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cute-catt · 2 years

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I spedran Covet by @digitalta (OceanBreeze7 on ao3) and I got inspired.

alt ver under the cut.

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infamouslydorky · 29 days

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Ngl, I just like the muck monster design, so I wanted to doodle it

#the owl house #sketches #emperor belos #toh belos #body horror tw #the owl house spoilers #well animated and well written show from what ive seen of clips. im not gonna buy disney plus for it tho sorry #to hell with Michael rodent i say #that aside this guy really is despicable. like wow. disney frollo level but a calvanist instead of catholic. still fits #i would say ''celestial'' by falconshield is a song that fits his character

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iamthejinyouarethejin · 1 year

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You didn’t mean for this to happen.

He didn’t either.

Not that he was complaining.

He’s caught you sending some suggestive pics to a guy you were talking to, nothing personally explicit, but some pics of you smirking with a little dirty talk.

He wasn’t that jealous, right?

I mean, you guys weren’t dating. Right?

Whatever happened was complicated, and before either of you knew it he was about to fuck you senseless on a hotel bed.

He was about a year older than you, and you’d met through his brother, a friend of yours. Eventually, you guys started hanging out more, eventually, he began to fall for you, and eventually the more he wanted you, the less you seemed to notice him.

Not saying you weren’t attracted to him, but not in the way he was to you. He was cute, funny, kind- You knew that.

But...

To him...

you were everything.

You were his goddess.

His muse.

His queen.

The most beautiful person in the world.

He was really in love with you.

Which may just explain why he reacted as irrationally as he did.

“Who the duck is this?!”

“My f-”

“Y/N!!”

“Just shut up! It’s not even that big of a deal.”

“Not that big of a deal?!”

He… had a quite a temper.

“Yeah- it’s not. You just assume everything you touch belongs to you.”

“I-” Touch. He had never really touched you before… not the way he wished.

“So just mind your stupid business!”

You'd never raised your voice at him before- Not out of anger.

"So you think just this guy is the one, right?!"

"F it- why can't he be? I like him, he's sweet, he has control of his temper, unlike you-"

That was the deal breaker. You don't compare the man that dreams of you every night and wishes for you to carry his children, to another guy. Specifically not a man you've known for about a week.

"What's so great about him then?! Is he the man of your dreams? Huh? Can he give you everything you want? Everything I can't?!"

"..."

"Huh? HUH?! Answer me, y/n! Or has a cat got your tongue?!"

"He makes me happy..." you spoke under your breath.

"Oh really?"

“Yeah-

“What about me then!?” His face was barely an inch from yours, you could practically feel your heart shaking the ground beneath you.

And that’s how things happened.

"What about you?!"

"Really?"

"REALLY! You don't even seem to care about me anymore, so I just... I just figured that you didn't- that you didn't want to be around me anymore." Your voice trailed off into a meaningless whisper.

"I've only ever wanted you," he muttered.

And he didn't hesistate to show it. He pulled you close to him, lightly rubbing his nose on your shoulder and kissing your cheek.

"Unless..."

Every part of you throbbed, and your hands explored every inch of his body.

"You don't want it," he spoke.

"I do..." Your quick response startled him. "I do. It's just that-"

Kiss.

"W-we..."

Kiss.

"I-"

Kiss.

"This can't-"

"What?" he snapped, clearly irritated. "Happen?"

You avoided his heavy gaze, still involuntarily touching him like he was in need of protection.

"Why? Why can't it happen?" His voice barely above a whisper, icy breath stinging your eyes and nose.

"I-"

Tightly gripping both your legs, he carried you to the small hotel queen bed, nibbling on your neck.

"I'm the one for you," he whispered. "But I can't make you do anything." He pulled away from you, sincerity in his eyes. "I can ask you to give us a chance."

You pulled his face into yours, indulging in the sweet taste of his lips and basking in your warm scent.

You had a chance. You were gonna take it. Better yet...

Would it be a mistake?

#crush x reader #reader x crush #crush smut #crush imagines #this is really poorly written and i was rushing because I was really trying to get this req done bcz it's been in the reqs for the longest!#i am really sorry and whoever requested it #feel free to ask for a more well written and tho

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poisonousquinzel · 9 months

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thinking about just how likely it is that Batman was the only person Harley told about having suicidal thoughts whilst in Arkham in Detective Comics #831

"I was seriously considering hanging sheets from the light in my cell and doing the maximum checkout when I heard this voice..."

Detective Comics #831

and how he knew when she strapped that bomb to herself in Batman (2016) #100 that he had to go after her because she was going let herself die in an attempt to end Joker's rampage for good but that she refused to physically do it because he didn't want to her Kill him and he told her that so she's found a middle ground

"We don't need to end it this way. He needs to be locked back up."

that she'd rather die than keep living with his presence in the world haunting her, haunting Them.

That if he did choose Joker, she wasn't going to disarm the bomb herself.

"Honey. You're talking to the wrong girl if you think he's not dangerous locked up in Arkham. It's like I said. That's not good enough for me. Not anymore."

the way he yells for her as she leaves.

"You're only going to get to one of us in time, Bats. Who's it going to be?"

