#So my viewpoint is a little skewed | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

oreo-oro-orero · 1 month

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I was giving some more thought as to why Ekko is mistreated by the Arcane community at least imo and I think one of the reasons is that Ekko is pure in a world where grayness is the norm.

I know that sounds weird but lemme explain a bit. Arcane is very much praised because of its complex and mostly gray characters, each character even the more good ones all have complex moralities even if a character by all intensive purpose is a bad person the show still goes out of its way to make those inherently bad actions complex but Ekko breaks this rule because he is in no uncertain terms is a hero. Every action that he takes is not only justified but understandable and everything about his goals and what he does is objectively good.

He fights against two oppressive forces those being Piltover and Silco

He provides a home the disenfranchised and those that have been hurt due to the actions of the Chembarons

He builds and fosters a community for those who need it

Hell you can even see this in more subtle actions, like Ekko Agreeing to give the gem back to Piltover despite not trusting Cait or Enforcers or even how despite his anger he actively goes out of his way to not kill anyone.

Even his visual design represents purity and hope, Ekko contrasts the undercity visually with the undercity being very grim with dark and neon colors but Ekko is a very warm presence with warm soft/colors and even his hair and his facepaint representing purity in a sense with them both being white.

Ekko by in large is a hero, even down to his nickname the "Boy Savior" and due to this I think a lot of Arcane fans write him off as very one note which is a shame because if you just look a little bit deeper he is an amazing character despite his overall hero status.

I also think because he heavily contrasts with Jinx he gets a lot of underserved ire from the community because well it is a Jinx and Vi story and due to this I feel like a handful of fans take any slight against those two very seriously, which is fine everyone is allowed to have their favorites but I think due to this basis it can cause people too hage a skewed viewpoint of Ekko.

This also affects him in shipping too where despite it being very clear from both the show/other material/ the Animators and even the some of the writers themselves that there is something deeper between the two, some people still act as though this ship is unfathomable. There is also the obvious Anti-Blackness involved and how it affects black characters in general, I would say especially in Ekko's case since he is a foil to Jinx who is pretty much this community's "UwW baby" that needs to be protected which is understandable ( both her and Ekko are UwU babies that need to be protected tbh)

But that's the end of my rambling, honestly I know a large reason for Ekko's absence within community discussions is that he is a side character in a sense so he won't get as much discussion as other characters but I still think he is given the short end of the stick despite his importance within the story.

#ekko #timebomb #ekkojinx #ekko arcane #arcane #rambles #jinx x ekko #jinx arcane

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nancydrewwouldnever · 5 months

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The decision he made to travel at the height of pandemic I think also started the shift of how people saw/talked about him, and I'm not sure it was completely about Lily James showing up. I think it was more that it showed some kind of disregard to the seriousness of everything going on with Covid, and that made people start questioning that carefully crafted PR image he still had at the time.//

THAT was it for me!!!!! I was in my country under lockdown/curfew and he was travelling for a booty call and having house parties. The rumours with him and Taika and Co doing the yachting scene. All of it. PR or Real, it showed a callousness in him that was never seen before. Even when he was f*boi Chris, he still showed some sort of care for the world around him. The behaviour during that time left a VERY sour taste in my mouth. The rumour that it was PR with Lily did not make it better for me because it just showed how incompetent and out of touch his team is. It just snowballed after that. By the time I started seeing the rumours about AB in the Portuguese blogs in Oct/Nov I was so bitterly disappointed in him I checked out. The marriage just meant "hasta la vista baby" permanently.

So, I think I've said many times I got into the fandom at the same time everything went down with Jenny in 2016. My view of him was already a little skewed by following the fandom at the same time he decided to have a relationship with a married woman. This meant I never fully bought the golden boy PR image; however, even knowing all that stuff, that PR image still influences you on some level. The travel to the UK (twice!) during pandemic lockdown got to me; it happened around the same time we got news that people from our workplace had died of Covid. But you know the moment that really turned my viewpoint to highly skeptical about him? Labor Day 2020. When he and his friends group decided to take that "birthday trip" for a member of the group out to the Berkshires while Covid was still raging, and post it to IG to boot, that was when I really started having a far more critical eye towards him.

#ask

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bloomvalyria · 1 year

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for the fanfic writer tag:

💖 what made you start writing

🧠headcanons for roxy or the wizards of the black circle

🤲snippet of a future wip?

💖 What made you start writing?

Honestly I don’t know. I just remember finding the archive on FFN and was astounded that fics even existed. And I thought it was super cool, so I thought I’d try my hand at it. I really enjoyed it when I wrote my first fic, but it never saw the light of day (and it never should).

🧠 Pick a character, and I'll tell you my favorite headcanon for them.

Roxy — She and Bloom hang out on the regular, getting drunk and watching old DCOM movies. They belt the songs out together, and they know all the choreography to the High School Musical movies.

The Wizards of the Black Circle — Despite them being the first enemy of the Winx to not be directly tied to the Ancestral Witches, I believe they were active participants when called on. Their relationship was more of an exchange of services, where they’d do something for Ancestral Witches in order to receive information about the Earth Fairies.

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

*sigh* …. Fine.

“Can I ask what she said about me?”

“She?”

“Icy.”

“Perhaps,” he said. “Only if I may ask why you’re in my bed chamber pilfering my personal library.”

I bristled. For a moment, I contemplated confronting him on the fact that the bedchamber didn’t actually belong to him. “Depends on if I get to ask mine first.”

His lips twitched up with amusement. “I suppose I can be generous,” he said. “This time.”

I rolled my eyes, but surprisingly wasn’t annoyed by his arrogance.

“What little information she did provide wasn’t very useful, I’ll admit. She was rather vocal about her exceptionally spiteful opinion of you, but did offer … interesting details about your previous battles.”

My hand froze. I fought to steel my composure, knowing his eyes were on me, waiting for my reaction. Waiting for anything he could use.

It was bound to happen. I imagined Icy regaling him with a grand, boastful retelling of events. Ensuring she didn’t miss a single detail of the hellish misery I’d suffered. How easily fooled I’d been by the fake Avalon, seduced by his empty promises and false hopes. Or how powerless and pathetic I’d been in Shadow Haunt, begging for death, strapped to that godforsaken altar.

“Well, you know Icy,” I said, voice tight. “She’s always loved to hear herself talk.”

He chuckled under his breath and something about it lightened the weight in my chest. “Indeed, she does. And talk she did.”

Nausea rose in the pit of my stomach. The onslaught of criticism was on the horizon, taunting me. Any moment and he’d be berating me for falling for such a blatant farce. Asking if that’s really all it took to sway me —pretty words and a pretty face. Remarking on how a power as almighty as the Dragon Fire could be wasted on someone who couldn’t even wield it to protect herself from a measly cloud spirit.

