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lunar-years · 8 months

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i think i remember you mentioned how jamie’s love confession to keeley had nothing to do with how he felt about her romantically and i’d love to hear more of your thoughts on it. jamie’s so strange throughout the ep, and considering it’s right after the man city confrontation with his father, it’s probably not too far of a stretch to say he’s thinking about his own father’s death and having a bit of an existential crisis himself. i think jamiekeeley is cute btw and i’m all for ot3 roykeeleyjamie! just wanted to pick your brain about this. and apologies if you’ve never posted about this and i’m remembering the wrong user

Hi! I’m pretty sure this wasn’t me who said it (but never say never because I sure say a lot on here, lol). However you might have still seen it on my blog, because I think I responded to an ask recently with the same opinion!

Regardless, my personal view on it is that Jamie was definitely speaking romantically, BUT I’ve seen a bunch of people think otherwise and it’s fun to explore different viewpoints so I'm gonna talk about my opinions on the funeral episode anyway lmao :)

I think the funeral is soooo interesting because Jamie AND Roy AND Keeley are all acting kind of strangely. Even when we figure how why Roy is being so odd (Grandad Emotions), but there's still whatever is going on between Jamie and Keeley. Because like, yeah, Jamie definitely should’ve 1) realized his boss' father's funeral wasn’t the time nor place for love confessions and 2) probably not done it regardless because, yes, it is kind of out of pocket to tell your ex-girlfriend you’re still in love with her when she’s currently dating someone else (who just so happens to be your current football coach who just helped you during a very traumatic experience)…like ohhh Jamie. Messy!! But I love mess. So therefore I did love this. 🤷‍♀️ However…the topic is not necessarily as ~coming up out of nowhere~ as it first seems, I think. Importantly, Keeley is also acting weirdly!!

I was staring at this gifset recently and thinking many a Keeley thought, and to be honest I think feelings and big emotions were being stirred up again on BOTH sides at that event. It’s interesting (and I think rings true to other insights we've gotten into her character) that as soon as things get a little dicey with Roy, Keeley starts looking outside her relationship, either for people to confide in (as she does when she tells everyone but Roy about the problems she’s having with Roy in Headspace) or to reflect on what she no longer has but is suddenly wondering if she might miss and possibly still want (her contemplative looks at Jamie at the funeral, “you look nice Jamie” etc…. Maybe this is an unpopular take, but I think Keeley is also feeling some type of way that day, about Jamie in particular. And yeah I definitely think that has an impact on why Jamie chooses then to confess to her. He's sensing a different vibe between them suddenly and is reminded, I need to do this.

The other reasons in Jamie’s head imo are 1) Jamie is just generally very open about most of his feelings and I think he’s coming at it from, a 'you should tell the people you love that you love them!' place, right or wrong 2) as he later tells Roy, the funeral made him uncomfy!! and AS YOU SAY yeah i do think there's definitely an connection between that and his dad abusing him in front of the whole team, which has just happened very recently. PERHAPS he is already Not Doing Great, and watching his boss who he doesn't really know act Weird during the eulogy for her Dead Father has him extra off-kilter. 3) as we learn in s3... his dad disappeared after Wembley. No calls, no texts. Nothing. Now, we don't have categoric evidence that this is unusual, but to ME James Sr. doesn't seem like someone who typically leaves well enough alone. I can definitely see Jamie still being freaked out over this very big thing that happened that his dad has got to be incredibly angry about. Perhaps there is still a part of him very much waiting for the other shoe to drop! Which is to say, I do think you're right that there's an element of existential crisis going on here.

Also, while I do personally think Jamie's confession is romantic in nature, I do not think it is conditional in intent. Jamie isn't telling her with the expectation that she's going to dump Roy immediately and tell him that oh yeah, she loves him too. Like, Jamie isn't an idiot. I think he does at the heart of it just want to thank her and he's been meaning to thank her for a while because she means SO MUCH TO HIM that it all has to come spilling out as some point. And a part of that love is romantic, yes, but he also loves her in so many ways. I think Jamie is perfectly content to put it out there and let her set the terms of their future friendship/relationship. Most important to him is that she knows.

So anyway, sorry this got so long and that it isn't really what your original question was about (for anyone who thinks the confession wasn't about Jamie loving her romantically, please feel free to chime in/reblog and add your thoughts!) but in summation, I think: Roy being upset about other things (Grandad) causes him to stir a fight with Keeley -> The fight with Roy causes Keeley to re-evaluate some things and part of her focus undeniably lands on Jamie -> Jamie senses something has changed between him and Keeley and because of that, in addition to the lingering aftershocks of a recent very traumatic experience, confesses he's still in love with her at a funeral.

Which is to say, as I DO always say here at lunar-years, these three's stories have always been irrevocably intertwined since the beginning (regardless of the ot3 as a ship) and the funeral is another example of that. Also it is totally crazy that we never get an explicit follow-up to Man City until episode 11 of the NEXT SEASON and that is one of my biggest grievances on season 2.

#thanks for asking :)#jamiekeeley #royjamiekeeley #ted lasso #jamie tartt #keeley jones #asks #ted lasso meta #Keeley in that episode re: Jamie is so similar to how she is about him in early s3. like. I'm thinking thoughts.#something something even when she's with roy there's still a jamie shape in the corner...something unfinished there between them #and they were always going to come back to it. of course they were.

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apoptoses · 1 month

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DANIEL -

3. What first drew you to this character? 12. If you could write effortlessly and as much as you wanted, what story (s) would you write for this character? 26. If you look for this character’s name on AO3, what tags are you including or excluding? 34. Does this character inspire you with little things in your daily life? 50. Link your fav song, playlist, aesthetic board, fan-fiction, reference pile, personal artwork, analysis post, meme, headcanon, or quote for this character. Whichever one (s) you are most comfortable with!

okay you also asked for Armand with the same questions so for the sake of organization i'm gonna do both in one post!!!

What first drew you to this character?

Daniel: I just really like what a great stand-in for the reader he can be because yeah, I'm sure EVERYONE who read these books at some point had the same thought- that they would want to be turned and they'd see immortality as a gift. I like his shameless love of these monsters, the line about liking kissing and snuggling with dead things? Made me absolutely insane. I like that he's not afraid to mouth off to something so dangerous while he's still mortal. I like his drinking issues, his weird craft fixations. Basically everything we got in the text was incredible imo, he's a fave!!

Armand: Honestly Armand didn't really click with me until QotD. In my mind he was a Louis-simp in interview, and then an angry bitchy little Jesus freak in tvl, but then he shows up in QotD and he's putting cigarettes down the garbage disposal and throwing money at Daniel to make him teach him about international calls and I was like- damn, this one is a FREAK deep down. So seeing him be erratic and out of place and curious about the world made me view him in a new light, and the moments of gentleness he shows later in the book really pulled the pieces together for me.

If you could write effortlessly and as much as you wanted, what story (s) would you write for this character?

Fuck, I really want some newly turned Daniel at Night Island for both of them. Like what went wrong? What kind of maker was Armand with all these ghosts from his past around? How long did it take for things to fall apart and what were the ups and downs of that period like? I really, really wanna work through that but I don't have even the slightest inkling of where I want to begin yet.

If you look for this character’s name on AO3, what tags are you including or excluding?

So generally I start with fic rated Explicit or Mature, not just for pervert reasons lmao But I feel like if a writer can write some smut that really gets the characters and explores something interesting about them then most likely their fics with lower ratings are gonna be interesting and not pure woobification. (also if they're writing the kind of smut I like? Then we're likely similar flavors of freak and I know anything else they do is gonna be safe)

Also while I wanna write some vampire on vampire stuff, I generally prefer Daniel to be mortal for bodily exploitation purposes 😂

Does this character inspire you with little things in your daily life?

Kacy pls you know what things have been like for me lately, every two weeks something is going on that has me feeling like I'm living the Full Molloy lmao I'll never live down the experience of sitting in my car at 10pm and having that liquor store owner come outside and wave to me while Lixx runs around inside with an armful of bottles of wine for my shot nerves.

Anyways in all seriousness I think about Daniel's speech to Armand when he's dying a lot:

“But don’t you see,” Daniel said, “all human decisions are made like this. Do you think the mother knows what will happen to the child in her womb? Dear God, we are lost, I tell you. What does it matter if you give it to me and it’s wrong! There is no wrong! There is only desperation, and I would have it! I want to live forever with you.”

The refusal to ruminate or get sucked into thinking of all the possible wrong outcomes, that at the end of the day there is no wrong decision there's only action- I think there's something poignant there and I would do better to not be like Armand, convinced everything will turn out poorly in the end.

Link your fav song, playlist, aesthetic board, fan-fiction, reference pile, personal artwork, analysis post, meme, headcanon, or quote for this character. Whichever one (s) you are most comfortable with!

