hihihihihhi it's lengthy ask anon i am running off of too little sleep (nightmares still ugh) but also good news which is a danger combination lol

so part of how i've been dealing with my sleeplessness is rereading some of the lighthouse au until i finally feel fine enough to go back to sleep. so! questions. that you don't have to answer. really!

why did Bea never know she talks in her sleep? also, does Ava ever try to have a full on conversation with her?

Cam and Ava talk about the benefits of hugging a tree and with all the pine reference i have to know: has Ava ever hugged a pine tree??

when Mary almost asks Ava about moving in with Bea, do you think Bea had talked about it with her friends beforehand? like a am-i-being-too-lesbian worry?

what's something Bea and Ava eventually fight about? (and do they follow that "order" for making up)

do you think Chanel ever designs something for Jillian? how about Ava?

from last time - how you handled the main plot and subplots was amazing - did you have one of those (*virtual?) murder board-esque things to help visualize things? (*i'd never thought of using notion for fiction work!!)

i think i've reached my caffeine limit for the day i hope you are getting better sleep than i am! here's to having the crispiest vegetable of your preference! (i.e. not celery lol)

I’M ALIVE AND STILL EMPLOYED IDK HOW BUT OK 💀 hi hello, lengthy ask anon. how’s the nightmares? i hope they’ve left you alone? am i gonna have to have a Serious Talk with whichever god’s in charge of that? 😤 pls lemme know. but! i sincerely hope you’ve been sleeping since you sent this 🥺

and now (finally, idk how long it’s been), answers!

1. this… is a good question LMAO maybe no one brought it up to her cos she might get embarrassed? OR bea wakes up too early for anyone to catch her in the act 😂 and yes, i’d think ava would definitely try to have a full conversation with her like “bea, bea, what’s the weather like” and bea just randomly spouts temperature numbers and sea condition. or like “bea what’s your favorite sex position?”, which ends up with bea having a rather scandalous dream, much to ava’s amusement 😂

2. i’d say yes!!! except she hugs the smaller ones and ends up with pine needles everywhere. bea’s exasperated but ava just shrugs and says, “worth it.” on that note, hug a tree people. it’s fucking soul-healing.

3. oh, definitely. camila gives her twinkle eyes, mary’s like “what the fuck does that even mean, too lesbian”, and lilith doesn’t even dignify it all with a response 😂 which is to say… her friends weren’t any help at all.

4. i think it’d be something simple cos they’re good at talking to each other about their feelings. so stuff like ava leaving her shoes a mess by the front door, which means beatrice keeps tripping on them, or bea’s tendency to overpack, which almost makes them late for their trips. they’d snipe at each other because they’re human (bea: “what’s so difficult about putting your shoes away, ava?” and ava: “what the hell would you need a sewing kit for, bea?”) and probably get too irritated until one of them realizes it’s a ridiculous thing to fight about. probably won’t always make up through sex because bea got a concussion the last time she tripped on ava’s shoes and there was no time for even a quickie when they almost missed their flight, but someone will make a joke and they’ll laugh about it at least. (this… got unintentionally soft 😂)

5. omg, yes!!! what if they attend a gala and ava’s whole fam is wearing chanel’s clothes? literally A+++ publicity and just about launches chanel in the spotlight 😌 jillian in a suit and ava in a dangerous dress, what more can you ask for 🔥

6. lengthy ask anon, i had notion and phone notes and paper charts and i even tried using this free mind mapping thing just to keep track of everything 😂 i went full-on type A on this thing. i even had a mood board. and a playlist. and 2847293 drafts. i have so much content idk what to do with these now 💀

lettuce! i’ve been having so much lettuce! but omg pls, i really hope you’re sleeping well now 🥺 as always, thank you so, so much for this! literally the best thing to do after somehow crawling out of hell LMAO

hi there! i've been following you for quite a while, originally for a3, but i see you also enjoy poto. i've been meaning to get into it for a long time now, but im not sure where to start (so far, i've only ever read the book). do you have any recommendations for poto content to either start out with or to prioritize in general? thanks a ton!

Hi there anon!! this was a pleasant surprise to see in my inbox and I wasn't expecting to get questioned about POTO at all tbh! I'll try my best though 😊

I think starting with the musical would help, that's what actually lead me down the rabbit hole.

The most well known one would be Andrew Lloyd Webber's. This one is pretty similar to the book, if I recall correctly, having a some changes here and there (one of them being that the Persian isn't actually present in the musical.) I'd recommend either watching/listening to the broadway or the 2004 film, the latter being what introduced me to POTO in the first place hehe

There's also another musical by Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit (which I've only discovered this year), though it is loosely based from the novel, and kinda shows the Phantom in a different light. I actually watched the 1990 miniseries first before listening to the musical, and I gotta say that the Phantom was very charming in this one, made me swoon a bit 🙈

Their music style is pretty different from one another, now I'm not that good with music terms and classifying the styles, but Yeston & Kopit's is more opera like compared to Webber's which is a sort of mix with opera, classical and a bit of rock maybe??? They are both bangers though, I swear.

I'm pretty sure there are other retellings and musicals based on it, but these two plus the book are the only ones I've consumed so far.

OH AND ONE MORE ACTUALLY!!

Webber actually made a sequel to his POTO musical called Love Never Dies and boY IS IT A RIDE. I think the fans have mixed feelings about it, it has great songs though omg. So so basically, it's ten years after the original musical and is set in an amusement park called Phantasma, and w/o saying anything about the plot, basically our main trio come together again and we get love triangle 2.0 with so much drama. Was honestly flabbergasted the first time I saw it ‘cause I went in blind but as I rewatched it for the 3rd time and listened to the soundtrack over and over again, I admit it's pretty good. In a trashy way. Do I recommend that you watch it? Honestly, yeah, it was a pretty wild ride and I was entertained, it was a good time despite everything about the plot. You don't have to though if you don't want to!!! Some people actually described it being fanficy or something along those line

But yeah, that's all I have to recommend, I hope this helps you somewhat!! Even though I was just rambling most of the times haha.

