i love how tumblr is like my little secret. it’s the only social media where like none of my friends use and i honestly feel like i can just be myself here.

I understand all these posts with the angle of "OMG new users don't know how the reblog system works -- we have to tell them so they'll reblog art!" Bc that IS true! I have seen new accounts roll up with 0 reblogs & just likes.

But, also, you cannot fucking pretend that the reblog/likes ratio has not been on a massive fucking decline for literal years before this. It is not just new users suddenly not reblogging -- it is a massive shift in how the Tumblr populace itself regards & interacts with art & artist.

& as an artist, there is very little you can do.

Michael in the Bathroom analysis

So i've been getting obsessed with Be More Chill lately, as you do 

I listened to a few of the songs on and off throughout the years, mainly Guy that i'd kinda be into and Michael in the Bathroom, and MITB is my FAVORITE song in any musical so i'm just gonna infodump about why that is here bc this is Tumblr and why tf not :DD (tw: suicide mention, depictions of panic attacks)

So before this song, Michael is presented as a guy that doesn't give a shit. He's not popular, he only has Jeremy as his only real friend, but it's shown that he doesn't care about other people's opinions of him, he LIKES who he is. He's a catalyst for Jeremy's character, who always cares about what others think and wants to be liked, and is insecure about his character, and hates himself, which is why he took the SQUIP in the first place. 

Now, Michael, in my opinion is an autistic-coded character. He stims and has tics as we see in MITB, he has special interests in videogames and comics, and he doesn't pick up social cues all the time, like in 'Two Player Game' when he doesn't realise Jeremy is going through stuff. It's shown there that Michael has a neat and straightforward idea for his future as a cool kid in college with Jeremy. But when he has that fight with Jeremy just before MITB, Michael's whole future, life and 12-year friendship with Jeremy comes crumbling down, after Jeremy called him a 'loser', a label that he used to take pride in. It's a drastic change that happens so quickly, which prompts him to have a panic attack.

With his psyce being utterly shattered, we don't see Michael in his usual positive, upbeat self, we see him as a vunerable, broken guy who had just lost his other half. As the song starts, Michael is initially angry at Jeremy, speaking roughly but managing to hold in his growing pain, as we see him have tics, push back tears ruthlessly, and cope through the door being knocked on which leads to overstimulation. But then he "looks in the mirror" and the mess he's in, and chokes on his tears. It finally comes pouring out. You can practically hear his anguish and despair. And after that, he speaks softly, but after the line "I wish i stayed at home in bed etc", he speaks roughly again, and talks about himself, not Jeremy. 

Before this, throughout the song Michael sings it as if it’s Jeremy’s fault that he no longer wants to be friends with Michael, with the lines “through no fault of mine”, “ignoring all our history” etc. But now, he turns to himself, and sings the lines “Michael who’s a loner”, “god he’s such a  loser” etc, basically turning the blame onto HIMSELF and saying ‘of course it’s your fault. Of course he would want to leave you.’ And the fact that he calls himself a loser, something that he took pride within himself, and says “I wish I’d off myself”, shows that under Michael’s upbeat and positive attitude lies a deeply troubled and insecure kid underneath, who in reality DOES care about what other people think and how he is portrayed.

That’s why Michael in the Bathroom is a masterpiece. It peels back the layers of an already established character and strips that character to their rawest and most vulnerable point, and George Salazar delivers all of those emotions masterfully.

When I watched most of your one piece videos and before I ever saw your real face I thought you'd be someone around your 30s or 40s. 😁

One reason was your voice and accent. I'm not that familiar with Australian accents except for OzzyMan (I'm ESL).

Another reason was your One Piece Women video. The way you talked about fanservice and women's body types was, not gonna lie, not sth young people in these times say that often because they've been infested by radfems and their rhetoric and espouse them constantly.

I saw the beginning of a video essay recently where the YouTuber straight up said that female characters who have been "sexualized" whatever definition he used there, don't count as good female characters at all and in any sense.

In other words, a female character who in some way shape or form appeals to men in a sexual way doesn't have any worth as a female character. Popular radical feminism on the internet.

When you started talking about the OP women without going into that direction I breathed a sigh of relief. You said that sexy character design for the women wasn't a big deal but that the lack of variety wasn't good.

And that was, at least where I was, the mainstream talking point in the early 10's about anime/cartoon characters. So, yeah, I thought you'd be older. 💕

Haha no I'm afraid I'm in my youthful mid 20s! That radfem rabbit hole was one I remember being in when I was 13-18 on Tumblr, but I avoid that kinda stuff like the plague now because radfem beliefs tend to be a dog whistle for terfs. And I'm saying this because if anyone reading this falls prey to the whole "women are biologically superior to men" rhetoric, I really need you to be careful, as that can and will nosedive into terf territory.

As for the sexualisation stuff, the whole "characters who have been "'sexualized" don't count as good female characters at all and in any sense" is ridiculous, because no matter what kind of female character you make, they will be sexualised in some way shape or form by men who find them attractive.

BUT honestly the biggest thing for me is like, this demonisation of sexuality and sexyness? Because, as a gay woman, I am also sexualising characters like Nami. Just because I'm not a man doesn't mean it's automatically redundant that I also find Nami extremely sexy and stare at her tits waiting for them to bounce. There's literally nothing wrong with Oda enjoying women, or enjoying tits or ass, he is allowed to make a female character that embodies his desires. But, as you said here, and as I said in my video, the problem is he's doing that with EVERY woman. I personally don't have any grudges for how Oda draws Nami and Robin, I just truly wish it wasn't every damn woman in One Piece lmao.

Honestly I'm in such a weird place with it because, again, I like women. I like looking at tits and I like looking at women. My unpopular opinion is I also find Nami's design very sexy and very pleasing because...I like tits too LMAO and I always feel like us gay women are forgotten about in the conversation of One Piece girls and their bodies. I'm not going to pretend I HATE the girl designs in One Piece because I really don't, but of course there is a difference when a man does it compared to when a woman does it.

My view on it will always be...the issue isn't men looking at fictional women in any kind of sexual way, it's that WOMEN are demonised when they do the same thing back for fictional men. If women draw fictional men being sexy, being objectified (although you can't objectify a fictional character really but you get what I mean), they seem to be swarmed by men who find that gross and detestable. But when men do the same thing back to fictional women... it's fine and natural?? So pointing at the one piece girls, saying it's too sexual and demonising it, is counter productive in my opinion.

As an individual, you are allowed to be uncomfortable with it, you are allowed to wish they looked different, but I don't think anyone has any right to say they SHOULDN'T look like that. Because that creates this air of "Well we can't put our own desires in fictional characters full stop!" and then this weird guilt is felt amongst all parties.

