i could excuse as being separate from the usual novels, but this is a bit odd. i guess im not complaining though, it means a lot more reading and content for me. currently there have been three test reads released so far

previous post about this novel, if you didn't hear before and want the full rundown

interestingly meta knight hasn't appeared yet, even though he seems to be super important from the synopsis and a duo with kirby for the book's major plot of retrieving the sword technique scroll

also related, the major plot of retrieving any sort of sword technique scroll has not even been remotely mentioned yet at this point

what has been mentioned, then? well first of all everyone lives under a brutal dictatorship. the lord of this place enforces strict and unreasonable laws and anyone who speaks ill of them are arrested. there's multiple occasions of characters freaking out and telling others to shut up in case the authority are secretly listening. according to a rumor from pharmacist scarfy and postman wheelie, dissenters also get taken from their houses at night and thrown into a dungeon never to be seen again, and that there were pained groans heard coming from the dungeon the other night.

its not stated but in my opinion this is definitely a kid friendly version of yeah the police totally torture and starve you. also the police are terrifying animated wooden mechanical puppets, said to be "bloodthirsty". anyways

the animal troupe is in fact this universe's version of beast pack. elfy and them are like a family in this and it makes me buckwild insane. leon acts like an overprotective dad

dedede has been mentioned. he's apparently a double agent against the evil lord and secretly protects everyone. actually really cool

meta knight has not been mentioned. magolor also hasn't been mentioned, but apart from being a sweets merchant he's also apparently a riverman, according to the character introductions.

clawroline wears a kimono. i love her. that's all i wanted to say with that

i was confused about this in my initial post about this novel but bandana waddle dee has been renamed to tenugui waddle dee in this novel, because he wears a tenugui (japanese hand towel) on his head instead of a bandana

oh yeah that brutal dictatorship thing i mentioned earlier? the main ongoing current conflict with that is that no one can eat dango or mochi because of it. that's literally the only thing anyone's mad about. who cares about having your rights being taken away if you can't have mochi i guess. very dreamland-core

anddd the town this takes place in is called pupupu machi (pupupu town) which im considering translating as cappy town, since Dream Town does not have a good ring to it. but i think Some anime haters would get Really upset if i called it cappy town so lol

#*gardening noises* #LATE NIGHT RAMBLE HOURS #kirby light novels #im going buckwild insane over this novel its so Much in the best way #AU NOVELS JUST KEEP WINNING

[flieslikeamoron]

Hey hey hey, made sure to send this before I succumb to sleep (was so tempted to ask so many of these): 3, 20, 56, 64, 76 (for the obvious one that has me in a chokehold and forever leaving incoherent comments 💕). Have a lovely Saturday

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

Um. I went buckwild on this one. I'm going to do the others in a separate post because this is so detailed and probably not what anyone is interested in. But I save a lot of stuff in cut folders while I'm writing, so here's an example of the process of writing the scene where Eddie takes Steve to his room for the first time.

Normally the first thing is a very basic outline of what scenes I'm trying to put in the chapter. Dabblewriter has a notecard function so it's like this.

And what you'll notice about this is it doesn't have a lot of stuff from that chapter. It doesn't have the almost fight with Billy. It doesn't have Eddie comforting Steve in his van. It says Eddie invites Steve over at the picnic tables, but that happens after the almost fight in the final version. The picnic tables in the final version are Eddie being scared Steve's breaking up with him, and offering to drive him. And the "Steve at Eddie's" part in this outline doesn't include them fighting about "you could be my thing" at all. So this is the starting point, and it's not actually what the story ends up being. Which is usually the case.

Sometimes I can go directly to writing a scene, but most often the next step is making stream of consciousness notes like this until I find the scenario I think will work. Which is honestly just more outlining, but more specific.

Okay, so if you remember the final version of that scene you remember some of this is in there like Steve's playing with the yoyo and touching all Eddie's stuff. Eddie's coming onto him. But he doesn't actually blow him or ride him in the scene. So what happened in between this and the final? Well, another super messy full of notes version but getting closer to the real thing.