If you have anymore questions or if you ever do get around to getting into it more I would love to hear about it, don't be afraid to pop in with your thoughts or screaming or complaints, it would be nice to talk about it with others aside from me just ranting about it to my siblings 🤣 No pressure though!! But i genuinely hope you enjoy it 🩵🩵

Wishing you all the love, softness, and good vibes anon!! ✨🩵

OMG THAT LAST CHAPTER AAAAA my boys 🥹 if you hadn't said it on here, I would've never known you struggled w/writing Kokichi, it seriously feels so natural and I LOVE when authors include that clowny jester vibe to him!! But now that we're REALLY REALLY into the thicc of the story, I'm realizing how much I miss the camp!! idk about everyone else, but it was always the most interesting setting for me when I was into Percy Jackson! So basically I'm gonna annoy you with my barrage of questions that are 100% unrelated to the most recent chapter 😭

I know it was mentioned that Maki's cabin was undecorated for a long time, but did she ever get to personalizing it? I'd love to know about the cabins and their designs! I'd also love to know what kind of stuff they do at the talent shows? Idk if its the fact that the fic is based off the pjo musical, but I get theatre kid vibes from specifically kaede (even if she can't sing LOL) Speaking of her, since it was mentioned that she could play any instrument, I'm wondering if there were instruments /canon-specifically-talent-related equipment at camp for everyone? Also some of the dialogue had me questioning if they're even allowed to curse at camp or not 😭

HIIIIII im finally getting to this <3 first of all i love you im kissing u on the forehead every time i get an ask or comment from u it makes my whole day.

answers to ur questions beneath the cut as always!!

i also miss camp </3 i was talking about this with someone else yday (hiiiii evan) but in a universe where pointy objects reaches its end and i STILL want more.....there are little one-off scenes that dont fit into the main narrative of the fic but i'd still theoretically like to write......and the immediate reaction to the campers (+ hajime and nagito) realizing seven of them went missing along with an rv. it would be a lot of dialogue but the phone calls nagito had to make to all the parents of the missing (good and bad) kids. also the godly meetings where shit went bad, and then really bad, and then somehow even worse. pointy objects has always been very v3-centric given our main characters, but some of my favorite chapters so far have been when i've been able to feel out characters from the other games as well.

ok. THAT was a big tangent LMFAO ok re: maki: yes! it took a long time; she had very little interest in doing decoration shopping or really Anything in the first year or so after arriving at camp/her friend's death (she also did not see her situation as static or permanent — no point in something like that, y'know?). for her 14th birthday, kaede took the reins on planning with nagito a cabin design that she thought maki might like; and now presently, her cabin has a "red velvet" theme! DIY headboard for her bed made with literal red velvet that kaede and maki built themselves, plush red sheets, red walls (another eyesore of a cabin...), with a small collection of photos and trinkets and artwork and decorations she's amassed over the years since. she has a picture of her parents sitting in the bottom drawer of her dresser than only kaede knows about.

as for the others — i take a lot of inspiration from their research labs, but i haven't plotted out in my head exactly how they all look, y'know? miu's is definitely very lab-like, angie's paints her walls white at the beginning of every summer and over the summer months fills them corner to corner with new designs, kiyo's has more bookshelves than wall space, the like.

now: talent shows! it's very informal, with prizes like choosing the next camp-wide game, getting out of dinner duty for a week, etc. classic staples include himiko's magic shows (with tenko as a willing and eager assistant) (who also will at times retrieve less willing participants from the audience) (usually nagito). miu tries her own "magic tricks" that usually involve adding new features to kiibo and making them parade them around onstage; kiibo gets their comeuppance by forcing miu to learn kpop dance choreo and perform with them (as kokichi films, naturally). kaede can play instruments to get around the limitations of her power (also yes — 100% theater kid, alongside kiyo [+ kokichi, who wont admit it]), and there's a whole collection of instruments in the girls' common area that she's mastered/is working on learning (her most recent is a theremin that she and kiyo are both very interested in). it's a lot of repeats, because there are some kids who always prefer to chill in the audience rather than get onstage themselves, but everyone has lots of fun <3 (except nagito [usually made to suffer during them] and hajime [often tasked with tie-breaking the winner, also suffering])

as for ur last question: TRUST they are definitely allowed to swear. hajime would've exploded years ago if that wasn't the case. the barrier they erected following tsumugi's massacre is capable of a lot of things, but nothing can defeat the resigned frustration of wrangling a clusterfuck of the weirdest demigods they've ever dealt with (/fond)

WOW that got long again! good thing i love it <3

m. l. rio - if we were villains

Hi, it's been a while! I've been itching to write a book review because it's been over a year now, and sometimes I just have to scream about books in other places than on Discord (I still scream about books on Discord, but shh).

So why not just write a book review about a book that I did not enjoy? Haha, what a funny thing nobody has ever done before! I sure wonder what this funny guy is going to say about this book he didn't enjoy.

Anyway, this is going to be pretty long, and I'm gonna bitch about a bunch of stuff in here. Will contain spoilers.

Content warnings:

substance abuse (alcohol, drugs)

cheating

suicide

This book was my first venture into the dark academia genre/aesthetic, something I'd seen a bunch of stolen Tiktoks about on my Pinterest feed, but never paid too much attention to, mostly because I don't really care about stories centered on students. Maybe that should have been my first warning sign.

Initially, I wanted to read The Secret History by Donna Tartt because that's apparently what's seen as the dark academia staple, but I decided to stick to this because it was the only book I'd found an audiobook of on Scribd, and audiobooks are more digestible. Read a bit of the blurb and thought, "okay, sounds like it could be interesting".

Man was I wrong.