Equality to me is not taking away the bikini armour from a female character, it's allowing both the male AND female characters to be able to wear that bikini armour. Everyone is allowed to have their sexual desires and sexual preferences in fictional characters.

I love Nami, I love her big boobies, I JUST wish Zoro's tits bounced as much as hers did. That is all!

Question, is saiki & toritsuka's friendship better(healthier) or hii and toritsuka's?

Just a question!!! for me it's hii's and tori's

(Is healthier spelled wrong????)(ᗒᗣᗕ)՞

I FUCKING WROTE A LONG ASS ESSAY TO THIS AND WHEN I TRIED TO POST IT TUMBLR WAS LIKE "WOOPSIE SOMETHING WENT WRONG 🤪" BITCH !!! ANYWAYS SORRY FOR SUPER LATE REPLY I HAD TO RETYPE AND RESEARCH STUFF AND REWATCH THE EPS FOR THIS LOL

Ok so basically I think they're both healthy / unhealthy in their own ways its just up to ur interpretation yk. Like ultimately it's up to everyone to decide whether it's toxic or not in their hcs and fanon aus and stuff bc note everyone's gonna have the same opinion but to me I think both friendships are very healthy in their own right.

I think at first tori's def a bit selfish and only seeks out relationship out of his own selfish desires like he seems out Saiki bc of his cool powers (though there isn't much wrong with wanting to befriend someone bc u think they're cool) but he also mentions he wishes he had those powers and then he goes on to try and make saiki use his powers for saikis benefit (aka be popular and get a girl) which again isn't like the worst thing ever like it's obvious Tori would want his only friend to help set him up with someone but the way he does it is a bit disingenuous bc he's pretending to be something or someone he's not. But regardless saiki always helps him even if he doesn't actually help lol sometimes he sabotages him tho usually Tori does that to himself LMAO. But saikis supportive of Tori even tho he insults him and shit he's just a tsundere who doesn't know how to show affection and his way of doing it is a lil violent but he doesn't actually ever harm Tori he always heals him and stuff when he actually physically does damage so Tori can't even feel it when his insides explode lmaooo. Also saikis constantly helping Tori become a better person and do the right things. And u could say it's "toxic" or one-sided cuz only Tori gets something out of their friendship but that's simply not true bc saiki gets a friend out of Tori and the first friend to know Abt his powers too, the first person out of his family to know him for who he truly is powers and all. He's also really reliable even if he's kinda incompetent or useless he is still a huge help when it counts. Tori's constantly putting saiki above his selfish desires when it really matters. They each give and take from each other which I think is necessary for a healthy relationship tbh. It's not one sided at all bc they each risk their lives for each other (cat tank arc).

As for hiitori like any relationship Tori pursues it's a lil superficial at first bc he's got unpure intentions and like selfish reasons for approaching her. He wanted to flirt with her and date her simple as that he wants to be loved lol. And he's a bit of a jerk Abt it bc altho he's nice and kind to her u could say he's probably mostly or at least partly doing it to end up dating her or so she doesn't end up hating him or losing feelings for him bc he's never really had a girl like him for more than like 0.2 seconds. He approaches Saiki to help cure her unluckiness so that he can date her without the fear of getting killed (which like sorta fair but at the same time still douchey lol). He also gives up and runs away bc he's a coward and tries to dump her into Saiki and Mikos hands bc again he's selfish and prioritizes his life over anything else but he tries to protect her (and himself, or maybe himself and by extension he protects her) when they're together like when he offers to take the dangerous chemicals to class himself instead of letting her touch them. So you could say his motives are more Abt self preservation than love but I do think he still cares about her safety and well being (even if at first it's just bc hes desperately and selfishly attached to her love for him). And he gets a lil "toxic" or like possessive when satous in the pic bc now he's got a love rival and he doesn't really like being dumped over the average dude (like fair again but it's still seen as toxic bc he calls hii-chan his girl LMAO) and so he tries to get between them right but backs off when he's literally almost killed at the stationary store haha what a coward. But then when they find out why she's so unlucky although reluctantly Tori ends up helping Saiki figure out how to cure her misfortune. And u could argue he only did it for Saiki's sake so he could praise. Him or be proud of him but I think the reason (if not most of the reason anyways) he does it is because he does genuinely care about hii-chan's safety at the end. He can't just leave a poor cute defenseless girl with that shitty guardian spirit. She's the first girl who's ever really had feelings for him for this long and like genuinely doesn't hate him or whatever so ofc he's gonna have a lil soft spot for her she's the closest thing he has to a friend in class since most of the girls hate him and call him "pervitsuka" and shit so im sure he was trying to be legit helpful and useful to if he wouldn't get recognition for it. I mean he goes full on mom mode on the guardian spirit and then nendou sr comes and goes mom mode sr on the dude too and cleans him up and then it's still not enough so Tori sacrifices (literally, he holds a fucking funeral for them) his getas burning them at the stake just so the guardian spirit can be happy and protect hii-chan like he should've been. He doesn't even complain about giving up his high heels what a brave girl he is 😔💔 oh u also made a post I think Abt how when tori was missing for a whole fucking week the only one who noticed was hii-chan and she went and told Saiki and that's the only reason he found out lol. Maybe it's because the dude sits next to her in class or bc he was her first friend at pk or her first love of something but whatever the reason it was still incredibly thoughtful of her to worry about him and his wellbeing. That's something that didn't really occur to kusuo so I guess if u really wanna pin them against each other hii-chan wins by being the more thoughtful of the two but hey Saiki felt guilty and wanted to rescue Toritsuka despite him being brainwashed and hating him at the moment that he risked his life for him just so he wouldn't get hurt by the cat tank so I think they can't really be compared since. They're different circumstances lol.

Anyways, I think that although his motives for starting any relationship and approaching anyone are usually selfish, Tori sticks around and helps them when they need it. Both saiki and suzumiya are important for Toritsuka's growth as a person / character and their relationships are both fairly healthy at least by the end. I think toritsuka loves and cares for suzumiya and saiki as much as they do for him <3

Regarding Tumblr activity (and the future of this blog and the other one)

Heya, Learner here. This is a pretty important news, so listen up. Click below to proceed.

So I have been flashbanged by the controversy Tumblr has been getting itself into. It was so stressing that it caused me to take a even bigger sick leave. In actuality, I lost giant bundles of motivation to write stuff for Tumblr in general, and when I think I should really came back, bang. There is a giant hellspawns of controversies going around, and as if that couldn't be any worse, guess what... AI data feeding. Wow. As if no one wants me to have any reason to come back here huh.