"Harley!"

the way the two men stare at each other in the way they have so many times before, in those moments when Joker stayed or prioritized their fight over her. the way he knew Joker loved the thrill of it all and thought it was funny, thought there was No way Batman would leave him and that this game had to end as according to the rules. And that Batman would do so, he would follow the rules and save him. The way he immediately assumed Batman would choose him, choose his life and choose to stay and disarm the bomb.

And how Batman didn't do that. How Batman walked away from him, leaving him to die or escape or whatever, because He was choosing Harley and her safety and prioritizing her life over him.

The way he stared him in the eyes before choosing the woman Joker had always left to die over him. The way that it was always Him, it was never a question if he would choose Batman over her, but when faced with that type of scenario, Joker is the one that gets left behind to die.

The way she literally woke up in the hospital instead of them having a scene just outside after he removed it. because she didn't intend to live in one of the two options. the way the bomb probably did go off to some capacity because you don't just end up in the hospital knocked out for a week.

Him saying that he's glad she's okay, after everything they've been through, this war and Everything else. and the way he didn't brush off her concern

"I'm glad you're okay."

"Are you?"

"I had to bury my father again today. I did it with my family."

i just, i can't,,,,, i cant

#have i told yall how much i love batquinn because i really fuckin do #they make me miserable and emotional in all the best ways #we deserve more well written content with them FUCK #and like she COULD have killed that fuckin man when she shot in through the eye but she didn't because she knows how he feels about Murder #even tho j*ker had exposed his identity and was about to horrifically disfigure him in such a similar way to how he permanently changed her #and led her to believe he was going to do AGAIN #during the rebirth death in the family arc when she thought he was going to carve off her face #like she had such a solid reason to just kill him and she could have defended it to batman but she still didn't break that rule #that she knew meant so much to him because shes trying and she doesn't want to ruin the budding trust they've got #and just #i cant #i cannot do it y'all #AND SHE KNOWS HE'S BRUCE AND SHE DIDN'T MAKE A BIG DEAL OUT OF IT BECAUSE IT WASN'T SOMETHING BATMAN WANTED EXPOSED #BUT SHE KNEW SHE KNOWS #she heard J*ker say it right before she shot him #and like that just also something she knows he didn't want her or anyone (let alone fucking j*ker) knowing so her aiming for a non deathblo #just #tw abuse mention #tw clown boy #tw blood #tw suicide mention #harley quinn #harleen quinzel #batman #bruce wayne #dc comics #batquinn #♧ comic thoughts ♧#♢ meta & analysis ♢

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tapioca-puddingg · 5 months

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Why GoWR Valhalla Is Important

Hey. It's me again. This time I'm not yelling about Kingdom Hearts or Drakengard, but I wanted to talk about God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla today and why I think it's important in trauma-centered narratives. This isn't a detailed analysis, just me spitballing.

SPOILER WARNING: There will be spoilers for God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla, so please proceed with caution!

EDITED: 2/26/24

As a brief summary, Kratos spent almost the entirety of GoW 2018 refusing to talk about his past. His guilt, shame, and trauma deeply affected his relationship with his son, to the point where he didn't want to be around Atreus bc he was terrified of being a bad influence on him. It was only when Atreus' life was in danger did it force him to finally admit just a sliver of the truth. Now I don't mean to say that Kratos revealing his godhood wasn't a big deal because it absolutely was, I'm just saying that it's just one piece of a MUCH bigger story. Anyway, he recognized his past mistakes, but the shame was too much for him to openly acknowledge it until damn near the end of the game.

Come Ragnarök, Kratos was pretty much an open book. He had grown SO much in those short years of fimbulwinter: He openly talked about his trauma to Mimir and Freya. He worked so hard to be a good father and a good support system to his friends. He went out of his way to make amends with Freya and restore their friendship. And he fought to restore peace to the Nine Realms.

But come Valhalla, Freya wants to recruit Kratos to be the new God of War of the nine realms, or at least to be a part of the new peacekeeping council that she's putting together. Kratos is extremely hesitant to take up the mantle. He doesn't feel worthy or deserving enough to hold this position given all that he's done. He and Mimir (and later on, Tyr) are constantly going back and forth about it. Both perspectives are completely valid. Valhalla is about Kratos facing his past in a more literal sense; parts of Greece have been manifested from Kratos' memories of it, so it's like he gets to be there in real time again. This is about helping him process what happened and to add some nuance to the conversation. It's like free therapy for Kratos.

It's funny too bc you have both opposing viewpoints being represented. On one hand, you have Mimir and Tyr being the supporting/validating voice, and Helios is the contrarian. Since he's a manifestation of Kratos' memories, he represents the doubts that Kratos has about himself. The harsh voice to show how hard he is on himself, and not without good reason.

The reason why I think Valhalla is so important is bc in media, survivor narratives are often linear. The character just "gets over" their trauma and then that trauma isn't addressed again. It's presented more as a hurdle than a lifelong battle. I guess this goes to show how misunderstood survivorhood is. But that isn't how healing works. We regress sometimes, and sometimes we still mull over the things that have happened to us. We might heal, but that trauma does leave emotional scars. So even after the many leaps and bounds Kratos has made, he's not "over" his past, far from it! It still haunts him every day and every night. Valhalla is Kratos still processing everything. From my own healing journey, I've learned that it takes a long, long time to fully process your trauma, if there even is a "fully", anyway. It takes a long time to learn and understand all the complexities and how it affects you in current day. And it takes even longer to process such a complicated history like Kratos'.

