#so i'm saying it right now: this scene was *not* obvious and required a lot of false turns before i came up with it

[bookshelf-in-progress]

There's no moment of writing triumph quite like the moment when you've been struggling over a plot problem and you suddenly find the perfect solution that makes everything fall into place.

#adventures in writing #i've been riding this high since yesterday evening #i'd been wrestling with the 12 huntsmen opening #trying to figure out how to introduce the princess #i'd brainstormed a couple of limp and floppy ideas #bland talky scenes leading up to her coming on page and impressing everyone #and then a couple slightly more exciting ideas but ones that still felt like you were trying to force in a puzzle piece in the wrong puzzle #but then #i got an idea #that made me grin just imagining it #it's fun it's memorable and it's perfect foreshadowing #it's so perfect i'm almost afraid people are going to think this was the obvious idea and not understand the creative work this required #so i'm saying it right now: this scene was *not* obvious and required a lot of false turns before i came up with it #so please appreciate it

[magidragon12]

THE OWL HOUSE - LUZ'S NEURODIVERGENCE

I know when people talk about representation in the Owl House, they mean the big stuff, the queerness. And yeah, Thanks to Them has a lot of that, and it was great, but there's one moment in the episode that particularly stuck with me.

THIS SCENE

THE NEURODIVERGENT REPRESENTATION

This is something I've seen people on tumblr talk about a lot. About how the school system isn't designed for everyone's brain, and it shouldn't be a measure of who is the cleverest, or who puts in the most effort, or who is the most worthy.

Luz is clever. Just not at the kind of subjects they teach. And even when she is, it comes and goes, or she can't focus and applies herself too little, or too much and just generally can't operate on the level they require from her 100 percent of the time.

The fact that they finally outright say it, the reasons she's been struggling in her own world, and point out her difference in such an obvious way makes me so happy.

Because think about it. Think about it the way you think about Amity and Luz asking each other out onscreen, or Raine's pronouns. There are children out there right now too young to voice themselves on the Internet, who sit around and watch this show.

Children who might be struggling in school, and see themselves in Luz. Children whose struggles and stories are finally being voiced, and who are being shown that it's okay to feel this way. You're just like this character here. You were built to excell somewhere else and it's okay that you are.

It's satisfying and sad. Real life children won't get to escape to the Boiling Isles, but they might see this scene, and push aside the narrative that they are a failure. That they'll never be more than the problem child.

All because of this wonderful show which voices, inspires, and represents people who have been waiting for it their whole lives.

Please don't think I'm trying to discredit the LGBTQ+ or poc or any other kind of rep in the show, I love it all, I just really wanted to talk about this side of it.

#the owl house #toh #toh thanks to them #toh season 3 #toh spoilers #luz noceda #camila noceda #amity blight #raine whispers #adhd #neurodivergent #eda clawthorne #king clawthorne #owlbert toh #toh s3e1

[iverna]

Not to be all "back in the day everything was better" but I watched Spaceballs yesterday and it struck me that something like the opening scene of that movie just... wouldn't be done now. Right? A visual gag that goes on for one and a half minutes? Way too long. I'm pretty sure the worry would be that nobody's got the patience for that, people would give up and watch something else.

And it's the opening scene. The first thing you see after the opening crawl is this dumb gag that takes one and a half minutes - and the fact that it takes so long is part of the joke.

It's something I've noticed with a lot of movies over the past few years, that they just don't take time for anything. Everything's moving and changing constantly. It struck me in the last GotG movie. Characters are having emotional important conversations while doing action-heavy things because we don't want the audience getting bored. There aren't any "filler" episodes in TV shows either.

I've seen people talk about the impact of this on character development etc but I think it's more than that. It makes the whole movie less memorable to me because I never have a moment to process what I just saw, because we're right into the next bit of action already. Sometimes I end up missing half the movie because I just zone out. Sometimes I stop watching it because it's too much, I stop caring because I can't care that much that fast.

The opening scene of Spaceballs has you watch, get impatient, realise what's happening, laugh, realise we're not done yet, laugh again, and then finish with a final little joke. The scene doesn't need to be that long, they could have easily sped it up, but the fact that it takes so long is part of the joke. Monty Python did a similar thing with the opening credits of Holy Grail. But it does require some patience from the audience and I don't know if we don't have that anymore, or we're worried that we don't have it anymore.

There generally seems to be less trust in the audience though. Everything has to be spelled out. And plenty of people expect things to be spelled out. There's this idea that if it's not explicitly shown or pointed out, then it doesn't count. And I think maybe the audience and the film/show makers reinforce each other's attitudes there, because there's less trust in the audience, but there's less trust in film/show makers too after the many examples recently of perfectly good franchises being run into the ground.

It's become this weird back-and-forth of "gotcha" and mistrust and lack of patience and goodwill, and it just becomes really obvious when you go back and watch older stuff. Which isn't to say that older stuff is always better or that all the new stuff is terrible. It just feels like a different dynamic between storyteller and audience.

#just some thoughts #random nonsense #my opinion

[yujeong]

VegasPete and Body Language

Well, the title is a little misleading. What I mean to talk about is their height difference and its utilization throughout the VP storyline but putting that in the title didn't sit right with me.

Because the point I'm going to make requires me to examine how their height difference being portrayed/used actually helps establish their dynamic.

(But I also will absolutely talk about how their body language is utilized in the story, it's important after all)

God, I love this show so much.

Anyway, we all know that Pete and Vegas are approximately the same height, with Pete being like a cm taller. That helps a lot imo because it subconsciously gives away the message that despite how they may seem, due to their positions, they're actually equals. I feel that could also be true for KP but with VP, it's more needed in order to make their romance work.

So, we start off in ep 10, the first torture scene. Pete at first is hunched over, tied on the pillar but as Vegas goes closer to him, cables in hand, he straightens up and they end up being on the same eye level. This gives us the impression that while Pete is the one in a bad position, he's facing Vegas head on, unafraid and defiant.

He also has power in their situation, the power to not yield under Vegas' cruel torture methods. He's not powerless against him. He even ends up staring at him from above, as he rests his head on the pillar after the 1st electrocution.

In every torture scene we get in ep 11, they make Vegas stand at the same eye level as Pete, at the same position as him. Even in the dog bowl scene, which starts off with Vegas standing, having Pete on his knees ends up with him crunching to meet him and then shoving him into the bowl to force feed him.

The belt scene is also very important to take into account, because once again, Vegas lowers his body and stands on his knee to meet Pete.

It's also the first scene in which Pete shows hesitance and signs of being a bit afraid of Vegas, evident here when he's cowering a bit, which results to his head being a bit lowered in contrast to Vegas'.

(It's not that clear but to me it looks like he is, he's also trying to move away from him as far back as he can)

So, we arrive at the pill kiss scene, in which, the genius who directed the scene (don't know if it was Pond or someone else) decided to make them talk while at the same eye level. I cannot emphasize enough how glorious of a choice that is.

This is the point they truly connect. The point in which they see eye to eye. This is the point in which the audience learns that these characters have something fundamental in common; their assholes fathers and how they were treated by them. And their positions prove it.