It's. Honestly saddening that I was trying to find a community where I can finally feel accepted without compromising the safety of my stuff. And I will admit. I do wish to rewrite some parts of my AU itself. But stuff like this kinda stunts my willpower to churn things out. Not to mention the engagement isn't as fulfilling as I wanted it to be. No, I get it, Tumblr... isn't the place to find for popularity. But I find it hard to find connections with others without it looking kinda awkward. And that's the hard part really. I'm here to have a good time, share my ideas, share my fun, but... it just feels like no one is spreading the word enough for me to eventually get into the hang of things.

So, I have nowhere to go. Even if I did turn on that one filter that would keep my data safe from AI, I don't know how effective it is. And let's be honest, with the recent controversy that happened prior, I'm genuinely terrified. What if there's going to be something like that happening again? With completely different people, different minorities, etc.

Now, before you ask, yes. I am straight - I will try to word this in a way that doesn't sound condescending, I hope no one finds my opinion offensive. I come from a country that really, *really* does not like LGBTQ+ people in any way, or more like, they have bad rep over here. No, I am not homophobic, or transphobic. Do you do you, buddy. As long as you are nice to me, as long as you DO NOT force me to be LGBTQ+ as well, I am completely okay with befriending you. Be who you are! I will support it either way, it's your life choice. Just don't bother me, who is comfortable with my identity and self as of current. I wholeheartedly support those who wish to be who they feel like they want to be. So yeah, me seeing all that whole debacle? Good god. Not again.

My goodwill to Tumblr has been holed in many holes. And I don't know what to do about it.

So... this will be me announcing some form of indefinite hiatus for both this blog and @technicianuprisingau, until I either 1. have enough bravery to enter Tumblr grounds again and/or 2. I found a different place I can freely get myself into without fearing 28479373947 spikes going to hit my chest for various reasons. I will be active on Discord most of the time, and yes, I am still stuck in RP land, this is a call for help.

I'm... sorry, if I ever offend anyone by writing this in any shape or form, I do not meant to be rude or to be a b^tch - English is my second language, so if anyone wants to scream at me, uh... please don't. I... I'm just babbling at this point.

See you next time, -Learner

hi! ive been seeing ur posts around a bit and just wanted to ask you a question which honestly isnt related to the show plot because even though i do ship byler i believe mileven is gonna be cannon because a suger mega mainstream show isnt likely to throw away their main ship for an unexpected gay ship which imo would make sense with all the queercoding and would just be sumn new but yknow its unlikely. so my wish for s5 is some serious and good growth for mileven as a couple but back to my question as i mentioned earlier there is quite a bit of queercoding and ig what u could call 'proof' and while i agree some of the byler proof thrown around are stretches and reaches most of it seems pretty plausible which does mean there is a chance that the people working on that show purposely put in those aspects and parallels but for what? (possible queerbait which ick!) and another thing with will and his love arc it seems kinda unfair ik its the 80s and in reality it wouldve matched wills situation but in the end it is a super popular fiction show in 2020s and it does have the liberty to provide some sort of solace to will like everyone else in the show gets some kind of romance but the tortured gay guy should be happy with the acceptance? kinda ouch and on topic of queer characters i personally think robin has one of the most beautiful coming out scenes in tv history but with vickie they did bad to her character like they have barely 5 mins of screen time tgther and theyre basically the same person w the brain and mouth parallel so impo the writers and show producers have sort of messed up with the queer characters(s5 could redeem everything but i have a feeling it rlly wont) plus i mean making will love mike was such a choice like he couldve like anyone else the show has time and time again had clear chances to just either not make will have a thing for mike or get him to confess and or move on and introduce a new guy for him and have a chance of a happy ending but they had to employ the overused gay guy loves his straight best friend trope and drag onto the last season where theres already the battle to the death going on so even if they do get a new guy there will be no satisfying development to their bond. and then practically use his feelings to encourage mike which is just cruel and is kinda harmful for many queer people like i remember just sobbing in my grandmas living room because how horrible that scene made me feel so i just want ur opnions on this as u seem like some1 passionate about the show and an ally. (sorry if its kinda long this my first time ever interacting w anyone on tumblr im rlly unsure how to go about these things)

Yeah, definitely, I think I understand what you mean. Queerbaiting sucks, but I don't personally think that's what this show is doing. I think a lot of the hints people are claiming as Byler evidence is just based on their interpretation, and not what the creators intended it to be seen as. We honestly can't know what they intended without them confirming it, so it's hard to know one way or the other. I don't believe a lot of the evidence for Byler personally, and it just doesn't make sense narratively for the show like you mentioned. I don't know, it's complicated. If anyone else wants to share their thoughts on this, feel free to leave them in the comments. :)

Being a Frye defender hurts so much, I get ya. My first splatfest win was Splatoween, and I'm pretty happy that Shiver didn't win this time but it kinda sucks that Frye can't win. My friend and I were screaming in the school yard when team handshake won because... Shiver man, she has won so many times it isn't fair. And I think Frye's first win was because she has the advantage of "general opinion" because spicy and sour aren't the popular preferences in general. Imagine if either Shiver or Big Man got the "Salty" option then Frye's probably gonna lose too.

I get ya, bud. I get ya... We're on the same boat floating on our river of blood-sweat-and-tears of Splatoon players. I'mnot motivated to play Splatoon again, yes I still fixate on the manga but I mostly play cookie run these days.

I was convinced fustbump would win! Yeah, we had mirror matches, but shiver always won cuz if that anyway, and then...we didn't?

In Japan they got a sweep, so I don't even know what we are doing wrong anymore, I just want to have fun, I want to be silly, I want to enjoy my time playing splatoon, I don't want to feel stressed during splatfest, anxiously going to bed after reset and dreading opening my phone cuz I know my friends are going to update me on who won, and then seeing shiver won again and going to school on a bad mood, I hate this cycle!

I've reached a point of just wishing big man wins more, just so shiver stops winning

I don't wanna be right, but after seeing the the intro dialogue of Shiver, I just gotta except she'll win...again

My sister joked that "watch Frye constantly loose but then win the final fest as a final fuck you", and it'd be funny but man, this is sorta still a shitty situation, but at this point, I'll take it 😭😭😭

Cuz like "Oh it's family, family will totally win!"

But then we look back at first bump and 😐

We get the least amount of votes we loose but shiver wins

We get the most amount of votes but still loose yet shiver wins

Yeah, anything can happen really and I am I'm constant stress about it, imma rant on my tumblr during splatfest, probably, but I won't look into the tag, I am already stressed as is with school

Hey

Just saw everything that happened around your recent post about Harry and Ron and I’m really sorry for everything that you had to go through, I hope you are alright. Please do not let unreasonable people bring down your spirit, you are an amazing soul and an amazing writer (thoroughly enjoyed Back to the Eclipse); you have no idea how much your metas have helped people like me.