Generally speaking about the idea of processing trauma, I said earlier that survivorhood is extremely misunderstood by the masses. Imo, our society is very anti-victim/anti-survivor. So with that in mind, from the perspective of the audience, some might perceive the processing trauma bit as repetitive or "milking it". These are mediums of entertainment after all, so ofc I understand wanting to put out an engaging story where the audience doesn't lose interest. But screw those ppl lol. We have to understand why we do what we do if we want to do better, and it's amazing that a video game is willing to have these conversations. Being more open about all the nuances of processing trauma, grief, healing, etc will go such a long way.

Even the roguelite gameplay style perfectly reflects this theme. Processing this stuff is slow. It doesn't happen overnight. Unless you're in Valhalla, I suppose.

Okay I said this wasn't a detailed analysis but I lied. I'm a liar now

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reineydraws · 1 year

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i have wanted to read a grimmichi fic about grimmjow reluctantly babysitting (and eventually bonding with) kazui for so long, i drew about it 🥲💕 posting to celebrate the nanosecond of grimmjow crumbs we got last week 🙏

they really immediately recognized each others' voices in the background of a cross-dimensional zoom call huh. right away they were like "that voice!" like yes we get it u hear that voice in ur dreams lol cant wait for more grimmjow crumbs!!! (img insp)

#bleach #bleach fanart #grimmichi #grimmichi fanart #grimmjow jaegerjaquez #ichigo kurosaki #kazui kurosaki #grimmjow #i have a fic mostly written about this moment but it's stalled rn and i wanted to post this before the year ended lol #bc i drew this in october haha #anyways the intention is that this is in grimmjow's (old) room in las noches. it's why ichi and kazu are in shinigami robes.#grimm's just taken off his white crop blazer jacket thing he wears on top of his leather jumpsuit that ive always assumed is sleeveless #grimmjow jaggerjack #for more bg ichi's divorced hime but they co-parent and are still besties and hime is dating ishida now #well thats what i landed on in aforementioned fic but shes really cute with either chad or tatsuki as well #hell mb all four of them are dating and are lowkey collectively judging ichigo for waiting so long to make a move in grimm idk #tho ive always considered tatsuki a lesbian so idk if she'd actually date chad and ishida lol. she seems... too cool for them???? i digress #on* lmao not in. unless 👀👀👀#jk jk... 👀#junichi suwabe i missed the sound of ur sweet sweet baritone. not to be an tot artem stan on this bleach post bUT 😭💖#anyways if i missed out on artem's voice on a few cards when i was playing tot last year cuz he was voicing grimmjow i am a-ok with that

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mattodore · 6 months

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found out while putting together matthias's oc page that his name has the exact same etymology and meaning as theo's name...

i’m sure this is information matthias is very normal about…

#theo is in fact a gift from god so jot that down !#river dipping #i've been throwing myself into oc stuff bc i'm not doing hot mentally which is... tbh when i do my best writing 😭#none of this is new tho i wrote the bios and 'at a glance' intros months and months ago when i first made an oc page #which is why i do plan on rewriting them but for now i'm leaving them like this... so i guess the echthroi page is done?#obviously echthroi has more characters than this but i haven't taken new screenshots of everyone yet...#i put the gray cas bg back in my game a few days ago only to completely forget i wanted to take new headshots for the oc page 😭#like these are just placeholders... i want the backgrounds to match the oc page. oh... or maybe i could just do transparent pics?#i think i remember vyx made a post abt how to do that... will look into that when i open the game again. rn i'm at my keyboard 🧑‍💻#like i am writing new things! started a google doc for theo yesterday and have been writing on it here and there since then #i've already cried in there... lmaooo. i like oc pages for sure but i think a huge google doc is what i really need to keep track of things #i drop so much lore in tags on here and it's like! river write that down somewhere else or you'll lose it 😭#like i fr have never actually written down any of the info i've shared on here. i've just had all this oc knowledge stored in my brain.#so i went through and copied over a tonnn of tags and posts i've made into google docs but i just know i'm missing things i've probably #said in the tags of their core tagged posts... 🧍 if my blog didn't have so many posts i'd have an easier time going through it but 🤷#and on top of that i've been making a bunch of posts about theo and matthias on my main acc. which is like 🧍 well great now there's more #i'm gonna lose track of...... i fr have gottt to get into the habit of actually putting things down in theo's google doc!!!#i'm just trying to figure out the best way to format it all but i've downloaded a few templates that i've been messing with.#...anyway. if it isn't obvious i'm trying to get back to posting on here. i'm opening my inbox now with the intent to just.#sit here in my inbox until i can get myself to reply. lads... avpd is actually so torturous i'm not kidding.#i feel like i'm dying trying to get myself to interact with people sometimes even despite how badly i want!!!! to interact!!!#theo and me and our avoidant trauma responses holding hands and skipping around together

