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#which is good because i can tell there's an issue in the middle somewhere
greyias · 1 year
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Writer asks: ✨🎀💝💌
✨What's a fic you've posted you wish you could breathe life into again and have people talking about it? (or simply a fic you wish got more credit)
Oh, that would probably be Lapsus Linguae, which I get why it didn't quite catch on (it's a bit long for a short fic, is basically oc x oc pairing so quite niche, and has a M-rating because of a random scene in the middle with a totally different pairing than the oc/oc content) -- but it still makes me laugh.
🎀give yourself a compliment about your own writing
I will say, when I get enough distance from a written piece, it can still sneak up on me and give me unexpected feels, so I guess it not only holds up to a re-read, but can hold its emotional resonance.
💝what is a fic that got a different response than you were expecting?
I probably shouldn't have been, but for some reason I was absolutely convinced that people were really not going to like Girl Talk? (The reaction to which was the exact opposite). I think the brain weasels got me on that one.
💌share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!
So I took a break from it for a little bit (because I got distracted), but I am having a ridiculous amount of fun with the Outlander!Theron AU, and kind of have to keep sitting on my hands so I don't start posting prematurely (the first chapter has been written for 5+ years now). I think I described to someone that it's the Bad Decision AU where no one is their best self, especially Theron, who makes promises in one chapter, and then immediately breaks it by the end of the next chapter, with predictable consequences:
Theron's quick temper finally got the better of him, and the desire to diffuse the situation evaporating and he snapped. "You were about to be killed, and I wasn't just going to stand there and let that happen!"
"You couldn't let that happen? Just like you couldn't let me read my own messages and let me go to the Terminus?"
"That was different!"
"How?"
Just like with his decision to go to the Terminus in her place, he hadn't really thought that far ahead in how to navigate this conversation. Like every ill-considered step he'd taken in life, it was a thoughtful, reckless impulse that somehow made even more of a chaotic mess of things.
"Well, it worked didn't it?" It was the wrong thing to say, and yet he forged on as if his temper had set his mouth on autopilot. "You're still alive -- that's what matters!"
She stared at him as if he'd sprouted a second head. "How can you say that? After everything I told you about what he did when I--he... how can you think giving that monster an inch of control is a good idea?"
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thatdeadaquarius · 1 year
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SAGAU / Isekai Genshin:
You can still use your characters! ... as in possessing them 👻
(all art by me down below, hope its decent lol - did it for u guys and myself i mean what )
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Edit 9/7/23: 1,500+ NOTES??? BRO WHAT!! THABK YOU <3
Edit 12/24/23 + 4/5/24:
My dumbass forgot to put this here .-.
Anywya this is a full length fanfic now ;)
PART 1 (you're here!) / Part 2
So.
You got sucked into a video game. 
Crazy, but it happens ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯
yknow how it issss
...you very quickly discover that unfortunately video game rules still apply...
which wouldn't normally be an issue! like, needing to use the bathroom in the middle of a fight? Nope! minor cuts and bruises like papercuts, only actual enemies or fall damage counting? hell yeah that'd be great (theoretically no chronic pains if you got that?? hmmmm unsure)
see the issue comes when you realize, you as a player, don't have a "character" that's all your own
there's aether/lumine yeah.. but bc the game's real now, they're their own people, and you didn't wake up to find yourself as a blonde twin...
the closest you can describe your form as is .. like a seelie?
or like the way ghosts look in game?
but a lot more "starry"
like your specterlike, but you look like you got filled up with stars and the milky way, maybe a reference of you being from another universe/world? (aether/lumine/dainsleif/khaenriah star symbol reference secret thEORY-)
but yah.
you also got just, white eyes.
like, not iris, not pupil. like your pupil and iris got erased
you gotta admit, at least you look really aesthetic now.
(u also got a little cape and hood on at all times, and you cant take it off to see your starrified hair >:/ ,very Blue Diamond-esque, look up Steven Universe, Blue Diamond if you dont know who im talking about)
so needless to say, as soon as you sort of glitched your way into existence you were HYPE
i mean ur ACTUALLY IN TEYVAT WITH THE BOYSSSS
...then you realize your a spooky-no-character-to-pilot-around-thus-no-character-model-body-for-you thingy
and that you cant touch stuff!! >:(
like wth!!!
thats just downright unfair.
so, you figure if you got no body to be.... you gotta find a new "character" to pilot >:)
...
I choose you, yellow fungi!
...
....
you're in the fucking woods (Sumeru somewhere obv, u knew that the moment you opened ur eyes),
what'd you expect?? an archon??
..wait a minute. can you possess an archon-
these kinda thoughts plague your first few days of irl genshin impact playing
a rishabold tiger? yep.
a sumpter beast? kinda slow and heavy feeling but yeah.
...you also try a ruin machine LOL
by far, the fungi and ruin machines are the best to possess, mostly because you can remain upright with those
(tho u did find some type of flying monkey that wasnt in game, but its like,, a real world and jungle now so that makes sense there'd be more complexity + stuff)
you do eventually think you should try and possess a person at this point... but ur kinda nervous 👉👈
its ur first time doin this okay nobody explained the basics to you youve been winging for a week now!
will your mind be replaced with theirs? it hasn't been so far with the creatures/bots
and as far as you can tell, they kinda just-
forget what happened or "wake up" after you possess them
(the tiger you were for a day looked confused as hell when it realized that there was a new pile of fruit next to it when it "woke up", it was your way of saying thank you to the animals of the jungle, u left them little piles of food you collected running around as them)
so THEORHETICALLY-
you should be good to go and possess a random poor eremite
... you figure you want to possess something human-like eventually even if you get a puppet body like wanderer/raiden so...
here goes nothing...
so it's been 2 weeks since you've been forcefully yanked into teyvat, and by the second week, you were trying to possess eremites
which! worked out!
mostly..!
you kinda convinced the entirety of two eremite camps that a certain part one of sumeru's forests is hella haunted bc ppl keep "blacking out" and doing things they don't remember doing, yknow... like possesssion LMAO
they kinda ran off to escape you but, hey!
experiment #2: people possession, success!!
now you were kinda convinced of this when you realized no matter the angle the animals and machines of sumeru didnt react to you getting super close to them (you dont have to touch something to posses it, just look at it really, but you wanted to test limits, so you walked up to sumpter beasts and fungi and ruin machines)
but no one can see you.
you don't have a "character" most of the time, you can float and glide around the ground like scaramouche lol
you cant touch stuff bc of this, you cant smell stuff (u saw the eremites campfires & couldnt smell the smoke until you were them)
you cant eat stuff w/o a body, so.. it makes sense that the eremites and passing merchants, cant see you when you float around, trying to reorient yourself after 2 weeks of experimenting
:( ur only a lil sad about it... but mostly not bc lol u got possession powers so trade off u guess
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the first time you see a vision-bearer you literally scream
LMAO
ur so lucky u cant be seen or heard
bc Collei would have def screamed back lol
needless to say u stalk the forest ranger- ALL DAY.
Collei goes on patrol around the woods? you go on a patrol.
collei goes to visit other forest rangers? you "visit" other forest rangers at base (lol u def possess a guy who was asleep on a bench nearby & wake up to go talk to Collei "in-person", poor guy was so worried he sleep walked/talked so hard he went to see Tighnari an hour later lmao)
welp, you decide this is your life now, follow Collei everywhere, talk one-sided to Collei until you can possess a forest ranger w/o it being suspicious (dont wanna turn the poor rangers into the terrified eremites from a week or two ago...)
then, after you get the courage and erase the paranoia that tighnari can just... somehow hear your ghostly bullshit-
u do the same to Tighnari (then Cyno when he visits! no u didnt squeal, so what, nobody can hear you- )
Tighnari begins to get suspicious about 3 weeks into this routine.
he's been starting to collect and start a file on all the rangers or nearby villagers that've started randomly "blacking out/sleep walking" in the evenings usually
(u possess as close to nighttime as u can so it seems like sleepwalking)
So when Cyno comes back from a mission gone wrong,
having nearly been decapitated by a rogue flying ruin machine, only to black out and come to standing calmly 10 feet further than he remembered being 1 minute ago...
Tighnari's suspicions are confirmed, and he launches into researching this phenomenon.
his first thought is something like the aranara, but that doesn't account for the effect this thing is having on people
after all, what little forest spirit is strong enough to-
-control humans??
Tighnari begins to get the sense he's in over his head after he finds himself pushed into going into Sumeru City in order to collect more library books or ask around if the blackouts have spread to the city people
he answer is negative, on both accounts.
and he spends about one half of the day walking around, and the other reading up all he can on mythical creatures or ailments
Tighnari gives up for the day, and as he makes his way back to Ghandarvaville, he almost gets ambushed by some particularly nasty muggers
...and then he wakes up 20 feet away, his denro vision thrumming with power, full of worry and fondness for himself??, (just like Cyno said he felt happen to him..)
...Tighnari decides he needs reinforcements.
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YOU GUYS-
UR LOCAL ZODIAC SIGN OBSESSED W/GENSHIN HIT A CHARACTER LIMIT ON A POST FINALLY. 😦
??? THIS WOULDVE BEEN LONGER BUT I BARELY GOT SPACE FOR THIS- I- EVEN THE QIQI POST DIDNT HIT LIMIT-
uh cya ig!!
Safe travels lmao,
💀♒️
♡the beloveds♡
@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist @revonie / @hat-on-a-cat / @takottai / @sickly-falling (?) / @iruiji
(Sorry about the late tag! I forgot to update my taglist before i posted this 💀 my bad guys)
Also if the people who got put there who i couldnt find a blog for see this, idk what went wrong ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ - maybe check and see if ur setting for "being able to be searched/looked up" is turned on?? Idk man
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room-surprise · 2 months
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Addendum to Dungeon Meshi Age Calculations, and Thistle's age estimate...
This is sort of a sequel to two posts of mine, How to Calculate Comparative Ages of DM Characters and How Old Is Thistle?
I've seen some people claim that the age scale between elves and tall-men where elves age 5 times slower than tall-men can't be used accurately for elves that are very young or very old. I've also seen people claim that the half-foot age modifier is wrong.
I'm not a mathematician, but so far I have not seen any actual evidence that the 5:1 scale doesn't work, and a good amount of proof that it does, and I think the confusion about half-foot aging is a translation issue.
Please keep in mind, information about Marcille's age does not apply to any of this, because [SPOILERS].
