#I imagine the abridged answer is

[rillils]

how do explain stucky from the moment they met to where they are now (together in each others arms) to my friend who knows nothing about marvel

ohh this is a tough one, honey! i think i've got two options for you:

the short answer:

stucky is a compendium of all the best tropes out there, and i'm sure i'm gonna miss a few:

soulmates? check! star-crossed lovers? check! battle husbands? super check! mutual pining? check! 'and they were roommates'? check! best friends to lovers? check check check! long-lost lover comes back from the dead? fuck yeah, check! temporary amnesia? check! dude in distress trope? check! 'they will always find each other and choose each other in every lifetime'? also check! identity porn? extra check! saved by the power of love? you guessed it: check! slow burn or childhood sweethearts? you decide!!! did they share their first kiss when steve was 16, as per a popular fanon theory? did they only confess their feelings during the war? did they only get together much later, when bucky was healing in wakanda? you can pick literally ANY point in their timeline, and it will still make sense! they're all equally valid! you can even have multiple different headcanons at once, i mean who's gonna stop you??? all you have to do is join in the fun! 💕

the long AF answer, aka:

STEVE & BUCKY'S LOVE STORY, UNABRIDGED SOMEWHAT ABRIDGED, part 1/3

all right, let's set the scene:

imagine two young kids, let's call them steve and bucky. they meet, they immediately take to each other, they become instant besties! and as they grow up together, facing many hardships, their bond deepens. not only are they best friends; they are also each other's family. they take care of each other, and they both know they can always rely on one another in times of need.

when steve's mom (and only remaining relative) passes away, bucky reminds him that he's not as alone in this world as he thinks he is: bucky will always be by his side. bucky will always love him unconditionally, will always be there for him, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer, and he wants steve to know that.

in fact, he asks steve to move in with him, thus offering steve both a literal and a metaphorical home.

and steve says yes!

SO. they are each other's home, they're living together, they're getting by all right. but then war breaks out, and eventually it reaches their little home as well: bucky is drafted, and steve, due to his many health issues, and despite his best intentions, can't follow the boy he loves onto the battlefield.

it's a very difficult time for them both - so much so that they can't even bring themselves to talk about it.

they have no choice but to say goodbye for now, knowing that they might never see each other again. but here's something you might not know yet about steve: he's the most reckless, most stubborn fucker america's ever seen. he's not gonna let this stop him!!! instead, he goes and gets a very sweet, kindly scientist to fucking experiment on him, because screw it, he's going to fight in this war if it's the last thing he does. and that's how he goes from Smol Steeb to Lorge Premium Steeb.

of course, things don't go exactly as he predicted, and steve is made to be the star of a war propaganda-fuelled musical kinda thingie, which he resents (but he looks fucking precious in his costume)

BUT! he does get closer to the actual battlefield. which is where he discovers that bucky has been captured by the enemy (!!!!!!!) and is most likely dead by now. but steve isn't willing to give up so easily! he'll believe bucky's dead when he sees it with his own eyes. so, he embarks on this suicide solo mission in the attempt to get bucky back, even if it means wandering on his own. into enemy territory. where he would be shot. on. sight. with no protection for his dumb ass except for a bunch of theater props!!! but such is the power of love, y'all.

against all odds, steve finds bucky very much still alive! and as soon as bucky recognizes him, even as confused as he is, he pulls out this beautiful, ecstatic, angelic-ass smile, like he's just seen god or he got high on some real good edibles or maybe both idk, like my man here was having a serious Religious Experience™ you guys

and i just wanna say, they could have totally kissed here and it would have made plenty of sense. but that's true of like 90% of their scenes in this franchise, so *shrugs*

ANYWAY steve takes bucky in his arms (well technically yes he does) and brings him to safety, and on their way there, bucky proves once more just how hard he meant that "with you til the end of the line" from before

afterwards, steve is finally given the chance to fight, just like he wanted.

bucky, on the other hand, could very well leave the war behind and go home; but when he learns that steve is staying, he chooses to stay too, and fight by his side. and he tells steve so in this very intimate, softspoken, delightfully suggestive conversation, which can be summed up like this:

and so they walk right back into the heart of the fight, only this time together, as they were always meant to be!

but. during an especially tricky mission, they're surprised by the enemy, and as a result, bucky falls to his death into a deep ravine.

steve is devastated. overwhelmed with guilt, grief and rage, he vows to bring down the people responsible for his loss, even if it costs him his own life.

and um, it kind of does? cost him his own life?

victorious after his last vis-a-vis with The Antagonist™, steve still chooses to sacrifice himself to prevent the catastrophe set into motion by the aforementioned Antagonist™. he's flying a jet over the frosty expanse of the atlantic, and you know, from the outside, you could easily argue that he could try to save himself. if he really wanted to. but with bucky dead, and the people responsible for all this pain, either dead or captured, it seems like all the will to fight is gone from steve; and so he plunges the jet straight into the ocean, and himself with it.

is this the end of their story?, you might ask.

the answer is: of course not!!!! the best is yet to come, babes!!!

EDIT: here is part 2

#stucky just stucky #personal #stucky #yes this is very dumb but dumb is my middle name lmao #i hope the read more works?????????? #are all the pictures even there???? #i'm too tired to check agsdjahkasdjk #sorry it took me a while to reply honey!!!! #i hope you're having a fantastic day!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3 #the silly stucky recap you didn't ask for #rillers scribbles

[ronearoundblindly]

The Dignity of His Choice (abridged ending)

Speedy version of Reflections Part II & III (see previous or series) Steve Rogers x wife!Reader

Alright, this may not be conventional, but I'm crippled by guilt over this story. There are so many elements that hit brutally close to home based on a personal experience this past year (arguably this past decade but whatevs), and so I have sifted through 28 A4-sized pages, front-to back, and 17 smaller pages, front-to back (save one sheet), as well as a typed-up 7k, in hopes of grasping this magical redemption arc that exists in my mind and falls flat everywhere else. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of loving this story so much that nothing is good enough, and I'm sick of hoping to offer a conclusion that never f***ing comes. Welp, today you can know the conclusion--or the gist of it at least--because that is my Christmas gift to myself. I'm washing myself of the guilt. -> What follows is an extremely unedited and maybe slightly poetic summary of the finale. God, I hope you enjoy it, but really, I just want to feel like I *can* finish something. Sorry if that's dramatic; that's just...the situation of 2023.

Thank you in advance for your understanding, and I hope this serves up some sort of holiday cheer! (No real warnings because smut is reserved for the full-length version. This tale, as always, is 18+ due to very heavy themes.)

The thing is Steve doesn't regret his choice. How can he regret anything that ensured you were here, alive and happy, by his side? That's not an achievement he'll ever be ashamed of; there's no guarantee in the multiverse that he could have done better.

