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troperrific · 6 months

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/ekuoto chapter 52 spoilers/

Warning: discussion about sensitive topics, usual ekuoto stuff.

Hahaha, holy shit, hahahaha!!

This chapter was just about as horribly wonderful and wonderfully horrible as I’d expected and hoped it’d be!

First things first, dang Mr. Priest is terrifying this chapter. He turned the tables on Asmodeus in so many ways and there’s so, so much to unpack.

The way Mr. Priest echoes and throws Asmodeus’ words right back at her, the way he aggressively ignores her choice (her “consent”) to retreat/get away from the fight (he slammed the door!!) and forces her to “take” his anger anyway- it all mirrors what Asmodeus put him through in the best and worst way possible.

Mr. Priest’s violence towards Asmodeus isn't sexual (as in, this isn't rape in a literal sense), nor is his enjoyment of getting back at her (as in, this isn't sexual gratification). But the mirrored actions/words and the one-sided “pleasure” of violence should still evoke, in part, the horror of Asmodeus’ attempted rape towards Mr. Priest.

It’s very reminescent of domestic violence too, which, if you remember Mr. Priest's flashbacks and what "Aria" told him, make this even more fucked-up than it already is.

Of course, there is a certain sense of catharsis to be found in this mirrored violence, in seeing Asmodeus get a taste of her own medicine. The reader can see where Mr. Priest is coming from, and after an entire arc of seeing Asmodeus’ manipulation, anticipating the worst AND witnessing the worst in chapter 51, one can appreciate the irony applied here, even while simultaneously feeling horrified.

Rip Asmodeus' thighs. And she even did her leg days properly too...

I think Arima-sensei manages to achieve a good balance in their writing, when it comes to making “revenge scenes” both cathartic and horrifying/fucked-up. I also like the way they use innuendo and subtext in the narrative- it’s great! I liked how they did those things in the Beelzebub arc/Part 3 and I like how they did it here. And both aspects are enhanced with Fukuyama-sensei’s art- the facial expressions were particularly good in this chapter.

(something something the interplay between violence and sex and hunger, something something primal urges and passion, life and death, something something)

Speaking of expressions…!

I really love these two in particular.

Just what do they mean, I wonder… the first one takes place between two maniacal, rage-fueled grins. It appears alongside Mr. Priest’s new halo (which I’ll get to in a moment) and it’s such a curious expression.

Is it a sad, resigned smile? Has he come to accept and embrace his role as the “Child of Hope” because he’s “learned” what “wanting a normal life” leads to? Maybe he’s thinking “Well, what did I expect?” regarding the good things that happened to him this past month, all a trap laid by Asmodeus.

Is it a regretful one? Does he regret believing another fake victim? Does he regret his good intentions and well-intentioned actions and trust, as they’ve backfired on him again?

Is it a relived one? Did something click and he’s convinced himself he no longer needs a normal life? Is this relief a future one? Has he gone full-circle into wanting to martyrize himself again?

Whatever that expression means, it looks like whatever Mr. Priest felt or realized at the moment allowed him to (temporarily?) reach new heights regarding his holy powers.

(And right as he’s at his most violent too… Mammon would be proud.)

Also, his halo… that’s one fancy halo. I tried to research a little and found some interesting facts about different artistic depictions of halos.

From what I can tell, his halo looks a little like a dodecagon (a polygon with 12 sides) or maybe a tridecagon (polygon with 13 sides). It also has multiple rings within it, with little… arrows/rays of light(?) and stars/particles(?) adorning it.

According to these sites, a polygonal halo (usually an hexagon, and sometimes referred to as a Nimbus a Pans) is often used to depict allegorical figures, many times a personification of a Virtue.

The little arrows cutting through the halo could very well be rays of light. In this case, it could also be a rayed halo. This type of halo is apparently often combined with others, and is usually attributed to a member of the Trinity.

Finally, the number twelve and the presence of what appears to be a bunch of little stars could be a reference to the starred halo. This halo is almost solely drawn on the Virgin Mary, depicting the Immaculate Conception or being a reference to Revelation 12:1.

(As if the line about reviving people and Beelzebub mock-crucifying him wasn’t enough lol. Makes me wonder about Mr. Priest’s mom though. Since we’ve only vaguely seen his father.)

But who knows. Maybe it's a reference to a piece of art?

It’s just something to think about. Maybe there’s a deeper meaning. Maybe it’s just rule of cool. Hopefully it’ll be both.

Also, this has nothing to do with this chapter’s commentary, but this small research made realize that Leah’s triangular halo wasn’t just an aesthetic choice to go with her cubes forming circles (lol).

The triangular halo is also used to indicate a member of the Trinity. She’s invoking their power, so it fits. But y’know, makes me wonder if there’s gonna be a third…

Back to Mr. Priest’s smiles. I wanna talk about this:

Friendship ended with Mammon, Mr. Priest is the funniest ekuoto character now.

Just what is “beautiful”, Mr. Priest?

Is he marveling at his own strength? Is he glad he’s reached a new height like Mammon did? Is the fact that he’s so strong he could “end up destroying everything” beautiful?

Is this self-acceptance, something similar to Leviathan’s own epiphany back at Part 2?

Or is this a new-found joy in seeing the fragility of life? Maybe he’s seeing beauty in the fact he’s “feeling almighty” as he’s “earned the right to end another’s life” (and promptly give it back if he chose to), something akin to Beelzebub’s thoughts on human nature.

Is it all of the above? Something else?

Hm.

It’s very worrisome. Even moreso because it’s followed by this:

It’s okay, guys! Mr. Priest has gathered all seven Dragon Balls, he can just wish Kuririn back to life!!

Coldest line in the story so far. What the actual fuck, Mr. Priest? (No jokes, I love this, please continue to freak me out more, Mr. Priest).

Also, this is quite in line with the way the Demon Lord’s have acted so far, isn't it? Who cares?? He’s gonna do what he wants right now, who cares about casualties? He can just bring everyone back??

Ah, but it also echoes what he probably heard in his memories from his father and from Abbot Nicholas (chapter 31). “So? You will heal anyway” and “So? You won’t starve”.

Mr. Priest is very funny, actually.

And speaking of funny…

No high-school romcom manga is over without a good ol' kabedon!... Er, doordon...? Gates-of-Hell-don...? Rodindon...! forgive me

Mr. Priest invented a new memetic kabedon.

But really, this has been kinda of a pattern with the Demon Lords so far: they approach Mr. Priest out of their own accord, hurt him (by deceiving/fighting /triggering him) because they want something out of him (a challenge, a friend, a hunt, an answer) and then they usually try to leave, on their terms, once they’re satisfied.

It almost went like this at the end of his second fight against Mammon. It did go like this at the end of his first fight against Beelzebub.

(It also went like this when he fought Leviathan, but considering we don’t know how he feels about her and the fight after the arc, I hesitate to add her in this ‘list’).

You see, I do think that the Demon Lord’s did/do want to help Mr. Priest in some way or another, whether that’s by teaching him their “wisdom” or “freeing” him from his duties/Church-aligned morality. I do! I genuinely do!

But just as they want to help him, they also want something from him. Their motivations do have a certain selfishness to them.

I’ve seen lot of readers joke that the demons want to give Mr. Priest therapy, but I’d argue it’s more accurate to say that the demons are using Mr. Priest for their therapy.

The Demon Lords always seem to want to prove something to themselves while fighting Mr. Priest. They want answers. And it’s because Mr. Priest is the “Child of Hope” (the strongest exorcist, the most righteous, the purest soul) that they seek those answers.

And part of their fondness towards him, to me, seem to hinge on that title and on the expectations and projections that the Demon Lords seem to put on him.

In short: they also have used Mr. Priest for their own benefit, despite whatever good intentions they might’ve had or whatever connection they might’ve felt, and then they dared to refuse him any sort of satisfaction.

Or at least, that’s probably how the boy sees it.

No wonder Mr. Priest is pissed.

On that note, the scene where Mr. Priest goes all creepy between Asmodeus’ (literally) thunder thighs…

I take it that this can be interpreted both figuratively and literally.