Now, we arrive at my two favorite examples and the reason I wanted to make this post in the 1st place. The 1st one is their NC scene and, more specifically, the seduction that Vegas does on Pete.

Pete, sweet "I'm trying to resist but I want it so badly" Pete, doesn't hunch and doesn't hide; he's standing completely straight, making Vegas, who's doing the seducing, seem smaller and shorter than him. It is fascinating to witness.

He's still trying in a way to fight him, even though he "gives up" towards the end, letting Vegas take control. All that is shown only through a few lines of dialogue and his body language. I love that scene so much.

Which brings me to the next scene. Pete's breakdown scene, my beloved.

How wonderful of a choice having Pete be lower than Vegas was. Wonderful at showing the audience - besides Pete saying the things he said - that Pete is feeling vulnerable and beneath Vegas at that moment.

The show wants to make it so obvious to the audience that they have Vegas need to lower his head to reach Pete's forehead.

Pete feels like he's nothing, useless and not someone Vegas actually wants because it's him but rather an emotional projection to make himself feel better. He makes himself small in Vegas' arms, it's so beautifully tragic.

The same is happening at the Hum Bar scene. Pete isn't standing completely straight, making Vegas seem taller.

Pete here is feeling despair over the fact that Vegas is right; he can't shoot him, he can't kill him because he needs him now. He can't live without him. And not being in complete control of his body, which is sitting lower than Vegas', also proves it.

In conclusion, I don't know if BBB were directed to do those specific things or if they incorporated it in their acting but it doesn't matter. It's phenomenal and it makes VP shine with its complexity, since half of their interactions have minimal dialogue, especially from Pete.

The VP brainrot will never go away, I'm afraid. And it'll result in random posts at 3am like this one.

#This may be a completely useless post #since my observations aren't really that extraordinary #Wow you noticed sth that obvious? #Good for you #Well I wanted to share my thoughts anyway so yeah #Here's a post about it I guess #I think about VP on the regular #Something has to come out of my brain and into the web #I can't help it #kinnporche the series #vegaspete #pete phongsakorn saengtham #vegas theerapanyakul #build jakapan puttha #bible wichapas

[passthroughtime]

Was Sawa-sensei really the only argument Yagami had? The answer may shock you

So, few people know that I fucking despise this take. It's been fun and still can be fun to me sometimes, but as time goes, I see more and more people thinking that unironically and even hate Yagami for this, among other things.

(Huge spoilers for both games ahead. Obviously.)

And I do a lot of (over)thinking myself, as I am writing a looong fic (first three chapters already live on ao3, sorry for shameless promo), and I always love to delve into characters' motives in canon events, goes with writing exclusively canon compliant things of course, and adding to my ever existing brainworms. Moreover, I'm revisiting Judgment atm for the first time since early 2020 if I'm being correct? And I see a lot of things I've forgotten which give lots what has happened in Lost Judgment pretty damn much sense. The Sawa argument is among these things.

First things first, what was the takeaway of the first game for Yagami? His trauma at first was that he fucked up bad and felt he had lost some crucial evidence that Okubo was actually the killer, but during the events of the game it transforms into "I haven't done anything to get to the truth". His trauma, as well Kuwana's, has its core in their inaction during the critical events of their lives. They were never the same again because they didn't do anything while they could, and yes, in that regard they are wounded in the same way.

How have they both responded? In a similar way. Yagami swore to always get involved there he can do something to change the situation before it escalates. Kuwana does the opposite, he tries to punish for the mistakes already made. (Which is funny considering that Yagami as a lawyer dealt with consequences while Kuwana as a teacher had the power to navigate people's lives to prevent the same mistakes, but it's the whole other theme in itself, and has little to do with the initial one.) Let's focus on Yagami though.

The only reason why Yagami repeatedly gets involved on his own in the Lost Judgment plot time and time again, though literally nobody asked him to do so, is the lesson which he learns in the first game. He says explicitly that he wants to get to the bottom of things, and not forget about cases when a trial is done. That's the reason why he doesn't want to be a lawyer again and why he can never be one again, not full-time at least.

And then Sawa gets murdered. Yagami draws parallel to Terasawa Emi (because of course he does) and is determined to bring everyone who is responsible for her death to the light. For now, it's Soma, the direct murderer, and Kuwana, which made Sawa the connecting thread between his crimes. Yagami realizes that Sawa's death was a tool for everyone to get what they wanted, like Emi's. He references it here:

At this point, Yagami has no proof to think otherwise. He thinks that everyone has forgot about Sawa and that she shouldn't have died. The very least Yagami could do, is to make sure everyone will answer for what they did to her. He sees that Kuwana feels guilty and quite shitty that the student which he thinks so highly of was murdered. Kuwana feels responsible, and Yagami knows that someday he will break.

I think it's also important to say that at no point of LJ has Yagami says anything remotely identifying the goal of his words and actions as "murder bad", but that's more obvious than anything else though requires explanation too if I'm to be believed that Yagami isn't after justice for all the murders.

This whole scene is the Sawa argument summarized, but if you look closer, it is really the only beef he has against Kuwana.

BTW he's not as goody two shoes as you prefer to see him in LJ, if his "I get how you feel" doesn't convince you.

And then the one person Kuwana is determined to do anything for has betrayed him, right before Yagami's eyes. What does Kuwana do? Abandon Yagami when Soma has said to his lackeys to do anything so he wouldn't escape, even murder him perhaps?

Great question, Yagami. This really does contradict everything he has thought of Kuwana since forever. After, instead of a goodbye Kuwana makes sure Soma couldn't stay on the boat longer and kidnap/kill Yagami. RK had no time for that, fleeing was the priority over someone they can find some time after.

First thing Yagami does is visit Kusumoto at the hospital, where he learns she has no regard to Kuwana's life, as long as her son is safe and her crime stays uncovered. Which is fine, I guess, though it's sad because Kuwana would do anything for her and for Mitsuru, but whatever. Ehara doesn't come around too, which also understandable, though Kuwana has risked his life to give Yagami the crucial evidence, he is nothing to him and has already played his part. He is just a tool in his revenge. Wait... What?

Yes, actually it's Kuwana who is being brushed off as collateral damage by everyone. Everyone he has helped actually. And he hasn't come clean during the time before Ehara's trial (he at least could leak the information or point to the body without endangering himself, idk) nor he disappeared to save his skin.

After the trial he thanks Yagami for helping Ehara (which Kuwana wasn't able to do himself) and points to his, and Kawai's body, location. Kuwana knows damn well he can die, but getting to the one who murdered Sawa is more important to him. So, Kuwana has no one on his side, even himself.

No one is going to save him. Sure, he isn't as innocent as Emi, he has fucked some shit up. Does he deserve to disappear for good and be forgotten, or even worse, be remembered as a psycho teacher who killed his student? Yagami doesn't think so. All Yagami sees is that Kuwana desperately tries to protect everyone who did everything right or did nothing at all, every victim of bullying. He has no other motive.