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greatalastoraltruist · 3 months

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Trying to find a good Alastor fic on AO3 be like

ew

no

yikes

mayyyyybeeee

Oh yay a single one shot that's extremely short but at least isn't completely out of character

A lot of y'all really do not understand this character like at all and it shows blatantly

#look he is not having sex live on tv with ANYONE esp not vox #also he is not crawling to lucifer after he got hurt #yall really out here completely misunderstanding core elements of his character and it kills me #i wont ever say any of this to any of those writers tho cause whether or not my opinion ia correct that would just be a bitch move #nah ill keep my tiny bit of bitching to right here where it can't hurt anyones feelings #if anyone reads these tags and knows of a well written fic about Alastor please send me recs #ill happily beta read anything too just pls remember my boi is so ace and way too worried about his rep to go crawling to anyone esp somone #he hates for help #its as out of character as the verbalase video #broadcasting across hell

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sherlock-is-ace · 13 days

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watched the first ep of Dead Boy Detectives today, did anyone also think the dialogue was a bit clunky?

I don't mean it was unwatchable or anything i just feel like it didn't feel realistic the way they introduced the characters and world... It felt like the dialogue was for the viewer instead of an in character thing. We were gonna be introduced to a viewer surrogate within the first few minutes, there was no need to have the characters who already know how the show's world works spell it out for nobody... and then explain it again when Crystal showed up? idk it felt like something I would write (not a complient) 😅

#the line ''we have to hide from death... or she'll get us'' was ridiculous #do you think the boy that's been escaping death since 1919 or whatever doesn't know?!#''we have to hide'' was enough the viewer can put 2 and 2 together and deduce it's bad if death sees them #to then minnutes later have them explain to crystal why they have to hide from death again...#just let the characters adress the camera if you wanna spell it out so easily #or you know... trust that the viewer is intelligent enough to wait 2 minutes for an explanation?#it was mostly just that first few mins of the first ep i think #i didn't pick up on anything else that trully bothered me #but idk it felt condecending dkjfghkdfg or simply badly written #which it was a bit of a let down to have it as a very first impression #i guess i went in thinking sandman and got like idk generic teen show #in the dialogue alone btw i actually really like the characters and the premise is awesome!#it just cuaght me by surprise #maybe it because i'm also watching fallout and the dialogue on that is like very well done and everything is a hint for something later #so i'm comparing it idk #anyways... is it just me? or was it actually clunky?#(don't spoil it past ep 1 pls)#angel talks #dead boy detectives #really liking it so far tho!

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verdantglow · 2 months

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Fuck it, time to be loudly cringe & find my 30 weirdos.

Trafficstuck AU

Because even 12 years after starting Homestuck, I still found myself in bed one night, trying to sleep, but unable to because all I could think about was Griann <> Gudtym Wiscar.

(I’ve got so much figured out for this AU that I don’t know how to share. Please send me asks about your fave/anything you’re curious about so that I can have some direction for this lore vomit!)

#I’ve got troll names & blood colors for everyone #plus a handful of their quadrants figured out #I have so many more ideas tho that I haven’t written down yet #(I should really write this stuff down…)#I can tell you right now tho that there are A Lot of ships in this #mostly because quadrants but also because like #what not have polyamory if it’s my AU & I want to?#also lots of quadrant confusion #because feelings are complicated #(also I promise for my followers who are looking for SmallEtho or scarian)#(that there is plenty of both in this AU.)#trafficstuck #hermitstuck #(because that tag gets seen more & I might expand to all the hermits as well once I know them better!)#traffic smp #trafficblr #verdant art #also I drew these like. Over a month ago.#it was the doodle of Gudtym & Griann that actually drove me to join this fandom.#(this fandom being mcytblr)#I drew these nerds as trolls & suddenly the brain rot had claimed me lol #scarian #I supposed I should tag that just in case.#as it’s explicitly stated here.

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m4ndysk4nkovich · 4 months

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i really want people to realize that i don’t hate lip or fiona because i think people may be starting to think that. lip’s my third favorite gallagher, i don’t like his actions and i personally believe he’s a misogynist but he is also one of the best written characters on the show

#fiona’s writing isn’t as good #it’s fine but emmy’s acting makes it better #lip and debbie are probably the most well written if you ask me #like as much as ian is my favorite they make him say so many ooc things and often use him just to mock queer people #and his writing started off pretty good but it got to a point where it seemed sloppier #i think that cameron’s acting and the gallavich romance plot really helped fix the mistakes the writers made with him #carl and liam are probably the worst writing wise because carl is literally just used for comedic relief half the time #as for liam he barely spoke for 7 seasons and they never understood what to do with him #but debbie and lip are solid characters and all of their actions make perfect sense considering what they endured #and while this also applies to characters like ian and fiona- as i said their writing tends to be a little weirder #just my opinion tho and it isn’t slander of anyone but john wells #shameless #lip gallagher #fiona gallagher

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ahkylous · 7 months

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This is from Of Stars And Sixers by LesbianLucretia. It’s technically still a drifting stars fanfic except Ford and Mabel don’t meet until four years after she falls into the portal. It is however unfinished (drifting stars curse and whatnot).

