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cursedzucchini · 1 year

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You know what? Fuck it

DC x DP prompt #3

I think at least lmao.

Anyway! Jason starts making videos on YouTube for one reason or another (is really stressed, no one listens to his rants Abt books who cares). His content is mostly bad books he read or really really really long rants Abt pride and prejudice. Like 3 hours on one tiny detail he noticed on his 214th read through.

He's kinda popular, mostly bc his terrible books videos. He talks Abt the ones that made him the most mad, which coincidentally are mostly romance and supernatural. Like he's one of the well known figures in the supernatural romance critique group (whcih is pretty small, but well). (Also he doesn't show his face on camera, bc secret identity and stuff, it's just his voice over a video of something mundane, like the sky or a room in which is a fly or something)

And now this can go two ways, that i can think of (w dead on main in mind at least)

1) one day Jason finds a book which is supernatural romance and is actually good. It has a kidna cliche system for the supernatural stuff, but with a refreshing twist. The characters have depts and flaws, yet are still very likable. The plot is actually interesting and overall the story's theme is death, not belonging anywhere and overall stuff that is very close to Jason's heart. The story doesn't shy away from violence and it is suprisingly accurate.

(I'm.gonna reblog this w pretty long idea of what this book could be Abt, bc i don't wanna annoy ppl lol)

Anyway Jason kinda falls in love w it, and it becomes famous for being the first novel Jason rated positively or something.

Meanwhile Danny, who was told by jazz writing is good way to get his feeling out, and just wanted to make a quick buck, is really fucking confused how tf did his book become so popular and who tf is this nerd who rates books for a living.

(basically big fan Jason and suspicious/awkward Danny lmao)

2) there is a famous series on Jason profile. It's the worst fucking series he ever read and it's just fucking awful. All the characters are fucking terrible, always going on and on about one thing, the romance sucks in a way that isnt even funny. Jason would love to believe some wrote this as a joke, if it wasn't for the absolute cringefest this was, and it wasn't a whole ass series!! Like who writes 12 books for a joke?

Danny ducking Fenton that's who. Dude was so ducking annoyed at his rogues, he threatened them w writing a terrible romance novels abt them. The ghosts, knowing his terrible grade in literature backed off for a moment, before someone crossed the line. And write Danny did. It was the worst thing he had ever written, the love interest was perfect caricature yet still faithfully go the original. And Danny, because fuck them he lost sommuch sleep over that one prank, decided to publish it. (The book was pretty thin so it didn't take that much time writing it). Unfortunately it became immensely popular in the infinite realm. So the ghosts started crossing lines on purpose. Before Danny figured it out, he had already published his fifth book and was writing another three. After some bargaining, getting a book written Abt them as a piece of shit love interest became a reward.

And while yeah, he had to say his writing was terrible and the books sucked, some small part of him was kinda proud y'know? Like a mother of her twelve ugly as fuck toddlers.

So when he saw some nerd on the internet not only shit talk his book, but also get money of it?

Danny decided to haunt him (just like his books did him, now that everyone knew Abt them thanks to this guy)

(enemies (sorta it's not that serious tho) to lovers ala terrible writer Danny who hates his books and kinda famous YouTuber hasn't who also hates Danny's books)

Fuck this is way too long wtf. Anyway imma reblog this w 1) book idea. Might add whatever i think the twelve books could be Abt. Pls if u want to add anything to this pls do!!

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svftloving · 6 months

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໒꒰ྀི´ ˘ ` ꒱ྀིა yandere! aether general headcanons

warnings! yandere themes, overprotectiveness (directed towards reader), mentions of threatened self harm (not towards reader), force affection (not directly stated, but implied) obsessive behavior, kidnapping, mentions of violence (not towards reader), paimon attempting to be a wingman (but ultimately failing), if you feel like anything else i should add, just comment! <3

notes! i love this man so much smh. also, these headcanons take place as if you were traveling with aether and paimon (since like, before the actual story). enjoy! <3

there are literally no words that can describe how much you mean to this man. like, literally. you mean more to this wandering traveler more than words can describe. you'll often find the male gazing at you with the softest look in his eyes. he won't be embarrassed even if you catch him staring, just leaning his cheek against the palm of his hand as he stares dreamily.

on your journey towards each region, his (over)protectiveness will continue to grow and there's literally nothing you can do about it. it's inevitable and you'll just have to deal with it. he already lost his sister, could you imagine how much he would lose it of he lost you too?

unlike what his sister would do, you'll be stuck in serenitea pot 24/7. maybe in safer/more familiar regions (mondstadt is a good example) you'll be able to get out the pot more, but most of the time, it's just aether, you, and paimon in the serenitea pot. paimon usually is fighting for your freedom but aether is (unfortunately) able to convince her otherwise. give the poor girl some credit she's trying her hardest :'(

speaking of paimon...she's the worse wingman ever. according to aether, atleast. he appreciates her efforts and all to try and woo you for him, but it always ends up making him look bad in the long run. unintentionally attempting to show off his battling as he beats a innocent person for flirting with you, trying to convince you of how awesome aether is as if he didn't state that he would kill himself if you left him, etc.

anyway, back to aether. this man is extremely affectionate. he doesn't care where you both are at, what time it is, or what's happening at that specific moment, just expect to have him close to you in whatever way possible. he loves any type of affection, but he's especially a fan of kisses if you ask him what his favorite type of affection is, he'll say all. trust me though kisses are his favorite. smooches, pecks, full on make out sessions, he doesn't care. he'll soak it all up and tell you thank you after (or if it's the case where he's showing you affection, then he'll still probably say thank you). he especially loves when you kiss all his bruises and scars that he gets from battling at the end of the day, just laying in your arms and feeling your lips kiss all the pain away is better than any bandages~

you know how i said he was overprotective? yeah, this man is willing to beat up literally anyone. it doesn't matter who it is, treasure hoaders, civilians, enemies, fatui, so on and so forth. and it's not just the fact that he's completely okay with killing anyone, but his reasoning for doing them is just as worse. a person in mondstadt can casually offer you some fisherman toast and aether is breaking fingers (look it's not his fault, okay? he saw their fingers linger on yours!)

on a more...obsessive note, he's very keen on keeping you by his side. i know i said that aether keeps you in the teapot, but he let's you out...sometimes. of course, you'll always be by his side whenever you're finally able to step out of your imprisonment, either he has a hand on your waist or is holding your hand. if danger ever just so happens to arise while he's trying to have a nice stroll with his darling, then you probably won't be going out for a while.

...and by a while, i mean 4-5 months if what happened isn't 'major' according to the blonde swordman. unfortunately, aether will come to the conclusion that teyvat is way to dangerous to even take a walk in windrise (or wherever non-if dangerous aether takes you) strikes. so once he gets the urge to finally take you out (again), please take advantage of it.

#yandere #yandere x reader #yandere genshin impact #yandere genshin impact x reader #yandere aether #yandere aether x reader #i wanna start another blog so bad #but i don't know what about :'l #(yan!) lumine headcanons coming soon...#i'm so sorry if some parts seem really out of place/weird to read #i was watching a yo gabba gabba lore video while writing

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callsignangel · 1 year

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screen rant babe - jack champion x interviewer! reader

warnings: none! fluffy but not a ton word count: 1059 requested by @gcidrvsh <3 ↳ "hi!! could you write something for jack champion? like where they meet on the set of scream (cuz they’re friends with jenna ortega) OR whatever you really wanna write its up to you" a/n: hi friends!! sorry this look so long. this fic is the first part of what's going to be a series about jack champion. i gave the reader some background (and a surprise relative) in this fic just to add some substance. i misplaced my list of people to tag, i'm so sorry! i'll be sure to set up a proper tag list for future parts of this series. i hope you enjoy!! reblogs and feedback about my work is deeply appreciated. <3

‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵︵‿︵‿︵

it had already been a long press day, having been interviewing the cast of avatar: the way of water for it's upcoming release. it was finally nearing the end of the day - you just had one more interview left with trinity bliss and jack champion. the interviews had been done in pairs, like sam and zoe, sigourney and jim, bailey and jamie, and now trinity and jack.