You spoke of being lucky. You felt guilt that of all the servicemen and women to lose their lives, yours came home in the end.

Steve doesn't see it that way. Yes, you and he are very, very lucky, but overall, Steve won.

In every war, there are battles. In battles, there are fights. In fights, there are shots taken, punches thrown. You don't need to land every punch to win a war. There are always losses.

Steve Rogers tends to win because he understands this.

He knows the value of strategy. He knows the value of hope. He especially knows the value of planning for the worst.

And so he's surprised--as he often is with you--that he hasn't lost more.

You accept the loss as well as the win. You endure more gracefully than he ever imagined possible during those long months alone and away.

His sacrifice may have played a factor in your safety, but in the end, it just came down to you. You fought for yourself. You battled for your beliefs. You warred for your convictions.

Steve can understand that. He admires it.

He plans to make this dreadful mess up to you, he hopes for the time to do so, but before he can strategize how, your bubble of isolation is burst by a knock at the door.

"Open up, Rogers. Please," Sam Wilson requests anxiously over F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s speaker.

He could simply mean you since you are a Rogers and neither of you have heard the okay that the world knows Steve's alive. Although, Steve still doesn't have a phone again, and you haven't exactly been checking yours during recent...activities... (Not to put too fine a point on it, but Bucky's little gifts aren't going to miraculously last eight days and nights.)

Steve stays in the corner of the kitchen, drying his hands from the dishes you two were washing together, while you answer the door.

It swings open in the direction that still hides Steve.

"Hey--" Steve hears the soft pause in Wilson's voice "--I think...I may be out of line here, but Stark ordered personnel to vacate the compound."

You cross your arms over your chest, nervous. "Do we need to leave? I--As in, you and I? Are we included in that?"

"No," Sam says flatly. "It's just...suspicious--look, can I come in?"

"Sam, wait!" You push to make a wall in the doorway, meaning Steve can no longer see you or what's happening while a silence, an extremely pregnant pause, stretches.

Afterward, there's a whisper.

"Is he here?"

Your reply is only a stutter of unfinished words, but that's enough. Sam's stepped past and halted a few feet inside before his scanning gaze lands on Steve.

Steve's not sure what he expects his friend to do. He's misjudging reactions left and right these days, so he can't presume that--

"Gym?" Sam ticks his arm, thumb pointing back out to the hall. "I'm going for a run."

He has to convince you and Steve that the whole place really has been cleared before Steve changes clothes.

The string-light and garland-lined corridors remind Steve that his apartment remains devoid of any festive touches. You two have been too distracted to realize it's the day before Christmas Eve, so the 'evacuation' will likely draw no attention from the average employee.

Stark is just adamant they have the holiday for family. That's all. The only people who live there are Avengers.

The smell of the rubber floor when they walk onto the track spikes nostalgia in the back of Steve's brain, and in his utter joy to be there again, he starts sprinting like old times.

His blood pumps and his lungs stretch, but it's too hard, too fast. His blood thunders in his ears and makes his head swim. His lungs burn fiercely and seize. He collapses, gasping through his weakest asthma attack yet, but it still happens.

Things are almost, almost the same. Things are still different.

Without taking the opportunity to gloat (too much), Sam uses his powers, skills he's had all along, to divine Steve's real fear:

Steve changed things, and he may have changed things so much that it's all ruined. He can't go back to being Cap because he showed his colors: he chose you over everything else. What if you can't go back to being his wife because of that same choice?

Sam helps Steve off the floor.

"You walked the same circle for a long time, buddy. Instead of getting off the track entirely, try one lane over. Baby steps."

Steve snorts. "Ya know, she said something similar."

"Yeah, well, some of us filled in the stoic charm while you were gone."

"Comes naturally to you, doesn't it?"

Wilson turns to walk backwards, flashing pearly whites. "The outfit is growing on me, and I think the press were just about to stop calling me Black Cap." He playfully punches Steve's shoulder. "We'll see how far this sets me back, huh?"

After realizing he has to take it easy, Steve enjoys a long, mostly quiet run beside his friend, never once passing him. Though Steve asks about returning tomorrow, Sam has to decline. Christmas Eve is for Sarah and her boys, and Sam's sister will raise hell if crossed.

Just before leaving the gym, Sam hugs Steve, the length and intensity of the embrace telling Steve all he needs to know. Sam--like everyone else who knows so far--is happier than he is hurt, and that stifles Steve in a torrent of humility.

He doesn't deserve the strength of this family built around him, but he is grateful.

Steve also doesn't expect to find Natasha and Bucky in his apartment when he returns. He was hoping to put up some decorations with you, bring a touch of joyous spirit to that place you've been emotionally entombed for months, but he outright frowns when seeing the box they brought.

Between you and Nat sits the bin of intel the Keepers gathered on you and left behind at a raided facility. You're pouring over the dirty details of horrible intrusion to your private life, both you and Steve's, and he can't help but watch your face closely.

You do look horrified. You look furious for minutes on end, file after file, until you finally ask, "who's had stuff like this on you guys?"

That's the thing. That's the part eating away at Steve's shame. It's why he can't be beyond a superficial level of sorry for what he's done.

"The Red Room," Nat replies softly.

Buck shrugs. "Hydra...among others."

Steve knows what that intel could have been a precursor to; they could manipulate more than just him. You could have been used, you could have been changed, and it would have been his fault. Extremes are most of his life, so Steve goes to extreme measures to keep his life separate from all of that.

Blurring those lines--bringing you closer to the fray of this scary and violent world feels irresponsible.

You continue to ask candid questions about what Nat and Bucky were doing this whole time. The response is grueling, a complex web of taking out targets without signaling an ulterior motive, every interaction carefully executed to seem natural, all the while knowing that Steve waited to come home and you waited for...well, the truth.

The way Natasha describes it makes Steve sick to his stomach.

He never wanted this, but he has to live with the consequences.

You thumb over a few stalking photographs in your hand and simply say, "that was quite a commitment."

Something triggers in Steve, and suddenly, his next move is crystal clear.

"I'll--I'll be right back," he blurts.

All three of you startle in confusion, sat around the coffee table like it's the most normal thing in the world to share so much. You've had top clearance for twenty-four hours. You're already a pro, and that makes Steve's idea that much more perfect.

He races through the building, glad he doesn't have to hide, and pounds on Tony's door.

As soon as Tony opens up though, Morgan rushes past his legs and lets out a blood-curdling cry that ends in a sobbing, "you're alive."

The little girl flings herself into Steve's arms, refusing to let go the entire time he asks Stark--all the Starks--for a favor.