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pileontheyears · 1 month

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“So Ryan and Laura...” (Lovers Card Analysis)

I know people talk about Ryan and Laura not having any romantic chemistry and it’s bizarre to say that there was any romance between them. And while I agree about they're not really being chemistry, I do think the writers were trying to make them love interests (and did a terrible job). So I decided to do an analysis of their relationship (this is what I'm using my English degree for) and I thought I’d share my thoughts because boy I’ve got some stuff to say.

And of course feel free to take this all with a grain of salt, these are just my interpretations and I'm also by no means an expert in tarot (I'm really not all that familiar and any familiarity comes from a google search). Just wanted to make those quick notes so that if you don't agree I totally get it! I do try to address the most common points for why people don't see Ryan and Laura in a romantic light and while I agree I try to show what I think the writers might have been Attempting to do.

The more obvious points are of course from the script itself. How there’s “sexy sparks” between the two, how Laura begrudgingly says trauma can bring people together (as if to say it didn’t bring her and Max together), how Laura brings up Ryan’s relationship to Kaitlyn and his reply of “maybe neither” to whether he likes Kaitlyn or Dylan perhaps insinuating his choice is going to be Laura.

And it's... bad writing. For instance, Laura pins Ryan as a “brooding loner” when she’s known him for an hour and in that time he’s been talkative/around people/acting as leader. How would she know he's a brooding loner? Not to mention her saying Kaitlyn seems to look up to him when it’s the opposite of what she’s seen? (Ryan potentially asking Kaitlyn what he should do, her scolding him for pointing the gun at Laura). But all of that is not the point of this post. I’m bringing these moments up to say this relationship is a lot of tell with little show, (and what we're told we've already been shown the opposite).

If you didn’t pick up there was “chemistry” then Dylan and Kaitlyn will tell you that. If you think Ryan is interested in Dylan because you chose to grow that relationship, Ryan is going to say no. (Of course you could interpret the "after tonight I don't know" line that Ryan is understandably not sure of anything given the circumstances, I myself interpret it that way however the "maybe neither" definitely is this additional "Ryan chooses neither Kaitlyn nor Dylan" and perhaps there is an unasked question of will he then choose Laura?) That being said, I don't think if any of the “these guys are into each other” lines were in the script people would have even thought they were flirting/interested in each other (it would still be a ship some people like based on how they work together to survive akin to Sam and Mike but again at least that script didn't constantly point out romantic/sexual tension in between horror scenarios).

So when people say there’s no chemistry and the relationship is more “we have to work together but I’m gonna bitch at you the whole time" I agree, but the game kind of throws Laura at Ryan (her literally falling on top of him) after revealing the Lovers card depicting Laura biting Ryan’s arm. We know it, we hate it, but this is where my analysis comes in.

Aside from the obvious fact that Ryan and Laura are labeled as the lovers, the card itself has a few layers to it that I’ll go through.

The first being choices, specifically choices in relationships/partners. Now when I first read that I thought “Great, that doesn’t mean Ryan is her choice perhaps he just is one choice.” But the context makes it so he’s kind of her only choice if Ryan is going to survive. The context being Ryan can let Laura bite him in order to save him from blood loss, or he can refuse which leads her to reuniting with Max. There is no way for her to reunite with Max without Ryan dying. What that insinuates with the context of choice of suitor is... yikes. Basically Laura “choosing” Max comes from Ryan dying, and the implication that in order for Ryan to survive that he and Laura are somehow bonded romantically from that point on. Hate both of those, actually.

Now we move onto the next meaning of this card, temptation. This is where we go full analysis mode. The original Lovers card depicts Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. After all what better example of temptation than Adam and Eve biting into the forbidden fruit. And what does Laura do? She bites Ryan. He is her forbidden fruit. And where does this scene take place? The Hackett greenhouse.

A garden.

It’s not exactly subtle. There’s also the parallel of Ryan being stabbed in the ribs, Eve being made from the rib of Adam.

So alright, they’re drawing parallels between Adam and Eve and Ryan and Laura (bringing about the downfall of humanity/the Hacketts). But does this mean that Laura is “giving into temptation” by saving Ryan’s life? I mean that sounds stupid. And maybe her "temptation" is more-so the werewolf curse and giving into that but then why point out "sexy sparks?" Why have Laura ask if Ryan is flirting with her? Why label them lovers? It may just be that stupid because I also found this in Chris’s office when playing as Dylan. This book is right by Ryan, right where Dylan asks if he has a girlfriend or boyfriend.

Maybe it's a reference to the love triangle between Ryan, Dylan, and Kaitlyn. But the title? ...The King of My Gardens?

Not looking like a coincidence anymore. They were planting this seed early on. And the fact that the only foreshadowing of Ryan and Laura is this book cover that no one is going to see (unless they scower through each corner of the game like I do) that’s not even writing.

I love nothing more than when writers put in extra effort with little things like this that a casual viewer won’t see but it just goes to show that even if you do that it can’t make up for bad writing and a lack of chemistry. I’m sure some people like the pairing but to me it’s introduced way too late after the player has invested time in other relationships.