WHAT ABOUT VERY YOUNG ELVES?
Here's something we know about the babies from the different races, which comes from Ryoko Kui's blog:
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1 year old elven, dwarven and gnomish babies can only lay on their backs. Tall-man and half-foot 1 year olds can both stand, though the tall-man is not as good at it as the half-foot.
This lines up with real-world development milestones, human children can usually stand on their own somewhere between 9 to 12 months. Half-foots age faster than tall-men, so it makes sense that the half-foot would look more balanced and steady while standing.
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A 2 year old elven baby has just gained the ability to sit up, while the babies of other races are walking or running. Normal human babies can sit up with help at around 5 months.
2 divided by 5 equals 0.4, that's 40%, and 40% of one year equals 4.8666666 months. That's 5 months.
I think it's very likely Kui herself is using the 5:1 ratio in order to calculate her elven ages in order to get this very specific 5 month developmental milestone to line up this way. So we can confirm that any elf over the age of 2 years old should have an age that is calculable with the 5:1 ratio. I also think it's not crazy to assume Kui may be using the numbers I calculated in my age post to work out other character's ages as well, since she's clearly doing it for the elves.
LET'S TEST IT WITH HALF-FOOTS
Human children learn to run between 18 and 24 months, so around 2 years old, like the chart shows us. 2 years divided by the half-foot age ratio (1.1428571429) equals 175% because they grow faster than tall-men.
175% of 2 years is 1277.5 days... Which is 3.5 years. So a 2 year old half-foot has the maturity of a 3.5 years old human child. 3 years old is when human children are expected to run and jump easily, and climb stairs without help.
That sounds about right to me, since the half-foot child in the drawing looks like they can confidently run around without balance issues. One foot is off the ground, and their arms are pulled in closer to the body than the tall-man child's arms.
Meanwhile the tall-man child is more unsteady, both feet firmly planted, standing with their arms held out as far as they can go to help with balance.
DOESN'T 29=50 FOR HALF-FOOTS?
Kui says that Chilchuck would be about 50 if he were a modern day human (which he isn't, he's a medieval half-foot), and then she says that half-foots in the time of Dungeon Meshi only live to be about 50 years old on average.
I'm pretty sure she's telling us that if Chilchuck were a human in our world, he'd be past middle-aged, and then for contrast, she tells us that most half-foots in Chilchuck's world die by age 50. Not that Chilchuck's 29 years is equivalent to a 50 year old modern human.
Chilchuck is 29 years old, and he had his first child at age 13. The average age of death for half-foots is 50, then that means middle-aged for a half-foot is 25.
Chilchuck is 4 years older than that, which makes Chilchuck past middle-aged. It does not make him developmentally the same as a 50 year old modern human though.
Using the numbers I've worked out, a half-foot would be developmentally 50 years old when they're 44.
Kui says that although Chilchuck wants to retire from going into the dungeons, if he did, it would be premature... Just like it would be premature for a 33 year old to retire.
In the real world retirement ages are connected to the average age of death. As that number goes up, so does retirement age. Because modern humans live until around 72, as a global average, retirement age is somewhere in their 60s.
So since half-foots average lifespan is 50, a normal age for Chilchuck to retire would be in his 40s.
WHAT ABOUT OLD ELVES?
The average age of death for tall-men is 60, however we know that tall-men can live into their 80s because Marcille's father did.
The average age of death for elves is 400, but they can live up to 500 years.
There's no reason to think that DM tall-men aren't like real world humans, and can't live into their 100's if they are lucky and wealthy enough. Even in the real medieval period, some people lived into their early 100's.
The thing that makes average death ages low in real life is usually issues like high infant mortality, starvation, war, lack of medical care, and lack of sanitation.
In the real medieval period, the average age of death was 30 not because people dropped dead at 30, but because SO MANY children died young that it pulled down the average. In medieval times, if you managed to live to 25, you had an average of 23 more years of life ahead of you, which is 48 years old.
I think Kui raised the average death age to 60 for tall-men to account for the fact that even tall-men have access to more advanced medicine and healing magic in DM, so infant mortality isn't as high and the adults live more than a decade longer.
The elves naturally have a longer lifespan since they live 5 times slower than tall-men. However they also probably have a far more advanced society than any of the other races in Dungeon Meshi. Fleki calls the Eastern Continent a "primitive land", and it's mostly populated by dwarves, gnomes and tall-men.
If elven culture was developmentally the same as tall-man culture, I bet elves would only live to about 300, which would be 60 for them, maturity wise.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
80x5 is 400. That seems correct to me, a 400 year old elf would be considered elderly and getting close to the end of their life. An 80 year old tall-man would be considered VERY old, having lived past average expectations... But those expectations, as I said before, are based on poor living conditions, not biological certainty. 100x5 is 500, so the two maximum ages (100 and 500) also line up when you use the 5:1 ratio.
POSSIBLE MAXIMUM AGES FOR OTHER RACES
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Using the same math, if gnomes and dwarves had the same culture as tall-men, they'd only live to be 150-ish instead of 240/200...
This is only a theory, but dwarvish and gnomish maximum possible ages should probably be around 250, if you multiply their age modifier (2.5) x100 like I did with the elves.
The current difference between their average age of death is probably attributable to lifestyle and cultural differences (gnomes use a lot more magic, and so they live longer).
Then, just to do the rest of the races:
Half-foots and orcs theoretical maximum age is 88. Ogres theoretical maximum age is 94. Kobold theoretical maximum age is 81.
Keep in mind, these numbers are based on the idea that "around 100 years old" is the oldest a human being can get. The oldest human to ever live survived until they were 122 years old... But obviously that is rare, and happened in the modern era.
Point is, there's wiggle room at the top end of the age limit, for some of the races that may be a matter of extra days or months, for others it could be an extra decade or two. But I'm using 100 for simplicity's sake.
Sorry for the long post! I hope this answers people's questions, and if I messed something up let me know!
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maddogofshimano · 5 months
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The Fist of Reason: Majima Boss Rush
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Happy 5th anniversary to rggo! hard to believe it’s been this long already
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look at our festival boys! anyways lets get into this because I’m very excited
summary:
sometime after the events of Y1, Kiryu gets a call that Haruka has a fever. On his way to pick her up, he bumps into someone familiar...
[One day, some time after the strife caused by the Tojo Clan's stolen 10 billion yen was settled...]
Kiryu: Hello. ...Thank you for calling.
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Kiryu: ...Huh? Haruka's got a fever? ...I understand, I'll be there right away. <scene change to outside> Kiryu: .....
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<he bumps into someone> Kiryu: Oh, sorry. ???: Sorry? If sorry was enough to cut it, there wouldn't be yakuza! Majima: Ain't that right? Kiryu-chaaan!
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Kiryu: Majima no nii-san!? What are you doing at a place like this... Majima: What's so weird about that? If Kiryu-chan's somewhere, then Majima is too! Majima: Outside of that, the spot where ya just rammed into me hurts like hell... Majima: Shit, ya probably broke the bone... Hehe, what're ya gonna do? Kiryu: People with broken bones don't laugh about it. Sorry, but I'm in a rush right now. Majima: Why ya bein' so cold~? We ain't seen each other in ages.
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Kiryu: We can talk more next time. Like I said, I'm in a rush. Majima: Too bad! No matter what ya say, ya gotta beat me if ya wanna go!! Hehehe! Kiryu: Tch...! Kiryu: Give it a damn rest already! Haruka has a fever! Majima: ! ........ Majima: What the hell... I didn't know that. Majima: I'm sorry for this. Go on, hurry up 'n' get gone.
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Kiryu: .....Damn. <he runs off>
[And then, 3 months later...]
Kiryu: ...I haven't seen Majima no nii-san around here since then.
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Kiryu: (I thought he was the kind of person to come back the next day for a fight, but...) Kiryu: ........... Kiryu: (Even if I was in a rush at the time, did I speak too harshly to him...?) Kiryu: (Of course I don't think a guy like him would be dejected from that... Well, it is possible...) ???: Kiryu no ojiki (tl note: ojiki is an honorific that's literally "dad's younger brother" which is used for patriarchs less senior than your own. Nishida usually uses it) Kiryu: ...Hm? Kiryu: You're that Majima Family guy...
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Nishida: About that... My boss is going to be put in jail. Kiryu: What...!? Nishida: It happened yesterday... Our family is supposed to be running a festival... Nishida: In the middle of it some thugs started acting up, and they got into a fight with our family members. Nishida: So now they've issued a warrant for my boss, since he was the one in charge... Kiryu: What is Majima no nii-san going to do? Nishida: He thinks it would be futile to resist, so he's waiting at the festival site for the police to arrive. Kiryu: What? Nishida: My boss has been acting oddly for the past 3 months or so. He doesn't have any energy, and seems pretty depressed. Kiryu: 3 months... it can't be. Nishida: And so, my boss really wants to see you before he goes to jail... Kiryu: Me...? Nishida: Yes. He said he has something to tell you, so... Kiryu: ...Got it. Lead the way. Nishida: Y-Yes sir! <they leave> Majima: ......... (tl note: I'm sorry the image of him just holding that pose in that outfit while waiting for the cops to show is so funny to me)
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Kiryu: ...Majima no nii-san. Majima: ...Oh, Kiryu-chan, ya showed.
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Majima: Excuse my appearance. I was up on a float till now. Kiryu: ...I just spoke with Nishida. Are you really going to jail? Majima: ...Yeah. Orders from on high, can't be helped. I'll be awfully lonely during those years... Majima: That said, I won't be botherin' ya any more, Kiryu-chan. Kiryu: ...... Majima: I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused ya. ...I wanted to at least say that, before I went to jail. Kiryu: ...That's not like you. Kiryu: Are you really going to let your underlings see you leave the outside world with such a pathetic display? Majima: ...I don't really care either way. Kiryu: ........... Kiryu: ...Good grief. You acting this way is completely infuriating to me. Kiryu: It can't be helped, this is a big favor. ...I'll get you all fired up again.
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Majima: Hah...? Kiryu: You know the best way I can cheer you up? ...Come at me, Majima. Majima: ...!
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Majima: Is this... are you pickin' a fight with me?
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Kiryu: Heh, isn't that what I just said? Majima: ........Hee, hehehe! Majima: Kiryu-chan, you're always the best! Majima: Let's get started...! Kiryu-chan!!!!
<event happens, Receive and Bite You is the theme>
Majima: Hehe... As always, Kiryu-chan... you're tough as nails...
