#I feel justified in all of my critiques of LOST

[ktempestbradford]

There is so much to talk about with this article. So much. In this post I want to focus on a specific part of it: the reactions of Lindelof and Cuse to what the writers and actors experienced. Here are several quotes [emphasis mine].

“What can I say? Other than it breaks my heart that that was Harold [Perrineau's] experience,” replied Lindelof, who said he did not recall “ever” saying that. “And I’ll just cede that the events that you’re describing happened 17 years ago, and I don’t know why anybody would make that up about me.”

Lindelof told me he didn’t remember any negative incident with an editor, adding that he seeks out input from collaborators and that he’s “never threatened anyone’s career.” Lindelof also said he had no recollection of anything Hsu Taylor said about events connected to “Ab Aeterno.” He said she was a “great writer who executed at a high level” and he’s “stricken” that she was made to feel the way she felt at that time.

Regarding the other allegations leveled at him and the show, Lindelof said he had no memory of the incidents and comments I related. He told me he was “shocked and appalled and surprised” by the incidents I described to him, and said more than once that he did not think anyone was making anything up. “I just can’t imagine that Carlton would’ve said something like that, or some of those attributions, some of those comments that you [shared]—I’m telling you, I swear, I have no recollection of those specific things. And that’s not me saying that they didn’t happen. I’m just saying that it’s literally baffling my brain—that they did happen and that I bore witness to them or that I said them. To think that they came out of my mouth or the mouths of people that I still consider friends is just not computing.”

I'm not going to quote Cuse's responses here because they all boil down to: "I don't remember doing/saying that" or "Nuh uh, that didn't happen!" which is... certainly a choice.

You're going to see a bunch of people siding with and empathizing with Lindelof and praising him for saying that what happened was wrong, etc., and I will push back every time I see it because of all those instances of him saying he doesn't recall and doesn't remember. I don't think he's lying. I do think it's indicative of an ongoing problem with him as a writer and showrunner and it needs to be called out.

I'm going to tell you a story that explains my point. Also putting it and my conclusions under a cut as this is long. Please do read.

Many years ago I became friends with a white woman writer in the SFF community who lived in NYC during some of the time I did. She knew many of the writers and editors in our community who also lived in NYC or nearby. At the time, the majority of these editors were white and most were men. She became particularly friendly with some of them.

A couple of years into our relationship we were at ReaderCon together. One day at the hotel bar I was sitting with this woman (we'll call her Karen for the purposes of this story) and two other BIPOC male authors who had both published multiple books at this point and were people that Karen felt were impressive and important. During the conversation someone (probably me?) brought up the online conversations/debates/fights currently happening about representation in the SFF genre and the way certain editors were part of the problem. I want to say this was even before RaceFail happened.

Karen revealed that she'd been talking to important people like Gordon van Gelder about the things I'd been saying online and how, well... the things I was saying were just crazy. Crazy things! I was acting so crazy.

I don't remember the exact phrasing, but I remember the repeated categorizing of me/my words as Crazy.

I also don't remember exactly what I said in response. I do remember how I felt in my body at that moment. I was suddenly flooded with, I think, adrenaline or something and I wanted to run away because otherwise I was going to start throwing things. I couldn't believe this person, who claimed to be my friend, was saying this to me.

I also remember that I felt trapped because I was in a booth and the two other writers were on either side of me so I couldn't just get up and leave. It turned out I didn't need to do that. Because immediately both of them were like: Hold up. Hold the EFF up.

They both pointed out to Karen that the things I brought up in those online discussions were real issues that did need addressing and that I wasn't crazy and the only reason she thought so was because I was a Black woman and when white people or even people perceived as being white said the same thigs I did, people in the community listened, so what the heck was even wrong with her.

I just sat there, pretty quiet, still trying to calm myself down while this all happened and also felt so very grateful for how these two guys (also friends) stood up for me without hesitating, without equivocating, without giving Karen an inch to continue to talk about me in such a way. I don't even know how that conversation ended or if I even talked to Karen again at the con. I did decide right then that I was going to pull back from our friendship because of it.

A year or so later I ended up having to have a conversation with Karen because of some nonsense she pulled at WisCon. In that conversation I mentioned the discussion we had at ReaderCon and how that truly affected my view of her, a person who was supposedly my friend and who constantly tried to say she was an ally to BIPOC. And that's when she said: What discussion?

At first I wasn't sure if she was feigning ignorance or not. The more we talked, the more I realized she wasn't. She didn't remember the incident. And in that talk I realized why: It didn't have that big of an impact on her.

Even with her being essentially told off by the other two, for her, having conversations where she casually parroted some white, male editor's racist and misogynistic view of me was of little note because she and the other people she spent a majority of time with were doing it all the time. It was just a Tuesday for her. And so after ReaderCon when she continually asked if I wanted to hang out or go on writing dates, she did so as if she had not said some absolutely egregious stuff to me weeks before. Again, to her: a Tuesday.

Having had more experience in life with certain kinds of racists, sexists, ableists, and bigots in general, I can say that this phenomenon was not specific to Karen. It is endemic with a certain kind of person who is devoted to the status quo/dominant paradigm.

So when Lindelof says that he doesn't remember doing and saying these things, he's probably not lying. Because for him, it was business as usual, a Tuesday. Normalized on a number of levels. He was a fish in water and the water was composed of racist, sexist a-holes doing whatever they wanted because no one above them put a stop to it. And that is a problem even 20ish years later.

That Lindelof had to be told he did these things and that he, in all this time, has not reflected on them, not realized on his own that what he did was terrible, apologized, and worked his butt off to not only ensure the shows he runs do not have this atmosphere but to also throw every bit of work that he can to those writers (not necessarily on his shows, but others) is proof that it continues to be a problem. And that he has a lot of work to do to atone for all these things he can't remember--starting by doing a real deep dive into why he can't.

Cuse can't be saved. I suggest we introduce him to a nice oubliette.

#I'll note that the author of the piece called him out on his passive language and I very much appreciate that #Her whole book looks to be amazing and a wake up call and I hope everyone reads it #LOST #Damon Lindelof #Carlton Cuse #Carlton Cuse For Oubliette President #I feel justified in all of my critiques of LOST

[carlyraejepsans]

i feel like uty improves on things undertale did but it doesnt have the same strong foundation as the original. like all the qol tweaks and secret shit and meta flowey are all super impressive but as a whole i agree i didnt find it cohesive or consistent

eh, sorry but i don't really think UTY "improves" much of... anything from Undertale? you can make an argument for the visuals, which are more detailed and certainly better animated, but i would argue right back that undertale's rougher, retro, "kinda ugly" graphics are a deliberate design choice on Toby's part that he stuck to for a reason. not to mention, even in their ugliness, the original main cast managed to display more variety in shape language and size than the entire UTY one, which seemed unable to break past the "tall, skinny, anime proportioned humanoid" figure for anyone beyond the occasional side NPC (which, credit where it is due, DID have some really creative designs).

the secret shit is part of my critiques, actually! while conceptually cool, i don't think they appropriately distributed their story and lore at all. i feel like if we got to the end of the pacifist run and were wholly confused as to why dalv was even a character in the story, the whole "human attack" backstory was... not delivered properly. now, there's no problem with having secret lore, gaster is right there. but if you DO have it then it shouldn't be... yknow... tied to the main backstory conflict that literally set the story in motion? lol? it felt like a game with dataminers in mind, rather than players. which was unavoidably detrimental to its storytelling.

the bullet patterns and attack designs were very visually creative but what they improved from the original in their cleverness they tanked with their execution. WAYYY too unfair, counting too much on memorization and giving you no time to accustom yourself to the mechanics (shout-out to the gun tutorial that... didn't teach us how to shoot. at all. we figured it out on our own in the axis fight LMFAO)

the meta flowey stuff was a fun idea that only really delivered in the neutral run and didn't amount to enough anywhere else to justify his presence in the game imo. like, i lost my shit during his fight too, don't get me wrong, i like when fan stories let him be a little FREAK. but everything else was just so... wasted? i almost didn't see the neutral ending at all because the way pacifist handled flowey disappointed me so much.

uhhhhh running was a good addition and the music fucked hard. can't say anything against those two, nossir. not sure it'd go so far as to call them improvements tho, just nice touches

#answered asks #biscia hater moment #< not exactly hating here this is straight up critique. just for ppl to filter out negative opinions #au tag

[bergoose]

i said this in discord but i think it's important to put here

there was no usability research done for this, at least from what i can see

like absolutely no interest checks were done at all or else I feel like they would have realized this is not feasible or at least the way they did it wasn't

none of the paterons mods knew, barely any fans knew (also there was a leak which makes a little worried for their website security)

what i think they needed was some user research before they did the launch. because all the feedback, the critism, the hate (yes even the hate) is the kinda of feedback that would SHOULD have been given BEFORE. during the production stages not NOW after the launch. it would have made everything a lot smoother for them