Figuratively, in the sense that the Demon Lords project so much shit on him, they don’t know him as well as they think they do. Yes, even when they’ve been briefly inside his head. But also because he really isn’t in the “right” state of mind.

And literally… well, because he has a head buddy, apparently.

I’ll just leave these cool theory posts here. Go read them, they’re great.

To finish these very short thoughts about the chapter (sarcasm), about Asmodeus and Sarah…

I also love this panel. What a great expression. She looks like she’s about cry. She makes me want to cry. And slap her. And cry.

There’s a lot to be said and analyzed about this relationship (which I will do, a bit more throughly, later): about how Asmodeus wanted Sarah to fight back and to defy her fate and her family, about how Asmodeus seemingly couldn’t fathom the idea of having a consensual physical relationship with Sarah (or anyone?), about how Asmodeus equated Sarah retaliating against her first abusive husband to Mr. Priest (and Sarah too) retaliating against her…

But I want to focus on Asmodeus’ “epiphany” about what she wanted to confirm to herself.

…I really do enjoy how the 7 Deadly Sins are written in this series. It’s not just that the author wants to say something with their portrayal and that they’re thematically consistent and interesting…

They’re… very entertaining and complex characters, I think. There’s always a good balance between all the characteristics one can expect from memorable antagonists. Like, they’re charismatic and fun and charming, they’re scary (in all kinds of ways!!) and awful and really fucking vile at times, and, deep, deep down, they’re… pitiful. Pathetic.

They’re very, very pathetic. And I like that.

And this… this has kinda proved to me what I’ve suspected for a while.

The Demon Lords, against all odds, have very little to no ambition when it comes to a relationship with a human, don’t they?

They’re willing to settle for the barest scraps. I wouldn’t say that they’re completely okay with things never working out… but if there was a bare minimum of love there, then maybe it’s not bad that it didn’t work out…

Even Leviathan, who desperately wants friends and readily admits her loneliness, is okay with ending things with Mr. Priest with a fight.

As a Demon Lord should.

I mean they’re monsters!! They’ve accepted that they’re monsters, and it’s not something they can help anyway, right?! They can’t help their monstrous nature, their monstrous bodies, so it’s better to embrace them!! It’s not something they can help, right, so it’s better to give up, right?!

Right…?

(It's at this point that you gotta stop and wonder about their incessant babbling about the nature of men/women/humans/demons... they're originally angels- or in Leviathan's case, a being blessed by God- after all...)

It’s a form of comfort, I suppose, to realize that no matter what you did, things wouldn’t have changed for the better. Sometimes, wondering about “what-ifs” can be the greatest torture of all.

Sometimes giving up, specially on yourself, can be the greatest sin of all.

Asmodeus originally wondered if, had she taken those men’s places, had she been the one to rape Sarah (because, again, Asmodeus can’t seem to be able to separate any sort of sexual relationship/act from sexual violence/rape/sin, and likely because, to Asmodeus, if Sarah’s being forced to marry, it’ll be rape anyway, so Asmodeus might as well have been the one to take Sarah) if she could’ve made Sarah happy.

Asmodeus wondered if she could’ve made Sarah chose her over her filial duties.

But she didn’t. She wouldn’t.

It's insane!! Actually, it's not even about Sarah choosing Asmodeus anymore! She can't even imagine that!! I wonder, does Asmodeus think that, because Sarah didn't "fight hard enough", that meant she didn't want her? That it meant Sarah would never have been with her willingly?

Of course she wouldn’t, why would she? Asmodeus is a monster, right? She would’ve hated her anyway, right? Even if Asmodeus had ripped away Sarah's ability to choose, she still woudn't have picked Asmodeus. Sarah would never have been hers, no matter what Asmodeus did or didn't do!! So it’s better that things ended how they did, right?

After all…

…

Anyway, with the arc coming to an end real soon, I wonder how things will wrap-up.

…I’m reaaaally dreading the fact that we haven’t gotten “Masses of Trash- Part 2” yet. Is it gonna be in this arc?

…….Is it gonna be in another future arc?

“Erase all with a flick of the wrist”, indeed.

#troperrific talks #ekuoto tag #make the exorcist fall in love #at this point I wonder if the Demon Lords aren’t just suffering from the worst case #of Catholic Guilt (TM) ever coupled with #the worst case of daddy issues festering for millennia #anyway go off Mr. Priest your edgelord phase amuses me

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joanyio · 5 months

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TOP 9 DRAMAS I WATCHED IN 2023

inspector koo (2021) - everyone here is a different flavor of fruit, crime show exclusively made for girls and gays and it’s the best thing that ever happened to me

when i fly towards you (2023) - this is what happiness is all about

doom at your service (2021) - “love me to the point that you want to destroy the world for me” that’s it that’s the line

love all play (2022) - wfkbj for people who aren’t annoying

little women (2022) - second half felt like a makjang damn the writers were spiraling and i couldn’t stop watching (gay little women i love you)

twinkling watermelon (2023) - worth the hype

bloodhounds (2023) - i remember my letterboxd post for this saying you can almost smell the testosterones through the screen but it was absolutely binge worthy, kinda homo if you ask me!

daily dose of sunshine (2023) - park boyoung is the loveliest human being

law school (2021) - is it insane to beg for a season 2 the chance is low but nonzero… right?

HONORABLE MENTIONS

hidden love (2023) - im tired of people saying the word chemistry about the main couple but it’s true they invented it

designated survivor: 60 days (2019) - maybe political dramas aren’t always badly written, also han nakyung please give me a chance

celebrity (2023) - user joanyio stop finding invisible gay subtext in every show you watch challenge failed

the good bad mother (2023) - such a gem *continues to ignore mommy issues*

time and him are just right (2022) - cute and perfect for mindless watching in the background while you do other work

the worst of evil (2023) - instead of forcing the love triangle turned love square the writers should have made all four hot main characters make out with each other it would have been perfect

and because of love all play (2022), see also:

castaway diva (2023), witch’s diner (2021), and unlock my boss (2022) (although i haven’t finished this one yet) chae jonghyeop is my new lee dohyun (read: male actor i enjoy watching multiple projects of simply because he doesn’t give me the ick). i also rewatched hot stove league (2020) for park eunbin and jonghyeop after castaway diva, still one of the all time best dramas i remember it used to be my twitter handle years ago baseball is so cool i wish it was real

DRAMAS I STARTED LATE DECEMBER 2023 AND FINISHED EARLY JANUARY 2024

shining for one thing (2022) - please don’t watch this show it was made only for me and i’d like to gatekeep it forever

reset (2022) - never watched a drama execute time loop plot device as perfectly as this did

UNFINISHED BUT PLANNING TO CONTINUE SOON

derailment (2023) - i was baited by a tiktok i thought it’d be a cute silly little high school drama but boy was i surprised

one day off (2023) - she’s living the dream

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aemiron-main · 8 months

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They Don’t Remember Him- How Could They? He Never Existed.

So, I talked in this post previously about how there’s frequent references to people not remembering Eddie Munson and how that connects to the subtext that Eddie Munson is delivering about Edward Creel.

And now that I’ve been watching Fringe, I noticed something else:

And

(Those screenshots of the bald dudes in fedoras are from Fringe, and they’re called Observers.)

We have all of these references to Eddie “Edward” Munson, who constantly delivers Edward Creel subtexts, being forgotten/not remembered by people (which then gives us the subtext that Edward Creel has been forgotten/people don’t remember him) versus the Observers talking about how Peter Bishop was forgotten/people don’t remember him.

And then we also have the reason why Peter Bishop was forgotten- it’s because he never existed, because he’s been wiped from existence/from both timelines. And we also have one of the Henwards (likely Henry) talking during NINA about how 001 supposedly never existed/Brenner claimed 001 didn’t exist, but he did.

There’s some sort of connection here!!!!

Peter Bishop was erased from existence- he was originally from an alternate timeline but was kidnapped as a young boy and brought over to another timeline/the main timeline and raised there. Long story short, this caused major issues/holes between the two timelines and the two timelines were trying to destroy eachother, but Peter combined them so that they could work together with eachother- and then, Peter immediately disappeared from existence.