The fanart of Daniel that will always live rent free in my head is @nightislandofficial's art of him in tank top and cut off shorts bitching about 'give me what I want' lmao (though honestly all of their comics featuring Armand and Daniel send me, what a fandom gift)

Your series the Usher will forever have me in a chokehold like. Fic of all time!!! Also the thing you wrote for my wedding 🥹

God, for headcanons- anything stupid. Any headcanon that is really just a shitpost.

And my favorite quote for the two of them, just off the top of my head, would be Daniel saying "let me be a lover in the savage garden with you". He really had some killer lines, despite what little he got lol

#apoptoses answers #armand/daniel

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skadren · 2 years

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Angeal always bothers me and idk how to word it!! Not sure your take on why or what you see with his character in general but I'd love to know bc this has been bothering me forever

so this got. a little more heated than i thought it would. sorry anon lmao

angeal stans this is your warning!! nice things are not said under the cut

so angeal exists in the narrative to be the dead mentor figure so we feel bad for zack and to infodump a little about his and genesis's pasts in the beginning so genesis gets a modicum of development as well. he also does some obligatory passing on of his legacy of soldier honor and morals to zack so zack has a clear model to follow and we as the audience can see his growth from somewhat careless and cocky to a little more serious and driven after angeal's death. on a deeper level, angeal also exists as a counterpoint to genesis's and sephiroth's respective models of heroism, where (simply put) angeal's is staying true to a code of honor to protect the people, genesis's is being recognized by the public for heroic deeds, and sephiroth's is manufactured success and perfection in performance

and like, crisis core shows that each of these models doesn't work. in the case of angeal, his rigid adherence to a code of honor to remain morally pure leads to his downfall. especially with the circumstances of his death-- like, death before dishonor is an incredibly strong concept in japanese culture, but it's pretty clear in cc that what angeal does in forcing zack's hand is somewhat backwards in logic. like, where was this revelation that he was hurting people back in the middle of the war with wutai where he was literally destroying people’s villages and livelihoods vs. now when the war is literally over and he isn’t actively hurting people?? but. whatever. sure, let's assume this was the turning point that finally made him realize what he’s done in the past

but even then he doesn't solve anything, he doesn't try to help anyone despite that being basically his motto, he just gives up because he himself doesn't fit into his strict worldview-- if he isn't the hero he thought he was, then he must be a monster, and he can't be tolerated to exist. angeal quite literally shatters under the weight of his morals

there's also the issue of the story from his childhood, which is supposed to show his character as honorable à la "honor can exist in unconventional ways" but. it fails to establish him as such imo. it's like, you're too proud to accept help so you're gonna steal from people instead? and not even the rich people because one of them is your friend?? like there's a difference between being honorable and being too proud, especially if part of your motto is to protect others. it feels like a weird blend of capitalist work ethic + robin hood-esque imagery while missing the part where robin hood didn't actually steal solely because he was poor, he stole because fuck rich people and so he could help other poor people. you know. by giving them the handouts angeal is apparently too proud to accept

he's just a huge hypocrite, which makes his lectures on honor and pride feel all the more sanctimonious. he tries so hard to keep the moral high ground that the moment he comes up against something that actually tests his self-perception, he just shrugs and goes "guess i'll die". i feel like that was the entire point of how crisis core wrote him, especially given the role the buster sword plays in symbolizing his honor (aka use it or lose it), but the overall fandom tends to treat him as objectively the best of the firsts, like this bitch didn't just nosedive into drama queen territory just as quickly as the other two

anyways. angeal was wrong. the buster sword is a metaphor for his failure to uphold his own philosophies relative to the people who inherited it. fight me

like fandom angeal is as bland as white bread but somehow manages to singlehandedly piss me off more than any other character in the compilation. i think @ladylokiofmidgard put it best when she said he has the moral backbone of a chocolate éclair. i could go on more but this post is already too long as it is

#skadren rambles

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monstersinthecosmos · 8 months

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I am sooo happy I sent that ask!! Your reply was everything I could have wished for and more. I didn’t know anything about the VC universe (I did see the movie adaptation as a kid, but all I could remember were the ~vibes), and now I might actually want to check out the books. I mean I can’t believe how much of it is canon LOL, traumatized kinky asexual vampires wtf? sign me up??? Which book(s) of the series would you recommend to me? :o

In the meantime, I will DEFINITELY be giving your VC fics a try, thank you so much for the pointers!!! I’m already weak just reading your reply, esp. that parallel of post-disaster Armand and Marius being kind of like an AU where Shiro *does* give up on Keith - that actually broke me. A lot of what I love about your fics is how you characterize Keith so realistically and in a way that’s meaningfully informed by his upbringing/subsequent abandonment issues and that’s a thrill to read because, well, it’s just good writing - but also because it makes so much sense, not just abstractly but in a very real and personal way. And while the ~relatability~ of it all makes for a super intense reading experience, it can also be weirdly and sometimes incredibly cathartic imo - which is one of the reasons why I think I keep revisiting your fics (sorry if tmi LOL 😭). But!! In the case of Sheith it more or less all works out in the end because, like you said, it’s such a wholesome ship and they love and prioritize each other so much that (as a reader) they’re kinda like a safe space, delectably complete with all the angst and hurt and fuckedupness of their circumstances/selves (you know, for flavor). However, thinking about a timeline where it does NOT all more or less work out, well that’s kinda super heartwrenching! But yummy? And I kinda can’t wait to get into it but I’m also genuinely scared for my heart LMAO. Anyway I’m sorry for rambling!!! With your permission I will definitely come back and scream about Sheith and vampires because I sorta already am lol.

Re: the teaser xmgdknfnrmsmgdk I can’t even gather enough brain cells to form coherent sentences, I’m just squealing and awaiting my resurrection I guess. Thank you sooo so so much! I got so excited I haven’t even been able to finish reading it 🫣😳😵😵😵

!!!!! Thank you again for such a thoughtful and delicious response! <3

Dgahskjdl g GOSH THANK YOU AGAIN

So this post got really long I’m so sorry asdghkads TLDR: I recommend all of them but I also don’t LMAO and you can skip around and won’t be confused but it will spoil stuff. This is a LOADED QUESTION.

It’s wild like I was thinking about the fic i could stop dreaming and also just in general AGAIN IF WE CAN TALK ABOUT COMMON SHEITH TROPES/FANON like I’ve read many S8 fix-its where Keith is drifting around and he’s just like so cold and broken and empty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And that’s how Armand feels to me! Even a fic like heart nailed open where Keith is just so fucking empty! Or SOURCE DECAY??????? Like I think there’s tons of Sheith AUs or S8 fics where Keith is like Depressed Guy Keith and !!!!!! God it fucks me up lol. Armand is kinda like if Depressed Guy Keith was also like a 500 year old fucking weirdo.

And like BECAUSE they’re vampires and they’re immortal they’re sort of always coming in and out of each other’s lives so like there’s always a hypothetical future where they can work it out. Like i could stop dreaming is about them working it out, right? And what it would take to heal that injury. And there’s a lot of stuff in canon where these characters commit absolute fucking atrocities to each other and still manage to work it out and I think it’s again just an exercise in empathy and asking if we can still deserve love when we’ve fucked up. The characters have CENTURIES to get over stuff (and some of them STILL DON’T LOL) but sometimes they do. Famously & without spoiling too much of IWTV, Armand does something pretty fucking atrocious to Louis and they still have a long relationship and still love each other very much!!!

But ON THE QUESTION OF WHICH BOOKS, jfc hold my beer

I think in Sheith you see people like almost universally dismiss S8; the only fics I ever see of it really are like just gratuitous whump or fix-its LOL which is valid. And VC has FIFTEEN FUCKING BOOKS and you could honestly ask ANY fan in VC which books “count” and which books are skippable and I think everyone has a different answer.

I also think you can read them out of order and there’s always a little bit of exposition to catch you up so you won’t be lost; the only downside is that you’ll get spoiled on the previous book. For example, if you jumped in and read Armand’s book first, it would make sense, but it would spoil what happened at the end of the book before it.

Also to get the movies & show out of the way because it’s faster than committing to fifteen books:

The 1994 movie is a pretty solid adaptation; you can tell they condensed some details for time or whatever but it’s pretty faithful. There’s also the show that came out last year which is …………….. not so faithful lol. The show also heavily focuses on Lestat & Louis which is the juggernaut ship of the fandom but they’re also like the missionary position of the fandom so who the fuck cares lol. (Loustat fans lurking in this extremely niche post I am so sorry, I'm kidding ilu LMAO it's just not my thing!) And tbh the show wrote Armand & Daniel’s characters SO POORLY it like absolutely killed any motivation I had to continue watching so as an Armand stan I can’t really recommend it but it’s kinda like silly and fun if you don’t take it too seriously. And tbh if this entire fact finding mission is to understand VC more, the show literally changes EVERYTHING; it changes the time period, it changes the lore, it changes the story, it changes the character ages, etc. Basically it just kept the names lol. It's a completely different canon so I think even show fics & book fics aren't compatible either.

There’s also a movie of Queen of the Damned from 2002 which is like SO BAD LMAO but also silly fun. It’s a really bad adaptation but I’d put it in between the movie and the show. Marius is in it and the characterization is really strange LMAO. Armand is an extra.