(by feedback i mean things like: users are interested in different tiers, users are think the price doesn't justify how much product they're getting with the service, users are confused due to misinformation, etc.)

and like testing and interest checks stuff like this would have been essential to make this launch have a better reaction from the fan base

more UX stuff below the cut but

TL:DR Watcher hire a UX designer please this would have solved all your problems OR JUST DO SOME USER TESTING NEXT TIME JESUS

my biggest thing is there's a lot of companies (big and small) that tend to make these types of big changes (whether it's to better their product, bring in more people, appeal to a new demographic, whatever their goal may be) but in the process they forget their core userbase (in this case Watcher's current audience) which are arguably the most important group to factor in company decisions bc they're the ones that are going to stay long term

idk if I'm making any sense but i hate seeing this trend of what's basically just picking up other companies "trending feature" (for example tiktok becoming popular and all other platforms adopting short form video content, Instagram/Snapchat stories becoming popular and other social media like WhatsApp and Twitter tried it too) only for the feature that originally made them appeally in the first place to fall to the wayside

and the ones who jumped on the trend aren't guaranteed to stay, and now you've lost your loyal userbase

and even tho Watcher didn't do exactly that it still kinda feels like they did u know? I'm certain (and hopeful) this will work out but the execution was just absolutely not it at all, and i wish there was more research done because it helped so much and they wouldn't be bombarded the way they were now

i get it this was something that may have been a long time coming but it is clear that it wasn't ready, both the product and your userbase. also the method of dropping was also absolutely not it

(also i am critiquing it because i want to buy it, i am fortunate enough to be in the position to do so but i won't forever and i know many who also can't and are understandably upset about it)

#watcher #watcher tv #watcher entertainment #shane madej #ryan bergara #steven lim #we are watcher #this is one and only time ive ever ben tempted to tag their account #ux #ux research #us design #vee posts

[epicspheal]

Alright so that Neo Champion event was...disappointing. Infuriatingly so. So to start off Professor Oak sees that there are a bunch of new trainers who are struggling. Professor Oak feels like they are aiming too high and that could cause problems for them and wants to help them. So he calls Lance to gather Red, Blue and Leaf. The Kantrio think they are being summoned to help be judges when Lance surprises them by saying he wants them to be participants by teaming up with the beginner trainers. Lance and Professor Oak mention the parameters of the tournament which provides my first and probably most major critique. There's two parts: a knowledge part and a battle part. Now, the problem I have here is there should've been three parts. The name of the event is "Three Trainers, Three Minds" which implies that we're going to see how three trainers with different mindsets mentor others. So theoretically there should be three parts that showcase the strengths of their individual training styles Only there's two...so someone is going to get left out. Leaf suggests to Red and Blue that because this is an opportunity to grow they should try using new Pokemon. She mentions she was inspired by the Galar NC trio, so this gives the hint that the three had already caught the legendary birds (par for the course so far for the Neo champion events in that the Pokemon they're paired with are ones they already owned). Now it's time to train!

First we have Blue, who enlists the help of three previous neo champions to help train his team: Bede, Hop and Calem. Now this is cool because they all have the same thing in common with struggling to beat their rivals (the protagonists) and it seems like there might be some discussion where Blue talks about learning from past mistakes...or not they just kind of skip over any discussion. Oh and where's Zapdos? Not around apparently. Blue was really eager to take up Leaf on the idea of using his legendary bird but of the three he's the only one not shown to be practicing with it with his mentees. Leaf does actually use her Moltres to her team and her part of the story involves her instructing her team on how it's important to deepen their knowledge of Pokemon not just by looking at a Pokedex but by bonding with them. It then cuts to Blue meeting with Leaf in the town square. Both of them feel like training is going well for their teams, but then the conversation switches to Red. They're both concerned about their silent friend as they don't know about his teaching skills. So they decide to check on him They eventually find Red and his Articuno...relentlessly beating his team. The trainers look visibly panicked and even say they surrender at one point. Blue and Leaf try to caution Red about overdoing the tough love and that they're being judged on how well they mentor the others. Red assures them (silently) that he has this in mind and that's why's he going all out on them Now Red going ham on his team invokes him Gigantamaxing his Snorlax in the Rocket Hideout back in the Villain arc. He clearly isn't one to go easy. But where you can at least justify him really not liking Team Rocket and wanting to shut them down with haste...it's hard to say the same when of the Kantrio, he has the youngest mentees (a youngster and a camper). It felt like overkill. I can 100% buy Red not being the most natural mentor. He's not perfect and it's a good way to show that. I thought it was a little much to have him go that hard on newbies. If his team was slightly more experienced trainers but who were stuck in a rut it would've felt a little less heavy-handed. Then it's the day of the tournament. We see Blue and Leaf with their teams who are clearly nervous. Blue's team tell him they're scared of holding him back and despite them winning against Hop, Bede and Calem, they apparently lost more times than they won. Blue tells them to have more confidence in themselves but honestly it felt like they needed to hear different words of encouragement. Meanwhile Leaf's team is also feeling similarly, however Leaf manages to respond with telling them to relax and have fun. That they won't be able to show their best if they're too anxious. Where's Red and his team? Well thankfully he didn't scare his group off. In fact they run into Diantha, Alder and Steven and eagerly challenge the three champions to a battle. Congrats, Red you're Bootcamp was successful.

The tournament begins. First part is the knowledge assessment. Everyone does well but Leaf is the clear winner. Professor Oak compliments her and her team's deep knowledge of Pokemon and their love too.

Blue remarks "trust and love in your Pokemon"...which almost certainly reminds anyone who played RBGY/FRLG of what was told to Blue after he lost to Red. That was a key part he was missing. And years later, he missed it again.

Now to the battle portion. We already know Leaf has secured her spot as a neo champion so now we know narratively we're about to see another Red vs Blue matchup. Well with the Neo champion stadium being about growth and seeing interesting upsets (Calem finally beating Serena and Bede, Hop and Marnie finally taking down Gloria, Victor AND Leon) surely we're about to see something unprecedented right? Ha. Hahaha. Red, Blue and Leaf all make it to the semifinals, with Blue's team taking out Leaf's team. But then it's time to face Red's and it's clear he's at a disadvantage. Where Red's team takes the powerful hits in stride, Blue's team quickly becomes frazzled and his two mentees get knocked out rather quickly leaving only Blue left. A final clash happens between Zapdos and Articuno but Red's Articuno emerges victorious. So Blue focused too much on training them up quickly that he forgot to teach them to enjoy battling. Despite Red's training from hell, his team managed to at some point lose their fear of losing (as seen by them being fearless enough to challenge the likes of Diantha, Alder and Steven to a battle). Once again we see Blue repeat a mistake that cost him the championship title years ago: being so afraid of losing he forgot to just enjoy the battle. This leads me to my second major problem with the arc. Blue has been hinted throughout Pokemas to not only enjoy mentoring others, but to be good at it. Yet if I'm being honest, he did poorly in this story. He failed to realize his team needed better words of encouragement, he was the only one of the Kantrio to not use his legendary in training, and he failed to teach his trainees how to better bond with their Pokemon and how to enjoy battling. The only saving grace in this is that he at least in both instances of failure against Leaf and Red recognizes where he messed up and apologizes... Which would've been a great jumping off point for a third arc where he can correct those mistakes and give his team a chance at victory...oh wait...it's only two parts to this tournament. Welp With the trend of Neo Champion events being a chance for the rivals to triumph over the protagonist friends, it was really jarring and disheartening to see Blue not get a clear distinct moment to shine against both Red and Leaf (yeah he wins against Leaf in the battle portion, but it's never stated he came in second place to her for the knowledge portion which would've implied that he at least beat Red at something). We come to the end where they announce the Neo champions. Leaf is first and she's praised for having a deep knowledge of Pokemon and true love for them as well. Red is last and he was praised for being able to conquer his team's fears of losing and how sharp they looked, reminding Lance of when Red challenged him. Oak does mildly chide Red for his methods being harsh but it was kind of downplayed.