And so, I’m wondering what the hell happened with Edward Creel, and why nobody seems to remember him, and why there’s a.) so many references to people not remembering Eddie Munson and b.) Henward’s line about 001 not existing.

And to top it all off, we have this line regarding Peter Bishop:

And yknow who else has traces of him bleeding through into the timeline?

Edward Creel.

(and it’s also worth noting that California Dreaming, which plays in S4 EP1 of ST, is also playing during rhat Fringe scene about traces of Peter.

And also, going back to that that line about Eddie saying that he wouldn’t even remember himself, it’s haunting me because of what I’ve talked about before with the idea of Edward believing that he’s Henry (and therefore not remembering himself/not remembering Edward Creel).

But yknow who likely would remember Edward Creel/who remembered 001 during that plinko scene with El?

Henry Creel.

Wouldn’t it be perfect if the only person who remembers Edward Creel is Henry Creel, and the only way for Henry to prove that he is, in fact, Henry (especially in the context of Edward believing that he’s Henry) would be for him to remember Edward?

It’d be perfect/ironic because you’d think that if there were two identical boys, one Henry, one Edward, but both claiming to be Henry, and one of them remembered Edward, the initial conclusion would be that the boy who remembers the name Edward must himself be Edward, right?

But because Edward’s forgotten himself/because that initial conclusion is wrong, the only way for Henry to prove who he is would be for him to remember somebody else’s name/identity/prove that the other boy is Edward. Like. Wouldnt it be ironic/right in line with the way ST enjoys subverting things if the only way for somebody to prove who they are was to remember who somebody else is? If proving their identity, the one thing that should be solely tied to them, was inextricably tied up with somebody else’s identity?

I think it would be perfect, especially considering the details of MKultra brainwashing/the way they tried to strip victims of their identity and individuality vs Henry being a MKultra victim who has his identity inextricably tied to somebody else’s identity.

#stranger things #edward creel #henry creel #timeline theory #st creel timeline weirdness #st vs fringe #fringe spoilers

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dwn024 · 10 months

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when did Hibiki figure out he was trans? i'm guessing it would be sometime before the story starts but was it something that happened right away or did it take him a while? i'm also curious about cmy2k bot gender in general is it treated similarly or different to human gender? (as a trans person who projects onto robots i'm always interested in the different concepts of that, sorry if i worded odd anywhere)

tumblr ate my answer to this it was really long and smart:( BUT this is one of my favorite major themes in CMY2K so thank you so so so so much for the question

regarding hibiki: he doesn’t remember! cuz his memory was erased After he’d figured it out, so it’s already kinda fundamentally established in his brain that, for as long as he can remember, he’s always been a boy. but he knows he wasn’t originally Built as one intentionally. since he’s only existed for about six months prior to the start of the plot, he would’ve had to have figured it out fairly quickly, and it kinda upsets him that he can’t remember something so important. he doesn’t even remember where his Name came from

since CMY2K is set at barely the turn of the millennium, the general population does not really think super kindly of trans people. trans Robots are treated like a joke At Best, on par with how funny it is for a robot to want to be human. it’s a common punchline in sitcoms for an android character to insist they don’t just want to be treated like a human, but like a human of a different gender than they were assigned. the canned laughter is usually met with either blood or electricity running cold. it’s silly for a robot to want to be human, but it’s even sillier for a “male” robot to want to be a woman, or a “female” robot to want to be a man. they’re just dumb confused little computers too naive to understand how the world works, and that they don’t get a choice

(the use of robots as a trans allegory in CMY2K goes hand in hand with the themes of autonomy and self-actualization, alongside a ton of explicitly transgender robots)

degendering is also extremely common towards androids. their assigned genders are mostly just decoration or an accessory, because they mostly just get called “it” all the time. it’d be kinda difficult to find an android that actually Likes being called “it”, they’re kind of a rarity—KK isn’t the only one, but it is the first one that comes to mind because it’s a whole Thing with KK. KK’s outright active refusal to allow humans to gender it gets it branded as a coldhearted inhuman monster with no capacity for compassion. similarly, blue (who is human and half in the closet as genderless) tends to get labeled as this by people when they get the guts to admit they actually would much rather be called a they than a he. that kinda goes along with blue’s fascination with robots in a mildly fucked up kinda way, because from their human perspective, robots don’t Have to have a gender and they mostly get treated as if they Don’t have one at all. KK has a similar perspective, because it believes rejecting gender is essential to rejecting humanity. the often very gendered physical features are just decoration

since i can’t help but write all robots as kinda-sorta-little-bit trans, even the supposedly cis androids have some trans subtext, most notably because lots of them get gender euphoria from being called the right pronouns for their assigned gender rather than “it”. a robot wanting to change jobs from the one they were built for is regarded as just as absurdly silly as wanting to change gender or become human. body modification is a lot easier for robots than for humans, so if a robot Did get the chance to transition, doing so physically would be extremely easy. kind of unfairly so, i wish it was that easy for me. a lot of trans androids just flat out remove parts that give them dysphoria (because they’re just panels connected by screws) until they can get access to attach parts that’d give them euphoria

basically: a lot of transgender humans in CMY2K see themselves in androids, whether those androids are trans or not

#lots of demographic groups see themselves in androids but case in point is trans people #oc #cmy2k #PLEASE post thise time

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shcmook · 10 months

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I think the story and worldbuilding of TOTK would be overall much better if more of the champion successors had NOT been Sages. As it is, 3 of the main characters of the game end up with this problem where it feels like they’re the only useful person in their entire respective races, and the game seems to be implying they HAVE to perform their multiple roles within their cultures due to their bloodlines.

Tulin stands out as the GOAT of the four main sages for several reasons. One is just that his ability is so constantly useful that I dread going back to BOTW bc I’ll miss those gusts. But also his story is the only one that feels unique to this game. It’s not a sequel to a story in BOTW it’s focusing on a minor character from that game who doesn’t have to now juggle multiple roles in his society. The older members of his tribe are struggling just to get food and take care of the village. Teba can’t take time away from his duties as chief to be the sage. Tulin stepping up and going through his arc feels SO natural and works so well both as a story on its own and as a follow up to the Revali / Teba storyline.

Sidon may be an exception to bc my thesis. It’d seem incredibly out of character and ruin a good arc if this guy didn’t feel in his heart that his place is joining the fight alongside link. It would probably eliminate the queer subtext of sidons inner conflict as well but we’d still headcanon it no matter how it was written. But as is it’s still weird that he feels so torn between being king and being Sage and being with Yona and purifying the water for the domain and helping Link and part of him still mourning Mipha when like. Why can’t Yona do some of those things for him? The idea that he’s worried about losing Yona like he lost Mipha would be much stronger if she was the one going to the temple with Link and Sidon wasn’t ok with it. Yona being the Sage would also still have the three of them had to work through this complicated relationship, and probably just add more layers to a poly reading of that dynamic. Idk. I just think it’s weird that they went to the trouble of creating Yona so that she could be the wife of a guy who is a sage and a king and the Hero’s best friend instead of her having an actual identity or a role of her own. I lied when I said Sidon was an exception, Yona should have been the Sage.

The Gerudo having a weird heirarchy and multiple leader figures within their culture is part of why I love the Gerudo so much in other games. In OOT, Twinrova, the leader you fight in the Fortress, Nabooru, and Ganondorf all fill leadership roles in their society. So why is Riju chief AND sage? Why not make Buliara the sage? Rijus main thing in the other games was her sandseal, she didn’t have thunder powers before this game. Buliara is literally a Guard so it’d give failing the town defense missions more emotional stakes if you losing means she fails her duty. I love Riju but. It’s make more sense for her, as Chief, to be busy managing her tribe’s underground affairs while Buliara feels ashamed at not being able to defend her Chief from the Gibdo threat and then *she* gains lightning abilities while training in the ruins.

I’ll be honest I haven��t actually played the Goron quest yet. But was anyone really hoping for more yunobo after the first game? I like the idea of him getting corrupted by Ganon I like the whole marbled rock roast concept. But why not introduce a new Goron who helps us free Yunobo from Ganon’s influence? And then that bro becomes the Sage instead? Doing this relieves us of having the bit in the story where the Sage of fire kind of ruins the lives of a bunch of his own people, and then still gets to be their Hero. It’s waved away too easily and I don’t like it and also I just don’t like Yunobo. If any of the Champions’ successors should’ve been replaced it’s him.