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Kiryu: Heh... You are too. (tl note: RARE KIRYU SMILING SPRITE)
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Majima: Oi oi, you're sayin' somethin' nice? Kiryu: Majima no nii-san... I'm sorry. Majima: Ah? Kiryu: For what happened 3 months ago. Kiryu: I was flustered, and I snapped at you. Majima: ........As always, Kiryu-chan, you're soft as a marshmallow~. I'm astounded. Kiryu: ....? Nishida: E-Excuse me! Kiryu no ojiki!
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Nishida: The truth is... My boss going to jail was a lie in order to get you to show up... Kiryu: What? Then... was him being depressed also a lie... Majima: It was aaaaall an act! Majima: I was pretendin' to be put off by how ya talked to me so ya'd feel sympathetic, then after worryin' ya for long enough-- Majima: I'd reveal it was all a ruse, 'n' you'd get pissed off enough to throw down! That was the plan! Majima: It played out a little differently than intended, but, we still had a fight so it's all good. Kiryu: .....Heh, you're such an ass. (tl note: TWO smiles!! unprecedented.)
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Majima: What, you're not mad? Kiryu: I had a feeling that something like this was going on. Majima: Then why'd'ya fight me? Kiryu: ...When it's with you, I can go all out in a fight. Kiryu: ...If I really think on it, I guess I enjoy fighting with you. Just a bit. (tl note: THIRD smile!!!)
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Majima: !!..... Hehehehehe!! Heeey~! I knew it!!
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Majima: C'mon, let's go another round! Hearin' ya say that's gotten me all worked up again! Kiryu: ...Heh, sure. It's a festival, after all. It's a good excuse to really cut loose. Majima: Hell yes!! Let's do this... Kiryu-chaaaaaa~n!!!! Nishida: A-Ah... This won't end until the sun comes up...
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<END>
bonus stuff:
oh wow. oh man. that was pretty gay. between this and like a dragon: gaiden: the man who erased his name (lad gai man) thank you ryu ga gotoku studios for sending me birthday presents
obligatory boss rush pic
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also a bonus shot of Kiryu’s apartment
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the two new cards for this are “Mad Dog of the Festival Stage” and “Dragon of the Festival Band”
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and since it was a festival I also put together a very special team to repeatedly kick Majima’s ass 
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yanderes-galore · 10 days
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Heya! Could you write a yandere concept for Diluc from genshin impact? Please and thank you! <3
I'm surprised he or Kaeya wasn't requested earlier, here you go :) I do hope I got the gist of his persona right.... I feel bad because I ran out of steam half way through.
Yandere! Diluc Ragnvindr Concept
Pairing: Platonic -> Romantic
Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Overprotective behavior, Violence, Possessive behavior, Jealousy, Denial, Controlling behavior, Manipulation, Fear of loss, Kidnapping, Stalking, Blood, Mentions of possible murder, Toxic relationship, Forced relationship.
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Diluc is the owner of Dawn Winery and works at the Angel's Share Tavern in Mondstadt.
However, at night and away from everyone else, he is a vigilante who aims to take down the Abyss Order and Fatui.
He is truly a defender of Mondstadt, often busy trying to defend the city when the Knights of Favonius can't.
Diluc would probably be protective, controlling, possessive towards his darling.
Especially if Kaeya is involved....
Diluc seems like he'd meet you at either the tavern or winery at first.
Maybe Kaeya is showing you around Mondstadt, as much as his brother irks him... Diluc will admit you're interesting.
Diluc seems like he'd (ironically) be cold or distant with you at first.
He's a yandere who's in a bit of denial when they begin to show attachment.
He's been through a lot and isn't sure if he can let someone be so close to him.
He's always busy... although his day is immediately better when seeing you.
If you're at the tavern, he offers you food and drink while asking you about your day.
He may be in denial about his affections... but he does seem to have an interest in what you do.
For the most part, before he gets too involved, he's protective and vaguely interested.
He's trying to just be an acquaintance, someone to talk to while he serves you drinks at the bar.
Diluc's obsession would grow out of sight.
When he goes out to protect Mondstadt at night, he checks by your home to make sure nothing's wrong.
He doesn't want to consider following you around or knowing where you live stalking... but that's what it is.
You have no clue how obsessive he gets when you visit the tavern.
He likes to watch you as he works, it makes dealing with alcohol more bearable.
Diluc would definitely be rivals with Kaeya.
Kaeya is such a flirt and it irks Diluc's nerves.
To think his brother can just take you from him....
He gets so irritated when jealous.
It gets to the point when he's jealous of you in the tavern, he nearly breaks the glasses he's cleaning.
Which leads to Diluc needing to do something about this issue.
Diluc seems like he'd be manipulative towards you.
In a way he has the mindset of "It's for your own good".
Yet at the same time he's trying to restrain his more jealous thoughts and understand why he's so attached.
I imagine there's times he's possessive, it's usually with more romantic intentions... but he could also just be an obsessive companion/friend towards you.
Diluc hates the idea of getting too close with you since he's lost people close to him.
As much as he likes Jean, he feels the Knights of Favonius can't protect you like he can.
They can't care for you like he can, either.
Diluc is definitely a yandere that starts subtle.
You can't tell there's something wrong, he just seems worried and concerned for you at times.
He's... just someone you like to talk to.
But behind the scenes, as you sleep, he's making sure you're well cared for.
He'd get himself bloody if it meant you'd be his, he'd scorch any foe he has to.
He could either slowly build a connection with you to lure you into the winery and keep you there.
Or he could abduct you in the middle of the night once he snaps.
Diluc wants to keep you somewhere he'll always have an eye on you.
You're always watched, even when he takes you to the tavern you're never allowed to leave the counter.
If anyone flirts with you or takes your attention off Diluc, his eye twitches and he deals with the issue.
Diluc would probably kill, but it's always when no one's looking.
Plus they'll never find the body when it comes to him... no need to worry about it... they just left Mondstadt.
When Diluc's obsession stops being ignored and makes itself known, he really does act as some sort of twisted guardian for you.
He keeps you locked away, perhaps as a spouse.
He admits since he saw you he's wanted to court you.
Diluc would be the type of yandere to put you on his lap when he works.
He likes the control it gives him, allowing him access to your neck to make you squirm as he works.
He may not seem like it... but in private, Diluc can be affectionate.
He'll kiss you anywhere, sometimes soft... sometimes rough.
He hates others around you, often trying to rush people away from you so you don't speak for too long.
He has an issue where his protective and possessive behavior mixes.
He tries to excuse his possessive behavior as protective...
However, you can tell the difference the moment someone like Kaeya enters the winery.
The two nearly fight on the spot.
Diluc would love to spoil you if you're his.
He buys you gifts and tries his best to smother you in affection.
After all... if he gives you all his love, you'll never look at another.
Overall, Diluc is a yandere that wants to provide and care for his darling.
He'll give you whatever you want... he'll protect you... he'll love you...
Just listen to him... stay where he wants you to... and don't look at any other.
"Need a drink? I'd love another chat, dear."
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shinakazami1 · 9 months
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TSPUD: Symbolism of The Pink Room
@stelar-time asked in Twitter (I refuse to call it X) post about people's headcanons about the Pink Room and I thought I'd share this here, too
CW for some religious mentions
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First, I'd like you to look at the dialogues in this part.
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The fact that it's the fourth figurine is not a coincidence.
The Pink Room seems to serve as a symbol of nostalgia and of how memories can change with time. They tend to be rough and down the pipe you go, they do tend to lose details or get some added parts in, for your brain to make sense of them. That's why this room doesn't come at the first or last Figley and instead in the middle, as those are more often the parts we tend to forget.
What is interesting, though, is how Narrator questions it. Because a similar situation occurs somewhere else.
At the end of the Demo, Narrator starts to do a callbacks to the journey you had. However, at some point, he starts to mention and show parts you've never seen before. In contrast to the Pink Room though, there is not a single questioning involved. So, what's so special about that room?
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You could say it's only a symbol of a nostalgia and fragility of memory. That he is recalling some moments he felt halky about and due to it, puts rose-tinted glasses which show off in a form of this room. Why hadn't he done the same thing in the Demo, though?
Memory overall seems to have a bigger role in TSPUD.
Narrator overall seems to have memory issues - he tends to remember some of the previous resets (skipping parts of the Freedom run after going through it nth time in a row) and completely forgets others.
That's why he has Memory Zone. He uses it as a photo album, not knowing it's as unreliable as his own callbacks.
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But then, I did wonder... Why an apple? Why does this room show it and not anything else, any pink fruit?
And then, I looked at the architecture of the place and it reminded me of something.
Big window, a statue of some sort on a pedestal before it, pointed archs, to ribbed vaulting... It seems to match a typical church architecture. And then, it hit me.
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The Apple of Eden. Fruit of the forbidden knowledge. Of somebody being there, someone watching, listening. Of him not having fun control over his creation might have been bit when we were jsut skipping around, only seeing part of his struggle in the Skip Button.
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You might be then asking, why doesn't it have a bite mark then?
There are two possibilities I've considered:
1) it could shows Narrator's ignorance that he shows quite often. That could be true since he just tries to accept what had changed, trying to just say 'don't focus on it, it's a silly thing, let's move on'. He brings it up though since he already learnt from the Broom Closet that things untold seem to interest the Player more.
2) It's a memory within a memory. The apple before he bit in. It's the knowledge he beholds and shows us in a non direct way.
Just like the Bucket.
Nostalgia is supposed to give a good vibe but - it doesn't always succeed.
But this room can indirectly show Narrator's progress. The fact he knows more, the fact he can tell his memories get altered, the fact that - he changed.
In ways we misremember.
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david-talks-sw · 1 year
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Luke Skywalker in 'The Last Jedi' (1/2)
Luke in The Last Jedi... love it or hate it, it's a difficult subject.
I personally stand somewhere in the middle. I don't think Luke was "ruined"... I'd argue that, from a purely in-universe perspective, his subplot actually tracks with what was previously established in the original films.
There are issues, but I think they are mainly found on an out-of-universe/structural level (which I'll get into in post 2/2). For now, let's take a deep dive and unpack why this portrayal isn't all that problematic.
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The most commonly-heard argument is that:
"They ruined Luke's character! He would never go into exile or abandon his sister and friends!"
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Simply put, Luke used to be:
an optimist
so brave he'd risk his life to save his friends,
aspired to become a Jedi.
