#it's interesting just how narration messes with you as the writer
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aftermath of manager betraying the boys p4
part 1 here, 2 here, 3 here
It’s Friday. She’s about to leave home for her afternoon shift at the bookshop, slipping her shoes on just as the door swings open.
“Honey, I’m home!” Her husband of one year tosses his rucksack to the side, and wraps his arms around her waist, “have a nice day at work, yeah?”
Leaning into his embrace, she turns her head to kiss his cheek, “you need to stop acting like you’re in a sitcom.”
Then, quietly, knowing how much he hates the topic, she adds, “how was the physio?”
“Fine.”
One final kiss to her forehead and he walks away with the limp he’s had ever since Yamazaki’s foot made contact with his spine. He can’t play judo anymore. He sees a physio once a week, and yet there’s been barely any progress since the appointments began. He was a man whose motto was “push through the pain”, but you can’t push through chronic pain. A man who lived for judo, and now all he lives for is his pain meds in the morning.
(And she never snitched. Gentleman than he is, he didn’t push her, but he wanted her to. He said that if they told on Hanamiya and his gang, they’d be expelled and she wouldn’t have to worry anymore.
“Look at what happened when you told the headmaster about their behaviour on the court,” he had said.
But she was looking at it. She is still looking at it, remembers it every day, every time she looks at him and his limp. And so, she had sworn to break up with him if he ever dared to snitch.
God she’s vicious. Undeserving. Hanamiya was right.
——
Excluding a group of children who screamed her ears off over a new instalment of some shoujo manga, her shift passes without a hitch. Outside, it’s dark and dreary. Drizzle batters the windows. But the shop itself is cosy, more so when you’re at the counter in a thick jumper. With one hand, she’s updating the shop’s blog on next week’s offers. With the other, she’s bringing her thermos of hot chocolate to her lips. It’s a lovely evening, with no customers to bother her. And, in just one hour, she’ll be on her way home, and Friday’s are movie nights.
“Excuse me, ma’am, could you direct me to the crime section?”
She hadn’t heard anyone enter. She flinches at the sound of a voice.
“Yes, it’s just on-“ she looks up. Pauses.
It’s not fear, it’s not dread that flits across her face: it’s horror.
How ironic. This was all because she snitched on them, but Seto must have told them where she worked.
—
In their first year of high school, she and Seto sat together in almost all their classes. Any group projects, they did together. Lunches, they spent together. His being there was the main reason she’d agreed to being the team’s manager. And, until the very end, when she was walking to the headmaster’s office with that damning USB in her skirt pocket, she’d still been thinking that Seto was a good guy. Yes, he’d ignored the hostility the team spewed - but that made him guilty of apathy, not cruelty, right?
It took hearing him laugh as he watched the others beat her boyfriend up for her to realise that he was just like the rest of them: entertained by violence.
Why she’d thought he’d keep his promise - when she asked him not to tell anyone where she worked - even she didn’t know.
—
“Ma’am, you still there?”
Hanamiya leans over the desk, and grins at her. It’s been six years since they last saw each other. He’s a little taller now, dressed far more formally than he used to be (black suit, sleeves cuffed, and a long black coat like the Grim Reapear), and his tone is formal though relaxed - but that big Hanamiya grin hasn’t changed.
There’s no one else in the shop. Yet, even if there was, this situation would always feel like Her-and-Hanamiya.
“The crime section, yes,” she shoves her hand below the desk so he can’t see them shaking, “take the stairs over there. The crime section will be on the other end of the basement.”
“You know, my eyesight’s not great. How about-“
“Fuck off.”
The grin slips off his lips.
He straightens his back, looks around - looks at each and every CCTV camera on the floor - then turns back to her.
“What would your boss think, if he knew you were a) speaking so rudely to a customer and b) refusing to support a customer with an eye disease. I have glaucoma, don’t you know?”
He’s a cunt. He’s a lying fucking cunt. He’s a disgusting piece of shit, whom her mother adored. She insisted that Hanamiya was a good sort, based on how kindly he helped her around the house when the team would stay the night. She with her glaucoma, that she fought with so valiantly until she died of a heart attack. Hanamiya knows she’s dead. The whole team attended the funeral with their beloved manager, letting her cry on their shoulders, holding her hand, offering her tissues. Hara even completed her memorial speech for her when she couldn’t.
And Hanamiya also would tell her boss about her behaviour. He’d tell the tale in such a way there’d be no arguing with him; her boss would fall in love him with, and she’d be unemployed by the end of the day.
For someone who warned her what happens to snitches, with her now husband’s blood across his palms, he sure is comfortable with being a snitch himself.
So she gets up slowly, holding onto her chair as tight as she can, so her fist doesn’t make contact with Hanamiya’s mouth. Steps away from the desk. And, keeping her eyes fixed in front of her, committed to ignoring him, walks towards the stairs with Hanamiya in tow.
“We should hang out sometime,” natters on Hanamiya, “reminisce the good old days. How’s that bloke of yours? Are you still with him after we… redecorated his ugly mug? Not that there was much to like originally. You were just desperate.”
“Don’t talk about him like that,” she snaps. she’s fair game, but her lover is the only good thing in this world, the only sun shining.
Hanamiya continues. “If you were so desperate for some male attention, we could have pimped you out to someone. There was no need to cause such a fuss just to get some judo moron to sleep with you. Does he even sleep with you? Back in the day, it was the male students who got along best with him, wasn’t it? Big fan of the male first years-“
She can’t bite her tongue any longer.
“You’re grown ass adults now,” she spits. “Just because you’re realising you peaked in high school, and the rest of your lives will be spent as angry depressed salarymen in shitty marriages with angry depressed kids, doesn’t meant you need to take it out on me.”
Hanamiya pauses, as if surprised - or mock surprised. As she turns the corner to the crime section, she hears wolf-whistling and applause.
“She’s still got it,” says Hara, referencing the times the team used to perform rap battles while watching each other practise shooting.
She won everytime. She was the “rap battle queen”, and when she got a 3-pointer from the bench, after coming up with a lethal bar about Matsumoto’s hair - or lack of - she was deemed the queen of the team full stop. Those were the good days. Yamazaki, ceasing to clap, has a solemn look in his gaze like he’s thinking the same thing.
The rant has given her some more confidence. Even knowing that the crime section is the only part of the bookstore that has no cameras on it, and that that’s probably why they chose it, she still feels better. They can’t do their worst in a public location. And it’s only forty minutes until she can close up shop, head to the local police station, only a five minute walk away, and tell them that she’s being followed by an obsessive boyfriend and his friends, could she please stay at the station till they walk away. As long as they don’t find out her current address, or anything about her husband, she’ll be alright.
Thirty-nine minutes now.
“It really has been a while.” Before she can think to push him away, Hara wraps his arms around her, his weight pressing her into the corner, and whispers in her ear, “I missed you, you know?”
“Leave her be, Hara,” Yamazaki sighs.
“Jealous much,” replies Hara, but he does let go, adding, “you’ve put on weight. No more basketball to keep you fit, ey? I was the same way for a bit. After you happened.”
38 minutes. Just 16 two minutes left to go.
“You know, you’re the reason Zaki didn’t get to his first choice university. Because you gave him a record.”
“Sucks to be him,” she retorts, just as Yamazaki mumbles, quietly,
“That’s not true. My parents sorted it out.”
“But it could have been true,” interjects Hara, “which is why someone should be showing more remorse.”
Hara hasn’t changed, that much is clear. He argues with the same pointless, childish, circular arguments that he’s had since he was in high school, whose logic never had to make much sense as long as he had it in his mind that he was superior to whoever he was arguing with. Even his hair colour hasn’t changed. And these stupid remarks now aren’t much different to the times he would pull her ear or punch her in the arm. Time has killed much of the malice he used to have towards her, leaving nothing but that same demand for attention. Plus - a confusion as to why he wants that attention, like a bully who targets their crush.
Had she not snitched, would she have ended up like this too - forever trying to return to the days of high school? Or was it because she snitched that the rest of them got stuck in the time loop, clinging onto the life they lived before they realised they weren’t above the law?
There’s no juvenile laws to protect them anymore. Plus she doubts that their parents would be happy to get them out of trouble, now that they’re adults who’ve been given everything they need to have a successful future. They’re not going to hurt her, really hurt her, in a situation where they could face the consequences; they must know she’ll go straight to the police.
They can’t hurt her but they also can’t leave her be.
With this in mind, she starts to speak.
“When I said I did it for your sakes, I meant it. It wasn’t from the moral high ground that you perceived it to be. I genuinely meant it. You’ll never know how many times I thought about throwing away the USB and carrying on as if the team’s - our team’s - behaviour was normal. I barely slept for the nights leading up to that final day, and I barely slept afterwards. To this day, part of me feels guilty. I threw up in the headmaster’s office when I showed him the clips. He thought it was because I was so disgusted - but it wasn’t. It was just, when you watched the videos,” her voice cracks, “you could tell we were all friends. I was watching those videos thinking what a horrible person I was to betray you all like that. I was-“
She takes a shaky breath. Her eyes are burning as she fights the urge to cry.
No one else speaks.