In conclusion: Tulin’s story I s the BEST, and more of the Sage quests should have been based and Tulin pilled.

#TOTK #Zelda tears #zelda tears of the kingdom #tulin

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nightmarist · 1 year

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Decided not to leave it in the tags so:

Flemeth and or Morrigan being part of or connected to the Elvhen pantheon while being visibly human / round eared is a little ridiculous tbh

The context of romance locked lore w Solas you find out the Vallaslin are actually slave brandings and there are brandings dedicated to Mythal, and Flemeth being (carrying?) Mythal makes it particularly worse. Let alone Morrigan’s dalish knowledge is really patronizing.

Like. A really quick fix would be to just make them elves. ESPECIALLY as Witches of the Wild. People already think both elves and the witches are evil baby killing demon summoning monsters. It’d also make sense for them to be Separate from other elves the way Solas is, neither city nor dalish but a literally secret third thing (Gods / Gods Possessing Mortal Form).

Like. There wouldn’t need to be any overhaul change to their design or personalities maybe just one or two dialogue like “are you elves? Why aren’t you in the alienage or w the dalish?” And they can very easily dodge the question or make up a lie and that’s that.

Itd help set up the god reveal. Especially when the first game is setting up the lore for all of dragon age as a series AND it could help foreshadow Solas without revealing his nature too soon. It’d make Morrigan less patronizing. It’d make Flemeth’s worship and tie in less weird. Just. Little pointy elf ears could fix so much weird subtext…..

#dragon age #dragon age origins #dragon age theories #flemeth #dragon age morrigan #dragon age inquisition #flemeth is SUCH a cool character and design AND Kate Mulgrew? fucking love flemeth so much.#I’m just a little disappointed her tie in is so awkward

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sleeplessinunova · 7 months

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Sleepless Movie Reviews!! I’m a bit of a sucker for horror movies, and with so many coming out this month, it’d be a disservice not to do a review of the most popular!

#1 - Venom Drench - 3/10

We follow 29 year old Amy Sash, a rookie detective investigating several disappearing people in the kanto region. And the posters give away the culprit. For the most part, do not watch. The writing is lazy, schlocky, and contrived all at once, creating some horrible amalgam of Pokestars Studio’s worst habits. I’m a big fan of practical effects and the cgi in this film just does not do it for me. Theres almost nothing in this film to like, but its not so heinously insulting for me to give it anything other than a 3/10.

#2 - Shadow Sneak - 8/10

Scare-tourists Brad, David, Lila, and Mary decide to camp out in an abandoned amusement park. But in the middle of their stay, the entire park whirs back to life and the tourists are picked off one by one by the ghost of a dead magician and his ghost type pokemon. I didn’t think I’d like this movie nearly as much as I did. But the characters aren’t just meat bags to hunt, they’re real, fleshed out people and you feel a sense of dread whenever one breaks from the group. Shadow Sneak ends up being surprisingly emotional for a horror movie, but the ending and ugly cgi effects drop the ball enough to keep it from 9 or 10.

#3 - Howl - 6.5/10

In a small fictional Kantonian town of Canvasville, a young boy’s rockruff begins acting strangely. But by the time the townsfolk learn whats wrong with it, its far too late. A reboot of the FANTASTIC classic 1989 film “Growl”, Howl fails to live up to its predecessor in almost every way. Not to call the film bad, its alright. But you will have a significantly worse time with this movie if you HAVE seen the original Growl. The only thing it improves on is dated terminology and practical effects. But the director misses almost all the subtext and meaning the original Growl gave us. And for that, I can’t give it anymore than a 6.5

#pokeblog roleplay #pokeblog rp #pokeblogging #pokeblr #rotomblr #pkmn irl #pokemon irl #pokemon

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johnandrasjaqobis · 11 hours

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woe more random out of context durgetash be upon ye, will I ever write anything that's not Joseph suffering through the Subtext who's to say (this one immediately after killing Orin/rejecting Bhaal)

Joseph ran both hands up over his face and through his hair with a low sigh – and gods, there was still a lot of blood in his hair, that was going to be a pain in the ass to scrub out.

“I need to get back,” he said. “Gonna sleep for a tenday now that those fucking dreams are done, I swear…”

The trek back to the inn wasn’t a particularly long one, but it felt incredibly daunting given how literally every muscle ached. He decided firmly that the toll of being yanked back from the dead was the entire reason for the hesitation to stand, and also decided not to notice what might have been a very brief flash of disappointment across Gortash’s face.

(Politicians, Banites, didn’t let anything so inconsequential as emotions slip without a purpose.)

“Of course.” Gortash glanced over his shoulder toward what was likely some kind of timekeeping device. Joseph didn’t want to know how long he had been awake at this point. “I imagine killing Bhaal’s own Slayer warrants at least a partial day off.”

“Don’t forget being killed by a god not even a minute later.”

Gortash actually laughed – hells, what a thing to be able to laugh at – and Joseph blamed his own grin on the exhaustion.

“Absolutely, I would be remiss to forget that.”

There was a brief flare of paranoia when Gortash picked up the blade that had sat on his desk for the entire conversation; it looked no less menacing without the stone slotted into its pommel, a shine to the edge like the blood hadn’t fully dried even hours later. After a moment’s consideration it was flipped around and held out hilt first.

Still a familiar feeling, Joseph noted as he took it. At least now he knew why.

“I have a good deal of loose threads to tie up myself,” Gortash said. “Without their general, the army moves slowly, and having all of the stones accounted for grants us at least a modicum of leeway. For now. Get as prepared as you can, and then we will be right back on plan.”

Joseph gave a weary scoff. “Minus one chosen. And two gods.”

Gortash just shook his head and held out a hand. It didn’t seem worth looking into why it was instinctive to take it – you know why, you know exactly why – even as it was more of a firm grip on his forearm than a handshake. Joseph let himself be pulled a step closer as the other hand went to his shoulder.

“We don’t need Myrkul,” Gortash said firmly, dark eyes sharp and steady. “We don’t need Bhaal. They needed us, because we are brilliant. Don’t forget that we were the ones to come up with all of this at the start.”

Joseph felt his breath catch for a split second. It would’ve been nice to blame that on the exhaustion as well, but even he couldn’t lie to himself that well.

It’d be so easy, was the problem, it was such a small gap to cross, and just as infuriatingly instinctive.

Instead he managed to nod sharply and step back, arms folding across his chest the moment they were free.

“I’ll be in touch,” Joseph muttered as he turned to the door.

He’d managed to get rid of the urges Bhaal had pushed on him.

Now it was just a question of how the fuck he got rid of these.

#he be goin through it and it's absolutely becoming everyone else's problem #bastard man meets his ex ONE TIME #anyway thank u Tumblr i enjoy inflicting these upon you #waggy plays bg3 #durgetash

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ankhlesbian · 1 year

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sentai yuri be upon thee

Fandom: Super Sentai

Pairing: Umika/Shiho (lightly)

Rating/Length: G, ~1k words

AO3 Link: here

Three small scenes to expand Episode 17 to give Umika bit more focus (and to add a bit more gay subtext).

Umika becomes friends with a girl who is infatuated with Keiichiro and agrees to help with her crush, but first, they must face a Gangler with the power of trapping people within their dreams. Umika is reminded of better times, and of why she fights in the first place. (The timestamps are for where in the ep it’d go)

(8:40)

Umika checked her phone. 4:21. She slid it back into her apron pocket. She scrubbed at a table aggressively. She dried the table aggressively. She checked her phone. 4:22. Umika groaned, collapsing onto the table and pressing her forehead to the cool surface.

“What’s taking them so long?”

Kairi snickered at her plight, as unhelpful as always.

“There’s still plenty of time,” Touma reminded her coolly, unruffled even as he worked diligently to make the romantic meal Umika had begged him to cook. Mana would confess as planned, and then the two of them could have at least one short date together before Mana had to dash off to the airport.