Perhaps Dylan and Kaitlyn aren't reliable when they talk about Laura and Ryan, and if that was the Only instance the game tries to put Ryan and Laura together I would agree but twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern and man is there a pattern here.

As for Laura yes she is going through all of this for Max but it depends on the players choices how that relationship is going. After all, she could have left him at the very beginning of the game. While Laura's choice to save Max is always the same in order for the story to stay on track, her motive could be from love or perhaps a sense of loyalty/duty (Ryan's and Laura's loyalty being what brings these two together, be it romantically or out of admiration but I can see that's probably why the writers were trying to put them together because they respect how far they're willing to go for the people in their lives).

So if the player's choices hurt Laura and Max's relationship and she starts bonding with Ryan, the camera lingering on her smiling after Ryan says "maybe neither" could be read as her being interested. After all she asks (curiously? hopefully?) how close he is with Kaitlyn, insinuating she's trying to figure out if he's available. Maybe that's not the case or maybe it's due to her werewolf infection but the game doesn't show her fighting back against it so it seems to be presented as genuine. Regardless of the viewer's interpretation the relationship as a whole could have been presented better (let their be an option if the player really doesn't want Ryan with either Dylan or Kaitlyn to turn them both down early on and if Laura's relationship with Max has also plummeted then sure add another relationship path, but let the player choose which relationships will become romantic).

And I know these games aren’t dating sims, the point of these horror survival games is, well, survival. But literally every other Supermassive Game puts just as much emphasis on character relationships (and a lot of emphasis on romantic relationships) as they do survival (Chris and Ashley, Alex and Julia, etc.) And for a game to be all about how your choices matter and then have them not really matter when it comes to the relationships they bring attention to? When they do in every other game?

It feels like Supermassive just told me “It’s Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve.”

#the quarry #ryan erzahler #laura kearney #this has been collecting dust in my drafts for almost a year now #I definitely think you can interpret all of these moments in different ways #but this was my hey if the writers were trying to write ryan and laura as love interests these are the key points I'd point out #and no I don't think it's well written #or at least well executed #relationship system really would’ve made it better tho

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dyad-of-fate · 22 days

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why do her friends call her needles

WELL- it's mostly a joke about her day job as an acupuncturist... but also a nod to her night-life serial killer interests. Her signature is to use acupuncture to keep her victims immobile while she effectively tortures them. That being said, her night life activities are kept on a short leash due to her role in the Wall's underground as an emergency doctor and amature psychiatrist- amature meaning she practices, but doesn't have an official degree. And she's actually rather successful.

Needles and her husband "Doc" (Hope Greyson, an ex-research scientist who lost his practice due to experimenting on patients) are basically one of the underground's two-person team for emergency medical attention in Brandt (one of the provinces of the Wall), and who you go to if you have a particularly weird case. And despite their urges, they both keep eachother in check... Doc experimenting on Needle's victims gives them both more than enough satisfaction without going so far that they get caught. Afterall, he gets people to experiment with but she has to be very picky so can't just go after any ol person to satisfy his needs. They're our crazy mad-scientist-serial-killer duo.

Anyway, she actually likes the nickname better than her given one; Carmen Pointer. Enjoy a rough concept

(They're both mega side characters, and not even alive in story propper but it's fun to write their banter.)

#sotcc #siege of the crystal citadel #art by okami #visuals #centaur #carmen pointer #aka 'needles'#deertaur #deer #not really sure what deer i didnt wrote it down #hope greyson #aka 'doc'#we have the underground really well built because of these two #and carmen's 'mom' Nightshade #Nightshade may have an actual appreance innstory propper? not sure yet #she's a major part of a side story/prequel/historical point of the Wall though #which will be written eventually lol #carmen here tho flits in and out #questions and answers

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sysig · 1 month

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One better (Patreon)

#Doodles #SCII #Helix #ZEX #Blood #I knew going into this and it was still so distressing :'0 #Who needs plot twists when you can create such an intense sense of Dread #Probably doesn't help that I read this At Night In the Dark lol - actual shivers #Gods this was a hard scene to read - there have been several instances of my face hurting from furrowing my brow so hard haha #The way that ''Doctor'' is written is So skillful - I'm so impressed by everyone's prose and quirks and syntax!#Not to mention when he breaks character in a later scene to apologize for taking a bit to move the scene along haha <3 Play!!#It really does speak to just how much skill and effort is put into everything <3 It's so well done all the way around!!#Anyway to the actual scene at hand lol ow :') Drawing blood is always fun but I wish it wasn't his ;u;#Ugh the way he takes the surgeries is so well written - fear of course but a kind of stoic suffering as much as he's able to -#Until it comes to his eye #Ugh the /break/ of it all he goes from so eloquent - almost snarky and silly! Still trying to find an out make peace do /something/#It all goes completely out the window he's so /reduced/ and nothing hurts worse than that ughughugh #For all his intelligence and wit and prior successes and charm and just - everything that makes him /him/ to be dissolved into abject fear #It's so sad ;; And so well done <3 #And he still holds enough of himself to know what he'd be losing wegh it's so sad!! He's so defined by his vision as most VUX are it's fjdsl #Zelnick is already gone by this point but I wanted to throw him in for extra sad flavour :')#Plus - I've mentioned his post-Op was one of the ones from the gallery that Actively kills me every time I look at it #Can you imagine my heartbreak to find out that he didn't have his Captain to comfort him after this in actuality? That he was fully alone?#''Are we home? Is it over?'' ''N...not yet'' - The Absolute Devastation of realizing that Never Was not really #Just tear my heart out why don't you ugh I'm fully bleeding out 💔#That last one is actually meant to be Max but it's open to interpretation :)#I think it's such a waste that his eye was just disposed of! Someone else could've used that (lol)#I do think there's something to the idea of seeing what used to be a part of your body elsewhere - like the Leftovers!#Even just keeping as a memento tho - a trophy - insult to injury but literally #Just points to no one being special and nothing being sacred I suppose

