i'll be real, i always hated it whenever media tries to "critique" Christianity while portraying all Christians as bigoted, misogynistic and irredeemable. its why it matters a lot to me that my own angels have some nuances to them.

Sera is very puritanical and obsessed with showing her devotion to God, but she's still a caring and well-meaning angel.

for the prompt game, if it's still open, maybe 8 with Ghost? maybe with hatefucking and at the point you're both at it's basically a routine but all of the nasty words and cruel moments are really just because you're both brutes that have trouble expressing emotions properly, and all you really want is just some kind of deeper connection with each other, but with your shitty use of words, arguing and eventual growling into into his mouth as you shove him down onto the nearest flat surface is the only way for you to get that. and perhaapps at one point, one of you, reader or ghost doesn't matter, let's something softer and more caring slip through the angry facade? ofc if you already have one for 8 or you just don't like this idea you can im really sorry and you can ignore me, no pressure and I love all your writing :')) <3

Okay anon holy shit this is GOOD! You should think of writing yourself like what I'm seeing in this prompt is good shit :D Play the game HERE

Prompt: "If this is a joke it isn't funny."

CW: NSFW, Sub Bot Ghost, Dom Top MReader, hatefucking, degradation, confessions, soft sex,

It always starts the same; Simon's roughly patting your shoulder and telling you to not cock it up, your equally harsh response for him to keep up with you, rough voices hiding the unsaid 'be careful's. Insults like 'dumbass', 'moron', 'dead weight' crackling over the radio when the other's pinned down by fire, the electric static and suppression fire muting the worry in your voice, the hint of care in Simon's tone.

And it always ends the same; harsh stares across the room while you debrief Price, casualty numbers turning into critiques of the other— you should have noticed the terrorist, Simon should have kept the sniper in mind — prickling barbs and venomed words turning into shoves and punches, leaving bruises on each other's skin instead of the kisses you want to lay down.

Soap loves comparing you to dogs, and that's what you are— animals; talking would kill you both so you end up expressing yourselves through teeth and claws. There's blood on your tongue as you push Simon onto the bed and he pulls you down with his teeth digging into your bottom lip, rough fingers pulling away clothes only to push into bruised flesh, drawing hisses and growls.

'I want you' Ghost wants to say, instead "Stop being a pussy," comes out, blunt nails dragging deep scratches down your back. 'I'm happy you're alive' "You fuck as bad as you fight." Simon tastes blood as he kisses you, both of you struggling to pin the other to the bed.

"Shut up." 'I missed you' you snarl and pin him on his front, trapping his massive arms behind his back so he has no support, his head pushed into the pillows and arse high in the air, your thigh parting his legs. You huff a laugh when you see his cock already hard, hanging uselessly between his thighs. "Slag, good for nothing but taking it up the ass." 'I care for you'.

'You're important to me' Simon swallows the blood and spit in his mouth, jerking in a half-hearted attempt to free himself. "'least ah have a use," he growls, chest stuttering for breath as you bear down even more weight on him. You push your fingers into his mouth to wet them and Simon bites down, loving you with his teeth first, the sting of pain binding you together.

"Yeah, as a cocksleeve." 'I'm sorry' You don't give him a warning, just pull your fingers from his mouth and push into his ass. It's only enough lube to not tear him, but the stretch hurts, burns, and Simon both loves and hates how this roughness makes his cock hard and heart flutter.

"That-hah-" Ghost pants into the sheets, eyes prickling with tears with how he tries to keep them open, body forced to submit to you as your fingers stretch him, fuck him, tenderly brushing against his prostate before pushing to the last knuckle, pain and pleasure burning up his spine. "-that's not true."

Pulling out your fingers you give him a sharp slap on his ass, "Sure is," You use what saliva you have on your hand to wet your cock, swirling the drool in your mouth before you spitting right on his hole for extra wetness, your sudden action making his spasming hole clench and relax reflexively. "Look at how you're clenching." You mount him, pushing your weight down on him until he can barely breathe, cock bobbing against his hole. "Acting like such a bitch!"

You ram in him to put emphasis on the word and Simon bites his tongue so hard it bleeds, resisting letting any noises out. He's never vocal in bed, no matter how hard you fuck him, how many bruises your hips leave on his ass or how many hickeys you lay on his throat, how often your balls slap against his, he never utters more than a low groan.

But he wants to; good god Simon wants to tell you how good you feel, how every brush of your cockhead against his prostate has him seeing stars, how much he loves feeling you pound into him, who bodies bound into one by such a primal connection. . . but he can't, his mouth clamps up when he tries and even if he manages to spit something out it just comes out as venom, earning him firm slaps on his ass and your weight bearing further down on him.

You spill into him, pinning him so hard beneath your weight he can barely breathe, only remembering to rub him into an orgasm when your balls are good and empty, cock plugging his hole full of your cum. Your hands are harsh, his panting ringing in your ears until his cock twitches and he cums onto the sheets beneath him, whole body shaking to hold his moans in.

You collapse onto him, just enough sense in your head to roll you two onto your sides so he isn't laying in his spend or suffocating beneath you. Uncomfortable silence rings in your ears as you pant, bile churning in your stomach; This is your usual, soon enough Simon will tell you to shove off, he'll get up, take a piss, and leave.

And this song and dance will repeat until one of you dies.

Even without sight you feel Simon open his mouth, vestiges of harsh words burning on his tongue. Maybe it's post-orgasmic bliss that makes you speak, "Hey," Your hands tighten around his middle, "Stay the night." You curl around him like a lover; something you know you're not.

He shuts his mouth so quickly you hear the 'click' of his teeth, whole body freezing because this is as new for him as it is for you. "If this is a joke," He growls, turns his head just enough for you to catch his glare. "It's not funny."

Your tongue burns with the usual words— 'Only joke here is you' — but you don't, instead a slow and low "I'm not kidding." escapes you, like something forbidden, something to keep secret lest you get divine punishment.

Simon's mind buffers like an old computer, too many thoughts stuffing his head that he can't understand a single one. This is too far removed from the usual, hummingbirds knocking on his skull as a warning. But his body relaxes while he's still thinking, a stagnant breath escaping his lungs. "Fine."

You think of saying something, but it's better not to. Instead you huddle closer to him, still connected in a carnal way but now it feels so much more. . . intimate. Your hands wander over his toros, a gentle exploration instead of a race for release, your fingers carding through his body hair down his happy trail and up again.

Simon's head tils back to give you access to his neck, your lips soft against his skin as you kiss the bruises you'd left, both of your bodies slowly moving to close the small space between you two, urged to share your warmth.

You shift your hips, only realizing you're hard again when Simon moans. Moans. "Sorry," You duck your head, hands gripping his hips to pull out but he stops you, a rough sound in his throat.

"No," Simon doesn't look at you though the blush across his face is easy to spot. "Keep going," Tilting his hips back into yours tears a moan from both of you. Your cum eases the slide in, his walls stretched and pliant, wetly sucking you in like a needy thing.

Another time you'd have laughed at how desperate he's acting, but the low moans and a little "Fuck, just like that," you earn by rolling your hips has your mind shutting off. You can't believe how vocal he's suddenly become, getting louder the slower and gentler you move your hips, your cock slowly pushing in and out of his hole.

You bury your head in his neck and blindly stroke his leaking cock, kissing the skin under your lips, your eyes closed shut as you thrust into him slowly, your tender and slow movements pulling moan after moan out of him. His hand winds back to cup the back of your neck, pulling you up just enough to give you an awkward kiss but it's sweet and raw and so desperate—

You don't notice he's cumming until his walls clamp down on you, Simon whispering "I love you," so soft and quiet under his breath that you don't hear him, too busy filling him up a second time, but your mind buzzes with warmth all the same.

You lay as you were, somehow so exhausted that even moving an inch is anathema to you. Both of you, it seems, if the way Simon's back is warm and pliant against your chest, his breathing slow and steady. Tomorrow you'll need to talk (or do your best substitution of it), but for tonight, you can hug him close and finally have an answer to what it would feel like to have him close without the sex, to just be with him. . .

the blatant didactic nature of the gojou's racist comment scene

the way people talk about the racist comment gojou made is baffling to me. completely baffling.

gege seems to have lefty leanings and jjk is pretty lefty too. it's not super lefty, it's not fully enlightened on all possible fronts, not even close to as left as most tumblr fandom would want to be or imagine themselves to be. most of you fail miserably because you are averse to self-awareness and interrogating your own internalised bigotry and it plays a huge part in the outrage about chapter 255.

jjk can be easily criticised from the left. very fucking easily, but most of the fandom just doesn't know how and any criticisms they make on how jjk handles lefty issues usually fall so fucking flat and honestly often veer into into criticising jjk from a right wing and fundie religious pov. that's just the truth, i've personally dissected some of such takes, mostly about the performative feminism in the fandom that is aggressively terf flavoured.

so i will do some more mild lefty critique in the context of the recent gojou flashback. by explaining to the loud functionally illiterate part of the fandom what gege likes to do in the story. like what very basic, unsubtle things gege does in the story to push their lefty leanings. so this is as much a critique of the text of jjk as it is of the fandom.

______

jjk's target audience are japanese teenagers. idk if gege thinks they are writing mostly for boys but i wouldn't be surprised by that, that is the stereotype, even though i think a lot of teens who aren't boys passionately read shounen titles too. especially something like jjk that aggressively panders to the not straight male gaze.

what gege did with gojou making the racist comment, they'd done before with toudou and megumi. and with yuuji and ozawa. i mean the very unsubtle rhetorical didactic technique they used. gege took their presumed teenage male reader by the hand and led him through a basic lefty concept.

(they also tried to do it with momo and nobara and mai but that one is such a mess and honestly a failure because gege mushes in too many topics and really doesn't stick the landing on some, that it fails to be a simplistic didactic moment like the other ones. it'd be too much of a tangent to go into it)

megs & toudou aka gege explaining to teen boys how not to end up someone akin to an incel

when toudou asked megumi his type, as readers are very clearly led to understand that megumi's point of view is the correct one.

megumi's answer about character being what matters gets clear approval from the two girls present. gege points to the teenage boy reader, look, if you want girls to think you’re okay, think like megumi.

and toudou is very clearly written as cringe, as a guy who tries to be edgy but simps for an idol. there is a stigma in japan against men who obsess about idols because they are considered immature, unable to handle having interactions with other humans and forming parasocial relationships instead. so toudou's rejection of megumi's thinking is put into context. his behaviour puts women off, and shouldn't be taken seriously because he's likely a virgin, too afraid to talk to a real woman.

the attempt is good, but not perfect. because the social ridicule men like toudou get is really annoying, because it's just trying to shame them into being "normal", and it doesn't address the underlying societal and cultural issues that lead to men turning to parasocial relationships for emotional fulfilment. so i'd say 8/10. pretty high because toudou at least was like: don't be homophobic.

ozawa & yuuji aka gege explaining to teen boys how to be a borderline decent human being, and to people with low self esteem due to cultural shunning that they deserve more than basic human decency

gege does the same thing with yuuji and ozawa. ozawa has deeply internalised her fatfobia and turned it into self hatred. she develops a crush on yuuji because he considered her attractive. yes, i think yuuji is generally great and would make a partner happy, but ozawa's primary motivation is that he's normal about her. this teaches the reader: yuuji is the best one among the boys because he's not shallow and fatphobic. but also with ozawa not pursuing yuuji when she got slim, it shows people like her not to settle for the bare minimum of being treated with basic decency. it would've been better if ozawa didn't turn slim because i've seen cis male fans really gloss over everything else, but it's not a completely meaningless attempt. it's just like 5/10.

gojou & miguel aka gege explaining to teen boys how certain widespread stereotypes are actually bigoted

gege has gojou say an openly bigoted thing, get instant push back for it from the affected party and apologise to the person he hurt. it literally teaches the reader, we all have biases, we all are ignorant about things, even the people who the society elevates and puts on a pedestal. and when that happens, when our ignorance is pointed out to us, when it hurts someone, we should not argue, we shouldn’t treat their push back as a personal attack, we should just simply apologise. there's no attempt at gojou apologetics in the text. 10/10, the best of gege's attempts.

_

racism and colourism and cultural chauvinism are prominent cultural and societal issues in japan. japan also has huge issues with abelism, misogyny, queerphobia, fatphobia to name the biggest ones i can think of. but also these issues are pervasive in all other countries around the world, just to varying degrees. there's no country that is perfect on any of these, some are objectively better on some, but never all, than others and some market themselves as better but are actually fucking awful.

one of the most globalised things is bigotry, it spreads like wildfire. but it also spreads in ways that most people don't understand. you need to be taught critical thinking and reading comprehension and actually taught that they can exist in the first place to pick up on these things, no one is born with these skills and knowledge. if people never encounter stereotypes like "black people are naturally stronger" challenged or discussed, they will not know that 1. they are not true, 2. that they are actually harmful. because on the surface it kinda looks like praise, and people will propagate it thinking that it's praise. gojou isn't trying to insult miguel, his apology makes it clear. he lived in a culture where this opinion was widespread and never thought about it, it vaguely sounded like praise to his ignorance. it doesn't mean that what he said wasn't racist because his intentions were good. i've written before what i think about using intentions to excuse shitty behaviour, i've actually written about it specifically in the context of how the fandom treats gojou's shitty behaviour.

we all have these internalised bigoted opinions in ourselves, not because we're all bad people but because we're surrounded by them. as children we initially trust adults until we learn better that not everyone should be trusted. or that some people can be trusted about some stuff but not everything. so we take what we hear from them at face value. same with the media that we’re all bombarded with. someone has to teach us to notice these things. (if you think you're morally pure and only have good opinions it means that you've not worked through much. there are so many complex issues in our cultures and societies that it's impossible not to have blind spots. but also it means that you're closed to evolving your opinions. many views that used to be progressive 20, 10 years ago are not seen as such anymore. certain interpretations are proposed, seem good but get challenged, and usually turn out to be reductive. believing that there’s some finite and established set of morally good opinions means that you just want a cheat sheet to perform moral purity to get societal brownie points, you’re not really interested in reality)

we need to first learn that we have the biases we do and then also be open to interrogating our preconceived notions, to be actually capable of shedding them. we need to not take personally being called out on it.

but that's hard. the morality policing that is so pervasive online leads many people to never wanting to be wrong. because others will be horrid about it and will never forget. there's no incentive to get better on issues, or grapple with one's own biases when many people online will never accept the idea that someone can make a mistake, be corrected and take that correction to heart and do better from there on. you have one chance to get it right and then well, morally impure brand forever.

and this is one crux of the issue with fandom's reaction to the scene in 255. gojou is shown to have a racist blind spot and happily regurgitates a racist comment. and what happens next doesn't matter. the fandom has decided that gojou is forever tainted because he wasn't fully enlightened to begin with.

what gege did is one of the best ways a story can be aggressively didactic about something like this. show a person doing a bad thing and then show how to sincerely apologise. no apologetics, no relativism, very short, to the point.

but in this day and age, with how people perform leftism through media consumption and fandom, this is met with vitriol. and that's fucking scary because it will make it toxic for others to attempt stuff like this. all of you misinterpreting this so aggressively is actually harmful. idk how much of this will get to gege and other mangaka but it might make some of them believe that it's better to never touch any societal issues because it's not worth the backlash, most of which stems out of either actual lack of reading comprehension or malicious misinterpretation. because gege did it correctly and the fandom just will not accept that.

to the rabid and loud parts of the fandom, gojou having this flaw is either:

the author is just being a dick to their character, therefore the true gojou that lives in his fans' heads is not racist.

or what gojou did actually wasn't racist uwu, or his intentions were pure uwu, it's not that important and you're overreacting.

or gege is racist for even mentioning racism... some of you really think you are leftists and then parrot this tired far right tactic: i'm not bigoted, you're bigoted for mentioning bigotry...

and all of these, all of these completely miss the point of that scene.