Yagami takes no shit from Kuwana, he isn't afraid or angry when Kuwana threatens to blow up the warehouse (as Sugiura and Higashi for example). He knows that Kuwana isn't capable of killing anyone who doesn't deserve it, he takes no pleasure in murder and doesn't do it for personal gain. Yagami, Kaito, everyone else aren't guilty of anything which deserves death as punishment.

If not for the gang, he would set off the bomb though, I'm 100% sure. But that's besides the point.

So, returning to the question: Was Sawa-sensei really the only argument Yagami had? An answer is yes. Because he really doesn't fucking care bullies are being murdered, slay worstie. But it's not because he's such a crappy lawyer, but because he realizes the importance of a person's life above everything else. And a person who cares is not necessarily stupid or unprofessional.

You can argue all you want who was right and who was wrong. It doesn't matter for the characters.

It was never about justice. They don't argue from a legal point of view. It was about remembering about the importance of a person's life.

I beg you to look at this story from another perspective. Not as a technical coldly-perfect story it should've been. People are imperfect, and Yagami, first and foremost, a person. A person who cares. And JE with LJ as stories can be imperfect... but also realistic.

Terasawa Emi is murdered for the greater good. Sawa is murdered for selfish reasons. Kuwana is almost murdered for the both. I can't imagine Yagami would want to go through lots of red tape to do something someday. He does this something right now. Because the lives of people, living and breathing, should be protected right now and valued above what's right legally.

Please, stop looking at fiction as something which should be perfect, or make more sense, be more logical and emotionally detached than the real world. Some can be like that, but Judgment hasn't been from the start.

#lost judgment #lost judgment spoilers #yagami takayuki #kuwana jin #judge eyes #eugh #i'm unbearable #and idk maybe its obvious actually. but for some it may not be. i dunno at this point #kuwagami

[destinysbounty]

Yall remember that time in Skybound when Nadakhan turned Lloyd into an old man? Yeah, fun times. But I wanna talk about that for a hot sec actually

Now, for a moment let's ignore the obvious horror of Lloyd being aged up again, and this time losing not just his childhood but his entire life - right now I think there's one subtle detail from that scene that doesn't get addressed very often

Lloyd telling Jay how to defeat Nadakhan and then helping him and Nya escape became a very important plot point in the long run. It introduced the fact that Jay's final wish is the thing that will defeat Nadakhan, and a lot of Jay and Nya's actions thereafter were based on this information.

That in itself is not the thing I wanna talk about. Well, not exactly. To be specific, I want to talk about Lloyd's word choice.

"I see beyond the now."

This arguably wasn't just a matter of Lloyd using his Magically Enhanced Wisdom to figure out how to defeat Nadakhan. This may seem like a bit of a stretch, but the way he speaks in this scene seems to suggest he actually saw the future.

Lloyd had only wished for wisdom (and got age as consequence). And yet, somehow, it almost seems like he acquired some kind of foresight ability as well.

Yes, it's possible that this comes with the territory of being "wise like Wu", which is what he'd wished for - but while Wu does have very limited foresight, which mostly relies on smoke visions and vague premonitions regarding destiny, I don't think we've ever seen Wu get this precise. It's hard to explain, but old!Lloyd's foresight seems different than that. More specific, more accurate, almost.

So I guess my question is....did Lloyd somehow tap into a latent sixth sense when he became older? Was it his new Magic Wisdom that allowed him realize this potential within himself and then tap into it? Does this mean that Lloyd, the Lloyd from our timeline, has a sixth sense and will eventually rediscover it in time?

Come to think of it, he's not the only character with that type of cryptic foresight. Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure the only other characters who even remotely have a sixth sense of any kind are Wu, Mystake ("for your time of need, tea to go"), and Zane (literally how he's introduced). You could also make the case for the First Spinjitzu Master, considering the magic ice in his tomb and also all the forethought that would be required to leave behind a message on Wu's staff and lay himself to rest with the Realm Crystal in hand.

So....maybe it's an age thing? Maybe Seer abilities are only unlocked later in life? Like, it only happened when Lloyd got older, and that's the only notable and canonical similarity between all these characters. I mean, Zane isn't that old, but he's been around since at least the Serpentine War so given what little we know I'd say that counts. Maybe you don't have to be old as dirt, necessarily, but at the very least it's a power that only awakens later in life (if you have the potential for it within you, that is).

Unfortunately time travel means none of that ever happened, so until Skybound gets addressed we'll probably never have answers to those questions.

#that being said can you imagine lloyd and zane bonding over having a sixth sense? #and zane teaching lloyd how to deal with visions/premonitions? #that would be fun #ninjago #ninjago skybound #ns6 #lloyd garmadon #jay walker #lloyd ninjago #jay ninjago #wu ninjago #destiny post

[galactic-pirates]

For the Fanfiction Writing ask: 2, 18, 29, and 48, please! 😁

Yay thank you for the ask!

2) Where do you get your fic ideas? Ask me at the time and I'll know. Ask me now and I'm not sure. Some are obvious. Like if there's a specific prompt and then my brain chewed on it and lightning struck boom and it coalesced and came together into something.

As you are a Sanctuary friend let's take some of those fics:

Happy Ending = the song "this is the way that we love / like it's forever / and then live the rest of our lives / but not together" and I was like, make it fluffy. I don't know. I was just coming off writing Our Darkest Hour.

Choosing Fate / Time Will Tell = the tropes. I was like let's do an arranged marriage AU. Pretty sure I was watching Bridgerton at the time as well. And then I wanted to see if I could make Soulmates a trope I could like.

Life Without Purpose = for a Zombies in July event

Gentlemen of Blood = I was given the title, and had to think of a fic to go with it. That Bond quote by M came into my head of "when they say they have people everywhere, you don't expect one to be in the bloody room" plus the Sherlock Holmes movies.

I don't know, does that answer it a bit? My brain is a mess and it just needs prompting for it to spark basically.

18) Do you enjoy research? Which fic of yours required the most research? Nope I'm too lazy. I get easily frustrated. If I can't find the answer quickly I get annoyed. The internet is wonderful and I want to strangulate it sometimes. It's like I know the information must be there, but can I find it? It's no wonder I am drawn more and more to making my own worlds, because then I can just make everything up and don't have to worry about if I'm right or not. I just have to be consistent within my own story.

The aforementioned Happy Ending actually took a surprising amount of research, which to be honest probably ruined the fic because once I had all the stupid marriage details, I had to include them because I had bothered to look them up dammit. Haha, I know, why self? Also Odyssey: Future's Legacy had a lot of history in it and I had to make all the timelines line up. Let me tell you timezones + international travel = headache. I'm pretty sure Warehouse 13 never paid attention to travel times on the actual show but I made everything plausible.

29) What’s something about your writing that you’re proud of? Already answered here :)

48) Who is your favorite character to write for? Has this changed since you’ve started writing for that fandom? This is very close to question 41 (here).