The thing about VC is that it’s very sort of like non-linear and nontraditional storytelling. Most of the books are narrated by Lestat but several of them are narrated by random other people, and a lot of times the same story is retold through other people’s POVs. Like you get the story about Marius & Armand in three different books and each version is a little different because everyone has a different perspective. And regarding reading out of order and having spoilers, I do think it often creates like a suspense vs surprise element because we circle back and revisit the same stories so many times; you might get a spoiler and read a book knowing that a certain thing is going to happen and there’s still the tension of waiting for it to happen haha. Like when I mentioned the cult raids Marius’s house—you learn about that in Book 2 so you read Armand’s book later going into detail about his life and you’re just SWEATING because you know it’s coming. AND THEN YOU READ ABOUT IT IN MARIUS'S BOOK AND YOU'RE JUST DEVASTATED ONCE MORE.

I will say that for me I always recommend just fucking read them lol. Just read all of them. LOL!! But they’re weird and like, you’re gonna hate some of them, but I don’t think you can take someone’s word for it on Tumblr, it must be experienced. But I do understand that it’s a lot of material to get through and so I can give a fair cheat guide I think.

Most fans agree that the first three books (“The Trilogy”!) are solid and worth reading. Those are Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, and The Queen of the Damned. IWTV is like this gloomy gothic tome about Louis’s life that started this whole thing and was written as a conversation about grief because Anne Rice’s daughter had died. It absolutely reads like a book someone writes about their daughter dying and it’s REALLY beautiful but it’s also a bit dense at times. If you’re put off by the vibe IT GETS EASIER when Lestat shows up because he literally bursts into the series like Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way ready to like tell you how blonde he is and how he’s gonna fuck everyone’s lives up. The books are still very heavy on existential questions and angst and grief but the text gets a bit lighter and super absurd LOL.

The first three also establish the universe and lore, though, so I think it would give you a pretty solid foundation to understand that type of stuff.

After the trilogy the books just go off the rails like there’s a few about Lestat having stupid adventures and doing dumb shit, there’s a few that cross over with Anne Rice’s witch series (so add three more book so if you truly wanted to read all of them!), then Anne Rice went back to the church and stopped writing vampires so there’s a huge gap, and then she quit the church again and returned LMAO. There’s a final trilogy she wrote before she died that are like, not the heaviest reading and they’re just kinda like silly good times with lots of Easter eggs and fan service. I feel good about the final trilogy being how it ended, just really silly times about them trying to use iPhones and shit, completely wild.

As far as ARMAND CONTENT THOUGH.

Armand does feature heavily in the trilogy so that’s also a good Armand foundation. And it’s REALLY FUN because he shows up in IWTV as sort of a chill mentor to Louis, but then in TVL you get the story about how Lestat met him when he was still in the cult and he was a feral little monster!!! And I love the duality of how Lestat and Louis describe him!!! It’s framed as unreliable narration a lot of the time because like Lestat’s resentment & Louis’s respect for Armand absolutely color the way they describe him, but idk like 100 years go by in between the two meetings so you also see a lot of character growth and see how Armand is doing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God. My heart.

Anne Rice also very often uses like texts inside texts so like, IWTV literally is an interview with a vampire where the bulk of the book is in quotes as dialogue LOL and then in other books you often meet a character who will talk for like 40 pages at a time to tell a story. So in TVL when Lestat meets Armand, Armand takes over for a chapter and tells the story of his life, and then later he meets Marius and Marius ALSO tells the story of his life.

QOTD is a modern story (modern in the 1980s when it was written haha) about how the whole vampire world has to deal with Lestat’s bullshit and they all come together for a common cause. This book features the little novelette about Armand & Daniel as one of the chapters!! It’s so good!! (The chapter is called The Devil's Minion and basically if you needed to understand Armand & Daniel you could just read that one chapter and that's basically it bc then it goes to shit!!! Not to spoil anything but also don't get your hopes up about like heaps and heaps of ship content because there isn't any lmfao fml)

It also features Marius and Armand reuniting with each other after 500 years!!!!!!!! HEARTBREAKING! It’s really good and very preposterous but the writing is so lush and takes itself so seriously you kinda forget that it’s preposterous.

Armand has a POV book later in the series, it’s called The Vampire Armand, it details his life as a human and some of his early years as a vampire with Marius. IT’S SORT OF LIKE A LONG EXTENDED VERSION OF HIS CHAPTER IN TVL.

I do want to say that regarding the BDSM and whatnot that I mentioned; this book is quite controversial because there’s not good BDSM etiquette LOL and like part of the genius of this book is that it can be read as abuse, even when Armand isn’t setting out to tell you the story of how he was abused. I have a lot of thoughts about this because Anne Rice was also an erotica writer and her erotica books were all noncon BDSM; I WROTE ABOUT IT HERE I DON’T WANT TO GET INTO IT NOW but I think depending how people go into this book they either see the kink & sex stuff as explicit abuse OR you can read it as like, fantasy from a porn writer. As a Sheith fan I’m going to assume you’re not that sensitive lol. (But also por que no los dos, that's the flavor baby!)

Personally I think you could read this book as a standalone and like, it’ll be a little whacky without context, but I think I’ve given you a lot of context. It’s basically about his sad sad life, the religious trauma, and all the freaky sex he had. (Also just so you’re not disappointed, the sex isn’t graphic haha but he’ll be like “And then I went to the brothel and they licked honey off my nipples and I came home and Marius sucked my dick in the bathtub” but not like crazy sex scenes.)

Marius also has a POV book called Blood & Gold and it’s my favorite in the series!! IT’S MARIUS’S LONG EXTENDED VERSION OF HIS TVL CHAPTER. I think it’s the one that handles IMMORTALITY the best; the other books often focus on a short period of time or a specific incident and don’t often span someone’s ENTIRE life. IWTV spans Louis’s entire life but he’s only like 200 years old. Marius is 2,000!!!! He’s from the Roman Empire!! So like it’s really exciting to me to read about his whole life and all the eras he lived through!!!!!!!!!!!!

In his book you also get a few chapters about his time with Armand and it breaks my heart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There’s also a third secret option which is the book Pandora which isn’t part of the main series; VC is like actually 13 books and 2 side books? LOL So Pandora is one of the side books. But she was the first vampire that Marius made and they were lovers for like 200 years. This book to me feels like Anne Rice had a lot of leftover historical research and wanted to park it somewhere so a lot of the text is her talking about history stuff but there’s really great Marius content here and Marius/Pandora is one of my fav ships.

A lot of the fandom are more into the original trilogy and the Lestat/Louis content but I’m all about Marius so I’m into the DARK TRIAD of The Vampire Armand/Blood & Gold/Pandora. This to me is the more interesting section of the series but it’s an unpopular opinion so don’t take my word for it.

Other than that I’d also say Memnoch the Devil is my absolute least favorite VC, I think it’s so weird and boring lol but there’s some absolutely incredible Armand stuff in it and the stuff Armand does in this will be spoiled immediately if you check out Pandora or TVA. All in all it’s like idk 10 fucking pages of Armand LOL so if you got an ebook you could probably word search him. BUT YKNOW WHAT? Again don’t take someone’s word for it from Tumblr because like I find this book very weird and boring because it’s the most religious and I was raised atheist; there are people who were raised religious and say this one is their favorite. So what the fuck do I know!

Marius & Armand & Daniel are all in the final trilogy as well if you make it that far. Daniel is sort of always shuffled to the side because Anne Rice didn't care about him so like every time Daniel shows up I like feast on the breadcrumbs LOL but I'm glad to get some context about how he's doing and what's going on with his life.

ANYWYA I’M NOT SURE IF THIS ANSWERS THE QUESTION OR MAKES IT MORE CONFUSING LOL but ! ?!

They’re very weird books, they’re also kinda outdated and racist, but very queer, beautiful prose, incredible characters. They were my first hyperfixation that I can never seem to shake even when I’ve done all the work to dismantle all the ways they’re problematic and imperfect, it’s just yknow sometimes something gets its claws in you LOL. And I go out and explore other fandoms and still always come back to Marius and Armand and Daniel lol. I say that to say I wouldn’t be offended if you didn’t like them LOL but don’t judge me if you give it a shot and you’re like “what the fuck is this”

I just think Armand is like the most incredible character of all time okay!

SORRY FOR THIS VERY LONG REPLY LOL love you, patience yields focus!

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commiecricket · 8 months

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Candela Obscura S2 - Thoughts So Far

Spoiler-Free!

i had the pleasure of seeing the premiere in theatres and it was PHENOMENAL. im gonna get right into it.

first off! you don’t necessarily have to watch the first season. i think you’ll have a bit of a better grasp on things and it’s also just fucking fantastic so i highly recommend. but no, you don’t have to in order to enjoy this campaign.

everyone embodies their characters so well. you can absolutely feel the love and detail put into them. you can feel them getting into their roles as the episode goes on and by the end, you’re completely attached.

it definitely starts off a lot quicker than season 1. we get right into the good stuff with a cold open directly to action. it starts off strong and ends with a bang.