_

this is one of the 3 recent gojou scenes that i think are meant to be redeeming for his major flaws selfishness and insensitivity, and the only one that in my opinion actually works.

the one that is completely garbage and confusing is the one with gakuganji, gojou seemingly is trying to appoint someone to provide structure to the rebuilding after the whole sukuna debacle. like i think it's meant to show gojou actually taking responsibility for his failures (the whole mention of yaga) and show practical concern over futures of the people in his care. previously he kinda showed responsibility over what happened to riko and getou but it was all kinda mired with him getting a power up, and him really still being an irresponsible and selfish guy later on. and all he had to offer the teens he recruited as child soldiers was some "better jujutsu society" that very pointedly lacked on any fucking details as to what it could've been. and him ceding responsibility onto gakuganji, one of the pillars of the previous system really kinda shows hoe vacuous gojou's ideals were. -10/10 on the redemption attempt.

the one that feels very tone deaf is gojou telling ijichi that he trusts him the most. ijichi literally thought that gojou could hit him a few months before that. ijichi a lower ranking person in a hierarchy, believed that a higher ranking person could hit him. the kind of bullying and disrespect that leads someone to believe that is serious, honestly gojou and ijichi kinda remind me of an abusive family dynamic, where the abuser sporadically and irregularly drops some kindness to confuse the victim and make them not leave. and the last act of kindness just doesn't feel that meaningful. 0/10 on the redemption scale.

but this with miguel? a 10/10 redemption moment. gojou isn't prideful when his racism is called out, isn't trying to diminish what he did, isn't avoidant. he apologises. that's it. this is why it actually is a very simple argument against the "gege hates gojou" bs.

that "gege hates gojou" is stupid in general, because it's basically based on the belief that giving a character flaws means the author hates them. and this stems from far right moral purity ideologies that a lot of people have never challenged in themselves. that's why there's so much harassment and vitriol over finding out people put on a pedestal have flaws.

gojou is flawed. each and every one of us is flawed. we all have biases and blind spots and internalised bigoted views, many of which we don't realise we have because we usually don't think about those topics. that point is what we do with that, how we react to realising that a thing we had as some background belief is actually a harmful stereotype. if it's just in our heads then interrogate it, where did it come from, maybe there's more shit like that in our minds that we need to tackle. if we say it, then acting like gojou is actually the way to go. apologise, if necessary do more remediation, and then interrogate where it came from.

having bad opinions doesn't make anyone an intrinsically immoral and impure person. what they do when those opinions are challenged and how they act / what they say next time is the mark of their character.

so many of you moral purity fuckers, who deem themselves leftists, want media to be morality plays. want media to take you by the hand and show you right from wrong. and when an author actually does that, the exact thing you claim you want them to, it literally flies over your fucking heads.

A Critique of ACV: The Last Chapter (SPOILERS!)

I wanted to hold off on sharing my thoughts about the new content until I’d given The Last Chapter time to breathe, because I was honestly hoping that maybe if I gave it some time, I wouldn’t dislike it so much. But the more I think about it, the more I find things to dislike about it. Which is why what started out as a quick write-up of my thoughts immediately after playing The Last Chapter has now spiraled into this very long critique that got so long I needed to add subheadings to break it up. 

Sorryyyyy. 

I’m basically spoiling everything from The Last Chapter here, along with Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and parts of its expansions. I also briefly mention a few other Assassin’s Creed games, mainly Odyssey and one of its DLCs. My point being, if you don’t want to know anything then please look away now. Or don’t. But I know I would have appreciated a warning before diving into this mess. 💀

As a disclaimer: this essay is not meant to be an attack, nor is it meant to place blame squarely at the feet of Darby Mcdevitt, or any of the other writers or developers involved with the game. There are so many moving parts in a game as expansive and with as much add-on content as Valhalla, and I can only guess what happened behind the scenes that brought us to this point. I don’t know who wrote what, who made what creative decisions, and I therefore don’t feel comfortable placing blame on anyone in particular. I have never worked for Ubisoft and I can therefore only speculate about their internal culture based on what has been leaked from the company over the years. Furthermore, this is not an invitation to personally attack anyone involved in the development of this game on Twitter or wherever else. This is purely an attempt on my part to articulate why me and so many other fans of Valhalla and of Eivor feel so profoundly emotionally betrayed by this ending, as well as outline some factors that I believe contributed to the way the game was mishandled. 

So. I think I had already accepted when the trailer released back in September that something like this was going to happen. I had already done my mourning for the fact that Eivor would never get the send-off she deserved, which is why I think I’m a lot less upset than I would have been otherwise… but that doesn't make this suck any less. The Last Chapter was completely underwhelming, it was emotionally unsatisfying, it completely butchered Eivor's character, it felt incomplete, and rushed, and it felt more like a teaser for Mirage than anything close to the conclusion Eivor’s story deserved.

The (Character) Assassination of Eivor Varinsdottir

When we first meet Eivor as an adult, she is overconfident, brash, and she has just gotten in over her head and gotten both herself and her crew captured by the enemy. She is in the 17th year of a quest for revenge she has been in pursuit of since she was nine years old. She has spent more than half of her life hunting Kjotve, the man who stole her parents, her clan, and her childhood from her, and is fully prepared to die if need be to kill him. She is an orphan who was taken in by the Raven Clan after the slaughter of her own people, and she considers these people to be her new family. Her love for her family and community are central to Eivor’s character right from the beginning. While she learns and grows past some of her flaws throughout the game, her love for her community and her loyalty to them is what sticks with her. 

Eivor also starts the game carrying an immense amount of shame for how her father died, laying down his axe in the hope that the rest of his clan would be spared, only for he and most of his people to be slaughtered anyway. Through her time spent acting as a leader to the Raven Clan–first as a warrior and later as their Jarlskona–Eivor finally understands by the end of the game why Varin did what he did, because she realizes that she would make the exact same choice to protect her people. Eivor, too, would choose to die in “dishonor” if it offered even the smallest chance to save her loved ones. 

Eivor is the reincarnation of Odin; she carries his memories and his thoughts, unbeknownst to her. She has visions and prophetic dreams and hears his voice in her head, but spends much of the game not understanding the meaning of it all. The part of her that is Odin pushes her toward chasing personal glory, toward the pursuit of knowledge, toward selfishness. But she chooses to abandon all that in favor of the people she loves, even as Odin rages and screams insults into her ear and calls her a coward–the one thing she has always been most fearful of becoming. Odin is a representation of everything she has been told to value in life, and she is (literally) pulled in the opposite direction by Sigurd, Randvi, Hytham, Valka, Gunnar, Soma… everything else. 

Eivor never truly seems to grasp the meaning of her connection to Odin, Sigurd’s connection to Tyr, Basim’s connection to Loki, or anything about the sages or the Isu at all. Not in the base game or in any of the DLCs. She never really acknowledges it explicitly until The Last Chapter. 

Put a pin in that.

Family and community are central to Eivor’s character. Loyalty is central to Eivor’s character. Honor is central to Eivor’s character. That’s why it makes absolutely no sense for Eivor to drop everything, seemingly out of nowhere, to go back to Vinland alone and live out the rest of her days learning from Odin, the part of her that she explicitly rejected at the end of the main game. And it certainly doesn’t justify Eivor deciding to leave Ravensthorpe in the middle of the night without a farewell, regardless of who she supposedly said goodbye to offscreen. It doesn’t justify her completely sudden and out of character decision to walk away from her clan, her family without a true goodbye. Eivor spends the entire base game acting as Jarl in Sigurd’s stead in everything but title, because Sigurd has all but completely abandoned the clan in order to chase his own ambitions, only for Eivor to supposedly do the very same thing? No. It’s completely incongruent with her character and actively contradicts facts that were established in the main game.

There are so many other inconsistencies, including the fact that I highly doubt Valka–the same Valka who we saw warn Eivor against digging too deeply in her visions in the intro to The Forgotten Saga–would simply accept Eivor departing for another continent to delve deeper into her visions. But the way they miswrote Eivor’s character was particularly glaring. There could have been a version of the last chapter in which Eivor's motivations actually made sense, but that version needed so much more evidence for it to be believable. Reading between the lines is one thing, but expecting players to accept the conclusions you’re feeding them without planting any seeds beforehand is just lazy writing. [insert “HE WOULDN’T FUCKING SAY THAT” meme]

The RPG structure is the root of all evil (I know just… hear me out on this)

I think applying an RPG structure to Assassin’s Creed was a mistake, and have thought so for a while, but not really for the reason you’re probably thinking of. The “but we’re reliving another person’s memories in the animus, so how can it possibly make sense to allow us to make choices that affect the narrative?” reason. My criticism of the addition of choices is mainly this: I think that by trying to “expand” the story by adding RPG elements and dialogue options, they instead ended up severely limiting themselves. Because the problem with adding dialogue options to Assassin’s Creed is they can never take those choices to their conclusion. They can never truly have consequences.

Trying to tell a linear story with a non-linear structure like this doesn’t work, or at the very least, it hasn’t worked in Assassin’s Creed thus far. Odyssey came closer, I think, because it had multiple distinct outcomes and player choices actually had an affect on the trajectory of the plot (Mostly. Hi, Legacy of the First Blade. I’m coming for you in a minute.). Odyssey's multiple endings present a different problem entirely in the context of Assassin’s Creed because despite the input of choice, there is still a canon version of the story and a canon ending. It leaves those players that arrived at a different outcome feeling alienated, and like their choices were incorrect or simply didn't matter. 

But in Valhalla, all roads lead to more or less the same destination and most decisions have no impact on the trajectory of the story. The problem that arises from this is that players will make their choices and expect some sort of payoff, as they should. But they won’t really get it. As per Darby McDevitt, for example, Sigurd always goes back to Norway at some point, regardless of whether a player ends up with the “good” or the “bad” ending. Sigurd returning to Norway is a fixed point and the timeline will always course correct, so to speak, to reach that end. 

(Thank you @/vikingnerd793 for the screenshot!)

Everyone gets more or less the same version of The Last Chapter, with the siblings’ interactions only varying slightly after the “bad” ending to reflect the fact that Eivor and Sigurd haven’t seen each other in a while. But even with the tiny variations in dialogue that exist, a few changed lines in a scene that doesn't last any longer than two minutes still fail to make Eivor and Sigurd's supposed off-screen reconciliation feel even remotely earned. Ubisoft wanted to offer “choice” while not following through with emotional payoff for those choices because they only wanted a single ending. Even if a player ends the main game with Sigurd deciding to stay in Norway as a result of Eivor’s “betrayal,” the consequences of that to their relationship are never truly explored.

Having only one ending with no variations in an RPG means that they couldn’t address any of the plot points that could have been affected by player choices. Interpersonal conflicts are watered down or only vaguely referenced. They couldn’t truly address the state of Eivor and Sigurd’s relationship because that would depend on what endgame the player reached. They couldn’t give Randvi an actual goodbye because some people didn’t romance her and therefore it might feel “forced” to those people, despite her being a major character. Vili–despite apparently being Eivor’s best friend–can’t appear because for some people, he’s busy being the Jarl of Snotinghamscire. There is no true emotional follow through for any of the choices made throughout the game. The end result is a goodbye tour consisting of Aelfred, Guthrum, and Harald, three people who Eivor has little to no emotional attachment to, but whose roles in the game are fixed no matter what choices the player makes, which means they’re safe to use. To be clear, Hytham’s role in the narrative is also fixed, but the reason I separate him from the other three is because he is actually emotionally significant to Eivor. His goodbye, unlike the other three, feels earned. 

To be clear, I don’t place the blame entirely on the writers for this because, as I’ve said, they were given a franchise that revolves around linear stories, told to put dialogue options into it, and make sure all those choices still lead to the same conclusion. As an extension of that, they brought back people who worked on the base game two years after its release to tie up loose ends that should have been dealt with years ago. I wouldn't be surprised if those same creators have all since moved on from this story and its characters, both creatively and emotionally. It's been two years. Even longer than that since they actually worked on the game. I wouldn't fault them for not having the same enthusiasm they once did. But the end result is a last chapter that feels almost completely devoid of emotion, and ties up absolutely none of the loose ends that most people would expect from a permanent “goodbye.” It fails to reach the emotional highs and lows that a conclusion with two years of build up should have. 

Which now brings me to Randvi. 

Oh, Randvi, now and forever shackled to her map table. 

I know this will be a hard pill to swallow for a lot of people, but I always suspected that they would never actually follow through on making Randvi and Eivor's relationship canon despite the fact that it is indisputably the most fleshed out romance in the game. They are hinted at right from the beginning, in the form of Randvi’s clear dissatisfaction with her marriage to Sigurd and in Eivor’s lingering gazes. It is the only romance option in the game that has any effect on one of Eivor’s core internal conflicts: remaining loyal to her brother. “The wind calls [her] back to Randvi” after almost every single regional arc, whether players choose to pursue a romance or not.

But Darby McDevitt Official Headcanon or no, I never thought Ubisoft would "force" another romance after the backlash from Odyssey's Legacy of the First Blade (I told you I’d come back to it). I truly believe the company will and has happily suffered criticism from the Queer community for forcing a relationship on gamers who played Kassandra as a lesbian. Kassandra who, prior to the DLC, also never shows any interest in starting a family, or becoming a mother, or “continuing the family line”, as would become Ubisoft’s flimsy correction to the storyline after the criticisms started rolling in. But I highly doubt they would be okay with alienating the bigots who seem to form the loudest portion of their player base. That would be too much of a risk to their bottom line. 

To me, the romance plotline in Legacy of the First Blade was the inevitable result of Ubisoft wanting to tell a linear story with a non-linear structure. I think they did so without thinking through the implications of letting players choose their character's sexuality, only to then backtrack on it later because they needed Kassandra to have a baby. And what they seemed to take away from that was only that all forced romance is bad, without grasping the nuance of why that particular forced romance was so bad. This isn’t to say there should be any forced romance at all but that it should have served as a lesson of why one shouldn’t make a game with so much emphasis on player choice, only to take that choice away and even retroactively nullify those choices when it suits the needs of the plot. But that wasn't Ubisoft's takeaway. So in Valhalla, they pulled back. They made all player choices matter just a little bit less.

Eivor and Randvi’s relationship is inarguably handled with more care than any of the other romances in the game. It is inextricable from the narrative, whether it is a romantic relationship or a friendship. But despite any amount of blatantly obvious subtext that exists, Valhalla is still an RPG and the creators cannot confirm or deny any of the choices as correct or incorrect. And because they have to cater to all possible endings, they cannot address Eivor and Randvi’s relationship in any capacity because it might be misconstrued as being forced. Despite every overt piece of evidence that exists, Valhalla is still technically an RPG and at the end of the day, plenty of people did not choose Randvi. No amount of narrative director headcanons or heavy subtext will change the fact that Randvi is a seemingly meaningless choice in a sea of meaningless choices, and has now remained so permanently.

Ubisoft just really sucks as a company, actually

Everything that I am about to say in this section (and honestly, most of the next one as well) is conjecture because again, I don't know how certain creative decisions were reached behind the scenes. This isn't just about Randvi, or about Eivor's sexuality. It’s also about Ubisoft’s long and storied history of internal misconduct and suppression of marginalized voices. It's about Ubisoft's history of employee abuse in general. It's about the fact that Ubisoft suddenly decided to let players choose their gender, but only once they finally got around to making mainline titles starring women. Syndicate’s Jacob and Evie share the role of protagonist, and would have also shared equal screen time if Evie’s role hadn’t been significantly minimized throughout production in favour of her brother. Aya was originally meant to replace Bayek as the main playable character early on in Origins, but was later reduced to a side character who is only playable in a few missions throughout the game. Aya, the founder of the Hidden Ones. The order that would later evolve into the Assassins. The order that is the namesake of the entire franchise, just to be clear. Odyssey was originally conceived as Kassandra’s game, before the developers were made to allow players the choice to play as Alexios. Every female protagonist in the franchise thus far has been minimized in some way, and Eivor is unfortunately no different. 

Assassin's Creed is a huge enough brand at this point that they could have easily released Odyssey with only Kassandra, and Valhalla with only Eivor. But instead of taking a "risk" and doing just that, they added the male options to cater to a small but vocal minority of misogynistic piss babies who don't want women to exist in their video games, period. At least, certainly not as fully realized characters with personalities and thoughts and feelings of their own. That would require acknowledging women as people, rather than as identical playthings that mostly exist as a social stealth mechanic for them to hide behind when they need a cover. 

It’s especially funny because it was such a futile effort. That very same group of people was never not going to complain about Assassin’s Creed going “woke” for having female protagonists, even if they were optional. Those people were going to complain no matter what, and they absolutely have as evidenced by the fact that they've been having a conniption on Twitter for the past few months now that Eivor is suddenly getting even half of the attention from the marketing team that Havi has gotten for two years. The comments section on every official social media post featuring Eivor is a sea of people complaining about how “female” Eivor being canon makes no sense, how her voice sucks, how she is just the result of Ubisoft pandering to a “woke” demographic. The “fan” response could not be more blatantly misogynistic. What’s more, Ubisoft bases the trajectory of their games at least partially on fan responses. It’s a toxic feedback loop of them making creative decisions built on sexism and the fans responding in turn. 