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lord-squiggletits · 2 months

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This might be bc of my personal reading of exRDI/OP bc I'm pretty sure the authorial intent was to just write Optimus as having some fall from grace/borderline tyrannical edge but like

I really kinda wish the story had been written as more of a political intrigue, almost GOT-esque thing (sorry for the cliche) where like, instead of Optimus being written as the narrative's scapegoat to be condemned both by the characters in universe and the meta narrative, he was just written as...morally gray? With more of a focus on "this is a shitty situation where no decision is good" rather than having Optimus just be some sort of white guilt stand-in of how oh, he's a Prime so that means the most important part of his legacy is how Cybertronians are awful and he's no better than the other ones etc.

Like Barber doesn't write Optimus as EVIL or in a way where he's unilaterally condemned as a person who did more harm than good, it's just imo the vibes of the story is more of a dark political/war story where no person is clean and there's no solution to the war that doesn't involve moral compromise. Instead Optimus is forced to make these moral compromises but then everyone else in the story loses their absolute shit and immediately starts calling him a tyrant or a fascist or something.

Like idk, it was partially an issue of the set-up. Because for one, it was really hard to take it seriously when the humans went "omg he's annexing Earth the Autobots were literally the colonizers all along!" (I think the dialogue was written almost exactly like that too sjdjsidn, so bad dialogue was also another issue) yet were perfectly fine working with the Decepticons led by 1. Soundwave who personally helped execute the attempted invasion of Earth and 2. Galvatron who constantly talks about wanting to kill these puny organics. I feel like I would've been able to take humanity's fears of being colonized again more seriously if like, they hadn't literally teamed up with The Colonizer Faction just bc Soundwave promised they were good guys again. So really it's just execution + plot holes + bad dialogue.

And another thing about the annexing of Earth specifically that I wish got talked about more (mostly by the fandom more than in universe) is that like. Basically the reason Optimus did that was because the neo-Decepticons were planning to invade Earth again, but since he's not actually a formal political leader any more he has no power to actually force a war to stop them/request military back up. But also, Starscream didn't give a shit about Earth and neither did the Council of Worlds, so appealing to the government for help defending humanity wouldn't work either. So Optimus annexing Earth was an absolute clusterfuck yes, but in a way it was also kind of a shrewd political move to force Cybertron to dedicate a spot in the government for humans and thus grant humans a say on Cybertronian politics.

What I mean is that in a story/with an author like that of GOT, where the setting is grimmer and every character is morally ambiguous, I feel like Optimus would've had way more room to be an interesting and compelling character. Bc then instead of the story immediately screaming "ALL HAIL OPTIMUS DID YOU KNOW OP ANNEXING EARTH TO THE COUNCIL IS BASICALLY THE SAME AS MEGATRON ATTEMPTING TO GENOCIDE EARTH," Optimus could have been played around with more as a political figure making the shitty decisions in an effort to stop another genocide. Instead of just unilaterally condemning Optimus and immediately comparing him to fucking Megatron of all people, there could've been more focus on the politics of it with maybe some sort of theme of how "being a leader in war is an inherently unethical position where every decision you make will lead to death/conflict/hate."

Like idk I just think it would've been more interesting if the narrative spent less time going "zomg Optimus is totally a tyrant now" and instead went all in on exploring the political conflicts and how far politicians (Optimus now being one, since he's declaring wars and forcefully acting as an ambassador that no one asked for) can go on manipulation and forcing people's hands for the sake of an ultimately good cause. I mean, Windblade was doing shit like covering up for Chromia who killed people in a bombing, making backdoor deals with Starscream, and conspiring with Optimus to bypass Starscream/overthrow him as Cybertron's ruler somehow. The difference of course is that Windblade and exRID were written by two different authors with genre/thematic differences, but as a reader it is really disappointing to see two different political narratives where "a hero turned politician turning to morally gray/unethical methods to outmaneuver a deadly opponent" is treated as clever and heroic for one character, but tyrannical and worthy of ostracization of another character.