I have always loved reading but as the rebellious teen that I was I refused to read anything that was very popular so I had never read the Harry Potter books or watched the movies and I was kinda oblivious to the situation of the fandom as well. However last year I decided to read the books and guess what I absolutely fell in love with Ginny and Harry both as individual characters and as a couple(perks of reading the series without any preconceived biases), both of them are my top two favourite characters in the series (though Ginny kinda takes the crown for me). After finishing the series I was really excited to see what interesting opinions and takes people have not just for Ginny and Harry but for other characters in the series as well. However due to my inexperience with fandoms in general, the stupid me decided to start with reddit and quora (I still don’t understand why I did that to myself) and OMFG, the amount Ginny and Harry hate literally drove me crazy.

Honestly from the beginning I didn’t have much expectation from HarryXanyone other than Ginny shippers and Hermione’s arse worshippers; but the romione shippers and Ron fans????

The way the Ron and Romione fans slander Ginny (and also Harry, but to a much lesser extent than Ginny) was truly disturbing for me to read which lead me into questioning my own judgement about Ginny’s character and Hinny and I started believing that maybe I’m completely wrong about everything I thought about Ginny and Harry, because I really love Ron and I like romione as well despite all its problems and I thought that those people on the interenet have read the books so many more times than I have so “inevitably” they have to be right (and all of this I have to say was a very wrong thing on my part, though in my defence I was really busy with my Uni so I didn’t really have the time to think through things).

Then one fine day I stumbled upon your tumblr and you wouldn’t believe my happiness to finally come across someone who shares my ideas and opinions about characters, writing and literature in general but is much better and fearless than I can ever be in expressing those opinions. Your metas have reinforced my love for Ginny and Harry as individual characters and a couple again and has inspired me to be absolutely shameless in expressing my love for them. In fact you have also kinda inspired me to start my own tumblr account and ramble about my favourite characters, books and literature which I might do in near future.

Sorry for the rant

Please continue to be the amazing person that you are and continue to inspire people.

Loads of love from India    

Ok, first of all, you guys are so nice but I swear what happened is absolutely not a big deal.

People are absolutely free to disagree with what I say, even if I wish they did it when there's actually something two people can have different opinions on.

That said, I'm so happy you liked Back to the Eclipse and that my metas arrived to someone. It's really crazy the gaslighting this fandom does when it comes to hinny, isn't it?

Also, I am so happy to have inspired you to share your opinions!

Hiiiiii

Anon who requested "Thicc wife" here. Tbh I was nervous making that request, I was scared you would count it as NSFW😭. But i'm glad that you enjoyed writing it, and I want to make another requeste for Noah this time🥰

Ok so on his total drama online biography it is mentioned that hes the youngest od 9 siblings (a vary popular headcanon is that he only has sisters but you can do whatever you want). And Idk but I can just Imagine the moment they all found out that Noah has a crush on s/o they all just tease him endlesly about it, maybe some od them not stoping even when his unknowing crush comes over(cuz he propably did the same when any of them had a crush, let's be honest with ourselfs, his an asshole). And Idk maybe kinda trying to help him comfess but its not nesesery if you don't want to mention it, just teasing is fine.

Again you don't have to do it if you don't want to. Its at least 9 characters after all

Love you'r work❤️.

Hiii!~ So nice to hear from you again! I’m so glad you enjoyed the Chris x thicc wife reader post, thank you so much💖! Sorry I couldn’t get back to you sooner, for the past few months, I haven’t been very active on Tumblr.

Unfortunately, I am not going to be able to do your new request since the premise of this scenario is not necessarily centred around the reader, but more character x character. While I have no problems at all with generally portraying my own interpretation of how certain unseen but canon characters may behave (i.e. Chris’ mother in a previous one shot), I have no leads whatsoever when it comes to Noah’s siblings, especially with nine to think distinct personalities for.

I’m thankful you understand nevertheless and please please PLEASE do not let this hinder with your wishes to send another request in the future, whether it be similar or separate.❤️❤️

Link Click Season 2: Thoughts

Just a post of everything that's been going through my head over the course of this season. First reflections, then theories for next time. Spoilers for all episodes under the cut, obviously. This is also so long Tumblr started glitching out on me, so I hope it reads well~

LU GUANG TIME TRAVELER THEORY REAL BITCHESSSSSS

I know literally everyone had figured this out already but the execution of it was sooooo satisfying. It was to the point where if that wasn't where they were going with him, I wasn't sure what their plans were, and then everything fell into place just perfectly.

I genuinely don't have anything bad to say about that last episode. It was perfectly done in every way, and I'm super excited to see the next season play out--after we get some much-needed conflict establishment in that prequel, whatever it is.

As for the rest of the season though...I agree with the stuff I've seen about the pacing being a sore spot. It didn't ruin the season for me, but the constant recapping of scenes we've already seen + long fight scenes that didn't advance the plot was just kind of frustrating especially watching this weekly as I did and knowing I wasn't going to get answers this time. Episode 2 was the weakest for this, imo, since it felt like half of the episode was made of scenes from the first and the CXS + QL fight, while cool, didn't really do much for me. It felt like I was watching the chimera ant arc from HXH all over again, sometimes.

I've also seen takes that they forced the length of each episode to end on a cliffhanger but I kinda disagree? Season 1 had cliffhangers too, and the episodes were a little shorter. They could have shortened the episodes (to not repeat scenes and not draw out the fights) and still ended on cliffhangers, and I kind of expected those since again they were common in the first season. If I expect anything from Link Click, it's that they'll find a way to make a cliffhanger out of it.

I don't really have an issue with most of the season taking place in a single day either (again...chimera ant arc...literal peak fiction, but holy shit it took like 10 episodes to cover 1 minute in real-time but it wouldn't have been so effective if it didn't take its time), although it is a bit of a change from the first season, which was spread out over months. I rationalize it as the cases themselves happened within 12 hours, so this was kind of just one longer and more detailed case.

The director said he was going for a suspense angle this season rather than heartwrenching, and in that regard I think he succeeded. I didn't cry this season, but I did feel very stressed out the whole time, and the middle chunk of episodes simply flew by every week. They felt 5 minutes long. I have a feeling the next season will balance the best of both worlds--plot-relevant suspense with heartwrenching moments, kind of like the final scene of this season.