HELL of a first episode, i’ll tell you that.

the vibe is definitely different from matthew mercer’s campaign. spenser has a unique GM style that took a minute to get used to. threwe off a bit at first, but i think it fits the narrative so far.

i pulled together an auggie cosplay just for the hell of it. did some makeup inspired by s1e3 and got dolled up in my best paperboy attire.

unfortunately i was literally the only one dressed up (+ my sibling in just general dark academia clothing). i also had to walk around a very busy store beforehand. so that was a bit awkward but honestly, i was so excited i didn’t care.

all in all, it was incredible. if you enjoyed the first season or are into any kind of body horror or thrillers, give it a try.

and now.. for the details.

SPOILERS under the cut!

i cant wait to see more of their backstories. im super happy with the amount of backstory we got this episode. not too much or too little. just enough to be intriguing and get you invested, while still leaving some mystery.

starting the episode into immediate action was a bit off putting, ngl. i was startled by the pretty significant difference in how spenser is GMs in contrast to matt. i adore his play style but it took a second to get used to. as the episode progressed i could tell it was working really well for this campaign, which is pleasing.

im immediately drawn to sean and marion. i loved auggie and have a fixation on newsies so i obviously have a specific character type i enjoy LMAO. their personalities and interactions with everyone are fantastic.

the PTSD-flashback-type scenes were a great addition imo. it added a lot to their characters. plus that interaction when marion gets his scar? 100/10, gorgeous, tore me apart. i will be watching that scene again when it gets posted and that is a threat.

marion’s breakdown shattered my heart and the other party members had such interesting reactions. im hoping we have more moments like that sprinkled throughout.

of course i love everyone so far. auntie b’s complex history with each party member, nathaniel’s bits of family history, jean’s struggle beginning to shine through, sean’s internal battle with trauma / vague history, marion’s conflict with his own abilities… its all so good.

needless to say i think we’re going to be fed well this season.

my sibling was crying during a few parts but i only really teared up when jean said goodbye to her dad. i knew it was coming but damn it still tugged at my heartstrings.

that entire last scene was just so. GOOD. the entire theatre was losing their fucking minds. you could hear whispering, gasping, nervous giggling. jean’s gilded 6 was wild.

my favorite part of the night was probably when jean was investigating the body and pulled an eye from his heart. as spenser revealed what she found, a loud cough/hacking sound came from the back of the theatre.

you could tell it was probably just a coincidence but after a few seconds of silence people started to laugh. it was just a silly moment that made me really appreciate the atmosphere. as someone who rarely watches films in theatre (or at all tbh), it was a pleasant experience.

anyway i fucking LOVE co and have not stopped thinking about it since the last season ended. so i am very obviously hyped. cant wait to see whats next!

spenser sparke, taliesin jaffe, chris lockey, shaun ellis, matthew mercer, the party members of both seasons, and everyone else who has had a hand in this series — thank you. youve created something viscerally beautiful.

#cricketspeaks #candela obscura #critical role #candela obscura s2 #marion collodi #jinnah basar #nathaniel trapp #sean finnerty #beatrix monroe #circle of needle and thread

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narwhalandchill · 1 month

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(4.6 beta changes) (again) (guys this is so long im just. many thoughts and me thinking out loud abt arle and my pulling plans. & other nonsense etc. my bad)

ooookay so yeah def glad i didnt jump the gun and attempt some sorta "is this a buff or not" feelscrafting nonsense on arles adjustments jkwjkwdjkwdjkwdkjjk and waited for TC (mostly zajef lmao) analysis and opinion on the real changes that ended up happening

anyway so like. it appears to be an universal buff for her p much? but how big of a buff it ends up being depends on some mechanics we still dont have a definite answer as to how they function (mostly how her BoL stacking from E works during the ECAQECA reset thing, if it enables 140% total stacking = massive dmg buff overall)

firstly my fears of her becoming too ult dependent for overworld appear to be? not as bad as i thought? so thats nice at least very pog like if she can do her thing decently enough just for fun running around thats very good

secondly. the ER situation is literally on a 50-50 😭 because its all about whether she has particle ICD on her E. if she doesnt, thats actually like. 0 ER needed or at the very least incredibly little of it. if there is particle ICD. well. thats going to be another story

the way her rotations have changed now seem to gear her towards overload teams with chevy? since they have very long rotations and characters like fischl and yae can have full uptime over those whereas vape teams lose hydro application from yelan or XQ and buff uptime from characters like bennett over time when a rotation stretches past 24s

like from what ive been reading it seems to be a pretty common sentiment that these buffs will make the biggest impact in chevy overload teams specifically (even tho shes obvi buffed just in general in all teams) for that reason and that chevy teams Especially w her at c6 with arle should be the best bennettless teams ultimately. which is definitely an interesting turn ?

(and this isnt all of the changes btw im just talking abt the ones that matter most for my considerations rn)

anyway. my thoughts then.

so im obviously glad the changes turned out to be buffs so far. but. theres still stuff im a bit. ehhhhhhhh on

firstly the survivability situation (which in turn leads back to the teambuilding issues). bc her self heal did get nerfed. so arles no longer going to be able to risk taking very high dmg during a rotation and dragging herself back to full once the next one starts. which to me feels like an emphasis on dmg mitigation for her and shielding.

(not to even get started on the. spam NAs to reduce her now 30s E cooldown so its up in time for the next rotation meaning you Do Not want to be staggered and tossed out of her attack string. and gee would you look at that! neuvillette level interruption res on c1 now! great!!)

(like again. to be clear. its hard to say exactly how much interruptions to her NA spam will end up fucking her over. i could just be overtly wary about how bad it might feel. but at its worst. with enemies that run away from u or go invincible. or stunlock you. the fact that it will at least heavily risk arles ability to reduce her E cooldown the amount she needs for fluid rotations. could definitely end up feeling like shit to play in practice without that interruption resistance. be it from c1 or a shied)

but then if we go back to her synergies and look at. those more interesting (imo) chevy teams that should perform well even without bennett. like arle/chevy/fischl/yae. whos keeping ur arle from dying there 😭 its giving lyney spreadsheet impact vs actual reality trying to play him without a shield 😭😭 guess we know who he got it from...

and yea could replace yae for beidou for damage reduction but her dmg will TANK in single target. as a whole. defensive options list in pyro/electro units only just isnt that good. beidous the one who tanks team dps the least as long as ur in AoE, but outside of that its just. thoma and dehya. and they will 100% tank the team dps

whereas defensive options like zhongli to me feel like they will just end up w her teams just wanting to lean towards that. traditional vape and mono pyro angle. bennett and kazuha and yelan/XQ. the usual stuff. and shes not getting benny and kazuha from childe so we have an issue 💀💀

unironically i will prolly be looking for some double geo zhongli/chiori/yelan vape team calcs for arlecchino (hope someone makes them. all double geo team calcs ive seen so far assume bennett 😭) just out of curiosity in terms of. how much worse it is than her best teams. bc if i can just slap her in that setup its a big bonus to how flexibly i could use her but eh. prolly will end up weaker than any chiorinavia nation core i could play so who knows

but. all this yapping and im only now getting to the point JSWJKDWJKWDJK so. heres the BIG problem

i dont have a single fucking chevrolet 💀 but i do have like 38 pity on a guarantee.

and like people are suggesting that maybe chevy will be on arles banner and fair, especially with these new beta changes incentivizing arle chevy teams way more than before, it would definitely make sense for hoyo to put chevy with her. and i definitely am overall a fan of this possible chevy overload team direction for arle (anything thats not bennett for father. ANYTHING) so id love for that to be the case

but. thats not guaranteed at all. and the same sentiment i had over arlecchinos hypothetical best support in the form of the pyro archon (or honestly. with the lack of electro shielders for chevy teams even clorinde could end up being that missing piece) where id almost rather wait to guarantee that synergistic unit before getting arle herself on a rerun. actually applies to chevy here too. even just a c0 one

and like. yes. if i spend that guarantee now on c2 chiori. and it turns out chevy is indeed featured with arlecchino. i will Not be able to guarantee her anymore - ill get one 50-50 and all the chances for a few solid chevy copies on the way but thats it.

however. the other scenario here is that arle does NOT get chevy. she gets fucking. kaveh noelle mika. and then chevy is going to rerun with like. idk. random banner. clorinde who may or may not have synergy with arle

...and im not really sure if id even want to pick arle up on that guarantee from that sort of banner SJKDKJADJKDJK but ok id skip her. buuut im still sitting on a guarantee i might not want to use on a character i feel just eh abt. but who might be with chevy (and like. i do pull for 4* when im on a 50-50 and low pity, idm the early. so as long as thats the case i can see myself tossing a few pulls at Any chevy banner in the future).