they had been sitting there when you walked in, patiently waiting as you arrived on time for their next interview. making sure your mic was on properly and working, you greeted them both with handshakes and quick small talk before you all seated yourself in those god awful uncomfortable directors chairs. "okay, it's so great to see you guys!" you began, a big big smile on your face. "my name is y/n and i'm here in partner with screenrant interviewing some of the cast from avatar: the way of water which is in theatres worldwide on december 16th," you finished your introduction, allowing them to begin theirs. "hi, my name is trinity jo-li bliss and i play tuktirey," she smiled directly into the camera and waved."and i'm jack champion and i play spider," he waved quickly and beamed for the camera before quickly returning his attention to you. "awesome, thank you for setting aside the time to meet with me today," you began again, “i’ll just get right into it here, did you learn anything from this movie? what was it?” you kept your formalities on for the camera, but your words were silent in his ears as he tuned out your voice and focused solely on you. your mannerisms, the way you read your questions directly out of the notepad you brought so you didn’t forget them and how eloquent you were when speaking and being spoken to. he was so enchanted by you that he didn't realize it was his turn to answer your question. “jack,” trinity whispered, nudging him softly to tell him it was his turn to answer you. “sorry, what was the question again?” he snapped back to reality and a nervous, breathy laugh escaped him. trinity looked at you and you returned her puzzled face before breaking out into a fit of giggles. “did you learn anything from this movie?” you repeated. “oh yeah, totally. the importance of family is a repeating theme in this movie and because i’m so close to my family, i’ve learned to protect them and make sure to keep them close because nowadays you never know what could happen,” he recovered quickly, and you smiled at him. he was cute, chivalrous and quick on his feet. definitely your type.

the interview continued for another 20 minutes, asking questions regarding working with james cameron, what it was like working with motion capture, how they prepared for their roles and other smaller questions regarding the other cast mates. trinity is a natural born story teller, so she would take charge regarding funny cast moments on set or even in other interviews. jack still kept his attention on you, but this time making sure to listen incase you had another question for him. he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of you anymore than he had. when the interview ended, you asked them both if you could take a quick picture of them for the article and for screenrant’s socials, both of whom happily obliged.

as you were getting your mic removed by the camera crew, you were surprised to see jack lingering by. “oh hey, thanks for letting me interview you today!” you spoke up, noticing his newfound nervous nature and trying to ease the awkwardness. he smiled, “i think you were the most fun interview we’ve had this entire press tour,” he admitted sheepishly. you giggled, “well, i’m glad. some people take interviews way too seriously and i think it takes away all of the fun and excitement about being in a big blockbuster movie like this.” you finished, double checking that you had your bag and your waterbottle with you before heading out. but before you could leave, jack stopped you again. “hey, do you live in LA or are you just here for work?” “oh, i’m actually just here for work! i’m originally from new york. i’m leaving in a couple days for the premiere in london actually,” you watched as his face lit up. “are you going to be at the premiere for work too?” he questioned, and you laughed. “not exactly. sigourney’s actually my aunt, and she invited me to come with her!” you declared, “i don’t think she was expecting me to be here for an interview today honestly.” giggling, you watched jack’s mind connect the dots. “oh my god haha that’s so cool, how come i never saw you on set?” he inquired. “never had enough time during school and her filming schedule. i would see her on holidays, or sometimes she would come and visit me while i was working in quebec.” you conversed a little more, talking about how you started working for screenrant, and if you had any plans to become an actor yourself. you hadn’t realized how easy he was to talk to, or how attractive he was now that it was just the two of you speaking in such close proximity. “do you have a date for the premiere?” he blurted, taking you both by surprise. “i mean, besides being there with your family and sigourney, of course.” you shook your head. “i guess i’ve been so busy with work i haven’t been looking for a date,” you responded, watching his shoulders relax as he heard you didn’t have anyone to go with. “i mean, neither do i besides my family. we could go together?” poor man was so nervous. he was scratching his neck as he awaited your response, and you grabbed it to help calm his nerves. “i’ll happily go with you, jack.” you gave his hand a tight squeeze, as if trying to tell him that this wasn’t a dream. “okay, great. that’s awesome,” he sounded relieved. you both giggled quietly, hands still conjoined. “i have a couple of days off before i leave LA, would you want to go out sometime before then?” you asked. “how does disneyland sound?” he grinned. “sounds perfect.”

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beegalactica · 4 months

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How I journaled every day in 2023, and you can too in 2024

I heard someone wants to become "that girl" in 2024...

Well, let me tell you, "that girl" is the type of babe who embodies consistency; consistency in her thoughts, feelings, words and actions. Now one of the ways I have personified this aura of consistency is through frequent inward reflection through journaling.

I know, we've heard it a million times now. And with the new year approaching, it's so easy to set the intention to journal every day and do it well. News flash, my love, you must do much more than just set the intention. Let me tell you how I did it so you can do the same ~

Equipment

Believe me, I've tried it all: countless notebooks, diaries, bullet journals, apps, all of it, but this past year, only one app *stuck* for me, and that is Notion. Whether you prefer to journal with a good old pen and paper, or even if you prefer to make a big Google document, go for it!

The reason I settled on Notion was its table view/ calendar view database features. I liked being able to add properties like what rating out of 5 I would give my day or being able to label whether I was on my period, or any major milestones. I found that these labels made it really fun to look back and laugh at all the crazy things that I came up with, and reminisce over those 5/5 star days when I really felt like that girl. (see example below)

What the hell do you write about?

"You can write about whatever you feel like!" is the usual response, and while that's great if you're anything like me, you'll need more detail than that. I opted for some classic prompts that I would simply respond to at the end of every day, but if you want to freestyle it, try some shadow work prompts, or even just sum up your day in one sentence, you are more than welcome to.

My prompts were:

1. Three wins of the day: 2. One thing I learned today: 3. One thing I will do tomorrow: 4. Am I worried about anything? 5. Favourite thing of my day: 6. Song of the day: 7. A story from today: 8. An affirmation for my mind to sleep on:

You don't have to write paragraphs upon paragraphs if you don't want to, and some days, it might be hard to even think of three wins, but an it girl can be present and celebrate the endless blessings in life, even when it seems like there are none.

How to be consistent?

Going back to the central theme of this post, consistency, it is important to acknowledge that no matter how pretty you make your journal, or how thought-provoking your prompts are, the most important thing is to actually do it.

Life is fluid, it's never going to be linear. Some days you'll feel amazing, gorgeous and ready to take on anything, but other days you'll just wish you were a flower instead that doesn't have to deal with anything. That's just life. Some days, the last thing on my mind was my silly little journal, but I knew it was something I needed to do for myself, so I took 2 minutes to write a few sentences down, even when I'd rather be doing other things.

How to maintain your consistency:

Set reminders - at the start of the year, I had 2 reminders every day to journal; after the first few months, I cut it down to just one at 9pm, and by the end of the year, I was just doing it because it had become a routine for me.

Reward yourself - at first, you'll just be able to say you journaled for 1 day, then it will be 2 days, then slowly up to 1 week, 1 month, and soon you'll be like me, bragging about how you did it for a whole year! It's an accomplishment! Never lose sight of that.

Be kind to yourself - ultimately, this should be something you do for you and you only, so if you miss a day, it's not the end of the world. Every now and then, I didn't journal for a day - maybe I was too busy, or just exhausted by the time my day was over - so I accepted it and caught up first thing the next day. You make your own rules.

JUST START!!!!!!! - do it! Even if you mess up, start again and again and again! Nothing changes if nothing changes.

What's the point?

You've read this far, and you may be wondering, what's the point of journaling?

Well, I can confidently say that journaling changed my outlook on life immensely. 2023 was the best year I've had so far. Yes, there were setbacks: I lost friends that I thought would have forever, I struggled with my mental and physical health, and I reached points where I thought I was too low to get back up. But recording little bits about my day every day showed me, with actual tangible proof, that I will always get back up. I also had some amazing moments this year: I started a whole new school and era of my life, I made amazing friends, I fell in love with myself again and I found my voice.

Journaling has helped me to see the little positives in everyday life. Even when a situation seemed absolutely awful and I thought that I could never recover from it, I developed the mindset that not only could I recover, but I would absolutely recover. This new mindset helped me to laugh at myself in moments when a previous version of me would've shrivelled up into a ball and disappeared from the outside world.