So at this point the "tour" and the guitar being "his girl" are in there, but notice I put save the dad stuff for later. And this is because at that point I was still thinking they were going to have sex in this scene. And the dad stuff is kind of a boner killer so it wasn't working to have it in there. You can tell from the first set of notes I thought the scene was about Eddie's discomfort with Steve being in his space and taking control of it with sex. But I had been waffling between Eddie blowing or riding him or both, and here I thought maybe 69ing (which is dumb that wouldn't work in this scene). Usually if I can't settle on something that way it's because it's not working. So it just took me a while to let go of that original idea, and realize the scene is actually about not just Eddie being vulnerable and uncomfortable with it and trying to take control of it. But also about Steve wanting Eddie to be this thing Eddie knows he can't be. (This thing that realistically no one can be.) And the two of them not really hearing each other. And Steve learning from this that Eddie doesn't want him to say how he feels because in his mind Eddie doesn't feel the same way. But even while they're not getting each other, finding that "I'm so into you" moment and taking baby steps toward each other etc.

I had already written "the dad thing" and the "you could be my thing" parts and the "i'm so into you" bit. Or anyway mostly just the dialogue of them. If random bits come to me I just write them, and try to figure out where they go. Sometimes they don't go anywhere, but most of them get used eventually. And those types of things always change once I'm actually putting them in a specific place rather than having them be unconnected snippets. But once I'm actually understanding the basic shape of the scene we're looking at:

Now we're getting there. But keen eyed readers will notice that originally the bit about Eddie's mom and about Steve having taken a few lessons and only getting hard for electric was originally here before I moved it to its own scene. And that the whole upping the ante thing where Steve's still trying to talk about the guitar while Eddie's touching him to turn him on isn't there yet. This almost game where Steve is coaxing more info out of him and Eddie is coaxing him to get hard. So the original idea of this scene of Steve wanting to know Eddie and Eddie wanting to distract him and using sex to regain control is still in that moment rather than in a whole sex scene. But I hadn't figured that out yet in this version.

Anyway there's more of this version and it does have the shape of the final. Like it's got the whole I'm into you argument, but not some of the specific things like Steve sitting up and Eddie holding him down to keep him from leaving. I won't copy the whole thing because it's very long, but here's a snippet toward the end. You can see there are still notes throughout that I have to go back and fill in with the actual words. Please excuse the notes by the way, I don't correct any typos or formatting in them ever because usually no one sees them but me.

So these are just the versions I have saved, not all the ones I went through. And once there's a draft with no more notes, it still needs more editing. But you can see the progression and kind of get the idea. It's truly the most inefficient process. OTOH if I had written the version of the chapter that was in the outline, it would have been worse. And I simply wouldn't have thought of adding the almost fight with Billy when I was outlining. That just comes from the character work. Because I wanted that moment of Eddie saying "he has a ride" in front of everyone. And once you have that happen in front of Billy of course Billy's going to say something. And at that point it's just... Well, this is what these people would do. And sometimes you write all that stuff out, you follow the characters where they're going, and then it's like... Well, yes this is what they would do, but it doesn't add anything to the actual story or I already hit this beat, so you take it back out. But in other cases, it is the story.

So the process for the most part is I just have to try things and write around it until I figure out which parts are working and why and what it's supposed to be. I don't really recommend this process to anyone, but the way my brain works I have to find the story in the writing. And like... It works. It gets results. But man, I would love it if I could just write a thing without writing it 20 times the wrong way first.

#writing #ask game #my fic: sleight of hand #dvd commentary i guess

[noir-renard]

Okay so stop me if you've heard this one before, but I'm really happy to see the long-overdue recognition Goncharov is getting now (just in time for the 50th year anniversary too!)

BUT! Something I haven't seen anyone talking about is the 1987 stage adaptation of Goncharov, which is really too bad because it is ICONIC.

Like, okay, it's been a few years since I took American Theater History, but Goncharov was doing things no one else was doing. It did things no one has done since. This was a transformative adaptation to the point where it deserves to be recognized as its own thing.

I don't think I can possibly encapsulate everything this play is and accomplished so I'll focus on a few things, but I recommend looking up Taylor & Francis Contemporary Theatre Review for some articles on Goncharov (the play).

So, first of all, they had A Different Actor play Goncharov in Every Scene (*almost every scene, we'll come back to that). That in itself is absolutely buckwild, like this should have been a relatively inexpensive play to produce (small cast, minimal set, small stage, etc etc) but there were at least twenty four Goncharovs, possibly more. No one actually knows how many actors played Goncharov during its full run because they kept rotating the cast, but some estimates number in the hundreds; but there were never more than 24 during each performance. InSaNe, right?