Whereas, in The Last Jedi, he's:
jaded and depressed,
hides/abandons his sister and friends, like a coward,
says the Jedi need to die?!
Now the fact is... Luke is 24 years older when he goes into exile, 30 years older in The Last Jedi. People change, with age.
In Luke's case, he matured from an impatient kid who'd rashly run to save his friends, like in Empire Strikes Back, to a grown-up who makes hard choices and restrains himself from doing that, even though he desperately wants to.
Luke tells himself this is a self-sacrifice, this is for the greater good.
"Because he’s the last Jedi and a symbol of that it then becomes this self-sacrifice, he has take himself out of it, when he knows his friends are dying, when the thing he’d most like to do is get back in the fight." - Rian Johnson, The Empire Film Podcast, 2018
And Rian Johnson didn't want Luke to come across as a coward, so he also gave Luke an argument that initially seems to make sense:
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The Jedi way is flawed and inevitably leads to arrogance. Proof: the Sith originally came from Jedi. His own new order is no exception to that rule, even if he thought it was (in his arrogance, he believed his own legend).
So if he leaves and stays in exile? No more Jedi, no more Jedi-turned-darksiders that can mess up the galaxy.
The Force will keep trying to balance itself and a new, worthier source will appear (in the form of Rey).
But while his reasoning that "the Jedi are inevitably arrogant" seems sound and reasonable... it's wrong.
Just like Dooku's reasoning that "the Jedi are corrupt" seems sound, but is ultimately wrong.
Just like Anakin's rationalization that "the Jedi are evil" seems sound nope, that one doesn't even seem sound, it's just plain wrong.
Where is it wrong, in Luke's case?
Well, he's rationalizing his actions by blaming the Jedi religion, instead of admitting his own failure.
"The notion of, 'Nope, toss this all away and find something new,' is not really a valid choice, I think. Ultimately, Luke's exile and his justifications for it are all covering over his guilt over Kylo." - Rian Johnson, The Art of The Last Jedi, 2017
"In his own way, [Luke is] trying to disconnect, he’s trying to throw away the past, he’s saying 'Let’s kill [the Jedi] religion. It’s the thing that’s messing us up, thins thing right here, let’s kill it.’ And the truth is, it’s a personal failure. It’s not religion, it’s his own human nature that’s betrayed him." - Rian Johnson, The Empire Film Podcast, 2018
He fucked up, plain and simple.
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But it's not because “he’s a Jedi and that made him arrogant and the Jedi mentality is flawed”, as he claims early on in the movie.
He failed because he's flawed. Luke is human and had a moment of weakness where he was scared shitless and acted on instinct.
Yoda's spirit helps him realize this, and he fixes his mistake by allowing Leia and the resistance to save themselves. And as he does it, he acknowledges the importance of the Jedi and their teachings.
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And it's also why, in The Rise of Skywalker, he has the maturity to admit that he wasn't staying on the island out of some self-sacrificial gesture, as he kept telling himself. Truth is, he was afraid. Afraid he'd screw up again.
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Do the movies go about this in an emotionally-satisfying way? That's debatable. But, on paper, I don't think Luke's behavior in The Last Jedi is too much of a shark-jump considering how
THE ORIGINAL IDEA CAME FROM GEORGE LUCAS!
In the couple of months after the Disney sale, Lucas developed the Sequels with Michael Arndt in late 2012/early 2013, and concept art was made by artists like Christian Alzmann.
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Note: the image on the left got a “Fabouloso” stamp of approval from Lucas!
Lucas’ sequels would feature a Luke Skywalker who was a figure like the jaded, reclusive Colonel Kurtz in the movie Apocalypse Now (which, fun fact, Lucas helped write and was originally set to direct).
The reason why Luke was in self-imposed exile wasn’t specified, all we know is that he was:
hiding from the world in a cave,
haunted by the betrayal of one of his students,
and spiritually in a dark place.
Other concept artists, like James Clyne, tried to illustrate the First Jedi Temple and some of the designs were approved by Lucas, such as the one below.
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Eventually, Kira the female Jedi-wannabe protagonist (who eventually became Rey) would seek him out so he can train her.
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This Luke would be a much more prominent part of Episode VII (instead of only appearing at the end) but still died at the end of Episode VIII.
For sources and more information about George Lucas’ plans for the Sequel Trilogy, read this post.
The only part that wasn't detailed by Lucas were the specifics of why he went into exile. But all in all, this sounds pretty similar to what we got in The Last Jedi.
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"Luke would never try to kill Ben!”
I agree. And he didn’t try to kill Ben. He stopped himself.
And this version of the event?
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This didn’t happen.
What Kylo tells Rey is his version of the story. And he thinks he’s telling the truth... but his recollection of the event is warped as this was obviously a very traumatic event for him.
"I don't think he's lying actually. In my mind, that was his experience. [...] I think that it's probably twisted a little bit by Kylo's own anger and his own prejudices against Luke, but I feel like he's actually telling her the truth of his experience." - Rian Johnson, Star Wars: The Last Jedi commentary, 2017
The narrative frames the third version of the story as the one that’s objectively how events went down. Because Rey believes him, and Rey is both the protagonist and a stand-in for the audience.
Now, if you think Luke’s word is unreliable and you have an easier time trusting Kylo’s version of the story, go to town.
But I think that if you actually believe would Luke would never try to kill Ben, you’d take Luke's second retelling of the story at face value.
I know I do.
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“Okay, but he would never consider killing a child, like Ben. He saw the good in Darth Vader!”
First off, Luke refers to Ben as "a scared boy" because, he's a middle-aged man. But objectively, Ben was 23 years old.
But also, I mean... with Vader, Luke actually had the luxury ignorance.
Do you think would have truly gone on that Second Death Star if he had actually witnessed Vader:
choke his Padmé,
kill Obi-Wan,
actively try to kill Ahsoka,
murder Jedi younglings,
betray and hunt down his other Jedi brothers and sisters,
and cold-bloodedly kill countless innocents, one by one?
There’s a difference between watching him kill Ben Kenobi (who still ‘lived’ as a ghost and talked to him seconds later) and hearing a couple of rebel pilots get blasted in the trench run, and actually seeing all the horrors he’s committed.
Don't get me wrong, Luke knows Vader is evil, absolutely. But if he had seen this side of Vader, the needlessly cruel side...
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... I'm not sure he'd have been as compassionate.
Proof: Obi-Wan, someone who deeply loved Anakin (to the point where he could never bring himself to kill him), someone that genuinely wishes that Luke can redeem him... also feels that, realistically, attempting to do so would be pointless.
And hell, even without really seeing all the massacres Vader committed, the second the latter threatened his sister, Luke went berserk and almost killed him!
So the question becomes:
“What could make Luke - trained Jedi Master, long-time optimist and overall compassionate to a fault - consider killing Ben?”
All we’re told is that he looked into Ben’s mind and saw darkness and the destruction, pain, death, and the end of everything he loves.
The specifics are left to our imagination. They could include:
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the sight of Kylo slaughtering his parents and Chewie with a smile on his blood-smeared face,
the smell of Han's burning flesh in the air,
the wails of Chewbacca as he's run through by Kylo,
the faint sound of Leia's tears hitting the ground,
the destruction of the New Republic's citizens and planets.
Whatever it may have been, it was intense. Because Force-induced visions are vivid as hell, as has been shown throughout the franchise.
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It's not like watching something on a TV, you're there, all your senses are affected in an extremely powerful way.
And the vision Luke experienced scared him so much that even shortly after it, when looking at a sleeping young man, all he sees is that evil monster from the vision. So he tremblingly draws his saber.
But it's evident that Luke wasn't thinking clearly or rationally.
His base emotions had taken the wheel, he was being tempted by the Dark Side.
"He doesn’t give in to the Dark Side, it’s a moment of temptation to the Dark Side. It reminds me very much of when Vader is tempting Luke, when Luke is underneath the stairs in [Return of the] Jedi, lit with that very beautiful half-and-half, the duality of these two sides of him being pulled. And that’s really what that moment is for me, it’s a moment of temptation to the Dark Side for Luke." - Rian Johnson, IGN, 2017
And yet despite seeing all that... Luke catches himself.
It's not the first time that Luke almost does something horrible to a family member and catches himself. Again, 24 years prior, he almost murdered his own father in a fit of rage.
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The scene in Ben's hut intentionally parallels that outburst he has in Return of the Jedi.
A terrible future is presented before Luke.
He reacts instinctively, is tempted by the Dark Side.
He snaps out of it.
Even the angle and framing of the shot is designed to match:
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"Some of these parallels are just “it’s a close-up of the same character” but this one was very intentional. It’s why I had him look down at his mechanical hand holding the saber." - Rian Johnson, Twitter, 2019
The only real difference is that, in Return of the Jedi, Luke only comes to his senses after a frenzied onslaught during which he actively tried to kill his own Dad.
24 years later, despite having witnessed that terrible future even more vividly than he did on the Second Death Star, he catches himself merely seconds later. Instead of going on a whole rampage, he stops the moment the lightsaber turns on.
I'd call that "progress".
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"But Luke should've learned his lesson and known better than to give in to the Dark Side!"
Resisting the temptation of the Dark Side is by no means a one-and-done thing. It's not a power-up that you get, it's a constant struggle.
"I think it disrespects the character of Luke by treating him not as a true mythic hero overcoming recurring wounds & flaws, but as a video game character who has achieved a binary, permanent power-up." - Rian Johnson, Twitter, 2019
Dave Filoni says so too.
"In the end, it’s about fundamentally becoming selfless, moreso than selfish. It seems so simple, but it’s so hard to do. And when you’re tempted by the dark side, you don’t overcome it once in life and then you’re good. It’s a constant." - Dave Filoni, Rebels Remembered, 2019
Hell, even George Lucas stated something along those lines:
"The Sith practice the dark side and are way out of balance. The Jedi aren’t as much out of balance because they’re the light side of the Force. They still have the bad side of the Force in them, but they keep it in check. It’s always there, so it can always erupt if you let your guard down." - George Lucas, The Star Wars Archives: 1999-2005, 2020
Learning the lesson once doesn't mean you've learned it forever. Especially with the Dark Side, which poses a never-ending battle.
In-universe examples: Anakin learned to let go of his attachments during the “Padawan Lost” arc of TCW.
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A year and a half later, he’s butchering kids because he can’t let go of his attachments.
And during wartime, Yoda found himself repressing his darker instincts and ignoring their existence. Thus, when he had to face them, he struggled to acknowledge and control them.