So yeah, a sore spot, not really a dealbreaker. I did read the interview with Li Haolin where he acknowledged the pacing issues and said he'll try to do better next season, which I really appreciated. I've seen it happen too often where the following season is too far into production or the showrunner thinks they're above criticism, and the show drops in quality as a result. I think season 3 will be the best yet, but I'm also scared by him saying the main story and ending are set in stone--what are they gonna do to us? How many seasons will they go on? I'd rather have the story come to its natural conclusion than be dragged on because it's popular.

Moving on, I liked the way they used the time travel powers this season to figure out more about the people chasing them, and to give Chen Bin some closure. Basically in a way that was plot relevant as opposed to exposition, although I wish they'd used their powers more in the back half. I thought it was a cool utilization of what we already know.

I liked the new characters we got this season, esp the parts revolving around the twins (and episode 9!!! it was so artsy!!!!). They made for very compelling characters, and I think Qian Jin will be back for more. Though I feel like the Li Tianchen we got was a bit different than his presentation last season where he was a childish, but highly intelligent, serial killer who is single-minded in his ruthlessness. This version seems to be struggling with his own motivations, mainly because his sister didn't follow him down the same path and he doesn't trust the guy giving him orders. It's a more rounded character, but not as compelling of a villain. I'm excited to see what happens when he teams up with Liu Xiao, though, since I have a feeling LX is going to be like my original interpretation of LTC. Redemption arc for LTC? Or will he get worse?

And what was up with Captain Xiao telling the main characters he was planning to resign once he caught Chen Bin's killer, then announcing he was promoted at the end? I know technically Tianchen is still at large, but cmon, he got a promotion for getting his colleagues killed? They should have just omitted the line about him resigning, tbh.

In terms of expectations vs reality for this season, I tried not to have expectations because I didn't want to be let down, but I sort of developed them anyway. My sole expectation was "challenge the idea that death is unchangeable" which they did get to--but only at the very beginning with LG's flashback, and then again in the last episode when they gave more context to it, so it wasn't the focus. This is because my vision for the season was one in which CXS experiences LG's death, then rewinds time to try to fix it, each time getting a step closer to solving the mystery. We didn't end up getting that because he remembered his character development, but I do kind of wonder what that would have been like. Maybe a little too close to Steins;Gate, and then I'd have been disappointed that they did the same thing as another time travel show I love, lol.

In any case, it seems they're going to do that next season. Or the following. However long it takes for them to elaborate on whatever the hell it is that Lu Guang did.

I also felt like they were going to go back in time to when CXS thought LG was dead and absolutely broke down, and how much of that was just a miscommunication, except this time he would be dead for real. But the more I think about it, the more it seems unlikely with the direction the story has been heading. Instead, LAN was simply trolling us with LG's fate for 2 years and pulled a switcharoo that CXS was the one we should fear for next? idk I want them to go back to the absolute despair of thinking your partner/best friend/boyfriend died while you were separated, but not hit the brakes on it so quickly.

Which brings me to my next concern--because of how everything happened so close together, the main characters didn't have much time to process everything that happened to them since last time. Qiao Ling didn't reflect much on her being possessed and stabbing someone she thinks of as a friend (remember how she screamed when she saw the blood on her hands? I wanted more of that), CXS and LG didn't get to talk about LG being stabbed, almost dying, and then kidnapped, also while thinking he was dead for a few hours there; and CXS didn't get a breather after being thrown into an extremely intense domestic violence situation unexpectedly, and coming out of it nearly collapsing. Because of the short timeskip at the end of the season, it seems like they may just skip over this and leave these conversations between seasons. Or the trauma they endured may come back up in new and spicy ways. I'll be interested to see what they do, but I'm going to be kind of bummed if they don't talk about any of what happened to each other, since that was such a big part of season 1.

So from reflections, on to theories...After watching episode 2, I developed a theory that I will lay out here because of how much I got right. Yes, I'm gonna brag a bit:

I was right about Cheng Xiaoshi dying originally and Lu Guang apparently having both sets of powers, as seen when he clapped back in time, but the rest I have a few questions about.

First, the matter of the powers. I've seen a lot of people saying powers are passed when their user dies, but I don't think they are because I don't know how CXS would have powers in the present day unless a whole character we don't know about died in his arms before he even met LG. I also don't believe that Tianxi is dead either (they didn't show me a body and I won't believe it until I see one), so while I think it's possible QL has her powers and doesn't realize it, she didn't transfer them with death.

Next, how many times has LG rewound time? My gut feeling was that this is his first time because of how much has changed this time around. He didn't know about Tianchen and vice versa, so either CXS died before the twins came into the picture or the timeline has changed enough that now other people with powers are involved when they weren't before. Then again, he leapt so far back in the timeline (that basketball game) it wouldn't surprise me if none of the show's canon was part of the original timeline.

Third, how did CXS die? And who killed him? Maybe it was LX, maybe it was QJ (thinking of how LG's first instinct when meeting the guy was to try to LITERALLY PUNCH HIM TO DEATH), maybe it was someone we haven't met yet...I think we can agree he was murdered, though, and it wasn't an accidental death. Perhaps he was shot, perhaps stabbed, but more than anything I'm interested to see how that unfolds since LG seems to feel responsible and I have to wonder how much is survivor's guilt and how much is because he caused it.

Fourth, if death is a node that can be changed, would it have saved CXS's life if LG had died there? The times we've seen the timeline change, the same person still died at roughly the same time, but the circumstances got altered. I'm thinking here of Emma's death changing from suicide to murder (? I haven't rewatched season 1 since before season 2 started so I could be wrong), and Chen Bin going from jumping off the roof while possessed to losing the possession but being pushed (we saw the door closing on him originally). If someone else had killed themselves at that time, would he still be alive? It seems strange the laws would work as "someone has to die, it doesn't matter who." The only way I can think of this idea working in the context of our main duo is if CXS and LG are somehow the same person and all I can say is, god I hope not lmao, but then what was up with LG thinking "better me than him"?

Fifth, CXS apparently died on September 13 (or September 12, since LG leaped 5 minutes after midnight), but season 1 skipped right over that date and the end and this whole season took place in late October (going by the dates. I have seen the posts about time being broken, though, so let's see if that was stuff changing in the writing process without being fixed or something intentional). Was LG really able to delay his death by a whole month (causing a major timeline shift), or do we still have most of a year left before it happens? CXS was wearing his season 1 outfit when he died, but that could very well be a red herring.

Sixth, does LX have powers? I think he must, but what are they? How much does he know (ie just that the timeline is being fucked with, or does he know who is doing it?), and is he working for a higher power to "fix" time or simply himself? How will Tianchen help him achieve his goals? To me it seems likely LX is aware of other people with powers since he appeared to give advice to Tianchen in a crucial hour, then was in the same foreign country as our main two. Maybe he keeps tabs on all power users, or maybe he actually knows the main two personally but they don't know he's the one after them. He's certainly wise beyond his years is all I can say for now.