Ubisoft deciding to implement gender choice as a mechanic didn't happen because they suddenly had a change of heart after happily ignoring their female players for years. It happened because they got busted for the "women don't sell" comments and the company's history of burying sexual assault allegations, and because they finally caught on to the fact that catering to gamers that aren't cishet men might actually be profitable. And it wasn't for lack of trying from the devs within the company because again, Origins was originally conceived as being Aya's game, Evie and Jacob were at the very least supposed to have equal screen time when development on Syndicate was in the early stages, Elise's role in Unity was also reduced... you get the idea.

Letting people choose to play as a woman or letting people choose to play as a Queer person is great. But it's an obvious cop out when your company also has a history of suppressing those very same voices, has done next to nothing to remedy the toxic company culture that encourages that behaviour in the first place, and when you've been dragging your feet as a developer about making your games even just a bit more inclusive for years. It’s an empty gesture when those female characters need to be watered down just enough for their male counterparts to make some amount of sense in the story, and when the marketing for the game hides them away like some kind of shameful secret. 

Suddenly making games starring female protagonists because you’ve realized that it might be profitable, while also making it optional anyway, isn’t exactly the win for representation they seem to think it is. Especially when the marketing favours the non-canon, male protagonists so totally that most people would assume Eivor and Kassandra are skins of their male counterparts. Because heaven forbid the poor baby boys have their escapist fantasy shaken if they have to play as a woman who’s better at getting girls than they are. Making your representation optional makes your representation look half-assed and while I absolutely adore Eivor and Kassandra, I mourn what they could have been if their stories were allowed to be fully theirs. 

Perhaps I’m being overly harsh and Ubisoft simply decided to implement gender choice in Valhalla in good faith. I honestly wouldn’t care if I thought it had, or if AC games had always allowed players to choose their gender. But considering the company’s history, and considering the game’s marketing, I somehow doubt that. Especially when, in their first game featuring a canon male protagonist since before AC pivoted to RPGs, they are not giving players the option to choose their gender. 

Hi Basim. 

Now don’t get me wrong. I obviously understand why Mirage doesn’t allow players to choose their gender; Basim is a pre-existing character, and it really wouldn’t make sense. But it is so transparent that they are willing to jump through narrative hoops to explain why Alexios is playable as the Eagle Bearer, but the same thing can’t be done for Basim. I suppose the importance of coming up with convoluted reasons as to why your protagonist’s gender is so easily changeable fades away when you’re not trying to replace a woman. 

But what’s this? By God it’s–it’s Mirage with a steel chair!

The final content update for Valhalla feels like a teaser for Mirage. Full stop. If you think I'm being too harsh or unfair, then that's your prerogative. But in The Last Chapter, in the long-awaited conclusion to Eivor’s story, we don't even get to play as Eivor. The entire questline (if it can even be considered that much) consists almost entirely of cutscenes, which we view through Basim's perspective while Eivor is relegated to a side character. It’s a collection of Eivor’s memories that are supposedly filtered by emotional intensity, as Basim puts it. Grief, longing, sadness: all emotions that I fail to see being presented in the memories they gave us, at least for the most part. For the first time in Valhalla, we are voyeurs to Eivor’s memories rather than experiencing her life through her own eyes. The role of the animus user in past Assassin’s Creed games has always been pretty unobtrusive, but The Last Chapter constantly reminds us that Basim is there and watching. "Animus magic," as Basim calls it, was less of a necessity to the plot and felt a lot more like Ubisoft's marketing department gone awry. 

I'm thinking about what Basim says at the end of the base game, when he is in the modern day and speaking to Eivor's remains. When he says, "I can take from you anything I want... your memories, your skills, your secrets. They're all mine." It's so ironic because he really stole Eivor's ending right out from under her, and I would have to laugh if it didn’t suck so much. It's all I could think about while I was watching Basim flippantly scrub through some of Eivor's most "emotional" memories which for some reason include… saying goodbye to Guthrum, a character we spend very little time with in the grand scheme of things, and who Eivor has next to no emotional attachment to. I understand the desire to tie up loose ends in terms of the historical events that were happening around this time, and they absolutely should have done all that because Assassin’s Creed has always been, in part, an exploration of history. But it should not have happened at the cost of providing closure for characters who were such significant figures in Eivor’s life.

I thought the Roshan quest was fun and I loved her and Eivor’s dynamic, even if we only got a small glimpse of it. But it was development time that could have been spent on wrapping up Eivor’s narrative instead of making another timeline agnostic add-on stealth mission in a game that has always had notoriously janky stealth mechanics. I look forward to seeing more of Roshan in Mirage and can now rest easy knowing that she is going to survive to the end of that game (although I cannot fathom why they decided to spoil that so early on). But they used what was apparently very limited time to give us a quest, very clearly a nod to Mirage, that does more to promote their next AAA title than serve the narrative of Valhalla.

Using the ending of a game to lead into the next is fine and is to be expected. But that transition should not come at the cost of a resolution for the story you're leaving behind. And really, it seems there was far more thought put into Basim and William Miles' first meeting than how Eivor came to the decision to leave for Vinland. 

I think Basim is an incredibly rich, complex character, and it will be interesting to see what direction they take his prequel. But as someone who has actually been really excited for Mirage, the way they've dealt with this transition between games has left me feeling so conflicted, not least of all because of how quickly Ubisoft dropped the ball on Valhalla as soon as Mirage was announced. I’m not sure I’ll be able to look at everything we will be gaining with Basim in the next game without also feeling bitter about everything we lost with Eivor. It’s not terribly surprising, since Ubisoft has never treated Eivor’s character with any amount of respect; not in the marketing, and not in most of the post-launch content that has come out in the past year. 

The post-launch that launched absolutely nothing

Darby has now said that The Last Chapter is meant as more of a direct follow up to the epilogue of the main campaign, to be played right after Gunnar's wedding. This is why they didn't feel the need to show a goodbye between Eivor and her people; the wedding functions as a sufficient goodbye to the Raven Clan.

But even if that was even remotely satisfying, it doesn't explain when Eivor came to accept her role as a sage, a role that she has yet to understand by the end of the base game, even if she is perhaps beginning to question it at the very least. It doesn't explain why it was never truly addressed in any of the some 100 plus hours of content that have been released for this game since then. It doesn't explain why Eivor and Randvi might finally pursue a relationship, only for Eivor to suddenly pick up and leave for Vinland, alone and permanently. It doesn’t explain why Eivor would leave for distant shores without saying goodbye to Ljufvina, or Vili, or Stowe and Erke, or Broder, or Oswald and Valdis, or Swanburrow, or any of the many other people whose relationships Eivor cherishes throughout the game. 

If anything, The Last Chapter being played immediately after Gunnar's wedding and the rest of the Hamtunscire epilogue makes it even more important for Eivor to say goodbye to her people, because that whole arc only cements Eivor’s devotion to her people, as well as how much her “encounters” with Odin have shaken her faith. Even then, that doesn't even touch on when or why she came to the decision to leave in the first place. 

Due to a “play anytime” approach that Ubisoft–for reasons I cannot even begin to fathom–decided to take with all the post-launch content for this game, all DLCs for Valhalla are exactly that: they can be played at any time. They go to great pains to avoid spoiling story points from the base game, they rarely make references to events from the base game and, perhaps most critically here, they don’t build on any of the plotlines of the base game. 

Remember that pin we stuck in Odin earlier? Hi. He's back.

None of the DLCs released in post-launch–from Wrath of the Druids to The Siege of Paris, to smaller, free additions such as the River Raids–touch on Eivor’s connection to Odin or her understanding of it, or any of the other potential threads left behind by the base game. Other more mythologically inclined entries like the Mastery Challenges, Dawn of Ragnarok, and The Forgotten Saga scratch the surface of it, but never dig deep enough for Eivor to put two and two together. Even in the Odyssey crossover with Kassandra, who has intimate knowledge of the Isu and their artifacts, Eivor remains completely clueless about her role as a sage despite it being the perfect opportunity for her to learn more. 

At no point is Eivor shown to make any wild revelations about her Isu heritage that could justify her decision to leave. There is a gaping hole in the narrative where that development should be, and therefore the jump from “everything else” to “I’m older now, and I want to learn from the god who lives in my head,” is unearned and comes from completely out of nowhere. The DLCs could have remedied this easily by giving us deeper insight into how Eivor interprets her visions, specifically how she interprets her relationship to Odin. They could have dug into how and when she comes to terms with that connection, and the same could be said for how she comes to know about all the other sages, including Harald, who Eivor and Sigurd suddenly seem to know about being the reincarnation of Freyr despite not seeing him in more than a decade and never mentioning it before. But they can’t, because the DLCs are playable at any time, and therefore cannot discuss things the player may not yet understand.

The brevity of this DLC was especially jarring, even as someone who went into this with low expectations. Because after two years worth of updates, including some sizable free ones, I thought that surely Eivor’s conclusion would be considered important enough to receive the time and attention it deserved. After all, Kassandra got her own surprise ending in the form of the Crossover Stories, announced completely out of nowhere two years after the last DLC for Odyssey was released. After all the time and effort and love that clearly went into that crossover, it seemed reasonable enough that the ending for Valhalla, a game that was still being supported, would have the same amount of effort put into it, if not more. Instead we got a barely there wrap-up that lasts maybe 45 minutes at most, if you’re being generous, and fails spectacularly at offering the catharsis that should be a no-brainer in a story where the main character’s death has been a mystery to be unraveled, right from the beginning. 

Eivor is dead. She has been dead for centuries, buried across an ocean from everyone and everything she knew in life. The how and why of Eivor’s burial site is a question that follows us through her entire journey and throughout the entire game. One that was never resolved… until now, with some vague notion about leaving everything she has worked for and everyone she holds dear behind in an attempt to find herself, all with the help of an entity with whom her relationship has been tenuous at best. Eivor decides to banish the part of her that is Odin because she doesn’t like that part of herself. That second soul, the part of her that values personal glory above all else. Even in The Last Chapter, she describes Odin’s memories as “malicious.” So why backtrack so completely? 

I have no idea.

It’s possible the developers weren’t given enough time to give this final chapter the breathing room it needed to make sense. It’s possible they had lost enthusiasm, and just wanted to rip the band-aid off and get this thing over with. It’s possible Ubisoft wanted to cobble together the scraps of a potentially satisfying ending so they could say they did it, before turning all of their attention to their next title. As it stands, I wish they had just left Valhalla alone, with an open ending, instead of providing a non-answer that feels like an afterthought. An incomplete conclusion to a story and a cast of characters that many of us still care so much about, but Ubisoft seemingly gave up on long ago. 

Eivor deserved better. 

The Raven Clan deserved better. 

Valhalla deserved better. 

We, the fans, deserved better.

If you actually read this far then there is a good chance that you also need therapy

This whole affair really reminds me of the last time I felt this profoundly disappointed by a piece of media I loved. It reminds me of how I felt after watching the second season finale of The Mandalorian, when it hit me that the whole season had just been a series of various cameos and fan service moments that only made sense to the plot at a stretch. It hit me that I had just spent the previous eight weeks watching the show runners completely sideline their main characters–Din Djarin and Grogu–and lose the plot in favour of promoting future Star Wars projects. When it seemed like all the good writing in the show previously had been entirely accidental. But the major difference between The Mandalorian and the ending of Valhalla is that I knew there would be another season of The Mandalorian to potentially patch things up and pick up on some of the plot threads that were dropped. For Valhalla, this is it. There is no more content upcoming that will patch this up and, in hindsight, there are plenty of other things added to this game in post launch that I think would have also made me feel the same way I feel right now if I knew they were the last piece of content we’d ever see. 

Am I overthinking this? Perhaps. Am I being melodramatic? Probably. But to me, this ending for Eivor feels like yet another perfect example of what happens when corporate interests are allowed to dictate creative decisions. 

I say all this as someone who has and will continue to defend a lot of Valhalla’s faults, because if writing this whole thing has done anything, it has served to remind me how good the core narrative of the base game really is. It has depth, it has heart, and I hope that other people who enjoyed it as much as I did–and are as disappointed by The Last Chapter as I am–are able to reconcile the beauty of Eivor’s character arc in the main game with the way it was seemingly undone in The Last Chapter. 

I’m trying my very best to not let this ending retroactively take away all the joy I’ve found in this game for the past year. And in spite of how negative this critique has been, writing it has actually really helped me do just that. Because in writing this critique, I was also looking back on Valhalla’s narrative, its highs and lows, its major plot points, and I was re-watching clips. A speed run of Eivor’s greatest hits, if you will. 

I was reminded of why I connected so strongly with Eivor in the first place. I was reminded of her strength, her kindheartedness, her love of children, her wit, the poetry of her dialogue, her sense of duty. I was reminded of her rage, her single mindedness, her sense of loyalty that is often to her own detriment when she offers it to those who don’t deserve it. I was reminded of her character arc from someone who spends so much of her life on a single minded quest for revenge, to someone who becomes a beloved leader to her people. 

I was reminded of the Valhalla sequence at the end of the game, a sequence that still makes me cry just as much now as it did the first time I played it, if not more. When Eivor, who has spent most of her life feeling nothing but resentment and shame toward her dead father, finally learns to understand why he did what he did. When she understands why he laid down his axe, the very same axe she holds now, in the futile hope that his daughter, his wife, and the rest of his people would be spared, only for most of his people to be slaughtered anyway. When Eivor has finally realized, through years of acting as a leader to her people, why Varin did what he did, even in opposition to everything she has ever been taught to value. When she has grown enough to realize that she too would make the exact same choice her father did, her cowardly father, because she too would die in dishonour if it offered even the slightest chance to save her loved ones. When Eivor, who has spent her life trying to justify her existence by being useful, finally accepts that her parents died because they loved her and not because she didn't do enough. When Eivor is holding the very same axe now that her father held then and the High One himself is offering her wisdom and glory and power and she, like her father before her, drops her axe and turns her back and chooses love instead.

That is the version of Eivor I will remember. Not the hastily cobbled together ghost of her that we saw in The Last Chapter.

fic writer meme

the biggest thanks to fic writer queen @vinelark for tagging me :,) <3

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 61!

2. What's your total Ao3 word count? 463,074 so less words than war and peace

3. What fandoms do you write for? for the last two years, Batman (with one unfinished Daredevil matt/foggy fic featuring Spiderman)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

No Hetero (the first Voltron fic I ever wrote, I also remember writing this fic with perfect clarity, like I became conscious of my writer brain when I wrote this)

Tim and Kon v. The World (I actually wrote this in like an hour while procrastinating sleep)

The Failure of Tim Drake (the first Batman fic I ever wrote)

Keith is Broken

Champagne Problems

5. Do you respond to comments? sometimes, when I post a new chapter I'll respond to comments on the previous one. But for every single comment, I get such a comment notification high <3 I've printed out several, too and they live on my bookshelf and provide joy and motivation.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I've never written a sad ending intentionally, but I have so many unfinished fics that end in the middle angst section. Of the fics that I'm pretty sure I'll never finish, I'd say my My Hero Academic fic Date Me (For Justice) which was my first attempt a really long fic and stops on such a mutual pining, getting blackmailed, sad note. Now that I'm writing this, I'm like-- I should finish that.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? I love the ending of Sore Loser, and not just because it's a little spicy.

8. Do you get hate on fics? there's such a culture of, "if you don't like it, keep scrolling" so I've never gotten real hate, but I have gotten critique comments that point out places that I didn't get canon right and places where I contradicted the facts of my own story lol those guys are basically my beta readers <3 <3 <3

9. Do you write smut? Yeah, I actually started last year!

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you have written? Yeah, not really for Batman, but I have in the past. The craziest is probably my Wandavision Supernatural crossover.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? I think the second fic I ever posted (Spideypool) which couldn't have gotten more than like 1,000 reads, I got a comment that was like, "just so you know someone posted this on Wattpad."

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes, honored that someone translated Tim and Kon v. The World into Chinese!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No but I'm so down for real, that sounds fun!