But it doesn't stop there. See, the various Gonchs didn't wait backstage for their scenes, oh no. They sat in the audience. Pretending to be the audience, but was it really pretend? I really wish I could have been a fly on the wall for opening night. You arrive, you're excited to see this timeless film classic on stage (Theater purists will tell you stage theater is always better). The opening scene happens (you know the one lol), and you think, okay, this is fine, they're playing this by the book.

AND THEN THE GUY SITTING NEXT TO YOU WHO CAME WITH HIS WIFE STANDS UP AND WALKS UP TO THE STAGE, TAKES GONCHAROV'S HAT, COAT, AND TIE, DOES THE COSTUME CHANGE ON STAGE, AND STARTS THE NEXT SCENE!!

(and then the opening scene actor comes and sits down next to you, taking Gonch II's place, awkwardly squeezing past in the tiny seats to sit, asking you if he missed anything while he was in the bathroom??)

So you're confused, but the play is still going so you try to focus. Andrey is acting like everything is the same. Goncharov II makes a phone call to Ice Pick Joe, and he doesn't say he's ordering a hit, but you've seen the movie, you know what's up (this will be important later stay with me).

So there's another scene change, and sure enough, someone else gets up from the audience, walks to the stage, does the costume change, continues the play as if everything is normal and fine.

And this happens 23 times.

Now, you might think this is a novelty and that even if no one who watched the play talked about it to anyone who hadn't seen it, if you went back for a repeat viewing you'd know what to expect. But get this: they changed the order of the actors every night. And where they sat. And how they were dressed when they were part of the audience. So. Even if you knew it was going to happen, there was no way to predict exactly how it would happen!

Okay, so, I need to talk about the costume change on stage bit. Like, sure, kind of neat, but we all know there's a repeated motif in the film of Goncharov trying to fix his tie (symbolic of the "noose of time" tightening around his neck) but he never gets it quite right until Andrey fixes it for him.

And they did this in the play, too, but with a twist. See, up until the Andrey Ties The Knot Scene (lol subtle much), the Gonch who was leaving the stage would put the hat, coat, and tie on the new Gonch. So of course it wasn't quite right, all of these actors were built really differently! (Incredible costume design credit has to go to Nana Hastings here, like I don't know how she made the Sisterhood of the Traveling Goncharov work on stage but by god did she make it work)

Okay ajsjsjsb I keep getting sidetracked. Anyway. When Andrey fixes the tie and coat for the Goncharov on stage, this is, in fact, the final "actor" change. There are further scene changes, but now there's no one getting up from the audience anymore. And if you've seen the film, then it dawns on you: the Goncharov on stage is the one Andrey is gonna kill. Notably, the play reordered things a bit so the Katya Betrays Goncharov scene already happened before Andrey Ties the Knot, and the Gonch she tried to kill was a different Actor (yeah yeah symbolism of who you can show your truest self to we've all seen it).

So, back to the Andrey Ties the Knot scene (it's really important can I live). You might remember the argument that happens at the beginning of this scene in the movie. Well, in the play, the argument happens closer to the end. So if you know what's coming, the tension is building and building, and then the iconic line: Goncharov yells "how can you claim to understand me? To know what I want? To promise to give it to me? You don't even know who I am! I don't even know who I am!" Which, chills. But you see, at this moment, all the Goncharov Actors who've returned to sitting in the audience all stand up and yell the final line of this monologue with the Goncharov on stage. SO WILD. can you even imagine what that was like? You're so engrossed in the drama that you've forgotten the woman sitting next to you was on stage during scene 3. And now she's standing up and yelling! What's going to happen next??

Well. You know the line. Andrey sighs fondly, walks up to Goncharov, and says "I know you." And fixes Goncharov's tie.

And then it's intermission.

You're getting a snack in the lobby, and it's 1987 so you don't have access to a phone to tell your Goncharov Discord Server what you just witnessed. And what's going to happen next?? You still have half the play! (Or ⅓, at least!) But all that's really left is the betrayal scene. How are they going to stretch it out? You can't wait to see.