... which brings us back to. okay yeah saving the guarantee for clorinde IF chevy isnt with arle and IF shes an electro shielder sub dps support for those arle chevy teams. and getting arle on rerun as ive considered. doesnt sound that bad. but clorinde might also Not be that. uncertainty uncertainty.

like im fairly sure clorinde Will be an unit i wont mind pulling at 17 pity xianyun style on a 50-50 no matter what. but if shes not that mythical arle BiS support she prolly wont be worth that guarantee is my whole complex here lmao

whereas. c2 chiori. isnt an uncertain factor here. like im investing in her im getting her c6 eventually, c2 is like almost 25% personal dps increase (also my husk pieces LOVE rolling ER so itd actually be useful) it feels like the "safe" option in a sense ya know???

like. yes id leave arlecchino up to a coin toss . (Jail for jen!! fake lesbian!!!) but id also be left with the option of skipping her banner (if no chevy rateup to be clear) in favor of seeing whether she gains any synergistic units in the future and seeing how the various aspects of her kit that i do somewhat worry about end up panning out ?? and i think. id be fine with that ? Over the alternative

ultimately tho. im super happy arle got overall buffed and that at least some of my fears abt her kit changes were indeed unfounded, but some concerns still remain. its kinda wild and still sad to me that she went from an absolute 100% must pull character just bc its Her to like. curse of pyro on fielder idk if i Need this right now 😔😔 but i Will be getting her eventually!! no matter what

anyway have a sticker if u stuck around for all of my bullshit. this is literally just arle buff thoughts into gacha pulls stream of consciousness rambling 😭😭😭

#pov ur watching me talk myself into ripping the bandaid off and just getting that goddamn c2 chiori WDJKDWJKWDKJWDJ #already went the way to the 50-50 for it like we might as well commit to my girl #arles beta is crazy tho like. i havent seen changes this massive to a kit since the yae and ayato days of yore 😭😭#v1 ayato yoimiya dual dps team ThoseWhoKnow LMAOOOOO #prayge for the particle ICD everyone. if she doesnt need ER. my cope zhongli chiori arle yelan vape idea. might actually work out okay #bc i can keep yelan on elegy for buffs and not just favge #aaaanyway. what a wild ride #manifesting the chevy on arle banner SO hard btw. even if i end up losing 50-50 there for arle in the end. it will be worth if i get chevy #genshin #rambles #long post

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jazzypizzaz · 9 months

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Red White and Royal Blue

*deep sigh* read the book twice in a row, watched the movie twice, want to complain about them but also can't stop reading the fanfic even though only I've only read a couple that capture what I want but anyway might as well lean in so... fine. here's some rambling thoughts under the cut

what I liked better about the movie:

tighter narrative (book went on way longer than it needed to)

smoothed over or cut out all the parts I found most cringey/over-indulgent... especially pop culture & real life political references

the public image/role of Alex made way more sense - like yes he's worried his relationship "scandal" (& that word wasn't used in the movie! thank you!) impacts his mom's campaign/image, but it's not built up as a huge deal that he's bisexual. yes the media still gets carried away with the dumbest shit, but the First Son isn't treated on the same level of importance as like actual political figures

cutting Rafael Luna. ok I love the character!!! & his relationship with Alex but c'mon the idea he'd infiltrate Richard's office was so so dumb. no serious, intelligent politician would think that would be effective let alone go through with it

Alex & the Texas strategy was a more direct way to show his ambition and passion, it felt like a more authentic expression than his role in the book

the shifts in their relationship felt more organic. I didn't buy Alex still felt they were rivals in the book as long as he did, or that he ever thought they were keeping it casual. I liked the shift from physical to romantic in the movie, as fast as it was in the book it sometimes felt jarring to me

tbh the way identity was treated in general - always impacting the characters & their motivations, but not expressed in hamfisted statements or OTT angst or *as* tokenistic as the book could be. I feel like this especially with Alex as biracial but admittedly not my place

kept a fantasy romantic tone throughout without the jarring relationship to real world politics

the way the turkey scene didn't 100% crib from the West Wing episode lmao

Zahara and Amy and Ellen were incredible side characters. absolutely perfect, no notes.

what I liked better about the book

Alex was a lot rougher around the edges - overworking & pushing to prove himself, being "too much" with talkativeness and messy big emotions, bright as a fire burning too hot too hard too fast... he's able to be fully himself with Henry in a way that he holds back or scares off other people!! it's important for their relationship dynamic!

in the movie he was kind of a lovable friendly jock type with some insecurity, but not the same level of unbridled need to prove he's good enough (he's a Blaine archetype in some key ways imo ok, that's dear to me)

in part because he had a more complicated relationship with his parents in the book, being a child of divorce, living with his mom who is understandably more career focused as Pres than paying attention to her (adult) children, and his dad living across the country also busy with his own political stuff...

I can only picture Oscar as Jimmy Smits which is entirely because of West Wing. movie Oscar was fine this is purely a personal problem

no loose ends with the emails leak??? felt like there could have been more resolution/explanation of that in the movie!!

THE LETTERS!!! THE INTENSITY THE ROMANCE THE YEARNING when they are separated... I don't think there was a good way to better incorporate this in a movie but it's the Entire reason I fell in love with the book despite its many shortcomings

THE REFERENCES TO GAY HISTORY, the weight of there have always been queer people, that Henry/Alex's love is specific & individual & special but also nothing new, it's rooted in deep human tradition just as much as quote unquote family values, but what IS revolutionary is the role they can play in this history for the next generations of queer people... ("history huh" was fantastic in the movie but I missed the quotations in the letters)

Pez, Bea, Nora... completely made into devices solely to support Alex & Henry in the movie without any effort to make them seem like their own people with their own shit going on... I mean the book wasn't super effective at this but at least it tried to make them characters if somewhat cardboard. like Pez was in the movie solely to not make Nora a third wheel. ok. nora & bea were conventional women more or less. (June was barely a character in the book, although I liked her existence in general) & I missed Nora and Alex's bisexual friendship. felt true to my own experience

what I liked about both

History, huh?

text convos

Alex's bisexuality. they have different flavors of discovery between book and movie, but the journey is still there in both. He connects the dots of past experiences that he's been ignoring, he puts a name to this part of himself for the first time, his feelings for Henry help him confront it but aren't the sole evidence by far... it's more show less tell in the movie, but fits that narrative

everything Henry <3 darling

the playfulness and flirting between them

#rwrb

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zecoritheweirdone · 2 months

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SO. UNDERHERO.

When i first heard you talking about this game, i was still kinda in undertale recovery so i thought jt was an undertale fangame but in a more fantasy classic rpg-style

Very clearly i was dead wrong lmao

I genuinely like the premise of a young mook killing the hero and taking their place, and the artstyle made it REALLY appealing to me! Then once i learned it was adjacent to the mario and luigi rpgs i was pretty excited!

The world is such a fun place, with the villain hq being like an office building and the other worlds are cool in their own way, especially the ghost world but I'm incredibly biased lmao. The characters are fun, too! Cereza especially was great, and of course i too love puzzleman lol

The gameplay is fun! The battle system is unique and interesting while still having a good ol rpg kick to it, and i love that! Though admittedly it feels weird that the game is so low level-oriented, i feel super weird about beating the final boss at level 16 lol

The music... had its ups and downs for me. Some songs were genuinely amazing, but others just kinda felt boring

Of course, the game itself isnt perfect. Sometimes it can feel kinda bland, they really didn't try with the pause screen and im not the biggest fan of the ui (the mask kid's mask staring at me in the upper left corner is... unsettling, imo), and i never really got over how floaty and mildly sluggish the game could be. Also the physics were weird. Also i don't really like world 3 all that much lol

But overall this feels like that game that you look at the box art of while at toys r us, beg your parents to get it for you, they oblige, and you adore it and wanna talk about it to your friends and they have no idea what you're talking about, and you feel alone in loving it until you go online and either find a bustling fan community or find out a big youtuber made a video on it and new fans are entering the series nonstop

....was that a long winded analogy? Lol

Anyways i can totally see why you love this game and while i don't think it'll effect my brain as much as it did yours, i had a great time with it and definitely wanna reccomend it to friends and stuff!

YEAHHHH !!! tho it may have had some ups and downs,, i’m glad that you ended up enjoying it overall!!!!

also: yeah, i get that 😔,,, i also ended up trying to reload my save to see if there was anything else, but- alas.

apparently the devs are thinkin ‘bout making a sequel some time in the future, though! after they finish the current game they’re now workin on, that is,,,

#zecori answers #underhero #i first played this game pretty much when the lockdown started so that might be part of why i’m so normal about it #that plus it was the first game i properly streamed on twitch back when i still did that;;;#plus it’s how i met my current group of friends!! so it’ll always hold a special place in my heart bc of that;;;; cool name my beloved <3 #def ain’t perfect; but like. i adore it immensely #also- fun fact!! and also spoilers if anyone reading this hasn’t played:#turns out- the lil main menu screen when you open the game? the lil purple area with mk walk-in around?#that’s where ellie and them end up after the finale <3

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raayllum · 11 months

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just want to say thank you so much for appreciating season 4 so much tdp <3 i dont really understand why it is so disliked; not without his problems, but still sweet, sad and thoughtful

Yeah it's like... 4x01-4x02 is the only time the show is presumably going to have any time for anything remotely resembling filler, which the previous three seasons also had some brief shares of (1x05, 2x04, honestly 3x01 for how much its two plotlines are drawn out the whole ep, and Rayllum's plot line in 3x02). So just like those filler eps, early S4 spends time getting us re-acquainted with the bulk of the main cast (everyone but Rayla really) and the ways they and the world are either different now, or have stayed the same, i.e.