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So considering Luke didn't go "rampage mode" with Ben, as he did when he tried to kill Vader, I think he deserves some credit.
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Finally, I've heard this insane argument many times, as a response to the above points:
"Yeah but Luke wasn't actually trying to kill Vader! He was holding back, he was trying to keep him alive!"
And, uh... no. He wasn't.
He lost his shit, folks. And almost killed Vader.
Like, right here?
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⬆️ If Vader hadn’t moved his saber to intercept Luke’s blade, Luke would’ve stabbed Vader in the face.
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⬆️ If Vader hadn’t held his sword up in time, SWISH, there goes the top of his helmet AT LEAST, if not the rest of his head.
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⬆️ If Vader hadn’t dodged he’d be chopped in two.
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⬆️ If Vader’s arm gave out slightly sooner, if his blade faltered just a little lower, if he loosened his grip on his saber a bit, Vader would be cleaved in two.
My point is that if you swing at someone with a lightsaber? They’ll get chopped. And if you aim for the head or the chest? You’re trying to kill them.
Before Luke got a grip, throughout that whole rampage, the only thing that kept Vader alive was his own skill.
Otherwise, Luke would’ve murdered him in a fit of rage.
If Luke was holding back, then the theme of "resisting the Dark Side" completely falls apart.
There's no indication that he was restraining himself, in he script.
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And just look at the imagery.
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Luke is surrounded by darkness, symbolizing how he's being seduced by the Dark Side, he's being tempted to give in to his anger towards the man who hurt his friends and took his hand.
Then Vader threatens Leia.
And the next time we see Luke, he's silhouetted, his face is all black.
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Luke was originally trying to hold back and talk Vader down, but fails to control his instincts and gives in to fear, to anger, to the Dark Side... and goes all out.
He swings at his father furiously and keeps swinging, until he cuts off Vader's hand... and he is about to deliver the final blow…
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… when he sees Vader’s mechanical hand and realizes that by giving in to his anger, that path will inevitably lead him to become exactly like this half-machine half-man laying at his feet. That’s where the path to power leads.
And so he makes a decision:
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He’s a Jedi. Like his father before him. His compassion for Anakin is stronger than his hate for Vader.
That's the narrative intent.
It has to be.
Because if he had been "holding back" throughout that entire bit, then the stakes are lowered immeasurably, John Williams' saddening score is misplaced, the lightsaber choreography is misleading, etc.
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For the above-listed reasons, I think Luke's portrayal in The Last Jedi doesn't really contradict anything in the previously-established lore. It works, it's the typical "old cowboy needs to get back in the saddle" trope. Frankly, I can defend this subject all day long... so where's the problem?
The problem comes in at an out-of-universe level. While it's not inconsistent... it's also not satisfying.
The thing is, if you...
... take one of the most brave and optimistic characters in the franchise, then open the film saying "well, now he's jaded and in hiding", without giving us context on how he became that way...
... take a character whose arc was specifically about controlling his emotions, then show him be ruled by those emotions without providing context for what made him do that...
... then that kills the suspension of disbelief, for a lot of fans.
And, as such, they'll have a much harder time going along with what you're saying.
Because "show, don't tell" is one of the most basic principles in visual storytelling. And we weren't shown:
"Ben being increasingly violent during training",
"Luke sitting Ben down and having a talk with him, only to be ignored" or
"the horrors Luke saw in Ben's head".
I have no doubt that those things happened, in-universe.
But if we're talking about a movie-going experience, many were left emotionally-unsatisfied.
Because all that stuff was in there... but only subtextually. It was up to the fans to imagine on the details. Normally, I'd argue that's what Star Wars is all about: allowing fans to dream and think outside the box. But in this specific case, I think many fans would've rather had a more complete and explicit story. Because it's Luke Skywalker.
And yet... even these structural and writing issues had a logic behind them, and if you ask me... there was no other direction that this story could be taken in.
We'll explore this in more detail in part 2/2.
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crazylittlejester · 12 days
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THEYRE (the chain) ALL AUTISTIC ESPECIALLY THE ERAS WAR TRIO!! IN THIS TEDTALK I WILL-
mask was, ironically, very low masking
warriors was (and still kinda is) VERY high masking
(Tune is somewhere in the middle + ADHD)
mask really struggled at first on the battlefield because of his extreme lack of social skills (dude was raised in the woods with a bunch of other autistic fairy kids), lack of danger awareness, and poor understanding of war/battlefield (he’s used to 1-1 boss fights not war), and the fact that as a kid, he was already much much higher support needs, not even mentioning how traumatized he must’ve been.
warriors was drowning in stress, a literally TEENAGER (I hc him being 16-20 during the war) severely masking and like, PHYSICALLY UNABLE TO STOP. Among all the other non-neurodivergent stressors (cia, A WAR, parenting two kids in battle, food issues)
warriors helped mask learn tips for surviving the neurotypical world** (TM) and made sure he was 100% accommodated, since warriors knew he, himself would never have that.
Mask subtly (and probably accidentally) pushed warriors to mask less, creating a safe space where the three bros could all be them selves. He’d throw the biggoron sword if someone so much as looked NEAR where warriors was when he was stimming, ready to fight the h8ters if necessary.
later on, the trio (and now 6 more!) rejoin, and time is pleasantly surprised to see that warriors has kept some of the mentality. Granted, he’s not made any progress since then, but he’s not gotten worse, so that’s something.
Warriors is also quietly content that time has retained the social skills he taught him, in fact, he’s picked up even more! Though he finds it hard to find time at all scary, intimidating, or powerful, because warriors knows EXACTLY what is going through time’s head when he makes that face, I mean, he taught his brother himself!
warriors now has to face the living proof that he’s not weird or broken, lest he tell that to his eight brothers who are nowhere near as masking as he is, culture shock!
**DISCLAIMER!!
I know that the idea of “normalizing” autistic kids via teaching them neurotypical behaviors is a very complex and nuanced conversation to be had, and I’m not trying to parade around supporting ABA. (not to make this about me or anything,) but this pov/head cannon/prompt (?) is inspired from the perspective of me and my lower masking/much higher support needs sibling (both are autistic) :)
Your favorite,
-MANDARIN WARRIORS
I love you for this oh my god
To me, one of the things Mask struggles with the most besides social cues is controlling his facial expressions when especially when talking to others, which is why the other Links just automatically assumed he was the stoic silent type, because they saw this serious looking older guy who rarely smiles and were like “oh he means business-” but really he just has very flat expressions. Similarly I think he’s very dry when he speaks, it was worse when he was younger, and he’d gotten better at making himself sound more excited/happy, but occasionally the others (not including Wars) think he’s being sarcastic when he isn’t. And this is part of why they can never tell if he’s joking about having fought the moon.
With how chaotic his childhood was (and also because of the autism), to me he’s someone who really needs stability and predictably, which is why ranch work is sooo good for him. Like yeah unexpected things happen, but he can also sit there and take care of the animals and know he will be taking care of the animals the next day (also I think braiding Epona’s mane would be both comforting for him AND the horse)
Warriors is someone I can see stressing out so much about how people view him and he’s so scared of being anything less than perfect that he ends up getting trapped masking and everything just builds up until he explodes. He certainly was not coping well during the war, with everything that was going on, but I totally agree that Mask helped him mask less. Those two absolutely helped each other, both intentionally and completely by accident. By the time he’s in his mid/late twenties, he’s gotten a lot better about not letting everything build up, and also at unmasking every once in a while when he feels safe. (you’re so right, time/mask would fight ANY haters on wars’s behalf)
Everything you said was so perfect and I love it!! I’ve written one fic centering around these two being autistic (although I didn’t explicitly state that because I don’t know if they’d have like, the medical diagnosis for that in hyrule), and i really need to write more. I myself am autistic and good autism rep is really important to me because I never saw it as a kid
You’re literally my favorite at this point, mandarin wars anon, I hope you’re having a good day 🫶
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sirfrogsworth · 2 months
Note
hey man, well done for getting out there with your camera when it must be unspeakably exhausting sometimes. i'm really enjoying all the urban photography! but i'm too shy to say it non-anon! keep it up though!
Thanks!
I've been challenging myself to go on a photography field trip once or twice a month. I realized if I scout a location on Google Maps and do some pre-planning with the street view, I can drive somewhere, set up and take my pictures, and be done within an hour or so.
For my bridge pictures I was looking for a good vantage point and street view had this...
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And I knew I could make that work. So on my way to get more eggs I decided to take a detour. I timed it for sunset and headed over there.
Unfortunately there is a really confusing bridge you have to drive over to get there. There was a stoplight, but there was no intersection.
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I could not figure out the purpose of this damn stoplight. I was sitting there for nearly 5 minutes and didn't understand why the light wasn't changing. So I thought maybe it was broken or something and just drove ahead.
Then I got to the middle of the bridge and realized my error.
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The bridge only had one lane for car traffic. And the light had a sensor that told you if a car was coming from the other direction. And so I was face to face with a car in the same lane.
The area on the right is a bike lane. And there is a huge bump separating the car lane and the bike lane. And unless I wanted to do the world's longest drive in reverse, I had to hop that little curb into the bike lane. As I proceeded forward I could hear it just barely scraping the bottom of my car.
I was very embarrassed.
I'm really hoping I didn't damage anything. But I could tell it was just barely kissing the bottom of my car and only 2 or 3 times so I think it is okay.
But I learned an important lesson.
They don't put out random stoplights for no reason.
In any case, I was able to get my photos and my eggs and be home in about an hour in a half. And that is just about the limit of my energy.
It's actually easier than going to the movies. 3 hours being upright was just too much for me. And I get to spend the next week editing photos and feeling artistically satisfied.
So my photo field trips have been a big help to my mental health and usually only have a day or two of post-exertional malaise. Which is pretty manageable. Going to the movies was usually double that. Which is problematic because I am thinking about going to see Dune 2... which is a 3 hour movie. So 4 hours out and about including driving and whatnot.
I've picked out my next photo field trip already.
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This may look like a boring highway, but if I go at night every single one of those cars will leave a long bright light trail that will probably span all the way to the horizon. My only issue is I could really use a companion to go with me. I don't feel safe going by myself. But hopefully I can get that figured out by the time I am ready to go.
I took over 250 photos at the bridge the other night. And I am having trouble choosing which ones are best to share. So I have decided to do some very interesting edits to make them all a bit different. I will be sharing one of those shortly. But I'm a little worried you all are going to get very sick of this bridge.