Like for God's sake this narrative where Optimus gets lambasted at every turn sometimes by people who work with/are literal tyrants/terrorists themselves is so fucking exhausting. I'd rather read a story that focused more on the idea of, well what Optimus did was unethical but on a political level it was actually advantageous in several ways. Then you could write a story that really dives into a view of like, idk... Does power inherently corrupt or is it just situations like war that allow leaders to seize power and become tyrannical? Are politics an inherently dirty field where the only way to beat your competition (and secure a decent future for the nation) is to become underhanded and manipulative yourself? Is it okay to bypass or work against rightfully elected officials when those officials are turning a blind eye to things like war and invasions and historic racism?

ExRID did somewhat touch on these themes to be fair, but I feel like in Optimus' case they were either poorly executed or just thrown away in favor of having every other character talk shit about him and how he's the worst person ever. Bc like goddammit, I do think Optimus' polarizing and sometimes bad decisions as a character DO make him skirt on the edge of tyranny and shouldn't be downplayed, but on the other hand, I feel like no one (fandom or in-universe) ever tangles with the OTHER side of the story, which is just... Would it have been unethical for Optimus to NOT have done anything? Cybertronians literally put a colony on Earth, injected Earth with alien technology and sleeper agents, used Earth as an incubating ground for dangerous elements like Ore-13, invaded Earth and killed 1 billion people-- after all the shit Cybertron did to Earth, is it not fair (even morally obligated) for Cybertronians to clean up their shit and help Earth defend itself against a crisis that Cybertronians caused? And if Cybertron's government/the individuals within are racist enough that they don't care about Earth, don't see it as their problem, and don't even see human life as meaningful since they don't live that wrong anyways... is it not, in a way, a good thing for Optimus to have overstepped his authority and forced diplomatic relationships between the two planets? So that humans had an actual political channel to go "fuck you, we're in your Council so you'd better ally with us" and so that Cybertron would be forced to go "welp can't write off these humans as Not Our Problem, guess we have to help them." Doesn't forcing Earth to be part of the Council in a way legitimize Optimus' fight to help Earth, since without a formal political office he's just a rogue general fighting an unauthorized war, but with the government involved, defending Earth now becomes a politically sanctioned act?

Like idk. I guess exRID and OP did get into some of this stuff, but as a whole it felt like the story underutilized its political elements and got bogged down in shit like pointless crossovers, and constantly pausing the narrative to have Side Character #2847 talk about how Optimus is a fascist, and having Optimus go on white guilt-esque monologues about how maybe all Cybertronians should die and are unworthy/unable to ever have a peaceful society because their society colonized other planets.

Just so much wasted potential honestly. ExRID/OP as written felt like it was going way too hard into "omg Cybertronians bad and Optimus is actually a tyrant" instead of just writing a complex story and letting readers come to their own conclusions. And also lambasting Optimus for doing things that other characters did (or characters who did even worse things), but letting those characters exist in peace while Optimus has to just be some allegory for colonialism that has to be torn down at every turn because that's Deep and Intellectual.

I just like the kinds of stories about politics that play around with the ethics of it all, like, "this politician is a shitty person but their policies actually prevented some sort of disaster from happening" or "this person did something illegal and defied the law but they did it because no one else was doing anything" or even "everyone hates this person for forcing them into a political deal they didn't want to be involved in, but the fact that they were all forced to become allies actually allowed them to cooperate and save themselves in a way they wouldn't have been able to alone" (which is pretty much literally how the annexing of Earth ended up going).

Like man I don't want to sit here being lectured/having my favorite character be lectured about how much tyranny is bad. I want my favorite character to do shitty things and then go "whoa that was shitty...but also kind of smart...but also caused a lot of problems...but also solved some other problems that could've turned awful if he hadn't forcefully resolved them."

#squiggposting #idw op love #it's less like i want OP to be framed as sympathetic or good and more like....#'yeah what he did was fucked up but it was also in many ways a good option'#like i wish we'd gotten a more politically interesting story where the goods and bads were explored #instead of it being almost unilaterally the characters all gasping and screaming any time OP #does something morally gray. even tho the entire universe is morally gray and he'#isnt even close to the worst person or political leader in it #like idk what it really comes down to is that a lot of the story felt more like #it was trying to make OP some embodiment of colonialism and how everything bad is on his shoulders #regardless of his personal actions just bc he'#s prime. it feels like it was some weird white guilt allegory pasted onto robots #instead of just writing a cool story about politics and moral grayness and how far one can go #before morally gray means turn into morally gray ends #i feel like under a different writer the story couldve been way more interesting #and it couldve even kept OP's whole tyranny arc thing but just been more well written #treating him as a character who MAY HAVE HAD POINTS ABOUT SOME THINGS #AND MIGHTVE BEEN THE ONLY PERSON WHO GAVE A DAMN ABOUT HUMANITY #AND CLEANING UP THE MISTAKES CYBERTRON CREATED THAT HARMED HUMANS TO THIS DAY #but nah instead of just letting OP's moral grayness stand on its own for reader to judge #he had to literally write in characters going 'zomg the Bots were the colonizers all along'#'[OP's leadership] is LITERALLY FASCISM' (actual dialogue btw)#ppl going surprisepika when OP decides to just kill the genocidal asshole from the golden age #like goddamn could you let OP breathe and be allowed to be morally gray #w/o having the whole story exist to make him some white guilt colonialism allegory that all the other characters scream at

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