You wake up the next morning to find a note from Steve and a dress of yours hung by the tree you put up after a long meal with Nat and Bucky.

Important errand, the note reads. Expect Tony to come by at 11. Wear this, please. I love you.

It's the dress you chose for your first date with Steve, the date that kinda never happened because the compound was invaded and you had to kill a guy. Odd memory to resurrect, but you do adore that dress.

You're not surprised when Tony arrives in one of his signature suits, nor when he makes a show of walking you through the halls on his arm. He has the uncanny ability to chat about nothing using the maximum number of words. He's delightful that way.

Your first real clue is Morgan, standing outside some double doors to one of the flex rooms, like the ones changed for training different abilities, like the ones used for therapy circles. In fact, it's the same room, the exact same double doors as years ago.

The girl looks fit to burst, clearly told to keep her cheers to a minimum as she clutches a wicker Easter basket in her hands, crouching as if ready to spring into action.

Pepper stands close by. Nat and Bucky whisper conspiratorially a ways down the hall.

Then you notice.

Tony has on a black suit with red pin-stripes, Pepper a blue dress with a white belt, Natasha a red dress with a white belt, and Bucky a navy suit with a black-shirt underneath.

"We did our best on short notice," Tony rambles off, guiding you to a stop in front of the party.

"This is for you," Morgan squeaks, ripping a colorful bundle of pipe cleaners out of the basket. There are buttons woven to the tops of each 'stem.'

Pepper quickly adds, "wild flowers were...a bit scarce, as you can imagine."

You brave a single question.

"What's going on?"

Everyone just beams at you, falling into a pattern of pairs behind Morgan before Tony winks and tells you to follow his lead.

The doors open, and there, at the end of the aisle, stands Steve--your Steve--in his old Captain America outfit minus the cowl. His hair is still long and darker, but his beard is properly trimmed.

All you can think is how you'll tease him about that.

You pinch at the leather sleeve in curiosity, and Steve leans over.

"This is the last thing I'll ever do in it," he says before kissing your cheek. "Promise."

"Says the guy who's stolen it twice," Tony mutters from his place on the other side of Bucky.

"He has a point," Nat chimes in.

The poor priest clears his throat and bellows, "dearly beloved..."

He keeps his promise.

At a press conference just before New Year's, Steve is announced as one of those rescued from "an enemy base" in an undisclosed location.

The crowd of reporters erupts in a chaos of inquisition, but all Steve will give them, standing there in a simple sweater and slacks, is his official resignation of the title Cap.

"What do we call you then?" someone shouts from the back.

"Just Steve. I am Steve Rogers, that's all." He looks to his left for the comfort of your face. "And this--" he grabs your hand "--is Mrs. Rogers, my soulmate."

@im-a-slut-for-fluff @whiskeytangofoxtrot555 @fangirl-swagg @georgeweaslysgirl @austynparksandpizza @bucky-fricking-barnes-reads @fallinallinmendes @claireelizabeth85 @patzammit @supraveng @1950schick @jamneuromain @yiiiikesmish @ashesofblackroses @spectre-posts

A/N: and yes, the full-version will be written eventually.

[Main Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

#the dignity of his choice #fools rush in #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers fanfic #steve rogers fic #steve rogers fluff #captain america x reader #steve rogers x you #steve rogers x y/n

[pokenk]

I’m not much of a shipper but when it comes to villain Rwby in the AU I’ve been working on I do think about it more. And because yang xiao long is my favorite character I’ve been thinking about who she might end up with.

Edit I realize this post is way too long so I’m gonna colorcode parts of it so you can read it easy if you want

Bumblebee

Freezerburn

Now the obvious first answer is Blake. But I think a villain Blake, even one who has I’ve said would be a horny shit poster would probably be racist to humans . I think that can be an interesting dynamic I think it would probably prevent her from ever admitting her feelings. Although that could be a fun dynamic between them each of them in a secret love with each other Blake, who is not willing to admit to Yang that she loves her because she’s a human .

Or alternatively, they do get together, and she must keep it secret from her white fang allies that she’s dating a human. I imagine the dynamic if I was ever to summit up would be kind of the relationship that dragon ball abridged, Bulma and Vegeta have.

And from yangs perspective she doesn’t want to get together with Blake either because she’s feels too dedicated to Ruby as a sister to have other relationships. Or she swears never to be hurt again by people leaving.(tai, Raven, and Summer). And realizing that she’s falling for the trap of either caring about someone who’s not her sister or someone for who’s not herself. makes her feel all kinds of weird emotions. 

And so the relationship is kind of a weird inversion of Yang and Blake’s relationship, which is based on trust, and their mutual belief they’ll be there for each other. Well, villain, Blake and villain Yang , clearly love each other. They cannot be honest with each other for fear of having the attachments around them in Blakes case(her connection to other anti-human Faunus ) and the ability to feel perfectly safe by not being close to anyone and yang case. prevent them from building the necessary foundation for any healthy relationships, both romantic and platonic.

The other relationship that I like for villain Yang is freezer burn, because the cruel sadistic leader of a banded organization is the perfect secret right hand for a aloof cold calculating businesswoman like a villain Weiss should be. 

although I wouldn’t call a villain freezer, burn relationship healthy, I think it would definitely last longer than a villain bumblebee relationship. And it’s mainly down to how they view each other in relationship yang views herself as an instrument for Weiss’s to use she kills her political opponents, breaks up strikes and helps her gain her rightful position as air to the SDT.

Weiss views yang as an extension of herself as a way to do the things that a prim and proper air to a giant company can’t do. A physical way to enact change she wants to in this way Yang is her rapier.

And yang who’s trying to not feel all the emotions that come with being abandoned, and being forced to raise your sister, is really eager to abandon all sense of self, and just become Weiss as weapon.