Intermission ends, you go back to your seat. It opens with Katya and Sofia. Ah, you think, so they've gone with the 'faked her death' interpretation. But then you notice the clock—which is front and center on the stage at all times during the play—has been set back. Is this a memory, then? A dream?

The question is never answered, but then Ice Pick Joe comes on stage and physically changes the hands himself. You see him get a phone call. You remember this—from the other end of the line. Goncharov is calling a hit. Ice Pick Joes accepts the hit. Hangs up. Walks to the clock. Moves it forward an hour, and leaves the stage. Another Katya scene, but she's changed into summer clothes. An actor you've never seen is on stage with her—this is her father, before he died. A death she feels responsible for.

The scene ends, Ice Pick Joe again. Same deal—a phone call from Gonch. He accepts the hit, and moves the clock forward. The next scene is an Andrey and Katya scene. There's so much subtext, it's hard to follow. Are they flirting? Plotting? Do they hate each other?

Ice Pick Joe again.

Now, at this point you start to notice something. There are fewer people in the audience than there should be (it was a small Blackbox theatre that got torn down in 1993, so I couldn't find any good photos, but it was small enough that you'd notice people missing).

You then realize that the ones going missing are the actors who played Goncharov. And then you see a pattern: every time Ice Pick Joe takes a call, an actor disappears. What does it mean?

This is never actually given meaningful resolution in the play, by the way, and the director refused to elaborate. What does it mean to you? Is all he'd say on the matter, but no one knew that while they were watching. Anyway I had to mention it because it's one of the wilder things this play did.

So there's all these out of time scenes staggered with Ice Pick Joe (until he dies RIP), and we "catch up". It's the final betrayal. Andrey is going to kill Goncharov, and everyone knows it, including Goncharov. "I never thought it would end like this." "You never were good at imagining happy endings," says Andrey. (I know you mouthed the lines don't lie no one can resist)

Andrey pulls the trigger, lights out—

When the lights come back up (RED LIGHTS) there's no body onstage, just the Goncharov costume. Andrey picks up the tie, the hat, the coat. He puts them all on. And he walks off stage.

AND THATS THE END OF THE PLAY. We don't see Goncharov actually die. We have no idea what happens to him. (When I tell you people have argued about this for decades, I mean it.)

The house lights turn up, you look around and see how empty the theater is. How many of the audience members were actors? You don't actually know. There is no curtain call. You walk out into the lobby in a daze, and all the actors are there, chatting. "Wild play, huh? I'm not sure I quite understood it, to be honest," they tell you. None of them break character. They are committed to the bit.

One of them tells you he enjoyed your performance. You think it might be Scorsese himself, though possibly it's Matteo JWHJ0715 in the flesh. Or maybe it was just another theater go-er trying to sound smart. Who knows?? Not you.

And that's Goncharov (1987), off Broadway in a nutshell.

It unfortunately only ran for a year because as it turns out, the theater owner had actual ties to the real mob and had to flee the country, and no one knew legally whether the play could run or if the theater counted as evidence—but that's another story.

The cast and crew of the play refused to move to a different theatre, though whether that was out of loyalty or fear, who can say?

#i didn't even touch on the symbolism of the tie #it seems to represents everything coming undone for Goncharov so Andrey fixing it is this hugely sentimental moment #but it actually foreshadows Andrey cinching the knot on Goncharov's fate #ISCREAM #someone please revive the play there'll never be a better moment #goncharov #unreality #long post

[finitevoid]

Finally able to organize my thoughts on the blue beetle movie. so here they are:

-I think the concept of a destined chosen hero is antithetical to jaime reyes as a character. khaji da is not some heavensent agent of destiny, they’re a weapon of mass destruction developed by a colonial empire and sent to mass enslave other planets. The reason jaime is blue beetle as opposed to anyone else is mostly chance, and the fact that jaime happened to be the first person khaji da came into contact with that they didn’t find repulsive, hence them “choosing” him

-I like that they live on el paso street, that was cute

-I like that they made jaime’s little sister a cynical pessimist to counteract jaime’s glittering optimism. Also she’s goth a+

-the fact that jaime attended gotham university not only sent me into hysterics but is continuing to haunt me. Jaime reyes gotham u pre law graduate. Whew