Reading the blurb, I already knew I'd have to handle pretty pretentious characters, because there's nothing more pretentious than a group of more or less wealthy white theater kids obsessed with Shakespeare (except for rich white business majors and law majors, put one of each category in a locked room and they'd maul each other within 0.5 seconds like wild beasts trying to one-up the other), but holy shit, it was worse than I'd anticipated.

The writing makes everyone and especially Oliver (the narrator) sound insufferable to the point where I wished they could simply shut up. Unfortunately, this book has slug-like pacing and bitches who love to talk on top of chapters that are padded with lines copied verbatim from Shakespeare plays because admittedly you need a very high IQ to understand the nuances and intricacies of Shakespeare plays and how it influences the characters.

And while we're still on writing: while in theory, the script-like snippets are a fun nod to how plays are formatted, it simply doesn't work in audiobook format. Really grating to hear things like "James: Cock" "Me: So true bestie" when my patience was already wearing thin the more I listened to it.

Yet, the writing wasn't the most infuriating aspect of this book to me. I think what infuriates me the most about If We Were Villains is that, ultimately, the entire book tries so hard to be deep and emotional regarding its plot and its characters when said plot is predictably boring and the characters have the depth of a single sheet of paper.

So let's talk about the plot! By the halfway point in the first part of the book, it was made obvious who would die between the main characters, but comically so. The moment Richard started acting up, I felt like the author slapped a huge sign on his head like "Watch out! He's either the bad guy or... THE VICTIM! OMG!" because there was no way Mrs Rio could come back from turning Richard into a goofy Sunday morning kids cartoon villain. And as soon as Richard died, I also predicted the twist itself, because it was so goddamn obvious it felt like it was screamed into my ears.

Now, I usually don't mind if a plotline is predictable. Actually, I enjoy it! It makes me feel smart to predict things and figure out what's happening, and it usually keeps me engaged rather than plot twists that are pulled out of the author's ass! The problem with this book, though, is that I wasn't engaged in the characters to begin with, so following them going through their problems after Richard's death just made me feel a total sense of apathy followed by "so... when are we getting to more plot?"

It focuses too much on trying to give emotional depth to characters whom, in my opinion, severely lack it to begin with. The main characters aren't interesting to me, they're just puppets with names on them at this point. They can really just be summed up into archetypes that are barely explored in a way that feels compelling:

Oliver: The average joe. Oh, look at him, he's so average and surrounded by people who are so much more interesting than him (this is a lie)!

James: The guy. I'm struggling to find anything interesting about him, besides the fact that he's Oliver's best friend and roommate. You can tell he's important because he's Oliver's roommate. I think a loaf of white bread would be more memorable as a character than him.

Richard: Probably the most interesting character in the cast, ironically, solely because he's a fish out of the water. By that, I mean that he's just a jock in the middle of theater kids. Besides that, he's laughable at best: the author tries so hard to make him devoid of anything sympathetic in the moments leading up to his death that it nullifies any emotional investment you could have in any of the characters.

Meredith: The hot girl but like not in an objectified way, in a gaslight gatekeep girlboss way (this is a lie). Richard's girlfriend. Can't catch a break because everyone and their mom objectifies and slut shames her. She usually breasts boobily, not in written script but in spirit due to how her role in the story is pretty much "piece of meat".

Alexander: The weed-smoking gay literature major stereotype, except in a special way because he objectifies Meredith too, for some reason. Diversity win! Gay man is also gross towards women!

Filippa, Wren and Colin: Filippa and Wren exist for the sole purpose of not turning this cast into a complete sausage fest (& Knuckles Meredith). Filippa is the good friend who covers everyone, and Wren is the fragile frail uwu girl. Colin exists solely to be Alexander's boyfriend.

What a totally charming cast of characters who are oh so full of depth, and completely developed throughout this book. There's also a detective guy, but I completely forgot his name because the book spent too much time on this group of pretentious theater kids whining about their interpersonal relationships.

Man, just talking about how much this book bored me is becoming a pain in the ass, so I'll just summarize what I thought about the book here:

Pretentious, flowery writing with sluggish and often jarring pacing

Characters who are equally pretentious and whose high airs desperately try to hide the innate nothing burger-ness of their existence

Extremely predictable plot that's handed to the reader on a platter by the first part, making the reading experience that much more boring when you have 0 affinity nor sympathy for any of the cast members

Final rating: 1/5 (2.29/10 on CAWPILE). I should have dropped this book when I predicted the entire plot instead of being stubborn.

Hello! I'm a pretty new tot player (joined mid-june this year) (also new to tumblr and this blog) and I've been loving artem's characterization in his personal and main stories. But I don't really follow cn leaks (bc spoilers) and pulled for artems 2nd anniversary card without much thought. And hated it. I wish I'd found this blog sooner. Your thoughts on his characterization in the newer cards are very articulate and I think you've done a great job of highlighting the important aspects of his character and his dynamics with mc and how the newer cards are missing it.

On that note, can I ask which of his cards post-2nd anniv feature the old Artem and (especially) the og artemrosa dynamics because my mind tends to stick firmly to canon and I'm having a hard time trying to pretend 2nd anniversary never happened. It's fine if the plot isn't too exciting as long as the artemrosa interactions are good and Artem isn't suddenly a suave sex god (or has a randomized hobby as his selling point).

I don't have many of his old cards since I joined late and wanted to know if I should pull for new cards or just wait for the old card reruns.

That's all!

OMG HI!!! welcome to tot land and also tumblr!!!! i hope the fandom's been welcoming here! : D

ah gosh, i think people like you are why i was so anxious about second anniversary dropping on global. i am genuinely SO sorry. it comes out of no where. like it's a very notable drop in quality and shift in characterization, so anyone just pulling for second anniversary thinking it'd be fine just. woof. it's honestly EXTREMELY bizarre.

i really appreciate your kind words though!!! i started tot back during 2021 with the lost gold event, so all i had was the original artem for well over a year and got used to him, so it STUNG when second anni dropped. i totally and completely understand where you're coming from here, we're in this together!!!!!

oh gosh i haven't read ALL of the new cards yet, but i know enough that should be able to help for now. i do plan on watching them once i gather the Nerves to do so and writing a list of the must pulls and the must misses HAHAHA BUT. FOR NOW!!