And that’s why I think their relationship would last longer although it’s just as toxic and maybe even more then villain bumblebee the codependency they foster on each other would keep them together longer. also for comparison, think of a version of cersei Jamie without the incest(although I know, saying, that’s removing a pretty big part of their story)

Sorry for the essay posting 

#rwby au #rwby fanfiction #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #weiss schnee #freezerburn #bumblebee

[mdhwrites]

The Owl House Season 3 Could Never Have Been Great

This isn’t to say it couldn’t have been good or enjoyable. However, the concepts at play and the setups for S3 were flawed so deeply that more S3 doesn’t necessarily mean a better S3 and could have never been something truly special. So why do I think this? Well, first let’s just state the obvious: While we’ve an abridged version of whatever S3 was dreamed by the cast, we have gotten their S3. The Collector exists so the crew’s willingness to abandon ideas and concepts for the sake of their narrative is only display as a firm “No.” After all, if they knew they had so little time, the Collector and the trip the human realm should have been cut. Period. There wasn’t time to make an audience properly care about the Collector or make trip to, or the return from, the human realm satisfying. So I’m basing this mostly off of the structure of the three specials. How they decided to build and lower tension because it’s hard to believe that there was ever a different plan. For some parts, it’s literally impossible to imagine a proper different plan that isn’t just what Amphibia did. Belos was almost always going to be needed for the portal after all and to be something that even COULD challenge the characters in a fight. Kikimora is the only villain in the Isles that has shown much agency of her own and built up at all besides Terra who the kids haven’t already beaten. These were fundamental problems going into S3 that the show wasn’t going to ever have proper answers to because it simply didn’t setup proper answers. But let’s talk about those villains because The Owl House is ostensibly an adventure show. It’s aiming for a big, dramatic, adventure/fantasy show climax as I write this the day before the finale. The first villain of S3 is Belos who at the end of S2 got beat with one poke by the Collector. He also was shown to be irredeemable, racist and an idiot who hasn’t even tried to keep up with what the human realm is like now while waiting for his final plan. He is an evil emperor though who is connected to Hunter and Luz and strong enough to even beat all five Hexide Squad members when together as he proved both in King’s Tide. He is a genuine threat who has no reason to hold back. He is the villain that works... But everything I just described also is why he needs to the big bad. No other villain who is strong enough to challenge the characters has any connection to them.The only person the Collector has a connection to is King. From just a basic storytelling perspective, Belos is the big bad. Is the logical final boss and he’s not being allowed to be that because they want to do the Collector. Worse yet, because of how natural of a cliffhanger going through the portal is, that’s the halfway point of the season. 10 episodes gone to the human realm with a bestial Belos being the only real threat there. So the rest of the human realm stuff would have had to be drama and slice of life while looking for how to get people back home in a realm that frankly should have less answers than the Boiling Isles and the Boiling Isles had few themselves and less that worked when read.

So how well did S2 setup drama and slice of life stuff in the human realm? Well, Amity’s been reduced to being Luz’s girlfriend and her daddy issues, half of which aren’t there and the other half doesn’t appear to be allowed to have actual angst so I guess nothing from her. Willow is barely a character at this point, having been mostly used for other characters and what was brought up in S3 Ep. 2 only works really for one episode. Gus is actually the best Slice of Life character with how his knowledge could be challenged and reactions to realizing how little he actually knows about humans but from a drama perspective he doesn’t have a lot because he’s only been taken properly seriously in two episodes of the whole series. Luz has angst that admittedly could have been pulled back and forth on for if she was staying or going but if they kept the characterization Luz has post Yesterday’s Lie of Luz literally seeming incapable of telling the truth to anyone besides Eda and King, you’re screwed in doing anything with her. She’s not going to actually be tackling the issue so you can’t actually make plots around it. At best, you can bring up through other characters for and against. But, you know, two of those characters are her best friends, one is her girlfriend and Camila is a literal saint who’s characterization would have had to be DRASTICALLY changed in order to make her make cases for staying in the human realm at this point. Hunter is the only point in favor for Luz needing to stay and Hunter’s big character finish against Belos is about how much he prefers the perks of being a good guy over having been an EC stooge so he still reinforces that Luz has done good. This is part of why Luz’s angst over the Collector is so assinine because even if in real life, one can easily ignore that people like them, they’ve done good to others, etc. like that (hi, I have depression myself), narratively is INFURIATING and easily can imply other things about her if not addressed or in a very careful way. I’ve talked about this in both Luz’s character finish and in how Vee kind of fucked Luz’s character by being such a good contrast to her. Speaking of, Vee is EASILY the biggest opportunity for something special but only if she’s willing to actually go against losing the life she’s gained. This is the first life that has been anywhere close to hers after all and having to restart for the girl who ran away would theoretically be crushing for her. But it would have to have a character actually criticize and stay with that criticism of Luz. Or more likely just have an episode where Masha and co find out what Vee is so Vee can keep her friends between forms because that’s easier to do. It also would have made another argument for Luz going back to the Isles because Luz just existing in the human realm is now fucking someone over. Vee covering up Luz’s disappearance also makes any inclusion of government agents like what Amphibia did for human realm stakes much harder because there’s no reason for anyone to be on alert in anyway like when Anne arrived but not her friends. And because I’ve covered everyone else: Hunter has slice of life potential because he still needs to actually become friends with everyone else, Huntlow probably would have a confession happen when he died because it could be built up and frankly it’s very likely that Hunter would feel like the main character of the first of S3 just because he’s simply the character with ANY real potential to do anything. And if you’re thinking “Well, the human realm itself can provide angst and slice of life oppurtunities”, we run into how S2 assassinated the identity of the Isles. After all, in S1 the main point of friction between Luz and the Isles wasn’t that it had magic, its magic effectively replaces technology, but that the Isles was crueler. The laws were more about conformity in a society that was actively hostile to each other than anything else. S2 has shit like “Child Endangerment Laws” and in general just makes the Isles feel like the fantasy complaint of “It’s our world but with more teeth!” So the first half of S3 from a conceptual standpoint is just kind of fucked. You don’t have a villain that can be around much. Your main other option is a gag. Your characters have limited opportunities for growth or challenges because you haven’t given them enough attention or actively sabotaged what potential they did have. You also essentially have to entirely change the format of the show because the new environment offers no threats so you have to lean into pure slice of life and comedy and comedy has been a common weakness for this show. Especially in the specials, it’s often effectively anonymous. Just point and laugh at someone obviously dumb or doing something wrong. ALL the comedy for Amity in S3 feels nothing like Amity, has no logic to it and could be done by anyone else. It’s done by Amity just because she needs to literally do SOMETHING as Luz’s girlfriend but at this point has nothing to contribute besides “Look at me now being comic relief.” This happened to Lilith too so it’s not just a S3 problem and Gus has ALWAYS suffered from being treated more as a joke, especially in S1, than an actual character. But hey, after they get through the portal, they now have the Collector, the Hexide Rebellion and the coven heads to deal with. Actually, scratch that last one. After all, there’s literally no reason for the Collector to be using the coven heads at all and we genuinely have zero explanation, outside of Raeda angst, as to why Darius or Raine are puppets but TERRA ISN’T. Or wasn’t. So we Kikimora and the Collector. Aaaaand scratch the Collector as well. You can’t have the Collector interacting with Luz and company because then his redemption would come too soon or the fact that he is so much more powerful than ANYONE becomes a problem for why they aren’t being turned into puppets. So your narrative potential for a half a season in the Boiling Isles comes down to Eda and Lilith, the Hexide rebellion (most of whom haven’t mattered in over a season at this point), trying to figure out how to free King and stuff with King and the Collector. Now that is actually enough to fill half a season. There is a major problem though. After all... The Collector needs to be redeemed at the end of that season and the last time we saw him before this, he potentially threatened to murder the Hexide Squad so he could play tag. That’s even more of drastic starting point than Hunter had as the Golden Guard. And reminder: Despite Hunter having effectively all of S2 to have his arc... It’s not a good arc. I would argue it’s not an arc. And Hunter had 6 episodes of S2, many of which were ONLY his stuff for the whole episode and he was able to interact with the entire cast. In order for the Collector to still be the dramatic finale, he cannot interact with the cast. He can only interact with King. And King has always been one note through the entire series, usually discarding one note for the next so they’re not getting full episodes. At literal best, the Collector could get 8 half episodes and then a two part finale.Buuuut then we get the problem the Collector had in the second special: The more time you spend with him, the more you humanize him, the less tension there is about the resolution. It becomes increasingly obvious that he’ll be redeemed and redeemed villains can’t actually harm the main characters because then it becomes harder and harder for the audience to forgive them. It’s part of why Zuko being 98% a bastard in the first season of Avatar is important to narrative tension. Not only did it allow him to be a good, early antagonist but it also made it hard to believe that he could turn good. His decision to go back to the fire nation kept that up. Kept you guessing and also allowed AMAZING character as to what was actually important to him. This is why his turn in season 3 is so powerful because you could never be 100% certain until it finally clicked and even then, you understood everything that he was giving up and all the reasons why he would and so even if you doubted, like the characters do, you believe it as an audience and are ready to see him work for forgiveness. There could never be satisfaction like that with the Collector. Going “He’s a child!” forgets the fact that the Titan who imprisoned him has also likely been dead for THOUSANDS of years. Bare minimum, he’s been trapped in his prison for over 400 years. The other Collector we see in Knock Knock Knocking is taller, yes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the Collector is a child. He simply has a childish personality and outlook on the world which is part of what makes him a terrifying final threat if he were an actual threat. Just because he looks and acts like a child doesn’t mean he is. A lot of that is likely to just use base, human instincts to pave over the fact that an audience wouldn’t accept the arc he’s undergone if he looked like an adult. So the finale is fucked, the first half is shaky narratively but could at least be enjoyable, what about the filler of S3B? Well, little of it could actually progress anything because how do you beat a god? And even if they find a solution, the more that it’s telegraphed that the Collector will be redeemed means the less a solution is necessary so it’s just killing time. So all you have left is dealing with Kikimora and Boscha as antagonists, both of whom have been jokes for over a season, WELL over a season for Boscha, by the time any of this would be happening. It’s even unclear as to what else they could be fighting or doing because how much did the Collector actually change things?