“The worst part of it is, I was never planned on doing it. I started recording during practice, after matches, whatever, because I wanted to make a film of us. I was going to present it to you all at the end of our third year, as a memento of our time together.
But the more time I spent editing, the more I realised what you - we - were really like. We were so cruel. I’d never realised it until I was watching us as pixels on a screen. God, the things we said - honing in on people’s physical weaknesses, with no respect for the actual game, and ignoring the fact people could actually be crippled for life thanks to one stupid basketball match. Jokes about beating people up for fun that became actually beating people up for fun. Comments on how you’d make people pay for going against you, that got increasingly explicit and violent over the course of the year. Or that time a guy yelled at me after a match, and you were with me, Zaki, you overheard. Yes, he shouldn’t have called me a bitch - but you could have killed him if Seto hadn’t showed up to help me pull you off him. What future would you have had then?
The entire fucking team was edging closer to doing something that would be in your records for the rest of your lives. Practice after school was less about basketball and more about honing this pack mentality where all that mattered was violence with no consequences. What I showed the headmaster was the mild stuff. I deleted the really incriminating bits, like Furuhashi holding a knife to someone's throat to school, or Hara waterboarding one of the health committee kids.
We didn’t need any of that. Hanamiya, with your brains, you could have developed any sort of team, you could have learnt any skill you wanted. Why did you have to pick hurting people? Kiridai could have been a really good, genuinely good basketball team. You guys were all so talented!”
Tears fall to the carpet as she stares down at the floor, her fists clenched, her voice growing quiet.
“And I loved every moment I spent with you all. I loved every single one of you. I loved pre-match prep, running around an unknown school to figure out where the toilets were, scouting out opponents in stupid disguises, playing streetball at dawn in an area I would never have felt confident to walk around with you there, or team sleepovers at my house where we’d fall asleep together on the sofa. I still dream of you all now, and I wake up crying, knowing that I was the one who ruined it. I’m sorry.” She looks them each in the eyes as she says this; her voice is loud again, and resolute, “I’m sorry. I was naive, I was self-righteous, and I ruined everything.
I’m really fucking sorry.”
She wipes the tears off her face one final time, and says, “The shop will be closing soon. Hanamiya, I directed you to the crime section as requested. If you want to make any purchases, I’ll be at the counter but please make them in the next twenty minutes. Thank you.”
She walks away.
No one calls her back.
#i think this is going to be the final part#manager has had her say at last#it's interesting just how narration messes with you as the writer#originally this was going to be hanamiya's pov#but then i wanted to write a bit on judo-man so i used manager as the narrator#and it was the first time i ever felt sympathy for her#cause in the previous parts all i could think about was the boys#bias is bad#you heard it here folks#hanamiya makoto#hara kazuya#yamazaki hiroshi#furuhashi koujirou#seto kentaro#seto kentarou#x reader#reader insert#x you#x y/n#manager#manager betrayal#part 4#series#knb#kuroko no basket#kuroko no basuke#the basketball which kuroko plays#kiridai#kirisaki daichi scenarios#kirisaki daiichi
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okay random 4am rant time, don't take it too seriously, but: people need to recognize there's a difference between "bad worldbuilding" and "worldbuilding styles you personally don't like."
bad worldbuilding is, for example: internally inconsistent, bigoted, or something else that messes up the plot or characterization of the story itself. sloppy. careless.
things that are *not* bad worldbuilding:
minimalism.
i've been thinking about this in the first place because i saw a post about the Murderbot Diaries a while back (don't know who made it, don't care; this ain't personal) saying the worldbuilding in those books is bad and lazy. to me, as an avid sci-fi reader and writer, that is clearly not true. but i understood why they thought this. the series uses extremely minimalist worldbuilding which intentionally withholds a lot of detail, in a way that is consistent with the (nonhuman, robot, depressed robot) first-person POV. this could also be a feature of the author's writing style in general—i haven't read her other works—but i wouldn't bet too much on it.
the signature of intentional minimalism is that there *are* details about the speculative setting—they're just doled out very thoughtfully and sparingly. the intent is to leave you a little hungry for more. it's to make you think very carefully about the details you do have. this is best suited to stories that already have elements of psychological and/or mystery plot types. the worldbuilding you do see should still be believable, internally consistent, and have interesting implications if you think about it a bit. but you are for sure going to have to think harder to get it.
if you're not in the mood, i will concede, a minimalist style definitely comes off as a bit dry. if you are in the mood, it's relaxing.
whimsy.
this is a big one for sci-fi fans in particular. see: the constant debate about whether any particular story is "hard" or "soft" sci-fi, and whether soft sci-fi is bad, etc etc. but worldbuilding doesn't have to be realistic to be good. you're allowed to have Jedi and humanoid aliens and time travel in your sci-fi. you're allowed to have historical anachronisms and astrology and po-ta-toes in your fantasy. whether or not they're silly isn't the deciding factor on how "good" these worldbuilding elements really are.
the key thing is tonal consistency. you've got a serious high-fantasy setting with its own strict, un-Earth-like theology and magic system, and you throw Santa Claus in there? yeah, that's not gonna land well. but C.S. Lewis can get away with that in Narnia just fine. why? because the Chronicles of Narnia are whimsical children's stories with a strong Christian/Western mythological influence already, and their central conceit is a crossover between the mundane world and the magical world. of course Santa can cross over too. it's whimsical, but it's not actually random. (and if you ventured into straight-up comedy, you could get away with random too. as long as it's funny.)
the unreliable narrator.
i don't have a good example for this off the top of my head (maybe Murderbot again? idk, i'm sleepy, fill in your own) but i'll tell you how to recognize when this is done well.
by definition, an unreliable narrator has some key misconceptions about their own world. so how do you tell what's going on as a reader? how do you know the writer isn't equally confused?
you connect the dots. solve the puzzle. in practice this is similar to reading a minimalist setting—but instead of just sparse clues, you also have a boatload of red herrings. you can catch some of these misleading details by comparing them to your real-world knowledge and saying "wait, this doesn't add up." other times, the false clues intentionally trick you by subverting those real world expectations.
the trick is in the consequences. regardless of what the narrator says, their actions should still have logical consequences. there should be things going on that the POV character doesn't know about. the character will be forced to learn and adapt their narrative because of these shifting circumstances. you can catch them in a lie. the inconsistencies themselves tell a story.
...
i'm gonna stop myself there because this post is long and i oughtta be sleeping. just. this is a distinction worth making. is it really bad worldbuilding, or is it simply not the genre you're craving today? learn the difference for your own sake. you'll have an easier time realizing if a story is something you'll find enjoyable to read, regardless of its actual quality.
#long post#writing#worldbuilding#media literacy#media analysis#the murderbot diaries#the chronicles of narnia#Christianity mention#rant#sleep deprived
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Hi! I love your stuff with Wally!! I was wondering if you could do Wally (Or Eddie if you write for him) with a reader who likes to write and make up fun stories to share with friends? (You don’t have to but I think it’d be cute) Oki have a nice daaaay :))
sooo idk if you just wanted this to be just and x reader or a character ideas, so, i did both!! hope you like it <3
(+some drawings!)
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Wally Darling x Gen!Reader (platonic or romantic)
Eddie Dearest x Gen!Reader (platonic or romantic)
Writer Character
✧We got ourselves a little writer!
✧Or maybe an author, or a librarian, or a poet- point is! You love to write and create this silly funny stories for all of your friends to see.
✧Some fun concepts for a character like this could be a bee cause spelling bee! Or a mouse because library mouse (or just whatever you like)
✧We know in the show there was storybook sections. I think a lot of these would be narrated and a lot of times even created by you!
✧I can picture your segment starting with the camera focusing on you reading or writing, then inviting the viewer to follow the story along. As you may imagine for a kids show they all had a neat message at the end.
✧Oh, and another resident smarty pants! I can think of some chapters or scenes where you teach spelling and grammar. "No, is not t-h-e-y-r-e, they're birthday, but t-h-e-i-r, their birthday!" (or maybe like me you suck at spelling, so ignore this lol)
✧For outfits i can suggest plaid pattern, glasses, a vest or maybe a cardigan! You can either go for a well put together smart little guy or a mess of a bookworm (that's like a scale on my head.)
✧Sally and you could be good friends now that i think about it! She loooves to make her friends perform her plays and you're just the perfect helper for that.
(if you use this as a base credit me and tag me so i can see!!)
✧Maybe appear with Frank as well, I think he could borrow books if you have a library or even have a little book club with other neighbors :]
───────────.★..─╮
Eddie x Reader
─..★.───────────╯
✧Oh you appear to help when he's teaching arts and crafts!
✧If you're big into reading, or trying to publish a book or any other sort of thing then you would see Eddie pretty often because he would always have a package or letter for you.
✧He's a bit of a forgetful klutz so you always make sure to help him a little by organizing a calendar for him! Writing down stuff you know for sure he'll forget.
✧Yes it makes him a little bit embarrassed to say the least but he's infinitely grateful of your help.
✧Every single morning in his usual route if he has the time, he always goes past your house to say hello and catch up on what you have been writing! Eddie is interested in the story you have and always listens to it with so much focus, almost as if you were telling him the hottest latest gossip of them all.
(help my poor soul im getting into an art block. eddie someday i will make you justice i promise.)