Looking back over my life these past 365 days has helped me cultivate a new outlook on life, where I don't see setbacks as obstacles or barriers to my success, but as little stories to journal and laugh about when I inevitably overcome them. If that isn't the most it girl attitude to have, then I don't know what else is!

Journaling changed my life, and I hope that it can change yours too! Happy 2024! 🎀

#lifeblr #girlblogging #journal #journalling #girlblogger #becoming that girl #that girl #it girl #self improvement #new year new me #new year new you #goal setting

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lacetulle · 2 years

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What was your favorite met gala gown?

This is a tough question and my answer is going to be a long one. Mostly because this was the second part of a two-parter exhibition. In America: A Lexicon of Fashion was the exhibit in September last year, and that particular gala seemed very boring. There wasn't a specific theme other than Americana, so it was underwhelming since it encompassed such a broad amount of time. So when they announced that this gala had a 'Gilded Glamour' theme, I was thrilled that they were trying to hone in on a specific time period. Unfortunately, they announced it not even a month ago. The amount of time that goes into planning these looks spans well beyond a month, so while I think the theme was grossly ignored, the theme announcement came way too late for designers and celebrities.

Also, fashion designers are who truly get the invites to the gala. Vogue does invite a handful of celebrities and they get to work with whatever designer they want, but when we see a crowd of celebrities with Moschino or Louis Vuitton or Prabal Gurung...the designers choose what the celebrity wears. So unless you're at a certain level of star power, sometimes you just get to show up and look out of place (I'm looking at you, Michael Kors and LV girls) because the designer gets to choose. With that said, here is my favorite. And some honorable mentions.

Blake Lively is my winner. I loved the homage to the Statue of Liberty and its patina effect. I actually didn't really like it when I first saw her on the carpet...the metallic bow gave me more of an '80s vibe. But after her reveal and the bow unfurled...I loved it. The tiara, the gloves, the designs on the dress. I loved it all and seemed like a love note to New York City. Blake is one of the ones who gets to envision an idea and talk to a designer and make it come to life. She really did have a big hand in designing this with Versace and you can tell by the amount of pride she had when breaking the dress elements down. And bonus points: the Statue of Liberty arrived in 1885, right in the middle of the gilded age time period.

Billie Eilish is my runner up. She took the theme to heart. I love that she asked Gucci to use upcycled materials. I don't have anything else to add because she's the only one who literally went with the theme and I applaud her.

Chloe Grace Moretz in Louis Vuitton. Even though I didn't like the LV girls as a whole, Chloe is the exception for me. I loved the nod to men's fashion in the gilded age and I wished more men actually went this route.

Rosalía in Givenchy. The glasses annoyed me. But I do love the dress. The nod to gigot sleeves are probably what make the look for me.

I also really loved Carey Mulligan's Schiaparelli dress. I think she flew under the radar because while the dress might be safe, I do love the nod to gilded equaling gold and gilded aged fashion. And while I'm surprised at how tame it is, considering Schiaparelli's looks can be way out there, I think it was a lovely mixture of gilded age fashion in a modern look.

And finally, the Cinderella story of the night: Genesis Suero wearing Lucia Rodriguez. Flawless. The dress fit the theme. And like so many people who stopped reading the theme after the word 'gilded' and just said, GOLD EVERYTHING...Genesis had a 2-for-1. A gorgeous golden gilded age dress.

I had high hopes for this gala and the theme, since historical shows are so popular right now. And I was even willing to overlook people disregarding the era of the theme and thinking it just meant they had to be dripping in gold. But I could not believe the amount of people who thought this theme included the roaring '20s or the golden age of Hollywood. Once again, the best Met Gala by far, was 2018's Heavenly Bodies, and I'm disappointed that more people didn't show up with high neck, bustles, gloves, and lace.

Thanks for asking! Sorry this turned into a novel. I guess I'm very passionate about the Met Gala.

#met gala #best dressed #met gala 2022 #ask me anything

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metaltangodiva · 1 month

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what are your thoughts on the different 'versions' of Krauser as well his various dynamics with Leon? Also do you have any advice for like...not being afraid to add your own interpretations and spins to characters? Like i think i care way too much about what people would think, so i'm a but scared to start posting anything, but at the same time I'd love to add to the fic collection lol

Hello hello~!

I wanna preface this quickly by saying I'm fucking unable to summarize anything, lmao. This turned out to be TWO ESSAYS.

I'll start by replying to the second question, because I sorta realized, about halfway through the answer, that I was writing a fucking essay on Metaltango and I didn't wanna overlook the second point of your message. Because it's super important to me, as a writer (amateur/hobbyist, but writer nonetheless) that people who want to write can do it.

And my suggestion is super easy: do it. Write the thing.

I know it's hard, I went through it too. It's hard to not compare yourself to other people, to go and think "man, they're not gonna like how I portray them". When I started writing "Normal", that was my worry. I was taking these badass, gun-toting, zombie-killing, masculine characters and putting them into a situation that's not only opposite to that, but pretty damn taboo in general. I've had Comments™. But whatever.

And what I tell people, when they say they're worried about how their stories are gonna be received, maybe because it takes a weird non-canon spin, or they feel their tropes are overdone, is:

Do it anyways. There's only you to craft that story you wanna see the way you want it; no one else can do it the exact same, even with the same prompts, the same tropes, the same characters. Everyone views things differently, and I think it's an amazing thing when it comes to art, well... almost everything, honestly. A saying that goes in a Discord server I hang out on is "there's nothing original anymore", but not in a bad way at all — so many works have the same themes, and yet they all still stand out somehow.

I might not the audience. This guy next to me might be, though! Or who knows, maybe *I* am the audience!

But you don't know any of this until you write it. Do it.

OKAY SO I GUESS THAT WAS PART ONE, lol.

SO LET'S GOO FOR PART TWO!

My thoughts on the different versions: I love them! Each version and each game brings something new to the table. I got started with RE4 (VR) — I liked how *aggressively homoerotic* that knife fight was.

Since it was my entry point to RE as a whole, I was curious as to *who* Krauser was, what was his relation to Leon, what happened between them, so on, so forth. Probably what a lot of people went through before Darkside Chronicles became a thing. His obsession for Leon and especially the *passion* behind it. Surely what happened between them was personal!

Then I heard of Darkside Chronicles and I had to play it for myself. So I did. And I was positively surprised when I saw Krauser as he was back around 2002. Gruff, rough around the edges, but just as snarky as Leon — and I love snarky characters. I felt their humor meshed so well. The "boy scout" exchange has lived rent-free in my head since I heard it. Same with the shared water bottle/indirect kiss. The snake/butterfly. Krauser starting as kinda dismissive of Leon, but quickly wisening up about it and treating him as an equal (and I feel it's more than that). And this became what I really wanted to see between them on the long run, hence why I started writing the AU "Normal" takes place in. They were such a good team, in spite of Krauser's wildly varying emotions.

Then RE4R came out, and it introduced them in a mentor/trainee relationship and I love that too. It's a whole different dynamic; Krauser's more serious but still does not shut up, Leon is still a smart mouth — I guess they clashed a lot overall and Leon can probably thank Krauser for all the extra push-ups and laps that gave him this *chef kiss* physique... but Krauser has a soft side to him. The guy really cared for his men, but as an instructor, as a soldier, as a superior and also as a human, probably couldn't voice it all too well. I cried when Leon picked up Krauser's knife, kneeled next to him and Krauser told him he was proud of him. That he had trained him well. It's a dynamic I wish I could capture well enough to put in words, but my real-life experience with anything army-related is nonexistent (well, so is my ageplay/military/"life as a couple" experience with "Normal", lol) and I feel I'd have a harder time with portraying it how I want to. So... I'm eventually gonna do it, outside of oneshots.