“Don’t you guys even care what happens? You’re as heartless as Keiichiro is!”

“I think you just care too much,” drawled Kairi. “They barely know each other, and she still has to leave whether she confesses or not. It won’t change anything.”

“It could! Mana deserves the chance to see where her feelings could lead her.”

Mana’s empty house, with the garden tended to so carefully, with that record-player to fill the silence, with that piano she sat at all alone… Mana was lonely, she could tell. Umika had been lonely too, until by random chance she had been assigned to sit behind a girl named Shiho in elementary school. If they hadn’t started talking, Umika didn’t know where she’d be today. Well, Shiho might be somewhere better, but Umika certainly wouldn’t be.

Kairi pursed his lips. “Just don’t get your hopes up, okay? I really don’t think Kei-chan is the right kind of man for this sort of thing.”

She turned to face him, cheek plopping onto the table. “He could have hidden depths.”

“Anything is possible.” agreed Touma.

Kairi squinted at him. “Say, aren’t you agreeing to all this a little too easily?”

Umika perked up. Yeah, it was a little strange. Especially since she had made him shoo all the other customers out of Jurer early for this.

“Ah, you were engaged weren’t you, Touma? So there must be a romantic bone in your body somewhere.”

Touma turned away to stir something on the stove.

“I’m simply doing Umika a favor.”

Kairi clearly smelled weakness. “So, Touma, who proposed to who? Did you do something cheesy for her? Something embarrassing? Something like-”

Touma was freed from interrogation by the door clanging open, an eager Sakuya shoving at a confused Keiichiro’s shoulders. Right, she had a mission here!

(13:00)

Umika looked around, confused. Grassy green hills, trees, and… her uniform.

“Why am I in this uniform?”

That wasn’t right, was it? She had been doing something important, but she couldn’t remember what…

“Umika!” Umika blinked. Shiho was waving a hand in front of her face. “Don’t space out! The restaurant’s gonna fill up if we don’t get going. It’s not every day you get a free meal.” Shiho grabbed her hand and pulled her forward into a run, pigtails bobbing behind her.

Right, they were going to celebrate Shiho’s manga debuting. Except… “Hey! I’m the one who’s paying, got it?” She puffed out her cheeks. Shiho turned back to look at her and smiled, pink lips barely visible behind her rainbow colored scarf.

“Alright, but I’m covering it next time. I’m gonna have an income, after all.” Shiho tugged them onwards, winding through the woods along some sort of path known only to her. They passed by a man eating ramen, a woman hugging stuffed animals… it sure was a strange place. She almost wanted to stop and see what was happening, but they had something important to do, and Shiho’s hand was just so warm.

But that… wasn’t right, was it? It had been winter when she had won her award. Shiho even had her scarf on. Umika stopped.

“Eh? Umika? What’s wrong?” Shiho turned around and leaned in, pressing the back of her free hand to Umika’s forehead. “Are you sick?”

Shiho’s hands shouldn’t be so warm. An image flashed in Umika’s head. A block of ice, encasing Shiho. Shiho, in the ice, frozen, shattering into a million pieces. Umika jerked away, sucking in a breath of air.

“Shiho-chin. It’s not really you, is it?” Her voice cracked. She knew deep down that it was true, even without a reply. She had watched it happen. It had been all her fault, after all. The fake Shiho tried to speak, but Umika remembered now. The Gangler, the dream world.

Shiho faded away into a wave of yellow energy. Umika wiped at her face and slapped her cheeks with both palms.

“Wake up! This is no time to be dreaming!” The pain didn’t wake her up, unfortunately. That’d be too simple. She’d probably need to break her way out. She checked her pockets, but there was no VS Changer on her in this realm. All she had on her was her wallet and other equally useless odds and ends; a pen, a charm, a ribbon. She would have to hope one of the Patrangers had a dream that included a weapon. Relying on others to save her once again…

Well, she couldn’t help it this time. It wasn’t her fault this Gangler had such an inconvenient ability. She gathered her thoughts and scanned the horizon. The people they had passed… that had definitely been Tsukasa, right? The others couldn’t be far off. She took off running.

(21:00)

Umika couldn’t believe him. And after all that work she had done to end things as quickly as possible, too!

She shoved the flowers and the bag with the record at his chest.

“Why didn’t you go to the airport? Mana was waiting for you.”

She wasn’t sure what answer she wanted. She wasn’t sure there was one that she could accept. To his credit, Keiichiro didn’t flinch. He looked directly at her.

“I can’t pursue two things at once.” He declared. “I’m too awkward.”

Kairi had been right, in the end. Umika looked away first, frowning.

It didn’t make sense. Fighting for something as intangible as public safety and world peace… Umika didn’t think she was a bad person. It’s not like she wanted others to get hurt. But she wanted to be safe. She wanted her friends to be safe. She had wanted to go to dinner with Shiho, to read the next chapter of her manga over her shoulder as she drew it, to attend graduation together, maybe even to go to college. If that was selfish of her, so be it.

Not wanting to pursue two things at once, she could understand. She was really only after one thing herself, just like the other Lupinrangers. But to choose the path where you had to stand alone, to choose a path where you pushed others away, didn’t even give them a chance to reach out to you… it was so unbearably lonely, so unfair to Mana.

“I don't understand! You’re terrible!”

She turned away. This was just another thing that separated them from the Patrangers, no matter how well they all got along out of uniform.

#Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger #lupat #umika hayami #lupinranger vs patranger #it writes

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breezeinmonochromenight · 1 year

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My apologies for the stupid question: What if Capcom left who Nero’s father was ambiguous? How do you think this would have affected the game/story? (My apologies I’m not good at writing sentences)

You’re fine! And tbh it’d have probably had no major effect on the story (save for the obvious reveal in 5) aside from making it a lot less juicy/dramatic and causing Dante’s character to take a bit of a hit.

Like. There’s little breadcrumbs here and there that make you think Nero already suspects he’s related to Dante and is curious about him, but he doesn’t bring it up for fear of rejection/wants Dante’s approval/etc. Plus, Dante all but spells it out for Nero in DMC4, so Nero would have to be an idiot not to put 2 + 2 together. So it’s way more of a one-two punch to have the guy you consider a father figure (and probably want to be your actual father) call you dead weight only to turn around and reveal that your suspicions are confirmed — you’re related but he’s just your uncle… and the asshole you that ripped your arm off is your dear old dad. It’d also probably be a lot easier for Nero to disregard/want nothing to do with Vergil if he doesn’t have some kind of confirmation — it’s easier to emotionally detach from a relative (especially a shitty relative) you may or may not even be actually related to.

You could totally have fun with that kind of ambiguousness with the right writers, though, ngl. But like… I personally don’t think DMC is the a series that’s deep enough/coherent enough for that lol. No point it muddying the waters even more, imo.

The only thing I can think of being affected isn’t even in the game tbh. Because there was a period of time from DMC4’s release in 2008 to 2015 (when the 3142 artbook released that confirmed Vergil and Nero’s relationship for the first time) where some fans loudly refused to acknowledge any blood relationship between Nero and V or D despite it being spelled out for them and it was just… a super fucking annoying experience when you’d run into them, to put it mildly. It was kind of the equivalent of running into one of those people from the ‘Vincent Valentine is Sephiroth’s REAL dad’ crowd that are convinced they’re correct because they straight up can’t fucking read subtext is hard, I guess. Leaving V&D’s relationship to Nero ambiguous would have just let the DMC version of that crowd chug right along.

#anonynous #if that even is your real name #dmc #dmc meta #I guess?