“However, I don’t care for Icy’s perspective on what occurred in Shadow Haunt,” Baltor said. “I’d prefer to hear yours.”

Suspicion clouded my fear, making me pause. Several seconds passed, like he was expecting a genuine response instead of an excuse to pounce. “Why?”

“As I said on Solaria, histories are often skewed in favor of the victors. Therefore, I’d appreciate your viewpoint. From one loser to another.”

Looking over at him, I caught the smug smirk tugging at his lips. My darkness unfurled its claws, refusing to be insulted. “That’s where you and I differ,” I drawled, seething. “I didn’t lose.”

He leaned forward, and in the candlelight, his eyes glowed a menacing silver. “Didn’t you?”

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ninjapotatohead · 1 year

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in my opinion Knuckles was the only one of Sonic's friends done pretty well in Frontiers (besides his arc being pointless)

Amy got the life sucked out of her and was unreasonable and rude towards Sonic in the scene with the koco (dimissing Tails in the process), and Tails was just a puppet used to spout fandom grievances with his character, the "wildy inconsistant" line took me out of the scene entirely

Yeah, the characters all say that they're gonna have their own adventures for the first time, even if that means never seeing Sonic for a little while, and the game makes that such a big deal... when they've literally done that before in previous games. They've had adventures completely independent from Sonic before, like hello?

And yeah, Amy and Tails were done so dirty. I think I remember being just about to commend Frontiers for not falling into the trap of making Amy hopelessly fawn over Sonic 24/7 like it's her only personality (even though the game's narrative falls into every other edgy Sonic story trap), but then, I remember that Amy's priorities get completely skewed in lieu of rescuing Tails.

And, speaking of Tails, him being a mouthpiece for the fandom's (frankly surface-level) grievances with his portrayals isn't all that surprising when you consider that Ian has voiced those very same grievances himself in a BumbleKast of his. It only stands to reason that his own passive-aggressive viewpoints on the franchise's lore made it onto pen & paper.

#spud's inbox #sonic frontiers

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gunnerkriggcritical · 1 year

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Now that my Gunnerkrigg polls have closed, let's take a look at the results...

My first poll asked a simple question: Do you feel like Gunnerkrigg Court has slipped in quality of late? And with 56 votes, the results were pretty skewed in one direction.

80.4% believe Gunnerkrigg is losing its touch. A very small minority of 1.8% think GKC has not slipped in quality; a smaller but more significant minority of 12.5% think it has slipped in quality in some ways, but not others.

These results are pretty clear: the fandom isn't overall satisfied with how the comic is proceeding.

For my second poll, I asked: For those who feel Gunnerkrigg has slipped in quality, about when do you feel this slip started? The turnout for this poll was very significant, with 101 votes!

I'm actually really interested in these results. 11.9% said the comic started declining with "The Mind Cage." 5.9% said the comic began its decline with the introduction of Jerrek. A pretty significant minority of 14.9% said "Other" (if you're willing, I would love to hear what other option you would've put on the poll!).

But most interestingly to me: the final result was a tie. 33.7% said the comic began its decline with the introduction of Tony, and an equal percentage voted for the introduction of Loup. Really interesting and intriguing stuff! For me personally, I would've put the beginning of the end squarely at Tony's introduction, but I can definitely see where everyone else is coming from.

Honestly, to inject a little more of my personal viewpoint: I would also say that, even after the intro of Tony, although the comic was declining, it was still salvageable. After Loup, there wasn't really any going back.

For my third poll, I asked you: What flawed element of the comic do you feel is the biggest problem? With 71 votes, the results were a little more mixed here.

The winner was Annie's lack of agency, with 23.9%. Close behind, people voted for Tony being the comic's biggest problem at 19.7%. Then it was the story moving too quickly at 16.9%, characters behaving OOC at 15.5%, Loup at 8.5%, other at 8.5% (again, I'd love to hear your voices on this!), and confusing plot points at 7%.

This vote was pretty close! I personally voted for the story moving too quickly - I really feel like the reason GKC feels so weird of late is because Tom is compressing everything and speedrunning it to get it over with more quickly. But I can see everyone - and this includes me - is mourning Annie's agency as our main character, and I have to agree with that. She doesn't feel like the protagonist anymore, and it doesn't feel like she is on a personal journey of character development. She just feels like someone who stands around and occasionally reacts to stuff. And, for a character who was previously so interesting and nuanced, that sucks.

Those are the results! I'm really happy with the response, so thanks so much for voting. If you have ideas for more polls, please feel free to suggest them to me! I always love hearing you guys' opinions and thoughts about the comic and its decline. Again, thanks!

#gunnerkrigg court critical #gunnerkrigg court #gunnerkrigg #polls

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arkhura · 7 months

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WEDNESDAY WEED REVIEWS - SHOCKWAVE by BC BLACK [A.K.A. Falcon 9 x Strawberries & Cream]

Coming in from PureFire in British Columbia, Shockwave does leave a lasting impression. It's a lighter high at first - but as time goes on, the light buzz gives way to a focused, laid-back, and productive high.

## First Impressions

When first opening the 3.5g bag purchased from Garden City Cannabis, [shoutout to Garden City Cannabis], we went in blind, and were more than pleasantly surprised to be met with such a powerful, herby, citrusy aroma, which I personally think smells like lemongrass, citrus, and rosemary, with hints of oregano, and of course, weed.

These mildly sticky nugs were small to medium size with a savanna grass green-tan coloration. Highlights of little orange fibers are visible, and the buds are glazed with a beautiful frosting of tiny, glistening trichromes.

Unfortunately due to my cracked camera, it didn't pick up all the trichromes that well, and it also skewed the coloration mildly.

After a nice lookover and game of "pass the nug" we put 'er in the extendo-bong and lit 'er up.

## The Sesh

Pictured above : the Extendo-Bong - photo courtesy of my smoke pal @redchaosscrungle

The first thing we noticed was the flavor of the smoke. My first impression was that of a rich herbal, fruity flavor, with the inhale flavor reminding me of oranges and berries, with an exhale being a bit spicier, all while retaining citrus and floral notes.

Each toke was a smooth one- especially with bong filters in place. While that's a good thing for many, be warned, it's so smooth, that with bong filters in place, it's easy to take too big of a toke without realizing it until you're already coughing - but that's alright. For what Shockwave delivers, it's definitely worth it.

The high came on quickly and smoothly with a light, cooling buzz, that took the edge off any anxiety or stress present. It was a light high at first, and we were a little worried it may stay that way - even with a few good tokes off the extendo-bong.

After a good twenty minutes, however, things started to change, and that light buzz progressed into a nice, productive, lighter midweight Sativa high with no signs of couch-lock in sight.