But Blue gets told his team was solid in both performances so the judges thought he should get the title too. Honestly didn't feel like he was really solid because he made two critical mistakes (that again were supposed to have been ingrained in him after his loss at the Indigo Plateau). Also the praise was more directed at his team having a solid showing but not the one thing I felt like he did really well which was own up to his faults and saw room for improvement. It's an important part of leadership and the fact that was dismissed too was annoying. Again, a third leg of the tournament the writers could've used that strength of his to give him a chance to unequivocally defeat Leaf and Red instead of just being the solid number 2. Yeah it was nice to (finally) see Professor Oak praise Blue to his face, but it honestly felt a little unearned in the sense he didn't feel amazing the way Leaf and Red got to be. It felt more like a participation trophy than him getting to back the claims up that he's made over the story of Pokemas of being a good mentor (and as he said in his sygna suit sync pair story he's supposed to be better at it than Red). So yes, the Kantrio get to all be Neo Champions but it felt like this story didn't capture the same level of growth and resolving loose ends the previous two did. Blue failed to triumph, Red kind of got away with harsh training that would've been scolded a bit more harshly otherwise, and Leaf kind of shines in a safe way but not really challenging her skills.

#pokemas #pokemon masters ex #trainer red #trainer leaf #professor oak #champion lance #rival blue #rival green #trainer blue #trainer green

[nolongerapileofashprobably]

What do you think about link and Zelda’s characters?

I wonder if this is specifically Zelda and Link from the Wild Era— I’ll assume so since it is the newest era and I have been primarily focused on Wild Era games recently.

I’ll start with Zelda’s character first— to put it plainly, I love her as a character. She grows and develops despite witnessing literal tragedies and shouldering the weight of a kingdom from birth. Her duty was set forth the moment the prophecy came to light and she was put at a disadvantage when her mother died.

If we remember, Zelda didn’t cry at her mother’s funeral. We know from the game that Zelda is quite an emotional character, so her putting on a front of placing so much on herself at such a young age is something that breaks my heart. But to see how she grows as a person, how she overcomes that emotional blockage through sheer love, how she handles the wreckage of the Calamity, how she develops as a leader, to finally how she becomes a Queen is by far the most powerful and beautiful Zelda character arc in the series. She is so beloved in my heart that I cannot formulate the words to describe those emotions, though I desperately try.

There is no Zelda in the entire series that I adore and cherish more than her (and I’ve played nearly all the games). She’s on another level of development and complexity that it truly hurts to see people completely warp her personality and her actions to justify a false narrative.

Her character is incredibly strong, not just magically, but in terms of actual character design, development, and the execution of her story. She has her flaws, and we actively see her work on them and course correct when she can. That is something so mature and important (and I don’t think people give her enough credit for that). I genuinely don’t have many critiques of her character, as I was genuinely happy with her through the entirety of the story.

Link on the other hand… I do love him. I do. Link is a strong character physically, but his development is incredibly scarce compared to Zelda. His character suffers from Nintendo’s choice to essentially make Link a ‘link to the player’ rather than his own person. With a story that incites powerful emotional responses when players cannot refuse that Zelda and Link 1) are incredibly close/bonded, probably lowkey codependent 2) have not left each other’s side since they were reunited and finally that they are 3) probably romantically involved, or something akin to transcending just a simple friendship, it’s difficult to ensure that experience when all of that is lost on those who decide that it isn’t true.

Mind you, everything I listed above are simple and straightforward interpretations of in-game evidence. And we do see a lot more from Link’s character this game with small gasps and micro expressions (that should NOT be ignored). But for those who do not agree with the above, it’s likely they disliked the story. That’s okay, not everyone will like the story. But a lot of it stems from this vagueness Nintendo established for Link’s character.

He was a kid beating soldiers in the guard, trained in Zora’s Domain, continued training, got the Master Sword when he was a preteen, had the weight of a prophecy placed on him as the first piece besides Zelda, and then became a Champion and Zelda’s Knight Attended by the age of 16/17. Homeboy did have a lot of trauma and stress at an early age that did cause selective muteness and for him to create this stoic mask. We see that he is much less stoic and more talkative after the Calamity and after, but it’s all relative to what the player wants/feels. Sometimes that contradicts what the story itself implies/tells players.

Link is… wasted potential as a character. He could have 100% been more than what we were given to see. I have crafted my own version of him that to me, is as close as canon as I could get, but that won’t be the same for anyone else. Link is precisely what Nintendo wanted him to be and he serves that purpose perfectly.

And it works, but it could have been executed a bit better by confirming things regarding his character rather than leaving breadcrumbs for players to follow if they decided to.

So yeah. Zelda is amazing and I love her. Link could have been executed better but for what we got, I still love him too and extracted enough to formulate as close to canon interpretation without being overly biased (at least I tried).

#I just love my little scholar and her guard dog boyfriend #I just think they’re neat #botw Zelda #botw link #botw zelink #totk zelda #totk link #totk zelink #zelink #loz totk #loz botw #totk Spoilers #botw #the legend of zelda #link botw #zelda botw #loz tears of the kingdom spoilers #the legend of zelda breath of the wild

[nativehueofresolution]

marius justifies his decision to groom armand for vampirism by basically saying armand was doomed before he met marius, so then anything marius did to him could only be a form of salvation. compare his agonizing over turning bianca to the plans he hatched for grooming armand over years for his role.

when thinking about why it's acceptable to do this to armand and not bianca or botticelli (lol), marius tells himself there's no loss here- armand was already marked for slaughter, a 'child utterly lost to life who could be reclaimed specifically for the blood'.

yet, he also seems very taken with the idea that armand is angelic and innocent - someone he mold into his brand of killer, unlike bianca, who was already a murderer.

he romanticizes armand's starvation and poor health to make him the picture of an innocent child, and the fact he's enslaved means marius can pretend he's rescuing him. he even toys with the idea that armand could 'earn' his freedom and leave if he was good enough, though he is at least self aware enough to admit he wouldn't have actually done it. he has poor enough circumstances marius can tell his conscience he's giving armand a better life and yet is enough of a blank slate that marius can mold him into his idea of a perfect companion.

and he expects this lack of ties and familiarity with death will make armand detached from humanity, perfectly set him up for vampire life. but it doesn't, not how marius wants. when armand reunites with his family and is deeply moved, marius is taken aback, and seems disturbed armand has a difficult time parting with them.

he becomes obsessively jealous of armand's father, admitting he expected armand to "look upon his family with detachment" and didn't know how to handle the fact that his power and wealth somehow did not outweigh familial attachment. the idea that armand loves his father more than him eats away at marius, though it soothes his ego some that armand never tries to leave despite his melancholy.

still when they return, marius scraps his plans of taking armand to see akasha and enkil. he needs to be 'more advanced', 'more wise', and 'more nearly perfected'. he begins to doubt armand is taking in his lessons on philosophy and civilization and instead muses that it might take centuries for armand to reach the level of detachment from humanity marius would like to see. and when bianca admits armand confided in her about the secrets of vampirism, he 'trembles with rage' - even though the fact she knows is what allows bianca to save marius's life!

ironically, armand does become incredibly detached from humanity when he's with the children of satan, but then marius feels he's too detached because he no longer feeds on the evil doer.

like armand truly can't win with marius. he's too attached and not worthy of meeting akasha because he still misses his family and is too involved with humanity. ok, now he's too detached and has no concern for human life, so he's a lost cause not worth saving. it fits with the way marius constantly describes armand as either a saintly angel or a perfect devil, never a person. he completely wrote off armand, but somehow decided, without meeting him, lestat (!!) has proven himself enough for marius to spill all his secrets to.

but the real kicker is that, while the whole 'just kill only bad people!' light yagami logic is never thoroughly interrogated in the series, the one who comes the closest to offering a critique... is marius! and he tells it to armand!! after the banquet slaughter, armand, looking for reassurance after the massacre he just witnessed, asks marius if all the people he killed were evil. and marius basically says 'i'd say so, but who am i to judge? it's all just justifications for my appetitie' and then points out that bianca could be called evil (and let's remember he did threaten her in front of armand earlier that evening and armand threatened to commit suicide if marius followed through and killed her!). indeed, she fits the bill of the 'evil doers' he normally kills, having murdered multiple people. but he spares her because he likes her. and yet... no reflection from marius, no consideration of how telling armand one of the people dearest to him could be called evil might create a disconnect. none of this humility when he is leaving armand to centuries of misery in the cult that indoctrinated. it's the same thing marius himself said - his moral judgments are really just pretenses for him to excuse his tastes, and he decided armand was no longer to his.

#the vampire armand #iwtv #kaitlin speaks

[civettictis]

spare some thoughts on hi part 2 ?

tldr; Mostly concerned! Trying to be optimistic.

I'll start off with the new UI (user interface) because it's probably the easiest to discuss. The Ui pretty much just lost a lot of personality. Sure, it fits with the game's aesthetic (in some ways), but it's lost most of its charm. While the old UI looks somewhat outdated, I think the current (to-be old) UI of hi3 feels very personal and unique. I suppose it's unfair of me to have previously wanted the UI updated and be this whiny about it actually being updated though. To be fair, many changes may take place about the new UI, especially with how the community has been critiquing it, so I'm hopeful they'll take valid critiques to heart and adjust it to not just melt into another generic rpg gacha design.