✧Or maybe you walk with him a little to accompany him. Just a heads up! Be ready to catch him when he inevitably falls because of some marbles julie forgot to pick up, a plastic duck (Barnaby- pick up your trash!) or just because!!
✧But is all worth it at the end of the day. Eddie always has time for you and your rambles. Only problem is he likes everything you write so he's not the best person if you're searching for criticism!
───────────.★..─╮
Wally x Reader
─..★.───────────╯
✧As the most prominent character of the series the plot follows Wally, and that's a way you two end up talking so much for a starters.
✧Any time Wally is staring at his canvas with no idea of what to draw he thinks "Well, they surely will have an idea" and go search for you (that is if you're not already there).
✧Thinking about how many chapters could follow the formula of you and Wally brainstorming ideas for a story, with him drawing what you narrate (and we come back to the storybook sections of the show!)
✧He would ask you "what are you doing today, neighbor?" to which you respond that you are writing about something! He asks what, you respond, he asks for more context of your story and- well now you're infodumping to him telling him all about what you have so far.
✧Oh but he would definitely be the type to draw your characters because "they are a lot of fun".
✧Picturing calm afternoons consisting of the two of you doing parallel play and every so often showing the other your progress <3
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by the end i kinda got into an artblock 😭😭 og plan was to make two rendered drawings, one for wally other for eddit yet it appears i flew too close to the sun. my god.
also this is my first time writing eddie so i'm not sure if i captured him correctly! in any case thank you so much for reading.
#i forgot a chunk of sallys hair AGAIN#also i was going to draw yn correctly#but i just. couldnt???#so i doom all of you to look like a muppet. apologies#request#welcome home#welcome home arg#welcome home sally#welcome home eddie#welcome home wally#sally starlet#eddie dear#wally darling
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TMAP 4 Thoughts
Spoilers for Ep 4, obviously.
So that's it? What we're some kinda...Magnus Protocol?
Big thing up top; Tim Fearon's Augustus is fucking excellent. The Lovecraft inspiration was very on the nose in both prose and theme but it was also a really good take on that style. Not surprised this was a guest writer too given that style. Tim Fearon really nails the cadence and intonation needed for this sort of thing and I'd love to see him narrate some actual Lovecraft sometime. The Music of Erich Zann obviously would be a good place to start. Anyone that doesn't think this is Jonah at this stage is just out of their mind.
The incident is also interesting in that it's the most straight TMA Fear we've seen so far. It's just a Slaughter ep through and through really.
Creepy cursed item pedlar feels like a recurring character to me. I expect them to show up again. Which makes for 3 non-OIAR characters we can expect back.
For an additional ARG detail or two; Starkwall is a reference to Starkwall Protection Services that we know from the ARG used to be associated with the OIAR. They announced the discontinuation of this association on Jan 3rd, 2000. Before that they were affiliated with Rightforce International, formerly Diligence Security Systems, if that proves relevant down the line. More interestingly the character Lena was talking to in that very end scene was named Klaus. Klaus provided us (the ARG solvers) with an excel sheet in German that was Freddy style case numbers and DPHW's. He also seemed to have set up the whole thing in-universe too. My pet theory was that Klaus was the German name for Freddy but it's an actual dude and it could be a couple of people from the ARG. Actually, I'm sticking to that theory. Klaus isn't actually called Klaus and assumed the name from kl4-u5, or kl4-u5 is named after Klaus.
DPHW Theory continuation: I honestly don't think much needs to be said. It's a pretty clear fit here. So it's 7494 and you've got music that makes people want to kill themselves and each other, the instrument through which that's achieved requires a blood sacrifice but it needn't be yours, you are however seemingly under its control in more than just the compulsion to play it, and it's got some elements of the uncanny in how it was manifesting. Nothing exciting but more evidence that I'm correct.
CAT#R# Theory: Apart from Sam messing it up and missing out the R again I think this mostly disproves the tria prima idea. I was willing to discount the last ep's case number because of how mistaken it all looked but without more to go on it's really hard to discount this one too. More data, or thought, required to link this all together.
Header Nonsense: Nothing much to say other than that "Collection (blood) -/- musical" is a very strange header in comparison to the others.
#the magnus protocol#tmagp speculation#tmagp spoilers#tmagp theory#“Consider me scared straight” *tape noise* - is that a Magnus Archives reference!?!#klaus = kl4-u5
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Tell me more about your feelings on Hazbin Hotel.
Part of me doesn’t want to answer this question, because of how popular this show is on Tumblr.
And I know that people will be like.
“What do you know, you’re a Christian, of Course you’d have some problems with it.”
Yes, I am going to disclose that. I am a Christian. Not ashamed of that. Still working to be a better one. But I can be objective enough to view it as a writer, and that at most my personal bias will only be a slight enhancement of my view.
And these are my unfiltered thoughts on this show.
But for my opinion of Hazbin hotel. The original Pilot was interesting. A place trying to reform sinners in the last place people would think to be reformed. (Spoilers ahead)
That pilot premise is interesting. You see Hell as a cesspool of the absolute worse people. (Like Los Angeles but with more cannibalism) and it takes the “Hell is other people approach”
The songs were fine, the animation was great, and the characters introduced were intriguing. So much potential depth to them, theories can speculate. And of course the big question of. “Can someone in hell actually be redeemed?” And we even have a character pointing out “of course not, they’re in hell. Their chance was before this?”
It raised this question of, if you know your doomed, why try to be a good person? And That is fascinating.
Then the show finally airs. And it’s just another “Heaven is corrupt” storyline. And it’s not even done well.
(The whole retelling of creation made my eyes roll. Trying to make Lucifer to be the good guy? How original (sarcasm). And not even done well. Because it’s Charlie narrating this, which makes it be like Charlie knows all this and is doing all of this pointlessly)
Hells gonna rise up against it and all that. The hotel was basically pointless.
The show goes on to constantly contradict itself at numerous points that leaves me more confused.
Yes there is an interesting character (Alastor) but outside of a great soundtrack and animation… the writing of the show is a mess.
It feels both rushed and too slow. The characters are speedrunning their arcs, yet the plot is crawling.
Let’s then not forget the fact that Angel power and weapons are said to be the only thing that Perma kills sinners and angels. Yet sir pretentious dies and instead of permadead, goes to heaven? What fucking logic is that?
Also it says how only Angel weapons and powers can hurt angels (they make a whole point about it) only to show Vaggie and Lute have a whole ass fight hurting eachother with tables and s***. Unless they’ve been blessed them chairs…
Also where do the souls that perma die go? Detroit? Because if Sir pretentious can go to heaven after dying, what the deal with all this? Is Hell actually hell? Seems more like purgatory.
And then you include the helluva boss lore as they take place in the same universe. And MORE questions get added.
But that’s a can of worms for another time.
More importantly, Charlie, the main character hardly gets any development moments. Her issues are TOLD not showed.
Vaggie is also a mess too, like her whole thing is protecting Charlie, and helping her. But then she gets told that she has to fight For Love and that’s how to win? You mean what she’s BEEN DOING THE WHOLE TIME?!
All the stuff with Angel Dust, the writing for that is fine when showing the messed up situation he’s in, but then after the Song “Loser, Baby” he’s suddenly months sober? Speedrunning a bit too much.
Side note: HOW DOES HEAVEN NOT KNOW HOW PEOPLE GET INTO HEAVEN?!
Like they genuinely seem like they don’t know? From my understanding, there is no Big Man making all the calls. Thats not corruption. Thats incompetence.
So if it’s just angels in charge, THEY should know. Like show that they’re tilting the scale or maybe denying certain people that DO follow the criteria. Because with the incompetency of it, it basically leaves the door open for potentially EVERYONE to get into heaven.
Yet then the show shows how awful people in hell are, like it’s clear there are people that deserve hell. Maybe I’m overthinking it, maybe I’m not thinking about it enough. But it’s a really dumb system.
But the biggest glaring hole in this show is the fact that there is no point for heaven to actually do the purge in the first place.
Hell being overpopulated shouldn’t matter. Only Angel power and weapons can actually hurt angels. Why would they worry about an uprising. Heaven could easily wipe hell. The only people that could probably do damage is Lucifer and the leaders of the rings of hell. And even then… That’s like 7 against ALL OF HEAVEN!? Even if we assume overlords and some high level demons could do similar… Heaven still takes it. (But then again the Lute and Vaggie fight might contradict that. Hard to say it’s so confusing)
That all aside, is it an awful show? No. It’s just so riddled with plotholes and pacing issues.
Would I recommend this show to people? No.
Would I recommend the sound track? Probably, the songs are catchy. Can’t deny that.
Everyone has their own opinions and tastes, but the show has too much of a mess for me.
#Gale’s thoughts#hazbin hotel#hazbin spoilers#now everyone if you can grab your pitchforks and touches#line up in a straight line. you can complain about my opinion
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If it were up to you ( one of the best hellcheer fanfiction writer) what would you fix or change about the fight of Icarus?