My post got so long Tumblr is yelling at me about a character limit, so that's why there's a break here. To the next text block~

I'm curious to see how much of what happened this season will be changed, nullified, or otherwise wiggled around in the timeline. Since it seems like a lot of this didn't happen in the original timeline, what of CXS possessing LG? Were those inconsistencies (how the window was broken, the phone being faceup/facedown, the password knowledge being only incidental) a result of animation errors or small shifts in the timeline? Will these things be important later? Until they say otherwise, my resting theory is that LG took that photo and used his power to read forward into time, see the boat's location, and send it to QL, and the actual hospital breakout was him originally. We have seen now that he can fight.

Link Click's time travel has always been less rules more vibes to me so I don't mind if these inconsistencies don't end up being important after all, but all the same it will he cool if they are.

That scene of CXS and QL as little kids is very precious to me, but it just occurred to me that took place before they knew LG and thus before he started fucking with the timeline. How much of pre-series canon will be changed as a result, ie those memories QL has? We still don't know anything about CXS's parents either, so both of these things may get overwritten in the timeline. Imagine a timeline where CXS was completely lonely...

QJ was built up as a villain a lot this season so I wouldn't be at all surprised if he busted out of prison in the second half or the end of next season. Another one for LX to manipulate? Will he be the one getting him out?

Does QL have powers now? It seems like Tianxi gave her powers at the end there, but she hasn't realized it yet. I was kinda hoping she doesn't since I'd prefer one of the three remains "normal," but if that's the direction they're taking, I trust they'll do something interesting with it, especially since that power is required for Tianchen to kill people.

Speaking of, I'm super excited to find out what will happen when CXS inevitably discovers what LG has been keeping from him. Maybe QL will confront LG first and the two of them will try to figure things out, only for CXS to feel doubly betrayed that the two closest friends he has in his life know he's died and haven't said anything about it to him, and have been actively trying to prevent his death again. The angst fallout with that will be delicious. I'm also thinking of the shot in the season 2 OP of QL turning her back on him once the song reverses, hmmm.

LTC only became aware of CXS in the first place because when he was talking to Emma on the bridge, he said he's a time traveler and gave his name. So, it's a loop, but we have yet to see how LTC figured out where CXS worked and learned who his friends are to go after Xu Shanshan. Will LG reach the same conclusion and somehow cause that action to be undone, and will that in turn affect LX's perception of events?

All in all, despite some issues with the pacing of season 2 dragging it down and making it not quite as good as season 1, I still really enjoyed it and thought the music especially was a big upgrade from what was already so good (VORTEX, Until It Dies, and Mastermind will be on loop for a while longer). I also had a great time checking the tags regularly for fanart, gifsets, and theories, and I'm excited to see what unhinged theories we'll develop by the time season 3 rolls around. Until then, see ya in the prequel!

Scrooge: Old Vs New

There’s a few posts I wanted to make. The new Guardians Of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Disenchanted. Slumberland. Wednesday. That one Moon Knight fan fic sitting in my drafts. But I’ve got to talk about this.

Scrooge: A Christmas Carol on Netflix came out this year in 2022. While Critics haven’t been too kind to it (I’ll get to my theory why in a second) y’all on Tik Tok and Tumblr have been losing your minds. You’re falling in love with the music (particularly Later Never Comes). But mostly…many of you have this reaction.

The surprising hottie in question being this rendition of Ebenezer Scrooge.

And I get it. As is tradition in animated takes of Dickens immortal classic, the animators clearly took inspiration from their voice actor Mr. Luke Evans. And Mr. Evans is a very handsome man. So I’m right there with you guys simping over an old man with a sexy voice.

But! I would be remiss if I failed to educate my fellow fangirls, fanboys and all between that this movie…is technically a remake.

Directed in 1970 by Ronald Neame, Scrooge was nominated for Four Academy Awards and won a Golden Globe. Quite an achievement in a time when movie musicals were fading in popularity. And it’s composer Leslie Bricusse (who also helped bring Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory to life) was an executive producer and helped write the screenplay for this new version. And since he passed away last year, the animated film is dedicated to him.

Of the original eleven songs, five were carried over to the new movie. Happiness. I Like Life (with updated lyrics). Beautiful Day, Thank you Very Much and I Will Begin Again. Yet while the original movie received generally positive reviews from critics, the new movie only holds a 40% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. What’s the difference? I mean the animation is very nice. Sometimes downright gorgeous. Obviously the music works. I’ve heard people praising both the new songs as well as the older ones. And they actually add depth to the original story.

Well if I had to guess, the new version is very much catering to kids versus families. The Ghost of Christmas Present has cute little Minion like critters. They cut the line of Scrooge saying, “If They (the poor) would rather die then they better do it. And decrease the surplus population!” I guess because it’s too mean? Speaking of, they give Scrooge a dog named Prudence. I guess to show the kids that he’s not all bad. He has a cute doggy! He’s kinda indifferent to the dog but hey! Don’t look at the scary imagery of Scrooge watching his own ghost rise from his grave! Look at the puppy! Look at the puppy! I mean Mr. Magoo kept the mean lines in as did the Muppet’s. Plus they trusted kids with the scary stuff.

Yeah as cute as those reindeer antlers on her looked at the end, Prudence was definitely a studio note and serves no purpose. She could be cut and you wouldn’t miss anything. Plus I’m not a fan of the opening number. Too peppy and modern. I wished they had done an update of the song that opens the 1970 movie, “A Christmas Carol “

Plus I love this song from Cratchit. It’s so Christmas… I wish this one made the cut.

But I do like the new version. Later Never Comes goes way harder than “You” and Luke Evans really balances out Scrooge being an old curmudgeon and a man who knows and regrets his choices. Plus the whole thing is animated like a dream. I love Luke Evans singing “I will Begin Again.” It’s a song of hope, passion and joy. And when Albert Finney’s Scrooge sings it …well… he tried…I can’t post it here but trust me. Luke Evans is a major upgrade. They make up for it with the finale in the 1970’s version where they almost reprise every song in the movie. Plus my parents always like how they made Albert Finney up to really look like a miser than doesn’t cut his hair or even clean his nails or his house. And technically Albert Finney was a sex symbol back in the day. Where he played both the old and young versions of Scrooge. So having a sexy Scrooge is technically precedent…

So give the original movie a watch if you like this one. It can be it’s own kind of goofy at times, but it’s definitely worth a yearly viewing. As is the new version on Netflix.

fic stats game

rules: give us the links to your fic with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fic with the fewest words.

tagged by @curiosity-killed and what do I love if not numbers about things, apparently

Fic with the most hits: usurprisingly - I didn't even have to look to know this - Life in Reverse for the mcu, with 354,721 hits, almost 4 times as many as the runner up. no fic I write will probably ever top that one, for better or worse.