## Conclusion :

Shockwave definitely earned its name - despite not being a heavy high, it offers focus and functional drive - a clear mind, and a desire to do with a new viewpoint. Painting or reading a book, this strain is your friend.

Though I personally prefer heavier highs, this hybrid strain definitely does deliver an enjoyable experience - no matter the logic [or lackthereof] behind it.

THC : 29.36%

CBD : 0.30%

Terpenes : 4.10% [Limonene - 0.94%, Beta-Caryophyllene - 0.58%, Selina-3,7(11)-diene - 0.25%]

Quality - ★★★★★ Craft

Intensity - Moderate

Duration - 3-3.5hr. on ⅔ gram split between two people.

Anxiety relief : yes.

Overall rating : 4.5/5

Buy again? Totally.

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practically-an-x-man · 10 months

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Then for Desert Song:

The Scream, Persistence of Memory, The Kiss, Wheatfield with Crows, A Sunday Afternoon, and The Swing :)

Ahhh Desert Song my beloved!! Can't wait to dive into this! Thank you again!

OC/Writing Art Asks

This one will be interesting since we're still so early into it. A bit like Necrosis for you, I think, there's so many things that I want to talk about but don't want to spoil the surprises headed your way.

The Scream: are there any moments in this work that you think could scare a reader? Are there any moments where the characters themselves are profoundly scared?

I think it depends on your perspective. This is going to be a pretty dark one no matter which way you slice it, so it's less a matter of "what's scary?" and more a matter of "where is this scarier than normal?". There's going to be a lot of high-octane action that I hope will have the readers on the edge of their seats, but there's one scene in particular that will involve some medical horror, and that might be scary. Idk, I'm pretty hardy and I genuinely like horror, so I'm sure I've got a skewed viewpoint on what's scary.

As far as when the characters are scared.... well, yes. Yes there are. You've seen a few of these already (namely the fall, and when Quinn gets hurt in chapter 7), but there's a lot more still to come. Like I said, there's some major high-octane action here, in true Michael Bay fashion, so the characters are gonna be worn to their last nerve.

Persistence of Memory: are there any moments in this work where a character's memory plays a strong role? Either an individual memory, or simply a character's ability to recall the past.

I mean, this whole fic plays with the comparison between past and present, and both Quinn's and Billy's memories of the prior crew play a massive role in how they interact both with each other and with the other Ghosts. Plus, as you've seen, there are a few flashback scenes involving Quinn's memories, and likely a few more still to come.

Memory is very important here, I'd say. In fact, I'd advise you to watch very closely for the comparisons of past to present. It's a major part of who Quinn is.

The Kiss: share your favorite kiss scene from this work. If there's no kiss scene, share your favorite moment of intimacy (romantic or platonic)

Now, I'm not usually fond of my first-kiss scenes (the balance of making it feel special without overdescribing it is difficult for me), but this is the one exception:

Billy leaned closer, impossibly closer. He was enjoying this, maybe a little too much. And maybe, past the pounding of their heart and the clouds brewing in their mind, Quinn found themself the same.

“For luck?” Billy whispered, green eyes still glinting dangerously. They were convinced, then, that he was of the Unseelie Court. He was a Fae, come to take her name and her voice, to put her under his spell, to leave her lost and wandering.

Well, she said, Take it. That name never belonged to me anyway.��

She closed the gap, and the world fell away.

The wall at her back was the only thing keeping her tethered to Earth, the concrete hard and cold against her spine. Everything else seemed to have dissolved under the weight of his touch. Billy’s hands were warm as they navigated her waist and hips, pulling her close against him. Quinn’s heart was pounding, each beat a mix of exhilaration and terror and wonder and regret. They’d dreamed of this a thousand times, each time forced to wake up and remind themself that he doesn’t see you that way.

But he did. And if not for the warmth that flooded their body, real and tangible, they’d have wondered if they were in fact still dreaming.

She’d fallen hard. And it was far too late to turn back now.

There's just so many sides of this that I ended up loving. For one, the comparison of Billy to a Fae followed by Quinn "surrendering her name" to him was one of the things I was particularly proud of. I feel like it added an element of magic to the scene, and implemented Quinn's perspective as a transgender woman (surrendering the name that didn't belong to her) in a way that, at least to me, worked incredibly well for this scene.

I also feel like I managed to escape what is usually my downfall for kiss scenes: describing the scene in enough detail to bring the reader into it, but not so much that it becomes awkward. It's always a very difficult balance for me to strike, but I feel like this one just... worked.

And then, of course, it ends with a bit of foreshadowing, since that chapter ends with the two of them literally falling hand-in-hand. And if that's not enough... 6 Underground has this running symbolism about "luck", where pretty much every scene that involves a direct mention of luck ends up going wrong in some way or another. That's another thing I'd keep an eye on, if I were you....

Wheatfield with Crows: are there any scenes in this work that involve birds? Do the birds play a definitive role, or are they simply part of the setting?

So this is interesting, since birds are often one of my favorite topics to use for symbolism. There's just so many ways they can be utilized, both in general and by species. But from what I've written for Desert Song... not yet.

I do incorporate birds' wings a fair bit (which, admittedly, just began as an excuse for far too many X-Men references) but I don't think actual birds come into play. Yet. But knowing me, there's bound to be something eventually. I do love birds.

A Sunday Afternoon...: pick one "little moment" from this fic. How representative is it of the fic's tone and story as a whole?

I admit, it's a little tough to find a "little moment" in a fic that's still so close to the beginning. This is the part of the story where I'm still setting everything up, planting all of the seeds that will eventually blossom into ongoing symbolism. There's not much that feels "little", this early in the story. But here's this:

“Hey,” Billy said, jogging up to her from behind. Quinn twisted, ignoring the little twinge of pain that danced up her spine at the motion.

“Hey.”

“So what’s Plan B?”

“Hm?”

“I mean, if he’s not gonna make one, we might as well make one.” he said with a quick shrug, “That way we’ve at least got something, y’know? Still would like to have the whole team on board, but if nothing else… we’ve got each others’ backs, right?”

“Yeah, of course.” she agreed at once, “Always.”

“Right. So what’s Plan B, then?”

Quinn pursed their lips, squinting up ahead at the gleaming metal of their trailer. They lifted a crutch and pointed at it, then kept moving.

“Inside. It’s too hot out here, anyway.”

“Ah, yeah.” Billy said with a nod, following her over to the trailer, “We’ve gotta get you a mini-fridge. Mine’s got a mini-fridge. Mostly booze One doesn’t know about.”

“Of course it is.”

“Hey, easy with that! I might share.” he joked, “If you ask me nicely.”

Quinn huffed out a brisk laugh as she pushed open the door to her trailer. The air inside was still awfully dry, the same as the rest of the desert, but at least it was cooler. She unstrapped one crutch and propped it up by the door, then dropped into the booth at the side of the room.