Aw shux, that’s high praise! I really don’t think I’m worthy of that, but thank you 🤍
Oh God… what a laundry list 😆 read at your own risk below (I think I’ve finally run out of things to say about this book and will be moving on now 😅)
I’m going to be honest, the best way fo fix it would be to not write a book. Point blank. If I was involved with the show at all I would have NEVER written a book about Eddie in any official capacity. I don’t know if the author was aware of just how unhinged certain parts of his fanbase are (I’m sure she is now) but you’re not going to make anyone happy with this. Eddie’s ridiculously popular yes, I get it, but part of his appeal for people was how untouched his background was.
Flight of Icarus is kind of a mess plot wise with pretty weak/poor characterizations. There’s some good elements and scenes in it. It’s not bad, but it’s not great either. It’s pretty mid. I mean books based on tv shows aren’t exactly known for their… luster. It’s obviously going to lack the passion of an unpaid fanfic writer who has spent endless hours watching season 4 and doing in-depth research and analysis for their work… but that’s what we’re all used to. That’s our standard. So it’s kind of already set up for failure.
But, if I was in charge of a book like this, here’s some of the things I would do differently:
I’d have picked ONE main plot to focus on because there is way too much going on in these 280 pages for me to have the time to be invested or care about anything. There’s like three plus storylines going on with Eddie all to push ONE narrative which is basically him choosing between risking everything for a fantasy/dream of fame and money or staying true to himself and what’s real which is the steadfast loyalty of his friends and family. This takes the form of Al vs Wayne, Paige vs Ronnie, LA vs Hawkins, solo career vs band/hellfire, dropping out to try to become a rockstar vs being the first Munson to graduate, who Eddie wants to be vs who he truly is deep down.
It’s just too much.
I’d have taken a little more time making Eddie three dimensional. I know he’s a side character, but a lot of heart and thought went into creating him (at least on Joe’s end). I’d have made more conscious choices for his character, especially if he’s narrating in first person (I would have not used first person). His outer dialog is great (the dialog throughout the whole thing is actually really great, you can tell the author’s a screen writer and it’s one of the stronger elements to the book) but his inner monologue is pretty ooc and at times really off. He lacks a lot of the things that drew people to him in the first place or it’s just not as strongly presented I guess. He doesn’t feel fully formed.
If I was going to give Eddie a love interest (I don’t know why you would do that to yourself at this point, his fanbase is volatile at best and either ships him with Steve, Chrissy, or themselves, no one is going to like it) I’d have given her WAY better writing than an immersive wattpad character with little to no character traits outside of her aesthetic and interests which is an alternative style and liking music. Wow. Groundbreaking. I would have her make decisions based on a fully formed personality verses the convenience of the plot. And if not, if she’s going to be a means to an end, I’d at least go all in and make her wild or evil or a total bitch or conniving or funny or grumpy or goofy or something. She’s not given enough focus or time to be well rounded so I’d just have fun and go batshit crazy with her (don’t worry Paige, you’re mine now and I will give you an actual character and vindication).
Eddie choosing between his dad and Wayne would have probably been the plot I picked to focus on and I would have really dived into that. The good, bad and the ugly of the Munson family. Because Al (that would not be his name btw 🤢) and Wayne reflect the two sides of Eddie’s character. A charming, self serving, cowardly asshole and a good, strong and kind person who protects and looks after others. I like Ronnie a lot and she’s probably the best written character in the book, but Wayne needed to have more spotlight for this.
I’d have definitely made the plot a lot less fantastical and way more of a simple character study. Just Eddie deciding between embracing the infamy of the Munson family or choosing to rise above it. Does he decide to scheme and cheat like his dad to get more out of life or does he do the right thing and stay the course to actually graduate and make something of himself. That’s it. All that’s needed. Eddie getting a shot at being a rockstar at eighteen in Hawkins is already kind of odd, especially when his in is a twenty year old “junior scout”??? Who just happens to be at his dive bar and have the hots for him and fucks him and pretty much offers him a life in LA on a silver platter with no issues other than having to bail on his band and high school club?? It’s… a bit much for our unlucky loser boy we see in the show. Book Eddie is as lucky as they come, but he’s a total dumbass and decides to trust and scheme with his deadbeat father??? Who has always failed him? Why? I get he needs money but his kinda girlfriend’s got a job and he’s pretty much got a record deal. What even is this? That whole storyline would be scrapped to hell. But hey, at least it’s more believable than an actual drug heist and a kingpin and a shoot out. Oh and arson. It’s giving… *shivers* Riverdale and not in a good way.
Lastly, I’d have taken the opportunity to develop characters from the show a little more. Not a ton, but like the author did with Higgins. I really like how he was written in the novel. He had a lot of fire and personality out of nowhere which was kind of hilarious. I probably would have expanded Jason the most actually, I’d have added more to that tense rivalry. And I’d have left Chrissy pretty much out of it. The talent show is best left to the imagination and we already have a delicate narrative between them because of the forest scene. I wouldn’t want to add too much there. But she’d have a cameo for sure. Like brief eye contact or a shared smile or something at the very end of the book. Just a little glimmer of what’s to come. I’m also a Eddie has always had a little bit of a thing for Chrissy truther, so in my bias I might have him quietly admire her from afar or something.
And there you go.
I mean you’re going to get my version of his backstory eventually anyway and bonus he and Chrissy live, get married and have kids. Yay!
#flight of icarus#hellcheer#eddie x chrissy#eddissy#munningham#chrissy x eddie#eddie munson#eddie book
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1, 5, 21 for sanji !!!
HI ASH !!! HEHE
1. Why do you like or dislike this character?
there are sooo many interesting tensions/contradictions in him - it's like someone handed me a mess of wires to untangle. i'm obsessed with how his character commentates on compassion and love, and how he achieves both extremes of wide-smiled wonder and bone-shattering brusqueness. he hasn't let anything go EVER - everything indelibly leaves a mark on him while he plays this untouchable persona. his over-the-top ideas about romance given context by a childhood where he was mostly unloved. his stupid round head. unfortunately i'm obsessed w him.
5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?
RUNAWAY by half•alive !!! i play little dream animatic in my head of sanji every time this song comes on.
21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?
my FAVE thing to do ... is to write about the way he loves or views love through little details or self-critiques. sanji talks a big game about wanting a grand fairytale romance, but i think the way he loves are in small, inexorable, everyday acts that don't always go noticed. i love writing the realisation that maybe he does want a grand love but a perfect fairytale one would feel hollow. the knowledge that he's imperfect going hand-in-hand with the knowledge that is not necessarily a bad thing, just as a love (romantic and non-romantic) with its hurdles and highs is a full and wonderful thing. so ending up with the strawhats is ... probably the best place for him to be :]
what i don't like ... is that i find myself taking very roundabout routes in narration when i speak in his voice. there are so many layers of repression to navigate and portray faithfully ... and i'm already bad at avoiding prose rabbit-holes for one-track mind characters like zoro LOL
*
send me a character + a number from 1-26!
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Three Tips on Writing a Novel That Aren't Complete Bullshit
Today, I spent a good many hours scouring the internet for tips on improving my writing. You know, useful and practical suggestions for someone who has written a bit and wants hints on some of the finer points of writing—you know, as opposed to just wanting to learn how to get publishers interested in the latest Hunger Games or Twilight knock-off. Well, other than the two masters of storytelling—Stan Lee and Stephen King—I found nothing. I thought to myself, “Kris, even you could offer better writing advice than this!” And so I have. Here are three non-subjective tips for the beginning writer.
Tip 1: Pay Attention to “Point of View” (POV)
The first mistake I made in writing my novel, and one that I have seen in every single beginning writer's work that I have edited since, is that I did not really pay attention to POV and narration. When telling a story, it is important to remember two things. First, nobody wants God to tell the story. In a room filled with a dozen people, there is so much going on inside everyone's head and in their actions that it would fill a book in about an hour. And when there is simply too much going on, the reader ceases to care and is very confused. After all, if the reader was God, he or she would not spend their time listing every monotonous detail of what they were seeing, but instead finding something more interesting to watch—which brings me to point number two. Pick a focus character (or one at a time) and tell the story through that person's eyes. This way, readers will pick up on the important details, while also having a single-focus lens to look through. If this doesn't make sense, imagine how much better a movie is with just one camera's perspective used at a time, as opposed to the six of them all being played simultaneously.
Tip 2: Outline Your Story
I used to prefer just writing free-style, as most writers begin doing. But, when you do that, two major things happen. First, with the lack of direction, you stop caring where you are going with the story since there is no dramatic force that can force you along pointless meandering. Second, even if you do not lose interest, your plot will be a noodle-like mess with no structure, and your audience will lose interest—just like with a television series with no end or destination in sight. Even if you love the characters, you eventually just give up watching because it becomes a dull act of voyeurism where you are just watching a vignette of a life without any actual story. If a solid outline is too restricting, try using the 3-Act Story Structure en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-ac… and just write a paragraph describing each Act. This structure will turn the pasta into a carefully molded form until you find yourself eating a Lasagna instead of soggy, wet noodles.