MR cards can be missed unless if you really like the card art. the audio has always been pretty pointless and skippable. can't think of any SRs coming up for artem. go figure. his au SSRs (bakerlon, etc) are all good and in the clear. worth pulling for, imo, esp if you like the art.

skip any SSRs where it seems like artem is just doing a random new hobby. this includes his billiards, racing, and surfing cards. skip any top up SSRs. aside from saving you money, all of the new top up SSRs are just pure fanservice.

fluffy fuzzy time is in the clear. in all honesty it's baffling that a card where artem is flustered about mc playing with his hair comes after the sex god daddy dom card but whatfuckingever who needs consistency

his upcoming personal story card isn't like, life changing, but it's in the clear from what i remember of watching it. the art is very cute too.

third birthday card isn't amazing, but plot and character wise, it's also in the clear and has very cute art.

the other SSRs i know nothing about, so i can't speak for them yet. my apologies!!!! i'd personally recommend focusing on artem's older cards (i genuinely love all of them except for like. por una cabeza which is just kinda mid), as they are still stronger character wise than the newer ones, but the ones i listed ARE still fine. the game itself likes to only pretend second anni happened every once in a blue moon so it's very very easy to ignore . THANKFULLY.

thank you again for the ask anon!!!! i hope i could help! keep an eye out for when i get to watching all of them, i DO want to make that list HAHA

Ahh!! Your answers were so good. I LOVE THE FRIENDSHIP BRACELET ANSWER SO MUCH ;_; here are some more questions: Dream scene with Steve and Robin? What character,that he hasn't interacted much with, would you like Steve to have a scene with in s5? Whats something you REALLY hope doesn't happen to Steve in s5 (besides dying or a romantic relationship)? Can we get a vague hint at an upcoming plot point in They Built You A Temple And Locked You Away? (Like that game where you describe something poorly.) If Steve ever got a tattoo what would it be of, and where would it be placed? Steve gets a cat, how did he come by it and what does he name it? Do you think they should end the series with a where are they now segment like they used to do at the end of 80s movies, or would you rather they ended it on a fade to black sappy scene (though lets be real they'd probably end it on a WHAT IF ITS NOT OVER bad guy opening their eye thing)?

Bonus: Do you have a favorite stranger things meme? If so, lets see it!

Thank you!!!! I love these so much omg

Okay so this is like polar opposite of what I described with the last question and how I want scenes of emotional vulnerability, not just banter between the two, BUT there's this fic I read and I will link it here (please read the tags for possible tws as it's an intense fic but so wonderfully written) but essentially there is a moment where Steve is attacked (in the case of this fic he's assaulted) and Robin goes absolutely feral and I would pay so much money to see Maya Hawke kick some ass on screen instead of just making jokes about clumsiness. I want to see her launch herself, full claws out, jut to defend her best friend because he's fucking worth it.

Okay this one took me a few minutes of thought because I couldn't think of anyone that he hasn't interacted with at least a little, but then it hit me like a ton of bricks: Joyce and Hopper. Give the boy a set of loving, doting parents.

Okay well I reaaaally don't want to see him die but this sounds terrible but like I don't want to see him be okay right away. I thrive on angst and h/c and these people have been through serious trauma. I want to see him struggling but ultimately living with and coping with it in a healthy way. I don't want him to cope right away though, no one would be able to just move on, but I mostly don't want to see Steve end up with Nancy if I'm being honest. I have no qualms with Stancy shipper, to each their own, but for me it isn't it. I feel like as a couple it's a backslide for both of them in terms of character development and it also kinda feels a bit like lazy writing to just shove them back together instead of strengthening their bond as friends. They have hurt each other deeply and moved on without really fixing anything so it doesn't seem right to just pretend that it never happened.

What a fun and deviously interesting question. I hope I can answer it with as much devilish delight.

Steve's tattoo is a tricky one, I've never thought about it. He definitely keeps it hidden much to Eddie's delight, but I bet it's something sappy like the date of their wedding or a quote or something. Or maybe his baseball bat to match Eddie's arm bats. 100% Steve would find a stray cat, he's an adopt/rescue not shop kinda guy, look at all the children he's adopted inadvertently. He's going to name that cat either Dart or Mews 3 just to fuck with Dustin.

Listen I know it's cheesy but I'd be thrilled with either. I hope it'll be a happy ending and I'm sure that if they were to ever do a spinoff it would either be in the future with the kids of the main characters or it would be a prequel with Dr. Brenner about how the Upside Down really started but I do think there will be a "10 years later" segment and it will definitely be cheesy.

I don't have any specific memes that I love in particular, I tend to either reblog them if they're on here or just laugh and keep scrolling if they are on a different site, but I love all of the "Incorrect Quotes" posts because somehow they are always 10000000% accurate.

hiii omg its been so long since ive sent an ask... ive loved seeing ur ocs and their universe evolve over time and i was wondering if u have any tips on developing stories and characters? i have this story idea in my head and i have the gist of it planned out but like. idk i need MORE u know

aww hi leo <3 hmm honestly my process is not super structured or straightforward lol. ive been working on them for years and years so its not streamlined at all... as far as working from scratch i'm not really sure since i havent made a New story in a longggg time. i'll put the rest under the cut since it got long <3

my best piece of advice might not be that helpful but what has been the most successful for me the past few years is to just let the story develop naturally.... it definitely helps once you've sort of established the general setting & characters & dynamics as well as genre/themes/what main points you want to hit in the story so that you have a defined area to play around in but ive found that after i've set all that up there is always a Next Logical Thought that comes along to develop the story.