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bprdmyers · 1 year

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@thenightmareofyourdrems asked: “ i’m not going anywhere.” ~ Jack

she had been impulsive. still reeling from a tension filled conversation-- or rather argument-- with ash following a mission. for whereas once they had been mirrors of each other, always in sync on missions, they hadn’t been since she’d requested their partnership dissolve even though it had been the last thing she truly wanted. this had marked the longest they’d ever gone without speaking to one another and their lack of an ability to seemingly work well together had nearly cost the success of the mission. by the time she had arrived back at headquarters, emotions had been at an all time high, her storming past agent sato and out of the building once she’d debriefed. georgie had wanted to be anywhere but there. wanted to be as far away from anything bprd, or with the title agent or paranormal as she could be. and so, she had formed what should have been the stupidest idea she could, in hindsight. there was only one person that she spent any decent amount of time with that met those criteria and the house would be free of parents. she also had no active assignments for that weekend. she’d sent the text before she could think about it. want to spend the weekend in new jersey? parents are away for the weekend. had she been more well-versed in well, subtext and normal social dynamics perhaps she’d have considered that a text like that could come off very differently than how she intended. however, she’s not. and so she awaits his answer as she drives toward her house, almost shocked when he responds in the affirmative.

it’d taken time for him to get there from where ever he had been, no doubt making his excuses to the others he kept company with. she’d thought jack had mentioned not long before that danny had one more show planned before they’d part ways for a few months, let the eye come up with their next trick while they went underground for awhile. georgie and jack didn’t talk a lot about what he did with the horsemen but with the fact they often found themselves having to hide each other from either them or those georgie worked with, some things came up in conversation such as the reason jack’s hideout had switched locations again being in preparation for a new show. the time it took for him to get there served to be beneficial, since davina had to return for something she’d forgotten before being off on her way, georgie’s father having already left that morning. once jack had gotten there, the rest of the friday evening had fallen into a rather typical hang out for them, albeit, it happening inside a house rather than in a public setting and without the tension of worry that plagued them of someone finding out. sure it could be thrilling sometimes, but always being stressed just to spend time with someone, wasn’t good for anyone and them spending time together had started to become a regular thing. she’d forced him to watch the little mermaid despite their ages and his protests, compromising with letting him pick the second movie, they’d ordered a pizza, and she’d shown him to the guest room commenting that she’d have to clean it before her parents noticed it’d been used. and that’s when it had struck georgie that this was a little weird of a situation because firstly, they’d never hung out for more than a few hours at a time before, and secondly, her parents weren’t there and she’d invited a boy to spend the weekend in her house. wasn’t this what parent’s were afraid of when they went off on trips? well, that or their kid throwing a party. then again, it wasn’t as if there was anything to worry about. he was just taking over the guest room for a few days.

it’s a few hours later, with the moon filling the sky and georgie falling into a deeper sleep which finds trouble starting. it’s something georgie had failed to consider when she’d impulsively invited him over which had been an oversight on her part. or perhaps it had simply been her belief that she could somehow control something that was out of her control. that it wouldn’t be an issue because she didn’t have night terrors every night, even if nightmares plagued her on most of them. it begins with what sounds like thuds on the floor of her room, books and pictures falling off shelves as she tosses and turns in her sleep. then comes the muttering, which for it’s part couldn’t be heard through the wall shared with the guest room next to hers. but the glass of water she had on her nightstand shattering? that’d made a decent sound. then it’d paused for a few minutes until she’d begun to let out some strange combination of a scream and a cry that’s only partly muffled by her pillow that’s now drenched in sweat. it’s not a night terror at least. she’s not moving out of her bed or trying to open her door even if she is squirming in her sheets. she’s still like that when her door gets opened, it taking the use of her name and a forceful shake to awaken her. she lashes out immediately arms flailing at whoever was there with her to push them away from her, still not registering she’s awake. though, it’s not entirely effective and it only takes her a few more seconds to realize it’s jack making her freeze, a maelstrom of emotions playing across her face. she’s thankful she hadn’t unleashed her powers on him but it’s difficult for her process much else considering her body is still shaking and her face is still wet with tears. she takes a deep yet shaky breath, embarrassment still finding it’s away past her other emotions.

“i’m sorry for waking you, i-- i’m fine you shoul--” go. he should go, out of her room where he can’t see her like this, vulnerable and unmasked. where he can’t see the way she’ll break down further the moment the door closes behind him as the memories she always tries to force away rage back into her until she eventually pushes them back down and remains awake for the rest of the night. except, he cuts her off, stating he isn’t leaving and georgie isn’t sure what to do with that because she’s never been in this situation before. her father knows about her dreams, comforts her when he can. but no one else has ever seen her like this and a part of her doesn’t want to be alone, even if that part battles with her pride and need to seem strong in front of others. “i-- ” she doesn’t know what to say, suddenly can’t form words in the way she wants to and so she quiets, refusing to make eye-contact and bringing her knees up to her chest as if it’s some form of armor that’ll shield him from seeing that she’s still crying even if she wants to force the tears to stop.

#thenightmareofyourdrems #this got a lot longer than expected #it's also a lot of angst #i am emotions #verse three; now you see me #v3 jack thread 003

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mandiips · 2 years

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There are so many rewrites of Frontier it's almost funny. And I think it’d be a fun exercise, so y’know why not? (Granted an exercise I’ve poorly attempted back when I was a pre-teen, but since I’ve a little more experience under my small-ass belt, let's try again.)

If you want a really fucking fantastic, modernized Reboot of Frontier, I beg you to read this fic right here. As for me in this almost traditional exercise, I just want to spice up what we’ve got with some personal experiences and good-ol’ wiki info. Give this show a good retrospective.

I feel like when reviewing Frontier, you've gotta look at the series as a whole, not just the dub. Don't get me wrong, the dub for Frontier is one of the best out of the entire franchise- gives the characters that bit of spice that the sub lacks, but it also does the conventional thing all dubs do- make the characters excessively rude and not shut them the hell up when it needs to. That takes away little hints and subtexts of who these characters really are, which is necessary because we don't have the digimon partners to reflect their character growth- no, in frontier we have to look underneath the underneath to really appreciate the lessons and facts of life these characters tell as a whole.

Frontiers’ entire shtick is about how much of a bitch you are. It's about the separation of naivety and innocence, black and white, you and the world around you. It's not your conventional story about good v evil, at least not at the beginning, where the show is strongest in writing and execution. It's about learning about and opening up to your faults, about how you perceive the world, and how that perception affects your mental state. Frontier says cry and bitch about your social situation all you want, because there's no magical fairy that's going to suddenly fix all your problems. You only have the power to change yourself, so why not be the one to take the first step in solving the problem? All of this because you can't objectify the people around you- you can't run away from the things you're afraid of when they catch up to you.

And that is just such an underrated and beautiful message; stay innocent- don't dirty your hands- but drop the naivety you whiny brat, go make some friends. Fucking love it.

That's why Frontier is deeper than Tamers. No doubt that Tamers handles heavy topics, but Frontier is all show- don't tell. You need to ask questions and delve into the characters to find the message- the really. really fucking good message. The reason why you don't like Frontier is the execution, not the lack of anything. After the Seraphimon episodes, it almost seems like entirely different people are writing the show. Characters lose their flavor, all development goes to Kouji, and the physical story we see contradicts what is being said (takuya's problematic ass) Yet I'm still surprised that so many people dislike it, because despite some of the characters losing or getting off track of their flavor- it's still good. Not great- but solid. I have a few critiques with the world-building, but the lore makes up for that. (The fucking lore. There is so much goddamn lore that frontier itself should be a spinoff series with multiple seasons- like hot damn i swear.)

It’s not about why the character’s are justified, it’s about why justification is a means of running away.( AND THAT IS LITERALLY WHAT TAKUYA’S CHARACTER WAS SUPPOSED TO BE, YOU GET IT FROM HIS CHARACTER SONG- ALL OF WHICH ARE LIKE CHEAT CODES FOR IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TRUE MESSAGE BEHIND THE CHARACTERS AND LIKE FUCK THIS IS WHY HE’S MY FAVORITE, THIS IS FUCKING WHY. YOU AND IZUMI DESERVE A BETTER SHOW)

The second major problem beyond execution is the reluctance to break away from the formula. Now yes, obviously there's the break in the partner and power system motifs- but the characters' potential is being taken away because of the cookie cutter standard that they've found themselves in. (takuya's problematic ass again) Kouji is clearly the writer's favorite, which is more than fine because of how well written and solid his character is, but the problem is that they can't execute that character correctly when he's in the wrong role. Had they just made him the lead, it would've given them the room they wanted to tell the twin's story and then properly develop and fill the gaps with the supporting cast. (who they then would have time to y'know- develop! Seriously! Izumi has suffered enough!) Takuya's untapped potential as a morally grey side-character who balances out the black and white of Kouji and Kouichi is URGH, good shit. Kouji being the lead would also solidify that this is a different season so you need to look at it differently- show don't tell theme, right in the marketing. Bam! Genius.