My biggest quarrel would be with the way characters are displayed, but as for the way they changed the interference for the story selection and all of that, I like it. It's not *too* different, and it looks clean (albeit dull in colour)

Now, the thing I find myself the most concerned with would be the Part 2 story. The characters, the setting, and the aesthetics. For starters, the MC... I think she's very pretty. However, I really dislike the sort of nameless "self-insert" main characters. I think it's a boring cop-out, and it takes away from a lot of the overall story immersion (ironically enough). Kiana, from the very beginning, had a very strong personality, and the way her story progressed would be near impossible to accomplish effectively with a self-insert MC (taking how they've written self-insert MCs before with Genshin, HSR, APHO into consideration) It's a lot more challenging to write a compelling storyline with consistent immersion if the main character, the core of the story, lacks some sort of "self". I'm absolutely not saying it's impossible, but I can't say I'm especially optimistic about the Part 2 MC with how it's looking right now.

The overall character designs for part 2 are a bit of a far cry from the part 1 ones, especially the ones for the most recent arcs. However, this is not an especially bad thing. While it's different, I think it's good that they're straying away from having too similar character designs like the last Herrschers of part 1 (even if it makes some sense story-wise.) I don't especially love the new character designs (except for the female MC. Again, I find her very pretty (even if she looks a lot more like a HSR design). But that's unrelated and doesn't really take away from my point lol). They feel a little too out of place with the established aesthetics of HI3, and even though it is nice to have some separation from the part 1 and part 2 designs, they should keep it similar enough to be recognized as a HI3 design.

Overall, with the designs and aesthetics, it seems that they are going for a do-over for the entire game instead of creating something new as a continuation of what's already there. There's too much left unsaid or unused from part 1 that I feel that it is justified that they move on entirely (even if there appears to be a few references to part 1 in part 2, with Einstein's adopted child, as well as speculated Elysia connections to Part 2 characters iirc)

While the majority of Part 2 is pure speculation currently, I just hope that they don't neglect Part 1's story and characters like I suspect they might. I hope they use what's already there, and refrain from making HI3's lore so much more convoluted than it has to be, merely for the sake of moving on from what nearly no one in the community wished to move on from entirely.

Continuing a little with my worries for the plot, I worry they may dilute the intensity of the plot by a lot, or neglect the writing a bit. I myself find that one of the most, if not the most important parts of HI3 for me is the story, so the thought of it turning generic concerns me. I do feel like the recent chapters have been a little lackluster in comparison to chapters like Thunders over Nagazora or Set Tomorrow Ablaze, but that may just be personal preference, and i do enjoy that they have been reincluding characters like Schrodinger!!!!!!, Shigure Kira and Niggurath. Honestly, if they do go in the direction that they neglect Part 1 for the most part, it feels like an awful choice considering the buildup they've done with all of these reintroductions, as well as the major exposition they've done for the Sea of Quanta. With one of the quotes from the Part 2 teaser, I worry they won't make the story "gritty" at all. Honestly, something I adore about the HI3 story is just how dark it can get, and if anything, I hope they don't hold back in Part 2. It feels like the story has been getting a little lighter in that sense recently, and I feel as if it takes away a bit of the intensity in the story, as well as the stakes or even consequences.

With the way hoyoverse has been updating games recently, it seems that if one thing in one of their games sticks, they feel the need to apply it to their other games, even if the change is unnecessary. While this has brought some good changes to the games, with HI3 Part 2, it feels like they're only trying to cater to individuals who don't play HI3, but play HSR or any other of the newer HYV games. Biggest worry about this point: they'll go back to pushing Hi3 to be Open World. (Although that is very unlikely with how much the Hi3 community has critiqued previous open world gameplay in Hi3)

In general, I just really hope HI3 puts effort and love into the Part 2 story, characters and world. I pray that I am to be proven wrong in most of my concerns, and that speculation will remain speculation, and that my worries will be near nullified once Part 2 is out (over-optimistic thought). Everything I write here is undoubtedly thoughts that will change drastically, or at the very least, a little when there is more information known. I'm having a lot of trouble articulating myself at all with this stuff, but that’s just how it’ll be, I’m afraid. Keep in mind that this is all very subjective, and I'm merely speaking from my own thoughts. Some of which I feel that I didn't manage to express very well.

Anywho! I really like answering, or even just pondering my orb (asks like this) cause I just love Hi3 and thinking about Hi3 and all of that teehee

so likee,,, if people want to ask me more stuff about my interestst, please do

#hi3 please never lose your doomed yuri plots #honkai impact 3rd #hi3 #honkai #incoherent ramblings #long post #ask #civettictis ask tag #erm #what the scallop

[infamous-if]

Hello hello! I just wanted to say im super excited for this game to the point im already knee deep in brainstorming Seven/MC lore (and a playlist for them ALREADYY I’m unwell) and general backstory for my MCAkshsjshsjd 🙈i have to say I’m not sure what the critique is about regarding Seven, personally?? If you understand the industry even a little bit (any industry that’s highly competitive and talent-based where there’s lots of opportunity for jealousy and animosity to build) I don’t think Seven’s reasoning for leaving the band/ending the relationship is that alarming. Considering their closeness to MC and it feeling like a betrayal after everything they’d been through. They literally grew up together and it was their dream. MC and Seven against the world 😭Especially adding that I imagine my no-chill MC said something REALLY shitty to them in the heat of the moment that was kind of the thing that made them go “fuck it, I’m done” and MC regretting it ever since but still feeling justified in their overall message of “I will not lose because you can’t win” (shoutout to my fellow reformed musical theatre kids with that line)

Anyway all that to say I DO have a question: does Seven check in on MC via social media? Not necessarily follow them but just check their Insta or tiktok or whatever to see what they’re up to/what they’re doing? Or can they resist?

AND since im lost in the Backstory Sauce: how was Seven’s home life growing up?

Thank you! and I totally agree. MC and Seven had plans of world domination together. Seven would have never predicted they'd be doing this apart.

Seven sees MC on any social media and quickly scrolls away for their own sanity lol (but they do take peeks here and there.) Seven isn't very social media orientated in general. They hate searching themselves or anyone up.

That was my intention! I want them to be complex and complicated like real people are. and thank you so much, i'm glad you like them!

#inbox #seven lawless #interactive fiction #queued

[sethmacenzie]

So I've said my part about ofmd season 2s finale and that I didn't even care anymore that my favourite character died, but the show had such an insane decline from season 1 to season 2 it was simply not as enjoyable for the entire time.

So here's a quick critique of open issues that stuck with me:

-they killed Ivan off-screen and he's only mentioned once in passing, no one cares or questions where he is when they meet again, they were fine with Izzy there, but didn't even bother asking about a crew member they were much closer with -Buttons turned into a seagull (which I didn't think was bad) and it's only questioned once by Roach and then never again brought up, and Roach asks if Ed didn't simply kill him and it's just ignored -Ed doesn't really become part of the crew, he doesn't pay up for what he did and why is Izzys deathbed apology more sincere than Ed's non apology about Izzys leg? He doesn't deserve to come back at all, because he doesn't do anything to earn it. He spends a day with Fang and that counts for the whole crew, Fang who isn't even angry at him -Izzy actually earns his place within the crew and still has to apologize to Ed, his worst abuser. Sure Izzy was part of the problem with Blackbeard, but in no way does it justify what Ed did to him (and everyone else while he was Captain of the Revenge) -remember last season when Ed made it clear that he only ever killed one person, and then in the finale he coldly pushed Lucius over and it was therefore a big deal? Yeah Ed just randomly kills like it's nothing now, and "go back to what you were good at", it wasn't killing, Ed was never good at killing

-they barely paid attention to the non ships aside from Izzy and it sucks. We had such a wonderful balance in season 1 of crew live, that we got to love them all, we didn't have any of that in season 2, it's so plain when you look at Archie, she just didn't get what her crewmates got to the point you don't care about her all that much -speaking of Archie, that relationship something with Olo, JIm, Archie and Zhang Yi Sao was a mess, they sank of the biggest relationships from season 1, which had such a well done ark in the first episodes, and many, myself included thought we might get a poly relationship, but we didn't, we got the mess we had. We had a well developed relationship that took an entire season to build and it got removed during the first three episodes in favour of two new underdeveloped characters getting with them in no time

-I know we are not historically accurate and don't bother too much with it, but Zheng Yi Sao is the most powerful female pirate in history and they nerved her for nothing, I did like how Richard got rid of her fleet, but they should have used someone else than a pirate known for dying peacefully because she got so powerful she made a deal