I feel like this is fairly representative of the story. It shows a lot of the relationship between Billy and Quinn, mainly in how comfortable they are around each other. It shows that they've done this sort of thing before and know what to expect, perhaps even more than One despite the fact that he's the team leader. And it shows that underneath the lighthearted banter, there's actually a lot of intelligence and strategy below the surface.

I also think it shows something very important about the two of them: they're devoted to the team, but their first loyalties will always be to each other. This particular moment is small, just choosing a Plan B in case the Ghosts' main plan goes wrong (which, spoiler alert, but you've read Chapter 7...), but it shows that they trust each others' judgement much more than that of the other Ghosts, and will even go behind the others' backs for the sake of their own motivations.

The Swing: are there any moments in this fic where the characters get to slow down and have fun? If not, why is that?

This is similar to the "little moments", but so far there's not a whole lot that's separate from the plot. It's still early, and I'm still setting everything up, so even the "slowed-down" moments have some larger significance (often significance to Quinn and Billy's relationship). I'd say that the closest thing so far is the scene where Quinn sits down for breakfast with the Ghosts, since it allows for a bit of early-stage building of their alliance and friendship without too much larger significance to the plot. Even the scene with the flooded hotel, while it's a reprieve for Quinn and Billy, is a crucial private moment to the development of their relationship, and therefore not separate from the core plot.

Just like with the prior question, I feel like there's bound to be more of these moments as the story progresses, once I've settled into the themes and symbolism a little more and have room to take a break from the primary plot once in a while. But it's a little like knitting - I can't take a break until I've got enough woven that it won't fall apart when I set it down.

#this turned into a ramble that could rival some of your best (in a good way)#thank you again for the ask!!!#my friends!!!#answered asks #my ocs #oc quinn/aces #ask game #oc asks #oc ask game

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gemglyph · 2 years

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Hey! I recently found your fic Martyr and I love it. The interactions between the boys are so subtle, but heartfelt. The hair cutting scene between Sky and Wars was incredibly poignant and weirdly.... comforting? I just love it and could read it again and again. I really enjoy that it's written from Sky's perspective so readers are seeing situations through a skewed viewpoint. I think Sky needs a big long hug and a good cathartic cry. I was wondering, is all the Chain fully aware of what Sky did? Or, did the older boys not let the younger ones (i.e. Wind) in on the full situation?

Hello! I have done the equivalent of staring at my phone. Smiling so hard I have to close my phone. Scream crying inside. Showing this ask to everyone I talk to my fic about. Only to realize I genuinely never responded to you and I’m so sorry about that.

I am so happy you enjoy Martyr. Sky definitely needs a good cry. Maybe a group hug. To be told that he’s loved and cared about because his adventure took a horrible toll on his mental and physical health.

It’s great and sends me over the moon that you picked up on it being from Sky’s point of view because everything is most certainly skewed to how Sky sees it. It’s all Sky. His adventure. His thoughts. His actions and responses. It’s basically a very in depth character study. I never specified that and maybe I should in the notes somewhere (‘: .

I’m not sure if this was picked up on, but Sky was found by everyone the same day he defeated Demise. This is directly after his adventure. I know it was brief and disoriented, because Sky was disoriented, but Time and Twilight were the first to see him. The scene doesn’t hit it since Sky didn’t see him, but Warriors next. Hyrule saw firsthand because he had to heal Sky or Sky would probably be dead now. Someone pulled the Master Sword out of Sky. I haven’t entirely decided who yet, but I’m certain that it will have significant impact on how Sky views that person (good or bad is to be determined at a later date. Character development and all of that).

Now to answer your question. It hasn’t been touched on in the fic yet, mainly because no one else’s viewpoint is going to be in Martyr, but Wind got a glimpse of what happened. He doesn’t entirely know all of the details because the older boys definitely made sure that was short lived. Someone pulled Wind away and shielded him before he could get a full view. All the things that Wind knows are picked up on from him overhearing what the others say. He knows that Sky ran himself until he couldn’t keep running because of Sky’s physical appearance. Sky constantly looks exhausted. He’s skittish and jumpy. Subconsciously looks for comfort in the people around him, but too hesitant and paranoid to outright ask. Uncomfortably thin. Before the boys found him, Sky was starving. Running on stamina fruits and potions because if he dared slow down he was entirely convinced he would be late. He didn’t stop to think about how it would effect him because he was busy trying to save Zelda.

Aside from Wind, everyone else knows everything. Most of them saw it, the older ones talk about Sky behind his back, and Wild is the only one who has entirely- without room for doubt- made it clear Sky can talk to them about what happened. All of this definitely makes Wind feel left out again and treated differently because of his age. Wind is intelligent. He can put together the pieces enough from what he’s heard and seen to know that Sky’s very, very much not okay. Wind knows these things. He’s seen and heard them. It actually makes it a little difficult for him to talk to Sky. He’s worried about saying the wrong thing at the wrong time and making things worse. At the same time, in his own Wind way, he’s trying to reach out. Telling stories. Clarifying things when Sky doesn’t understand and no one else jumps to bat (like the Time and Malon arrow to the knee joke). Wind’s reaching out, he tries, all of them do, but each one is handling it differently because they’re different people. Sky will eventually see that and understand that they’re trying.

I know that was very long winded, but I hope it answered your questions!! Thank you so much!!! ✨✨✨✨✨

#gemglyph #lofty’s ask box #lu Martyr

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kemendin · 1 year

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It’s SCOURGE THOUGHTS TIME because I came across the phrase ‘Scourge redemption arc’ and immediately recoiled in waves of NOPE and I feel like talking about why.

Obligatory disclaimer that this is my personal view and very much tied into the way Scourge’s story entwines with Caspian’s.

The short version is - no. Scourge does not need a redemption arc. Scourge does not need to be redeemed in any sense and frankly I think he’d be deeply offended by the notion.

One of the earliest things he can say to the Knight - still in the Emperor’s fortress - is this: “I will always be Sith. But that does not mean we can’t work together.” This is the absolute core of who he is - he. Is. Sith. That is never going to change, that SHOULD NOT change, because doing so would fundamentally alter his character to the point of being nonsensical.

I think something important to note in relation to this is also that while the concept of ‘Sith’ stereotypically implies ‘dark side Force user’ - Scourge makes it clear that this is not the black and white definition he ascribes to being a Sith. He instead says that “to be Sith is to break your own chains”. That’s it - no mention of light side, dark side, whatever.

So when it comes to ‘redemption’, particularly in the context of Jedi/Sith, one typically thinks of being ‘redeemed’ to the light, yes? Forsaking the dark side, becoming a good and compassionate person who works towards being selfless and helping others.