TLDR: Give me all the Krausers. They all bring something to the table <3

#metaltango #jack krauser #leon kennedy #resident evil #resident evil 4 #resident evil 4 remake #headcanon #i love them your honor #oh fuck I wrote two essays #DO IT

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neolxzr · 8 months

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you do see my point though, I was saying that yes a piece of media can have a character imply they are queer, but it’s frustrating when they won’t explicitly confirm such, because of (in the case of… checks app store purchase statistics…. A multi million dollar game franchise!) the need to market to as many people as possible. Shumika will never be “canon” because some people just don’t like shumika and won’t spend money on the game if shu and mika are in a relationship, whether or not that’s because they like the ship or the characters or are genuinely homophobic or whatnot. If the writing team cared about telling a love story, they would tell a love story, not go “well maybe they’re in love, it’s up to viewer interpretation!” like this works, sometimes it adds to the meaning of the work, but enstars really doesn’t have an excuse for their constant “this character might have feelings for this other character, but we’ll never have them say it out loud!” except the fact it makes them a lot of money, since they can market to people who like a character being the way they want that character to be, whether that’s with that character being in love with another in game character or self-shipping or whatever else. Outside of shipping, this is why some characters like Shinobu haven’t changed despite wanting to change (he continuously talks about how he wants to be more mature and taken seriously but his cards continue to make him look small and cute because his fans like that about him and god forbid we change anything!) I just think enstars should not be your first thought when someone asks you about a good piece of queer media because they’re doing just about the same job as large cast games with characters of the same gender (minus Arashi) who continue to have characters go “we’ll do all these things to imply we could be in love, but we’ll never have our characters actually date! teehee!”

i can understand being frustrated about your ships not being "confirmed", but the obsession with what is "canon" and "not canon" is just straight up not a very interesting discussion to have. what happyele's or the writers' agenda is is not of particular importance to me. one of the first things they teach you in classes about media analysis is that once a work is out there, the intentions of the creator no longer matter. the only thing that matters in your analysis is your own thoughts and the way you interpret a text.

if we were having a conversation about how much the creator of something sucks, then sure, talk about that all you want, but i am specifically referring to discussions about the piece of media and these characters and their relationships and their growth and the themes of the work etc. those things are removed from whether or not the company writes the way they do because of profit motives or whatever. companies make money, that's just what to expect. if you want art that is free of profit motives, read something by an independent creator.

even so, it feels strange to place enstars into the bucket of "stuff that should be gayer but the bad company that makes it wont let it be" because the characters ARE so very openly queer. there are so many instances in it where characters pour their heart out to each other or offer themselves to another character in beautiful and poetic ways, and i think it's wrong to claim it doesn't count because they didn't confirm their relationship status at the end of it. if you ask me, there is absolutely no way to interpret enstars in a way completely free of queerness. there is so much explicitly queer text that ignoring it is just plain incorrect. but, if homophobic people like this game and choose to look the other way at all of the gay shit, again, that is not my problem.

why is canonization the only thing that matters? is a shitty BL with awful writing better and more worthwhile than enstars as a queer narrative because the characters had explicit gay sex on screen? are poorly written gay characters in the background of other media with nothing going on more worth talking about than shumika or wataei or rinniki or whoever else just because they say the words 'i'm gay' out loud?

queerness is so much more than all of that. it is so much more than labels and it is so much more than relationships that are easy to understand. it is so much more than the extremely narrow view of it that the internet has concocted about it over the last few years, where you’re only allowed to talk about queerness if you yourself are openly queer and out of the closet, and even then you’re only allowed to make art that makes for “good representation.” that is just so incredibly limiting. i would rather tons of companies who are trying to profit off fujoshis make vaguely gay media with unconfirmed romances and relationships that aren't easily defined by labels than have less queer art in the world.

more queer art means more queer people who will find something to really connect to. more queer art means telling more queer stories. why should who is allowed to write lgbtq media be limited? why should the kind of media people are allowed to make be limited?

its fine to criticize happyelements if youre unsatisfied with the way they do things, im not always 100% in love with everything they do either. i wouldn't even consider enstars to be the worlds' best example of a queer piece of media. but no one is forcing you to like or engage with it or give the company money if you're unhappy with how they write and market their game. they don't owe anyone explicit confirmation that any of their characters are dating, and it doesn't even matter if they do provide that confirmation or not.

regardless of who made it or for what reason, queer stories are worth talking about, "canon" or not.

#cryn answers #anon #enstars #listen i dont want to be mean to you anon but this is very much just an extended version of the first ask you sent me #i will leave anon on but im not going to make another post like this ive more than said my piece already #also sorry i guess for not getting into the shinobu character growth part of this ask?#it was just. so far off from the topic of conversation #this isnt even getting into the cultural differences between the west and japan and how that affects the way companies make things #but again thats a different conversation #anyway #fun fact me and my girlfriend started talking more partially because of shumika #so if that doesnt make them a good queer narrative idk what does man!!#they certainly resonate with lesbians somehow!!!#if anyone actually read this far hi!! you are so strong #media analysis

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weaselandfriends · 3 months

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I just binge'd your Hymnstoke series. Now that HS^2 (HS^BC) is back up and running with James Roach at the helm, I was wondering if you could share your thoughts on the direction that HS^2 and Homestuck Beyond Canon are taking with the new updates?

Before I begin, I'll point you to a previous post I made on the topic of HS^2, back when it was under the previous management.

Truthfully, I still haven't read HS^2, either the old version or the new. I remain uninterested in it conceptually. For me, the Epilogues were the perfect finale to Homestuck and I no longer have any desire to see its story continued or its characters expanded upon.

I think I'm somewhat mismatched with the typical fans of Homestuck. From talking to fans, it seems many of them started reading as teenagers, who found in its something relatable and became invested in the journey of its characters. I wasn't like that. I began reading Homestuck in college. I was not introduced to it via fandom osmosis or seeing art of it or cosplays or so on. I didn't even learn of it from word-of-mouth from one of my friends. I was reading a post someone had made about so-called ergodic literature, which cited House of Leaves and Homestuck as examples. Having read House of Leaves only a few weeks prior, I was intrigued and looked up Homestuck, going into it almost as blind as possible.

As Hymnstoke probably indicates, my interest in Homestuck was literary from the start, and what impressed me most about it was always its boundary-pushing approach to medium and narrative. Even late into Act 6, past the point where most fans might say the story "gets bad" or whatever, Hussie was always, always concerned with that, and that is why I actually prefer Act 6 to Act 5 despite this being a fairly controversial take. I think in Act 6 Hussie is far more experimental, far more willing to take artistic risks and pursue innovative formal exercises. So, even as more traditional markers of narrative quality like character and plot stagnant, meander, or suffer altogether, Homestuck to me always felt like it was still growing in new and exciting directions.

At least until the series of super long pauses that ended with the whimpering and frankly pathetic Collide + Act 7 combo, two tragically substanceless flashes that really add nothing new or unexpected whatsoever.

The Epilogues, however, were a return to form on the formal front. The competing Meat and Candy narratives, though told in arguably Homestuck's most traditional format yet (prose narrative), are intertwined in ways that push even this ancient medium to new, unseen limits. In that sense, even ignoring all the plot/character stuff I mentioned in my previous HS^2 post, the Epilogues were a culmination of all Homestuck meant for me. A thematic capstone: A return to a traditional format that is then enlivened through daring experimentation. My Hymnstoke series often mentioned the theme of the meteors wiping out Earth so that a new society could be created out of recycled detritus from the old and stagnant world. The Epilogues are that simply in how they are made, and to me that is peak Homestuck, the chief thing that matters most about it.

HS^2 has not seemed interested in formal experimentation at all. The pre-Roach group was mindbogglingly retrograde in eschewing flashes altogether and even, really, art, preferring instead long script-style dialogues. Long pesterlogs were part of Homestuck before, but far from the only part. But there simply seemed to be zero interest in innovation, in doing anything new, in even trying anything new. To me, that's not Homestuck.

I'm not super keyed into the fandom drama, but my understanding is that the old HS^2 group was nasty and combative with the fans, while Roach has attempted to establish goodwill in the fans and repair some of the burned bridges from yesteryear. To that end, his approach seems to be succeeding. But there's a part of me that sees it as being similar to the Star Wars prequels and sequels. The prequels were an unmitigated trainwreck that the fans despised; the sequels, by contrast, began with a soft remake of New Hope that seemed tailored to tell fans "Look! Star Wars is Star Wars again! We're back! It's real! We have practical effects, and on-location filming instead of green screens, and the plot is straightforward instead of trade dispute politics!" It was like JJ Abrams watched the infamous Plinkett review of the prequels and decided to address everything directly, all to reestablish goodwill with fans.