Overall, treat Frontier like a first draft. A gem that needs polishing. Fire concept, questionable execution. Oh and don't talk to me about the Royal Knights, I won't remember their existence unless necessary.

#digimon #digimon frontier #kouji minamoto #takuya kanbara #junpei shibayama #tomoki himi #kouichi kimura #izumi orimoto #df rewrite #manny mumbles #look at me sounding all prim and proper #do not be tricked i am a fool

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sanguinarysanguinity · 1 year

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2022 Fanworks in Review

In 2022, I published:

1. With Surprising Quickness (Bush/Hornblower, Hornblower TV, 3.7K, pwp) Two impoverished lieutenants share a berth.

2. A Peaceful and Beautiful Spot (Ewen & Francis, The Flight of the Heron, 1.4K, gen) Ewen brings Francis, Lord Aveling, to visit Keith's grave.

3. Heron Feathers (various pairings, The Flight of the Heron, ficlet collection)

4. [vid] Some Things are Meant to Be (Keith/Ewen, The Flight of the Heron 1968, major character death) Take my hand / Take my whole life too

5. Hornblower's Lost Honour (Bush/Hornblower, Hornblower novels, 107K) #no one leaves this island until I see some kissing

6. Seaweed and Apple Blossoms (Laurent/Aymar/Avoye, The Wounded Name, 4.3K) Four missing scenes in which the subtext is made text.

Total number of completed works: Four stories (one with a prologue), one ficlet collection, and one vid.

Total word count: 117K, which is roughly twice my usual annual published word count. A lot of that is a result of Hornblower's Lost Honour having been written over the course of three years, thus pulling a significant chunk of previous years' unpublished words into this year's published wordcount. (But even if I didn't write all those words this year, I sure did edit them all! Getting that sucker published was a significant chunk of work.)

Fandoms created for: Hornblower, The Flight of the Heron, The Wounded Name.

Looking back, did you create more than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected? All of the above. My dad's death back in January knocked me out of my usual run of spring exchanges, and for a long while there I was writing nothing more than alibi sentences. Consequently, in terms of total works, this seems like a very short list for the year, even given the behemoth of Lost Honour. Flipside, my big goal was to publish Lost Honour during 2022, and I successfully pulled that off, even bringing me to a record high wordcount, which I was very much not expecting given the way the year started.

What’s your own favorite creation of the year? Maybe "A Peaceful and Beautiful Spot" -- I like the energy and some of the prose is very well. I'm not claiming it's my best work of the year -- it was written in a day and shows a consequent lack of polish -- but my feelings about it are uncomplicated, and it has a pleasing accomplishment-to-effort ratio.

Did you take any creative risks this year? I typed this sentence --

His passion could no longer be restrained; it must find expression, or he must die.

-- and had a moment of extreme self-consciousness about what I had just written. I ultimately decided not only to leave it in, but to let it guide the tone of the piece. Happily, several commenters said they liked the OTT emotionalism of that story, so I'm gonna say it worked out.

Do you have any goals for the new year? To finish Langstroth on Bees, my ACD Holmes retirement longfic that I started in 2014, and which currently sits at 70K. Also, very tentatively: now that I'm doing a Holmes canon re-read with Letters from Watson, I've picked up "Sixty for Sixty" again: a collection of sixty-word ficlets for the sixty canon stories, which I first started during my last readthrough of Holmes canon as a part of sherlock60 on LJ. I'm not gonna commit to doing ficlets for all the stories (that way lies madness!), but it'd be cool to knock out another chunk of them. Beyond that, just the usual: to keep making things for as long as I'm getting pleasure from making them.

Most popular creation of the year? "With Surprising Quickness". Yes, it's probably one of my stronger PWPs, but more significantly, 1) I wrote it at the beginning of the year, giving it more time to accumulate kudos, and 2) I wrote it for a large exchange, bringing it before more eyes. It might also help that it's in the TV tag and not the novels tag; I sometimes get the impression there are more readers in the TV tag.

Creation of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: No. Within this question lies madness.

Most fun thing to make: The vid. It came together very quickly, and making it was hella iddy and immersive, in that way that vidding often is.

Most unintentionally telling thing: Hornblower's Lost Honour. I came out in the early 90s into a society more comprehensively and reflexively homophobic than the one I live in today, and Lost Honour draws on those experiences. Most especially how society's hatred gets deep down inside your head and you can unpack it and unpack it and fucking unpack it and then you turn around and discover that no, society has still got you unwittingly doing their dirty work for them, punishing yourself on their behalf. Like a rat proactively giving yourself electroshocks because you can't imagine any other way to live, ugh. That experience (plus how it shapes and stunts you and damages your relationships) is threaded all through that story.

Biggest disappointment: Again, madness.

Biggest surprise: FANART. Three people made fanart for Lost Honour! Plus another art for one of my Heron Feathers ficlets! Behold:

@chiropteracupola for HLH chapter 1

@cedarboots for HLH chapter 7

ljm for the AU where Horatio bakes Bush and Brown an apology cake

@chiropteracupola Heron OT3

I am flat aback with astonishment and pleasure.

#my writing #also #my vids #long post #2022 in review

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antigonewinchester · 1 year

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Ok, but what about - and, yes, it's a thing,

Sam/Jess/Dean?

Hmmm this one is a bit tough because Jess really isn’t much of a character—her narrative role really is to be Sam’s sweet, supportive blonde girlfriend and then die—so it’d definitely have to be an AU where Jess lives and is more 3-dimentional. Does have funny ‘incest lite’ vibes, in shying away from straight up Wincest by still including Jess. Checked AO3 and it only has 133 fics, which isn’t all that surprising, considering how most people went right to Wincest from the start.

What seems most interesting to me is an S1 AU where Jess goes along with Sam & Dean in their quest to find John. Already that would give Jess more of a personality (it would take a certain type of person to drop out of Stanford to go chasing after her boyfriend’s dad, plus the getting in the middle of two brothers aspect) and would be a way to explore Sam and Dean from a 3rd perspective. Since both of them have such different views of each other and their childhoods in S1, adding Jess to the mix would be compelling in that she wouldn’t have the same view of the situation as either of them. And there’s how she’d react to learning about hunting and that Sam kept such a huge part of his life from her for their whole relationship, and how she’d reevaluate Sam and Dean both as she got to know them both more. Sam & Dean dating the same 3rd person might also solve some of the relationship drama and jealousies between them, weirdly enough.

(I guess one could also do an S1 AU that didn’t involve Wincest explicitly, with Jess dating both Sam and Dean but the bros not directly involved. There’s definitely an American gothic novel to be written in that vein if it hasn’t been already, about a young woman who gets pulled into a dysfunctional relationship w/ 2 brothers as they travel across the US, the incestuous subtext lingering in the background... looking at the horrors of incest & the American family from an outsider pov and all that.)

[send me a ship and I'll give you by (brutally) honest opinion]

#wincest #sam & dean & jess #asks

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moregraceful · 1 year

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Sebastian Aho/Teuvo Teravainen: dance 💃

anon i cannot express enough how sorry i am that i took your sweet prompt and gave it a brent burns pov and a closeted gay jesse puljujärvi subtext. in my defense i don't know anything about the canes but that's never stopped me before and yet. oh jeeze. anon i am so sorry you are worth so much more than what happened here

;;

Brent was not, like, known for being quiet or subtle but he knew when it mattered to shut the fuck up. So when he caught Sebastian and Teuvo having a calm, private moment in the corner of PNC, he kept it to himself.

And, whatever, it could have been anything. Teuvo leaning close to Sebastian’s ear and whispering something that made Sebastian laugh could have been anything. One of their stupid Finnish in-jokes that Jasperi was always complaining about, or whatever. If he thought saw Sebastian lean in for a kiss, well, he ducked away before they connected. Coulda been anything.