-the pacing was obviously bad, and I want to give them as much nicety about it as possible, but Owl House got cut from an entire season to three episodes and they still manged to nail it, ofmd lost 2 episodes and it doesn't excuse this pacing

-honestly Izzys redemption ark was rushed, just so he could be killed off, it was too much, too fast. I do love the first few episodes of him, but doing drag was a bit far fetched for episode 6, but it's a small complain, loved the singinig and dancing

-"bottle it up" is the new solution to problems, after "talk it through as a crew" from season 1. Lucius, Frenchie and Izzy just bottle everything up and nothing bad comes of it, we're supposed to believe that's a good thing? -everyone knows Stede is alive, Mary relies on him being dead and it's never brought up or important whatsoever

-this season feels like there aren't proper consequences, Ed can leave and come back and it's fine, Buttons can turn into a seagull and no one cares, Auntie gets blown up with the fleet and survives, people get stabbed multiple times and survive, but Izzy gets shot and dies, it's all over the place -there is always the whole: we have a suicidal character, they try to kill themselves, they fail, they get over their depression, they finally get happy, and we kill them off just after they found happyness. It sucks as a trope, it gives every last person that is suicidal the feeling that being happy is not worth it, because you're going to die anyway and well, maybe don't have the characer that tried to kill himself this season a line about wanting to go and in the same episode that had "it's only suicide if we die", it's tasteless at best and ill-intended at worst

-Roach is in the main cast now, but I swear he had more scenes in season 1 than seaosn 2

-having a tiny funeral scene and bam wedding, like there was no decent emotional impact on either of these moments, any why would they bury him without his leg or ring?

-Stede has a panic moment when he kills Ned and it seems like that's why he and Ed slept togeher, but it's not brought up that killing is still an issue

To end it on a few positive notes, I liked -Swede becomes Jackies husband and Roach going Mrs Bettet about the whole thing -most of the first three episodes in general -Buttons turning into a seagull and being recognized as a seawitch -having more historical figures -Auntie -Susan (mostly) aside from the issue I brought up -Wee John getting into knitting -Izzy sining and dancing -the entire leg arch of Izzy -pretty much all Izzy/Stede interactions -Frenchie sceming again and the rest all going with it -indigo! -everyones new looks -Fang going fishing and his and Roachs spa day -the after credit scenes -Ed freaking out because Stede moved too fast -Stede having a killing flashback when killing Ned Low -Spanish Jackie in general, but especially poisoning everyone and getting Swede a new look -Richard as the main antagonist -Clocks -Stede getting Hellcat Maggie and the to mutiny -the entire cast was amazing

And I shouldn't have to say this, but: don't harass people over this, critiquing is fine, threats are not. And no it's not bury your gays, everyone here is gay and that is not one of the issues this season had.

#ofmd #ofmd season 2 #ofmd spoilers #critique

[violexides]

there have been a few times on this website where i’m torn between making a post about an actively discussed issue while people’s opinions are still forming on it, and waiting a few months to let the information marinate and then talking about it when people are done frothing at the mouths. but the decision has been called: you all have HORRIBLE takes on oceangate. 

in my opinion i think the large swarth of discussion and criticism levied against oceangate and the people lost in the tragedy are falling into the same pit that we are attempting to criticize. which i’m enabling here and i apologize but: the fixation on oceangate, and rather the callousness people are treating the deaths of the billionaires, isn’t the anticapitalist critique you think it is. because this isn’t about the billionaires (not to mention that to my understanding they were not... all billionaires on the vessel) themselves; it’s about the attention their status levied, and it’s about the structure of the ship itself and why it fucking failed. if you’re critiquing the capitalism of the situation, you’re talking about the framework of the media spotlight it’s been put under (why is oceangate discussed more than the boat of refugees, should these events be comparable, should we be romanticizing these deaths) and the lack of precision that the constructor of the ship put into the ship-- because it was an act out of profit. while it’s tempting and in all honesty partially justified to take this as a “fuck the billionaires, i hope their next ship sinks too”, it objectively was not the billionaire who made the ship sink, and it could have been ANYONE-- an example being a researcher, or a historian, or someone malinformed by the corporation that made the ship-- on that ship. would it have garnered the same media attention, and would we actually be able to criticize the right things? who knows. 

this could be a hasty or controversial opinion of my own, and i recognize that. but i think it’s important to separate the emotional aspects of anticapitalist critique with the rational aspects-- neither are bad, neither should be vilified. activism needs initial outrage; i apologize if this deprives you of that. you are right to be outraged at how billionaires are able to do such things. and personally, as a second generation child of immigrants, there are no words for the rage i feel at how little attention internationally is being given to the boat of migrants compared to this stupid fucking billionaire (which, too, can be dissected rationally, but an example of the emotional component). but if you’re going to meaningfully learn a single damn thing from this circumstance, and what this means for the state of technology right now-- you’re going to want to drop this performative callousness and actually treat this like a tragedy, which it is. 

(and to pull out the second-generation iraqi card again: this is just like how you fuckers treat 9/11, claiming that you understand the trauma its aftermath dealt while you prance around in these false skins of being the oppressed arab-american, and use this costume to treat the deaths of those to 9/11 like they were just puppets (unsurprising, you leftists and anticapitalists treat arabs and muslims themselves like objects and monsters, when the dime is right, because some of you never meaningfully internalized that treating people with humanity is punk, is anticapitalist, is leftist). it’s all the same. you’re hopepunk until there’s a scapegoat, a pretty billionaire obscuring the corporation that stole his life and the lift of others.)

of course, you don’t have to make this a critique. you can do whatever the fuck you want, as far as i’m concerned, and you could just be in this for the memes. but if you’re doing that, reconsider whether or not this is going to be an activist venture for you. because the way y’all are trying to play this both ways is fucking embarrassing. 

#ides.txt #okay to reblog #oceangate #throwing myself into the tags. fucking scared. #by the way i know some people are unfollowing and shit because of people's opinions #i'm not doing that. i don't really fucking care #i havent' blocked the tag for a reason #but christ. are we false liberals now for not wanting people to horribly die #i admit it guys. i a person who has done activism work for going on four years now. i am a false liberal. so sorry.

[horseshoe-bay-ledger]

Stasis

I was bored. I wrote this. It’s something. It’s also not the requests sitting in my ask box so sorry once again to those who have left them. 

Essentially we’re in Curse Era but Ace shows up at Nancy’s door injured.

———

“Ace?”

There was panic in Nancy’s voice, the same that always came when she knew Ace was in danger or could possibly be hurt.

Except this time that possibility was very real and right in front of her. The physical proof stood in the entryway, leaning uncomfortably against a dooway and bleeding from a cut above his right eye.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Ace promised.

He was still trying to reassure her even as he bleed onto her floor.

“Ace,” she sighed, as an admonishment almost. He was downplaying it because of course he was, it was Ace she was dealing with after all.

He seemed to take it as a critique of his presence there instead, though—like she was at all worried about him bothering her.

“I know. I’m sorry. I thought it would be maybe Carson and, um, or Ryan here.”

“No, just me,” she explained quietly.

Ace looked at her with an expression of unsureness to the point that he almost looked contrite. The wrongness of it echoed throughout her very being. She could feel herself frowning. It was the exact opposite of what they were and she could only really blame herself. It was an awful decision to be made, but in the end it was her who had made it.

He seemed to take her continued silence as an ostracisation rather than a lamentation of circumstance. That was another thing she could probably blame herself for—making him doubt how he understood her, what he saw when he looked through her eyes.

“I—I wouldn’t have come it’s just… I lost my keys at—uh, somewhere. Here was the closest. And there’s just no way I could go to my parents’, you know? Not with my dad right now. Not like this,” he waved his arm gesturing to himself. “And—”

He was more concerned about justifying his presence there than the potentially bruised ribs he was maybe carrying. She knew it was her fault he felt like this but it still pierced her heart like like a shard of glass, and the very fact it was her fault actually made that glass even sharper.

Of course he could come here, come to her, for help.

“Ace,” Nancy said one more time, decisively to cut off his unneeded apology. “Come in. You know your way round. You can stay here tonight but we need to clean you up first.”

She turned, hugging the door so he could pass. And he did—just very slowly. Not a good sign. All she wanted to do was reach out and help him. She settled for supporting his elbow a few steps.

“I’m okay,” Ace lied.

“Hmm.”

“I promise.”

“I know you, Mr. I’m Okay. I know you’re alright no matter what but that doesn’t mean you always have to be okay.”

She was telling him something about herself.

“C’mon. Kitchen stool’s probably best. I’ll run upstairs and grab the first-aid kit.”