Second most kudos: I had a guess for this one and it was correct! With Absolute Splendor is my runner up for pretty much any stat as far as my fanfiction goes, after Life in Reverse. I don't hate that as a thing.

Third most comments: actually to my surprise it's With Absolute Splendor again, because Steve Rogers' Halfway House for Notorious Supervillains had it beat out for second place, which actually makes sense considering that one is multichapter so people can comment more than once (can't kudos more than once). kinda disappointed at this one for showing up twice only because it makes the meme less interesting for me personally.

Fourth most bookmarks: half a league onward for the mcu again, aka my "wish fulfillment infinity war written entirely from a post by @proantagonista" fic. I feel a little bad about how popular it is considering the arc of the whole fic is basically me fleshing out someone else's tumblr post, but oh well.

Fifth most words: mcu again: we're not friends, we're strangers with memories with 70,481 words, which is a fic I'm kind of scared to reread even if I know I still like the concept and especially the ending. I thought this might be a longer fic but turns out I only ("only") have three fics clocking in over 100k. thought it was more than that.

Fewest words: leaving this one for my Lise pseud only because I am not looking back at decade-old short fic for this meme, even if it is still technically there for people to read. other than the one that apparently glitched to say it doesn't have any words, the shortest fic is and as the stars arise, a Supernatural fic, for a change, at 173 words. it's S5 angst. I wrote a lot of that.

tagging @jaggedcliffs, @mikkeneko, @lu-sn, @brawlites, and anybody with more than five fics to their name who would like to go for it

Highly controversial opinion bcuz oh boi am I gonna get backlash

THIS IS KINDA OF A VENTFUL POST OF A CERTAIN POPULAR THING, SO IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ THIS IF YOU'RE A FAN OF THE THING, THEN DON'T BE BOTHER TO LOOK OR READ AT IT.

As someone who has been a die hard SMG4 fan since the early 2020s, I have been seeing some recent tags of a ship that I personally have an upside-down opinion on.

You wanna know why I never bother to re-blog some SMG34 stuff like anyone else does?

Well....Truth be told for what I'm about to say here but in mho on that ship that has been a thing for years.

I'm not rather in partial to SMG34.

Now I know that LOTS of Toxic SMG4 fans will tend to Bash an Opinion for liking something so unpopular it's meant to be a "Sin" to the SMG4 fanbase, but it's honestly true to say the least (since not everything has to be "agreeable").

I know the ship has been a thing for a very long time since the beginning of the series (even before Glitch Productions ever existed) but as someone who only tried "Sunset Paradise", part of Me feels like that I want to try the other Glitch shows (including TADC that everybody's been talking about).

It's just that my indifferent feels towards the Ship that everybody's been obsessing for even on Tumblr, part of Me feels like that I just can't get into it (nor how much I try) mainly because it just has something to do with the appeal of the designs or how I just prefer with one of the characters with someone else that I ship who isn't them.

It is NOT meant to be highly homophobic when you have a different opinion on a Slash Ship. I've been an Ally for a very long time and I have a ton of favorite LGBT Ships that I've really adored for a long time (Ineffable Husbands, GraGoh, Almidot, Narlie, SquidBob, Grumpshine, Goldenheart, ect.) but I just usually wish that both LGBT and Straight Ships would just be treated all the same as Normal (as long as if it's not involving around Pr*shipping because then that would be a big problem).

My feelings towards SMG34 has some 2 Sides that I'd mainly don't know what to chose;

It mainly has to do with their own Character Designs (being that they're currently now redesign of Mario colors), they just happened to look like as if they were Twins/Brothers (even if the two aren't canonically related), their Designs look strikingly similar as if they gave Me some Yaoi Inc*st vibes (again, not to insult, and I know that these two aren't related, but I just don't really like the way on how they look too similar one another).

I mainly want to open it, in which I could at least see some potential for an "Enemies to Lovers" dynamic happening between them but due to how their relationship is more like an "On and Off" frenemy still relationship, I highly doubt the new change between these two.

And for the record of what I said about "Shipping" the Other Character with Someone else, I kinda mainly prefer SMG4/Tari.

I know that the idea of "Shipping" the Plumbers with the Glitch Girls is highly meant to be a "Sin" upon the Fanbase but I think I find the Two Pairs between both the Male and Female Counterpart is kinda interesting to Me.

Many people who use the word "Hate" to describe their thoughts on that Other Ship as a "Creator/Creation" ship in which they only refer to SMG4 as an Actual Creator (or Real Person that being Luke himself). But given on how that SMG3 is also Luke's creation character as well other than Tari, wouldn't somebody else who would call "SMG34" a "Creator/Creation" ship be a total backlash while also hating on the idea of Shipping Luke's Self-Insert with his Other Characters be count as "Hypocrisy" because SMG3 is the only exception?

This kinda the main reason as to why I don't usually interact with much of the SMG4 fanbase anymore (and just interact with other fanbases instead), it's because that I just can't stand the Toxicity Half-Side in the Fandom because I feel like that it's completely unfair when you have an unpopular opinion towards one of the show's choices.

Like...For instance;

I am NOT a fan of the whole "Sibling-Bond" thing between Mario and Meggy. I prefer them still being a "Best Friends" dynamic. Their Current Friendship is rather a Toxic One (which I feel like has completely ruin their own entire Friendship of where it all began). I liked it better when it was Two Best Friends helping, now whenever they're together, they just fight because "sIbLiNgS fIgHt AlL tHe DaMn TiMe".

Not all siblings can have an argument over time, a BFF relationship can show that sometimes Siblings CAN have a Strong Bond of a Platonic Relationship, rather than a *cough* *cough* Childish one that Luke and Kevin decide to take as an Annoying Gag.

If you guys like the SMG34 idea, then that's fine. More Power than You. I can at least see why you're all into it. It's because on how much y'all see the potential in them ever since SMG4 has changed a lot better than Me.

But even if it becomes canon (despite still being a fanon ship), it would make myself feel uncomfortable when I still just can't get over their own character designs that just look like twins and maybe I would've had liked it if their character designs weren't so "Twin-Like". Even if I would have to get USED to their New Designs over time.

Sorry for the ventful post, this is just something that I have to get off my chest.