14. What's your all time favorite ship? You'd think by my ao3 stats, it's TimKon-- but I write fanfic for things I wish were different. There's a lot about their canon dynamic I love, and their fanfic is top tier, but for my favorite canon ship I'd probably say like Percabeth (especially with the Disney plus show, they're so back)

15. What is a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Probably my Daredevil Matt/Foggy High School au. I'm just not that into Daredevil anymore. I have so many Batman WIPs, but when I think of them I'm like, one day I'll finish it, baby!

16. What are your writing strengths? I love how I write banter. I also like to think that I give the supporting cast or characters who might be reduced to comic relief their own interior life and mini arcs-- but that might be more aspirational than actually in my writing as of now lol. I think I also write friend groups really well!

17. What are your writing weaknesses? structure, and related to that pacing. Also, the way I shy away from editing even though writing is rewriting or whatever that saying is. I'd say there's like five fics of mine that I've genuinely edited, but I'm working on it. I've been reading such a great book about writing lately called A Swim in the Pond in the Rain by George Saunders, and I highly recommend it.

18. Thoughts of writing dialogue in another language in fics? I think the only time I've done that was in one of my Supernatural fics. I wrote Eileen, who's deaf. Originally, I put all her dialogue in italics to signify it was being signed. But I got such a kind and helpful comment on that fic being like it's weird and frowned upon to have her ASL lines formatted so differently, so I changed it! I think if I ever did another language again, I would research it more thoroughly first.

19. First fandom you wrote for? it was on fanfic.net and it was Percy Jackson, he and Annabeth were middle aged (which I obviously had great insight into at 15) and the main character was their daughter. Although as a child, I would write my own episodes of my favorite tv shows which was way before I knew what a screenwriter or fanfiction was. I love that one of my oldest instincts is to create the shit I wish I was seeing.

20. Favorite fic you have written? Hm, of my completed fics, I'd say a tie between To All The Vigilantes I've Loved Before and Capture the Flag (to the Death). I like the first one because it's the longest romance I've finished (at 27k) and there are certain scenes I really love. The capture the flag one I like because it feels the most like a real miniseries DC would publish (out of everything I've written) and I'm really proud of the ways I hid each of their flags and all the betrayals.

I'm tagging @thief-of-eggs <3 and anyone else who wants to do this! ~ please tag me in your post because I'm always looking for and loving writer mutuals <3

https://www.reddit.com/r/RWBY/comments/z877af/the_problems_with_gatekeeping_in_parts_of_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Now here’s the full deep dive.

While i am "cooking" my next batch of threads, mostly covering RWBY: Arowfell for now, i have decided to cover some issues that i am seeing rising up once again. Its not uncommon for critics of the show to be maligned in any and every way imaginable.

Gee, I wonder why critics in general within the RWBY fandom are so maligned. It couldn’t be that on top of the vast majority of them being incapable of doing bare minimum quality control, you also lie about the show and creators constantly, attack both constantly and act in heinous ways like trying to use a man’s death to emotionally manipulate his co-workers/friends/family into complying with you. Not to mention said vitrol is directed AT the creators at a much greater frequency by self proclaimed critics who themselves cannot take even the mildest form of criticism themselves.

However, from time to time a trend and an "opinion" is spread or attempted to be spread in the community, and it is my belief that such things need to receive push-back before they become common-place, otherwise it can lead to.... Poor decisions as back in the past.

What am i talking about? Well, first of all, the increasing sentiment of gatekeeping and some parts of the fandom seemingly deciding to choose who is a "fan" of the show or not. The strange purity testing that seems to be taking place on reddit of all places.

Can you really call it strange when the act of not doing it was basically seen as acceptance to act as horribly as possible to creators?

Dex, I do not care how much you preach about how innocent your fellows are. They are still the same group that has asked Miles when he’ll die so he can be replaced.

At the same time, there is the related issue of people seemingly thinking that criticizing a work means inherent dislikeability of it, which is a very wrong conclusion to draw in my opinion. And the last but not least is the somewhat strange sentiment that critics are out there to stop fans from enjoying the show.

What kind of conclusion would YOU draw at people doing nothing but bitching endlessly about the show, about things they misconstrue and about things that DIDN’T HAPPEN? All while declaring how much they hate the creators who make the damn show and demand that it be completely different huh?

Critics do not care if you watch the show

I think this claim should be addressed first despite its position in the intro. There has seemingly been an increase in a very peculiar sentiment, the sentiment that critics do what they do out of some kind of malice, or with an intent to get people to not watch the show.

I have seen RWBY ‘critics’ take sadistic glee in bullying the writers. I’ve seen outright BIGOTRY from them. You cannot argue a lack of malice.

Now, do not worry, i can tell you very simply and openyl. We critics simply do not care of what you do in your free time. Why should we? Many people here spend very little time on RWBY or being involved with the RWBY community, at least in comparison to the rest of our lives. For example, i log in multiple times a day, but rarely write unless a thread interests me, and i only have 2 days of making posts weekly. I have other things to do in my life like Cross-stitching as a hobby and of course, work.

Cool.

Now look me in the eye say that about the creators.

... That’s what I thought.

Let us be real here, what would any of us gain by getting other people to not watch or enjoy the show? Especially since it is something that we most likely would never even find out about? It just makes no sense.

Validation. Those people want validation for their feelings, to make it look like their feelings have a factual basis.

This has been especially prevalent during my critiques of RWBY: Arowfell, people were questioning if they should buy the game, or if i am doing the critique threads to stop people from playing the game. To which i could only say "I do not care" nor other critics. Of course, as long as it does not involve supporting a corporation like RT. Then we do care, but watching/enjoying RWBY content is mostly unrelated to that.

Gotta love that he brings up his Arrowfell posts, which DIRECTLY GO AFTER THE CREATORS MIND YOU, as he completely ignores an entire side to this conflict.

Look, there is no need for this self-victimization and thinking that critics are "out to get you", we aren't. Especially since many of us (With a few exceptions) still enjoy the show ourselves.

A. No, you fuckers usually target THE CREATORS. Your own fucking subreddit proves this. Type ‘miles’ into the search bar and watch as the first result is everyone bashing Miles Luna for liking tweets criticizing RT, trying to blame him even though it is VERY public knowledge that he alongside the other writers overwork themselves.

And B. I call bullshit. You bitch about so many things that have a more logical, positive interpretation so often I can only assume you WANT to see the negative. That and the times that, again, you bitch about shit that NEVER HAPPENED.

And just honestly want it to get better. Which actually leads to the next point.

I have seen your rewrites. All but one ALWAYS deviate majorly from the original to the point of barely being AU. Your definiton of ‘better’ is ‘panders to me’, which just underlines how self centered the lot of you are.

Yes, critics do enjoy the show, they express it differently, but they still do, at least most of them. Criticizing or only criticizing something does not show that a person is not enjoying the thing they are playing at hand. For example, go to any Paradox game forums and see what most often liked memes are, they are memes of either funny occurrences or some part of the game that is bad. And those are the games where people will spend 200+ hours playing, and thats the lowest estimate.

Cool. Now show me the ones where Paradox games try to get the developers fired so that they can place people more like themselves in charge.

At the end of the day there are too many ways to express enjoyment of a show or to interact with the fandom. Be it making fan-art, making AMV's, making fanfictions, rewrites. There are so many ways to engage with the fandom and a person can choose any of them. It is their choice to make and it does not indicate their enjoyment of the show.

Also gotta love that be brings up fanfics and rewrites as separate things,even though the latter would just be a more specific form of the former. Almost like he knows that rewrites aren’t made out of affection but rather entitlement and smugness.

An artist might even HATE a show that they make art for. Its possible, because artists do also get paid for their work. One cannot judge people just by their content, at least not entirely, especially with things like these.

Does the artist constantly say they are better the creators and that the creators are inferior people to them?

Not to mention. Where does this purity testing end? So if i mostly criticize a show im not a fan now? Ok. Who is next? The people who half criticize and half praise the show? The people who criticize the show at all? And before anyone accuses me of "Overstating" things, one of the main deciding factors of the critic sub forming was the belief that the main sub was hostile to critique post V6, which it kind of was and i experienced it myself first hand.

Gee, not like there was a sudden surge of people acting like amoral dipshits who constantly tried to browbeat the creators into making their OC versions of Adam canon or anything...

And again, ignoring the creator side of things really fucks you in the ass here because it sounds more like ‘So if I threaten the creators, lie about them and their work constantly and outright show that I know this is wrong when people do it to me- Am I not a fan????’

Hell, fan-artists have been harassed over the art they make. Cosplayers were harassed over characters they chose to dress as. These things can easily escalate. Purity testing is an never ending spiral of doom.

You’re right Dextixer.

... Too bad the critics started it in the first place, demanding that the creators weren’t pure enough themselves. How’s it feel getting fucked by your predecessors’ actions?

Also, i have to say that accusations of people not being "fans" of the show because they criticize it to be rude at best. Especially since i do not think any of us unlocked mind reading powers just yet.

But we do have this nifty little thing called ‘basic pattern recongition’. Like ‘people do nothing but lie and be jackasses constantly towards thing and creators -> they no like thing.’

Also, if getting slagged off is rude- what do you call suicide baiting and racism? Attempted murder?

This kind of claim is usually tied in with the claim that a critic "must not enjoy the show" and that they should "leave the fandom for something they are fan of" and the like.

These critics constantly interpret the show and people behind it as negatively as possible, beyond any form of logic or reason. All while acting miserable and pissy.

They should.

To which i can only say...

Something does not need to be good to be enjoyable.

Cool. Not why so many hate critics.

Talk about how you treat the people responsible FOR said thing.

I do not think there is more for me to say about these points. Just to clarify, i am doing this almost as an "outreach" program from the critic side, basically trying to tell you that we arent these "scary" and faceless mass of people who want to stop people from liking RWBY. What i want to show is that we are fans like any other, just making different choices in our expressions. That is it.

You know, unless you criticize them or call them out for doing far worse shit than 

Or if you commit the cardinal sin of ‘Being Miles Luna’.

Then you’ll be harassed and attacked and lied about and slandered until they think they’ve broke you.

Also, do be aware that this is not calling out the entire fandom and the like, this is me pushing back against some of the narratives i have been seeing recently, nothing more, nothing less.

Did you ever stop to think that maybe the narratives exist for a REASON? That maybe your community has crossed so many lines that no one cares about your pleas of innocence?

For fucks sake, the person you are indirecty referencing (Lilith Fairen) outright said she watched RWBY SPECIFICALLY because you fuckers got so loud and obnoxious that she had to check it out. She wouldn’t have come into the fandom if you hadn’t been such massive assholes.

Your bullshit caused your own boogeyman. Twice, considering that I originally came to the RWDE tag believing I would find some decent criticisms to discuss instead of a swamp of bile and toxic puke.

Hi. Are you going to comment on the BB media article that wrongly attributed Shawols calling out the new yorker article to Armys, and then claiming that the Shawols' actions amounted to "cyber bullying"? And then when Armys chose to block and ignore those journalists, the journos called it blacklisting?? l I've been looking for someone to really break down that whole mess because I was just appalled by how completely unprofessional every journalist involved in that situation was.

I said I will answer this, so here I am. I will also link the two articles to be read before diving in into my answer in case someone doesn't know what this is about.

How BTS Became One of the Most Popular Bands in History - The New Yorker

For the Record: When Is a Hiatus Not a Hiatus? When BTS Says So - Billboard

I'll start by saying that The New Yorker article was a weak piece overall because it didn't bring anything new to the surface, no different perspective on BTS and their place in K-Pop and global music landscape. The author mainly focused on the diversity of its fanbase in terms of nationality, ethnicity and all the good things army did and last but not least, on the group's narrative of self love and acceptance which has become the main talking point of fans. In my opinion, this dependence on BTS and the comfort they bring is really connected to the high demand and delivery of content of all types which ironically has lead to the hiatus and consequently armys crying about it. But that's a different discussion.

The journalist did a poor job with their research and there was a certain disdain towards the K-Pop industry in which they picked and chose and wrongly reported on the evils of the industry as compared to what BTS did. Not only the information was wrong, it was artificially connected to BTS in order to have them in a better light as opposed to their peers. Once again, it is shameful to use the death of an artist as merely a statistic or to point out what type of industry K-Pop is, just to make the point about BTS and the UNICEF campaign. How are these events correlated, apart from the fact that they happened in the same year? But this is not the first time Jonghyun's name is used as a talking point and there is no excuse for journalists to parrot the same Western discourse.

How could this person also state ''the K-pop group Big Bang, whose singers have been convicted of sex trafficking, gambling, and drug crimes'' and use this factually wrong information to contrast it with RM's feminist reading list and some soft support for the queer community? This is libel towards the group Big Bang and I was shocked at the fact that the article got a green light, was read by an editor and then published in this form.

There's an interesting line in the first paragraph that goes like this: ''I absorbed Western critiques of K-pop’s girl and boy bands: that they’re fluffy, manufactured, and exploitative of their members—as if the same weren’t true of New Kids on the Block. But, earlier this year, BTS became inescapable. The group was everywhere, and everyone seemed to be into them. To continue ignoring the BTS phenomenon was to risk missing something bigger than Beatlemania.'' It seems that the journalist had an attempt at going beyond western critique, but only in the case of BTS. Apparently, when it comes to other K-Pop groups, it's fine to still have that mindset, to falsely report or use someone's death to prove a point and put BTS on a pedestal.

I think this article, as much as it's basically praise for the group, it's a big disservice to BTS as well because once again, it isolates them in a way that legitimizes what army has been saying for years, that BTS are more special than K-Pop, that they're not part of that. I think it's possible to write about how a K-Pop group reached a certain level of stardom, without looking at the industry in which they have been part of, as this place of evil. I didn't read one line from this journalist about the Korean fans. It was only about international fans wanting to know more about Korean culture and language and how beautiful and fascinating all is. It's sad that a Korean-American journalist fell into the orientalism narrative and wrote an entire article about BTS from a typical Western stance. Countless articles have been written about BTS's exceptionalism but which always fail in delivering fact checking information on K-Pop and which to this day are looking at the industry through a negative othering lens.

As to the Billboard article, once again we have an example of unprofessionalism. The journalist confused Shawols with Army. How was that even possible? I have no idea, but it's a stupid mistake. But I do think that when mentioning the cyberbullying, the journalist had Army in mind given the context of the entire paragraph and the full article. At the very least, that part should have been edited and the author should do a more thorough research. But I do think it's interesting that Billboard has finally published a piece on army's behavior. This is a hot debate in the music journalism circle right now and I know it only got bigger since Juwon Park was harassed. There's a lot of K-Pop/Army journalists who have paid lip service to fans because they do benefit from that. If one writes only good things about BTS, then the fans don't come for them and they do get more traffic and make a name for themselves on BTS twitter. But this created an environment in which no other perspectives were allowed, let alone a hint of negative criticism because we can all see what happens. Journalists are in danger of losing their job or getting doxxed. And army does have blacklists which include every journalist that said something that puts Army/BTS in a bad light. It's 21st century McCarthyism. In what free and democratic world are journalists prohibited and demanded to just write positive things about what they observe? Not only that, what is considered positive is something that the fandom decides. But it happens in all areas, not just music/fandom reporting. The terms alternative facts and fake news/media have become common in our vocabulary and automatic distrust of journalists has become the norm. This is an authoritarian stance in which free press doesn't seem to find its place anymore.

berk..... and uuuuh? pmmm for the ask game

ITS BERK TIME BABYYYY

Fav male character:

Guts and Griffith about equally but Guts means more to me emotionally bc well. He’s just like me fr (abuse victim).

Fav female character:

I would lay down my life for Casca I think.

Least fav:

I wish Wyald from the manga. Was not.

Prettiest character:

I want to put Griffith in my mouth where he will dissolve like a meltaway mint.

Funniest character:

Corkus!! I know lots of folks don’t like him but he’s funny when he’s comic relief while also being a complex and tragic character. I like him.

Also Puck is a funny little guy and I love when he’s a little blob thing next to a super detailed drawing of Guts.

Favorite season (arc):

I will need to finish reading the whole manga before I can answer this. However. The golden age arc has Casca.

Favorite episode:

Episode 24 of the ‘97 anime. The moment where Griffith sees Guts and makes the decision to sacrifice is like…maybe my favorite moment in the series? I could write an essay on it.

Also Wounds from the manga means a lot 2 me.