This is not for Scourge. He has no need to be ‘redeemed’ in this sense. One, because of his own views and convictions - he repeatedly expresses disdain for Jedi and their ways, and shows no interest in changing to be more like them. And two, because as his story progresses alongside the Knight, he admits, in multiple instances, that he is learning about the light side of the Force, about the Jedi, and eventually concedes that their ways are not necessarily lesser, just different. In this sense, he is already far and away one of the most open-minded Sith you encounter. And that’s one reason why I think a redemption aspect would do him a disservice - he’s already considered the other side, the light, the Jedi, all that, and made an informed decision to reject it FOR HIMSELF.

And then we get into the bigger picture, which delves more into my own personal viewpoints with a Knight who romances Scourge. Even playing a fairly light side Knight - I think it would grievously water down the story if, even partnered with a light side Jedi, Scourge then became more ‘light’ or ‘redeemed’. Specifically with Caspian and Scourge - their story has always been about being opposites, being so initially, fundamentally opposed to each others’ ways, and then gradually learning from each other and finding a place in the middle that’s adhering to the tenets of neither order. This relationship would not work if either man skewed to be more like the other - they need each other as the light and darkness, one unable to be truly known and exist without the other. The clearest expression of this, in my little headcanon corner, is that neither of them could have defeated Vitiate without the other. Darkness can’t defeat darkness - Scourge needed to use the light and conviction of this Jedi to oppose and strike down the Emperor. But by the same token, Cas would not have survived the darkness without Scourge’s deep knowledge and understanding of it, which enabled him to resist and eventually defeat it.

None of this is to say that this dichotomy doesn’t cause problems between them. Cas and Scourge can’t stand each other at first, and it takes a lot of time and arguing before they each begin to understand the other. And even their eventual relationship - they love each other deeply, passionately, for their differences as well as their common grounds - but Scourge’s past as the Emperor’s Wrath does come back to bite them. This is something I’m exploring in a fic right now - how do these two men in love reconcile with their differences? Scourge did terrible things to Cas when he was a prisoner of the Emperor - how does he reconcile the necessity of such acts with how much he’s changed, and what he feels now? I don’t believe that Scourge regrets everything he did as the Wrath, because he was looking towards a much larger goal and had spent three hundred years being patiently ruthless in pursuit of it. But once his emotions return, and he finds himself in love - he has to find a way to work that out with Cas. Cas, who in spite of hating many of the things that Scourge did, to him and to others, never at any point wants or encourages Scourge to be anything other than himself.

This, to me, is the ultimate theme of their story - they are CHOOSING to stay true to who they are, Jedi and Sith, or at least how they view themselves through those lenses, but also CHOOSING to stay together in spite of how difficult the first choice can make things. And I think taking away that struggle by ‘redeeming’ Scourge, by making him into something he’s not, would just make his character fall completely flat.

Okay that’s it, that’s my long ramble for the day. Not even gonna tag this because I’m not looking for a debate, just felt like spewing some thoughts.

#kem rambles

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kenpxchi · 1 year

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Do you think Zaraki would have been able to hear Nozarashi's voice after his fight with Ichigo if he hadn't told Yachiru to be quiet just before he asked for Nozarashi's name?

no.

it took unohana removing kenpachi’s self-imposed seals to truly do that. kenpachi idolized her and wanted to be just like her, to the point that he named himself and his own daughter after her in the very same breath. she is the most defining person in his entire life, bar none, and everything he did after meeting her was an imitation of her as he remembered her: yachiru, not retsu.

so long as he held that unyielding admiration, he would always seal himself off so that she would be a goal, something far above him for him to strive towards, not realizing he had already surpassed her strength as a child. he absolutely revered her above everything else, and i’m loath to say this, but it was to an unhealthy degree. it interfered with his own identity, and by extension, his zanpakutō, because he tried to be like unohana instead of being like himself.

when she woke him up, giving her life in the process, he didn’t have to pretend anymore. and that allowed him to start that self-discovery that is a part of all zanpakutō: because they are a reflection of the wielder.

i’m not truly comfortable with that, but i can accept it. it shows that kenpachi is a flawed individual who saw unohana and imprinted on her like a duckling, but it kinda removed her agency a little bit from my perspective. kenpachi’s life revolved around imitating her and fighting her, and she was haunted by the “sin” she performed back then. i hate badass women dying for manpain, and it never sat right with how the lives of these two kinda centered around each other ever since the encounter. but then again, these two are psychopaths, so my viewpoint on their ideals and morality is skewed through the lens of being neurotypical.

#;; outofcaptain

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thexgrayxlady · 11 months

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Things I Read in May

The Antiquities Hunter by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff - 4.25/5.0 I got this off the 0.99¢ rack at the used book super store because I needed to spend at least five dollars to use my credit card. My rating is absolutely skewed by the price. That being said, this is a delightful little airport book. Like, make no mistake it's an airport book, but one that you want to take home when you're done with it. It's a fun adventure about a PI going undercover with a sexy national parks agent/archeologist to bust illegal antiquities trade. There were a couple of jarring weird turns of phrase that didn't feel like they fit with a mid to late twenties early thirties PI and I wish the protagonist was more active towards the ending, but I still feel like I got a dollars worth of entertainment out of it. You can tell that the author had a good time writing it and I had a good time reading it.

Otherwise Engaged by Amanda Quick - 3.0/5.0 I'm working through the backlog of I needed to spend five dollars to buy the thing I really wanted books. You can tell that the author has written a lot of other books. It's very competently written, has a better set up for fake dating/engaged than The Love Hypothesis, and it was very quick and easy to read. I wish the author had focused on just one of the subplots and fleshed it out more instead of having both of them or had them come together in a less convoluted way, but at the end if the day the subplots aren't really what this book is for. It's a good beach/train/rainy day book. I don't have very many thoughts about it.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness - 0.75/5.0 This has been sitting on my shelf almost finished for years now. I wanted to finish it before sending it on to the Used Book Superstore. Then I remembered why I stopped reading it. I don't think it should go to the used book superstore anymore. It is so goddamn boring. I had to put on a YouTube video in the background to finish the last hundred pages. This is me finishing this book:

It starts out interesting and full of details, but then it doesn't let up with every minute detail about the main character's life and it is a slog to get through. The vampires are perhaps the least threatening and interesting vampires I've ever read about. The things that do happen are truly and deeply stupid. The main character just has every super special awesome witch power ever even though she doesn't want or use them? She finds out she's been a time traveler all along in a throw away line?! The love interest won't have sex with the main character until marriage!? It's just adult Twilight (derogatory).