-I was really surprised when they announced this movie because Whatever section of the dc company is in charge of greenlighting these movies seem rather attached to gen 1, year 1 origin stories. we’ve had Two (2) movies about year 1 batman in the past decade, not to mention man of steel and the wonder woman movie taking place during ww1 etc. they’re not even touching the gen 2 sidekicks let ALONE gen 3, so when I saw the blue beetle movie was about jaime and not ted kord I was pogging. However, adapting a Generation Three hero’s origin story into a self-contained story that Actively shies away from the context of the wider dcu seems to be an exercise in futility, because when my father and I watched it he came out so confused as to what had happened in that movie that I spent 30 minutes explaining infinite crisis to him in an attempt to make sense of the movie’s allergy to exposition. while I’m not expecting an adaptation of jaime to, like, completely adapt the utter insanity that is infinite crisis, I do think that the way they went about it ultimately harmed the film more than anything else. while a bit more boring, I think yjtv did a better job by just having khaji da break tf out of their cage and latch onto jaime as a means of escape. It makes more sense than couching the whole movie in a really weirdly unsubtle jesus metaphor

-when George lopez said “batman’s a fascist!” I scream laughed

-I liked that jaime spent the whole time haggardly being like NO MURDER while his entire family was so Utterly down for murder. Truly that is the vibe of the reyes family

-anyway the movie did tackle things that comics, I think, would never be able to. discussions of class and race that blunt would get shut down in (modern) comics, so I enjoyed them taking this opportunity to go there. I liked how believably the reyes family acts like a family, from how they smoothly interact with one another, reference things together, reference past events and even have, you know, thoughts and feelings about their place in their family. jaime’s always been an outlier in comics for having a family that isn’t dead, but I think comics will always struggle to portray a family that Feels like a family (because the writers will always be bogged down by portraying people other than the heroes are surface level cardboard cutouts) so having actual actors take that out of their hands was cool

-“it’s like batman’s stuff but shittier” is the greatest thing jaime’s ever almost said

-I didn’t like the romance subplot

-How did they manage to make one of the most batshit, buckwild and whacky origin stories and make it into a cookie-cutter superhero movie with a bland social justice flavoring. Jaime spends half his comic fighting with an alien parasite on his back, getting mindcontrolled by said alien parasite, fighting robots and Going Into Space To Topple An Alien Colonial Empire and this movie was just so. Predictable. yeah ok he’s the chosen one who’s hunted for his chosen status dead dad become one with your destiny beat the bad guy who isn’t bad so he can beat the bad guy who is. Yeah. Ok man

#he didn’t even get mind controlled into being a weapon of mass destruction :(

[aaronymous9]

Okay I’m feeling very chaotic today so let’s pair up all the protagonists of main series Wings of Fire books together by order number ( for example, Clay, Moonwatcher and Blue would be paired up because they are all the first book in their arc ) and see how they would interact with eachother!

Clay, Moonwatcher and Blue: Canonically they do know eachother but don’t interact much, when put in a room forced to talk to eachother, Clay would likely carry the conversation awkwardly asking about everyone’s favorite food, Blue would probably respond first and Moonwatcher after getting lost in reading their minds would respond quickly and not say much more. After they had all spent more time together I feel like they would just hang out doing things they enjoy and hobbies together. Wholesome as heck

Tsunami, Winter and Cricket: …Cricket would try her best to help everyone get along OKAY- Winter and Tsunami would likely be butting heads and ignoring Cricket entirely until she tries to mediate and Winter and Tsunami in unison tell her to back off 😭 Cricket would just block them out and read her book while they argue

Glory, Peril and Sundew: I actually feel Glory and Sundew would have an unspoken bond with one another and just would silently understand each other but… Glory would not like Peril and she canonically dislikes her. I feel Sundew would really not like Peril and Peril would be trying her best to make friends but would get frustrated and would be like “what would clay do? Wait no he’s already friends with glory fuck what clay would do I am just gonna be as friendly and be myself until they either go away or learn to like me”

Starflight, Turtle and Snowfall: Snowfall would probably be very wary of Starflight meanwhile Starflight getting along with Turtle quite well until Snowfall gets jealous that she’s being left out and joins in.