Thanks for writing in. I hope you have a lovely day.
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seat-safety-switch · 1 year
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Who among us can say that they haven’t disregarded at least one of the voluminous rules placed upon us by our overlords in exchange for the use of their precious escalators? If you actually stop to look at all the warnings near the railings, you’d go insane. Which is why it’s good that the guy behind you is going to bump into you, swear a little bit at you for stopping in the middle of the goddamn sidewalk, and then get right on that escalator without thinking about how he’s taking his life into his own hands.
People can and do get mangled in escalators, too. Happens all the time, despite what the news says. It’s not infrequent at all: one notable scientist, who is on the run from Big Lift and must remain anonymous, has stated that as much as 17% of the human population will at one point be devoured by a mobile stairway. When it happens, sometimes they add another rule. It was your fault for standing on your head while riding the escalator at 0.02% above the quoted maximum speed. It was your fault for not being a qualified escalator technician and fully inspecting the device before using it. If you had only just followed all these rules, everything would have been fine, and you’d still have all your hamstrings.
Getting caught up in one and killed or mutilated isn’t really my problem with escalators, though. As you might have guessed, my issue is that they are too slow. If I’m already risking my life, then I want to at least have a little bit of fun with it. Other countries run their escalators much faster, having to move a larger volume of commuters and cargo. Sometimes it’s just because they don’t have so many heavy folks wandering around, wearing out the equipment prematurely. For whatever reason, ours are downright pokey, which is why I started reading all of the stickers and rules on the side of the escalator.
Here’s the secret about any product that is engineered: some engineer involved in it, somewhere, is going to stick in a Star Wars reference, or some other weird nerd shit. It’s how they brag about their accomplishments. And for my hard work, and strained eyesight, I found it: a sentence between paragraphs 64 and 65 of the safety-operations sticker, telling me about the secret cheat code to speed up the escalator. I’d tell you, too, but the government would be on me within minutes, multiple agencies of federales waiting to slice my throat the second I step out of the door.
Did it work? Boy howdy, did it ever. I’m still nursing this broken ankle I got when it flung me off the top at approximately the same velocity as a Hellfire missile, but as soon as it finishes knitting I’ll be right back there, looking for the thrill that such imminent mortality must provide.
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elbiotipo · 11 months
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isnt op's post also criticizing the idea that we must adhere to colonialism's real life history in fantasy settings? why did you respond with the assumption they didn't (asking genuinely because i read the original post as a condemnation of the very attitude you are condemning op for)
I don't quite understand what you mean by that part in parentheses
But I don't think OP meant anything else than "you don't need elaborate worldbuilding in your story", which, understandably, I oppose. But at the end of it, that's just writing conventions. I'm a worldbuilding fanatic and love to read entire fictional encyclopedias without plot, other people don't care about that. They are completely and utterly wrong, but that's fine, I can live with that.
However, this part (which as far as I know you asked yourself) "the idea that we must adhere to colonialism's real life history in fantasy settings"
Here's the thing: if you're writing fantasy aimed at adults, I don't think you should shy away from depicting colonialism and its consequences.
Because when you write a *typical* popular fantasy work with those lavish feasts with goods from tropical climates or shining metal armors or silk dresses or big urbanized cities with libraries full of books (all more features of the early modern era than medieval Europe) it implies all that wealth comes from somewhere. Those goods come from somewhere. Someone makes all those things. That society is built on pillars; social pillars, economic pillars, ideological pillars. And it's worth question who, and how, and why. Even if some answers might seem distateful, ESPECIALLY if some answers might seem distateful. I simply do not care for works that refuse to engage or think about them, or at least hint about them. Because otherwise it becomes a story of "there's a Bad king and we need to replace it with a Good king" Don't we have 85489 of those already? Why not question something else about your society? The nature of the god(s), the power of the church, how should we organize society, colonialism and imperialism, cultural interactions of the "age of discovery", the scientific method, those were all issues in the early modern Europe where most fantasy draws the generic Pseudo-Medieval European Fantasy setting from, that I think are worth exploring, and authors who do show it well.
The question I'm asking, is basically: okay, your world is made up. Why is it made up exactly like Medieval Early Modern Europe, but without any of the dynamics that made that Europe?
(and since everybody forgets about the stupid space captain: "why, in your sci-fi world far away from modern Earth, all your space captains act like they are Usamerican?")
Some others have also told me "but in my fantasy world there's no colonialism, plants grow through magic/they're traded in fair exchanges" that's great too! I loved some of the explanations, but the point in my opinion also isn't to sanitize fantasy and get rid of all the bad stuff or inaccurate crops, the point is to think about those things and create a story about it. And yes, plants can tell an interesting story. Coffee, sugar, potatoes, tomatoes, and such also got spread by trade, nobody has a "copyright" on plants. But later, the dynamics of the production of those foods took a turn and it often involved the dynamics of trade, colonization and imperialism. Like I said in another post, tea becoming the preferred drink of the English but having to import it from Asia, coffee with all its traditions from its original point in the Middle East as it spread across the continents, potatoes becoming so integral crop to cold Europe that people actually forget their origin in the Andes...
All those things are worth exploring in my opinion, and personally for me, they can even make a better story that just a hero against the evil dark lord.
It's not just about potatoes, but it's always a good first question to ask.
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ingravinoveritas · 6 months
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regarding the post today about Anna's nasty comments, "jokes" etc about Michael's appearance in the last few years. Do you think there is genuine reason to feel worried about him and what it may be doing to his mental health overall? What I mean is I am starting to worry and then it makes start to spiral a bit and think that if he stays with her longer that the possibility of her "soft bullying" will escalate into actual abuse and I really don't want to think like that but it really makes me worry for him. Please tell me what you think and should I just take a step back and not think on it too hard (am I?) If you agree with me though, what do you think can be done to help him? Like as in a safe way for him to break up with her? I appreciate whatever you can do to help ease my mind at least.
martinsharmony replied to your post "So for those who haven't seen, AL posted a new..."
I have to wonder about Michael's state of mind. He has said he has his own body issues and has struggled with depression etc. The fact that he is "letting" her do this makes me worry about him a little. The fact that he's not standing up for himself and setting a boundary. From my own experience, all of this is okay, until it's not. My heart goes out to Michael. Of course I don't know the real truth. But I see a little of myself there. I recognize it.
(Grouping these two together due to having similar themes.)
First, I am glad that you felt comfortable enough to message me about this and share your thoughts. But I think there are a few things going on here, and it's important that we have some perspective. When I started responding to asks and questions about AL on my blog four years ago, it was largely as a counter to what many of us were seeing the fans do, which was idealizing Michael and AL's relationship and making it into some sort of fairy tale romance. Many of us could see things that did not seem to hold true to this narrative, but were afraid to discuss it openly. So the discourse became about open and honest conversations and speculation, and since GO 2 came out, that discourse has only seemingly increased (if the Asks and Anons in my inbox are anything to go by).
To your comments, @martinsharmony, these are some very good points you are raising, and I'm sorry that you see yourself in Michael's shoes. I think there's a chance many of us do, and is part of why we have the strong feelings we do--one way or the other--about this situation. I think a lot of us see Michael's visible unhappiness and are jarred by the sharp contrast between that and the narrative of him and AL being "madly in love."
I do, however, think there is a real risk of taking that line of thinking so far in the opposite direction. That is, if it's not okay for fans to assume that everything is perfect and wonderful and the absolute best with Michael and AL's relationship, then it is also not okay to assume everything is the absolute worst, because extremes in either direction are not a good thing, and reality often exists somewhere in the middle. Reality and relationships are also infinitely complicated, which means that there often are no easy answers.
Also, because things are not ever truly black-and-white, I think it's important not to conflate being an unpleasant person with being an abuser. There tends to be an assumption that an abuser is mean and nasty all the time, every day, but so many abusers are viewed as "the nicest person you ever met" by everyone but the victim, which is how they are so often able to get away with what they do. Conversely, someone (such as AL) might be self-absorbed, immature, and annoying, but that does not make them an abuser.
Again, in no way, shape, or form am I saying that it is a bad thing to care about Michael, or to want him to be happy. But what we are ultimately talking about here is Michael's agency--that is, his right to make his own choices, and to deal with and feel whatever he feels about the consequences of those choices. By either romanticizing or catastrophizing his relationship with AL, we are unintentionally removing that agency. We have to remember that Michael is an adult man who has been in many other relationships in his life, and has navigated those (with varying degrees of success) on his own. So while we can have conversations and engage in discussion here, it is very much not appropriate and not our place to intervene with any of this personally or to try and facilitate the breakup of Michael's relationship.
Remember, too, that Michael has people in his life that he can trust and confide in--his parents (who are still alive and live near him, bless them), his sister, his friends. And he has David, of course, which we know is a beautiful thing. He and David have gotten immeasurably closer over the last four years and it is genuinely heartwarming to know that he can turn to David. The point here is that while we are fans of Michael's, we are not his family nor his friends. But Michael is not alone in this, and has support available to him, and that is something to be grateful for.
Going back to my previous comments about agency, one of the things that I know I love about Michael is that he is always going to do what he wants to do. He has reasons for doing those things, which means that if he is still with Anna, there is a reason for that (even if it is, as many of us believe, due to wanting to be there for the kids). And if/when Michael should decide to break up with her, there will be a reason for that as well. The most important thing, however, is that it's his choice. That if he decides he's made a mistake, it's his mistake to own, and not something for us to save him from.
I hope this has helped to put your mind at ease. I also want to make it clear that I absolutely do not have all the answers, and this (like all my posts) is my own opinion. Taking a step back might still be a good idea, as we can all find ourselves becoming too invested from time to time, and it is good to take a breather on occasion and find perspective. Glad as always for my followers to share their thoughts on this post as well...
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muzzlemouths · 1 year
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Prompt: "We dont have to do anything at all if that's what you want." Would be good for a bit of post panic comfort.
this prompt came right when I needed it too ngl...........
Sun & Moon Centric // Wordcount: 1,440
It starts with a bad day.
A bad day turns into a bad week, the bad week becomes a headache, then a migraine, and that migraine creates tension. The tension builds into restlessness. Overstimulation.
Which then becomes panic.
The first time you have an attack at work, it’s in front of Sun. It’s in the middle of your shift and it happens like all panic attacks do; like spilt milk, triggered by the smallest inconvenience. You aren’t sure what causes it - your shirt sleeve getting wet, a book falling on your toe, a child screaming just a little too loud - it could have been any number of things. You can’t remember. The moment was lost to you.