She made her way hastily up the stairs and once she’d pulled the kit out from under the sink she took the briefest of moments to herself. She clutched the basin with her hands and let gravity take the weight of her head if just for a second. Then she drew herself up, wiped her face with her hands and took a deep breath. She made eye contact with herself in the mirror and did her best to muster some semblance of a brave face.

As she glided back down the stairs she saw that Ace had uncomfortably settled on one of the kitchen stools. Without looking at him directly she put the first-aid kit on the kitchen island with a loud thunk and opened it dramatically.

“Quite the extensive first-aid kit,” Ace commented.

Nancy hummed in agreement.

“I was a troublesome child,” she replied.

“I don’t doubt it.”

Her eyes flicked to his then. The look they shared was loaded and utterly unconnected to the words they were saying.

There was a long stretch of silence as Nancy tended to his (visible) wounds. Ace was trying to be stoic but she saw the slightest scrunch of his nose when something stung or hurt. She hated to admit she felt every single thing along with him. Awful thing to have your heart exist outside of your body.

She didn’t like she was adding to his pain either, even if it was helping him. There was some broader metaphor there but she was too emotionally exhausted to pay too much attention to it.

He was right though, it wasn’t as bad as it looked. He had that going for him at least.

“So,” Nancy said eventually, not as a beginning of a sentence but as a full sentence.

Ace only raised his eyebrows in response to her raised eyebrows so she decided to make the conversation, if you could call it that, more productive.

“You going to tell me what happened?” she prompted.

Ace just sighed, considering.

“Had a thing. Dug a bit too deep,” he said. “Some people didn’t like what I found.”

“Ah,” said Nancy. “The Nancy Drew Special.”

She granted him some time away from her probing questions, but they both knew that she wouldn’t drop it forever. He had known that when he said it but he had been asking for some time, a moment, some room to breathe—so she relented.

“You don’t have to do it on your own, you know,” she said after a beat.

“I know, I was going to call but…” he paused. Nancy knew exactly what the ‘but’ was about.

“Right,” she said, pausing. “Well, next time I’d still rather you call.”

Ace nodded.

“Noted,” he replied kindly. “Thanks.”

She gave him a tight smile and went back to work. She felt the weight of his gaze on her as she did.

Once she was done fixing his face up best she could she surveyed him. His face looked much better but he was still sitting awkwardly.

“I need to look at your side.”

“W—why?”

“Because I can tell by the way you’re leaning something’s wrong,” Nancy explained. “Can I please just have a look at least, I’ll be gentle.”

Ace gave her a discerning and somewhat disbelieving eye.

“Okay,” she conceded. “As gentle as I can be. Can I?”

She ran her fingers lightly along the hem of his shirt. His face hardened briefly before he quickly schooled his expression and nodded shortly so Nancy pulled up his shirt to see.

She poked around, but gently as she promised. She rode every wince with him, hating it all the way.

She pulled her head back after her examination. But her hands remained where they were. They feathered lightly over his side now, barely touching him and not with enough pressure to hurt. It was almost instinctive and she couldn’t help herself.

She needed to stop.

He blinked quickly and she thought she heard a stutter in his breath.

“I, uh,” Nancy tried, swallowing thickly. She hadn’t fully registered—or allowed herself to register—until just now how close he was and she was beginning to feel unsteady, a little heady.

She could not be distracted.

She would not be distracted.

Her mouth was slightly open now, she was probably going to say something but she had no idea what it would be, if it was anything at all.

Why was he looking at her like that?

She wanted him to stop but, also, she never wanted him to stop.

They both looked down at her fingers still traitorously tracing thoughtless shapes along his skin.

“I don’t think your ribs are bruised or broken,” she said more composed than she felt but barely above a whisper. It was easier now he wasn’t looking directly at her. But only marginally. “You’ll probably have a nasty bruise but there’s, um, not a lot to be done. I can grab you an ice pack or something.”

“Uh-huh,” Ace said, far off. He brought his hand up and grazed it along her wrist, cradling it in.

His fingers were barely touching her skin but she felt goosebumps in their wake. That was to say nothing of what it did to her heart. It felt like it was about to explode even with the most inane of touches.

His head was still bent, silently looking down at his right side—their hands. They were so close she could feel his hair brush gently at her forehead. She didn’t know if she had forgotten how to breath or whether she just unable to in this moment. Ace had stolen that away from her with just an index finger. She felt utterly and overwhelmingly entranced.

She should have left immediately—gone and got an ice pack freezer but instead she continued to stand in in place. Her feet, too, had turned traitors it seemed. What had happened to her will power? But she knew what happened: Ace had eroded it without even really trying.

If they just stayed like this, though, that would be alright. She could look at the nook of Ace’s elbow and want to push her thumb into it. She could think of doing the same to the crease now between his eyebrows. She could think about kissing him until neither of them could breathe, and then just a little bit more. She could do all of that and it would still be alright. No harm done. No fatal curses triggered. But then he had to go and look at her again.

And everything came undone. All her resolve, all the work she had done these past weeks to avoid him, everything. Her ears were ringing and the only sound she could make out now was that of her thundering heartbeat and Ace’s uneven breathing. Or maybe that was her uneven breathing—it was hard to tell.

They had a silent, one-second conversation that lasted a lifetime.

Then she saw the glint in his eye, and she knew the moment he decided he was going to lean forward and cross a threshold that could not be uncrossed.

Something screamed out a warning from deep within her and, suddenly, it was like someone had dumped a bucket of water over her head.

It took everything in her, but she pulled back. For him. Anything, even this. Even hurting him to help him.

She cleared her throat loudly. Ace was startled into refocusing on her abrupt re-routing of the moment. She could see him clock it, recover from it and put it away so he could dissect it later. For just a second she wished they weren’t so similar.

“I need to, uh,” she was quickly forgetting how words worked. She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Ice pack.”

When she came back with a bag of peas (it was all they had), she did her best to be as even and perfunctory as possible.

“I’ll bring a mattress down so you’re more comfortable and you don’t have to go upstairs,” Nancy said. “I can sleep on the couch.”

Ace’s throat bobbled and he looked like he was going to confront her. It was nothing but misplaced hope on her part that made her feel like there was even a possibility of avoiding that. How could she have made such a disastrous misstep? How would she parry this one?

She felt herself subtly pleading at him with her eyes. Desperately trying to reach out from behind the façade she once again had to put up.

She saw his expression change as he looked at her and his mind deviate at the last second. He knew her too well for his own good. She let out the breath she had been holding.

She knew that it was only a stay of execution. They were too much alike for him to be able to drop it entirely. She just hoped it could be delayed for as long as possible until she could figure something else out.

So he chose something else to argue with her about.

“I’m okay on the couch,” he insisted. “I’ve disrupted your night enough already.”

Nancy just shook her head and he relented. Normally he would keep insisting and end up taking the couch but he looked… tired. He probably figured out that she didn’t have the bandwidth to fight him on it either. Not after they had reached some sort of multifaceted truce on confrontation.

She went about setting them up for the night. Ace kept trying to help to the point where she literally had to slap him away at one stage.

“What’s the point of me doing this if you’re just going to hurt yourself more?” she’d said, buried under an armful of blankets and pillows.

“You wouldn’t have to carry so much,” he said simply.

He was telling her something about himself.

“Sit there and drink your tea. It’s some fancy brand Ryan bought and he’d be mad if you wasted it.”

That seemed to finally strike a chord with him and he sat back down.

In all honestly, she could’ve taken one of her dad’s beds but she wanted to be near so she could be sure Ace was okay (that was what she told herself anyway). It hadn’t passed by her notice that he could definitely have picked the locks at his own place but they’d deal with wherever Florence was tomorrow. And the fact Ace probably needed to see a doctor.

They just needed to get through the night.

“Ace,” she whispered into the dark. “If you snore I will kick you out.”

There was a moment that all her anxieties threatened to rush up and fill but then…

“Fair,” he replied sleepily.

It was quiet after that but Nancy knew it would be short lived. She found that, not for the first time, she was somewhat dreading her morning coffee.