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by - 3.75/5.0 If I had a nickel for every Doctor Moreau book I read this year, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice. Unfortunately, out of the two Doctor Moreau books, this is my least favorite. That's not to say it's a bad book, I just don't think that it's for me. I thought it was well written and the characters were interesting and fairly well defined. It's well paced and atmospheric with a strong sense of what its trying to say. However, I think it could have done without the second viewpoint and there's a big reveal that doesn't hit as hard as the author wants it to. That being said, this book let me read one of the best things I've ever read in a goodreads review, "it's problematic that Doctor Moreau is doing unethical science."

#gray reads stuff

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nancydrewwouldnever · 5 months

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I never saw this post. Can you share it? 😨

No, as the posts were IG stories on an account which is now private. However, I believe the golfing story from that trip that Adam Lavorgna made with Chris' voice in it is still up on Adam's grid.

#ask

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xxgh0stxx · 1 year

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Random person here…? Nice to see you’re aggressive and violent for no reason and that your viewpoint is skewed by someone who probably just saw alternatives to making your life better.

I’ll go to bat for the random person you hate talking about since they didn’t care to bother using tumblr. I don’t see ways of them to contact you or try getting with you, and even then the fact that you’re talking after what seems like 8 months implies that you’re someone who’s incapable of letting go of drama and problems that you yourself probably don’t understand. The person probably just wanted to wish you well because some people actually aren’t shit people. They’re people leveraged by circumstance to feel inclined to be a particular way. I hope if you were in the same spot as someone else who was never understood or portrayed as this figure of hate that you would shout humility in the face of all the intent set against my you. Like a regular adult would.

this is so crazy bc the way youve been wording things makes it sound like youve been around long enough to miss my blog enough to write me these cute little asks, so you just have to know that i literally do not care about your thoughts and opinions on my personal life and how i go through my life . you would know that if youre here to be a "good guy" or try to change my mind on anything you are in the very wrong place . a regular adult does not sit on their ass and send long-winded messages of disgust or whatever to people they dont know, regular adults post about their thoughts and feelings on their blogs, like me ! :D if you wanna side with the asshole who made me say something like that, literally be my guest . i hope youre both utterly fucking miserable together and cry yourselves to sleep every night wondering where you went wrong .

PS i never unblocked him . but people can make new tumblrs, people can buy vpns nd shit its not completely out of this world insane for me to believe some ominous anon is my weird toxic ex . please cry harder .

#asks #anon #laughing the whole time i type this

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utilitycaster · 3 years

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Actual Play: How it works

This is a collection of how I think of actual play as a medium, because TTRPG actual play is a unique one - a combination of improvisation, a rule set, and randomizing elements. This isn’t fully comprehensive, and I may add to it in the future as I come up with more ideas. I’m also thinking of providing some examples/more in-depth stuff for the items in separate posts, so please let me know if that’s something you would want.

Most of the observations here heavily skew towards D&D and Pathfinder actual play, as they are what I know best. Other systems I’ve listened to (PbtA, Cortex, Savage Worlds) fit in here as well, but this may not apply to all actual play, particularly GM-less games or games that are primarily played as one-shots.

Finally, and I say this only because it is a recurring problem on the social media that I happen to find incredibly irritating: you are also welcome and encouraged to have other opinions, disagree with me, dislike all of this, etc. If you have things to say, my inbox is the best place; this is too long for multiple reblogs and this is a sideblog so replies are tricky. However, if you are the kind of person who is inclined to say things like “Actually, there was an exception to this rule! It’s in the backmasked audio at 06:59:32 in the outtakes of episode 192c of Dungeons and Discotheques! :)” I would like to provide you with this actual play line quote from Adaine Abernant in Fantasy High: I think that you feel like you have a lot to offer, and please take this the right way... you don't.

Onto the thoughts, below the jump!

On narrative devices and rules and the random element:

Foreshadowing is possible, but limited to specific circumstances. A GM can (and should) foreshadow! The point of foreshadowing is to set expectations, and GMs should have hints that indicate things about the world that the party may encounter later, provide potential plot hooks, or otherwise provide the party with information. Similarly, players can do things that nod towards as of yet unrevealed elements of their backstories. However, it is impossible to deliberately foreshadow plot resolutions, because it is unknown what they will be. That doesn’t mean that in retrospect things may happen that echo back to earlier events, but the intent to foreshadow was not there - it’s a happy accident.

I don’t want to say normal narrative rules don’t apply because what are the normal narrative rules, really? However, I think an important thing to emphasize is that narrative satisfaction is not guaranteed. This is especially true if the cast has agreed character death is an option, but even beyond that, an unlucky or lucky roll can seemingly cut an arc short or take things in a weird and unforeseen direction. Because there is an element of randomness, randomness will occur. This, along with the character agency I discuss later, is one of my favorite things about actual play. It strips out the need for a moral or message or specific beats - not that those can’t arise, but they can’t be forced - and as such it can make for unusual, creative, and very true-to-life stories even in a fantasy setting.

On character role, viewpoint and agency:

Actual play stories have an ensemble of viewpoint characters (the PCs). This is perhaps the clearest restriction that exists, at least in all of the game systems I’ve mentioned. There is no good way to depict NPCs acting on their own unless the PCs have a way to observe them, unseen (magical or mundane). It is extremely difficult to have one player play multiple PCs, and if a player leaves there is not a good way to recast their PC. This doesn’t mean NPCs can’t do things with each other offscreen that have implications for the story, nor that PCs can’t come and go or become NPCs, but it does mean a good GM is very careful about NPC interactions because it gets very boring and non-collaborative very quickly to watch someone talk with themselves.

The PCs hold a level of agency that characters in other media do not. Statements about how the characters have a mind of their own in original fiction aside (sidebar: I am team ‘they don’t, you just didn’t realize that the way you wrote their personality and the way you wrote your plot conflicted until you actually started writing it out, which is very understandable’) PCs do in fact have a mind of their own separate from the GM and from each other.

Something I like about this is that unless you are coming up with conspiracy theories regarding the interpersonal dynamics of the players themselves (in which case I think you’re both a creep and a weirdo (derogatory)) or if the GM is not respecting player agency (which I feel is usually very easy to see; see below for more on that) you do not get cases of “these characters are together simply because the author felt like pairing them off” as can happen in scripted media. Any romantic relationship is, inherently, a mutually agreed choice between the originators of these characters, and more generally any plot or relationship necessarily needs to have something that appeals to all characters involved. It may be as simple as “these are my friends and I want to keep hanging out”, but, despite this being improv, it’s a medium where saying “no” is always an option.

With that said there is still room for players to be uncooperative or selfish. It’s rare, but it does exist, and I’m personally of the opinion that it’s in part the GM’s responsibility to have a conversation with that player and to not play into their attention grabbing. That said, with one notable exception, all the accusations I’ve seen about this have seemed to me to be more “I don’t like this player/character/ship/arc and I am going to claim they are stealing focus, despite it being justified,” and not genuinely about a player being obnoxious.