What you do remember is Sun’s face. He’s busy with a game when you catch yourself in the midst of it, and he looks up just in time to see you making a run for the door. A hand locked over your mouth, limbs shaking, tears on the brink of escaping, it’s all you can do just to get outside the two Daycare doors before all of it spills over.
Things are different after that. Something’s tilted, off kilter. Not on the brink of panic but drifting in the aftershocks of it, where the world is still only a distant whisper. You’ll get through it - or over it. You always do. It doesn’t mean the episode is any easier to bear, because you’re not really processing (you don’t have the energytimecourage to) you’re just enduring. The feeling will eventually become an afterthought.
Sun treats you like dainty orchid. Like any slight inconvenience will result in torn petals and another fit of tears. Maybe that’s the guilt; he wasn’t able to get to you that day - not without leaving the Daycare - and by the time you returned it was with a tight smile and a promise that you were alright. A lie he is quick to point out, and one you don’t fully deny.
He tiptoes around you at half his usual volume. He offers every opportunity to be a listening ear, convinced you aren’t going to get better until you talk out the storm cloud above your head.
And maybe that’s what you needed - to talk things out - but you sure as hell weren’t going to do that. What was the point? Talking was hard. Talking meant exposing things you’d prefer were kept hidden, especially when you already spent all of your energy on just existing. It would happen again, inevitably, and you would repeat this whole process without ever solving anything. Talking won’t change that.
He switches gears only a few days in. Distractions. If you can’t (won’t) talk about it, you must simply be overwhelmed by it. Breaking the emotions down into tiny bite-sized pieces will make them easier to digest, he thinks. Enough distraction and you might not think the issue is so big, you might not see it as this horrible, intimidating thing, and you might do something to confront it. Or, at the very least, let him in to fight the demons off in your stead.
So he pulls out all the stops. His offers to play games go continuously ignored, your favorite songs just bounce off your ears even when blasted through the Daycare speakers. His art makes you smile, but it doesn’t reach your eyes, and he can tell. He can see it.
Nothing he does is what you need. When you trip, the bruise doesn’t go away overnight. Sometimes it turns an ugly color, first. Sometimes it takes weeks to disappear. Even then, the skin beneath it remains tender until it’s ready to move on. You can’t rush this soreness.
There’s no way to explain the process in a way he’ll understand.
There comes a point when he seems to acknowledge this. Somewhere towards the end of the week he stops trying all together, days of energetic attempts without success finally getting to him. He was built for joy. Built for comfort. This was an itch in his protocol that he couldn’t scratch and it was beginning to wear on him. He didn’t have the answers.
But maybe someone else did.
Sun is mostly quiet when you arrive at the Daycare that day - a sharp contrast to his usual habit of filling the air with speech bubbles - you don’t try to stop him. Not while he’s talking, and not when he stops, gets up, and moves somewhere out of view.
There’s several hours more to your shift and you’re content to stay here, slouched against a foam block, knees to your chest and all alone, until that time is up.
Sun has other plans; he always does. It’s a persistence that’s endearing on the best of days and frustrating on the worst, and you don’t have the mood for either today. You can only expect he has some new concept to get you up and moving, talking, living again, that he’ll return with party poppers or a new string of jokes to try out.
The change from day to night is an abrupt one. You don’t see him flip the switch, and if he says anything you don’t hear it - but the lights undoubtly go out, one by one, and you’re left in the resulting dark. A little early, you think, but it’s the only thought to cross your mind before your chin returns to your knees.
Moon’s arrival is inevitable. You hear him before you see him; silvery bells ringing in an otherwise silent room. Nothing more. You don’t bring yourself to greet him, and he doesn’t expect a hello. Doesn’t sound annoyed at the lack of one.
He’s silent himself when coming to a stop at your feet. Says nothing when he sits in the spot beside you. The foam gives at his weight, forcing your shoulders to collide. He doesn’t say anything then, either. You keep your head low, tucked into your knees, and despite all prior evidence stating that Moon will tease and taunt you for the mood, today he is quiet.
It’s unnerving at first. You think that he’s mad at you - that maybe Sun tattled on your lack of communication and has sent Moon to finish the job. You think he’s just waiting for a good opportunity to prod at your sores and rub salt in the wound. Indifference becomes anxiety. After the week you’ve had, you’re convinced the other shoe is about to drop.
But it never comes. Moon mostly reflects your position; knees tucked to his chest, arms wrapped loosely around them. You can see his telltale red glow every few minutes - checking up on you, apparently - but still saying nothing.
You sniffle, burying your eyes into your sleeve and cursing the way they sting. You already made a fool of yourself in front of Sun, you didn’t want to repeat the process with Moon, who evidently wasn’t in the mood to talk with you anyways.
Eventually you have to break the silence.
“Aren’t you going to say something?” You force your way around a swallow, “Try convincing me to talk? Tease me for crying? Something?”
“Do you want me to?” His answer comes quick, catching you off-guard. He looks at you from the corner of his eye.
“It’s what I expected…” your fingers clench around the fabric of your pants. You wipe your face on your sleeve, clearing your throat. It croaks all the same. “You’re really not going to push me to talk?”
His eyes leave you, looking ahead, “We don’t have to do anything,” he tells you, “if that’s what you want.”
You lift your chin, but his gaze remains off to the distance.
The returning silence answers his question.
His arms raise into a stretch, then lazily curl behind his head. He settles deeper into the foam with the intention of making himself comfortable for however long you'll be there.
You don’t realize how much of your weight was supported by his shoulder until you’re slumped to the side and landing square against him.
He says nothing about it, and you don’t, either.
It stays like this for some time. True to his word, Moon doesn’t push for anything. You sit in relative silence instead; your head on his chest, his arm eventually settling over your back. And you’re fine with that - with all of it. You aren’t pressured to feel okay, like this, and Moon doesn’t expect you to try.
It’s everything you need for the moment. No talking, no expectations, no pushing for you to reach at a happiness that still felt too distant. Sometimes silence speaks the loudest, and all that.
Him simply being here, beside you in the quiet, is more than enough.
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across-violet-skies · 2 months
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so lately I've seen a lot of things about lu wild and people's opinions and stuff and I thought maybe I'd add my two cents in a way that (hopefully, if I can articulate my thoughts well) won't make anyone upset. feel free to scroll past this or whatever I just thought I would share my view :)
semi long post under the cut!!
so. wild. first off, I like him. he's fun, he got me into lu in the first place, his games are my favorite in the series, all of that.
he's popular and unpopular all at once. generally, according to a poll I ran recently where I asked for people's least favorite lu link and why, people who like wild the least (which doesn't necessarily mean they dislike him, mind you) said it was mostly bc he's just so popular.
which... yeah, ok. he has the most content I'd say, so that checks out. but I also think the problem (if there even is one?? I'm unclear) is NOT that there's too much content for Wild, but rather that the amount of content he has is just so much more compared to the rest of the links.
basically, I think the amount of Wild content is fine, but it's more about how little content there is for everyone else.
Wild fics are fine. wild fics are good! great, even. I've written some myself. you can't have too much I would say, but you CAN have not enough content for other characters, and I think that's where people have issue with it.
and yeah, the other links aren't as popular, so it makes sense that there'd be less fics. but also there's a chicken and egg situation here: is wild more popular bc of more content, or is there more content bc he's more popular (this literally doesn't matter. I'm looking too far into it. it's 1 am please excuse my rambles)
but also... any wild content seems to be more consumed? if that makes sense? like take my writing for example:
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two fics in a series together, two stories, around the same length, about similar subjects, written around the same time. one of these fics is wild-centric, and the other is hyrule-centric. I'm sure you can tell which one is which. (also, stats aren't everything. I'm happy with both of these stories, it's just an example to show the difference!)
the wild-centric fic has about 3x as many views, over twice as many kudos, and over twice as many bookmarks than the hyrule-centric one. the hyrule-centric fic has more comments and is part of a collection.
(these fics can be found here (wild) and here (hyrule). shameless self promotion)
anyways... yeah. again, I don't think there's a problem with people writing/enjoying wild content. always create for what you love! however, I think a lot of the dislike/less like of wild stems from the fact that any other character just doesn't have as much content available. I don't think it's the actual content or character that people take issue with.
(and again, I like wild. he not my favorite, but he's certainly not my least favorite. he's somewhere in the middle for me, maybe towards the favorite end more but still in the middle)
I hope this made at least some sense if you read this far!! I don't want to upset anyone so feel free to discuss things with me. I'm typically pretty easygoing online so don't be afraid to mention something I mightve glossed over or worded poorly, but just please be kind and respectful to other people because ultimately, its just an opinion/thoughts on other people's opinions and other people are ofc valid if they disagree :)
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starlitsemantics · 13 days
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Downton Abbey cutting scenes that are incredibly character relevant in the versions they release outside British live TV has given me ridiculous trust issues - a rant.
In season three, the middle Crawley daughter, Edith, gets engaged to a man she was close to before World War I, Anthony Strallan. He's class appropriate and liked by her father, if considered a bit boring. He's also somewhere between twenty and twenty-five years older than her and, after the war, has lost (most of?) the use of his right arm. Prior to the war and his injury, this match was considered a good one.
In the run-up to their engagement and wedding, multiple family members of hers express doubt as to her chances of long-term happiness, including her father asking Anthony to break things off (which he then takes back at Edith's tearful request, in which she points out, correctly, that her chances of happy marriage to a young uninjured man are very slim after WWI).
We get to the wedding day and as the ceremony begins, Anthony says he can't do this, tells her that she can't waste herself on him, and leaves her standing in a white dress in front of all her acquaintances and relations. Why?
This registered to me as absolutely bizarre when I first watched it, and in the years following. I was pretty into their 'ship, thought it was cute, especially the way they bonded in season one. I also felt it would be cool to show someone who was clearly traumatized by the war actually getting an ending that didn't fall into the three established categories of: cure, death, so sad the show can't possibly be expected to deal with it. Alas. Crucially, I also thought it went very nicely with Edith's other development in season two - less self absorbed, more observant and considerate of others, interest in machinery and farming, both of which are things we know Anthony is also into, even some interesting things comparing her to Cora and Isobel in terms of her lady of the manor style.