This is why I say The Owl House wanted five seasons, not three, and only could have made this worked if guaranteed from go. That’s the only way the writers would have known they had enough time to properly build up elements into the statements they wanted, at least with the skill and lack of focus they have, and been able to make villains that could be stepping stones up to the Collector while making the finale not feel pointless because the ending was made obvious. And even then, that’s putting a LOT of faith into writers who have the attention spans of goldfish sometimes and a show runner who actively undermines her own world building for the sake of whatever idea or subversion or meta text that she wants to make. But, being fair... A full S3 could have at least been fun. At least properly dealt with some of these issues to make it so Luz didn’t claim she was going to break up with Amity through portal closure and never address it. To make it cute, charming, creative... But those aren’t elements that the show has often been celebrated for. It made too many characters plot devices. It made too many of them one note. It made too many into comic relief. It didn’t put enough thought into its magic or worlds. A lot of what it does is cribbing from better fantasy that knew what it was doing. And I think in general, the longer the show has gone on, the worse and worse these fundamental flaws, flaws that damage the long term execution of something far more than the immediate statements it can make, have become obvious. It’s how a fully fledged, independent, amazing character like Amity is reduced almost entirely to just being Luz’s girlfriend even by the end of S2A. So no. I don’t think a full S3 would have suddenly turned the show into the next Avatar or the like where it becomes a cultural touchstone. And no, I don’t touch on changes to s2 because by the end of S2, for ANY of this to even FUNCTION, the Day of Unity still had to happen. So all the flaws of S2B, or damn near all of them, would still exist because Hunter still needs to be 90% done with his arc to be there to go to the human realm. Belos’ rushed and bad backstory still needs to happen in Hollow Mind. S2B still wasted almost two entire episodes for Elsewhere Elsewhen and Them’s the Breaks, Kid, both episodes where only one plot point in the whole damn thing matters and at best is character neutral for all involved, negative in some cases, including Belos. And Elsewhere Elsewhen only has an important plot point if you think Luz’s angst about helping Belos meet the Collector is warranted at all. Which, no, I argue it’s not. It is an inter-tangled mess that never wanted only three seasons and never was willing to change to fit the time it had. And frankly, I don’t blame Disney for shortening it with these facts in mind. For saying it was too expensive to produce, too complicated to air since it’s not random episode friendly and too scatterbrained to be properly serialized and so they wanted this done. They wanted to be done with it. And since a full S3 couldn’t make it better, why not go with specials and save everyone some money and time then? Which is mean but with the product we got and the fact that TOH can only be claimed as somewhat more successful than Amphibia, a much more cohesive, much more television friendly show, why should a business have decided to dedicate more time to The Owl House? It’s realistic and unfortunate and I would love to be kinder. But my mind likes facts too much and the fact is that The Owl House had an amazing start which it simply didn’t have the planning or focus to make into a great series overall. All we could ask for was the ride to be enjoyable and that’s going to be up to you. ======== I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join! I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat. And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

#The Owl House Finale #The Owl House Criticism #belos the owl house #The Collector the Owl House #Luz Noceda #Hunter #Amity

[harlstark]

What are some of your harley family headcanons? (His mum, sister, dad??)

oh my god okay okay this is such a loaded question and would probably take me forever to answer in full so i will try to keep this as abridged as possible

mother:

-i usually use the common name in fics for her “Macy” but to me her maiden name is Merriweather for no reason in particular

-i think she works as a waitress/bartender which is alluded to canon but yknow

-i imagine her blonde haired as straw, a young mother but her smile lines show

-loving but definitely distant. she tries, but being a single, low income mother to two, who struggles with undiagnosed mental health issues of her own and mild alcoholism has made her rather uninvolved. while i believe she’s unconditional in her love, she’s not very present in showing it. harley was raised mostly on his own because of this

-she’s not the biggest fan of tony stark, and certainly doesn’t get star struck, but she doesn’t hate the man

father:

-deadbeat asshole who was 100% an alcoholic/addict

-i don’t have a name preference for him, it kind of changes if i mention him by name in a fic. but i never call him james and never will

-probably fucked off to nevada or something

-definitely gave harley a rough time for being different than the other kids

sister

-i use the name abbie/abby from peachy, but also sometimes abigail kennedy “AK”. once or twice mentally ive used the name piper too but usual just stick to abbie

-i think she cut her own bangs when she was in middle school and fucked up so harley tried to help her by watching youtube video tutorials and ever since he has just been the one that cuts her bangs for her in their cramped bathroom

-she’s got lots of freckles and a little gap between her two front teeth

-had a bit of a rebellious phase in high school and liked to casually flirt with boys and girls, following in her brothers footsteps a bit by becoming the latest gossip topic. this was her form of grieving once harley moved away to NY. she had a genuine summer-time romance with a traveling hippie family’s daughter one year, and mellowed out after that. eventually i think she decided to go to community college but hated it and dropped out, then took a gap year just traveling. eventually she ended up in new york too, either doing something in the arts, or continuing her education and working at SI in design. she meets a muslim woman, and eventually they get married, and have two kids through IVF. they take frequent trips to rose hill and eventually move back to tennessee in a kinder rural town, and they have their own garden and chickens

-she once took in a stray tabby cat

-she knows harley‘s gay before he tells anyone. even if she didn’t know the word to it, she just knew the concept of harley with a girlfriend just didn’t make sense

-she likes y’allternative music

-has a tendency to lay on sun spots on the carpet

-master at checkers, domino train, and any card game in the books

-collected my little pony dolls as a kid

-smoked cigarettes for a couple years before stopping

-prefers red wine over white

-very into denims, plaids, florals, and country bumpkin mud-stained clothes as a kid, darker alternative y2k inspired clothes as a teen, and modern french/classy vintage style clothing as an adult

-grew up running wild, barefoot, and free. her favorite place to hang out in rosehill is a old drive inn theatre, which is where she met that girl one summer

#harley keener #mcu #marvel #parkner #peter parker #ironman

[statementlou]

I think with these festivals there is the obvious benefit of exposing Louis to a general audience but also a financial one. Personally I’m curious on what the payment structure is for him. Does he get a flat fee or does he get a percentage of the gate. If he sells merch does he keep it all or does the festival get a percentage. This year is a good way to generate money without too large of an expense burden. I found it interesting that afhf is under his touring company and that financials for the touring company are a very abridged version for this years filing. Of course because the filings are always a year behind it hard to get a real sense of how things are going though truth is even with a more complete filing you really have no way of knowing the financials since not all expenses and deductions are disclosed and some things have a delayed payment schedule.

Ah more questions we will NEVER learn the answers to :/ really good point though it will be SO much cheaper than bringing their 5 trucks worth of stuff and staff around the world... everything will be built and waiting for them, they can just customize with a smaller crew and just bringing their decorative additions rather than stuff to build the entire stage and area. I don't have a clue but I can only imagine festivals take a HUGE chunk of merch sales though, with what we've learned recently about venues and merch cuts - except for AFHF where Louis gets to keep absolutely everything! Nice, that. And of course even with venue specific merch for as much as they sell at the shows (and have to hand over half the profit) they also sell it online, with no cut taken out.

#louis tickets #louis financials #boss man louis #I don't know anything about all this filing and stuff so I'm just nodding along like thank you for telling us #let us know if you figure out interesting things please

[beautifulpersonpeach]

I don't call myself army, just a music fan, like to follow grown up fans of kpop and other groups and honestly up until now I thought your characterization of kpop fans and multis behavior to BTS was very one-sided and overblown. But now I'd like to offer you an apology Bpp. I keep up with a bunch of kpop podcasts run by kpop fans and black women and I follow this 30+ black woman whose whole shtick is being in kpop for vibes, not engaging in fanwars and overall being above the gross behavior from immature racist armys. So imagine my horror when I open my Twitter today and the first thing I see is this:

https://twitter.com/SideShowShit/status/1647483768423464961?s=20

My heart is so heavy and burdened by this I don't even know where to start bpp. Just last week I saw a Shinee/taemin/multi fan say the hate against Jimin should 'show give those armys a taste of what they do' when Jimin has been the target of overwhelming hate from the same shinee fans since his debut. I'm thinking to just leave kpop completely because this kind of brain rot in adults over nothing makes me depressed as fuck. I sympathize more with armys now more than ever. I love Jimin and don't want to stop actively following him. How do you deal with all this hate? Seriously how do you do it?

***

Hi Anon,

Your link.

Abridged answer: "I got no worries because you can't stop me lovin' myself" - reference linked here. :)

Long-form answer:

Like I've said before, if you've managed to make your way to the podcast side of k-pop stan environments you already have my condolences lmao. I won't state the exact reasons for that here but you're already experiencing a few of those reasons it seems.

That user is actually familiar to me - she's a black woman who works in the US entertainment industry, Hollywood to be exact, in a semi-administrative role. That person is a Blink who runs in the same circles as Ash - a k-pop writer/podcaster and multi in the US; Carrie - an Exol and Shawol in Toronto who writes K-drama/film reviews; Tamar - a Jewish Blink and multi who is a k-pop journalist; and a bunch of other k-pop writers, journalists, DJs, and otherwise 'grown-ups in k-pop' who can't seem to speak even in a neutral capacity about BTS, let alone ARMY, despite many of them deriving their livelihoods from the spread of k-pop in the West spearheaded in a large part by BTS. It's partly why ARMYs are extremely skeptical of k-pop journalism because oftentimes these content creators, journalists or reviewers are just stans of other groups with barely concealed animus for BTS. And also why the quality of critical conversations in k-pop fandom is so poor. I mean, how can you trust the opinion of an adult Black woman who should intimately know the implications of racism, calling Jimin, Oli London, unprovoked? It's all so comical but also kinda tragic lol.

You sent me this ask just as I was publishing this post so perhaps you hadn't yet seen what I've said about the dominant behaviours of k-pop stans in fandom.

I understand how painful it is to see things like that but I suggest you ignore them, report and block the account if it bothers you that much, but otherwise focus on celebrating Jimin and the things you love about him. I keep saying that hate does nothing but create more of the same. Many of the people who belong to rival fandoms, especially the fandoms that have a history of being abusive to BTS and ARMY since as far back as 2014, including fans of Shinee, EXO, Beast, Super Junior, and since 2018, BlackPink, many of the people in those fandoms default to hating anything connected to BTS, and it fascinates me even now how it's like a social contagion.