Corvus and Callum have more than two lines of dialogue with each other, Soren is fully integrated as a crown guard, Ezran is being king in a very Ezran-y way (both good and bad), Callum is the same but also fronting and much more serious, and Claudia's stability is hanging on by a thread. Then 4x02 kicks off the plot for Claudia's side of things, and technically also for Callum (and Rayla) with Rayla's arrival, but 4x03 has to accordingly deal with some of that fallout. Claudia's actions directly kick off the plot, and then it's travel and stopping Aaravos time from 4x04 onwards (which again, is structured very similarly to 1x01-1x03 and 2x01-2x03 being the Castle / Moon Nexus arcs respectively). 4x04 gets the audience caught up with the fanatics (S4 is the first season to actually explain what type of elf Aaravos is - a Startouch elf - that he's ancient, etc etc), and Claudia and co. are also given what they need (Sir Sparklepuff) to be set into motion.

As you can see, I don't think the plot of the season bothered people (something if not multiple things are established every episode) but I do think people found some of the character interactions lacking. Which - I'd rather have people be awkward and unfair and not entirely honest with others than themselves and acting like people than anything else. Claudia can be awkward with over sharing (per usual) and Callum can be shut down (it's an interesting character turn and not an entirely unexpected one).

Like I genuinely feel bad for people who were disappointed or didn't like S4! It sucks when a show you love has a bad season you didn't enjoy, and it's not as though that's never happened to me. I just think I've typically either 1) borne it better, 2) got over it and looked at what the show was trying to do to, or 3) saw it coming ahead of time and left, lmao.

Like S4 of Infinity Train is really good but not nearly (to me) on the same level of S3, yet I know people how prefer it, and yeah - it does come down to preferences. JWCC S4 feels like it lost sight of what the show was (a simple fun premise executed very well) by adding in too many elements; I didn't make it past ep3, and the previous season had wrapped up 90% of what I was emotionally invested in anyway and works pretty well as a total finale. TDP wasn't this, as there were still a lot of loose ends following S3, and I think S4 carried them on just fine as well as setting up so many interesting things ahead (much the same way S1 did, and kind of to be expected when Arc 1 was so wrapped up). Getting to see the characters (somewhat) enjoy peace while not knowing the events were in motion to see it all come crashing down was a great sense of dramatic irony, iMO.

Anyway, I loved S4 plenty when I watched it for the first time, and I love it even more now! It's my 3rd fave season, which considering how much I adore and have nostalgia for S1, is saying something. If this is the show's 'lowpoint' I can't think of how even more incredible it's going to be

#thanks for asking #anonymous #dragons rambles #i've always been someone who's had the Unpopular stance in fandom (in general) of Liking canon #so it is an occasionally annoying but very Familiar position to be in #luckily i think more people have come around on S4 #but the people who haven't... it's been months man like figure it out #arc 2 #s4

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blueskittlesart · 2 years

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What about aoc do you like and don't like?

the only thing i REALLY dont like lore-wise is that it added another timeline to the clusterfuck we already have tbh. I also wasn't a huge fan of the villain (illustrated by the fact that i cant even remember his name LMAO) i thought he was like. idk. the whole game wasnt particularly thematically cohesive imo but it wasn't intended to be canon and is a multiplayer hack-and-slash spinoff which makes it. incredibly obviously non-canon even as you're playing imo so i'm less harsh on it than i usually am with main line games. What pissed me off the most about it was the fact that it was marketed specifically as a prequel to botw which is just. blatantly untrue lmao. it is not a prequel its an entirely different timeline to botw. anyway as for positives i LOVED the character development we got for certain npcs through its cutscenes, particularly impa and purah but the champions to a lesser extent as well. I am also obsessed with how it reaffirms that link & zelda's love/desire to protect each other is the reason their powers activate because that detail is INTENSELY IMPORTANT TO ME LOL. overall i don't think it's a bad game in any sense and i do enjoy the story and the potential that comes with a semi-canon everyone lives timeline, i just wish they hadn't originally marketed it as a canon-compliant botw prequel when it's actually essentially an official non-canon everyone lives au. like if they had just been open about the timeline fuckery from the get-go i think the response (at least among people who are lore and story-based players like me) would have been a lot more positive, because being told it was a prequel felt kinda like a bait-and-switch to me lol.

#the marketing was really its downfall. no one at nintendo knows what the word prequel means #asks #also if i get another alexandria ocasio cortez ask or comment im going to end it all. context clues guys

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itrin · 2 years

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TUA S3 (spoilers)

first of all, holy shit????? like holy shit!!! this was by-far the most incredible season, in terms of acting, cgi, characterisation, sound and music, cinematography -- just intense and overwhelming and gripping and I ate it up in less than a day but anyways here are some of my specific thoughts, haphazardly listed and unsolicited:

viktor coming out and how it was handled was A++ like everyone was normal and chill and so readily accepting with some appropriate humour thrown in but also everyone still gave him shit regardless LMAO

like five "proud of u Viktor, ur an idiot though"

Five "pull this shit again and viktor, ill kill u myself" Hargreeves everybody, supportive but threatening

idk how to feel abt five telling viktor he's there for him but also telling him he'll kill him like??? asshole but I love him regardless, no-- because of it

on that note, never deadnaming viktor even in the heat of a brutal argument isn't something to be praised like it is -- it was a relief that no one deadnamed him even though they were furious and hurt ngl but also this is how its supposed to be!! bare minimum!! u dont deadname trans people even if, especially if, ur pissed at them

tua did an outstanding job handling viktor coming out, A+ for that, could not have asked for better

Luther wanting to give viktor mini sandwiches and throw him a brotherhood party!!! good!!

also that flashback of Allison telling viktor she'd love him no matter what juxtaposed with Allison telling viktor they should've left him in the basement: yikes

AND OMFG ALLISON!!! S3 ALLISON HARGREEVES!! ive genuinely never been more sacred for or of a fictional character like her actress, Emmy, was absolutely phenomenal

characters who're "good" and calm and always say/advocate for the "right" thing and are depended on to be, like, the glue of a group -- these characters falling apart in catastrophic ways will always be a fav of mine because thats Allison Hargreaves man she fell apart catastrophically and her hurt came at the expense of everyone

idc what anyone says I love how Allison was characterised this season I love how she was pushed to her breaking point and fucking broke: she lost her daughter in season 1 because she kept rumouring her rather than parenting her, and she didn't rumour in season 2 until she did and she went mad with power (not that I disagree with who that power was used against, yes queen make the racists burn themselves), and in season 3 she really, really fell into the depths of her power and self-destruction. she used it against viktor (good parallel to that season 1 confrontation in the cabin), used her power against Harlan to kill him, used it on herself

the Luther SA scene was fucked up and unnecessary imo and I had to skip it when I realized where it was going but again: holy fucking shit

also Allison trying to use her powers on herself??? to rumour herself to be happy?? yeah that was fucking heartbreaking like shit

again: Emmy's acting was spectacular like all the dark, hard looks, the screaming "shut your mouth," the breaking-down-and-sobbing just everything like I cannot applaud enough

okay Diego and Lila and Stan and the unborn baby was Wow. A Thing. Very Lila and Diego like ngl and Stan rlly did grow on me and then he fucking got obliterated but seeing Diego come to grips with being a father was so good; at first, he pushed Stan away and out of his sight bc he was busy and had other, more important things to worry about but then Stan came to him for affection and hugged him and cried in front of him when Klaus died and just!! it was good!

Lila has a special place in my heart but her idea of lying to Diego about who Stan is to test him as a father but very in-character and wow both of them reassuring each other they'll be good parents was lovely to see

ANOTHER THING THAT WAS LOVELY TO SEE WAS LUTHER AND SLOANE AND THEM FALLING IN LOVE AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE Luther deserves good things and seeing him basically say "fuck you" to Reginald constantly was great and therapeutic for me as much as it probably was for him

man oh man oh man poor viktor fucccccc like this guy cant catch a break as much as five can; constantly being blamed for ending the world even though the root cause was Reginald and viktor didn't have as much time with his powers as the rest did and its a hugely destructive power too (not always, as seen with Harlan) and its always the factors around viktor that cause the apocalypse -- someone manipulates them, pushes them, until he triggers and loses control and he's shit on for it even though he couldn't control what others did to him?? viktor was using him powers for only a handful of days, significantly less than anyone else, he barely knows what he can do with him or how it affects others yknow

and I dont, cant, even blame Harlan bc he was in the same boat as viktor -- no one to help him figure out how to control his powers, its just reaction after reaction, accidents and no one on the planet would even know how to help him

but it was an interesting choice to give viktor Harlan back, his kid, and take away Allison's kid-

poor five also like not even a seconds rest LMAO and everyone, especially Allison, blames him for all his time traveling mishaps but like?? he was a kid when he first time traveled and he's taken every chance to do what's best for his family and the world, including killing the Board of Directors like this man is flying by the seat of his pants in almost every apocalypse trying to save everyone

KLAUS MY BELOVED IM SO SORRY U HAD TO DIE A HUNDRED TIMES BUT IM SO HAPPY TO SEE HOW MF POWERFUL U ARE!!! immortal?? immortal!! and can dispel spirits as well as summon them!! wow A Mf Man.