with all good things, i wiped that story's slate almost completely clean a few years ago to start fresh and fix it and pretty much my only direction was "i want arrakis to have a more active role in the story" and the rest is history. i immediately was able to find a bunch of loose plot points that i could tie to her and i more closely examined and revised each character's relationship with her and played around with how that impacts them in the story both in their character development and actions. i'm not sure if this is the case with your story yet but for agt i also had a Ton of little things i wanted to happen in the story that needed explaining, like blaire's scars, the breakup, arrakis dying, etc etc. the whole Next Logical Thought process really came in for those points especially where literally all i asked is Why Did It Happen and then using the setting/story points/characters i already had established i was able to fill in those blanks pretty naturally.

why did arrakis die? someone killed her. why did someone kill her? because she knew something she shouldn't have. what did she know? did anyone else know? would anyone else even be able to know? how did knowing effect them? etc etc etc until i not only had one fully fleshed out plot point but suddenly had a way to connect multiple other plot points. anselm's development was the same way. i'd been playing around with a ton of ideas for years and years and had never found anything that worked Just Right and then literally in like the last few months of 2020 i had this one passing thought that ended up being THEE piece the story was missing and set the entire tone and structure of the narrative going forward. i'd definitely played with a Ton of ideas trying to fix the story but it was really just a matter of waiting for my brain to sit on it long enough to be "well obviously this happens" and well obviously yeah that was the right version of the story to tell 🤷‍♀️ its definitely helpful to actively work at a story to figure out exactly what you Want from it and narrow down the directions to go in but all i can really say is that eventually i always just get to a place where a story makes sense to me and theres always a next logical thought to go off of.

as far as character development goes its sort of the same process for me? but its a lot of thinking about like. what would happen if these two characters interacted. how do their worldviews and experiences influence how they interact with other people. what can they offer in a certain dynamic that other characters cant. and then especially in agt i'll sometimes just make a character to fix or fill a certain dynamic that seems lacking, like inez in the eliseyev family. like blaire and belladonna wouldnt necessarily be super close save for the fact that they have traumatic experiences revolving around the same subject that none of the other characters have. it makes them close but not in the same way that friends with similar dispositions and hobbies are; they have the same burden. ave is close with abel in a way he'd never be with most anyone else because abel's empathetic powers don't allow him to repress or hide his true emotions. it also helps to just think about silly things too-- not always huge life changing relationships and events LOL. delphi gets cat hair everywhere. belladonna can play peekaboo with the twins using her wings. memphis steals blaire's clothes 'cause his parents know to keep their closets on lockdown. thinking about how specific character attributes and dynamics makes them act in casual settings and circumstances just always makes them seem more fleshed out... but also i always try to explore dynamics that i may not have considered at first. like in the past arrakis' perception of the dovokov family didn't mean anything and so i never thought to consider it but now theres just SOOO much untapped potential to work with there. i also just tend to decide things at random and without precedent for my character's if it feel's Right 😭 like bell being a mechanic or jude an EMT. or that memphis & inez like winx club. or ila having an ex wife. i think any little specifics details and trivia regardless of how much or little they effect the story also help make characters feel more... human for lack of a better word.

i guess the last thing i'd say is to talk about it with someone else if you're comfortable with that and get the chance. or honestly it doesnt even have to be another person but just to have some way to verbalize or write down what you're thinking about. i don't usually have anyone to talk about my stories with but i can't tell you how helpful its been just Pretending that i do even... i do it all day every day where i'm like. "well what if someone wanted to know about X? what would be the answer?" and sometimes its big picture stuff and other times its just random character trivia but for some reason facilitating development that way helps me think about things i may not have thought about before or work through a tricky plot/character point 🤔

i hope any of that was helpful... like i said my process isn't exactly structured lol. and ive only just recently started moving past set up & big picture narrative development towards the specific start to finish story events which definitely takes a little more active development work over the Next Logical Thought process LOL. a lot of it still is just asking the question and figuring out which answer makes the most sense within the circumstances i've established though 🤷‍♀️

Dreamcatcher by Stephen King

"SSDD: Sometimes it's just what you say. And sometimes you believe in nothing but the darkness. And then how do you go along?"

Year Read: 2005, 2023

Rating: 4/5

Thoughts: Against all logic, I still love this book. I read it for the first time in high school after instantly falling in love with the movie, and it was one of those books I practically memorized and internalized so hard that I don't even realize some of my thinking comes from here (until I'm rereading and going omg that's where that idea came from). It isn't just nostalgia that makes me love it though. As you probably know from my reviews, I went through a breakup, a summer depression, and a hideous book slump (the latter two from which I'm still clawing my way free). I was a little afraid to reread this, fearing it wouldn't hold up and that would only make the slump worse, but I flew through this like I was still a teenager, devouring books at a time when all of them are still new and wonderful. It might be the easiest reading I've done all year, and I was happy to sink back into King's world with my old Derry friends.

Objectively, I know this is not King's best. It's brutally gory, scatological, and full of some downright repulsive body horror. Had I not already internalized King's aliens at a young age and accepted them as perfectly fine, I might have been way more put off by his unnecessarily gross biology. (Although one need only look at the chest-bursting Xenomorphs to know this is practically standard for the genre. I don't think there's anything in here worse than that, and they're about on par for truly awful ways to die.) I'm not even typically a fan of alien novels, so this already beats the odds.

Assuming you can get past the gore, or that you're as desensitized to it as I am, it's also extremely ableist in its characterization of Douglas Cavell ("Duddits", affectionately), a character with Down's Syndrome who is also the magical key to defeating a race of aliens. King frequently falls into this unfortunate trope of giving his minority characters super special (and often stereotypical) magical powers, and Duddits has the added advantage of Incorruptible Pureness even in the face of bullying, cancer, and gut-eating aliens. There are also frequent slurs, "retard" being the most frequent, and it's used even by the main characters. It forces readers into the awkward position of being grateful to even see a disabled character portrayed positively, while recognizing that the characterization comes with its own issues.