#mediocre at best #my sweet spot #it’s a little cliche I know but here we are #probably typos galore #I’m once again putting out drafts as final versions #I’m at that stage in my life I guess #nancy drew #nancy x ace #nace #ace [redacted] #ace x nancy #nace fic #ndcw #cw nancy drew #nancy drew cw

[wambs]

Bfmfjfnfj for REAL like. I think part of it is bc Shiv took a really huge blow with Logan's death so everyone's like how can Tom be an asshole now of all times. But here's the thing. Her dad dying doesn't erase the shit she put Tom through, which is more than just cheating on him (already horrible), and it irks me so much that they downplay Shiv's abuse towards him. Like yes he's an asshole and selfish, but you don't need to pretend like Shiv has done nothing wrong to justify your anger. Like. Shiv's abuse is so layered and constant especially during the first season, practically every scene between the two she's dismissive and mocking with him. And it's not like we're saying Tom isn't equally fucked up in how he behaves with her especially in how he's so pushy about getting her pregnant. And that's the thing, they're both horrible towards each other and we don't need to water these characters down to Victim Woman and Evil Man to enjoy them. Please stop!!!! Also I feel like people jump to Shiv's defense over made up arguments from made up people??? At least here on tumblr I've never seen the "tomgregs who hate Shiv" everyone's always whining about. At most I see posts saying she's not perfect and then people complaining about sexism in fandom LOL. Also also, last ep with the ear flick scene made a lot of people uncomfortable and rightfully so imo, it was meant to, but the virtue signaling is getting a bit too much gjmdjdk and equating an ear flick with domestic violence is a BIT fucked up in my opinion.

In any case I hope the writers aren't planning on escalating this and that it was meant to read as Tom just reacting to Shiv not backing off, bc if they take the Tom-Logan parallels to the extreme I might have to check out lol. I'm scared bc they have shown us Tom's violent side with Greg, and with the dynamics shifting... Idk.

This is going to get me cancelled for sure but fuck it, right?

I like Shiv, but only when she is without Tom? They are just fucking terrible with each other. Shiv uses her sexuality as a weapon, or perhaps a tool to hurt Tom. Perpetually. With cheating, with the open marriage, and trying tom to participate in it, etc., in early season one and late season three by hurting him during sex the first physically, the other mentally. I don’t think it as refreshing and ground-breaking or even entertaining as some fans, but hey, to each their own, tomgreg also has mental and physical abuse in there, to some extent.

I don’t want to defend Tom in anyway, because you are right, he is no saint, but we talk used (before season 4) talk about the pyramid of abuse in succ, where Logan’s abuse of his children was getting passed on to other people via his children, and just how fucked up that was, and how this needs to change, why are we suddenly so against Tom calling Shiv out on her insecurities and pointing out he has been hurt by Shiv? It’s true? Yes, she has just lost her father, but you are right, their issues started way before that.

To me, the ear flick was did not equal to domestic abuse but stayed on the same level of childishness as Shiv relentlessly trying to step on his shoes because she was feeling bad for herself. Tom deciding to take direct action against the source instead of this usual move of weathering through abuse and then taking it out on Greg in most insane ways imaginable is, at least to me, quite interesting. We don’t talk about it and what it might mean enough.

The fandom seeing any critique directed at a female character and saying it borders on fans being sexist is nothing new, but it is worrying here, where, textually, the point of this character is to be flawed and fucked up? We joke about them all being our poor little meow meows but surely critical thinking has not been lost along the way? The whole point of this show is to question how much of the kid’s actions can be blamed on Logan, and how much of it is the kid’s fault. If we decided everything is Logan’s fault, then the kids are nothing but his reflections, his agency in the world, with no autonomy, all of their actions can be traced back to Logan.

I am not sure I enjoy this season at all, which is super odd, because we are now halfway done? The writers did say we will get to find out if tomshiv were ever anything real in the second art of the season, which is good because my POV on this changes daily. Yeah, Tom used his relationship with Shiv to breeze through the ranks, but he also seemed genuinely in love and therefore hurt by Shiv’s actions too? Yes, Shiv has been historically abusive, cold, and dismissive, but she seems to care about Tom from time to time. But is it enough? Idk.

#thank you #anonymous #answered #i am not tagging it as anything else #if you read it and dont like it just block me please

[clonerightsagenda]

So - I promised my full take on Within the Wires, and here it is.

First of all, Night Vale Presents continues to be very good at shorter, self-contained stories. WTNV lost me because it just got too long and formless for my tastes - which is fine if that's your jam! but it's not mine - but Alice isn't Dead was a good length for me, and these ten episode standalone seasons really allow them to tell a tight story without wearing out their welcome.

I love the use of the audio medium. WtW started back near the start of the audio drama renaissance when everyone was justifying the medium, and they do a great job - relaxation cassettes, voicemails, audio guides, memos, etc. Nothing else bowled me over quite as much as episode 9 of season 1 in the way it broke down the barriers between speaker and listener, but I really enjoyed the choices made.

I guess I have to accept that the Society is just a weird dystopia concept created to let these stories happen, because it doesn't really make sense. Sure, authoritarian societies don't always make sense or tell the truth about their motives, but family as the primary driver of discord between humans? It seems like the Reckoning started as WWI and then kept rolling, and most of the soldiers in WWI were not fighting each other because of personal animosity. The Society got rid of parents but kept corporations and politicians - that's rich. It would be reasonable to say the Society saw an opening in that taking over the socialization of new generations allows it to indoctrinate everyone, but I read the tie-in novel and the original designers seemed to genuinely believe family was the root of these issues. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. (Also the novel having a Black woman be the proponent of this theory was a bit odd to me.)

A few other things that pinged me the wrong way - WtW highlights a relationship between women in each season, which is great and probably (alas) why it is not more popular.... except season 3 which highlights a trans man. Wondering what the intended implication is there.

I also noted the issues with Native Americans in an earlier post. Season seven sort of addressed that? On one hand you have the mention of Aboriginal Australians reclaiming part of their land and Aotearoa using the original place names, almost like the Society is being framed as this decolonized paradise, but the season progresses to a critique of how clinically teaching children ripped from their families about their 'culture' in classrooms isn't the same as letting people pass down their heritage, just as a family bakery isn't the same bakery if you're just handing new people the recipes. Still, it's interesting that the past treatment of Indigenous people in the Americas has not come up at all, given the aforementioned similarities to residential schools. It looks like the co-writer is from New Zealand which explains why Māori stuff has come up multiple times, but Jeffrey Cranor is American. (Though, I've noted, has a history of overlooking Native issues.)

Some seasons were stronger than others. Season 6 was definitely my least favorite - didn't feel like it tied in much with any of the others. Overall though, the writing was strong, episode 9 of each season usually punched you in the gut, and I really liked how complex a lot of the characters were. Truly a podcast committed to morally grey women.

Verdict: Compelling characters, emotionally impactful storylines, very clever and interesting use of the audio medium, worldbuilding does not really hold up to close scrutiny but that's ok.

#kat listens to within the wires

[aronarchy]

you're asian. you should understand. do some research into what a tool of imperialism and colonialization and war, what a tool of racial fetishization """sex work"""" is.

Ah. And there it is.

-

You had quite a different tune just three asks ago:

youre 16. women which have been trafficked their entire childhoods, which have been sex slaves, which have been "sex workers" have more a right to speak than you, im sorry but you quite literally dont understand. i am nonwestern. i was poor.

stop with the fucking sex work shit because you think anything else is offensive. its privileged. its privileged western bullshit which is offensive as fuck and speaks over those of us who are Actually impacted by this god damn narrative.

Make up your mind. Am I evil privileged white-adjacent imperialist oppressor or poor fellow victim oppressed uwu femme of color? Ignorant invading outsider or alike comrade who’d understand your struggles? Person Deserving Of A Voice here or person who should shut up about this?

Do you think someone like me with my particular marginalizations and experiences would see your offer as kind generous benevolent helpful education, or as yet another example of the misogynistic and adultist (and racist) paternalism I have been subjected to throughout my life?

Do you think someone like me with my particular marginalizations and experiences am the type to buy into moral panic, to leave behind rigorous examination the moment the buzzwords come out, to cave to sex negativity the moment I am pressured with think of the poor women and think of the children? I’m a freak and a deviant and a degenerate, along with “(C )SA survivor” and “feminist of color.” I feel no loyalty to you and your crowd. I have nothing for the people who wished to tokenize me and then call for my murder the moment I stepped out of the Acceptable sj circle and I have no interest in repetitions of the same argument that has been used trying to justify my and my communities’ extermination (“if you say/do that you are literally offending/harming every single rape survivor”--“rape apologist/enabler” weaponized as a marker of an Immoral person to level violence and abuse against, and not just to indicate someone with specific sets of beliefs that actually enable/support rape)

“You’re Asian. You should understand.”

And then, not one sentence later:

“do some research into what a tool of imperialism and colonialization and war, what a tool of racial fetishization """sex work"""" is.”

Gotta pick one, anon. Asian, so should understand? Or privileged bourgeois white-adjacent westerner, so doesn’t understand, and should do their research?

All of the above which ties fairly well into one of the things I answered to your first ask: SWERFs’ habit of tokenizing the marginalized, treating us all as monoliths, then silencing us if we disagree or don’t fit the narrative, or immediately jumping to a “poor deluded brainwashed lost little lambs” narrative (which they of course are immune to, and can “save” us from), but also going back to tokenization and agreement if they find us useful. “Privileged” and “oppressed,” “imperialist” and “colonized” becoming idpol buzzwords instead of meaningful material class indicators.