Ben was actually v interesting this season bc yeah he's an asshole in the first half but, when it comes down to just 10 people left alive in all of existence, he shows himself as riddled with Daddy Issues, as the name Sparrow being the only thing in his life, as sensitive to rejection ig?? big mad about not being invited to party and also very curious about the "other ben" the umbrella academy is familiar with

Reginald Reginald Reginald; first off, the actor who plays is A+ and I love seeing him on screen. Drugged!Reginald was so sad to see at first, it was so fucking sad to see that, but after finishing the season I can say with my whole chest that drugged!reginald was the best Reginald like Pogo had the right idea. and even I was rooting for Reginald to turn out good and own up to the mistakes of TUA!Reginald and idk if not be a good dad then at least be a good person and encourage the kids and IDK I WANTED HIM TO BE GOOD HERE BC ITS WHAT EVERYONE ELSE DESERVED BUT I WAS DUPED!!! I WAS DUPED AND BLINDED LIKE KLAUS!! im so- and Klaus was so happy and felt loved by him and excited for everyone else to connect with him too and he just turns around and locks him out of the corridor and leaves him to die and Klaus was forced to kill himself

I wonder how Allison felt about both Luther and Klaus dying due to her deal with Reginald (I mean I dont fully blame her for their deaths it was Reginalds fault 100%) but I wonder if she convinced herself that it was "for the greater good" or if it was all gonna ve fixed or worth it later when she got her daughter back

"do u trust me?" BITCH NO????? I actually dont know how Allison could ask viktor that actually maybe cognitive dissonance I mean girl was at sanity's edge but I wonder how much Reginald even told her about the button and the machine?? like how did she know the button would lead to a new universe or smth

the irony of killing Harlan but also using the powers that were boosted by him

now about that ending: im a lil confused but ill take it

its a new universe I think not a reset one bc wouldn't a reset universe let everyone keep their powers?? maybe when Allison pushed the button it got imbued with her desires to not have powers or smth?? did Reginald tinker with the fabric of the universe so humans didn't have powers like these? this alien bitch has a human looking wife?? is she an alien or does she have human skin like Reginald which would mean they've been on earth for a while and when she died Reginald put her on the moon For Some Reason??? what was Luther supposed to her guarding her casket pod on the dark side of the moon from?

did Reginald cause the end of worlds for centuries or do apocalypses follow him too and everywhere he goes, worlds die???

also where the fuck did these "particles" that powered the machine even come from?? what the fuck are these particles?

what does it mean that Five has both arms again?? is he still going to be the founder? has he escaped his fate or??

where is Sloane? give Luther a goddamn break

okay so Allison has her happy ending after everything she pulled, after the relationships she damaged severely and destroyed -- nw what happens? because clearly the umbrella academy isn't done with Reginald and his wife seemingly ruling the world or smth (or at least enjoying very powerful positions, as seen by "Hargreaves" on multiple buildings) so they'll all be pulled together again

(I hope Luther and viktor dont forgive Allison or at least call her out let them cut each other till bones bleed, I say)

let five get a hug?? maybe? a sibling group hug?

#the umbrella academy #the umbrella academy season 3 #tua s3 #tua s3 spoilers

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moonlightdancer26 · 10 months

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thoughts on camille o'connell?

I’m not the biggest fan of her character tbh, from the moment she was introduced she was portrayed as this perfect smart saint-like girl who could “fix” the big bad beast (Klaus). There wasn’t much of her that interested me, but despite that, I still liked her and appreciated Leah’s amazing acting. But after she became a vampire, I really did not like her, she became much more annoying and irrational. [The same happened with Elena: I L O V E D her as a human, but once she became a vampire I could hardly stand her.]

That being said, I really hate how mean Klaroline shippers are to her, I’ve seen so many on tiktok hating on her and even body-shaming her. It’s really unfair imo and Cami (and Leah) don’t deserve that. I’m a diehard Klaroline shipper and I think they’re totally superior (I think Klaus was meant to have more of a connection with Cami’s character, but Klaroline still managed to outshine them with their dynamic and incredible chemistry), but I dislike how Cami stans immediately assume that we just don’t like her because of Mother- I mean Caroline. While that can be said for MANY Cami haters/Klaroline shippers, it shouldn’t just be brushed off as “shipping wars” (I’m the biggest Ship Wars hater ever so like??😭). I’m a huge multi-shipper and I think Klamille had some really cute moments, but I still don’t like the ship very much, and I think Cami deserved better than to have her character be revolved around Klaus and his redemption.

I’m currently rewatching The Originals actually, and while I have a slightly blurred memory of the last season (which is part of the reason why I’m rewatching), a lot of my old feelings towards the characters and ships are flooding back, which is why I’m sure some of y’all have noticed an increase in TO content on my blog lmao.

ALSO I HAVE A VERY LARGE COMPLAINT, why do they pronounce the “ll” in her name? 😭😭 It triggers me sm because the name is literally French and is supposed to be pronounced like “Ka-mee.” When she was complaining about guys assuming she’s French because of her name-tag I felt instantly called out 💀 I do ofc still pronounce her name the correct way whenever I talk about her or say her name.

So to sum it up, I definitely don’t hate her but her character still didn’t appeal much to me. And I still think she deserved better than Klaus and to have her character be reduced to simply his love interest.

Anyway, thanks for asking anon. I love it when I get asked about my opinion on things that aren’t about HP. <3

#i genuinely have no clue as to how i should tag #anti klamille #ask #asks

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crehador · 1 year

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how are we halfway through the season again it’s true what they say time flies like the wind and fruit flies like bananas

anyway winter 2023 mid-season thoughts:

nier and uniteup aren’t quite at the halfway mark yet due to their hiatuses (which were thankfully short, looks like no one is getting fucked like isekai ojisan this season knock on wood)

no new thoughts on nier since 3-ep ruling since lol it’s still at its third episode, but finally coming back this week! hype

uniteup is still adorable, though i’m starting to notice more immersion-breaking moments of the voice actors just... really sounding like they’re reading off a script

which is honestly kind of cute to me? they’re all very new of course and it’ll be nice to see them grow and improve as they get more work (well... if they get more work)

technoroid is shocking still the better idol anime of the season, though as i suspected it does struggle a bit to hold the perfect balance between its idol plot and its human/android tensions plot. they did a really phenomenal job of striking this balance at first, but the idol stuff has fallen by the wayside a little imo

it’s like if you’re going to do both you’ll need to do both well enough to justify having both, which technoroid is... still more or less accomplishing! i do wish we had a bit more idol stuff, but i can’t imagine how they would be able to do that without making the other themes suffer, so i think overall they’re doing as well as they can

that’s only for new idol seasons though because idolish7 is back from hiatus hell and continues to be the best idol series, like, of all time basically

trigun stampede is... well... i can’t say i’ve completed come around to it. i don’t so much mind that there are changes, it was always billed as a re-imagining after all, but so many of the changes (most of them, in fact) just make no damn sense to me

i’m not even a manga purist or anything, like yeah that’s my favorite version of canon but i do also love the og anime a lot even in how it deviates from the manga (i even like the og anime ending! so i’m really not like grrr grrr nothing can change from the manga grrr it just... doesn’t feel like these stampede changes are reasonable)

stampede is of course a gorgeous show and i’m loving the visual feast, also gotta give props for the crybaby livio flashback scene because that was quite literally everything i could have wanted