Yet, I find myself returning to my original thesis: Despite its very real and present problems, I adore this book, and it's really the characters that make or break it. I fell in love with Duddits, Jonesy, Henry, Beaver, and Pete at first sight, and their friendship is at the heart of the novel. King does characters and childhood friendships so well, and Dreamcatcher's live and breathe off the page every bit as much as the Loser's Club from IT. I love them in the flashbacks and the present timeline, and their love and loyalty to each other effortlessly carry the story.

Despite its hefty page-count (nearly 700), the pace never lagged for me either, and I never found myself getting bogged down in the minutiae of the history or world-building the way I sometimes do with King. It's fairly well-focused on character development and moving the plot forward, and the only times my interest waned were in Kurtz's chapters. He's a fairly banal villain alongside Mr. Gray, and I would always rather spend my time with the boys and their odd, Shining-like power. I'd forgotten a lot of the differences between the book and movie lore, aside from the very obvious differences in the endings, so that was a fun comparison as well. I think it works without getting too in-depth about why the aliens work the way they do (but I've also been hugely spoiled by Mira Grant's deep dives into supernatural biology). All in all, this is still one of my favorite King novels, and I won't be hesitant to read it again when I want to visit my friends.

Long post incoming

Some thoughts I had while watching ep4 of the Uncanny Counter season 1 (in a bulleted list):

• Man I've heard stories on how brutal bullies are in Korea, while I guess this particular "ganging up on 1 guy" isn't exclusive to Korea, the prevalence of bullying in kdramas is quite abundant.

• Cool fight sequence, all in first person. Could it perhaps be meant to indicate Wi-Gen's lack of control and seeing things from his perspective? It's cool, but is that all there is? I mean, is it there to just be a cool and unusual sequence, or is it symbolism? I remember that old Doom movie has a similar sequence, but that was to mimic and give homage to the video game it adapted. If it was to showcase Mun's rage, I kinda fail to see it. Yes, it is a brutal beat-up, but there's not enough visually showing it in the cinematography. There's a blur effect, but maybe they should've made it more pronounced like a tunnel vision or made him see red (literally)?

• And like I suspected, So Mun's power is to create a "territory". Just what was needed, seeing that his predecessor died because it disappeared.

• Of course, the rich parents come in and will not accept that their children should be punished. As if they're literally a "better man" than their "poor" peers. And Sugar Daddy comes to save the day again!

• "I bet you don't have a trillion won in your bank!

• Justice for all victims of bullies!

• That bully, the mayor's son, will definitely become possessed by a wandering soul. Or maaaaybe he will get powers from like a counter-like group but evil? He has too much screen-time by now that he will for sure play a bigger role as our boy's rival.

• The police are corrupt, the mayor and possibly others are corrupt. We do get the good cop woman, who faces obstacles at every turn.

• The plot regarding Mo-Tak's (attempted) murder and So Mun's parents' death is intriguing, and they were definitely involved with something. But what could that be? Has it to do with the counters? Or is it a plot separate from the main plot (although, since it's currently the only plot, I find that implausible)

• Hahah, Mo-Tak's face when finding out him and the girl cop were together once.

• "I can't lose the counter job. Wi-Gen promised I'd meet my parents if I did good as a counter" - boy, 🤦‍♀️ you violated one of their rules, that "if" is no longer in play..... you did not do good, lmao.

• Hahahah everyone just fainting by transferring to the other side. But man, Chu Mae Ok mvp: "Don't mess with my baby!" Paraphrasing, but YES!

• Hahaha, Mo-Tak doing a superhero landing on their table 🤣 😂

• I'm pretty sure Wi-Gen has already decided. She's just keeping her mouth shut for dramatic effect. She's probably dying inside from all the drama around her.

• Like why is that lady there. Why is she so disagreeable? (Talking about Mo-Tak's afterlife partner)

• The afterlife group. Is that like a family? Grandma, and three grandchildren??

• Netflix should really fix the subtitles. Sometimes they are late to show up and then, they disappear in a flash to make room for the next sentence... if the show had been in Japanese I might have been able to understand some of what they're saying, but Korean is beyond me except for certain words, so I'm afraid I'm missing out on key info sometimes.

• Wait wait wait. Omg really. So the mayor or whoever is in a sauna? Looks like one. I was wondering why the fuck they still look so wet? Like even if you immediately get into it after a shower your skin dries in like a minute or two. But these guys are still dripping. (Pls excuse the literal screenshots)

• Lmao they really be doing sauna in 43 degrees Celsius?? You mofos are weak af. 🤣🤣🤣🤣. My parents have a sauna in their house, and we never use it under 75 degrees, and that is low by our standards. My dad goes up to 90 degrees at times!

• And they keep the door open and let all the warmth out!

• So the mayor is renting land from another rich old dude, who thinks they are hiding something illegal? He doesn't seem to be a good guy either since he probably has connections to the corrupt cops. That old man will for sure die by the mayor's hand.

• Wow that was quick. Getting a hitman?

• Oh wait, the "hitman" is the guy's son? Adopted? Guardian relationship? Cuz that relationship is one sided. Daddy issues galore.

• Wuuuuuuut??! Mae Ok's partner is her own son? Damn that's kinda sad. And who is the girl in his wedding picture? Should I know her? And he can't find deaths from 2013 and So Mun's parents. Maybe that means they aren't dead? But there's corruption even in the afterlife, it seems. Intriguing.

• Oh, So Mun got his father's number.

• So "hitman" is a hitman and got powers. Possibly level 3? But that's a bit weird. Maybe that soul will transfer to mayor's son? Or the mayor and his goonies have a deal with the corrupt part of the afterlife?

Well, I'll find out as I progress. But I don't have time to continue today!