Hard to ignore it when it kept happening. Seemed like every time he turned a corner, Sebastian and Teuvo were laughing at some joke, leaning too close. But Brent was a born hunter; he knew when to keep still and let a harmless animal move along. Sebastian and Teuvo weren’t hurting anybody. Why try to kill whatever was between them just because it’d make a good joke. It would make a great joke, but the Canes locker room wasn’t San Jose. Things felt a little more precious here.

He mentioned it to Jordan once over beers in a bar, Jordan taking him out early in the season so they could both get on the same page after a bit of a rocky start. Brent wasn’t used to not being a leader, not having an A, and he’d been chafing, a little, against Jordan’s gentler touch in a locker room that often seemed chaotic.

The way Jordan explained it was simple: if you’re just here for a cup, you can leave. The rest of us are here for each other.

Brent understood that on an intimate level.

Air cleared, they talked more freely about the team. Where Brent could fit in, what the fuck was up with Martinook and Andrei, where the best camp sites were, what local craft breweries to invest in.

Two beers in and feeling absolutely nothing, Brent asked casually, “Sebastian and Teuvo, what’s their deal?”

Jordan looked at him flatly. “They’re Finnish.”

Brent wasn’t sure if that was a dismissal or just ignorance. He changed the subject.

Post-trade, when the Finns had grown by one more and Jesse Puljujärvi was inserting himself into the locker room seamlessly by translating everything Teuvo and Sebastian were arguing about with great comedic exaggeration, Brent took them all out to a bar in Montreal.

From the bottom of his Anglo-Canadian heart, fuck Montreal forever, but they had great bars. This one had two levels and a small dance floor and played music in Canadian music that wasn’t Arkells, so it was more or less the best he could offer his teammates for a night to unwind.

There would be no drinking to excess, Jordan told them all with the stern deliverance of an old school preacher, before laughing at himself while Dylan and Martin threw pieces of paper cups at him in the locker room where they were dressing. “Just, don’t fuck up,” he said. “We need the points and tomorrow will be easy if you’re not hungover like an asshole.”

At the bar, the group split, younger guys on the floor, most of the older guys on the balcony. This was an older team, which Brent was used to generally, but it was a tight one and to be fair, there was a lot of movement between the two groups. Marty kept dipping onto the dance floor to make a fool out of himself, pretty Montreal girls laughing along with him.

Jesse threw himself into a seat next to Brent an hour in. He was holding what looked like a cocktail, but, when Brent asked to try it, it turned out to be a mocktail. He laughed at the expression on Brent’s face when Brent realized he was tasting ginger beer and club soda. “It’s good, right,” he said. “I like it.” He shrugged one shoulder, half-casual. “I don’t like drinking during the season anymore.”

Anymore. Brent could roll with that. He’d switched to water a couple drinks in. No shame in knowing what’s best for you. He tapped his water class against Jesse’s mocktail. “Enjoying the bar?”

“Oh, yes,” said Jesse happily. “Pretty people and good vibes.” He pointed at the dance floor. “Good for Sepe and Teukka too.”

Sebastian and Teuvo were dancing together. It looked choreographed. It looked like a really fucked up kind of swing dancing. Brent and his wife had taken swing lessons one off-season, but for all his athleticism, he’d been laughably uncoordinated and they’d kept their dancing to the kitchen. It was a lot like what Sebastian and Teuvo were doing.

Brent hadn’t registered the music turning to French electro-swing and he quietly took the bar off his mental list of acceptable places to be in Montreal. At least Sebastian looked like he was having fun, laughing as Teuvo swung him around.

“Sebastian’s the woman,” he observed.

Jesse laughed. “Say that to his face and see how far you get.”

Brent valued his nuts too much for that. He laughed too.

Teuvo and Sebastian kept moving, back and forth, never out of reach of each other. They were gathering quite a crowd for such bad dancing. The pretty Montreal girls Marty had been flirting with were cooing at them audibly. A couple gay guys tried to edge in, take Sebastian from Teuvo’s hands like any reasonable dancer might, but Teuvo kept his hands in Sebastian’s and Sebastian shook the guys off with a bright smile.

“Is this normal?” he asked Jesse. “Like, in your country, or whatever.”

Jesse looked blankly at him. “It’s Sepe and Teukka,” he said. “They do what they want.”

Teuvo pulled Sebastian close at the end of the song and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Sebastian burst into laughter.

Brent looked around for someone who was more in charge than him to do something but Jordan and Max were deep in discussion about some bullshit. Jaccob and Marty were down on the floor themselves. Paul just looked tired, half-asleep against Jordan’s shoulder.

Sadly that left Brent as the ranking old fuck on the team. He looked at Jesse. Jesse sipped his drink. “It’s all right for them,” he said contemplatively. “It’s all right for some guys, you know. Not everyone, but some.”

He shrugged again, but it looked more natural, if a little resigned. “Can you dance, Burnzie?”

Brent looked at the floor. Another atrocious French song was playing, and most of the dance floor had converted to some of the worst swing dancing he’d ever witnessed. Teuvo and Sebastian were a lot closer now, pressed close, but laughing at each other. Teuvo dipped Sebastian low and pulled him in again.

There was a group of new men on the edge of the dance floor watching with thoughtful, mean expressions. Brent felt the back of his head where good decisions never happened fire up.

He considered his options. “Want to find out?” he asked.

If he was too old to start a fight on a dance floor, he could at least give Montreal press something to talk about tomorrow after the Canes kicked the shit out of the Habs when pictures leaked of him dancing. Take a little pressure off Suzuki too when they lost, and Brent would always root for a kid in his first year as captain, even if he did want to crush the life out of his team. He was man enough to contain multitudes.

Jesse lit up, a smile breaking across his wide face. “You can dance like that?”

“Badly,” said Brent. “I look stupid as hell. Good way to cheer up my wife, though. A little dancing goes a long way.”

Jesse stood up. “Teach me,” he said. “I always wanted to cheer someone up.”

Teuvo spun Sebastian around the dance floor and one of the guys pulled out his phone. Brent picked up his beer and stood up. “Watch and learn, kid,” he said.

Jesse punched him but they went down to the dance floor together. Brent spilled his entire beer on the guy’s phone as he filmed and turned around. “Shit, sorry, guy,” he said. “Oh fuck, do you even speak English?” He opened his wallet and pulled out a hundred American dollars, shoved it in the guy’s hand while the guy yelled something in French. “Here.”

He elbowed him out of the way and pulled Jesse in. “Follow my lead,” he said.

Sebastian and Teuvo paused beside them, looking hesitant, but when Brent showed Jesse how to move his feet, they burst out laughing. Teuvo pulled Sebastian in again and then pushed him out, hands never leaving Sebastian’s. “You’re so bad,” said Sebastian. “Fuck, you are awful.”

“Better than you,” Brent shot back. Jesse laughed. “No, no, I think you’re worse.”

The pretty Montreal girls were watching with wide eyes and some of the gay boys were edging their way in. “Oh, let me,” said one of them, and pulled Jesse right out of Brent's hands.

Brent saluted Jesse and found someone else to dance with. Yeah, it was alright for some, he thought.

In the middle of it all, Sebastian and Teuvo kept dancing.

#i forget who had an iconic line abt jesse striking out in a bar in their rat fic and the subtext was jesse was gay #i think it was becs?? whoever it was it lodged in my head and wormed its way into my heart and now it lives in my blood #society if i knew any goddamn thing abt the canes besides that they're old and ferda-#like any good queer liberal arts student i took swing dance lessons in college with the swing dance club #i did not however retain any information about naming conventions or anything remotely useful for this fic #all i remember is the rare moments when i understood how my dance partner (my roommate) was moving and could respond fluidly #how that confidence when everything lined up perfectly (if briefly) felt SO good and SO sexy and it felt like anything was possible #that's kind of the vibe of Them i guess. sepe and teukka trying new things out and the confidence that comes from #the brief moments it goes completely right #[contemplatively] i could have written about that. i could have written a fic about any of those tags. and i wrote about brent burns #anon i am again so sorry. i should fined a least $100 for this #unfortunate birdcage fanfictions

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