Ok well let's go with Sanctuary fandom. I'm going to go left field and answer with Nigel. Which isn't exactly true but I will explain. Nigel is like the forgotten member of The Five a lot of the time. He's the one that didn't live until the 21st century and the one that isn't romantically linked with Helen. There's very little known about him and I was surprised and delighted as the more I referenced him, the more cohesive he felt in my mind. He got an actual personality, backstory, goals etc. So while Nigel isn't a favourite character, I do enjoy how I developed him.

Bonus question as you had a repeat!

11) Do you write scenes in order, or do you jump around? I'm a very linear writer. I literally can't write out of order. Sometimes this trips me up because I think if I sense that something I have written isn't right (aka the foundation is rocky) then I grind to a halt and stop making progress. Now with fanfic which I never tended to revise that heavily, that's fair enough - I'm not going to do a complete redraft but with original work? Ehhh.

It is generally speaking better to revise a complete draft, to see the entire picture. I can't recall where I first heard the expression but I have applied it to drafting ever since - "there's little point in polishing a turd" - aka, I don't know what I'm going to have to cut until I can look at the whole thing, so don't waste time polishing a scene that might not make it. But yeah getting frozen because I have to be linear, but something isn't right, but I shouldn't waste time fixing it - frustrated mental scream!

Oh another point! I have a friend that exclusively jumps around, I don't think they could write linearly if they tried. I have always wanted to ask them, but haven't dared in case they think I'm judging them (and I'm definitely not!), whether they find foreshadowing/thematic arcs/character emotional journey's etc. harder to write as it's out of order. For me, I can't imagine getting my head round it backwards but clearly people do it, so that's a me problem. But yeah no I have to be linear.

#long post #I answer things #sam talks writing

[chidoroki]

182 Days of TPN - Day 123

Chapter 123: "An Important Choice"

Yesterday I mentioned that if I was reading the manga around the time the previous ch was released that I would be so eager for Ray's answer, but I would've never imagined him to be so blunt and admitting his uncertainty like this. It's hilarious to me now of course but I wonder if I would've been let down initially if I had patiently waited a whole week just to hear him be like "eh, I dunno."

I'm always so harsh on Norman's plan and how it'll result it wiping out all the demons when I forget that the promise Emma has in mind will essentially have the same effect.. oops. With all the children raised in farms crossing over to the human world with no more traveling between worlds, the demons would've just degenerated on their own. Although, would that really knock them out? Surely they can eat other things aside from humans to stay alive right? They would just revert back to a more wild state of mind. I dunno. No need to wonder about it too hard with evil blood ex machina.

Ray throws me through a total loop with his honesty, like yeah he's typically the one who has no issue telling the truth to others, but it's done in such comedic and unexpected ways during this chapter that I can't help but love him more because of it.

Thank you anime for being faithful with the above mentioned panels.

Poor Emma is completely caught off guard by his answers too. She was expecting Ray to give her some clarity as usual and yet he's giving us a whole lot of nothing. In his defense though, it is quite the troublesome problem to find a reasonable solution to that would please Emma's standards. Both sub & dub are fun in this little bit too, especially with Ray's "nopes." (I'm adding the scene here again, for funsies.)

To this day I still believe Emma listened to his advice a bit too well here and that's how she was able to keep her emotions and the consequences of the reward so well hidden whenever it was brought up after the new promise was made and when it was time to cross over to the human world.

I'm fairy certain I brought this up last chapter (I dunno, it's been a long day when I'm actually writing this out and I'm lazy to check myself), but I still love the dark shadows that Ray has during half of this conversation. It's kinda ironic because it's not like he's trying to lead Emma to make some grave mistake or persuade her into choosing something she's not 100% okay with; he's genuinely trying to help her make the right choice, so despite shadows typically being used to show ill intent, evil or make us suspicious about something or someone, it couldn't be farther from the truth here and I kinda like it.

Naturally I love that he even admits to knowing her so well, and yet despite Emma's no-violence-please-only-happiness wish requiring more brain power to figure out they could even accomplish both sides coexisting, he still wants to help find a solution for her to ease the burden in her heart and mind. And I love that about him. I love many things about Ray. Is it obvious yet?

His has own opinion but respects hers so much more and that fills me with many soft feelings. Also, YES! The head pat! Still kinda sad the anime left it out but I still love their version of this scene very much.

Bro the fire and determination came back into her eyes instantly.

At this point of the anime train-wreck, I'll take any moment that resembles the manga, even with simple actions like this.

Anime missed this small, surprised Emma though and that's a bummer for me personally. She's cute.

I know Emma's ideals and doubts made her hesitate in voicing her refusal of Norman's plan the day before, but I also wanna believe another part of it wasn't because it was concerning Norman, but because her entire family was in the room at the time and they all seemed to be thrilled with the idea, so she opted to stay quiet to not ruin the mood. And I gotta say, I prefer that second panel of Ray in manga as well. He just looks real good there.

Anime gets a win for the way Ray looks at her here though. I have a love-dislike relationship with the adaption if you couldn't already tell. It's amusing to witness.

Ray's had one too many parents lie to him, so thankfully the demon parents are spared from being added to that list.

Oh honey, do I have some great news for you!

The way Emma gets so excited over him considering her plan is so precious! And Ray better play the lotto when he gets to the human world because that one in a billion chance eventually becomes a reality.

And yet regardless of the incredibly low chances and all the dangers that may come along with going against the annihilation, he still chooses to put his trust into Emma for her and their demon parents. He's amazing. He deserves many head pats.

With all the RE focus during this chapter, I often forget these three show up towards the very end. My bad.

Such a proper introduction. What lovely adult raised them so wonderfully, hm? And yes I appreciate that the anime remembered to include Barbara's little slip up and Vincent correcting her as well.

Let the interrogation begin! Ray has already resigned to his fate. Another detail I tend to forget is Cislo's piercings. I wonder why that's so uncommon with the kids. Probably because they've been living att the farms for the majority of their lives, but I definitely feel like a handful of them would at least enjoy having earrings now that their sorta kinda free. (I fully support the idea of the fullscore trio getting a matching set.)

Favorite panel/moment:

With how much I rambled on, you can imagine just how much I enjoy this entire chapter. I could literally pick out almost any panel and declare it my favorite, but OF COURSE these lines of Ray's live rent free in my head. Even the light banter at the end to close out the balcony scene is adorable. He just has so much trust, faith and respect for Emma that I honestly will never get over it. Everyone deserves someone who supports you in life to such a great extent!!

The biggest change of this scene is obviously the location but I can never be mad about that when I absolutely LOVE how it allowed us to get this beautiful sunrise!

"Here we have our girl lost within her own mind and feeling completely alone due to her ideals, then BAM! Ray listens to her concerns, lends his assistance by thinking through a different course of action that would ease her wavering heart and restores some of her usual optimistic attitude. My boy literally helps our girl out of the dark and shined light on her mood/plan and that’s absolute perfection." - me freaking out during s2ep6.

It was such a genius addition and I will always get super emotional whenever I watch this scene back, like how perfectly poetic could you possibly get??