I thought it was a huge missed opportunity (still do, by the way), but I also thought it was kind of baffling for him to do. The reasons he (and others, especially Violet) put forward against the match throughout the season read to me as ones we were supposed to see as surmountable problems to be solved - because they are. Strallan is wealthy, and compared to Robert, clearly actually on top of recent industrial developments. He can hire a nurse and also be married. We see this logic (can't do x, hire someone to do x) in his very first appearance after his injury - he has hired a chauffeur. Disability does not prevent a loving relationship. Edith would probably be widowed earlier than usual, but being a wealthy 45 year old widow, potentially with children, is hardly a terrible fate for women of her class.
So why does he jilt her, and why does he do it at the end of the aisle?
If he was so unsure about marrying her that a few snide comments make him willing to take such drastic action in front of everyone, those same comments in the weeks prior should have prompted him to do this in literally any way that was less awful to her.
If he's just not that into her, why come when Robert invites him back. If anything, not coming probably improves Robert's opinion of him there. He also wouldn't tell Edith he enjoys seeing more of her more than he should - that is a flirtatious line even I managed to clock.
Does he just not get the importance/finality of it until he's standing in the church? The man's been married before, so while it's a possibility, I don't really think so.
Does he think doing this publicly is the only way to get Edith to back off given her previous insistence?... Not if I'm meant to find either of them at all sympathetic, to be honest, and I think JF wants me to, at least a little.
So the conclusion I arrived at is effectively that he is not entirely stable and incredibly susceptible to outside influence, partly as a result of trauma and injury doing a number on his sense of self. Which is tragic, but also means it probably would indeed be very difficult to build a whole new marriage from the ground up. Not a satisfying ending, but oh well. There's always fanfiction.
The Andith fandom is mostly to be found on fanfiction.net, and I think is filled with some ridiculously talented writers. They've built gorgeous fanon for Anthony's family, staff, and background, and some of them share the same fanon. So my first instinct when I read multiple references to a conversation between Anthony and Edith where she tells him she loves him not in spite of his injury, but because of it, and that she wants him to be her life's work, I thought this was another part of that shared fanon. After all, I'd never seen it, and I've watched Downton Abbey once every couple years whenever I got a particularly bad cold. Edith is my favourite character alongside Gwen and Mrs Hughes. Surely, I would have remembered.
But, it seemed clunky. Out of place in a fanon that, by and large, is understated and subtle, preferring gradual revelation rather than such a blunt, spelled out, character motive rant. So I began to investigate. I'm not that good at investigating. Eventually, it took reference to another piece of dialogue I had no memory of but is mentioned on the Wikia page (the bit about Consuelo Vanderbilt), to get me to a reddit thread that explained. There are multiple cuts of Downton Abbey, and the one I've been watching on Netflix is different to what was aired in the UK. It also referenced the episode the scene is meant to be in, so I was able to find it on YouTube (looking for 3.03 deleted scenes should do it, if you're curious).
The scene is pretty bad. It segues extremely awkwardly from Anthony mentioning meeting Consuelo to the life's work bit. Edith's line here is actually worse than I'd seen mentioned. She loves him "[because] of [his] needing to be looked after." Yikes. I can sort of see the sentiment, but it's phrased so terribly poorly. Now, having a character fail to find the chill, witty answer to their partner being pessimistic isn't terrible. It took me a good while to consider how Edith could have responded to "soon you will be wheeling me around" (in my opinion, the one line on the show Anthony's actor does terribly), but there are ways to respond that aren't so bizarre. Saying she wouldn't mind, or that that's really a long way off, or that at least they'll be buying the Rolls Royce of wheelchairs are all in my read authentic to Edith's character outside that scene and less awful than what she actually says. They're not perfect responses. But they don't confirm so explicitly the thing Anthony himself fears ("I don't need a wife, I need a nurse" - Edith here is all but promising she sees her roles as his wife as being his nurse, which means it's much less likely he'll be able to see her blossom and set her free, and much more likely she will effectively force him to become a burden to her), and the things he's been told he is imposing on her.
It also undercuts Edith's character development from season two. Making his injury about her, and failing so categorically to see that he values independence and being useful and would hate to feel like a burden to his wife, are things I might have expected of season one Edith, not season three.
So while what I missed explains his decision making somewhat better than its absence, I don't think it's worth it. Ultimately, Edith's character development is more important to me than a spelled out explanation for why we get yet another character with a disability summarily written out. So now I've found the answer to my confusion, I will proceed to ignore it.
Still. I think their marriage could have been neat. Edith could still have made waves writing her letter to the editor. Robert could still have felt entitled to interfere given he clearly doesn't trust Anthony to take care of her. We could have seen a happy marriage that still empowered Edith's journey to modern woman (on-screen, unlike so much of Sybil's) and also addressed the trauma of the war and the economics of country estates in a way that went beyond Robert being an absolute idiot when it comes to money. Then again, I don't trust JF to have done that super well, so maybe it's all for the best we're getting to enjoy the fandom instead.
Anyhow, time to go through other "deleted scenes" to find out if I have other radically weird reads of characters before I embarrass myself by talking about them publicly.
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falltothesun · 1 month
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helloooo taking you up on that hook up advice offer !! especially since im also a trans guy & ive been considering grindr bcos i have been insanely needy the past week it's literally making it hard for me to function so yes!! please!!!!
Hi omg! So I definitely joined Grindr for the same reason, I needed to get dicked down so bad it was starting to affect my work lmfao. Huge disclaimer: this is all a bunch of stuff that works for me, from my experiences. There's no handbook, I'm figuring this out myself. If anyone wants to correct me/add on, please do.
First and foremost- don't settle. Grindr is a bit of a hellscape. In the moment it definitely seems like anyone willing to fulfill your needs is worth it. I'm speaking as a total sub/bottom so there were definitely guys on Grindr who 'spoke my language', offered what sounded like a good time, but didn't have my best interests at heart. You can't put much trust in any stranger on a hookup app, but here are some good indicators of things to watch out for and avoid:
- blank profiles/no pics. You're going to get a ton of them. Dick pics do not count. Make sure you have a good image of the person you're meeting. Make sure they're clean (both hygiene and std wise). Just- the more info you have on them, the better.
- being pushy. They're going to whine and whine about meeting up, and they are also going to say nasty things if you ignore them/turn them down. Do not let this guilt you. If this is how they receive boundaries over text- you can't trust them during a hookup. You don't owe anyone anything, not even a text back. A huge green flag is when you can have a no-pressure conversation, and sometimes even a pre-meetup to discuss boundaries and kinks.
Do not get stingy on your own boundaries! You are meant to enjoy this time, too. Tell them exactly what you want, your hard nos and hell yesses. Clear communication beforehand can lead to a fantastic night. Don't worry about blocking or turning down if you're getting bad vibes- there's literally dozens of guys waiting in your DMs, one of them has to be good.
Now, I have huge trust issues so bear with me here- you can't always count on your hookup, even if you found one that checks all the aforementioned boxes. So have some contingencies. Here are some of mine:
- two (or three) of my friends get a text as soon as I leave my house. Yes, it's awkward to mention to someone that you're about to fuck, but prior conversations have been had and usually I just say "I'm going out for x hours, call me if I don't get back to you by then". I send my location if possible (harder to do with carplay), and just like that, there are people waiting for my word. Hell, you can DM me your location and a timeframe and I will call the police in your area if I don't hear back from you.
- I never host. Is this controversial? I don't care. I'm a sub, bottom, afab, tiny human. I'm super susceptible to stalking and kidnapping (and not in the fun way), so I keep myself safe by making sure my hookups don't know where I live. I like to drive to their place, because then I have myself a getaway vehicle, or we meet in the middle somewhere. Regardless, my home is a secret and shall stay that way.
- don't bring anything valuable. Other than my phone and my wallet (which I sometimes just leave in my car), I bring nothing with me. This is less about personal safety and more about theft tho lol
-bring protection. Rawdogging is fun but STDs and pregnancy scares are not.
-this is Grindr specific but be careful with your photos. Grindr has a neat function called 'albums', and you can retract any sent albums at anytime so they can't be seen anymore. You also can't screenshot anything in the Grindr app. This protects you- to a point. But like anywhere else on the internet, be very, very careful with who you send your pics to.
Takes you by the shoulders. Listen to me. It is always okay to say no. You could be in someone's bed, naked, and you can say no. This sounds like common sense, but sometimes you're with a stranger in the moment and things aren't firing right in your brain, but your well-being is 100% a bigger priority than pleasing the guy you met on Grindr. They can bitch and moan all they want, but if you aren't feeling it, you aren't feeling it, and you don't owe sex to anyone. You can say no at any time. And anyone who fights you on it or disregards it is not someone you want to associate with.
Ok now that all the parental lecture-y stuff is out of the way- some general tips to show your hookup partner some respect! They're also in a place of vulnerability, so while it's good to be careful, it's also good to be gracious.
-protection. I said this already! But you can bring more than just a condom. Looking into PrEP, getting yourself tested(!!!!) after every encounter, and not having sex when you're sick is generally good etiquette. Getting tested is not only being a decent human for your hookup partner, but it's important to do for yourself as well. Idk what country you live in and what the healthcare is like so hopefully it's as easy as walking in to a clinic like it is here. Post-sec institutes (colleges/universities) usually have fantastic sexual health programs as well so I'd check there if you're in that demographic!
- clean up. Please. Shower, brush your teeth, put on some deodorant and a clean change of clothes. It goes a long way! My best hookups have been with a guy who smelled good, and I enjoyed it as much as I did the actual pounding in his backseat. Also clean up after the hookup! Shower, pee, etc. Hygiene. (I'm a germaphobe ok)
- boundaries! You've set yours, now stick to theirs. I've slept with guys who really didn't like blowjobs- so I didn't give any, we kept it junk to junk. I might've been the sub in the situation, but that doesn't mean the guy dominating was a sex machine who liked everything, so I accommodated that! Sometimes it's as simple as listening to the sounds they're making, reading the body language, and acting accordingly. If they aren't being enthusiastic about what's happening, then maybe it's time to check in.
- text back. Hey man, if it was a good fuck, it was a good fuck. NSA is usually my style, but there's nothing wrong with hooking up again with the same mf if it was a damn good time. Give 'em some feedback, tell them you had a fantastic night, ask about doing it again. Everyone needs the confidence boost.
Goddamn this got long. I hope some of this helps, I hope I didn't miss anything, and I hope I didn't say something that sounds completely fucking bananas. Good luck and hope you have some good, safe hookups!!
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