Tip 3: Don't Overpower Your Characters
At the most basic level, reading a novel is an escape from the world around us. We want the worlds we create in our stories, as well as the characters, to be the embodiment of the ideals we wish were reality. We create flawless heroes or perfectly flawed heroes, and villains that embody all the evil we see around us, which we wish could be defeated. However, to do so turns your story into a poor sermon, and a badly biased one at that. Not only that, but the audience immediately begins to hate your characters, unless they are the brainwashed sort of readers who think that Dr. Manhattan was the hero of “Watchmen” or that being a hero when you are invulnerable and beloved by those around you means that you are “good” or have some sort of depth of character—as opposed to being a fascist with an old-fashioned set of principals that you impose on the world (any other Lex Luthor fans in the house?). Instead, you should seek to create characters that illustrate the complexities and flaws in everything, even and especially in your own moral code. You want to create real characters for your audience to believe in and empathize with. In practice, you should be able to name off three things that you genuinely admire your villains for, as well as three things you genuinely despise about your heroes—giving them flaws to overcome. And avoid the pseudo-flaws that plague literature (the hero who is just too kind for his own good, or the hero whose traumatic past had made her into a hardened bitch with a secret heart of gold). Doing this creates real characters that your audience can truly escape through and even learn genuine lessons from—making you, the writer, the real hero of the story.
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Book Review: If We Were Liars by M. L. Rio
Date of Publishing: April 11th, 2017
Author: M. L. Rio
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Genre: Dark Academia, Mystery Thriller
This is a standalone novel and follows Oliver who has been released from jail after quite a long time and finally starts to tell the truth about what happened in college with his friends ten years ago. With Shakespeare taking center stage, Oliver and his friends go through quite a miasma of emotions and circumstances before the truth finally comes to light and that the thirst for power can sometimes lead to death.
When I started reading this book I thought I wouldn’t like it. I only read this book because people on social media were labeling it as dark academia which is a genre which I practically live in and fantasize about. And when I started reading it, it took me a couple of chapters to get into it but once I did, I couldn’t stop. It captured me and didn’t let go until I forced myself to close the book once I reached the end. And even then I was left with a heavy heart and a hangover so bad, I’m still suffering from it as I write this.
Starting off with the characters, I have to say there’s so much depth to each and every one of them. One can’t put them in one category and till the end you wonder what their motives are. Does he love her? Does she love him or just playing around with him? All the questions and more keep you guessing as the book continues. Which just gives proof of the author’s talent.
I especially loved the setting of the story as I love books with an academic setting. The drama college and its prestige makes me wish I lived and studied there because everything feels so exclusive and alluring. And the drama studies feel so unique to me because I’ve never attended drama school and I especially loved the class where they drink tea while studying. And I have to say the writer knows their Shakespeare and how they weave it within the story is impeccable.
Though the characters try to be friends and act like a family, it is evident that the thirst for power is there in each one. They want to support each other but they don’t want them to be better than them. And if the threat is there, then they’re not afraid to eliminate them and that’s exactly what happens when one of their friend ends up dead. And when it comes to taking the blame and calling the police, the fight for survival increases and the hope of altruism is nothing but a miracle.
Another thing I loved was the formatting of the book. I loved how the book was formatted as a sort of a play with acts and scenes and how every prologue was a narration of the present and the rest of the chapters were a story of the past. Though it wasn’t anything unique I still found it interesting, which just makes me give some extra points to this story.
Oliver was a beautiful and complex character and his reasons for doing what he did might seem stupid to some people but I could understand why he made the choice he did even though he had to suffer for ten years because of it. And I hated how the group broke apart but that was to be expected considering the circumstances they were dealt.
The detective was another favorite character of mine. I liked how understanding he was and despite the evidence presented before him, he was able to see the truth and knew who really was innocent. And I liked how he was able to establish a relationship with Oliver.
However, the ending was what blew my mind. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it and I’m still not sure if I’m right. Was it what I think it was or is the writer just messing with me? As much as I wish for a gift wrapped ending I’m glad the writer ended it the way they did because till the end the author maintained the mysterious atmosphere of the story, so hats off to them.
I was surprised to see this book was released in 2017 because I’ve only started seeing it recently but I’m glad its finally getting the fame it deserves and I look forward to not only reading more works of the author but for reading more books like this. It really is one of the best dark academia books I’ve had the pleasure of reading.
If you’re thinking about giving this book a chance, please do so as soon as possible. I recommend everyone to read this book because it’s worth your time and energy. So do go and purchase this book and you will not be disappointed.
#read n buried#booklr#books and reading#reading#books#book#books & libraries#currently reading#book blog#book community#Reader#bookblr#book blurb#bookblitz#book blast#Book Review#if we were villains#M. L. Rio#book lover#Bookworm#booksbooksbooks#bookstagram#booklover#bookish
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Quick Animaniacs Review: Episode 84 (Original Show)
Hello Animaniacs community! To honor this amazing episode's 27th anniversary, I've decided to make a quick review showcasing my opinions on these segments from episode 84 of the OG show. I plan on doing this for more episodes in the future, so if you want to see more, let me know. Alright, let's get into the review.
What's In This Episode?: Episode 84 of Animaniacs was released on September 7th, 1996. It contained four segments featuring the Warners and Chicken Boo: "Cutie and the Beast", "Boo Happens", "Noel", and a cold ending, which is technically not a segment, but it's close enough. In my opinion, this episode is one of the last great hurrahs of this show, containing amazing animation by TMS, hilarious segments (some of the funniest in the show), and a consistent level of quality. Each segment brings something new to the table; the Warners bringing comedy, Chicken Boo offering some of his best work, the song portion being iconic, and the ending bit being laugh-out-loud funny. Overall, this is a very great episode that I'd recommend.
"Cutie and the Beast":
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Ms. Banana Folana!" This segment has some of the best moments of the season, and some of my favorite gags in the entire show. The opening bit with Dot messing up her lines is hysterical, with great voice acting. The fact that they repeat it so many times also makes it more funny. There are a ton of little jabs, innuendos, and meta jokes in these first few minutes alone. Dot swearing and it being bleeped out? Hilarious! It really just feels like the writers, animators, and voice actors were having a blast. The rest of this episode is solid as well. The fact that the beast is in fact the Tasmanian Devil makes for a great cameo from a Looney Tunes star. The jokes surrounding Taz from the Warners are funny and the songs are super catchy despite being short. The twist at the end where instead of Taz becoming a prince, he becomes a prince before Dot changes him back, is a nice subversion of the Disney story. I really enjoyed this segment, and when I first watching the opening, I laughed so hard I think my parents though something was wrong with me. Just a fantastic watch.
"Boo Happens":
I'll be honest, when I first watched the Chicken Boo segments back in 2020, they were my least favorite segments of all. I hated how repetitive they were, and I disliked the titular character especially. Now, a few years later, I don't hate these segments as much as others (i.e. Buttons and Mindy, Katie-Ka Boom, The Hip-Hippos), but they can still be bland. Luckily, this segment is one of the better Chicken Boo sketches. The setup is interesting, being a Forrest Gump parody and all, and the plot at least has a purpose. I like the narration and the allusions to the titular movie were amusing I can't praise it too much since it is a Chicken Boo segment and all, but out of the entire lot, this is one of the better segments featuring this giant chicken.
"Noel":
This is one of the musical highlights for the show in my opinion. It's an amazing piece that contains funny moments, great rhymes, and it definitely puts you in the holiday mood, though this was released many months before Christmas. The cleverness of the different rhymes and the substitutions for the word noel are so well done that it's shocking. The fact that the whole song just stems from a decent pun is frankly hilarious. I love how it's not only Yakko doing the song, as Wakko and Dot also join in. The animation is so charming and simple, but it works. It makes it feel like a Christmas song, while subverting expectations in that traditional Animaniacs way. This song definitely puts me in a good mood while also being really funny. It's not as good as songs like Yakko's World and There's Only One of You, but it stands on its own as a classic. If you want a Christmas melody from this show that will make you smile, or laugh, I recommend this 100%.
Cold Ending:
If there's a great beginning, a great ending will follow. And in terms of Animaniacs, this is by far the best ending to an episode in the franchise's history. Just an ending bit where the Warners wish us farewell, only for the cameras to keep rolling with the siblings making random remarks about different things, including the cast and crew. It seems simple, but it's so well done. This is where the voice acting and writing really stand out. I mean, you couldn't get a more perfect situation; Yakko, Wakko, and Dot picking on the crew who made the show, and even referencing their own voice actors is so hysterical, I was wheezing after first seeing this. The delivery of the lines is great, with the timing landing so well. They even still make pop culture references; can you get any better than this? It's a very meta portion of the episode, but that's the fun of it. These writers were paid to make the Warners talk about the people who worked on the show, and it, of course, went incredibly well. When the siblings finally realize the camera is still rolling and that their mics are still on, it's so humorous. This is a very tounge-and-cheek way of referencing the amazing talent behind Animaniacs and I couldn't be more happier this was how this episode and TMS's animation contributions ended. What a perfect way to wrap up one of this show's last great stands.
Conclusion:
While this episode was made in the Kids WB era of Animaniacs, it still managed to make an impact. Noel is still fondly remembered, "Cutie and the Beast" is named a highlight, and the cold ending is also acknowledged by many a fan. Though I never say Animaniacs got outright terrible, it did suffer from some failings in the writing department while other shows, mainly its spin-off series Pinky and The Brain flourished. This episode still proves that there were some decent writers working on the show, and I consider it to be one of the last outstanding things this show ever did. Not everything here is amazing, but there is enough great things here to justify my opinion on it. The team did an amazing job and the voice actors brought their a-game once again. I love this episode and I recommend it very highly. Well done Animaniacs team. Happy 27th Anniversary to these fantastic segments!