For Episode VII, it worked. Perhaps if the rest of the trilogy were 1-to-1 soft remakes of the original trilogy, it would have continued to work. But the instant the new creators attempted any kind of innovation in the criminally underrated and over-hated Episode VIII, they were raked over the coals, and in the process of backtracking furiously wound up creating something on the same level as the prequels with Episode IX. And nobody was happy in the end.

In the position Roach is in, he can at best muster the kind of nostalgia-baiting soft remake that is so popular and common in Hollywood today, a Homestuck 2.0 rather than a Homestuck^2, something that is not in fact Beyond Canon but enslaved by it. By appealing to the goodwill of fans that's what you have to do, because what the fans love is the ghost of the story they remember, and the reason they come to Homestuck^2 over any of the endless amount of content online is because it has the name Homestuck in it, and they remember Homestuck. Waiter, I'm the critic from Ratatouille, bring me the thing I remember.

But that is conceptually antithetical to the thing I remember. And so, it'll be difficult for it to engender much interest in me. I think there are a lot of exciting, talented creators making amazing original content online today, new boundary-pushing content, a new avant garde, and that's where my interest will lie. I think the members of the Homestuck fandom who had the talent to create content like that, like Toby Fox and perhaps Tamsyn Muir (who I have not read but Gideon the Ninth is certainly popular so it must have some spark to it), have gone ahead and done it for their own original works outside the Homestuck label.

Anyway, those are my rambling thoughts on the matter, again without having actually read either the old or new HS^2, so take them with a grain of salt.

#homestuck #hs^2 #hsbc #homestuck beyond canon

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asongofstarkandtargaryen · 4 months

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Not to demonize Cat but the woman literally said Arya was a trial and she wanted her to be like Sansa; she admired Edmure’s efforts to look after his people but at the same time she saw them as useless mouths to feed; she wanted 14 year old Jon out of his own home in Winterfell. How is that supposed to be similar to him? Same with Sansa being Ned 2.0 just because she’s in the Vale. She doesn’t recall any of his lessons like his other kids do. He is a man who lived and died for his family and was overall well liked by his people. He carried Lyanna’s secret to his grave. Sansa snitched on her family (bitterly regretting it) because she was in love with the little psycho who tried to murder her sister and she barely had any contact with the smallfolk. The math doesn’t add up. Just reads like a Jon/sa fetich of NedCat 2.0, same people who insist Jon longs for Cat’s love and approval since he has oedipus complex or whatever. But one can not erase canon and none of the women Jon felt attracted to had anything to do with Cat. They need milk of the copey.

Yes, I agree with you.

Comparing Catelyn saying that Arya was "a trial" while the latter was missing to Jon gifting Arya the Needle, it's clear that those two characters view Arya's behavior differently.

Arya herself was doubting that her mother would want her ( which mind you wasn't true, Catelyn wanted both her daughters back. But it says a lot about the impression she had given to her child through her behavior). Meanwhile, she was certain that Jon would want her even if no one else would. Jon's acceptance is wholeheartedly, he doesn't criticize Arya's parts their society considers unwomanly ( and in fact, all the girls he finds attractive share those traits of hers).

Here is the thoughts of Catelyn when her brother gives shelter to innocent people in Riverlands war zone:

Only my sweet brother would crowd all these useless mouths into a castle that might soon be under siege.

ACOK - Catelyn I

Jon Snow in ADWD is doing exactly what Catelyn is criticizing her brother for, he gives shelter to "useless mouths" ( aka all the Wildings that can't contribute to the fight against the Others).

Jon's worldview, beliefs and behavior is so different from Catelyn's that it's laughable to claim that "he's Catelyn with Ned/Lyanna's characteristics". Do they have a couple of things/ traits in common? Surely, but so does almost any pair of pov characters. That doesn't mean all of them are copies of each other.

Moving to Sansa, I disagree with the fandom's notion that she's Ned 2.0. As you said, she doesn't recall his lessons like his other children do. That's not to condemn her because Ned taught mainly the boys and Catelyn was responsible for the girls ' education ( Arya is the exception here because we know that she liked to follow her father and see him performing his duties as the Castle's Lord).

And then there is the scene where Sansa tells Cersei her father's plan. Again, I'm not gonna codemn a 11 years old for making a silly decision but considering that a major theme in Ned's story is that he never revealed his sister's secret, preferring to soil his honor in order to protect it I fail to see the similarities between father and daughter in terms of personal values and priorities.

As I often say, Sansa was way closer to her mother than she ever was to her father and she shares some core beliefs with her ( plus her narrative comparison to Cat is important due to the Littlefinger obsession with both of them). So if the fans want to link Sansa to any of her parents, Catelyn the correct choice imo.

On a side note, I'm sure that you probably meant no harm but I don't like the word "psycho" to describe awful characters. Joffrey was a little shit but that was because he was spoiled by his mother and neglected by his father. He didn't have any psychosis. Mental illnesses affect real people and that's why I don't like seeing them being used as slurs.

#asoiaf ask #laren-dorrs

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dballzposting · 2 months

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i feel inclined to add on to that ask abt movies (cuz i love watching movies).

Trunks to me speaks to me as a person who at one point expected the stuff he watches to change him a little. To help him think in a different perspective and challenge his preconceptions or. SOMETHING. hes the kind of guy to try to watch movies like 2001 space odyssey but by the end of it, just looks up the ending explained. he has to try to get anything out of it. I don't think he liked trainspotting. I don't think he knew what to make of The Shining. Trunks would almost certainly try to not get bored at the beginning of Pulp Fiction (the bulk of that movie is talking). But he'll still go see movies in theaters or watch whatever he's got laying around in the house though.

He thinks he's watching movies to gain something but tbh ? Trunks has been watching movies all his life, and it might just feel rly weird to suddenly. not to. If that makes grammatical sense. I think it just gets too quiet in his house. His mom's always working on something in her lab, vegeta's always in his training room, etc etc. so he puts em on to chill. Even if he doesn't really get them sometimes. Bulma seems like the type to do the same thing while she works, maybe he gets it from her.

That's probably why watching movies with goten is so interesting though. He can really get to the core of what it's trying to say, engage with the story and themes on a meaningful level and come up with his OWN well constructed analysis with an infectious enthusiasm reminiscent of the way Gohan talks about entomology.

And Goten, country bumpkin that he is, probably hasn't even seen more than MAX 30 movies in his life (ever) besides whatever soaps his mom leaves on. he's glad trunks invites him over to watch this stuff. At the end of analyzing whatever film they saw I think he'd be like Waow. That was so cool Trunks thank you for showing me this :-) can I borrow this dvd and never give it back and Trunks will be like yeah man thats cool I'm glad you liked it so much. I have a bunch more laying around it's whatever. (He found a lot of these movies in this "guest" room he's never really been inside of. It still has a lot of stuff from before he was born.)

I think that's so interesting.. that Trunks is familiar with the elements present in film but because it's familiar, it's harder to parse how or why these elements are meshed together to make the whole. he's just "watching" them without really thinking about anything and as such, doesn't gain anything.

But because Goten isn't accustomed to watching movies all the time, he can look with unclouded eyes. Not just watching, but observing and taking all of it in.

Its the difference between hearing and listening if that makes sense.

(One last tidbit which isn't super important. I mentioned earlier a guest room. It was yamcha's. When he moved out, he didn't really take a lot of things with him, choosing to leave some of his clothes and most of his movies behind. Bulma probably told him that he could just leave his stuff there in case he ever wanted to visit. The only movie he bothered to take with him was Caddyshack. For some reason. Why)

peace 🌷

I mean this as a kindly reminder and I'm saying this to everyone: you can always make your own post / reblog the post in question in order to add on to it. You can get your name out there. Look alive... It's showtime. I mean I will always faithfully post asks (I cannot guarantee in a timely manner) but never forget your options there.

(For instance perhaps posting your own words on your own post stands to grant them more respect, rather than forcing them through the filter of somebody else's input in order to be posted - as is the reality of sending asks. I can tell when someone really cares, and I appreciate that, and I try to be faithful to that, but I also like to babble. Maybe some posts ought to be stand-alone?)