#the promised neverland #tpn manga #182daysoftpn #chidoroki used chatter

[arsontastic-fandom-takes]

A/n: I forgot to post the wip. This might change in the future, idk I'll wait until after NanoWriMo to say anything difinitive

Words: 1 189

___

What's the worst smell to appear on an orc's way to Falkreath? Blood.

The iron scent permeated the area around the woods. Times like these, Massacre wished they were a vampire so that they could just know how many different people were involved or tell where the scent was coming from.

"Red.... Tastes different than I thought." Thank the Gods, someone's alive. The voice is faint, but hopefully, it'll be enough to help Massacre find whoever it is. They followed the direction the voice came from, and the next time this person talked, it's much closer. "I wonder what Blue smells like... Oh Gods! I'm hallucinating." A laugh sounded west of them, and they stumbled upon a scene that'd be in the back of their mind for a while.

This was a massacre. No wonder the air smelled so heavily of blood. No deity's shrine should be disrespected like this, let alone one of the Aedra.

Three Talos worshippers' bodies were strewn about. They obviously put up quite the fight since there were two Thalmor agents as well. To Massacre's disappointment, it was one of the agents that was alive. Slowly, they approached the altmer man, and he noticed them immediately.

"And just who in oblivion might *you* be? Another traveler on

a 'life-changing pilgrimage' of worship? Because, so help me, with the mood I'm in right now, it *will* be life-changing."

Massacre groaned. Why did it have to be the Thalmor that was alive? "Calm down. I didn't come here to honor Talos, I came here because I could smell blood. I heard you talking, followed the sounds and found you. Simple as that."

The high elf sighed. "Good. I'd prefer to avoid spilling more blood than is absolutely necessary." A cough. "... Including mine..."

Massacre felt a bit bad for the man. He was obviously in a bad state, even if he was Thalmor scum. Thinking over their options, they sigh."Honestly, I don't particularly care for talking about the obvious. I know you and that dead agent over there started this and that you killed these people. I know you are not okay, guessing by that wound on your side, so I'll make this short for both of us. I'll help you, but it's up to you to decide if you'll accept my help willingly or if you want to be pinned down while I heal you. I know how to make any experience an unpleasant one, so the choice is yours."

The man seemed taken aback. "You want to help me? For Gods' sake, why?"

They shrugged. "I don't know, to be honest. There's a part of me that wants to skin you alive where you lay purely because of who you work for. On the other hand, you're hurt, and - even if you are Thalmor- bleeding to death is a pretty bad way to go. I also have principles against killing someone who's injured, so, unfortunately, putting you out of your misery isn't an option. So, count this as your lucky day."

"I reckon most of skyrim would have left me to bleed out. What makes you so certain that I won't kill you the second I'm healed?"

At that, Massacre grinned wholeheartedly. "Oh, trust me, you won't. Even if you were to try anything, you wouldn't be injured anymore, so I could smear your blood all over this shrine if I wanted to."

The man grinned back. As much as he could while being in immense pain, anyway. "Oh ho ho ho, that's the spirit! I knew you were a feisty one. I like that. Very well, I'll cooperate. For now..."

Massacre nodded, stepping up to him and hovering their hands over his body while white light emitted out of them and swirled around him. Getting the lights to work was one thing, getting them to heal was an entirely different story, and one that required a lot of focus and brainpower.

The key to Restoration magic, they've found, has been to think about their dad. About how good his hugs were. About cold nights in Winterhold, huddled up under their blankets while Pa read them a book because they had a nightmare again. About how they couldn't look at a book, especially not a skill tome, without feeling fuzzy and wondering if he's doing okay. About how his letters always somehow managed to smell faintly of pinecones. About how he'd be so excited and concerned about all that's happened to them so far.

By the time his wounds were healed, and Massacre's magicka was two thirds gone, they were getting homesick. Quickly pushing those feelings away, they looked to the high elf, looking out for any indication that he'd attack. To their relief, he didn't show any. All he did was twist his back and sigh.

"Ah... That's much better. Well, uh- I- Thank you." His demeanor quickly turned nervous. "I- Well. Turns out I haven't got much in terms of a reward right now, but I can offer you the pleasure of my company."

Massacre raised an eyebrow. "Are you coming onto me?"

"Don't be absurd! I hardly know you. Although... that can be fixed, if you're interested... Joking, obviously."

"Right. Unfortunately for you, you're not my type."

"Not like that, orc. It's for the best anyway, I prefer to keep my bones intact. To put it plainly, I want to travel with you, lend my skills to your little... adventure or whatever you're doing."

The orc considers him for a moment. "Why would *you* want to travel with me?"

"I think you'll find that having a member of the Thalmor in your pocket can be quite beneficial. And, if your first thoughts are 'this dashing mer is going to betray me at the first opportunity',then you're smarter than you look." He sighed. "I know why I was sent to accompany Sanyon, I was expected to die here. And yet, you came along and changed that. So, why not?"

Massacre narrowed their eyes, before realising that the worst-case scenario was that he'd be a nuisance. They knew he was right about having been expected to die, and even ratting out the Dragonborn wouldn't keep you fully in Elenwen's good graces. She'd still send him on suicide missions, with his personality. "Alright. What's your name, by the way?"

A second of silence passes before he replies. "Taliesin. And before you ask, yes, it's an alias. For both your safety and mine."

They nod, reaching out a hand. "I'm Massacre. Nice to meet you, Taliesin."

Hesitantly, he shook it. "Is that a name or an alias? Either way, it doesn't strike me as particularly orc-like."

"It's my name. And before *you* ask what parents would call their child 'Massacre', I chose it myself." To their relief, he didn't do anything but nod.

Changing the subject, they spoke again. "You said that you wanted to travel with me?" At his nod, they continue. "Well, you better be ready for a lot of walking. Only one guy sent me a letter, but trouble has a way of finding me, so we're going to be busy."

#current wip #wip #writing wip #skyrim #skyrim fic #skyrim taliesin #original post #Massacre the dragonborn

[romirola]

hi romi!! for the writers ask game, might i request ⛰ (hardest fic to write), ✍🏽 (how much do you plan your fics beforehand?), and 🎡 (your favourite scene to write in -insert fic)?

have a great day! (´꒳`)♡

From this ask game, still open!

Thank you so much for these asks, @halscafe!

⛰ (hardest fic to write) I'm going to have to award this one to Packed with Love. Logistically, this one was tough. For one thing, it ended up being about 50K words, meaning that it required a lot of edits/revision and just TIME to write. Thematically, I felt like this one had a lot of moving parts. I had eight characters to whom I gave relatively equal weight, plus a variety of cameos. During the gala scenes, the fact that everyone was sitting and talking meant I'd have to add energy and intensity without physical action. For the flashback scenes, I had to consider backstories that would all be quite different from each other, mesh with a murky canonical timeline, somehow "go" together that could lead back to the whole "first time x felt like pack" idea... Yeah, a lot of moving parts. But, I'm so happy that people were as enthusiastic as I was when I finally did post the fic!