And that's it. I hope you guys enjoyed this new idea I had about reviewing Animaniacs segments. I plan on making two very big posts in the upcoming weeks, so I'm very excited about that. Stay tuned! Thank you everyone for reading and have a great day! Stay zany to the max!!!
#animaniacs#review#happy 27th anniversary to this episode!!#I hope y'all like this new idea for a series#feel free to leave your own opinions in the reply section#thanks for 93 followers guys! let's get to 100!#i know I'm all about patb but I 'm kinda getting back into the Warners as well so I decided to spice things up#I'm still here animaniacs fandom!!
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I like to think Alucard as being a massive bookworm. I been reading Bram Stocker's Dracula and the dude got a library filled with not only books but pamphlets, articles, newspaper, and just pretty anything that he can get his hands one(the library is a mess). He even learned English through books.
So I think Alucard would be a book nerd and maybe a bit of a movie nerd too.
Idk what do you think?
I don't know what I've done to deserve such sweet asks today! Thank you sooo much!!
I've read the book as well back in high school (fun fact: I used to read it during maths classes xD). I remember that part, it was in the beginning of the book, when Jonathan arrived at the castle if I'm not mistaken?
Yes, I remember how he learnt English through books and stuff and that he wanted to hold conversations with Jonathan because he wanted to master his accent (Jonathan noted how his accent and intonation sometimes was a bit off?).
Also don't forget that he was a prince! Royalty was known for being erudite (or at least having access to the best education of that time). It was crucial for his survival as a ruler to educate himself on a plethora of fields. Managing a kingdom is not only about impaling people! Having knowledge on finances, on psychology and on agriculture were some important factors I think.
It was only natural that he would end up a little bookworm.
I'm sure that sometimes, he spends his time in the manor's library, reading whatever books he likes, while drinking blood from a blood bag. Perhaps even integra says to walter to purchase more books for him to read? Whatever doesn't make him drown his sorrows in alcohol and cry into his coffin (Because she remembers her father's words, how Alucard is basically a sobbing child. She makes sure to provide him the few things that bring him serenity).
His favourite books would be historical books, obviously studying the history of the nations of the world, but also catching up with the history of his own country (since he can not visit it anymore). He doesn't strike me as a fiction lover, in a "books filled with magic and friendship" way. Perhaps he would enjoy the horror genre, like Poe and King, since he's accustomed to unbridled chaos and lunacy (perhaps he would even talk to himself about how he would have written the books to be extra scary? Or positively applause the writers for writing something "adequately" scary for mere humans?).
Or he would find science fiction interesting? I'm sorry but idk much about this genre. I remember hirano referenced "Dune" in Hellsing, so I suppose Alucard wouldn't mind it.
My little personal HC is that Alucard would love to read erotica books to Integra (Just imagine that deep masculine voice narrating some spicy activities into your ear 🤭). Integra of course would try to decline buuuut, who can resist a Romanian prince reading you erotica? Certainly not me! (And her xD). Or even if this didn't happen, he would spend his time imagining it (because everyone deserves to have fantasies xD).
The movie nerd is canon ya know, Alucard really loved action packed movies! One of his dreams had a character from those old action movies if I remember correctly (I read about this from some old hellsing posts around here). He loves his movies with guns and violence! (And perhaps some sex in there? xD).
#my asks#thanks for the ask!#wow for sure I wrote a lot on this one#Anon I hope I didnt tire you!!#hellsing#hellsing ultimate#alucard#alucard hellsing#integra hellsing#integra
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Characterisation
This is just a collection of notes regarding the way I play Beast and the few deviations from canon that I have. For the most part, probably 90-95% of what you see on panel that Hank has done, my Hank has also done, because I love the fact that this man has gone to the Dr. Seuss dimension and hung out with a Transformers character in canon, but there are one or two exceptions.
Feline Hank
Grant Morrison's New X-Men and the fake coming out. I write Hank as bisexual demiromantic, meaning he enjoys sex with more than one gender, and will engage in romantic relationships with anyone he has a strong emotional connection to. I personally read Hank as somewhat closeted during the early stages of his life, and Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man, was something of a wake-up call to the fact that he was not entirely straight.
As a result, if you bring this up with my Hank, he came out as gay around about seven years ago (current Hank is 37, for context), and clarified his bisexuality to the press not long after. I love Morrison's characterisation of Hank, but the fake coming out was just gross on many levels and I genuinely believe not only that it hurt Hank's character, but that it's a misread of his sexuality. If you want more on this, please check here.
Post-Intervention
This is a whole messed up ass situation because I'm one of the few people who genuinely thinks that Hank wouldn't have done the whole time travel thing to begin with (really just not his style), but there's some good conversations to be had about it, so you can assume that everything that happened on panel happened, just less - Bendis-y.
Also, this Hank knows magic because unlike every other damn X-writer, I actually remember that he's meant to remember everything baby human Hank did while he was in the present.
Avengers
He's my funny goodtime boy, no notes.
X-Force
This is the big one.
Ben Percy's version of Beast sucks balls and while I would have loved it if we could have avoided going full supervillain, we're here now, and while I don't like how it happened, Hank is not a saint and it's interesting to grapple with his psychology, so we're doing it but different.
This version of Beast is essentially undergoing a long, stable, controlled dissociative episode and is not what you would call sane. It's the only real way his characterisation makes sense.
In my headcanon, Abigail Brand, his longtime girlfriend, died and was resurrected while pregnant during the events of David Haller's X-Men Legacy, losing the child in the process, and finding out that his offspring had essentially been wiped from existence before he even knew about it has drained Hank of all his remaining warmth and optimism. He fundamentally does not believe that the world, or people, or life, is good anymore.
This is not an excuse.
I'm not here to give you some 2012 Loki apologism or say that he didn't do anything bad. He did. But going from where he was last in canon, in Rosenberg's Astonishing X-Men and Uncanny Avengers, to X-Force, it's the only justifiable reason he changed so much and so hard, and it's the only way the snap makes sense to me with existing canon information.
Your character does not know about this. If Hank has his way, your character will never know about this because it's not your damn business.
This version of Beast does not consider himself to be Hank McCoy anymore. He does not immediately answer to Hank, and he will never refer to himself as Hank in his internal narration. He has completely separated himself into Hank (dead) and Beast (alive - just about) because it simply hurts less and allows him to exert some degree of control over his life. He does not care what happens to him, his body, or his reputation anymore. There is only making sure that everyone else in his life is safe. Everything is expendable in pursuit of that goal.
The Irredeemable Beast
Naturally, this is going to lead to conflict.
It's also worth noting that while this version of Hank is on the plumper side, he is still physically able, agile, and a danger in a fight. I'm tired of Hank being written as useless in combat just because he's smart and smart people aren't good at fighting, which feels like it's been the case for a while now. He isn't a jobber for Kraven the Hunter.
My fic covering what this version of Hank is like, what he's doing, and what he's about.
In a nutshell, he was psychically reset back in Wolverine #35 by Jean Grey, and came back . . . mostly whole, just before the Hellfire Gala massacre. He knows he's beyond redemption, but he's going to try and do good anyway.
His mutation has changed once more, this time into a grey furred form with an accelerated, Wolverine-esque healing factor, and while he is stable, he still has underlying issues and psychological problems that will make him not the Hank you may know.
Dark Beast and Battle of the Atom
Pretty much exactly what you see on panel, though Dark Beast is obviously not a head in a jar on Sinister's desk when we interact because well yeah he wouldn't be.
No matter how sexually charged that is.
This is the basic gist of it! There are obviously a ton of other details and headcanons and such that I haven't mentioned because there's just so much, but these are the main canon divergences I can think of. If I think of anything else, they will be added to this post.
#outofmuffins#Characterisation notes#tw child death#cw child death#tw mental illness#cw mental illness
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my first thoughts on TOH 3x02
Ooh, it’s that bit of score that I liked before. I’ve probably rewatched that scene in 2x21 about ten times now just to listen to it.
Oh no, Hooty! The writers knew he was too overpowered and the fight would be too easy if they had him.
Ayyy, Raine’s okay!
Okay, we are getting Luz and Co. too. I was half-worried that this might be all from the Boiling Isles crew and then Luz would show up at the end.
Whomst?
Wait, this is the space between realms. Where The Collector was. Is this another one of The Collector’s people?
Same, Gus.
Whoa. Interesting choice. I don’t know why I keep getting surprised by how direct and dark this show is willing to go. You’d think I’d be used to it by now.
Oh, I forgot, but I was wondering that too.
These girlfriends continue to give me life.
Yeah, so that graffiti’s pretty ominous.
Wait, so is he just playing the role of Luz in taming the Owl Beast?
Ha! It’s what she deserves.
Hell yeah! It’s what he deserves.
Oh, the Golden Guard graveyard. This is probably gonna be disturbing.
Are you kidding me?! Everyone gets turned into puppets, but this evil witch gets to pal up to power?!