If seeing opinions like that really distress you, it's okay to step back from k-pop completely. In fact I recommend it for people who tend to get really emotionally connected to the artists they support, because none of those people are going to learn to do better, and chances are you could begin mirroring their behaviour if you get too attached. I'm friends with many people from those fandoms because they've known me since before I became ARMY, they know what I think, value, and tolerate, and they share the same values as me. But a few of those friends have been sort of 'excommunicated' from their fandoms because they refuse to engage in the hate towards BTS, and this happens far more often than you think.

I write as much as I do about this topic because I get it. Nobody wants to see shit like that. But at the same time, those sentiments towards Jimin and BTS have always existed and Jimin is still happy, thriving, more concerned with knowing what his fans think about his music, so if he's the reason you're here, then focus on him.

For me it's really that simple.

#Juwon Park too used to run in their circles since she's a VIP who doesn't like BTS and ARMY #That was until she said something anti-black and they realized she had very limited access to the industry anyway #You'll see these sorts of characters from time to time the longer you spend time outside ARMY spaces #If that bothers you then I strongly hope you detach from k-pop completely because it will only get worse the longer BTS remains on top #kpop #kpop fandom #multis #bts army #fandom behaviour #fandom behavior #bts #jimin #park jimin

[lakesbian]

under what circumstances does alec use the phrase "dear old dad". you mentioned you knew them but did not elaborate

i have to confess i still need to reread worm so i can be 110% sure about this answer instead of just 99%. but the thing is that fanfictions always depict him just saying Dear Old Dad any old fucking time like it's his default phrase for his father. it is not. in reality if he's referring 2 his father in normal conversation he usually just casually says "my dad," and when he's referring to his father in his head he usually uses the more distant "father." (which is interesting! he plays it Cool, Casual, and Normal in front of other people but doesn't use the more casual/personal term in his more uncensored thoughts.) he says "dear old dad" specifically when he's being sarcastic or sardonic--it's an ironic, grimly mocking juxtaposition between the affectionate phrase & his father's behavior. it's why the only time the phrase is used in his interlude is this (abridged for brevity) (spot the usages of 'father'):

So he’d thrown a tantrum, started screaming...One of father’s ‘girls’ came in and tried to quiet him down. When he hadn’t, she’d clamped a hand over his mouth. It hadn’t been enough. Dear Old Dad had come marching out of the master bedroom...Father had taken two or three seconds to assess the situation before using his power on Alec.

it's also worth noting that he doesn't just say 'dear old dad'--he also says 'dear old mom' in reference to sophia's mom during his interlude:

“Well,” he said, his tone dry. He had to cough to keep himself from letting her anger turn his voice into a growl. “You sure rose above that shit, treating your classmates like you do, getting in fights, not helping out dear old mom.”

in this case it's not an ironic reference to sophia's mom's behavior--from his perspective, sophia's mom is 1. good and 2. someone he's actually subconsciously envious of her for having--but he's being sarcastic in general, and sarcastic about sophia's strained relationship with her mother. after all, sophia would in no way regard her as 'dear.' tl;dr 'dear old dad' isn't actually alec's default phrase for his father he just has a habit of prefixing the names of particularly un-dear people with "dear old" when he's being bitter or sarcastic.

(also re prior point about 'dad' v. 'father.' i can't imagine heartbreaker wanting his son to call him dad instead of father or sir lmao. i think it's likely that 'dad' is the more casual/relaxed/normal front alec frequently unconsciously puts on for other people and 'father' is the term alec actually used for him + what alec lapses back into in his head both out of familiarity with it & because it's more distant.)

#ask #worm spoilers #alec essays #<- not really but i know i'll want to link it again later so it goes there for now

[1randomperson15]

Hey! What's your favourite song/a song you enjoy listening to? :)

Okay so two different answers!

Favorite song: Good Morning Sunshine by @/narcissistcookbook

It's basically a song about trying to rebuild/get through your life during a depressive episode. I was diagnosed with clinical depression when I was like 10 (and tbh I think I had it before that) and I had never heard a song so perfectly encapsulating that experience and I almost cried when I heard it for the first time. I especially love it because it capstones with a message of hope - a thing that is very ingrained in my personal philosophy. However it starts with a very annoying alarm clock (by design) and I've listened to it so many times already I won't usually purposefully pop it on but it's still a comfort to listen to.

Songs I enjoy listening to: Forget Me Too by mgk & hasley(?) as well as a lot of Tom Cardy songs

Forget Me Too is just such a bop and I've been listening to mgk and I'm liking what I've heard so far. I've heard of the guy but only recently actually listened to his music.

Speaking of bops Tom Cardy makes so many of them and they're all so funny

Naught or Nice - song about santa taking liberties with the naughty list bc the elves unionized

Party Dog - about a person who only comes to parties for the dog and their imagined convo with the host's roomate

Lord of the Rings: Abridged - basically lightheartedly making fun of how all the plot is just walking

And there's so much more he is /hilarious/ and ridiculously skilled

Thanks for the ask!

#asks #my stuff

[thenightisland]

tagged by the lovely @mellowthorn for a rote Q&A thingy under the cut bc it's long

Favourite RotE Book: assassin's quest and fool's fate are constantly vying for the number one slot and the answer changes day by day

Why: on aq days it's bc that's the book that took this series from "wow i really like this" to "oh i'm going to be obsessed with these for the rest of my life huh." it has, i think, the best ending. it has my favorite chapter (ch 20 jhaampe my beloved). parts of it hit very close to home. on ff days it's bc well ff is insane. no book has ever gotten the reaction out of me that that one did. i do not cry at books; it made me cry seven times. it has such excellent payoff for stuff that was set up in the earliest books (rh queen of playing the long game). most heartwrenchingly beautiful moments on earth just chapter after chapter of them.

Top Three Favourite Characters: i think i am one of the few people whose favorite character genuinely is fitz lol. beloved obv number two. after that the answer also changes every day but i'm very partial to web and kettricken.

Top Three Least Favourite Characters: this may be biased due to me being neck deep in ship of destiny at the moment, but 98% of the men in lst need to be set on fire

Favourite Ship (of the floating kind): paragon

Top Three Favourite Ships (of the people kind): (keeping our venn diagram overlap answers) Fitzloved, Burrich/Chivalry, Patience/Lacey

Would you rather be Witted or Skilled: skilled. it seems so handy with the healing and prolonging your life. and i get traumatized enough by animal death as it is without introducing the wit to that equation.