Favorite romantic ship:

Casguts in the “they invented love and it’s one of the best developed relationships I’ve seen I just want these two traumatized people to find comfort and strength in each other let them be happy please god” and griffguts in the “this is so horrific and toxic and complex and there’s so much present classical homoerotic subtext here I need to dissect it in a lab and write a 20 page paper with citations about it” way.

Fav family relationship:

Band of the Hawk. The whole thing.

Fav friendship:

Judeau’s friendship with Casca and with Guts idk I like it. I like Judeau very much.

Least favorite ship:

I do not know what ppl in this fandom are shipping and I do not care.

PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA

this show made me gay when I was 14. There are a lot of valid critiques of it but it’s not for you it was for me when I was 14 and trying to figure out if liked girls.

Fav male character:

Lol there are no important men. Kyubey gets called “he” in most translations but kyubey is not a boy. Begone.

Fav female character:

Sayaka i love her more than anything. She is the first fictional character I ever related to which should have let me know I needed mega therapy and also to transition but that took me a while. She is so tragic and her arc devastates me every time.

Least fav character:

I’m going to throw Kyubey off a bridge.

Prettiest character:

I’ve been answering this in the sexual lust sense but I just mean it in the aesthetic sense bc all of the characters. Are. 14. Homura has a very nice design.

Funniest character:

There’s not a lot of comedy!! Kyoko I guess?

Fav season:

It is 12 episodes.

Fav episode:

Episode 9. It makes me cry like a little baby every single time I watch the series.

Fav romantic ship:

Kyosaya is the fucking blueprint for me man. In the owl house answer I did with this ask game I mentioned the kinds of ships that were important to me when I was a baby gay? I meant Kyosaya basically. It has everything. Rivals with attempted friendship. Red/blue. Opposites. Tragedy. It is. The blueprint.

Fav family relationship:

I know the spirit of this is found family but Madoka and her mom really get me man!!!

Fav friendship:

Madoka and Sayaka. They clearly care about each other a lot and it is SO SAD.

Least fav ship:

See my berk answer.

Reading This Week 2024 #3

Three in and I'm already posting these updates DAYS late I am so sorry. In my defense I was sick at the end of last week and so was mostly curled up in blankets. That also meant I didn't keep as precise track of what I was reading as I try to, but hopefully what I share with you now I am correct in saying I read last week!

Finished:

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

I have been meaning to check out more of Le Guin's work for ages and ages now, and by luck I happen to be assisting a course on the fantasy genre in literature that perfectly lined up with Shelved by Genre starting to cover Earthsea. This book progresses at such speed, and yet Le Guin's style is so wonderful that it never felt rushed, there is simply so much packed in this book! I'm proud to say I guessed how the central problem would be solved a few chapters before the end, and I'm really excited to continue with the rest of the series

Started and Finished:

many sections of The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones

did this book make me laugh? yes. did I enjoy it? not really... it's a satire of fantasy literature (specifically medievalesque adventure fantasy) in the guise of a guidebook for Fantasyland, and while I think I agreed with basically every issue and annoyance it was critiquing through its joke entries, I couldn't help but feel it was an extremely cynical kind of humor. fantasy deserves critique, but this book felt more like it was mocking the magic of it, and do whatever you want to fantasy just don't mock the magic

Chapter 4: "Subjects" from Differences That Matter: Feminist Theory and Postmodernism by Sara Ahmed

"Sexuality" by Rey Chow from A Concise Companion to Feminist Theory

"Staging Dissents: Drag Kings, Resistance, and Feminist Masculinities" by Jae Basiliere

"The Camp as 'Nomos' of the Modern" from Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life by Giorgio Agamben

the above four I already got my talking about them out during class (first three for gender and sexuality studies, the final for my class on the global novel). there is a little bit about reproductive labor re: improved contraception and surrogacy in the Chow chapter that I'd like to read more about in the future

Started and Ongoing:

Undoing Gender by Judith Butler

read the introduction and the first four chapters of this for gender and sexuality studies, and i will be reading at least chapter 6 going forward (will have to check if any other sections are required or interesting to me). chapter 3, which was largely about David Reimer was absolutely excellent and I think achieved its goal in trying to do justice to him and his story.

Orange, Vol. 3 by Ichigo Takano, translated by Amber Tamosaitis

an attempt was made this week at reading for pleasure. i started reading through this volume bc I like the mixture of time travel intrigue and normalslice of life drama, but then the mcs were begining to fumble one of their plans/reveal too much of what they know about events and i got Too Anxious and closed the kindle app, and did not open it again before due date with Libby had passed

Ongoing:

Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli

okay so at the time I'm writing this I've actually already finished reading Lost Children Archive. thus are the perils of delaying the weekly reading post. I started enjoying the book more when it started to resemble a children's adventure novel more, which really shows how much a genre-fiction-head i am, but the shift DID also really stress me out

Hey! I’ve been wondering—what’s your editing process like? Do you have any favorite platforms/methods?

—Joy (@italiangothicwriteblr)

Hi Joy!! Thanks for the ask!

I... don't really have one? I've never really gotten far enough (aka finished) a draft to need to think about editing a whole story. As fro individual scenes, if I like them a lot as-is, I'll usually just come back to them a day or two later and re-read them to fix grammar and spelling and stuff. Maybe change some word choice or word order.

If I hate the scene that I have written, I rewrite it from scratch. Literally just open a blank doc and start over. My brain keeps the good bits, since they likely have been rotating around in my brain for days anyways, and the "bad" bits, or the parts I don't like, get replaced with new, fresh stuff. The end result is almost always better than the first attempt. Repeat as needed until you have something you're happy with.

Because of that method, I'll sometimes write scenes as many as 4 times. I think The Incident went through 4 versions before I sent it to my friend.

Oh, and that's the other thing. During the school year, I had a friend who was interested in my writing, and I sent her a handful of the most polished scenes to edit. She just used the suggestion feature in Google Docs, and I then took that and re-typed the scenes to adjust for the edits and critiques. (Large portions that went unchanged I just copied and pasted, but there were several sections that I rewrote to adjust for some of her commentary.)

I kind of fell out of touch with her (and all my school friends), but I wish I hadn't, cause she was a really good editor, and had some really nice ideas of how to improve my descriptions and stuff.

So, there you have it! A very long-winded explanation of my basically non-existent editing methods. :D

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The better info you allow about you and your website on the web, the more likely it is actually that consumers may find your blog which your content will show up on top of search engine listings -- an increased concern for anyone seeking an internet based dwelling. 방법을 알고 ‘찍어’내는 것과 퀄리티 측면까지 신경써서 ‘제작’해 내는 것에는 엄연한 차이가 있기 때문인데요. 유저들의 눈길을 끌 수 있는 포스트는 어떤 것일까요. 가령 키워드 개수만을 맞춰서 문맥에 맞지 않는 문장들을 나열한다면 유저들은 그 글에서 어떠한 정보도 확보할 수 없을 겁니다. 그렇다면 자연스레 다른 사이트를 들어가게 되겠죠. 최적화에서도 백링크에서도 인정받기 위해서는, 우선적으로 전략적인 키워드나 주제를 포함한 포스팅을 할 때 콘텐츠의 품질에 신경을 써야 합니다. 1. 차별화된 ‘사이트 풀’ 사이트 풀이 왜 중요할까요? 백링크 솔루션은 검색엔진 봇이 긍정적으로 평가하는 사이트에 백링크가 생성되었을 때 실질적인 의미가 있습니다. 우리는 수천여 건의 백링크 솔루션 주문 경험으로 어떤 사이트가 백링크 생성에 적합한지 충분한 데이터를 확보하고 있습니다. 고가치 백링크에 대한 사이트 풀의 경우 사이트의 주요 지수인 페이지랭크(PageRank)와 도메인권위지수(Domain Authority)가 높은 사이트로 구성하며 특히 페이지랭크가 7이상인 사이트를 중심으로 관리합니다. 이렇듯 우리의 사이트 풀은 타사에 비해 그 수준이 압도적입니다. 우리는 해외의 SEO 팀과 사이트 풀을 공유하고 있습니다. 우리의 상품을 구매 후 모방해 판매하는 판매자 역시 상당수입니다. 그 차이가 궁금하시다면 문의 주세요. 타사와의 차이가 확연하게 드러나는 백링크 샘플을 받아볼 수 있습니다. 그 트래픽은 당신의 웹사이트가 가지고 있는 백링크의 품질과 직접적으로 관련되어 있기 때문에, 당신에게 연결되는 더 권위 있는 웹사이트일수록 더 좋은 랭킹과 트래픽을 얻을 수 있을 것이다. 그리고 물론 당신은 당신의 구글 순위를 주시하고 싶어한다. 웹을 탐색할 때 Google은 특히 웹 사이트의 백링크를 검색하여 페이지가 서로 어떻게 연결되어 있는지, 어떤 방식으로 연결되어 있는지 파악한다. 확실히 수백 개의 순위 요인이 있다. 그러나 백링크는 SEO에게 가장 중요한 측정 기준을 나타낸다. 이제 말할 필요도 없이 질 좋은 백링크는 구하기 어렵지만, 그렇게 되면 안 된다. 사실, 백링크를 만들거나 벌거나, 온라인 사업에 연결하기 위해 권위 있는 웹사이트를 얻는 현명한 방법들이 있다. 게스트 기사를 수용하는 웹사이트를 ��기 위한 수많은 방법이 존재한다. 여기 세 가지가 있다.: Google 검색 쿼리를 사용하여 게스트 기여자를 수용하는 블로그를 찾으십시오. 정기적으로 게스트 게시물을 게시하는 인플루언서를 찾아보고, 이전과 동일한 웹 사이트에 기여해 보십시오. 프리랜서 작가 Kristi Hines의 프로필의 예를 들어보자. Google Plus 프로필에서 “정보”를 클릭한 다음 기고자 섹션으로 스크롤하십시오. 여기서 기고자 웹 사이트 목록을 확인하십시오. 다른 인플루언서와 이 프로세스를 반복하면 타사 웹 사이트에 컨텐츠를 게시할 수 있는 기회가 무궁무진하다. 소셜 미디어를 사용하여 다른 옵션을 검색하십시오. Twitter에서 “게스트 게시물”, “게스트 기사” 또는 “게스트 작성자”를 검색하십시오. 프로세스를 자동화하려면 Topsy를 사용하여 추적할 키워드에 대한 알림을 설정하십시오. 게스트 기사를 게시할 때는 항상 소셜 미디어 프로필에 연결되어 있는지 확인하십시오. 만약 누군가가 당신의 직책을 즐긴다면, 그 또는 그녀는 유사한 미래의 기사들을 쉽게 따라갈 수 있다. 좋은 콘텐츠는 수요를 창출한다. 세계 시장과 마찬가지로 정보도 수요와 공급의 영향을 받는다. 가장 좋은 콘텐츠는 가장 큰 수요의 공급을 가장 잘 하는 콘텐츠다. 그것은 많은 기술자들에게 괴짜 농담을 제공하는 XKCD 만화의 형태를 취할 수도 있고, 아니면 웹 2.0의 정의를 세상에 설명하는 위키백과 기사일 수도 있다. 영상, 영상, 음향, 텍스트가 될 수 있지만 좋은 콘텐츠로 평가받기 위해서는 수요를 공급해야 한다. 첫째, 콘텐츠 자체는 인터넷상에서 독특하며(검색 엔진이 잘 순위를 매기는 것이 보람이 있다) 특정 비트의 정보를 심층적으로 다룬다. 만약 검색자가 슈퍼 마리오 월드에 대해 질문했다면, 이 페이지가 그들의 질문에 대답할 가능성이 충분히 있다. 내용은 차치하고 이 페이지는 잘 정리되어 있다 다음 예제는 제대로 최적화되지 않은 웹 페이지의 예다. 첫 번째 예와 어떻게 다른지 주목하라. ① 테크니컬seo 테크니컬seo는 웹사이트 규모 별 총 30~50여개 HTML SEO 요소를 작성 및 점검하며 HTML외 요소로 최근 구글/네이버에서 중요시하고 있는 속도/모바일/서버 최적화 및 네이버 Search Advisor, 구글 Search Console을 최적화합니다. ② 콘텐츠seo 콘텐츠seo는 주요 포탈사의 키워드 검색 결과와 자사 및 경쟁사의 키워드를 분석하여 핵심 & 연관키워드를 선정하고 키워드 별 검색량 및 적합도를 측정하는 키워드 리서치를 수행합니다. 또한 리서치 결과를 웹페이지에 적용하고 검색결과를 지속적으로 모니터링하여 상위 노출을 위한 데이터 기반 키워드 로드맵과 전략을 실행합니다. 7. 오픈그래프(Open Graph) meta og 태그(tag)와 트위터 카드(Twitter Cards) SNS미리보기 화면은 평소에 친구나 지인에게 공유를 하면서 보셨으리라고 생각되는데요! 웹페이지의 공유 버튼 혹은 URL을 복사하여 SNS로 콘텐츠를 공유합니다. 이때, 해당 콘텐츠의 요약내용이 “SNS에 게시되는데 최적화된 데이터”를 가지고 갈 수 있도록 설정하는 것입니다. 백링크작업 공유 할 때 미리보기가 이상하다면 클릭하지 않을 확률이 높겠죠? 네이버 서치어드바이저 > 웹마스터도구 > 검증 > 웹페��지 최적화 > 콘텐츠항목에서도 체크를 하고 있습니다. 당연히 설정해야겠죠? 8. 캐노니컬(Canonical) 대표/표준 URL 주소 동일한 웹페이지가 서로 다른 URL을 가지고 있을 수 있기때문에 검색엔진은 판단을 할 수 있는 기준이 필요합니다. 이때, 정식 URL을 알기 위해 Canonical URL을 지정하는 것입니다. 동일한 웹페이지가 각각 다른 5개의 URL로 검색엔진에 등록되어있다면 5배 더 방문자가 높아야 하지만, 실제 방문자는 1개의 URL인 경우보다 오히려 낮게 됩니다. 이유는 5개로 분산된 URL의 중요도도 함께 분산되기 때문입니다. SEO는 더 매력적인 서비스가 되기 위한 트레이닝 과정입니다. 사람들은 운동을 잘 모르지만 건강한 몸매를 만들고 싶을 때, PT수업을 받거나 유튜브를 찾아봅니다. 스스로 연구하고 개발하지 않는 이상 옆에서 식단관리 및 직접 코칭해주는 PT가 효과가 더 좋다는 것은 부정할 수 없습니다. SEO 서비스는 현재 여러분이 디지털 마케팅 활동을 함에 있어서, 올바르고 정확한 성장을 진행중인지 알 수 있는 척도가 됩니다. 마지막으로 백링크로 단기간 효과를 보고 싶어하는 것은 검색 광고보다 비효율적입니다. 사이트에 사용자를 위한 기능을 추가하거나 멀티사이트를 통해 사용자가 직접 사이트에 콘텐츠를 작성할 수 있도록 신규 기능을 추가하는 등 올바른 운영을 통해 백링크를 구축할 수 있는 방법이 있기 때문에 어뷰징에 가까운 작업을 통해 매월 유지 비용이 발생하지만 패널티를 먹을 수 있는 유료 백링크 구축을 생각하고 계신다면 백링크 구축에 대해 다시 한 번 고민해보세요. 4. 페이지 로딩속도 개선 페이지로딩속도는 대부분 별로 중요하지 않게 생각하실 수 있습니다. 하지만 로딩속도를 개선하는 것만으로도 사이트 순위가 많이 상승됩니다. 위 캡처에 나와 있는 구글 페이지 스피드 인사이트를 사이트를 통해 자신의 사이트 로딩속도를 참고해보시고 개선점을 찾으신 후 이미지 용량을 줄인다던지 방법을 통해 로딩속도를 꼭 개선하시기 바랍니다. 5. 콘텐츠 확산(백링크 구축) 백링크 작업은 수작업으로 하기에는 한계가 있기 때문에 백링크 작업 전문업체의 도움을 받으시는 것도 좋습니다. 백링크가 꼭 필요한 이유에 대해서는 아래 칼럼을 참조하시는 것도 도움이 되실 것입니다. 요즘 대행업체에서도 굉장히 많이 쓰이는 기법인데요. 사실상 구글 SEO의 키는 백링크가 쥐고 있다고 보시면 됩니다. 백링크를 통해 링크빌딩 작업을 잘 수행하신다면 큰 비용을 절감하실 확률이 높습니다. 10. 메타 업데이트 메타 업데이트를 통합 사이트 새로고침은 Google또는 프로페셔널 SEO에서는 권장되지 않습니다. 앞서 언급한 301 리디렉션을 통한 방법이 훨씬 더 좋습니다. 메타 업데이트를 구현할 경우 다음과 같습니다. Google의 JohnMu는 다음과 같이 말했습니다. "URL을 변경한 경우 메타 새로고침 유형이나 JavaScript리디렉션을 사용하지 않는 것이 좋습니다. 이러한 종류의 리디렉션을 사용하는 대신, 서버가 일반 301리디렉션을 수행하도록 하십시오. 검색 엔진은 JavaScript또는 메타 검색 형식의 리디렉션을 인식할 수 있지만, 이는 제가 기대할 수 있는 것이 아닙니다. 301 리디렉션이 항상 훨씬 더 좋습니다." Moz의 자체 리디렉션 가이드에는 다음과 같은 내용이 있습니다. "5초 안에 리디렉션 되지 않으면 여기를 클릭하십시오."라는 텍스트와 함께 5초 카운트다운이 가장 일반적으로 연결됩니다. 메타 업데이트는 일부 링크 주스를 통과하지 못하지만, 사용 편의성 저하 및 통과한 링크 주스 손실로 인해 SEO전략으로는 권장되지 않습니다." 확인작업: 리디렉션 경로 확인기(구글 확장 프로그램)를 사용하여 개별 페이지를 확인합니다. Screaming Frog 또는 다른 사이트 크롤러와 함께 확인합니다. 추가작업: 개발자에게 301리디렉션을 표준으로 사용하는 것의 중요성을 알리고 특별한 이유가 없는 한 메타 업데이트를 사용하지 않는 것이 좋습니다. 리디렉션 유형 사용을 모니터링하도록 매월 검사를 예약합니다. 11. XML Sitemap XML사이트 맵은 구글과 다른 검색 엔진 로봇들이 당신의 사이트를 탐색하고 이해하는 것을 도와줍니다. Google의 검색 콘솔 도움말 가이드는 XML사이트 맵의 목적과 유용성에 대해 매우 명확하게 설명하고 있습니다. "사이트의 페이지가 올바르게 연결되어 있다면 당사의 웹 탐색기가 대부분의 사이트를 검색할 수 있습니다. 그렇다 하더라도 사이트 맵은 특히 사이트가 다음 기준 중 하나를 충족할 경우 사이트의 탐색 기능을 향상시킬 수 있다.” 대형 사이트의 경우 반드시 Sitemap을 제출합니다. 사이트에 서로 연결되지 않은 내용 페이지가 많이 있는 경우 Sitemap을 제출합니다. 외부링크가 거의 없는 신규 사이트의 경우 Sitemap을 제출합니다. 다음은 XML사이트에서 발생한 가장 큰 문제 중 몇가지 사항입니다. 네이버 의 알고리즘 변화로 구글 뿐만 아니라 네이버 에 대한 SEO(검색엔진최적화) 관심이 많아 지고 있습니다. 다른 나라 와 같이 구글,빙,얀덱스 같은 검색엔진이 시장을 주도해 온 것과 달리 우리는 네이버 나 다음 같은 포털에 기대어 오랫동안 사이트를 운영 해 왔습니다. 그러다 보니 검색엔진에 친화적인 사이트 운영 보다는 네이버 환경에 맞는 광고 위주의 마케팅을 해 왔습니다. SEO를 위해 꼭 필요한 테크니컬 수정에 대한 시간 투자 와 나를 찾는 유저들이 바라는 컨텐츠 생성 및 SEO 에 친화적인 여러 방법들의 노력 없이 마케팅을 해 오다 네이버 알고리즘 변화로 이제는 그런 부분에 대한 노력을 기울여하는 매우 익숙치 않은 상황에 직면해 있습니다. 이런 상황을 타개 하는 방법 중에SEO를 전문적으로 진행하는 업체들과의 협업이 있습니다. 그래서 SEO를 위한 업체 선정에 있어서 중요한 항목들을 정리했습니다. 아래 내용들을 보시고 참고 하시길 바랍니다.