Agency separate from the person who creates the world is perhaps the most unique element of actual play and at this point I’m going to talk a little about how a good GM fosters that.

I’ve said before that when a GM has things happen that are not at least mostly a direct response to character actions, they are typically either world-building or a hook, and can be both. I think of this sort of as a variant on Chekhov’s gun, actually; the gun doesn’t have to go off, ultimately, in actual play, but it is saying the following:

This is a world where there are guns hung on the wall sometimes.

Someone else might do something with this gun.

You can attempt to do something with this gun before they do.

And then the players decide how they want to interpret it and what they want to do, and the dice indicate the level of success in doing so.

A good GM should encourage the players to explore and be creative, and more than anything, reward agency. This doesn’t mean rewarding it with success; rather, it means if someone explicitly indicates they want to interact with an element of the world, you should give them the tools such that eventually, they can try to do so. You can also give them reasons in-game why they should change their mind, or make it so that it’s almost certain to fail if that is reasonable, but if you are trying to flat-out shut it down without providing an in-world reason why, the cracks will almost certainly show.

One important thing to remember about GM-ing: GMs will probably come into the game with some ideas of what’s going on in the world, and some level of understanding of what the world looks like. That will be influenced by the players, both in terms of the consequences of their actions and choices, and also by what the players are interested in. Which is to say: even if there is a session zero, and the GM states a specific premise, that can change! Characters develop, player interests change, dice rolls do weird things, and so a good GM absolutely must if not kill their darlings at least remove, recycle, and adapt them based on the direction of the game and motivations of the characters. Even in a plot-driven campaign, the players and GM and what makes them happy needs to drive the story, because fundamentally, this is a game that should be fun. Which brings us to...

On the Watsonian and the Doylist in actual play:

Stepping back for a second: the context in which people are creating fiction influences them. End of sentence. It’s ridiculous to think it doesn’t. This means everything from political events and worldwide trends, to the media the creator is consuming or has consumed, to personal life events. There are always going to be in- and out-of-universe explanations for choices in fiction.

In actual play, the players and GM know the underlying rules of the world, and it’s difficult to truly split the party and have everyone not involved leave in a way that feels fun, so everyone always has information that they can’t really use in-game. Also it’s a fully improvised medium that is primarily theater of the mind, so unconscious choices, misunderstandings, and accidents are frequently not edited out, and people are human. Which is to say I think it’s important to take this into consideration in one’s analysis; it’s not that you can’t incorporate a Watsonian reason for something that happened, but Doylist reasons are given a weight that they may not have in an edited work.

Three of the Doylist reasons beyond the misunderstandings and accidents I wanted to cover are metagaming, awareness that this is for an audience, and character knowledge.

Metagaming exists in many TTRPGs, and it’s not actually inherently bad. When a DM in D&D says “that just hits” you get an idea of the AC of the creature, and you know your own attack rolls, and you can make decisions based on that, when, in a ‘real’ fantasy battle scenario, you probably wouldn’t gain all that insight from a single hit. The rules of the TTRPG are considered part of normal acceptable metagaming. There’s also the more general one; if you start the first session in a tavern, there is an unspoken expectation that the PCs will interact and form an impromptu group and not just quietly drink their ale and leave - basically, the rules of improv still apply. This is a good thing. And finally, there’s the acknowledgement that you are people with feelings and this is a game and so if someone is upset you stop, or you have discussions about consent between sessions that inform actions in-game. Metagaming just gets obnoxious when someone rolls a nat 1 and then argues that this is obvious information and they should know, or looks up every monster in the manual when you encounter it instead of playing true to the character’s knowledge.

In actual play, the ‘hey fellow tavern-goers, would you like to be a group’ form of metagaming, the “oh right this is a story and we should move the story forward,” is even more important than in home D&D games. This is where I recommend listening or reading some Q&As or watching some after shows, because you’ll hear players talk about this. A 5-hour shopping episode or extensive foraging can get boring to watch or listen to (and unlike accidentally boring or frustrating things, are pretty easy to predict and avoid). On the flip side, a risky choice might seem more appealing when you know there’s an audience who would love the payoff.

I am personally, perhaps unsurprisingly given what I said about player dynamic conspiracy theories and randomness (or, outside of this post, my strong dislike of certain popular fan theories), not a big fan of creators catering to audiences’ every whim...but it’s unavoidable that they will take the audience experience in mind.

Finally, character knowledge, which is the opposite of metagaming - when a character knows something the player doesn’t. This is sometimes covered with, for example, GM statements like “you would know, as a person with history proficiency, that this country is actually in a regency period.” If the character had, in improv, before the GM had a chance to say that, mentioned the king, that’s just because the player did not know that and had made an assumption.

Personally I find going deep down the rabbit hole with things like this - “why doesn’t this character, who CLAIMS to be from this country, not know this?”, or clearly OOC statements - tends not to actually spark any interesting theories, but that is, ultimately, an opinion.

A few final thoughts on different formats of actual play

True livestream/live-to-tape (Critical Role, Into the Motherlands, and the second season of Fantasy High): the main thing to keep in mind is Doylist explanations are even more important because there is quite literally no editing. Also, there will possibly be some of those more boring stretches or even a little OOC metagaming discussions within the structure of the game, because there’s no way around it.

Editing, but primarily just to remove long explanations/math and doing soundscaping (NADDPod, Rusty Quill Gaming): Pretty similar; a lot of them even make the choice to leave in OOC metagaming discussions, so it’s mostly that there are fewer cases of people slowly adding numbers.

More extensive editing and possibly some predefined other elements (TAZ, most Dimension 20 shows): this may fall into a more traditional story structure. It’s not to say that there won’t be surprises, because the players do still have agency, but the ‘rails’ might be a little more apparent; there might be some DM monologuing done after the fact (beyond just cleaning up the audio) or choices that were not scripted per se, but not exactly improvised either (think how D20 tends to have pre-set battle maps and earlier seasons had a pretty strict RP/Battle structure.

Somewhat relatedly there are broad story structures, which is more of a spectrum, ranging from sandbox (Critical Role) to very clearly GM-driven missions (TAZ Balance and, to an extent, Amnesty); nearly all of the other shows here fall into a structure of “here is your overall goal, how precisely you get there is up to you although, like any GM, I will provide in-story information on where it may make sense to go that will often funnel you towards specific places.”

I do have a theory that since TAZ Balance in particular was an entry point for so many people, it takes them time to adjust to the more sprawling, unpredictable, and difficult-to-organize stories other actual play can have, but ultimately it is a matter of personal preference and all of these still fall into the category of actual play.