✍🏽 (how much do you plan your fics beforehand?) I'd say a lot. Some might say... too much. I always like to have a general outline of things in my head before I even start drafting. Some scenes I have a clear idea about, others I figure will come to me as I begin the drafting process. But I also make sure to post only once I've got a fic drafted, so I don't write myself into a corner or cut off opportunity to revise things as I go (which happens often when I draft, too.) I also like to make sure the general plot as I imagine it fits the characters and that I'm not overlooking an obvious solution or contradicting myself. (In fact, right now, I'm in that thinking-stage for a multi-chapter fic I'd really like to write, but I just need to straighten out the details... I think there's a way to swing it. I just gotta make the brain do the thing...)

🎡 (your favourite scene to write in -insert fic)? I'll gladly answer this, hala, but you've got to give me a fic first, please!

#redacted audio #redacted asmr #redactedverse #redacted fanfiction #thank you!

[rolloollor]

Is there any background of How do you come up with your ideas for witting

Oh, thank you for this question, I'm flattered someone's interested enough to ask!

Brace for rambling about the writing process

This isn't something I think of consciously, so I may not be 100% sure about the answer myself. I mainly read literature (Dostoevsky's my favorite) and fantasy novels and I don't doubt that the things I've read have influenced me in various ways. I'm no Dostoevsky or Le Guin, though, much as I might like to be. I'd cut off my left foot if it meant I could write something like Tehanu...

Ultimately, I don't know where the ideas come from exactly. There's no, like, thing I do where I tell my brain to make something and then it does. Ideas are like a background process and sometimes it can take months before you come up with something. I don't try and model my writing on any particular story. Instead, my writing is an amalgamation of everything I've read/watched/played and experienced.

I will say that the epilogue ending to Dyed Dark as Night is similar in idea to something hugely self-indulgent I wrote years ago that I never shared and no one aside from myself ever read. I try to keep everything I write, since you never know what you can use later... I took passages (mainly things about Jehan) from my failed attempt at a dragon captive fic and put them in Sacerdos et Draco, for example.

I will say that I've lived abroad. I'm originally from the US, but I've lived in an Eastern European country and two East Asian countries (I'm in one right now). Living in these places and learning how to rely on myself and interact with a variety of people have helped my writing, I think. Writing is hugely aided by life experience. It's pretty obvious when you're reading a fanfic written by someone in high school, for example. Not that people shouldn't write until they're older, but just that someone in high school has a more limited range of experience, all things equal, than someone in uni or someone who's supporting themselves.

I'm mainly a panster when I write. I usually have a general idea of what I want to do, but no outline. Planning takes the fun out of it for me... Using Sacerdos as an example, I wanted to write something with priest Rollo getting seduced by dragon Malleus and it just kind of flowed from there. We start with Rollo in the church, Malleus appears, and then things just keep happening. The rhythm and pacing of the prose itself is always on my mind, so sometimes I'll write a scene and go, "Something different needs to happen right... here!" This pantser method requires a lot of revision, though. Like, at first, I couldn't decide whether or not I wanted Rollo to have magic, but after writing the first chapter, I realized it'd be way better and more interesting if he did. I sometimes will write a passage, realize it sucks, and mentally bookmark it. After some period of time, I'll figure out something better. Whatever you write, it will never be perfect the first time. Even huge writers have to revise and edit their work, though they usually have help. For the record, I don't have a beta reader...

For me, ideas are a waiting game. Either that or there's a general concept that appeals to me, like the priest AU or goat Rollo. It's also a lot easier to come up with ideas when there's already established lore and rules. I've written an original novel (never published) before and that stuff is, naturally, harder.

This isn't very helpful, is it? I dunno... You can't force ideas, but with mallerollo there were at least a few very obvious things that could be done (in my eyes) that I did. Now the obvious stuff is done, but I'm toying with other ideas. I'm considering doing a fairy tale adaptation, for example, but no promises since I'm not even done with the fic I'm working on yet.

If anyone's interested in writing, my advice is kind of what everyone else says. Read a lot and experience things. If I hadn't moved to another country, I wouldn't know what it's like to try and adapt to another culture. Sometimes it's physical things, like I wouldn't know what a blizzard is like if I stayed where I was in the US. But there are certain things you can't experience, like magic or seeing a dragon, that you have to approximate as best you can. Novels help with that.

Sorry to be vague... but I guess it's kind of a vague process.

#rllr asks

[shai-manahan]

Hello, it's a returning anon here with some random thoughts. It's obvious to me that you're putting care into things; writing about certain themes requires not only a lot of research but some serious introspection as well, especially as what you create is -fiction- and therefore you have a say in how the narrative unfolds. That thin line between -depicting- awful things and, if not outright glorifying, than at least (to use a tired word in the zeitgeist) -normalizing- awful things. Continued.

Hi, anon! I read this at like 1 am before I went to sleep and it was definitely a great end to my day :'))).

Writing Hollowed Minds is certainly challenging, to say the least. It helps that I have sensitivity readers, but their approval/confirmation is seldom enough to convince me that I'm portraying the themes well. Even now, I still think about future scenes and how it'll appear to you all because like you said, it is so easy for an author to perhaps intentionally or unintentionally glorify sensitive issues even with a lot of research. The difference between glorifying and non-glorifying depictions is actually one of the things I spent time on thinking about first, considering that there is a very thin line to cross, and that also means I have the responsibility to be firm whenever I end up receiving asks that clearly cross that line.

I really really love seeing people enjoy the game, but every time I give an answer to the asks, I also have to check myself, thinking like, is this a proper response? Is this all right? Every time I write an update, I mostly end up scrapping around 10k-20k words due to similar reasons, and while it might cause some delays, it's a process I absolutely must not rush.

Anyway, I hope you're doing well, anon! Deception and betrayal are so complicated to get past, and repairing a relationship without second guessing what's around you can definitely be tough. Whether that person may be family, a friend, or someone you used to have affections for, it is not as simple as telling them you forgive them because there's a lot of baggage that comes with the knowledge of what they did before. I do hope I manage to portray that properly as well, and this message has really been a great motivator.

Thank you so much, and I hope you'd love what's more to come in the story! And that perhaps, it can help you somewhat with whatever it is you're dealing with.

#interactive fiction #hollowed minds series #hollowed minds #choicescript #writing #if wip #interactive novel #if game #dashingdon #ask #anon #hosted games #cyoa

[valiant-if]

I would estimate I am about 30% finished with the second half of the prologue/chapter 1 (whatever i decide to title it) at this point.

This is the part of the chapter where I realized is probably the best place for a choice determining whether or not your MC knows sign language. It becomes immediately relevant upon meeting one of the crew members. You only meet her in one of the initial 4 paths at the beginning, so for all paths except for that one, the choice will take place in the latter half of the chapter.

It also made me realize I needed to think about some intersections for sign language, non-verbal, and hard of hearing options. How to approach the use of sign language in the game was always something I'd been thinking about, since one of the central characters is non-verbal and uses it as her main form of communication.

It was also always my intention to have an option for the MC to be HOH. So I've been brainstorming gradually on when/where to implement the choices for these, usually thinking of having them combined, but I realized last night that it's probably better to split them up.