Sunny, Qibli and Luna: OH MY GOD THEY WOULD BE SUCH GOOD FRIENDS! I imagine that Luna loves weaving pictures of Sunny because of her bright colors and how her green eyes contrast and just weaving Sandwings in general, she’s a bit sad there’s no trees but I imagine she loves weaving the bright colors of the desert. And I honestly feel Luna and Sunny would relate to each other a lot and Qibli would relate to Sunny in the way of not being taken seriously sometimes. Luna probably thinks Qibli reminds her of Swordtail so she’s definitely rooting hard for Qibli and Moonwatcher. They are just. Wholesome friends new headcanon.

Anyways, go buckwild and please tell me any headcanons you’ve made from this idea

#aaronymous ramblings #wings of fire #wof #wof clay #wof blue #wof moonwatcher #wof tsunami #wof winter #wof cricket #wof glory #wof peril #wof sundew #wof starflight #wof turtle #wof snowfall #wof sunny #wof qibli #wof luna

[jaeheewillalwaysbemyfav]

I can't sit on these anymore so BEHOLD! MY ECLIPSE!

While Sun and Moon are, of course, famously based on jesters, Eclipse also has some elements of a medieval knight in there, especially in their Solar form!

Some fun facts about them: (spoilers and butchering of fnaf lore under the cut, also some mentions of my cursed three way crossover)

I've nicknamed them "L/S Eclipse" because of some stuff I describe below

They're based on the glitched sun that appears in the Balloon World arcade game, and thus originally existed in a purely digital state*

They're an antivirus/anticheat program designed to thwart arcade cheaters and also help with Pizzaplex security (so they work with Moon and Vanessa quite a bit)

They also sometimes pop into arcade machines being used and give tips to players! (Management discourages them from doing this bc it tends to frighten guests and/or make them think the games are glitching)

The Afton virus scrambled their protocols, making it extremely difficult for them to tell friend from foe. Sometimes they're more lucid and beg for help in getting rid of the virus, other times they act as though anyone trying to help them is a threat

Their identity situation is more... fluid than Sun and Moon. Technically they have two forms, Lunar and Solar, which are supposed to just be settings (ie. Solar is like their combat form), but the virus complicated matters. Eclipse does mostly identify as one singular being, but their behaviour and personality noticeably changes with their form. It's unclear if their form change is triggered by their emotional state or vice versa

As Lunar, they run cold to lukewarm, but as Solar they're scorching hot. One of the first cues that Eclipse is going Solar is their rays extending and lighting/heating up.

Their transformation from Lunar to Solar makes even less sense than Sun and Moon's because of their digital origins. Like in the first image I show the markings on their poofy pants turning into their little metal skirt thing. The pants themselves burn up when they turn into Solar, but comically poof out from their skirt like airbags when turning into Lunar.

They can summon their sword and shield with a whoosh of magic/glitches.

Their mouth doesn't open and close in the traditional sense: those holes are actually horizontal sliding "vents"! As Lunar, there are no visual cues when they're speaking, but as Solar, the vents open and the light within flickers in time with their speech

They can breathe fire through those vents :3

If/when they gain a physical form, they can hop in and out of the digital world as they please through any screen! They're like portals for them. This includes phones, security camera screens, and smart watches (though they say smaller screens are a "tight fit")

*So while in regular ol' fnaf, I imagine the only way Eclipse would be able to exist in the physical world would be to either:

piggypack with Sun and Moon (which would likely be dangerous for them as a Solar Eclipse could easily fry them from the inside)

have their own body built (less dangerous, but not without risk to Eclipse themself bc again, Hot Stuff over here - I imagine they'd need a special emergency cooling chamber/system put in place if they had their own body)

use Extreme Remnant Shenanigans to allow Eclipse to have a semi-tangible spectral form that is bound to the Pizzaplex (I have a very conspiratorial and Buckwild headcanon that newer Fazbear animatronics, including the DCA and Glamrocks of Security Breach, have so much Remnant built into their forms that they've been able to "grow" souls of their own, partially bound to their AI the way humans are bound to our brains/bodies. And since remnant has been described as both a solid/liquid and a more gaseous/spectral like substance, why not make a semi-solid robot out of it :3)

In the Horrible Hat Trick Crossover I made of FNAF/TMA/Obey Me, it would be my OC/MC Ori who accidentally drags them into the physical world! So their body would basically be magic. Basically the third option but completely tangible/free, and triply justified by the combined/blended lore of all three settings.