#long post #today in: unsure if anyone wants to read this but that has also never stopped me not even once #and writing this was fun

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danepopfrippery · 3 years

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What We Do in the Shadows: A Rewatch Part 2

Now for the lgbtqi fans: I wanted to go down the Nandor Guillermo route. One fan asked if straights really didnt read Guillermo as gay originally. I can only speak for my boring straight ass but no I didnt. I just take TV as it comes to me, so I dont read into any of it. But unlike what I hear are some shitty reddit fans, I would strongly disagree that the vampires are straight. They have all basically openly admitted to fucking any and every gender and have bi yearly orgies (which Nadja says is ‘ok’ only lol). In fact you could even argue the only really monogamous leaning one is Nadja, as she tries to resist Jesk and never does more than kiss him. But she doesnt seem to care what Laszlo gets up to (literally any and everything) tho she did seem shocked he was dumb enough to fuck ‘anything with long brown hair’ incl Nandor (2X9). I don’t think u can really roll with this show if you aren’t open to all of that.

As for Guillermo he was the general sexless blob in season 1. Season 2 they seemed to be steering him towards women, having him reference if hed stayed at Panera he might have a gf by now. In The Curse (2X4) hes like the action hero saving Shanice. Which can we stop and discuss how ungodly awful she is as a character? I’ve enjoyed every character on this show except her. She doesnt have a real stutter, shes just really bad at speaking. And shes fucking annoying. God I hate her. He should have let her die. But hes too sweet. Thankfully thats the last we’ve seen of her since.

I remember reading an interview towards the end of Season 2 when the interviewer asked Harvey if Guillermo may get his panera bread girlfriend, or what did he want to see. He said nah, and then stated he was gay. I was a little surprised because I just never thought about it. But after that the writers seemed to go full Nandermo which hey why not?

I think Guillermo as a whole character read as just nothing especially to me was the orgy ep hes just dying of embarrassment (grew up VERY catholic) and then stated he wouldnt be partaking cuz he doesnt do anything with anyone. But then when he ran away to the fake vampire (Collaboration 2X8) he seemed...down with the orgy idea but left his dicky on at the least. BTW contrasting Shanice, the best random character is Sam the Cat and I’d like to see more of him. Of course Nandor has eaten cats so hes prbly wise to stay away. As for them as anything well, unlike the nandermo fans Im not holding much hope as an actual plot point. I’m convinced Nandor literally sees him as basically one step below Ja-han (his beloved horse). In the first ep of Season 3 Nandor is the only one to really take pity on Guillermo. He had in the past (checking in on him and trying to win him back in 2X8). He warms some raw chicken for him, keeps them all from immediately killing him for a month lol. When they decide not to kill him and four way hypnotize him, Guillermo thanks them and says he sees them as family. Nandor cuts him off and is like ‘yeah no one cares about ur life story.’ When he says his ‘promotion’ isnt much of dick, Nadja states its better than being dead and ‘bloody better’ than being a familiar. So basically to them familiars are all but dead...they think very little of them. This has been stated several times before, which also shows why before Benji we had not met a familiar turned vampire (but Nandor ONLY did it for Guillermo, which was sweet).

When Guillermo does run away again (2X10) Nadja muses this is why you don’t get close to humans, they either leave or die and muses the cameraman looks like he’ll die soon (I think he said he was 27 lol). Living for 700 years really skews your viewpoint. Nadja is prbly about 500 years old (Nandor is 700 and destroyed her village ‘200 years before she was born’) and assuming they had a familiar for at least 50 years thats 10. But they went thru 10 like in 2019 lololol so shes prbly even more jaded than the avg vampire.

Ja-han (John but basically ‘my universe’ according to people who speak Persian) was Nandor’s horse he loved so much it kept his spirit from moving on. I get it...I tried picturing being in a survival setting and having to kill one of my cats for food. I’d rather die. So hes braver than I am. (Yes Im sure my cats would eat me if it came down to it but their welcome to it).

So we basically open Season 3 on 11 years of Guillermo being there, and Nandor mostly missing him for his slave duties at first, then kinda actually caring about him. I just really vibe it as like your pet, you’re special little guy who is not on your level. I do think when S3 opens and Guillermo references codependency, I do think thats for ALL of them. Some of those assassins were nowhere near Nandor (clean more quietly Im trying to sleep!) but he still saved Laszlo and Nadja.

Its in ep 2 with the cloak Im convinced Guillermo actually realized he cares about Nandor in a more than boss/friend way. He seems shocked when Meg suggests that. What he made of those thoughts afterwards we don’t really know. But when Gail enters the picture again I think he realizes he might need to do with it sooner than later, especially when the ring is brought out. By the Casino ep Guillermo is about to state hes gay before he gets cut off.

I dont think Nandor even realized he fully was in crisis until they ascended the council. Nadja asks wtf is wrong with him, given his love of ceremony (all mail opened in the fancy room) and now hes just mush. He, like Guillermo, seemed confused. Also like Guillermo, he seemed to not look in the house, but outward.

I dont put much stock in that dick fondling scene (omfg that was a ride...and I think mostly fully had us distracted from the actual main plot point). Guillermo finds semen everywhere (2X9 Witches) and MAKES A BUSINESS OFF OF IT. He was also tasked with the orgy prep and I cant imagine Nandor put all those dildos on his own (boy theres a scene we could have used seeing lololol). Someone on here noted he had the dupe body and broke the door down as Nandor was plowing Gail. So I think dick size isnt news to Guillermo...never mind the pantsless dancing in the Gail ep. Someone also said they thought the esteemed vampires heard Guillermo and Nandor arguing (heightened senses) so the fondling scene was just to fuck with him. I like that theory...it vibes with canon. Also very David Cross thing to do.

If all the footage from the preview ad is new, I think the sexy fight scene between Guillermo and Nandor is about him proposing to Gail yet again. Because theres a shot of that and according to Nadja he does that shit all the time. Maybe Gail accepts. Guillermo would not be thrilled (guardian of his heart after all). Also frankly traveling alone is enough of a reason...this man literally didnt know how to pay at a grocery store cash wrap (first ep). How he’d make it is beyond me. I dont think he could see Delaware on his own and be okay lololol.

If there is to be any Nandermo I think it would be next season. Guillermo is his bodyguard but the vampires all constantly forget it and only rarely treat him as above a familiar (basically a slave that shouldnt be seen or heard). Guillermo would have to do something to really put him on equal footing before I think Nandor would even acknowledge that possibility. The fight could do it...someone here noted they would be pretty equally matched (Nandor has super vampire strength and Guillermo is crazy vampire killing talented). Probably one of the only times Nandor looked genuinely proud of him is when he was full vampire rampage in the finale of season 2 (look out behind you!) It was short lived tho (who cares you didnt pick up the fucking laundry lololol).

Whelp 4 more days. I’ll prbly do one more rewatch. God I love this show. Next year wont be soon enough!

#what we do in the shadows #wwdits #nandermo #Guillermo #Nandor #spoilers

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