While thinking about this, I also realized that there's really no reason for me not to allow for a non-verbal choice as well, not just HOH.

So where I'm sitting at on these topics right now is this:

The initial release of the demo will include an option as to whether or not the MC knows sign language when it becomes relevant in the second half of the chapter. The choices for HOH and non-verbal will be in character creation at the beginning, but these won't be implemented for quite some time even after I release the demo.

The HOH and non-verbal options require a lot more in-depth editing and revision, in addition to possibily rewriting certain scenes, to make sure I alter everything that needs to be altered. I think the easiest way for me to tackle that will be chapter by chapter, especially to make sure continuity is followed through as much as possible. It is likely something I will work on in chunks throughout the project.

It's been an interesting subject to approach language in Valiant, and not just in the discussion of sign language. I brought up once before, when talking about the voices of the characters, that I hadn't yet accounted for how language affects accents yet, namely because of the level of technology in this universe that allows for automatic translators and how this would affect whose voice a person is actually hearing.

I had an epiphany recently that seemed very obvious to me in retrospect. One of the undertones of the Valiant universe is financial inequality—the Valiant universe has a lot of dystopian elements with specifically corporate roots. The subject of financial inequality comes up pretty immediately in the story in the form of cybernetic implants. MC's specifically are noticeably expensive while some of the other crew members have pretty cheap ones and others still have none at all. (For some people this is a choice, but it goes without saying that some people wouldn't be able to afford them.)

My epiphany was that I hadn't fully considered this when it comes to the discussion of language and translators. So the conclusion I've reached is that, yes, many people can afford implants with built-in automatic translators, but not everyone. So there very much is a "universal language" that most people have to learn to speak if they want to conduct any sort of intergalactic travel or business. But, for most people, this is not a first language. Different colonies and/or sovereignties would have their own separate languages.

Most of the crew of the Valiant would be bilingual and thus might speak with accents. I also imagine that any version of language spoken in the Valiant universe is probably different than languages we speak in our own lives simply because of how languages would have evolved over the course of hundreds, maybe thousands of years in space with separate societies. There are probably recognizable bits and pieces to our modern languages, but for all intents and purposes they are fictional languages. This probably won't be referenced too much over the course of the story, but it's still something to think about.

All that is to say, the amount of worldbuilding that goes into a story is sometimes astounding when you consider how much of it the story actually touches on. But it's still important to know certain things because it can influence details in the main story, like—bringing it back around to sign language—how the crew of the Valiant learned to communicate with each other.

At any rate, that was a much longer rant than I was planning—I meant to just have a short and sweet update about some planning things that have been going through my head. The point is, things are coming along pretty well. I'm still working toward getting a demo release soon, so I'd better get back to it.

[timegears-moved]

totk rant anon here again! i sent an ask yesterday but it might not have gone through? or you just might not have gotten around to it yet. in case you didn't get it at all, the most important info i wanted to convey is that if you do the windblight fight in air and lightning with any character other than link you get a very interesting line from revali at the end which i feel provides important context for the following cutscene! and if you want i can let you know exactly what he says so you don't have to play through that mission again.

now, on a slightly different note, i'm a bit late in saying this, but i believe you can actually progress relentless as a waterfall even if you have mipha on your team? you just have to take her over to the relevant captain and use her healing powers yourself (either by using her special move or, if you don't have that charged, using her water spout move.) alternately you miiight be able to order her to go there while switched to a different character and that might work too?

to be entirely honest it's been a while since i played through that particular mission so i might be wrong, but i think that generally when missions have requirements for specific characters to do certain things (i.e. move to a specific location) if you have that character on your team you have to do all the work yourself to progress the mission, whereas if they're an npc they'll move on their own. that being said, mipha being a healer makes it a bit more complicated than most instances of this, since she's also required to use her healing powers here, while with most characters all you need to do is move them to the right location.

OOPS sorry anon i did get your other ask but i didn't see it until just now!! i'll answer them both here!

OKAY SO LMAO i just finished redoing air and lightning with your advice (i had to go back and get the korok seeds anyway) and ummm? what the fuck GSJSBSKWJKSH???

jesus christ revali. i have to admit i have seen this quote in another post in his tag before but a lot of the replies were saying that this was in regards to teba??? so i didn't think much of it at the time. but like. learning now that he ONLY says this when you don't play as link makes it obvious that this isn't about teba at all??? insane.

and you're right about it giving additional context to the scene right after. like revali's very abrasive backhanded thanks to link seems to me like it's stemming from embarrassment at being saved by someone he wants to impress (not that he'll ever admit that). but link not being there allows revali an opportunity to say that he doesn't want to seem weak or vulnerable to him.

i'm gonna be honest totk is looking to be my least favourite of the trilogy rn so i'm not too bummed out by that sjbsjejdj. excited to get the aoc dlc though my autism desperately needs it

also in regards to relentless as a waterfall my issue was that my objective never changed from capturing the three outposts even after all of them were captured? i wouldn't have even known that mipha had to heal that captain if i hadn't seen a video of it. i may test what you said out though! not rn since i've had enough of that mission after doing it three times jshsjsosksk but of that is the case i wish the game was more clear on that because it was very confusing.

#asks #anonymous #may buy the dlc after i post this. was holding off to make sure i actually wanted it but my opinions on aoc have improved greatly so :)

[nelll101]

End of Evangelion

After watching, I actually do like this ending more than the show's original, but I do feel like the original's ending was still needed and hopefully it could've been merged with this ending but unfortunately the director turned it into two alternative endings.

The first scene is a definite shock at first watch and some people freak out about it but was put in the movie on purpose and I wanted to analyze it because it's one of the most important scenes in the movie. I've done some research into it and formed an explanation that makes the best sense to me. Shinji actually tries to kill himself before turning to Asuka in the beginning scene but obviously doesn't because he's a "coward". Asuka would usually be the last person he would run to but out of desperation, turns to her and even begs her to call him an idiot like she always does which is something Shinji never liked but is doing this out of desperation. Shinji masturbates to Asuka, because simply put, he cannot make decisions for himself. Throughout the whole show he could not make decisions for his own and just did what other people told him to do. Shinji doesn’t act on his free will and his drive for doing things comes from others. Shinji at that exact moment had no one to turn to. He’s afraid of Misato and Rei and his father definitely doesn’t care about him. In that moment he realizes he needs to make decisions for himself but he doesn’t know how to and when he exposes Asuka, the only thing he can rely on is his sexual instincts. On top of that, Shinji is chronically depressed and like I said before, desperate. Not only does he rely on instincts in that action, but also at the same time, he wanted to desperately feel good for the moment, therefore he masturbates.  After he does this action, he realizes the horrible thing he has done and is riddled with guilt which further emphasizes the fact that he is so depressed and messed up, it causes him to do something like that. (Note: I wrote this part before the professors explanation of this movie but posting this now bc I didn't have time to watch it completely before class] and hegemonic masculinity also comes into play in this scene too which I didn't look at it in that way, but i'm still going to leave this explanation up as well because it makes sense too)

Some other scenes in the movie I noted were Gendo speaking before the LCL got him. Gendo says he left Shinji alone on purpose and would only hurt him if he was with him and leaving him alone was the best thing to do. He also says "I do not deserve to be loved or feel love." Kaworu tells Gendo that Gendo rejected the world before it could hurt him. This scene was really interesting because it showed even though both the son and father were almost completely detached from each other, they were so detached that they, in the end, were just like one another. This also just shows how humans will push others away in fear of pain and hurting others, but it actually in reality, does the opposite.