You know what, maybe playing mother to The Collector is a fitting punishment for being such a bad mother to her own children.
Ooh, is this ancient Titan lore? Or Collector lore? Both?
Yeah, you’re making me suspicious. And that red skin is making me think of Kikimora. Is this her and one of those family members mentioned in her season 2 episode?
(Narrator Voice: You’re half right.)
Creepy.
Oh! Hi Lilith. That’s a new look.
You stay away from my Rainstorm, you decrepit goop monster. (Also, get wrecked Odalia! Even the evil goop monster doesn’t want you.)
Oh, that’s maybe gonna be a tough one to explain to Camila.
So of course she’s looking right at it. Of course.
Oh, mess her up, Willow!
Ugh! Damn you, Kikimora! You’re the one who told King about The Collector in the first place. This is as much your fault as anyone’s and now you’re pulling this crap? Piss off!
Wait, are those The Collector’s eyes? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Dude has every power imaginable.
Ugh! And of course The Collector’s conveniently not listening to this part even though he was listening two seconds ago.
Thank you for acknowledging that, Camila.
Wait, so is it a crystal ball or are we just dangling the audience on the cliff even longer?
Is it actually happening or are they just gonna keep teasing us until the finale?
Yeah, that makes sense. Shapeshifter fits with her multitrack kind of personality. And she even had snakes in episode one. I can dig it.
Okay, these two are sweet. I was kinda shipping him with Gus, but now I’m appreciating this too.
And of course I’m always down for more of these two.
Mmmm, too happy for the final moments of the penultimate episode. The Collector’s about to mess things up, isn’t he?
Awww. Shame we didn’t get a full season 3 so we could have this as a proper scene.
So I guess I’m totally caught up for realsies now. Any word on when we get the next one? I don’t like the waiting part. I typically don’t start shows until they’re over for that reason, but I figured this one was at least close to done.
I’m still very much feeling like they can’t possibly deal with every dangling thread that I’m interested in, but hopefully they’ll at least bring things to a semi-satisfying conclusion.
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I saw you were looking how to get into the writeblr community.
And I was wondering, what are your current WIP’s or blorbos? Rambles welcome! (No seriously if you look at my blog I am nothing without rambling)
I don’t really know you, but I too want to get in the community more and know more people! Writeblr can be a struggle!
Hi, thank you for the ask and the kind words! I've been working on the answer for a while because tbh I have so many wips (ENFP issues with finishing stuff) that I had to choose those that do have a chance to be completed someday haha
So these are my more advanced wips:
Route LXVI. Status: Fixing plotholes, reducing the number of words, and editing in general. It's my only slice of life so far. I began writing it because I wanted to practice my English and use a real-life setting. I got hooked haha. It tells the story of Liv (Olivia), whose past has affected the way she approaches relationships. The story follows her character development throughout the events that take place around her. I actually wrote a synopsis, soo copy-paste:
Living with her sister in Orlando, with an exhausting job and trying to finish her studies, Olivia has no interest nor time for distracting stuff. But after her online friends suggest she should start taking her gaming channel more seriously, her life changes. Quite literally. Behind anonymity, Liv can have whichever life she wants, away from her most hidden secrets. The new hobby allows her to turn into LXVI, a joyous and bubbly girl with a perfect life. And maybe that's what Liv needs to feel happy again. But, she also has to deal with real life as well, including bad choices, faulty relationships, and the hot new problem called Damien. And, when real and virtual life mix, how many lies are too many lies? How much can you trust someone on the other side? And, what happens if you fall in love with a boy on the other coast of the country?
Lunática. Status: writing. Genre: fantasy. The idea is to have the story set in the current modern world but with magic creatures aka Beasts (werewolves, vampires, witches, and the like), and Hunters of those. It's a mash-up of some different blorbos I previously had and couldn't manage to finish, so I'm still working out how they fit together. In the basic storyline, the main character's family (code name: Lex) belongs to the Hunters faction, but she doesn't know anything about this. Until she saves a "wolf" and later finds a human with the same wound markings, so she adds two + two. As a bonus, she develops water powers that change according to the Moon phase... and she wears hearing aids, which sometimes pick up voices that shouldn't be there... I want to play around with synesthesia, portals, clans, and abilities for this one.
Ichor. Status: planning and world-building. Just like the previous wip, this is a mash-up of ideas, but now in a High Fantasy medieval-like setting where different realms come into play. In this world, the only creatures that are magical by nature are the inhabitants of the other realms (which in layman's terms are shapeshifter angels and demons). Humans have discovered that they can also cast spells if they use the blood of the first group, and this leads to the expected wars, refugees, famine, closed realms, and prejudices. The main character's story is still a mess of imagery I'm yet to put together, but the main idea is for her to be a shapeshifter affiliated with the human military who slowly discovers the plotting going on behind closed doors, as well as the truth about her past.
By the stars foretold. Status: writer's block. This is a High Fantasy set-up where I have 4 different narrators whose stories are alternatively told through the chapters. Each one belongs to a different background, culture, ideology, classical nature element... Their code names are Ruby, Zak, Silva, and Enzo. They intertwine and separate along the story while they all pursue their own goals, which slowly converge into the same one, in a sort of "tangled destinies" story, and I plan for at least one of them to become a 'villain'. There are dragons and other magic creatures, different countries in war, magic academies, royalty plots, tournaments, and bustling city life. The issue? I started writing with no plan in mind because I just wanted to enjoy the characters, and now I've reached a point where I should already know what the end game is. Besides, some ideas overlap with the previous wip! I still have a long way to go but at least I like where it is going.
So these are the most advanced, but I have more blorbos around there which are just a basic idea and some scenes, names or even endings: I have a wip about a magic (called Modulation) Academy where everyone has their own ability, and I have the beginning and the end but not the middle xd.
Anyways! Thanks for letting me ramble! Writeblr is indeed a struggle and this has immensely helped me start expressing myself (and I really like your blog, btw!).
See you around!
#writeblr#writing#writblr#my wips#writers of tumblr#writeblr community#writerscommunity#writers#wip stuff#blorbo#halleywips#halleyask#halleylxvi#halleyluna
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"So it’s interesting--is Feyre narration completely skewed? Or SJMs writing is so inconsistent that it’s truly all over the place?"
It is definitely the last for me. In case of Nesta and Elain i just accepted that she’s not going to give us a valid reason why the two of them were so on the 1st book or why they acted as they did. Or let’s say she’s only given us half an answer.
I once read in a post that she said in an interview she had planned for Nesta and Elain actually to be these typical evil step sisters only later she decided that the two will play a bigger role.
So yeah if that is really the case i have my answer to why Nesta and Elain’s dovelopment was that twisted/strange however you want to word it because it wasn't even planned to happen.
And don't get me wrong it is completly fine for any writer to chance their minds about the plot and characters but when you write a serie and one part is already published then you need to build up that chance or give a valid reason why, espacially when it is a big chance. It is a differnt if you want to chance the color of a dress our a whole characters or the plot. If you think twice Sjm isn't doing any of it she just let it stand in the room.
Sjm messed up/twisted whole characters because she threw her chance of mind just in the room and let it just stand around. Mor, Elain, Nesta, Lucien... He is a good examples.
You can't tell me Sjm still have (or had) a soild plan for him. First his character chance in from acotar (#give me acotar Lucien back). The question of his first love interest. First Jesminda then it should have been Nesta and now Elain as his mate. Then the thing with his real fahter. Correct me if i am wrong but wasn't it said when Feyre was Utm that Lucien looks similar to Beron? And now it is like nooo you have so many similarities with Helion. Like okay but what now?? How can Feyre see the connection so quickly but the other who lives for over hundert years miss it?
Sometimes it is even the plot that makes no scence.
Why do we need a whole plan in acomaf to get the Veritas but in acosf it is like hey you need music np i have the veritas 💃. I truly belive Sjm just wanted to write the throne scene and needed a reason for the IC to attempt HC XD and don't get me started with Acosf. Acosf is actually a Novella but is tyring so hard to be a novel that you got that mess of a plot. I could nearly cry so much wasted potential on so many levels.
Sorry for the rant and negativity you ruin pretty much every book if you think too deeply about it but some points are just too obvious with Sjm. You see when thinkinc twice what she really planned through and what she didn’t.
I absolutely agree- i think it's totally fine to change your mind as an author, but at the same time, going forward, you need to think about tying all the loose end then.
LOL--I know. The stealing of the Veritas was the funniest thing in the world.
Azriel: Hey Rhys, you totally don't need to be there. I am a spy and shadowsinger. I'll just go and grab the Veritas. There is so much crap in there, no one will notice.
Rhys: No, no. Feyre and I need to be there. She needs to be basically naked, writhing on my lap,
Azriel: But...why?
Rhys: It's important.
Azriel: ...
Rhys: Just trust me, there is no other way to get the orb.
Azriel: No, no there definitely is! Mor could get it. Remember, she is Queen of Hewn City. She can take the orb and,
Rhys: Absolutely not. It won't work unless Feyre is on my lap.
But yeah, essentially, SJM fixated on a scene and come hell or high water, she wanted to write it. Don't get me wrong, it was a sexy scene, but it made no sense.