(Gotta raise my glass to this though becasue i found out today [I would have found out a week ago if I had bothered to check my email] that I may or may not be helping my school start a film club so TBH i gotta appreciate this ..... and I gotta respect the grinde.... It's funny thouhg because you know I actually hate watching movies. When the time comes I ought to come back to you and the other user for recommendations. Well anyway back to the ask)

OK Well this is some real shit you just said. I fully agree. It coheres with what was already said although with some extra sensitivity ...

Reposting this segment for a TL;DR becasue I thought it was an elegant conclusion:

Trunks is familiar with the elements present in film but because it's familiar, it's harder to parse how or why these elements are meshed together to make the whole. he's just "watching" them without really thinking about anything and as such, doesn't gain anything. But because Goten isn't accustomed to watching movies all the time, he can look with unclouded eyes.

I mean really it all comes down to Trunks being a Modern CityBoy; he's used to background noise, he's used to mindless entertainment. Goten doesn't have things in his life that are meant to be taken for granted, though, so that just makes him overall more attentive and appreciative.

That's the greater discussion here ... A veiled call for action for us all to try to look with fresh eyes upon our own lives ....

Really, If Trunks isn't taking to the creative storytelling aspect of it, he should at least take a shining to the technological artistry. Maybe he doesn't care why or when, but he does know HOW they do what they do. That'd be swagg. But then he'd have to do research on something that isn't Minecraft related. Sighhhh

BTW Thanjk you for addsing that Caddyshack bit in there for me. Mondo appreciated <3

#dballz posting #dballz asks

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lehhoh7822 · 5 months

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asking about the legally blonde fics 🙄 (JOKING i actually really want to hear about them. please?)

THANK YOU its not letting me add a cut guys..... i would if i could..... long post??

alright hi i write legally blonde fanfics after being involved in a production of it earlier this year and. well.

like i think my fanfic is very ehhhh for most people because i like essentially getting to write completely different songs and then having to integrate them into canon if that makes sense?? based solely off the musical, like, none of pilar margot serena really have ANY established backstory and i havent seen the movie or read the book in such a long time. so what i mean is that i get to write this horrifying piece about someone experiencing parentifcation in an abusive environment and then try to integrate that character into the more canonised characterisation.

i guess the reason is like. of musicals, legally blonde is very.... i don't know, its pretty solid in terms of content for the musical. its absurd like most musicals which kind of facilitated me and my friend (im gonna @ their dead blog from when they were like 12 @kittykatturtles-blog) to make crack theories and then give me things that i wanted to extrapolate from it. I guess the other thing about these fics is that i want to write about how. fucked a lot of rich people are. i think part of this is coming out of the dsmp fandom or engaging with it more critically in terms of a fandom and being able to recognise the kind of repetitiveness of a lot of fanfictions in a very... trope esque way? like there are so many fics which are basically the same and a lot of those feel like they didn't have anything to say or think about in terms of the characters.

i think the other part of it which matters to me is being able to write about themes which are genuinely really serious, and at times intimately familiar to me; exploitative religious groups, familial abuse, dissociative identity disorder, and more, without the worry of too heavy scruntiny. like i remember when i was writing for dsmp i always got kind of scared of writing something too serious and having people like like. oh my god. hes a MINOR. YOURE KILLING ME. the whole point of the stories aren't just that bad things are happening or that these characters are justified or whatever, it's about. how do you keep going? how do you keep loving? how do you explain yourself.

i think something thats super important to be is character autonomy. it rings pretty bad for me when a traumatised or disabled is given no action on their end at all for anything, making them a hollow slate for the abled characters to support and research and worry about and lie to. to me, as someone who is traumatised and is disabled, that kind of dynamic is gross to read about. so its important to me to be able to write about, even if it cant exist in real life, the idea of supportive people who are also kind of fucked up and having to acknowledge the real hopelessness of complex issues is something i want to depict in my writing.

for a lot of people, for most i think, when terrible things happen they can't just stop and they somehow have to keep on going despite the world feeling like its stopped turning for them. and i think a lot of bad things do happen to people when they are still young. one of the worst years of my life was when i was 12 and its genuinely quite hard to top it. trying to write the spiky complex feelings of self hatred and confusion and injustice you can't place and hopelessness is cathartic to me and i think its important for me that it exists.

the other thing is that. like by the nature of my writing, this is leading to a better future. im a pretty slow writer, and i can't be hyperfixated on the story i need to just be continually trying to think and work on it. but because we know; we know they make it to college, we know they have friends, and in this i know that they can make it to adulthood, its an assertion, from me as a writer and from me as a traumatised disabled person that i will make a better future and the worst parts of your life will not definte them. idk.

this is the link to the first two fics and im writing a new one as we speak

if you want to hear more about ttolt characters (we have pilar, serena, margot, elle, serenas parents and brother, pilars infinite fucking siblings and parents, and a few others) then send me asks about it. PLEASE dear god

#my writing #personal #thank you so much for the ask!!!!!!!!#legally blonde #ttolt

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froot-batty · 2 months

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Hii! Important question:

How did you start your AU in the first place? Im having some trouble with mine so if its not a bother and if you dont mind, do you have any tips or anything for starting and developoing a AU?

HMMM, that's a tough question!

In my personal experience, I started off small. I had a handful of characters I liked and who's personalities and relationship dynamics I had the basic grasp of and just started posting about them. I didn't start out with a storyline or character arcs in mind, just the characters themselves and how they interacted with one another. All of the rest came after, and even still I don't have that much planned out in the grand scheme of things! I just let ideas take me wherever my brain wants to go, and I add or rework characters as I see fit

For making your own AU, I'd say one of the first things you want to think about (besides a few characters you know you want to include and their dynamics) is whether you want to tell a more linear story or not. If your AU follows a linear story (say the kind you'd find in comics), then think about your characters as devices within the plotline. You might want each of them to fulfill a role to progress the story, so how can you change them up to serve the purpose of the narrative? Of course this doesn't mean characters all need to be a plot device, you can have characters outside of the story you talk about, but the main ones should lead from point A to point B!

If you're going for a "whatever goes" kind of AU like I and a lot of other people do, then honestly, it's up to you how you want to do it! I had no idea where I wanted to go when I first started out, I just knew I wanted to talk about characters I liked and the trials and tribulations they went through. And you never have to stick with the things you first come up with - I CONSTANTLY add new characters, new dynamics, new plotlines, and new elements to backstories. I leave a lot of my AU open to changes like that

For developing characters themselves, I'd look at their canon backstories/abilities/characterization/events as well as fan interpretations of them. A lot of the time you can get good inspiration from what other people are doing - I know I did! But there's no stopping you from completely changing a character all together. In that case I'd say just do whatever interests you that you think you can apply to them. You can take elements of their common characterization and flip it on it's head; give it new meaning. You can make them fulfill themes and character tropes you think would be interesting for them. It's really up to you! All I'd say is have a basic knowledge of what the character is in canon before you do something completely different - it'll give you elements to work with!

But honestly, the main thing is to have fun. You have the freedom to develop the story and the characters within it however you'd like, and I don't think any two people will do it quite the same. Don't overthink the beginning, either! All beginnings are messy and complicated, and your best bet is to just go for it; you'll never properly develop it unless you dig your hands around in there and start playing

I hope that all helped! My DMS and inbox are ALWAYS open to anyone who wants to infodump or bounce ideas off of me. I love seeing the creativity people can have :]

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shuttershocky · 1 year

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You mentioned that PGR’s story is the only holding it back right now (or something to that effect?) Me and my pgr playing friend were talking about how the story was good enough to make her roll for Plume despite wanting to save for Selena, despite both of us saying before that the story wasn’t as good as AK or FGO.

What do you find particularly weak about PGR’s story and what direction do you think it has to take to bet real good?

Its biggest weakness is that it doesn't tell its story at all.

Now I haven't played PGR in a bit, but something that immediately struck out to me when I first played it was that there wasn't a story being told: shit was just happening. No whys or hows or whats behind anything, shit was just occuring.