They're trying to claim that antis didn't understand the reason Rion got compared to Rin. That it was just meant to highlight the difference between why the two girls were watching the respective guy. Completely glossing over the fact that it's bizarre to have that be such a big part of Kirinmaru's story in the first place. Why write in a whole arc that ultimately compares someone's relationship with their daughter to someone's relationship with their wife??? It's such a weird take and they just refuse to get it. Of course they won't address the way Rin is drawn either lol. That's not how the adult women in the series are drawn, nor is it the way the older teens are drawn. Why are her eyes taking up more than half her face and why can't they settle on an eye shape??? They're using a classic eye-head ratio for portraying a child with her and they can't figure out what eyes to even give her. I wouldn't mind her being so short if she had a grown face, but she's a whole child. I feel so sad for Rin!! ;____;

I’d love to know why they think that Rion got directly compared to Rin then, because that choice absolutely baffled me. Like you cannot tell me that the only comparison they wanted to make was to "highlight the differences between the two girls". Especially considering the critiques they’ve gotten over SessRin. Why would they compare her to a little girl who has the same name??? Like it just makes no sense. When I saw it, I legit had to pause the show and walk away, because I was laughing so hard in that “I can’t believe this” kind of way. I was watching it with my best friend and she completely lost it. LIKE WHY? WHY WOULD YOU COMPARE RIN TO A CHILD WHEN IT'S BLATANTLY OBVIOUS THAT THE SHOW IS EXTREMELY AWARE OF THE CRITICISM IT'S GOTTEN??? WHY?

(The whole scene was “women and children don’t belong on the battlefield”, a line that was originally thrown Kirinmaru’s way by Toga. Which is absolutely hysterical coming from an Inuyasha sequel, when half of the main cast were powerful women. But anyway, is the show trying to imply that Inukimi, icon that she is, would’ve gotten with a man who spewed garbage like “women don’t belong on the battlefield” and hasn’t seen a few battles in her lifetime? Like Sesshomaru literally tackled her when he saw her??? YOU TRYING TO TELL ME THAT HE JUST DID THAT JUST BECAUSE AND NOT BECAUSE THEY HADN’T DONE THAT KIND OF THING BEFORE?)

(i have sooooooo many thoughts on the stupid ‘sexism is bad’ storyline they did with Setsuna and saying that Sango has been the only female demon hunter ever before her, like BABES! I’M 99% POSITIVE THAT AT NO POINT WAS IT IMPLIED THAT SANGO WAS THE ONLY FEMALE DEMON HUNTER EVER! Also the idea that Sango wouldn’t train her own daughters in demon hunting and only in making hunting gear is fucking stupid, and EXCUSE ME, WHAT ABOUT MIDORIKO? PRIESTESSES CANONICALLY FIGHT DEMONS ALL THE TIME? 😭). 

And yeah, Rin definitely looks really young.

I'm guessing what happened is that rather than trying to come up with new designs to reflect the ages of the characters (WE WERE ROBBED PILF INUKAG AND MIRSAN) they just kept them as close as they could to the original. So they attempted to do that with Rin, but she just looks like a slightly stretched out version of herself in the first episode. I’d rather just have some new designs. 

I wouldn't even care about her looks if they had developed her more or developed her and Sess, as well as deepened her relationship with Setsuna and Towa. Sunrise are asking me to be emotionally invested in SessRin and their family without giving me a reason to be, and on top of that, trying to get me to care about Rion and Kirinmaru by using Rin. Why would I care about the relationship a villain has with his daughter, which is an extremely basic “i love my family but we’re on opposing sides” trope, that much when I don't care about the main characters relationships with their parents? 

New Beginnings // roommate!au

(a/n) I’m sorry @duskholland for coming up with these aus. the good thing about it is, that I have no self control so here it is, the New Girl!roommate!au :) i’m not gonna say it’s great, and also i’v seen like 5 episodes of the show maybe so it’s definitely my own take on the pilot. hope you like it.

word count: 6.3k

warning: swearing, sexual references (the first paragraph is as bad as it gets), dark humour and mentions of murder, sex trafficking - basically reasons why not to move in with strangers you meet off of craigslist. Please be safe and responsible. but it’s all just fluff and humour. Also, possibly some horrible writing cause i couldn’t bother editing this <3 

“And when I walked into the bedroom I found him in there, completely naked, with some slut sucking his dick… so basically, that’s why I need a new apartment.” You looked around at the three men in front of you, realising you had zoned out a bit there while telling your story. “Sorry, what was the question?” 

“Uhh,” the blonde one, which introduced himself as Harrison earlier, spoke, “Do you have any pets?” 

“Oh,” well that was embarrassing, “No, I mean I had a schnauzer when I was younger and I always wanted to get another one but who am I kidding, nothing will ever live up to Mr Snuzzlekins.” For the love of God, shut up! “No, I don’t have any pets.” You felt your entire face heating up. Suddenly you became very aware of a strand of hair that was in front of your face so you pushed it behind your ear

“Mr Snuzzlekins?” The other one, Tom, laughed with a small smile. 

“My sister named him,” you lied. You were already embarrassed as it was. 

There was a moment of silence where no one knew what to say next, so you decided to break the tension. Awkwardly laughing, you said:  “You know, the funny thing is, I didn’t expect you to be… guys.” That was true. When you had been searching through the Craigslist advertisements there had been a lot of applications for housing but you had ignored most of them because they sounded too much like human trafficking scams or some other creeps looking for a way to get a girl. You had particularly found interest in this apartment, not only because of the actual great (and safe looking) location of the building but also because you had thought that the ad was written by a woman. Not that you didn’t think a woman could murder you, but it did bring a bit more security to you to live with someone of your own gender. 

Well, as you saw three men sitting in front of you, you had guessed that wrong. They did seem nice enough though. Handsome too. You really hoped they weren’t murderers. They wouldn’t do well in prison… also, your death. Not a favourable outcome in the slightest. 

“Why’d you think that?” the third one asked. You had missed his name during the introduction round, but you already felt like you could be good friends with him. His boyish charms made you think he was younger than the other two, though he did have a very small resemblance to Tom. You found it cute how his curls bounced around when he moved his head. 

“Well, the ad, it was phrased… very femini-ninely...” That was definitely too many syllables. Could this interview go any worse? No, probably not. But the guys didn’t seem to mind your momentary idiocy. 

“Oh, yeah, we had our mum write it for us.” Tom explained, sitting a bit more straight up, “We had been trying to find someone else to live with us ever since our friend Tuwaine moved out, but we kind of suck at advertising ourselves, so yeah-” 

“Oh, well that makes sense, yeah.” Their mum wrote it. So they were a family. Brothers? Yeah probably. You didn’t really see how the Harrison guy fit into that since he didn’t look anything like the other two. Shattering blue eyes instead of the warm hazel. Dark blonde hair instead of the reddish-brown. All three had magnificent bone structure that you had to admit, but not in the same way. 

“So, what do you guys do?” you decided to ask. 

“We’re actors,” Harrison said, pointing at himself and Tom. Since you had no heart palpitating reaction when you first saw them, you could probably safely assume that they were still trying to find their break out role. Harrison pointed at the third of their addition before continuing. “Harry is more of a behind the scenes man, photography and directing, that kind of stuff.” 

“That’s… interesting.” You smiled. Were you about to move in with three wannabes? If you were, would it be inevitable that you’d end up paying the rent for all of them because they wouldn’t be able to find gigs? That was a bit harsh. Besides, you could always look for a new place before that happened and move out. And who even said that you could move in, in the first place? “Anything I might have seen you guys in? Or some of your work?” You directed the additional question to...Harry. 

Harry. Harrison. Try to remember that. 

“I’ve had a few roles on the West End, nothing big yet but once I have a role, it’s at least steady for a bit, you know,” Tom said. 

“I’ve mostly been doing headshots for people, so I doubt you’d have seen anything I’ve done.” Harry said. You nodded to his statement. 

“And Harrison has been signed with this fashion designer. You might have seen some ads around town.” Modelling. Not another model to live with. You tried not to let your smile fade. 

“No, sorry, I don’t think I have. But I’ll be on the lookout.” The grin you put up actually reached your eyes genuinely.

“So what about you?” Harrison was the one to ask, not noticing any change in your demeanour. “What is it that you do?”

“I’m a teacher. I know, not very glamorous or anything- and I might sometimes come home with an abundance of ice-lolly sticks- but it’s good fun and it pays well.” You looked around some more around the apartment. As you focused on the spacious living room of the loft, you wondered how these guys could afford it. Were their rich parents paying for it? Was there secretly asbestos in the walls, making rent not even a problem? Were they going to kill you? 

It was a really nice flat. With exposed brick walls and wooden beams at the ceiling, which the guys used cleverly to hang their houseplants from. Even with the large space and the big windows covering the outer walls of the room, it felt very homey. Comfortable. 

“I’m sure you already know, but it’s a really great place you guys got.” Compliments always worked, so that was your way to go to ensure you had a roof over your head soon. Feeling a bit more comfortable now, you decided to get up to walk a bit around the room. The reason for that specific action was unknown to you, but you did it. 

It had been the first day since your breakup that you had actually made an effort in looking presentable. Hair washed and brushed, you had clothes on that had zero Cheeto dust on it. Of course, since these were guys it probably didn’t even matter to them what you looked like but when you still thought you might be living with other women, you were terrified of being denied because of how you looked or something. That could still happen, but they just didn’t seem like the shallow type. And they had seemed really surprised when you appeared at their front door, as if they didn’t expect a girl to show up either. 

All three of them turned their heads as you walked around, following you with their eyes. It was a mix of curiosity and the same fear that you saw in people on competition shows, when they were waiting for the judges’ critique. 

You looked out the window to see the view. It was a lovely lookout on the city. 

“How come your roommate moved out?” Was it your place to ask? You had no idea. They didn’t seem to mind the question, though. 

“He moved in with his girlfriend instead.” Harry was the one to answer. A heart wrenching feeling fell over you. You didn’t know this Tuwaine, or his girlfriend, but a sudden wave of hatred towards them and their happiness overwhelmed you. Why did everyone have to be all happy and in love? It was disgusting. You were sick of it. 

“Well, I definitely wouldn’t mind living here.” Somehow you managed to speak out without showing any of your feelings through it. You allowed yourself to walk around to the kitchen island. It was recycled wood with a dark varnish on top, making the light from outside shine on it. You could almost see yourself reflecting in it. Were they this clean or had they no idea how to cook? 

“Don’t get me wrong, you seem great, but we don’t really know anything about you yet.” Tom got up and walked up to you. The other two followed his steps. You were now standing on opposite sides of the kitchen island, making you feel as if you were a bartender ready to take their orders. 

“There really isn’t much more to tell. I mean, I did just go through a break up, so emotions are uhm… out there. I might be spending the next few weeks watching horrible Hallmark movies, like 4 or 5… a day.” You saw the disgust on Harry’s face and quickly made an attempt at recovery. “But I can do that on my laptop and headphones, so ya know, I’ll be quiet. I’ll be in my room the entire time too, probably, so you might not even notice I’m here.” You tried to sell yourself as un-pathetically as possible. It had come to desperate measures in desperate times. Because, what your (possible) new roommates didn’t know, was that you had already spent the last four weeks looking for a new place, and while there was no luck in that, you had to do with sleeping on the tiny couch of your best friend. 

As if he could actually read your mind, Harrison’s next question was: “So, where have you been living the last few days then? If you don’t mind me asking.” 

“Not at all,” you said, finding large interest in the pattern of the stained wood. Not looking up at the three men, “I’ve been living with my best friend. She’s great but I just don’t think I'm suited for the life she and her supermodel friends have-” Why did you mention the models? Your eyes shot up to Harrison’s. But it was Harry’s and Tom’s that were wide. 

“Supermodels?” Tom coughed out. You nodded, having leaned in with your elbows on the table, looking rather unimpressed. The way Tom’s hands grabbed for the sleeves of his roommates did not go unnoticed by you. Before you could say anything, he excused himself and the others and they had disappeared into the corridor. Earlier on they had told you that was the way to the bathroom. They were trying to whisper, but weren’t doing a great job at it. You could hear every word perfectly well. 

“What are we thinking, guys?” Tom said, closing the door behind him. When he turned around, Harrison and his brother were rubbing their arms, on the spots where Tom had been a bit too rough on his grip. Harry sat down on the edge of the bathtub, while Harrison decided to remain standing,eventually leaning against the tiled wall. There was a bright light in the small bathroom, but the vintage green tiles made it all look much darker. 