HELLOOOO I recently discovered you were a fellow Xiao simp (or if I observed correctly 👁️) AND I JUST HAD TO COME IN HERE AFTER YOUR RECENT XIAO FIC

ZOOWEEMAMA YOU DID SO WELL ON MAINTAINING HIS ALOOF PERSONALITY GOOD JOB!!! And the fact that it's not some kind of "oh no suddenly I develop feelings I must ditch old crush" sort of thing just got me,, LIKE HELP YOU PLANNED IT SO NICELY </3

A little brainrot got me,, like,

I personally would think he'd come to a realization that he might not know just how this works. From what I know of Xiao, he's certainly gentle despite the glares and off-putting tone, and usually he's not flushy boy and all that, but it still catches him off guard every now and then when reader decides to occupy his arm with their own pair. I wonder if you've ever wrote him being a little bit flustered? I'd love to see how you'd potray him that way.

All in all, just very proud of you and your writing man! Keep it up!

HELLO HELLO fellow xiao simp!! yes you have observed correctly, and we are now reinited to brainrot 😌 HAHSHSH

but anywho, h-hello?? thank you so much, im so honored you feel that way! (and omg zoo wee mama from diary of the wimpy kid HAHA) i mostly followed the main plot of the fake dating and etc. from the original "seasons of blossom", but i tried to make it as accurately as i could to xiao for the romantic chemistry! a lot of dialogue was added, for example: when the reader was going on a rant about xiao's attractive looks! in the original the main lead didn't do that but i thought it would be a bit cute to write in :) and the event where xiao gives his pen to the reader was actually not going to happen! in the original series, the second male lead (in this case, childe) was the one who was supposed to give the pen but after thinking it about it, i thought it would be so much more unexpected and better if xiao was the one instead, you know?

also for part 2, i plan on going a bit away from the original plot events and writing something that'll suit xiao, his friends, and reader! im also glad that you noticed, i specifically wrote it to show that xiao sparked interest in the reader, but not exactly a crush right away! yes, he makes reader flustered cause he's so goddamn attractive, but i gotta show a little slow burn at least LOL

honestly, i also gotta hand it to @stellumi! this was one of my favorite projects to do and i might even continue and make more drabbles and hcs of the "seasons of blossom" au with xiao and reader. at this point that work is my favorite child HAHAH i loved writing it so much! would yall still be interested if i finished the part 2 and ended it there (MAYBE a part three), but made little additional fics and drabbles from it? i want to know your opinions!

+ i agree,, omg! xiao slowly realizing that he really doesn't know how to exactly fake date, or date someone at all nonetheless, but you're an exception from his swears and glares and other things, like the straightforward things he says to lumine LOL. ALSO ALSO speaking of lumine, completely unrelated sorry but i love her so much in this work. it doesn't seem like how she canonically is, especially with the sudden insults and excessive swearing, but i tried to make it obvious that she's close to the reader and cares about them. like both lumine and reader denying that they like childe for the sake of the other person, although we all know who reader will end up with at the end LOL

did i write xiao before getting flustered? oh my god, if only you saw the deep caverns of my drafts JSKFJFJJD,, im sure in a couple of my works i write xiao getting flustered, but i never write too deep about it since it's usually like headcanons or something BUTTTT i've actually thought about writing something close to that before! just the thought of hugging xiao and teasing him while you're at it—you don't tell that he's flustered from a blush, but you can tell instead from how fast his heart beat races. too bad it would be a whole essay if i went in depth though HAHA 😭

can you tell how passionate i am about my genshintoon part of the collab by what i just wrote?!?? i didnt even realize i went on a rant, sorry about that! but i really love it so much and cannot stop thanking vera for giving me the opportunity to write it 🙏 hopefully i will meet your expectations for the part two of it! oh and also make sure to check out the other works of the genshintoon event, so many amazing writers are also writing things inspired off of beautiful webtoon series, i cant wait to binge read them all at once LOL (and accidentally torture everyone's dash by the spam reblogging)

thank you so much for your feedback and message, i was smiling like an idiot the whole time reading and writing this! make sure to stay hydrated and get enough rest and take care of yourself! <3

why do george's eyes glow white? it was a little quirk in his powers that i noticed and i thought it was interesting. ngl it kinda reminds me of scarlet witch also is that the only part of him that glows when he uses his powers? bc for some reason i imagined him turning into a human glowstick lmao

i noticed that a lot of people were asking about powers and such, but their power levels don't seem that prevalent to the plot so far, it's mainly focused on the discrimination. so what i'm wondering is: are there going to be any scenes/fights that showcase the full extent of their powers? bc i can't really see that happening (since obviously their main 'villain' is some regular politician), but that'd be pretty cool imo. also if it were to happen, who would the scene/fight include?

i'm sure you're tired of all the superpower questions (talking abt superpowers is fun, also your world is so well-developed it's impossible to not be curious), but which class/type is the weakest? i'm assuming it's bio-e, but i could be wrong.

are you going to provide more insight on the way their society behaves around EMs? bc so far it's mostly just been mentioned and i'd love to have a scene where we get to see the civilian standpoint.

do you have any personal little headcanons for each character? if so, what are they?

you said you were heavily inspired by x-men comics, so i gotta know, which mutant is george most similar to in terms of personality and/or powers and abilities? personally, i think it's scarlet witch for personality and professor x for powers, but i'd like to know your opinion.

who's your favorite fictional superhero?

where did EMs come from?

hypothetically, if george had the most stable mind in existance, would his powers be technically limitless? bc you said the only thing holding him back was his faulty mind. so theoretically, if he went to a shit ton of therapy, then he could potentially warp reality and become omnipotent (according to the superpower wiki). i just have a special love for OP characters *cough* jean grey *cough*, even if they kinda ruin the plot sometimes lmao

LMAOOO the turning into a human glowstick would've looked kind of cool ngl, the founder of AGE, Wendy, actually kind of had the ability to do that as a really powerful Photomental :]

It doesn't surprise me to see most interest in the powers aspect and I definitely don't find it annoying since they're pretty fun to depict! I do focus a lot more on the social justice aspect because it's the most interesting to me though haha, powers are like just the cherry at the top. And yes--kind of, at least. Idk if it'll be the "full extent" of their powers, but it'll be them using their powers at a really big scale. I'm actually super excited for that scene omg never written anything like it! I can't reveal who will be there, but let's just say the like last 25% of the story just RAMPS UP with the power depiction of almost everyone.