Take Camu's chapter for example. Oh Kamui has another, dark self now. Kamui's run off searching for Tenebrion, whatever that is. Lucia catches up with him eventually. Soon the Purifying Force does too. Then they decide to not kill him. And thats it.

There's no building anything up or character development or themes or anything at all. Experiencing Punishing Gray Raven's story is like reading a wikipedia summary. Stuff is happening in chronological order and characters are doing things to keep that plot going, and that's about it.

The whole chapter with Lucia Plume tried to be some big finale to the 'arc' of the first few chapters by bringing in characters from all the past chapters, which, damn I sure wish you made me care about those past chapters first.

That chapter was maybe the first time I saw PGR even attempt at real storytelling by having actual stakes (Lucia's mind is slowly being overwritten by a new copy of her since she's essentially dying by going in this stronger body) and some real emotional arcs with PRESENTATION and FLOWERY PROSE, but the problem with that was it relied on buildup that was completely nonexistent. Why would I care about the Lucia being erased when she was barely a character despite being the protagonist? It didn't even fuckin matter in the end because the new Lucia Plume ended up acting almost exactly the same afterward anyway, and also had the old Lucia's memories as records she could view.

I couldn't shake the feeling that PGR's storytelling was a bunch of people writing down what they thought would look like a really cool anime but actually not having anything to say, not even "look at how cool our robot girl is." That's why there's so much description in certain events, like Lucia hallucinating the ghosts of her other selves walking past her, but the events themselves are so disconnected from each other that they don't really add up to even a simple story.

And then I just stopped playing PGR entirely, because as much as the action gameplay actually kicked ass and as much as I loved the game's various game design choices and creativity with unit skillsets, I ultimately did not care about anyone or anything within the setting, and surprisingly that turned out to be one hell of a dealbreaker for me even when I was having fun.

I lasted about a year though (stopped right when the Nier collab event started), which says a lot about just how solid the combat system feels. I'm hoping Kurogames' Genshin competitor Wuthering Waves ends up with a much better setting, though I'm already kind of concerned at how repetitive the combat looks vs PGR which gets the appeal of a hardcore character action game dead-on despite the simplified, touchscreen control scheme

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acourtofthought · 1 year

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I left that anon about Elain and choice, because it’s a genuine barrier for me in getting on board with the elucien ship (when I’d otherwise want to), and I was genuinely interested in your insight, and wasn’t going to reply further.

But, your own reply (and the other anon) kinda reminded me why I don’t really engage with this sort of thing. I never said I was an elriel, or that I’m rooting for Elain and Az - because I’m not. People in these ship wars seem to jump to such extremes… idk how you all endure it for so long, it’s exhausting.

My point is; I personally believe that so much of Elain’s character arc is about choice and agency (echoed by the Blodeuwedd mythology). I’m sure many of you would also agree. Because of this, it just doesn’t seem thematically fitting that Elain would then end up with Lucien. As I said, even if Elain believes she is choosing Lucien - how much of that is of her own free will, or because the Cauldron is telling her to? Fate is the opposite of choice. If everything we do is influenced by fate - or some higher power - that’s not choice.

And sure, it worked for other characters - but those characters seemingly didn’t have the same themes of choice and agency that Elain does (or at least not to the same extent). They weren’t stuck in a love triangle between their mate and another man (with that man asking “what is the Cauldron is wrong?” - quite literally questioning fate), as well as introducing the implications of rejecting the mating bond, the Blood Duel etc. And again, those characters had already established their relationships before the mating bond came into play; it was already clear they had chosen each other - or were soon about to - so the mating bond wasn’t forcing anything.

Which leads me to another point I have; if SJM plans for Elain and Lucien to be endgame, why reveal that they are mates so early on? Why introduce Az as a rival love interest - one of the most popular male characters in the series, beloved by the fandom (so it’s not like a Tamlin vs Rhys situation)? And most of all - Elain is a seer. If she can see into the future, then she’d be able to see her happily ever after with Lucien. So, then why does she avoid him? Why does Elain kiss and pursue Azriel, knowing full well that she’ll end up mated and married to the man who sleeps a mere couple of metres away from her? It just doesn’t add up.

I could potentially see it working if Lucien or Elain reject the bond, and are then sent on some sort of mission together, where they’d start from scratch, form a friendship (without the influence of the mating bond), and realise they truly love each other. Then you’d have an interesting story line about trying to get the mating bond back - or deciding you don’t need it at all. But that’s just my take on it.

It's interesting that you're making comments about others engaging in ship wars but you're doing the exact same thing with your Anons. Being anti a ship for whatever reason is still engaging in ship wars because you've taken quite a bit of time and put quite a bit a thought into why you don't think a ship will happen.

It's also interesting that you claim you have no interest in ship wars yet you come to a page that you know is 100% Pro Elucien and try to start a debate.

I'm open to debate that's not the problem. But don't climb up on that high horse and act like you're above it all while doing the exact opposite.

And you say you're not Pro E/riel but you realize Elain is ending up with someone right? These are romance books, it is confirmed Elain will get a book and that it will be a traditional romance so if you're not Pro E/riel or Pro Elucien then I'm a bit confused. Maybe you want a new love interest for her? I'm sorry if I assumed you're Pro E/riel but I have to say your Anons seem like you lean that way. And I definitely didn't get the impression you were interested in my insight regarding Elain and choice since you have to know how much I believe Lucien is still a choice whereas it's clear you don't.

Also, Elain's powers don't work the way you're claiming. She doesn't have clear visions and she doesn't decide what she gets to see. Otherwise she would have been able to tell Feyre and Nesta, "be prepared because you're going to be attacked in the library" or she could have easily looked into the future and seen whether they would win the war. Or she could have insisted her vision tell her where Koschei hides his soul. So no, I don't think she knows with any sort of certainty what her future with Lucien holds. If anything, she's had a flash of a vision that remains unclear.

I disagree that Elain's character is any more about choice or agency than any other FMC of an SJM novel. They all start fighting against what fate had in store for them and they grew into what was always meant to be but after the heroine accepted it because it's what she decided she wanted. Not because she was forced into it.

And Elain isn't stuck in a love triangle. She wanted Graysen and was rejected by Graysen but not yet over him. He is who she loved and had not yet recovered from when she fell into a minor crush with Az.

It is canon that Elain was not over Graysen in ACOFAS. She still silently mourned him and wanted a HUMAN MAN. Cue Az who she doesn't have a bond with, therefore has no strings attached. Az who looks decidedly HUMAN without his shadows and rounded ears (which Feyre notes) and whose shadows tend to disappear around Elain. I mean, I'm not a rocket scientist or anything but that math seems to math to me.

She developed a crush on Az because it's a distraction to the real things she's still not over.

That's not a love triangle, that's Elain not being ready to face the hard truths and really let go of her past.

Not to mention whatever she was willing to start with Az (which is not love, they had barely spoken and only shared a few glances as of late and were about to have a first kiss - again, not love) she walked away from considering he told her they were a mistake and she made the decision to return his gift to him versus her refusal to return her ring to Graysen.

Whatever was going on with Az was for the wrong reasons but that's ok because she's getting used to this new world and trying to decide what she wants and where she belongs.

But there's no love triangle right now because Lucien isn't involved. She hasn't been ready to truly get to know him but that doesn't mean it can't change in her book. And that statement right there PROVES she's had a choice. She has made the choice to ignore the bond right now. She could continue making the choice to ignore the bond for the rest of her life. However, she could also MAKE THE CHOICE to try and get to know Lucien to see what she thinks of him. Right now, the bond has no sway over her decisions which means if she gets to know Lucien, it's not going to be because the bond made her. I can be physically attracted to another person (without making the conscious decision to be) but I still have a choice in whether I actually hook up with them or get to know them. As I'm married, I'm obviously not going to do that but being drawn to something, whether through basic chemistry and biology or a mother blessed mating bond doesn't take away my ability to make decisions for myself. And that seems to be the problem with anyone who wants to cry that the bond takes away Elain's choice. She may not necessarily be able to help being physically drawn to Lucien but her mind is still her own. She can still choose what to do with that draw and right now she's proving to herself that she does have control over not giving into it. Which means if / when she gets to know Lucien it will be her brain making that decision.