I usually do slightly different discourses here; sw crim vs legalization vs decrim hasn’t really been one of my major topics of interest compared to others. I’ve only properly posted about it with my own commentary very few times over the past year, so I’m not exactly sure where this is coming from, but I have several guesses:

- yesterday on fedi I live-tweeted my reactions to a sex-negative TIRF piece I was reading and felt annoyed about. the portions I screenshotted might’ve mentioned sw a few times, though it wasn’t the focus of my critique, but maybe one of you people with a vendetta regarding my discoursing decided to follow me here? wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened

- yesterday, on my alt, I reblogged a post calling out a “transfeminist” for citing Esperanza Fonseca’s SWERF piece to a transfeminist reading list, and calling out her paternalistic sentiments in attempting to speak for Asians and the third world as a westerner (I put in some snarky tags but I didn’t think it would catch much notice)

- several months ago I posted a few quotes from Kate Zen Joy’s pro-decrim Medium essay responding to Esperanza’s, and reblogged it with a long personal rant about some unpleasant dynamics I have observed in swerf discourse and attempts by westerners and sympathizers at discussing Asian/Third World communism (the thing only received one note, a reblog from a friend who has since been suspended)

- on this blog I’ve also reblogged some other callouts of Esperanza and AF3IRM for their carceral proposals regarding prostitution and covert racist transmisogyny, and I reblogged one a few weeks ago with some snarky tag commentary (but no one has put any notes on that one either yet)

- two days ago some radfem decided to spread trafficking conspiracy theories in the notes of a leftist post. I responded, they doubled down and were rude to me, I checked their blog and saw several rightwing posts. I blocked them and posted the interaction to my blog. my post was not tagged with any swerf/radfem tags.

- a few months ago my mutual was arguing with some terfs about sw, and I decided to add my take to a few of the reblogs, and blocked everyone, and shortly after someone decided to traumadump in my inbox in graphic detail complete with adultist insults and other patronizing language, but no one else harassed me beyond that

- earlier this year some terf tagged me to accuse me of hating third-world cis WOC by derailing a post about femicide (I didn’t; it was someone else who’d had this URL before they deleted and I took it), and a lot of terfs reblogged the OG to dunk on the previous aronarchy, but no one else apart from her complained at me directly (apart from another vague anon a few months later)

I’m not even really active in arguing with people on Tumblr at all (anymore). Apart from that I’ve retweeted and posted a few things on Twitter but none of this is much at all compared to the people who devote their entire days and life’s work to defending decrim and arguing with swerfs, many of whom are (T)WOC and/or sex trafficking survivors, I’m really not sure what could’ve warranted or provoked four separate anonymous asks sent to me almost completely out of the blue to harass me. Callout post I haven’t noticed yet? Or just plain stalking? I don’t know.

Again, I challenge you to simply replace “sex work” with “____ work,” “____” for literally anything else, any other occupation, any other form of labor, any other form of labor which involves coercion or exploitation. I ask you to differentiate between “has been used as a tool of,” “has involved,” and “inherently equals/involves/requires.” Keep your rude condescension to yourself. Keep your bold fucking assumptions about my supposed lack of knowledge to yourself. Shut up about my privileged and marginalized demographic traits until you have an accurate map of which is which, and stop treating one like the other.

I would say “do your own research,” but I’m not really sure which recommended readings I would start with--my stance is based off several years of listening to various sex workers’ experiences and opinions here and there, and reading swerf/authcom pieces and interrogating them for their internal inconsistencies and spending time thinking about their arguments and other arguments (I only started actually writing them down very recently). And some things some discoursers/activists I admire have written, but I don’t have many of those saved, and some have been wiped from the internet. Mainly building off a larger theory base of materialism/anti-essentialism, several years of unpleasant experiences regarding radfem spaces and following the flow of their/your arguments to their roots, and a great deal of lived experience regarding christian fundamentalism and purity culture (and things from/for the perspective of someone like me don’t seem to be written down in longform very much at this point in time).

Like--I’m a very tired, very traumatized person, I stopped trying to hold puritan hands a long time ago, I don’t have the time or the spoons to entertain your bullshit and try to talk you through all of our disagreements all while you hurl insults at me, I’m really not interested and I’ve already wasted a lot of time I needed to do other things on writing out surface-level responses to all these today, I would really appreciate if you just fucked off from my blog forever and left me the fuck alone, and all your swerf friends with you.

Get out.

#ask #anon #anon hate #racism cw #swerfs #ageism cw

[rodgersozposting]

TW// Dark & heavy themes, violence in my retelling.

DNI proshitters or proshippers or whatever tf you call yourselves, transphobes homophobes racists I can and Will block whoever I want just go away Hi there! Im Rodgers. They/them

This is my side blog centered around Oz related content, mainly surrounding my own retelling of The Wizard of Oz.

I have yet to read the books, and I have only just recently (as of 2023) started looking into Oz related content and lore. Constructive criticism is encouraged! I don’t know much and I’d love to get advice, corrections, and other such critiques from Oz fans : ) Some context behind my 'retelling' bc i feel like i have to justify why i made the changes i did: Inspo: I got the idea after learning about the Alice in Wonderland retelling my close friend Noah was making and I thought "man that sounds like fun," so I'm trying it with Oz. World Building: All Oz peoples are fae creatures. Munchkins for example are usually brownies as seen in fae folklore tales. Glinda is a fairy, while the other witches are pixies. Plot Breakdown (as simple as I could make it): The story goes a little bit like this and it might be silly but : ( im trying: The Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Lion, and Dorothy are all the four horsemen of the apocalypse but they're not here to bring bad things they're just here to 'stop the wizard' kinda jazz.

Im trying to figure out who all the horsemen are but here’s what I have so far : )

Dorothy: Pestilence (but the only ‘disease’ she brought to the land was hope💖)

Lion: Famine

Scarecrow: Death

Tin woodman: War

The Wizard: Conquest (bc it fits better) Crow (Scarecrow before they lost their memory), is death, and worked alongside the Tin Woodman (who was a knight), who is war. The Lion is famine, and Dorothy is pestilence. Oscar is the Big Bad of the story. He saw the other three horsemen as threats and took action to ensure they didn't have power anymore. Also he’s an evil colonizer.

He stole Crow's memory (brain), hid Crow away from Tin (hear,,, bc they're Gay), and then pretty much pressured Lion into doing his bidding and backing down (courage). Then bam Dorothy comes along and everything is great again thank u that's all.

Pronouns list : )

Tinman: She/her (🏳️‍⚧️transitions throughout the story)

Scarecrow/crow: they/them

Dorothy: she/her

Lion: It/he/they

Glinda: she/her

West: she/her

East: she/they

Wizard: he/him

Ozma: she/her 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️transcoded‼️‼️

#intro post #lore post as well

[briefly-enchanting-coffee]

The Teen Wolf fandom is so divided on how it perceive Stiles lmao, it’s absolutely ridiculous, really. 

On one side, Stiles can do no wrong, he is the best character to ever exist and everything he does is justified.

On the other side, Stiles is the worst person ever, he is abusive, he is a waste of a character. Both sides are very yikes and I think is completely missing the point of some scenes and the theme of the show. 

 Stiles Stilinski is canonically ADHD and I think some of the critiques of his characters are just the slightest bit ableist, but it’s fine. His anger outburst, hyperfocus and erratic behavior are all products of his ADHD and calling his character dangerous, stupid or overdramatic (in some context) is borderline ableist in my opinion. Stiles ADHD is a source of humor and is a very prominent part of why he acts the way he does, Scott references his adderall multiple times so obviously Scott is aware of why Stiles is the way he is lmao. With this context, I want to talk about 5.02, the iconic, “Why can’t you trust anyone?” “Because you trust everyone!” I’ve seen people use this scene to call Stiles abusive and manipulate Scott, which, wow, and also, no. This is one of Stiles most prominent angry outburst, he punches his Jeep in frustration because he feels that Scott is ignoring Stiles warning, warnings that Stiles feels if listened to, would protect the pack. Stiles punches his Jeep and he immediately calms, pain creating focus, but Stiles is the human of the pack and can’t heal quickly. Scott, as Stiles best friend of over a decade, is 1) fully aware of why Stiles reacted the way he did and 2) understands and respects what Stiles is feeling, even if he disagrees. This is why Scott takes his pain and why Stiles lets him. I feel that so many people are so focused on either demonizing one of them and/or justifying the other that the actual relationship that Scott and Stiles have is lost. Scott and Stiles understand each other, you have to after a decade together, and with a relationship that long you 

#teen wolf #stiles stilinski #scott maccall