With the sisters...why can't she just make it better? you know. Just take a little time, do some flashbacks, have some dialogue. Shouldn't be that difficult to make this happen and make it make some sense.
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⭐ ⭐ ⭐
I get three? :D (the picks are (un)shared space, i’m not used to being loved. (i wouldn’t know what to do.), and the sun rises in the east.)
So, first off, (un)shared space.
My brain is like. Always at least on some level doing Sad About Serena thoughts and for a couple weeks before this fic it had been thinking about Blair—>Serena brainworms. You have no idea how many times my brain played back “brown doesn’t offer degrees in slut.” The topic of choice being the Chuck of it all came from… someone mentioning that? I think it might’ve been S?
I’m still not sure how it became a Serena—>Jenny badness of the brain fic, but there was a thought in there when it was first sparking about Blair saying one of those victim-blaming/slut-shaming type things that she does and someone else being Upset while Serena is unperturbed that I’d love to come back to or see someone else mess around with at some point.
The concept I had in my head was Jenny having a breakdown on Serena, who tells basically tells her to get over it, combining with the fact that as far as we know Serena literally never told anyone ever about Chuck assaulting her in the pilot. I really liked it because it felt like it fit with Jenny and Serena’s relationship collapse in s3, and because I love limited POVs, and because poking at the boundary between GG’s writers being wrong about things and how messed up they made their characters because of it is always interesting.
I’m not entirely sure that that’s what I wrote—the was originally some narration around “But you’re the only one who gets it” line where Jenny explained she meant that Serena was, like… in the potential victim pool, so to speak, and had known that fact for a long time, but it just wouldn’t flow right. (I mean, even here it looks very off to me :/)
I went and I looked up the transcript for 4.03, when Lily says, “Jenny confided in me a while ago about the party and… she's put the past in the past and wants to move on” and that became the basis for Serena’s voice here. I wanted there to be a direct line between this and how it plays out. (Originally, it was actually going to have an epilogue describing both how Jenny was… weirdly uncomfortable… around Serena after this, and having that scene between her and Lily, where Jenny is literally saying this stuff to try to make sure Lily reacts better in some way, but it took shape instead as a very small closed moment in time. Very fragile.)
There’s a level of experience I have with like. ‘yeah this person who I don’t want in my house lives in my house and I just avoid him as much as possible and mostly I can forget he’s there and that he hurt me since we talk approximately once a month’ so. Is this true to life? Eh
(Note: I’m cool now. That is a past tense situation)
Space has a really important role in this fic: the whole thing takes place in the larger theoretical home-space, divided between the bathroom and the bedroom. The bathroom shows up specifically in s1 when Chuck is harassing Serena from inside it, smoking weed and preventing her from showering. The space we begin in has its reference point as a Chuck-space, not a safe zone.
Bedrooms are, of course, homes within homes. Rooms that are yours, personally, and they define a safe point. Jenny’s bedroom is also important because it’s still a shared space between her and Serena, and in some ways is entirely Serena’s, and gives weight to the parallels between them, to the sense that Jenny is just a time-shifted Serena herself. This conversation is all just talking to the mirror, and it was really weird to realize that Jenny’s s2 arc actually has a lot of similar beats to Serena’s preseries one
Serena, in this fic, exists with this concept of helplessness. She doesn’t believe she has an effect, which is always the worst place for Serena to be. But it has this huge grounding in a lot of Lily’s s1 behavior re: Chuck, and how she seems to not notice at all how Serena starts off her understanding of Bart/Lily with “the idea of being around Chuck is distressing” and like. Doesn’t really stop
In terms of extra details, I think it’s fun and relevant to note that the interim title for this fic was ‘call me brother’ :)
So. Fic two! Since I like being sad, we’ll do i’m not used to being loved. The first towgd fic is a really traditional dan-is-parent fic, and i wanted to flip that over and talk about Milo, and where his head was at, because he wasn’t an infant and he’s got a very loud head inside that he doesn’t share very well
The not-really-a-motif of this fic is the use of “Milo ached” at the opening and close—it’s not a violent kind of pain, but it’s one that’s good for hollow feelings and for motion and isn’t necessarily negative, so definitely the Milo word of the fic
Even before that, ofc, we have this line: “Dan struggled to lift it, and Serena swept it out of his arms to carry into the car with ease, black dress sweeping out behind her like crow’s wings.” I liked that a lot—jock!Serena, DanSerena teamwork, the halfway point between death imagery and GG costuming
Then following it, Milo hides everything important. The emotional things, not the practical. Because Milo is used to hiding what’s important to him. And so they go through the house and he’s enraged because he’s already taken care of everything, and they don’t know that, and he doesn’t say anything or show that he’s angry. Because that makes sense. File under: attempts to hit readers over the head
This first section does a lot of work in building up what Milo’s world looks like—the self-sufficiency, the anger, the amount of time he spends hiding—in opposition to the world he’s entering. And then the second starts to talk about why.
It’s all about Georgina as a parent, the back and forth Milo grew up in, and why he is the way he is. The complicated matter of losing someone who you loved so deeply and who hurt you so badly. I like the last bit the best, which is this really Georgina-specific brand of manipulation:
When he was six, he’d to come home to a few hundred dollars and a note and called his grandpa, crying. His mom had come back and sat him down and had a long talk with him about misinterpreting things and how he should never do that again.
And he was a good boy, and she looked so scared, and he had scared her, and—so he never did.
and then we cut back forward and Milo has this question of what he wants to carry with him, and he really doesn’t know. There’s a lot of supposed to to this section, and a lot of it’s the fact that Milo and his feelings aren’t friends. He doesn’t know how to handle himself, he doesn’t know how to have opinions or boundaries—a very unhealthy passivity going on. (The fic where Milo has a breakdown at school was,,, always going to happen.)
And then we get the final section, and that’s all about this exchange:
“Because it means something,” Dan said, frowning still over each deliberate word. “It makes me feel worthwhile to write in a way that means something.”
It sounded like he was saying more than he was, like there was something fluttering just out of Milo’s reach in the subtext, the crease between his eyebrows, the deliberate way he leaned against the counter.
“Yeah,” Milo said. “I think everybody wants to do something worthwhile.”
He wondered what his mom’s worthwhile had been, if she’d ever found it.
and so Dan is saying he cares about Milo and that he couldn’t not, and Milo is… living his best socially awkward life. My boy has the barest idea of what the fuck is going on and I love him
But the point wasn’t to get him to getting it, it was to get him to maybe, just like Dan at the end of the previous. There’s this idea of I could be this persons kid, I could be okay that creeps up on him for the time and he doesn’t accept it but he considers it and he has it for the first time, and that’s the point
So. Less sad things. the sun rises in the east.
It is a pre-s4 era milofic, so there’s some foreshadowing of Pain throughout—Dan talking about writing Inside and how Georgina “gets tense and evasive” when he tries to bring up the future. (I really liked threading in that Georgina doesn’t have an Inside analogue, and that’s part of why it’s so hard on Serena. That one’s a headcanon that makes things make sense for me.)
But pre-s4 is also peak date era—they’re all each other has, that summer, and it’s a very intense summer. So my first real experiment with them went there.
The first scene opener is really important in that it tells us how deeply overwhelmed Dan is, something that’s always going on in this fic, but the second was just so much fun:
He lays awake that night, thinking about Nate’s laugh, about how he’d censored his story about today’s “date” for Milo, about how he’d insisted on doing the dishes. Dan has always known Nate was handsome, has always wondered what it would be like to—
Well, fuck.
He’s been shoving his attraction to Nate Archibald aside into a teetering pile barely held up by his own veneer of heterosexuality for years, and seeing the guy with a baby was all it took for it to come crashing down over him? To be honest, Dan is kind of disappointed in himself.
There’s a real sense of the importance of that home-feeling, of the way that it becomes not just a physical attraction but a romantic one as well, and this is just one of the ways it comes up. And that idea of teetering has a counterpoint in the entirety of Dan’s life, and so we have a very untenable situation in all kinds of ways.
And then there’s some Nate pining, and some himbo4himbo content, and yes I do believe they watch bad vampire movies constantly together after that time they watched vampire porn movies together. It’s tradition. (Blair is horrified)
The Georgina scene was this… there’s a lot of hope in Dan, see? And that’s one of the things that draws people to him, for better or worse. He’s got so much belief in what they could be
I really love the vulnerability Dan and Serena have with each other, and I have Dan that line about it being safe to be pathetic and that’s one of the ones I liked best, alongside the contradiction of “he had one plan, one thing to put on her, and he won’t make her carry everything. He can’t give it up yet.” Sometimes you want to be sad, and you want to be hurting, and you don’t know how not to be so there’s this conversation that has all these layers of I’ve been with you and I love Nate and I’m queer existing on both sides, and this interesting study of Serena and secrecy that exists alongside Dan and weight as she tells him that “Even if [Nate] isn’t into you, he’ll be happy you told him, right?” (which, interestingly, I didn’t mean as a blairena subtext line, but knowing I was writing it in very much reads as one, because Blair isn’t like Nate in that way
And the final scene lets us into Nate’s own insecure, totally gay brain and undercuts that continual fragility with “and, well, life goes on” but tumblr is glitching on me so I cannot finish this properly :/
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