Also, the professor noted that hands were really important in the show as there are a lot of close up shots of hands. There's the obvious one scene in the show of the close up of Shinji's hands opening and closing into a fist before he gets laughed at by the children, but in the movie there is also a close up shot of Shinji holding Rei’s hand with his right hand and says thank you. There is some definite importance of hands and maybe even specifically right hands, which will require further research.

Shinji also says in the movie that only bad things happened from the past world which is why he easily chooses to run away but says running doesn’t solve anything because it means that he won’t be there anymore which is the same as no one being there. This is almost a comparison to the world he is in now. Shinji was basically was already living in the new world even before everyone merged, but now he cannot run away anymore in this new world like he once knew before. He also can't run or push away the hegemonic masculinity and then in turn, makes a partial effort to strangle Asuka.

It is also stated in the movie that humanity won’t change unless people act on their own initiative. This also is comparison to criticism of Shinji. Shinji cannot change unless he acts on it through his own efforts. It is also stated that if there is a will to live, you can turn any place into a paradise.This hints to Shinji that his bleak outlook on life can change through how you envision reality. In this new world, he can make it paradise if he wants to, but he needs to want to live to do so. I believe Shinji and Asuka become the new Adam and Eve but I'm not sure if the other people affected by the Instrumentality project could come back if they wanted to as well.

I was wondering why was it only Asuka that accompanied him in the new world and no one else. At first I thought, because Shinji was technically God in that moment, he wished for everything to be back how it was and the Instrumentality project to stop, but if that was the case, I would think he would wish for everyone he knew to come back but he didn’t so I was still confused. I did some research again and found two things that make sense but I don't know which one is right. I had originally stated  before that a character (i forgot who) stated, “ if there is a will to live, you can turn any place into a paradise”. The explanation I read said that it was also stated that if someone has the will to live, they can and will return. Asuka showed that the best. She died trying to live and fighting off the angels, so therefore she accompanies Shinji in this new world. The other explanation I read, someone said that I guess Shinji was told that humans can return to their physical form since Instrumentality stops, but most people haven’t done so yet at the end scene. So in that case, would Shinji and Asuka still be Adam and Eve since there technically is still a human population? Honestly idk and this is hurting my brain.

Anyways, NGE is an almost 10/10, will be one of my favorites for a while. (and yes this post is long asf but there's just way too much stuff in NGE to talk about)

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

I’m wondering what you think about Harry’s public image right now. The way he is seen by the fandom, especially non-het Harries (larries or harries who don’t think he’s straight) and the non-fandom is so strikingly different. I’ve been reading comments on different sites, primarily Reddit and some Twitter/tiktok right now about Harry, and so many are saying he’s queerbaiting. I’ve seen comments that say the only thing interesting about him is the speculation around his sexuality and that’s why he ‘queerbaits’, I’ve seen comments that say without the speculation he would be boring like Shawn Mendes, I’ve seen comments that literally say his outfits are queerbaiting, that he’s straight and playing up the “LGBT” angle for promo. I’ve seen people say that “the straights” eat up Harry’s public image of ambiguity but gay people are tired of it. To me these comments just seem preposterous and almost homophobic. I’m not going to get into a discussion of whether or not real people can queerbait in this ask, but it’s just glaringly obvious to me that Harry isn’t straight but for whatever combination of reasons is not going to fully come out anytime soon, that most likely he enjoys wearing more feminine or out-there outfits and if they also help his promo, that adds to it, and that his public image is carefully crafted to help him maintain a sense of privacy. But that’s how I see it as someone in the fandom. I feel like some people outside of the fandom are getting fed up with him; they’re essentially calling him fake and super calculated. I’m wondering if you think his team should take any steps to mitigate people thinking this way, and what they should do.

So a couple of things - I don't think very on-line queer people discoursing about Harry is his public image. I think it's worth thinking and talking about, but shouldn't be blown out of proportion. I suspect that this group is numerically as small as hard core fans, if not smaller.

I do think the fact that Harry is so vehemently seen as straight by a particular subset of queer people is really interesting. And there are lots of different things you could say (and I was making some of those points earlier).

But generally to me it shows the power of compulsory heterosexuality - the aura that Harry has sex with women is very powerful.

***********

But the question about what Harry and his team should do is a really interesting one. I think it's impossible to answer - because we don't know what the restrictions are (and I think in general 1D fandom is very willing to speculate about what should happen, without thinking about what the restrictions might be).

To me the big question is what is Harry prepared to do, and what is the record label prepared for Harry to do.

It'd be very reasonable if Harry didn't want to talk about his sexuality at all, or only wanted to do it in certain terms. And the record label has invested a lot of money and probably has a very conservative idea of what's needed to protect the fantasy boyfriend audience.

The obvious answer of what Harry could do is to make it just one notch more specific that he was attracted to men. He could have said 'I'm asked about my sexuality more than I should be and I don't want to talk about it directly.' And then covered Charlie XCX's boys (perhaps that would be too many notches, but you get the idea). Or he could have done carpool karaoke with James Corden and James could have said that he was attracted to men and then asked if Harry had ever thought of hooking up with James. There would be options to be explicit that he's attracted to men, without ruffling the fantasy boyfriend audience, and not giving any space for follow up (or even requiring Harry to use words).

But that approach may well be vetoed either by Harry, or people he's working with.

For me the question then becomes - whose advice is Harry taking on this. Because Harry Lambert could give him good advice about how he was seen in queer scenes and how to avoid being seen as queerbaiting. But I don't know if he's in those meetings, or if his influence is restricted to clothes. I'd be worried if Harry was only getting straight people's advice about how to navigate all this.

And one reason I think that might have happened is that we haven't seen the Late Night Talking video yet. Now there are lots of reasons for that (particularly the success of As It Was) so I'm not leaping to conclusions. But one possibility I'm considering at the moment is that the backlash to Harry's comments in Better Home and Gardens took them by surprise, and that there's an attempt to figure out how to mitigate the response in a reactionary sort of way. And that the way they respond to the criticism will be to be less queer. Rather than to be explicit enough in a way that people will understand.

I think it'd be a real shame if that happened (although obviously it's all speculation at this point). And I do think that sort of reactionary response would come from the advice of straight people. But I think it's worth saying that Harry's decision making team does seem to be full of straight people, and that's very much a decision he's made. If he makes decisions based on bad advice because of it, that's ultimately on him.

#Super interesting #like I've said before #I don't feel likewe can know much #until we know if the rumours about the video are true #and if it's going to be released #and we may only know one of those things