"Which leads me to another point I have; if SJM plans for Elain and Lucien to be endgame, why reveal that they are mates so early on? Why introduce Az as a rival love interest - one of the most popular male characters in the series, beloved by the fandom (so it’s not like a Tamlin vs Rhys situation)"

A. I hate to tell you but Az is acting toward Elain exactly like Tamlin initially did with Feyre so you mentioning that to me wasn't helping your case. And he's not questioning Fate because he loves Elain. He's questioning Fate because he's jealous Lucien is breaking up the "brothers." His two brothers got sister mates and he got left out. That's ALL Azriel is focusing on. If it was love, he wouldn't care if he had a mating bond with Elain, his POV would have been spent talking about how charming Elain is (which he said about Gwyn), how much different she is since he first met her after her trauma (which he said about Gwyn), how proud he is of her standing up to Nesta or how she makes him laugh, maybe something about how Elain saved his best friend in the war. But there's none of that. He's put out because he can't understand why Lucien got something and he didn't. It has NOTHING to do with Elain as an individual and everything to do with Az being salty he was the last kid picked for dodgeball.

B. Az is not a rival love interest, he's a rebound, as I've stated above. Az and Elain aren't real with one another, they aren't open, they don't have the difficult conversations. He can't even confirm that he's over Mor to his friend of 500 years so I think it's pretty obvious Elain and Az are in denial and they just naturally used one another to avoid their problems. And it doesn't matter what near kiss they almost shared (between two main characters) because it will never be the thing Az needs to really move forward from. Az and Elain are a blip compared to his past with Mor and Elain is probably not even staying in the NC so there's no lasting drama there. An almost kiss means they can still revert to a friendship, no harm done. If Cassian can sleep with Mor than later say she's like a sister, I'm not worried about a lasting conflict between Elain and Az.

C. If SJM planned for Elucien to be endgame, why reveal they're mates so early on?

2016:

2017:

When did Silver Flames come out again? Oh that's right, 2021.

SJM announced all the way back in 2016 that the moment Nesta and Cassian sat down together, she knew they were endgame, even decided where they'd vacation yet in ACOFAS, she wrote this:

I mean gosh, why would SJM have ever told us Nessian was a sure thing so early on only to have her sleep with other males and tell Cassian she wants no part of him, his friends, or his life?

I'm sorry but every point you bring up has a valid counter argument considering she confirmed Elucien and Nessian all the way back in 2016 yet both sisters had a "thing" with other males after that and the one that got a book still ended up with Cassian as SJM originally planned. Elain and Nesta may handle things differently because of their personalities but it boils down to the same thing. Fate placed them in the paths of their Mates and they fought like hell against it. But that doesn't mean they can't decide it's what they do want in the end (for the right reasons which is WHO their Mate is as an individual and not JUST because they're Mates).

It doesn't matter how early SJM told us they were Mates because she was still planning on creating obstacles that led to a "will they, won't they?" Because she has half the fandom wondering if she changed her mind and the other half seeing the clues as to how they'll work out and why E/riel isn't a real love possibility.

Fate is not the opposite of choice. Fate is where life leads you and you decide what you're going to do with it.

I don't even live in New York but I met my husband there on New Years Eve, the busiest time of the year, while I was dating someone else.

Within an hour, I knew what a real relationship was supposed to feel like, went home and immediately broke up with my ex.

My husband and I have now been together since January, 2011.

I believe that was Fated. Had I been too scared to take a chance on someone who lived out of state, I may have missed out on this wonderful life I have.

It was still MY choice to accept where Fate led me just as it is still Elain's choice to accept or not accept the person Fate placed in front of her.

She's not ready because she lost something immeasurable when she was Made but when / if she is, it will be because SHE decides to accept Lucien. Not because anyone says she has to, not even Fate. Fate is not saying "I demand you be with Lucien else I will rain destruction upon your family!" All Fate did was say, "I believe this person is your match, do with it what you will". It's no different than a friend trying to set you up with someone they feel would be perfect for you.

Elain experienced some serious traumas and any reader who wants to focus on why she's not making decisions on her bond right now or thinking she's in any place to fall in love with Az is not allowing her to heal in a healthy way. She needs to grow into herself before getting to know Lucien and sure, maybe that growing includes nearly making out with a broody bat boy who isn't remotely close to having his shit together but, that's ok. It's all leading to her finally finding where she belongs and what she wants once she's in the right frame of mind to make those decisions.

SJM is a Fated Mates author so if you dislike the trope, that's your prerogitive, but you may want to look elsewhere for your reading material.

I personally think knowing Lucien is her Mate creates more of a choice than Feyre had with Rhys. Sure Feyre became friends with him but she tells us she was drawn to him even while with Tamlin. She had no idea why that was which means she fell for Rhys without the full picture of what was driving that. At least Elain will have the opportunity to really sift through what she's feeling and decide how much of it comes from instinct over her own heart.

#elucien #pro elucien #elain archeron #anti e/riel #lucien vanserra #elain x lucien #lucien and elain #elain and lucien #pro lucien vanserra #lucien x elain #pro elain archeron #mating bond #ask and answer

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okashiras · 2 years

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Why do you think duffer brothers decided to revisit stancy and do you think they're gonna keep exploring them in season 5?

why indeed? i've been asking myself the same question. the only reason i can come up with is it's probably more interesting from a writing standpoint??

they have made steve romantic to the core (i mean, the reason he was thrusted into this world in the first place is because he loved nancy so much that he went back to fight the demogorgon for her) but still had no clear resolution in sight. they were almost building up a potential romance for him in s3 but ultimately didn't (and were better for it, frankly). and (fortunately for them, i guess) the steve/nancy breakup was written clumsily enough that steve's longing gaze in the end of s2 can be interpreted as an ellipsis to their story instead of actual closure.

nancy pairing up with jonathan never did push either of their characters forward. it was like events were written solely for the sake of getting them together and so when they finally did, the writers didn't know what to do with them anymore. (eg, putting nancy in the will exorcism group in s2 where she did nothing but stand and sweat while jonathan held onto her sometimes, etc) and their friction in s3 only proved their (totally valid) differences were more fundamental than anything that it's probably become difficult to justify writing how they're a good match for each other.

it’s a season of retcon and course correction lmfao!! from brenner being alive somehow to changing eleven’s memory of how the gate opened, etc etc, they were probably more willing to cut their losses and that includes jonathan/nancy?? ...and jonathan’s character too which is a shame but i dunno, maybe they can still salvage that by defining him outside of being a brother/son/boyfriend. is it clumsy writing? yeah, but i mean, the writing has always been kinda clumsy lmfao!! i’m just gonna stay in my corner and eat my meal, thanks.

exploring steve/nancy would be consistent to the overarching theme of this season, which is confronting one's past pain/trauma. for nancy, that's always been barb's demise. and the writers probably realized how steve has a significant role there too, and how that's what led to the dissolution of their relationship, and how they have both changed as a result, and how nancy can ultimately absolve herself (and their relationship) of that guilt. their feelings resurfacing again after they have both matured and grown would mean they broke up not for lack of affection for each other but because they didn't know how to deal with grief and trauma at the time, and that they're better-equipped and are in a better position to overcome it as they are now. and that seems pretty realistic (and more interesting) to me if i were writing?? over "shared trauma" as a reason to push forward a romance without even unpacking what that means anyway lol

they are both well-defined characters on their own and are tied to their own specific genre reference that their storylines converging felt like magic, frankly. why not add a little romance there too as a treat?

the narrative symmetry of it is sexy???

the impression i got from this video is the duffers just throw steve these random storylines and he sticks the landing magnificently every time because he’s so great. and i’m buying into this s4 stancy renaissance 2022 obviously i’m sorry they just hit different if you get it then you get it

i dunno what’s in store for s5 other than apparently there’s gonna be a timeskip? i think what’s important in closing s4 is they finally meet eye-to-eye as they are now, so that whatever happens in the time before s5 (whether they break up or take the next step in the relationship or whatever else), they’re doing it as themselves?? that is, not hindered by trauma, guilt, etc.

#st blogging #stancy #i mean u wanted 2 hear my opnion so......deal w....whatever this is..#anyway the reason is definitely not bc of fanservice as we all have learned these past few weeks ahaha!!!

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