“She seems nice.” Harrison spoke up finally. “But I don’t know, she’s obviously a… she. Won’t that be weird?” 

“What do you think, Tom?” Harry asked his older brother, who, even though had been the one to pull them into the bathroom, had not planned on saying much. “You’re the one with experience in living with a woman. So try to cancel out those supermodels for a sec.”

“I don’t know,” Tom bit the inside of his cheek. Before he had moved in with his brother and best friend, he had been living with his then girlfriend, Stacey. They had been together for a while until she had decided that maybe, this wasn’t meant to be after all. Unlike you, though, the apartment had been in his name so he had a place to stay, but he just couldn’t get himself to live alone in a place that was intended on being lived in by two people. So, he moved out. 

“I mean… every girl is different, so I can’t say shit.” 

“I’m really not that bad!” you shouted from the other side of the door, immediately hiding your mouth behind your hands. Now they knew you were listening to their private conversation. The bathroom door opened and Tom’s head popped out. He saw you sitting on the couch. 

“Could you- could you hear all of that?” he pointed back into the bathroom. You nodded, still covering your mouth, scared you would say something else embarrassing. But the guys seemed to be just as abashed. One by one they walked out and came to sit on their basically appointed seats on the sofa. Did they have their own claimed seats? Would you need to be prepared to only sit in one spot of the room forever? Shit, they had all the seats with the window view… 

“So,” Harry said, “when you said supermodels-” but he never got to finish his sentence because Harrison slapped him across the back of his head. You suppressed a small laugh. It didn’t go unnoticed by Tom, who reciprocated the expression. This, in turn, was missed by you. You only looked in his direction a second later, when the smile had slightly faded already. 

“Thanks for saying that whole ‘every girl is different’ thing. Not saying I can’t cook… even if that is going along with the stereotype, but I wouldn’t exactly want to be accepted to live here as a nanny… not that I think you guys can’t take care of yourselves! I mean just look at-” you eyes wandered around them just for a second before coming back on the right track. “- at the apartment. What I mean is- uhh.” 

“Guys are dicks?” Harrison suggested. 

“Yes! No! No, of course not, well some. But I don’t think you guys are. You seem really nice. I’ve just had… experiences with living with other types of guys and that really was not the planned outcome now that I think about it and I don’t know why I can’t shut up now because I have no idea why I’m telling you all this.” 

“Is this Spencer that we’re talking about here?” Tom asked and your eyes shot to his direction, shocking even him. The name had become somewhat of a trigger for you in the last few days. At the last moment, you realised you had actually mentioned his name yourself to them during your introductory story, so that spared you a good bit of humiliation there. You decided to keep quiet. You all did. Great, because this day had not gone awkward enough. Maybe you could sink into the surface of the ground and die there? Then there would be no more reason to find any living space. It would all be over. Yeah, that really didn’t sound too bad even. 

“So, do you wanna see your room?” Harrison broke the silence and his words surprised everyone, even him. You took longer than it should have to comprehend what he had just suggested. 

“What? Uhh, yes! Yes! Oh my god, that would be fantastic. Thank you.” 

“Great,” Harrison clapped his hands on his thighs before getting up. Then he extended one of those hands to you. He led you to the corridor opposite the bathroom, the third door on the left. The door had some scraped paint residue on it and you could see a poor attempt was made at pulling off the scotch tape that held up posters on it or something? It opened up to a room. It wasn’t big or small. The wall color was a nice beige, a bit of a sandy, almost peachy color. You could definitely work with it. 

The guys let you take it in, but also took that moment to give each other death glares, most of them directed at Harrison. 

“What exactly were you thinking?” Tom asked him, this time properly whispering. For extra measure he extended his neck to look into the hallway to see if you were walking out of the room again. 

“Actually, I was thinking about how you had showed up at my door at 2 am when Stacey dumped you.”

“She didn’t dump me. No one was dumped.” Tom denied like always.

“No, you were definitely dumped, mate.” Harry said, not even making an attempt at hiding the amusement in his voice. 

“Anyway,” Harrison ignored the interaction between brothers, “I thought of you and how miserable you were then. She’s probably going through that same thing.” If not worse, he wanted to add, but he also didn’t want to edge Tom’s ego any further. “So, let’s give her a chance.” 

Tom still didn’t seem to be entirely sure. He raised his eyebrow, thinking. He looked once more at the corridor, expecting you to walk out any moment, but you still were in the room. What were you even doing there? The place was entirely empty. 

“Fine,” he gave in, “but if she turns out to be completely psychotic, you’re kicking her out, Haz.” He immediately noticed the wince in Harry’s face. Had he mistimed his words? 

Yes, he had, because you were standing right behind him now. The sight of you made his heart stop for a good second as he went pale. 

“Fucking Christ,” Tom gasped, “if you live here, you’re getting a bell. None of that sneaking around.” 

“Are we talking service, hand, cow, or the kinky cat collar type?” you smirked, knowing you had gotten him completely flustered at your joke. While Harrison and Harry burst out in laughter, Tom didn’t move a muscle. His cheeks and neck, however, had started to turn a lovely rosy colour. He opened his mouth a bit, just to close it up again as he changed his mind. 

_______________________

While you had told them that you would be spending your days crying into a pint of ice cream while watching movies, reality was much more different from that. It was true that you barely left your room, but that was because you were too busy unpacking all your things out and setting up your room. The guys were nice enough to help you bring up the furniture sets and the boxes, which had been lovingly left at the curb of the building by the people from the moving company.

That ordeal had taken up most of Saturday. Your first task was to set up the bed, which Harrison helped you with. You tried to tell him that you didn’t need help, but your words were futile the second you almost dropped a wooden plank on yourself. The flatpacks were easy enough to understand, and unlike what you had done there, you weren’t the worst when it came to building, so all the furniture was set up by the end of Sunday. It meant that you could spend the rest of the week opening boxes and making your room really yours. 

But Monday also meant work, so you only had the afternoons and nights to do it. Together with the fact that you had to leave early for work, meant that the guys really barely saw you. The only sign of your presence would be the music you were playing from your room while doing the unpacking. 

It was the fourth hour of your One Direction sing-a-long that Tom walked into the living room. Harrison popped his head up from his book to look at his friend. He did not look happy. 

“Dude,” he said. The one word already evoked all that Tom wanted to say, but Harrison loved to annoy him. 

“What?” he opened up his book again, pretending not to really pay any attention to Tom. This was made harder when Tom sat down next to him. 

“If I hear What Makes You Beautiful one more fucking time-” 

“Then what?” Harrison still kept his eyes on the words on the pages, not taking in a single word. 

“You have to do something. I can’t take it.” 

“Why do I have to do something?” Harrison closed his book with his finger still between the pages and looked at Tom, just in time to see him narrow his eyes in annoyance. 

“Really? So do you wanna see your room y/n?!” His voice turned higher as he mocked Harrison’s words, following it up by a gagging sound. “You’re the one that got us here. Now, go solve it.” 

“I really don’t mind it. If you’re so bothered, go talk to her yourself.” And with that, Harrison went back to his book. This time actually reading the words. It was enough for Tom to know that the conversation was over. He didn’t even try to argue. He gave Harrison one more glare and got up. While walking to your room, he noticed that Harry had actually been in the kitchen this whole time, listening in on their conversation. He tried to give his little brother a look, hoping for support, but he didn’t get any of that. Harry disappeared behind the doors of a cupboard and Tom went into the corridor, still rolling his eyes. 

When he reached your door, he couldn’t hear you singing anymore. It was just One Direction coming from the speakers. Now, he enjoyed the lads just as much as the next guy, but after a while he just needed it to stop. And coming in in five hours was definitely a while. 

He knocked on the door. There was a sound that resembled you. A bit of a murmur that formed no particular word. It didn’t sound like a denial though, so slowly, in case you didn't want him to come in, he opened the door. 

You were quick in decorating the room. Only a few days ago it was still empty and a bit cold looking, now the walls were covered with posters and pictures. You had used one entire wall just for your bookcase. There didn’t seem to be an order on the shelves just yet, but you left that for the last thing to do since the rest of the room seemed a bit more important at the moment.

The bed was unmade, with several pillows thrown about over it. Behind it the headboard, which simultaneously served as a shelf. Stuffed animals and a few more books were strewn about. Overhead were fairy lights, matching the ones on the doorframe and on the bookcase. Together with the lamp that was on the desk, it was the only light in the room. Since it was dark, it gave the room a warm and cozy atmosphere. 

But the first thing that Tom noticed when he walked into the room was the smell. Coconut? It wasn’t overwhelming, just strong enough to be pleasantly surprising and noticeable. 

You were standing on a small step ladder, which you usually used to reach the upper shelf of your bookcase (high walls gave the opportunity for more shelves, which you could never say no to). You were in the middle of hanging up a picture on the wall as the song from your speaker continued. 

Can we take the same road, two days in the same clothes- 

You were holding on to the frame with both hands, trying to centre it on the nail in the wall, but every time you pulled away, the frame would slant to the side. 

And I know just what she’ll say if I can make all this pain go- 

Tom saw you get fed up with the picture, throwing it on the bed with a groan. That’s when you looked up at him. The dim and soft light was shining just at the angle that when he looked at you, he could see the tear streaks down your face. You had definitely been crying. You were still sniffling a bit when you stepped down to the floor. 

“Am I too loud? Sorry.” you immediately reached out to your phone, which was connected to the speaker, and pressed down the volume. Then you decided to just turn it off completely. Maybe you’ve had enough of it for now. 

“Uhh, a bit, but it’s fine. We like 1D here, so.” Tom suddenly felt like a real dick when he saw the small, apologetic, smile you gave him. You were holding the speaker in your hands as you sat on the bed, staring at it, a bit lost, and Tom wasn’t sure if he was supposed to leave or not. 

“Are you okay?” he asked. You had clearly forgotten he was still there, because you looked up looking a bit frazzled. 

“No.” You said honestly. What would be the point in pretending? You couldn’t fool anyone even if you tried. Misery was the only thing feeling your once Spencer-filled void. Ugh, the sound of his name, even just in your thoughts, made you want to scream. Unconsciously, and a bit to Tom’s amusement, you had grabbed one of your pillows and started to hit your fist right in the middle of it. Your hits were getting harder and rougher. 

“Ever considered boxing?” He brought you out of your haze. You looked down at the pillow, seeing the sad looking indent on the kitten-patterned pillow. Tom took the pillow away from you and fluffed it out to its normal shape before putting it back.

“It’s just been hard, you know,” you said, more to yourself than to him and Tom understood that. He knew what you meant. He had been in that same position not too long ago and seeing you like this did definitely bring back some of those feelings he had tried to suppress back then. 

“Like, I thought he was the one. And I know it sounds so stupid, I don’t even believe in that whole soulmate crap, but he was it for me. For the first time, I could actually imagine myself enduring nine months of hell to have a kid with him, sorry if I’m being TMI.” 

“You’re good,” he said. He also understood that feeling. Maybe not in the exact, child bearing way, but he could resonate with that whole it thing. He had felt the same way about Stacey. He had never told anyone this, and was never planning on telling anyone, but the day before they broke up, he had been out in the city looking for an engagement ring. It had come unplanned. He wasn’t thinking yet about actually proposing. But he had been in town for an audition and on his way home he saw the jeweller. It was the first time he had ever thought of it, and it seemed right, so he walked in and just looked around. 

“You must think I’m so pathetic though. Crying for weeks about some douchebag.”

“Well, you’ve only lived here for five days, so I wouldn’t know about that.” He smirked. You groaned again and fell with your head on a big fluffy pillow. 

“But no,” he said eventually, “I don’t think you’re pathetic.” 

“Thanks.” 

_______________________

Another week had gone by and your mother had somehow found out about your new living arrangement. So, the last 20 minutes you had been sitting on the couch, listening to her yelling. 

“No mum, I’m fine.” you said, for what felt like the 50th time. Right at that moment, Harry showed up in the living room, making his way from a shower to his bedroom, only a towel around his waist. His usually curly hair was a wet mop, covering most of his face. 

“You don’t even know them!” your mother shrieked. 

“Harry, are you going to murder me?” you asked as he walked by, covering the microphone of your phone. Without missing a beat, or looking down at you, he answered with a snappy “Yup,” and walked into his own room. 

“They’re really nice guys, mum.” You told her. It took you another ten minutes to convince her not to come over tomorrow (or ever, in general). The conversation had taken an abrupt turn when suddenly, she invited you to a video call. Knowing that if you didn’t answer it, you would never hear the end of it, you accepted the call. Your mothers face, or better said, forehead, showed up on screen. You tried to cover your chin as best as you could with the collar of your sweater since you were too tired to hold up your phone at a reasonable angle. 

“Hi mom,” you sighed. 

“Where are they?!” she said, looking around as if she could actually see more than what your camera showed. You were going to lie that they had gone out, but right at that second Harry walked out of his room. Thankfully he was dressed, but his hair was still a bit wet. His shoulder was just visible in the corner of your screen and you tried to move to the side, but your mother had noticed him already.

“Who’s that?” Why did your mother always have to be so loud?

“Uhh, that’s Harry.”

He looked up at the mention of his name. You were scared that it would make him uncomfortable if you talked about him to your mom, it was making you uncomfortable for sure, but instead he jumped up at the opportunity and the next second he was leaning on the couch, almost over you, and smiling at your phone. 

“Hi.” He waved to your mother. His quick movements made his hair move around, giving you a nice first row experience of the fountain show coming from it. You wiped the water off your face. 

“What’s your name again?” Your mother asked. 

“Harry, Ma’am. Harry Holland.” He said with a smile. You both knew that when your mother had asked him his name, she meant his full name. She wouldn’t be able to make any deep research, but it was in case you suddenly went missing, of course. 

“How old are you?” your mother went on with the third degree, glaring at your roommate at each question. Harry answered it all with a big and charming smile. You held the camera, hoping the couch could eat you already. This could not get any more embarrassing, could it? 

Oh, it could. Because half way through, your sister had shown up and sat down next to your mom. She didn’t say anything, but suddenly a text notification popped up on the top of your screen. 

Who’s the hot guy?

Your sister was not imbecile, yet she loved to act like it. Of course, Harry saw the text and erupted in a loud laugh, startling your poor mother. As the timer on the call was reaching 30 minutes you decided to say your goodbyes and end the conversation. Harry was still laughing. 

“So… you’re sister…” he said once calming down. 

“Don’t even think about it. She’s 17.” you glared at him and he immediately shut up, which you appreciated. 

“Well, your mom seems nice,” he eventually said. You knew he didn’t mean it in that way, but in the context of your previous exchange, it didn’t sound great. Now you were the one laughing. 

“That is not what I meant!” he shouted out, grabbing a throw pillow and hitting you on the arm with it lightly.

“Jesus, calm down. I know.” You grabbed the pillow from him. You were both in a fit of giggles by then. It took a moment to catch a breath and by that point, your head was actually hurting.  

“So do you think I’m hot?” Harry asked, raising his brow like the cheeky fuck he is. You just rolled your eyes and hit him with that same pillow. Maybe a bit too hard, because it knocked him off balance and when you looked up, he was no longer leaning on the backrest of the sofa. 

“Oops. Sorry.”

_______________________

Something you had to learn the hard way when it came to living with the guys was that you had to lock your doors. They weren’t doing it on purpose, but they had a tendency to forget to knock when walking into the bathroom, or even your bedroom. Specifically, Harrison. 

Usually, you’d consider him to be the more logical of the three, but that didn’t really mean that much. He was just as much of an idiot as the two Holland brothers at times. 

The bathroom incident had happened during your first week of living with the boys. You were taking a shower. The loud water had cancelled out the sound of the door opening so you didn’t know that while you were washing your hair, Harrison had walked into the bathroom. 

In his defence, he thought it was Tom showering, not you. 

You had not been made aware yet of the honourable fifth member of the household: a life size Nicolas Cage cardboard cut-out. So, when you pushed the shower curtain aside, and were met eye to eye with Nick Cage himself, you screamed bloody murder, almost falling in the bathtub. The door opened to horrified Harrison, realising his mistake. He realised it as soon as he heard the screams, which clearly did not belong to Tom. 

But another scream followed, which was shorter and more specific, followed by a “Fuck!” made him feel like something else had happened. It sounded like you had gotten hurt. So, obviously, he walked in to see if you were alright. 