Insane that my mom ran the most popular patrick stump archival blog on tumblr + was a full time lawyer + was raising two mentally ill kids + doing culinary arts school + having a cookie business. I think its her autism i wont lie. But now its all catching up to her and she has no energy which would be the ehlers danlos fault this time.. tried to convince her to steal her old url back but on cohost so she made an account but couldnt immediately make side blogs but boy oh boy. she would be giving the fall out boy fandom what they want and more. Shes like i cant do it again i have no idea how i did it before im like ma! its called having boundaries. Shes like i cant do that when i have a special interest its called autism. Im like right but queue posts for once a day and find 30 pictures from a photo set and boom one months worth of posting fall out boy and you can conserve your energy. But she doesnt know how to do her special interests in moderation. Im honestly just glad she went and accepted a bunch of access to her mega archive folder thingy. But shes so mad she doesnt have access to like her actual archive bc the website she used go archive everything changed their subscription plans and she has so many photos it would be like a zillion dollars she doesnt have 😭 like bogus i remember photo storing websites were so free. Take me back to 2010 for real :T Anyway she used to get so mortified when i told my friends as a teen about her blog i actually told her coworker once and her coworker somehow RETAINED the url and went home and looked at her blog and she was so upset at me 😭😭 but now like she kinda doesnt give a fuck anymore bc fall out boy was her special interest for an entire decade and she’s over it. Obviously still a big big fan but not in bandom anymore. Her new special interest is a band i introduced her to when i was 13 and its kinda cringe so i dont talk about it but she also ran an archival blog for THIS band and i told my friend at a sleepover who liked this band about her blog and they fucking FOLLOWED HER and shit bricks and my mom was MORTIFIED. But anyway yeah she doesnt gaf now if i tell people she was this blog and i even posted a tiktok about it once and people started doing detective work that would make her autistic self so proud…. Bc thats what she was good at! sleuthing stalking detective work on the band. Pete wentz privately answered several of her asks on tumblr i’ll see if she can send me the asks and their responses. But yeah she doesnt care anymore. her original url was scrubbed by tumblr and shes very angry about it bc it was an original bandom url for patrick stump so shes like wtf ever i dont wanna touch this im so mad. Which SAAAAME. ive done that so many times. She started permitting access to people who requested it for one of her photo archive website thingies she left in her last post. But yeaaaahhh… she was patrick stump for halloween in like 2008 and she won the costume contest bc she had rhe coolest sideburns and looked so much like him. My first ever concert was a fall out boy concert in spring 2007 i was 6 turning 7 within the next few months lemme just say the music video for carpel tunnel of love played on the screen as they played the song and my brother and i was so traumatized. But then immediately they played this aint a scene after that and we were like HELL YEAAAAAAAAA. And my brother (5 at the time) and i knew every single song and sang along and my mom went look at everyone else no one else knows these songs. You guys are so cool. And we looked around and yeah no one was singing the songs and were sooo excited! Oh and theres that one time she recorded us singing keep it simple by cobra starship and THEY PUT IT ON THEIR MYSPACE PAGE AT THE TOP WE FLIPPED SHIT. i wish THAT video was still up. Shes also met fall out boy so many times and walked away from patrick stump while he was talking to her bc she didnt want to take up his time at a meet and greet. Omg. so many memories. I was literally raised in online bandom thats so insane. Maybe thats why im a homosexual

Thought ramble about both canon and AU:

It's really hard to feel anything for Father as an antagonist and villain, he always felt more like an inanimate object and plot tool (technically all characters are plot tools for the author to utilize as they wish or need, they serve a purpose they're not human people who are alive but that's not the point here, 99% of the characters hold up the illusion of being people because it's part of their job to emulate and invoke humanity and... it's just fucking lacking in Father, imo) who has no meaningful dynamic, bond, link, anything with any other character, or even the world at all. Very insular, isolated, inhuman. And maybe that's the point! The dwarf in the flask was never human, and one of the points of the story is how being human is an amazing thing actually, and the ones who abandon their humanity and their bonds to pursue stuff like immortality or god are missing the point entirely. So I guess it's a function not a bug that Father is Like That™.

Doesn't mean I have to like that.

Especially when he is used as the convenient culprit for all the atrocities the Amestrian government had committed against... everyone, really, but especially Ishvalans, by both canon and the fandom. It doesn't, shouldn't, mean that every soldier who took part in the genocide should not be blamed because Father was the root cause of it all. So what if he was? It still doesn't mean the soldiers were innocent. Father can still be the root cause of things and the soldiers can still be guilty of genocide. Both things can be true at the same time. Father makes a convenient scapegoat to heap the blame onto so that more likeable and popular characters who actively murdered Ishvalans can be washed free of the sin. (There's something about how the scapegoats are by principle dehumanized and Father is also Inhuman™ and it's interesting but that's neither here nor there)

Anyways, it's just that... whenever I try to think about Father, mostly for AU purposes like “how can I make this character contribute to what I feel is one of the main Points of the AU I'm making?” kinda deal, my brain just displays an error popup. Due to the way he lacks everything, like how does he feel about what he did to all those people? Nothing! He feels nothing! How about the “children” he made? Also nothing! There's just... nothing I can extract for extra AU juice. He's just a plot point to me, a villain because the narrative needed a villain, he doesn't do anything else outside of this role. Again, probably by design, but doesn't mean I have to like it.

That's why he's just... not gonna be much of a prominent figure in Sunburst Sandstorm.

I mean, he still exists and does the stuff he does in canon but he's not important to the POV characters. Scar doesn't care, Petunia doesn't, the rest of the Ishvalans are too busy to care, overall he's just not very present. Also the Ishvalans are gunning for Independence. So, more to do with the human side of stuff like the government and the Amestrian public and everything.

At first I tried for a fatherhood parallel thing between him, Bradley, Scar (who gained a gaggle of kids and now must Parent them), and Miles (because my OC Petunia is his daughter) but as I said before Father has nothing I can extract from him and Scar doesn't even interact with him, so... bye-bye, that idea. Maybe if or when I finally figure that shit out I'll find a way but, not in the foreseeable future, lmao.

Also, the version of Scar I'll be having in this AU is the depiction of Scar from the fic “even the nameless” by Nonymos:

Please go read it, it's very good, if you see IdiotWriterEgg in the comments that's me, this is the version of Scar I take as absolute, also somebody please tell me if the author has a tumblr blog so I can @ them—

So that's it for that one particular train of thought, hope y'all enjoyed it, not many people are gonna see it though and eh.

I still have Thoughts™ about both canon and AU, this time involving the Philosopher's Stone(s) made of Ishvalan souls, Roy Mustang, Yao Ling, and Chang Mei. Quite a soup of a thought that one is, but I don't want to ramble for too long so I'll leave that to another post.