I could ramble about them a lot more but I will refrain from that for now

so if you wanna know anything more about them feel free to ask

#fnaf sb #fnaf oc #fnaf eclipse #fnaf daycare attendant #fnaf security breach #mine #my art #L/S eclipse

[alienturnip]

🌺 ☺️ 👀?

Ahhhhh a BE ask?? For me??? Thank you! 💗

And sorry for the upcoming ramble lakjdfljksf i go crazy for them

From this lovely ask

☺️ A character you wish was explored more

This is actually a tie between Jae Yi and Yu Yeon for me, it's so hard to choose.

Jae Yi because she's the love of my life light of my life, and her recovery process in the 2nd part of the series I feel was a bit rushed/ambiguous in favor of, well, *gesture vaguely at the rest of the plot*. Especially since the first half of the show established her in such a strong compare/contrast position to Dong Sik's grief. I want to see if my baby actually did return from Busan, if she still longs to leave to find her own life, or has she found what is worth building for back here, in the butcher shop, on her own term in her own words this time. I wish the show addressed that part a bit more.

For Yu Yeon I feel like it's a bit of a missed opportunity to have her and Dong Sik be twins and not go buckwild on the haunting, the presence that stretches and reaches, the severed connection, traces of her that linger through him, how he both tries to remember and not think about her (that flashback about the ring that he gave her! That was so good! I cried, sibling tragedy is my jam! But there's only the one scene!). I'm sort of interpreting the show's message as it is as the Absence, like you feel the pain through What Is Not There, and also as the Uncertainty of her disappearance, the incapacity for DS and everyone else to move on: should they speak about her as if she'll be back soon, or as if she's forever gone for good? That's also nice! But, because the show revolves itself around these missing women, I can't help but wish for more exploration of their personhood, even symbolically through Yu Yeon.

🌺 Where are your favourite character(s) going next?

Ohh, tough quesh! Especially since the talented folks in the fandom have already written hundreds of post-canon getting-together goodness for JWDS. My vision is a slow romance, maybe probably dancing that water between QPR and romantic, but being undeniably a package deal and always loyal & affectionate toward each other. And DS can finally experience the peaceful time in his life, even if the shadows aren't quite gone. And JW can have career fulfillment finding & helping missing people in whichever way he can, that it's a source of satisfaction instead of a constant reminder of his guilt. That's my happily-ever-after for them.

(Might I also throw my ace Joo Won headcanon here? In my head he's a sap and loves hugs and the intense touches that are on-brand for JWDS, but he's also sex-repulsed. I cry happy tears whenever I see him being explicitly written as ace, I can't get enough of it. Mad respect for the horny JWDS content tho, you guys are great - I love watching everyone enjoy it even if i don't engage w it)

For Jae Yi I already said a bit above! But yeah, I hope she can go wherever she wants, try out whatever future she likes - maybe she'll travel a bit, keeping in touch with Manyang all the same. And maybe she will comeback to the butcher shop or not, but if she does, I hope she will finally make the shop her own, adding decorations, experiment w the menus, change around, make a mess, be happy, etc. You go girl! Do what you want!

👀 What would you like to see if they did a season 2?

If i have it my way season 2 would just be a slow romcom (with a basket of angst because that's who I am) with same title, same font, same color palette & poster style and no explanation LOL. You get a closure, you get a closure, everyone gets a closure.

But in a more serious tone, I don't long for a season 2, I think the show as it is is pretty much completed, but if that ever happens hm... I would like to see the theme of "Beyond Evil"/"Monster" explored through different premises, but not necessarily with the same cast. There are some themes that I think were under-explored in the show as it is (ableism, the so-called loopholes in the laws, etc.), so if they move on from the "missing adults" premise and tackle those topics as a central theme this time, that'd be a thoughtful continuation that I'd like to follow. It's hard to say!

#thank you SO MUCH and I'm sorry lakjdfdksjfd #this was fun to write!! #and a mess! #I'm so flattered to receive this ask I was so convinced i've just been lurking around the fandom watching the cool kids #well - i hope this was a good read! #beyond evil #alien turnip's asks #b1uetrees #alien turnip’s monologuing