SINS I STILL HAVE NOT AND WILL NEVER FORGIVE: MILLY ERASURE. AND THEY TURNED?? MY WIFE??? ELENDIRA??? INTO A CHILD FOR SOME REASON?????? WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT WTF

anyway i will continue to enjoy the visual feast and otherwise keep my expectations so low that they are buried in the ground, my only hope is please please please let legato be as unhinged about knives as he is in manga canon do NOT take this away from us gays we need it

fumetsu s2 is still good but ngl kinda losing me, i’m just sad enough already that i don’t really need this lol

blue lock is coming up on its first season ending, and no it hasn’t held the high quality of its earliest episodes, but i still personally find it to be an incredibly good adaptation. hoping s2 will be announced quickly so i can continue watching with my dearest

high card is still in the strongly okayish category in terms of quality, wihch puts it above ooyukiumi no kaina... and it pains me to say that because kaina had such a strong start, but i don’t feel like it’s actually done anything all that interesting with its very cool worldbuilding

or, rather, i guess i’m just not into what they are doing. it’s fine and all, but i’m not feeling invested in the characters. worldbuilding is still dope as hell though

tsurune remains gorgeous and... kind of baffling in terms of vibe lmao like what the hell happened in the novels because i’m so sure it’s not as sanitized as the anime, i can just feel it

even in s4 my memories and i are still in such a weird relationship with bungou stray dogs which is that i know i’ve read the manga up to this part at least, probably even farther, but the absolute most batshit things have to happen before i’m like “ohhh yeah i guess that did happen huh”

don’t remember anything else. how did kunikida even get in jail?! he’s my favorite so the fact that i forgot that makes me wonder what else i forgot lmao

tomo-chan and i guess we’re calling it ice guy are still both pretty cute, and i usually enjoy office romcoms much more than high school romcoms because hell yeah adults

but tomo-chan has a strong edge over ice guy. both these series are just in the pretty okayish category for me, but tomo-chan’s comedic beats tend to land while ice guy’s do not. ice guy has its very cute moments, and it’s so so so soothing that i’m definitely enjoying it, but its comedy (especially its comedic timing) is just not really working. very often there are sketches that go on for just waaay too long, to the point that i think ice guy may have benefited from being a half-length show like cool doji danshi

still very cute, though!

and speaking of cool doji danshi, it’s still asdkflajsdlfkj i want to PUNCH a CLOUD these idiots are so cute. eikyuu shounen, the other half-length series of the season, is still pretty enjoyable too! surprisingly, if we rule out idolish7, i think i’d actually say eikyuu shounen has the best music out of the currently airing idol anime. uniteup and technoroid are obviously better in many other ways, but the eikyuu shounen music is right up my alley

last but certainly not least, the vampire dies in no time s2 is still so fucking funny that i’d put it as a strong contender for anime of the season for me. i feel like we’re seeing a lot more of fukuma this season which is fantastic because the bits about ronaldo’s writing career are so incredibly relatable lmao

like where can i get a fukuma-san fr

#crab watches #various things #mid-season review #i'll be curious to see if my thoughts/rankings change at the end of the season #but unless something really cool happens in high card or technoroid #i think kyuushin stays on top #(well cdd also but i'm not really counting the half-length ones)

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locktobre · 2 years

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I’m gonna address these together bc they’re very similar but I have to point out, first of all, that “favorite” and “best” are overlapping but definitely distinct categories. Like, ppl have favorite movies that are objectively bad (as in, poorly made) all the time. It’s a whole thing. That being said...

I particularly hate how ppl talk about PatP most of the time. It’s so propped up by nostalgia, first of all, which is fine I guess, but just bc you nostalgically enjoy something doesn’t make it the “best,” ESPECIALLY if you refuse to engage with it beyond that nostalgia. And a lot of ppl do lmfao it is incredibly exhausting to witness.

It’s like if I thought Teen Witch was the best movie in the world just bc I first saw it when I was 4. That would be stupid bc 24 years have passed and I have obviously grown as a person in that time and can now point out stuff I didn’t notice or care about when I was 4, some of which means I definitely see the movie in a different light. I think this is good, I would be worried if I still had the same thoughts and feelings about something after 24 years. (This is a tangent, but I have actually compared Teen Witch and PatP before so it’s not actually out of complete nowhere.)

But anyway, ppl have a lot of nostalgia attached, and then they both won’t engage with the movie on a deeper level (as fandoms are often wont to do), but they also won’t engage with anything else, like, say Princess and the Popstar. Which it is constantly compared to. But they won’t even give Popstar a chance bc it’s “modern” and “shallow” and somehow it’s ruining their childhood by being made 8 years after Pauper (by which time, btw, the actual target audience of the movies would have aged out and they’d be aiming at a new audience... interesting). Ppl refuse to even acknowledge that beyond the “identical stranger switching places” thing, the movies have very little in common. The contexts for the switches are completely different, the characters are completely different, they have almost NOTHING to do with each other beyond “To Be a Princess/Popstar” (which is both a cute callback and very interesting study in the change in the function and role of royalty in 250 years), and Keira being a singer (with her name being an anagram of Erika). Like, you don’t have to like Popstar, but if you’re just gonna compare it to Pauper and never give it a chance to be its own thing, you’re gonna have a bad time! Bc it IS ITS OWN THING.

This is part of a larger problem of ppl just refusing to engage with any barbie movie beyond nostalgia, and thinking they’re somehow superior for not watching anything past (usually) around 2008, as if there weren’t 8 more years of good movies after that. PatP is just symbolic of those ppl and I’ve been watching it all for nearly 10 years now and I’m so fucking tired. They never change, they’re always like this, and it makes me wish that I’d never found the fandom in the first place (since it was via PatP, ironically). It’s a constant, Sisyphean hell to be in this fandom lmao.

So basically, yes, I think ppl should stop saying PatP is the best bc it is subjective, but also bc Those People don’t really engage with it beyond “pretty movie.” And even that is like, yes they did the best with what they could for the time, but it was 2004 low budget animation and is janky as hell in many spots. There are several plot holes. The best part (imo) is the songs, and even with those, they could have been used more effectively (there’s literally no reason that Erika needs to sing a song to her cat about how he’s fine the way he is). But mostly it just pisses me off bc ppl won’t shut up about it, honestly. I’m bitter and I think rightfully so tbh.

As for my favorite, probably Secret Door bc of my own nostalgia factor (first new movie I watched after joining the fandom). For best, I think Star Light Adventure is honestly the peak of barbie movies (altho I wouldn’t say it’s perfect, just their best work). And surprise surprise, they both came out after 2008.

#mel irl #barbie babbles #anonymous #thanks for asking #i don't even know if this all makes sense bc i'm super tired and got on a ramble but i literally hate patp stans so much #yes i realize the irony of this.#but also bc of After i have spent almost a literal decade analyzing patp from every single angle. what have YOU done with it

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buoyantsaturn · 2 years

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13 17 21!

hiiiii katherine!!!

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you write about? What is easy?

relationship angst is actually very difficult for me bc like. i dont know whats reasonable for couples to fight about bc ive never been a part of a couple lmao. like whats a disagreement and whats a fight and whats enough to break you up like yeah i know the red flags and whatever but i genuinely am the last person who should be writing romance fics lmao.* easy is usually anything where people are just like joking around and picking on each other although i WILL say that i take a million years to workshop jokes and yes my mutuals suffer from it. that being said the ass eating joke in the camp counselors au is still the funniest thing ive ever written and i still cry laughing every time i go back and reread the conversation that made that joke happen in alabanda

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

my CURRENT wip (technically 2 most current wips) are secrets. the things that i Can tell you include: wip #1 is an extension of something i absolutely ADORED writing but continuing it makes me nervous bc like. you know how sequels are rarely as good as the original? i suffer greatly from that syndrome in my writing imo so it might be 1. worse for people to read (and yes i know i know yall will read whatever i write and will love it with your whole hearts but thats not the point) and 2. less enjoyable for me to write :/ but im having fun planning it right now at least!! i even got a new idea for it right when i got home from work so that was just jotted down in the planning doc :3

and wip #2 is a surprise! it is a very very new idea that is also technically not even My idea but i Got the idea by reading two entirely different fics (like not even both by the same author, and i doubt the two people even know or know of each other) and it was kind of like. what if i take THIS aspect of this writing decision and incorporate it into THAT storyline to explore how things might differ. and i have no idea how the end result is going to turn out bc i did Most of the planning at 11pm last night after working a 9 hour shift and then practicing my bass for like 2 more hours so. i might have to rework the whole thing anyway and may not even post it at all <3 we shall see <3

21. Could you ever quit writing? Do you ever wish you could? Why or why not?

i will admit i have Thought about quitting. I could never quit writing Altogether bc like ive said before ive been writing fun little stories literally for my entire life but like. right after i graduated college i was like. i should really stop paying so much attention to fandom and fic writing and focus more on like. finding a real job that isnt at a tourist trap that doesnt respect me and i kept telling myself not to plan too much further ahead in the year with my fics because who even knows if i'll be writing fic come october or november of 2021 (lmao) so like. i kind of did try to at least slow down my writing and that. failed miserably lmao. but i have decided that actually no i do not want to stop! writing makes me happy and its something that i enjoy doing and i think it keeps my brain active and gives me something worthwhile to do while im relaxing on the rare chance that i get a day off from work. i DO wish i could write more of my own original stuff but i simply do not have the brain space for creating original characters and relationships and such which is why i feel so comfortable putting the pjo characters into so many wildly insane new situations. at least that way it FEELS like i'm being original and creative even if im just playing around with the same puppets in front of a bunch of different cartoon backgrounds <3

thanks for asking!!

send me numbers!

#*that being said. one c.j. available free to a good home #ask #katherine #ask meme #yrbeecharmer #for some reason your url no longer pops up whenever i try to search for your blog AND when i try to type the tag. wack.

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