You were, in fact, alright, and seeing him standing there, eyes wide as he saw your naked body, you screamed again for him to get out. He took a second to grab Nick and pull him out of the room, mumbling a few sorrys, and closed the door behind him. 

Flushed, slightly angry, and with a pounding heart, you dried off and got dressed. Unlike the guys, you were never one to parade half naked around the house on your way from the bathroom to your bedroom. 

You walked out, a pile of old clothes in your hands, to see Harrison. He looked like a puppy that might be about to be smacked with a newspaper on his nose. Usually you were very much against that disciplinary practice, but Harrison was no puppy, and you had been scared shitless. 

“y/n, I’m so sorry.” he apologised as he followed you to your room. You were telling him that it was alright, and actually quite funny, but he really wanted you to know that it was an accident and that he didn’t mean to scare you like that or walk in on you naked or linger his eyes on you for that long. 

“Seriously, Haz, it’s fine. Shit happens… just, don’t walk into the bathroom anymore when I shower. Or ever actually, if I’m in there, don’t.”

“Yeah, of course.” 

And he kept to the promise. You didn’t get any other sudden visits in the bathroom, but it was not the last time that Harrison saw you naked. 

You were all going out to a bar one night, and a bit shamefully, you were taking a bit longer than usual with getting ready. The guys had been waiting for a while already, and you were trying to hurry up, but you just had no idea what to wear. Finally you had found yourself a dress that might make you get a bit lucky that night. You weren’t even planning on hooking up, but the attention was appreciated. In your, still not exactly over your break-up situation, it was actually needed. 

In the meantime, the guys were deciding which one of them had to go and tell you to hurry up. It was getting late and they needed their time to get completely smashed. And while waiting for you, getting knock out drunk was definitely not happening. 

Harrison drew the figurative short straw. He thought you were doing your make-up or something, being aware how much time that can take sometimes. He never imagined opening the door and seeing you standing in the middle of your room, only in a pair of panties. You didn’t see him at first because your dress was over your head as you tried to pull it on. Harrison closed the door before you saw anything. But you could hear the thud of the door closing. 

You pulled the dress over your body, grabbed a pair of matching heels and put them on as you got out of your room. There you saw Harrison. His red cheeks indicated that he was the one who had walked into your room. Tom and Harry were standing at the door. They could see you walk out and their eyes had gone a bit wide. Clearly, the dress was serving its purpose. 

Having already gone through this whole embarrassing scenario already, you decided to spare Harrison. You have him a soft smile. 

“Could you help me zip up?” you asked, turning your back and pushing the hair away from the zipper. 

“Uhh, yeah, yeah, of course.” He was so flustered. It was actually adorable. You could feel his hands on you as he grabbed the two sides of the dress and the zipper and slowly, carefully, pulled it up. 

“Thank you,” you said when he was done. He didn’t respond, his face still as red as a stop light. And it didn’t get any better when you kissed him on the cheek. 

It was definitely interesting to be living with them, but you couldn’t complain about a single thing… except for the laundry, maybe. 

The END

> Thank you for reading!! I hope you enjoyed

> please leave a comment or ask with your thoughts. i love reading them and let me know if you want to see more of this au cause i really enjoyed writing it :)

>masterlist and link to taglist in bio

tagging:

@definitely-not-black-cat @artemisiaarm @nerdyhockeygirl @miraclesoflove @justasmisunderstoodasloki @thefridgeismybestie @m19friend @creative-happenings @parker-holland-osterfield @fanficparker @fanficscuziranout @peterparkoure @xxtomxo @happywolves81 @captainbuckyy @tra-gicx @qxeen-of-hearts @varshavisuu @kangaroobunny @petersunderoos96  @the-lost-fairy-tale @nerd-domland @sleepybesson @rissa067 @the-queen-procrastinator @scarletteclipze @screeching-student-unknown  @spiderrrling @lonelyavenger @tomhollanders2013 @miraclesoflove @playinonaloop @queenoflostspirits @roses-hxlland @hereiamhereigo @sunnydays0803 @averyfosterthoughts @moorehollandplz @beiroviski @you-bleed-just-toknowyouarealive @peterparkerbabyyy @multifandomlover21 @lmaotshollandd @badbitchydecisions @tikapollak @awesomehritz @madzleigh01 @oh-what-a-beautiful-parker @taciturnspidey @quaksonhehe @mountainsforwords @harryfobter @peepeeparkerr @viagracex @ethereal-beauty-p @slytherin-chaser @worldoftom @moonysoftt @peeterparkr @wazzupmrstark @saintlavrents @peachybloomss @blissfulparker @chloecreatesfictions-archive  @fallinfortom @bitchydecisions @okokimfreakingoutahh @rxsydreams @musicalkey @joyleenl @multifandomdoodles121 @awkwardfangirl2014 @marvelouspeterparker​ @siriuslyslyslytherinyes @lunalovegoodsgirlfriendyes @bitchydecisions​ @okokimfreakingoutahh @quinjetboi​ @sheranatic111​ @zspideyy​ @lizzyosterfield​ @dahliasbroken​ @parkerlovebot​ @itstaskeen​ @sarcasticallywitty15​ @sluttytears​ @lilhoodhippie​ @theliterarymess​ @marlenetough​ @tomsirishgirlx​ @hiiii-i​ @wonderfulfluffer​ @dumbledorrs @hollandstea @roseke​ @outshineallthestars​ @spideyspeaches​ @ieatchildrenfordessert​ 

it’s been a bit now so. misc 200/end of mag in general thoughts? under a cut because this is a bit long, and i will preface this to say that i mostly enjoyed the episode but this is going to be mostly my criticisms, bc i feel like the good parts have already been well covered by people other than me. so yeah just a warning this is mostly crit

- it’s Still very hard for me to parse how i feel about this episode, but i think after sitting on it for a bit, i’ve come to the general conclusion that i am very satisfied plot-wise (in terms of tragedy/the structure of tragedies, the open-endedness of our ending, the general Writing TM), but not so much satisfied character-wise (in terms of arc and relationship resolution). I think we deserved more resolution on wtgfs -- i wanted more with them! more with melanie and jon; more with the melanie and georgie and basira’s side of the plan. more than that really small tidbit that we got at the end! and... honestly? a little bit more emphasis on the weight of Jon actually dooming other worlds in the end, and what that means for Jon and for wtgfs/basira. Especially with the context of the consequences re: the Web...won. no caveats or complications, the Web got. Exactly what it wanted.

- on that note,  From a uh. Critique against capitalism standpoint I’m not sure how I feel about the ending? And I don’t really want to. Read too much into what isn’t there? But I mean mag has long been a pretty explicit anticapitalist narrative so...? Yeah, I’m not a big fan of the implications of WTGFs and basira basically just being treated as narratively right in terms of letting the eldritch evil stand-in for capitalism have whatever it wanted and feeding it and doing exactly what it asked them to do. and having Little consequence as a result of that. Obviously they’ll still face loads of hardship, but that comes from the apocalypse, not from, like,.,, doing the direct bidding of the Capitalist Monster/System/etc to be clear, i’m not like...mad they made the “wrong” decision; there was no wrong or right decision here. but I am a little upset that for all they spent 199 discussing the various consequences of each choice, we got to see very little of that actual consequence playing out...none of the survivors seem to really be carrying the guilt or even the full understanding of what they did, because they never saw the suffering they could create as anything more than a hypothetical. i feel like we could have spent just a bit more time with them dealing with that. a bit more time even with jon dealing with that, a bit more time spent on jon changing his mind. other people have said as much better than me but. yeah

- i feel like there was a lot of character stuff brought up in s5 and especially act iii that i would’ve loved to have seen more resolution of. why have that whole thing about Georgie telling jon to give melanie his last words himself, if Jon was going to come back but then never bring that up again (full disclosure this is smthn that @pronouncingitwang​ brought up!)? Why have Jon say he was “going to go  apologize to [his] boyfriend”/Jon tell Martin multiple times that they were going to talk about their fight “later” and then not have that happen on screen? Why did we have two whole episodes of cultist interactions if they were just going to be removed off screen? Why have martin’s “I’ll get jon to destroy me like the others” decision if that doesn’t really come up? what about salesa!! why tell us melanie hating jon is a projection of her self hatred and then not bring that up again? why give annabelle all those juicy interactions with martin and then turn her into a monster when jon shows up, why give her so much character and backstory and then so thoroughly remove her agency? why have all these really cool parallels between jon and annabelle if annabelle is just going to be this monstrous and agency-less plot device with no follow-up? what happened to her!

- on that note...annabelle. They... really took this character who is a Black woman and who had so many parallels to Jon and who they could’ve like. very easily Actually made into a protagonist of color (because we only got one!! and she’s a cop!!!!) (or if not protagonist, at least smthn more sympathetic), (which wouldn’t have negated previous racial problems w tma, but would’ve shown growth from them) and made her a scary monster who just Serves her capitalist entity overlord without personal agency and then bows out when she’s no longer needed...you can have whatever diagetic/watsonian explanations you want for how 197 went, like sure she was just ~being dramatic~ and putting on a show for jon, but all that is still something the writers Decided to do in the real world, and the racial implications of her character arc are just. not great. and her character had So much more narrative potential. idk i will forever be salty about annabelle

- i Still Don’t Like the web being sentient!! i said this after 197 and i’m sayin it again! i think it makes it less frightening and less interesting! with the End being aware of its own, well, end, I actually thought that worked, and i really liked the corpse routes ep, but for some reason I didn’t with the Web? which seems hypocritical of me, I know, but, look: The embodiment of the fear of dying being aware of and welcoming its own dying emphasizes the inevitability and the truth of that fear. Which is why it works for the End. It’s still not recognizably /human/, because it is inexorable and certain, in a way nothing human can be. So its awareness of its own end DOESNT feel like flattening the worldbuilding. And using my own logic, I guess sure you could say the embodiment of the fear of manipulation and schemes being capable of scheming does the same thing but it. It rly doesn’t feel the same to me? Bc that’s rly a fear borne of human sentience & behavior. and so to give it that sentience makes it feel more human, and less interesting within the context of the horror. this is definitely just a personal taste thing as far as how i like horror and eldritch deities and such but yeah.

- i liked the statement a lot like, as a little self contained story? it was really nice to have jon give us one last story before the end. I thought that was sweet and i liked how the statement was written! on the same note though, i could’ve also gone without knowing like. the entire cosmology of how the fears came into being. again, just a personal thing, i don’t like my horror to be known, even at the end of it all when it doesn’t matter what we’re still scared of anymore. I just. I want my fears to be frightening and beyond comprehension and unknowable. it just leads me to have more questions than i really need at the Final episode? i would love to keep the jon giving us one final statement thing, and you know what? i would've loved: statement of the archivist, regarding jonathan sims. no idea what you’d do with that but it sounds cool in my head.

- very minor and very specific-to-me thing but i Don’t Like that basira got to be the Last Words...sorry y’all I just don’t like basira i can’t get behind trying to make me feel sympathetic for a cop who stood by and let people get murdered by the state for years and only felt bad about it bc fearpocalypse i just can’t. i don’t like her never have never will and also melanie and georgie are right there why didn’t they get to have the last words it would have been so much better ... why not have the person who loved jon and Knew very deeply his tendency to self-sacrifice say something or why not the person who is in-canon very similar to Jon and self-admittedly projecting her self hatred onto him say some sort of her own attempt at peace why not either of these two ahhhh

- i uhhhh. really liked jon killing jonah. jon for once getting to be angry for himself. that felt really nice. no ceaseless watcher nonsense either, just him and a knife and beating the shit out of this guy who even now continues to underestimate and belittle him. and i liked jon doing what he did in general -- i actually changed my mind on this; i really didn’t like it at first but i do now. i’m sad that it came at the expense of his promise to martin, but it makes sense and...i don’t want to say jon was right, because i again don’t think any of the decisions were right per se, but in terms of like... not doing what the “elder fear deity who wants to feed on fear and pain for literal eternity” wanted... yeah. i get it. he would never have been able to go along with that willingly. and he really shouldn’t have been, considering all that he went through being a puppet for said elder fear deity. and from a tragedy standpoint too, i actually think it’s a really really well written end for him. considering how my favorite tragedies are structured and how the way out has to be presented to us, but the tragic hero Ultimately will always fall back on their faults, yeah, this makes a lot of sense. hamlet is granted a way out and he doesn’t take it; he always always hesitates. captain ahab is granted the chance to turn and leave his chase and love instead, and he doesn’t take it. orpheus turns around. etc etc. I think it was also really lovely that jon got a twist on that, that in the end he did change, for just a moment, and chose love instead. even in the face of all the horror that that might mean. i really like that he and martin are together, wherever or however they are. that martin is allowed to feel (rightly) furious and betrayed and still so, so unconditionally in love. 

idk i have more thoughts probably but again they’re very hard to parse and mostly just getting into the super specific realm which i don’t think is particularly helpful

i have a lot of feelings for jon and martin and their ending i think it was the best possible ending we could’ve gotten for those two and i Am really. I just have a lot of feelings.

8 Anti LO Asks

1. Rachel Smythe is struggling to write Persephone as the Dread Queen now because she sent the last 100 to 200 something episodes depowering and devaluing her. This is why she has to tear down the other women in the comic. Because of her previous, terrible written attempts at making Persephone a "soft uwu baby" who needs protection she has written herself into a corner where Persephone is basically stuck as powerless as the nymphs Rachel claims she's better than, and the only way out is to fight tooth and nail to make every other terribly written goddess or nymph who stands in her way look bad. This is only amplified by Rachel's seeming inability to write a proper character arc.

2. the idea isnt bad to make backgrounds look more abstract, its actually p common place and is good so panels dont get overcomplicated ... the issue is when other comics do it, its because they have detailed characters and movements so the backgrounds SHOULD be less focused on so the focus is on the characters instead, but LO doesnt have that?? so instead you have flat, static characters in voids instead of any place of substance. the actual world of LO is as flat as everything else.

3. I wonder if LO would be way better if WT put a cap on how long it could go. Like say it was only allowed 125 episodes, which is generous bc there are other successful comics on there that wrapped up well below that number. So say LO was given that cap and that's it. Just off that unneeded plots would be cut, filler would be removed, and serious focus would have to be put on developing HxP with a satisfying ending, instead of letting RS go in the 200+ range with no plan or end in sight.

4. I would suggest watching Just Stop's video on the 2021 version of Cinderella ("Cinderella (2021) is a Failure of Magical Proportions"), because their comments on "modern" and "girl power" adaptations (starts at 18:35) hits so perfectly on the head, to me at least, why LO fails too in trying to "modernize' and "empower" Persephone. The video isn't about LO obvs but their critiques fit almost perfectly onto why things like LO fail to be progressive and empowering like they market themselves to be.

5. i agree, the idea psyche is black is not bad in itself (and tbh it is nice if the most beautiful woman is a WoC) but the issue is she .. isnt black? she's a rusty orange with straight hair with no hint shes anything but a tanned woman at most? like semele has nearly the same skin tone as her, is she a WoC too? and as you pointed out, it took literal /years/ before RS bothered to put give her braids, so?? it seems more like a retcon instead of actually making a diverse cast IMHO.

6. Wait so … the colors have meaning? But also don’t at the same time? Does Rachel actually have a reason for anything or does she just make up a reason on the fly? Because saying the colors have symbolism behind them but then basically saying the readers are stupid for asking what that symbolism is when pressed on it because they don’t make much sense is just??? Like girl just say you liked the colors instead of having contradictory explanations, you just look like you’re unprofessional for it. 

7. I’m sorry, is Rachel saying Demeter will be revealed to be pink or something or Persephone will end up Green? Because if you have to complete retcon your own designs for your own oversights then that’s not good? Or is it they’ll all end up being muddy looking humans? Or we get some twist that Persephone is Rhea reborn or something to explain her coloring? IDK it’s just laughable at this point Rachel is hyping herself up as this mastermind with such deep, years-in-the-making plans and build up when she can’t even keep the colors consistent from panel to panel and openly says she writes the week of. Like girl, who are you fooling? Yourself? I’m p sure even the stans don’t buy that. 

8. the color ask was fine until rachel just HAD to be weird and be like HEHE PURPLE MEANS THEYRE SOOO HORNY like ... why??? im no prude but shes so weirdly sexual over literally everything and its so juvenile.