I agree with that assumption, I would also say Bio-E's are the weaker EMs, and it's interesting because that's why they're most accepted by the overall population--for example, I think I remember writing it, but Dream's parents wanted him to pretend to be a civie since Bio-E's can pass off as not being EMs much easier. It was a similar situation with Techno's parents. Theres definitely a huge privilege in EMs who can "pass off" as normal people. The less you are able to do that, the less tolerated you are in society. I think I've made small references, but for example, there's a homeless father and daughter that George sees sleeping in the streets when Wilbur is walking with him and the detail about her little rabbit ears was meant to allude to the fact hybrids are so discriminated against in this society that they're often the ones who take the fall first. While Psychics are very much feared for their abilities, hybrids aren't as feared in terms of power-level but because they have qualities that obviously separate them from the general society, they're the most publicly mistreated and have a hard time acquiring basic needs like jobs, shelters, etc. because of how they look. When I came up with the scene, I envisioned the father as a a civie but his daughter born a hybrid and while he had the chance to abandon her to avoid struggling like a lot of parents do, he chose to stay and they're now struggling to meet their basic needs. If I remember correctly, there's going to be more allusions to that in Elysium too.

There won't be more civie perspectives/interactions than what there was in AL, imo. There are small references and moments and such when they're relevant to the plot, but if anything, Elysium is actually much more focused on the relationship between regular EMs and Metas. There are now civie characters with bigger roles in the story that I can remember.

Someone on Twitter made fan art for Elysium and in one of the sketches, there was this theory that there was Quackity feathers in George's hair and it is now fully canon in my heart!

Ooooh I love this question! I agree with the Scarlett Witch comparison, I also just realized I took a lot of her whole powers-mind conflict (from the X-men Evolution series at least) and subconsciously projected onto George haha. Seeing as I most thought of Jean when I was brainstorming his powers, I'd say her, but Professor X is a good contender too!

Raven is hands down my all-time favorite superhero. George has DEFINITELY gotten a lot of qualities that were inspired by her. Beast Boy is my second! (now that I think about it the dnf dynamic is sorta similar to how I used to write my bbrae fics lmaooo, I definitely have a type for ships)

Oh man OP characters are bomb, but I most love them when they're most batshit insane with no morals and stuff--like chaotic evil is my favorite vibe for OP characters. Theoretically? Probably. Therapy has its limits lmao so I can't say it would happen with therapy, but if there was a human in the world who's mind was so stable it could essentially be compared to a robot in that they make the logically "perfect" decisions from the get-go, have enough control over their emotions they don't "take over" (no getting super excited or sad or angry or anything, just default settings with emotions ig), and had other attributes that would push them further away from what we consider human (intuition, creativity and, ironically, that includes empathy, etc.), then yes, I think an omnipotent Psychic with such abilities would be possible, but at that point, do we still consider them just an EM or are they just a god?

It's a blushing luka. My life is complete

Omg so loveable omg im gg cry hes so shy i cant ????? I feel like i would just scare him off if i were to meet him irl bc im so boisterous (did i spell that correctly LMAO) and loud lol im just like fenrir i think but like the angst version of him, probably

TOTALLY HAHAHA A GOOD DANCER THAT GETS HIS BEST BUDDY FENRIR TO TEACH HIM HOW TO DANCE HAHAHA omg im choking.

HAHAHA IM LITERALLY LAUGHING OUT LOUD LOL OBVIOUSLY RAY IS THE TOP AND FENRIR IS THE BOT LOL OK SORRY EXCUSE ME FOR EVER SAYING THAT HAHAHAH OMFG im ugh omg LOL. ok hahahah anw i love this event omg i dont know if its because i keep pausing but compared to the main story, i feel that each part of the event story is longer ??? mhm ideks but i thoroughly enjoy playing it lol it's like i get to know a bit more about the characters in the otoge that i'd never have known more about if not for the side event. Bc their routes haven't been released yet. So yeah i really appreciate this opportunity to know each of the ikerev men better bc they r all such precious human beans i love them omg sighs

I almost forgotten that fenrir and luka r nobles and im so shook & amazed abt it i mean seriously you never would have expected it at first glance. It's so amazing & fascinating, this story plot.

Omg same, ikerev mc. I feel the same conflict as u do. WHICH IS WHY VS EVENTS R JUST SO HEARTBREAKING BC U DITCH THE OTHER KDOJAIWJWKW OMG

Wtf seth u r so drunk and u always sound like ur on crack but when it boils down to it, ur so serious. AND I LOVE THAT SIDE OF U SO MUCH I JUST CANT. I WANT TO SQUISH U AND FIND OUT ABOUT UR DARKEST SIDES. in fact im so interested to play ur route omg ;; also oliver omg i want to know why oliver shrunk and become this tiny kid so desperately as well omg

I still love the pink in fenrir's hair and eyes lmao he gives me the delinquent vibes aND I'M LOVING IT I TELL U i've never loved rebellious vibes more than ever until i met godspeed

I chose the sweet ending although i could go for ray's premium ending bcs luka LOL I'M JUST REALLY INTERESTED omg /slapped

Same thoughts, same sentiments -- ikerev mc 😒😒😒 i don't think ray deserves this but ok fine omg

LOL YA TOTALLY, MC HHAHAHA WHY U GOTTA BE SO NAIVE HAHAHAHHAHA