If you were Witted, what animal would you bond with?: some kind of bird

Would you rather live in the Outislands, the Mountain Kingdom, the Six Duchies, Bingtown, the Rain Wilds, Kelsingra, Jamaillia, the Pirate Isles, or Fool’s Homeland?: practicality says bingtown bc i like being relatively warm and by the ocean and not get fantasy radiation poisoning from where i live but...but kelsingra is so fucking neat

How were you introduced to the books? a friend of mine on here always posted about them and our tastes overlapped so much that despite the fact that at the time i said i didn't like fantasy and wouldn't read it, i figured if this friend of mine liked these books there must be a reason. i read the left hand of darkness bc she posted about it too and when i mentioned reading it to her she was like "lol yeah it's hard for me to separate it from fool's fate" so i thought "maybe it's time to read those books then"

Share a quote you love: somewhat abridged for length's sake, from RA, and was one of those bits i count as early warning sign of my impending obsession lol:

“ ‘Not all men are destined for greatness,’ I reminded him

‘Are you sure, Fitz? Are you sure? What good is a life lived as if it made no difference at all to the great life of the world? A sadder thing I cannot imagine. Why should not a mother say to herself, if I raise this child aright, if I love and care for her, she shall live a life that brings joy to those about her, and thus I have changed the world? Why should not the farmer that plants a seed say to his neighbor, this seed I plant today will feed someone, and that is how I change the world today?’

‘This is philosophy, Fool. I have never had time to study such things.’

‘No, Fitz, this is life. And no one has time not to think of such things. Each creature in the world should consider this thing, every moment of the heart’s beating. Otherwise, what is the point of arising each day?…You create possibilities….I have seen the end of the world, Fitz. Seen it woven as plainly as I’ve seen my birth. Oh, not in your lifetime, nor even mine. But shall we be happy, to say that we live in the dusk rather than the full night? Shall we rejoice that we shall only suffer, while your offspring will be the ones to know the torments of the damned? Shall this be why we do not act?’ ”

also and underrated one from FA:

“Oh, the things we discover and the things we learn, much too late. Worse are the secrets that are not secrets, the sorrows we live with but do not admit to one another.”

i have also thought about "every nuance of his grace as familiar to me as the drawing of breath" literally every day but that's a given if there's a sappy line you can be sure i am thinking about it nonstop without a moment's peace

#questions #mellowthorn

[alectoperdita]

Gonna gush a little apropos of nothing tbh - I was a big ygo fan in in my teens despite never having properly watched DM ((for shame etcetera the abridged series took hold of my mid-pubescent mind and shook it like a rag-doll)), and at the time I was Big Into Thiefshipping. But having now watched the damn thing (dubbed for laughs but I'm seriously considering doing a full sub rewatch)

And for whatever reason (/obvious reasons) Kaiba and Jou just took me by the throat, and when I went on my little fic hunt on AO3 for kindling to fan the flames I found your fics. Your beautiful, wonderful fics.

I just love all your different AUs and your different takes on Kaiba and Jounouchi grafted into each universe. I think you have such a good handle on their characters and what makes them tick - in universes where they can be in love and in universes where they can be in self destructive obsession with one another and everything in between.

So I just wanted to say thanks for sharing them with the world <3

Embarrassing confession time: I took a while answering this one because I would periodically come back to my inbox and reread this message (you may imagine me giggling and twirling my hair as I do so). I hope you don't mind me replying in public so that I can save it for posterity. <3

Now onto the content of your message.

Your experience is not that uncommon. There was definitely a bit of a renaissance in the fandom in the early days of YGOTAS. It brought a lot of new people to the fandom. In a lot of ways, it was one of the biggest factors in sailing thiefshipping prevalently. As for me, I started out as a Kaiba/Shizuka shipper waaaaay back in the day (we're talking like 2002).

Kaiba and Jounouchi are going to be my favorites forever, though! I've jumped around to some other fandoms during the intervening years, but I always come back to these two. A big part of it is that I had very ambitious story ideas as a teenager, then young adult, that I failed to both execute and see through to the finish. It took literal decades but I've finally cultivated the skillset I wanted/needed to make those stories happen.

So I legit want to cry every time someone tells me that the fics also had an effect on them. Whether it entertained them or gave them a bit of joy. Yeah, I write for myself. But the rest, the editing and the agonizing and the formatting and the posting, that's me sharing something (perhaps egotistically so, a part of myself) with the world. So it's always gratifying to hear that it's been received somehow by someone. And that it had a positive impact.

Thank you for the message. I hope to keep sharing stories about these two for a while longer if y'all will have it. <3

#replies #chesacakeripper #posts that make me ;_; #i'm forever grateful to readers #especially when you guys reach out and start thoughtful conversations #i can't ever express my appreciation of that properly

[destinybcnds]

⏳

For every “⏳” I receive, my muse will openly talk about a bit of their backstory. [ not accepting ]

Why the tundra biome? Was he willing to talk about it?

Well, they asked, so might as well give the abridged version.

"You ever been in an ice storm that covered your entire city?" He crossed his arms, not really waiting for an answer. Because the response didn't change the reality. "So imagine that your Pokemon can't fight properly because they're not suited to the weather or climate they're in. And all you can do is watch while someone else tries to clean up the mess. Meanwhile people are freezing, they're cut off from their homes and their families..."

He places his hands at the back of his head, but there's a sharpness to his eyes.

"I never wanted me or my dragons to freeze up like that again. I wanted us to thrive in what should be one of our biggest weaknesses."

#nickitsden #{ ☆ Drayton ; Dragon Tamer } #{ Headcanon ; Drayton } #for a silly little guy drayton lore has the potential to be super tragic :))))

[wackymaci]

long post alert, Musing to Myself about how this is going lmao behind the cut aagh

it IS quite funny to me as I plug along the Maci page that I think this does not read at all like a wiki page like it’s as if at some point I just devolved fully into writing a ficcy little narrative story, like I’m sorry what Wikipedia article sounds like THIS I’m—

(As an aside, 🥺purr)

because of this way I’m writing this it’s all SO excessively long already and I’m only chronologically in circa 2010 so there’s the whole. rest of the decade to follow and part of me wants to go back and chop it all to bits and make it more of a cut and dry shorter summary of events?? it might be More Professional and Less Overwhelming??

but. like. lmao. ugh. my primary motivation is truly to do this first of all as a pet project for MYSELF and so if it’s so scarily long that no one ever even reads it except for me that…… is okay lmao it. is for me. ssso fine.

second of all I’ve said to myself since the Beginning of Creation of Wiki that this is intended to finally serve as THE CONTENT of the elysiumverse, there can never be a webcomic or a chronological book because it’s just too much and so much and so unorganized, so for every time I’ve been asked oh where can I find more of this Well it’s HERE So. How can I possibly strip and condense when there’s nothing else to turn to to see more details other than the once in a blue moon that I illustrate scenes from our forever-unpublished extended canon scripts????

anyway I’m probably not gonna abridge anything but it is so embarassing the way this is turning out I think lmao I . don’t necessarily mind it but it just feels so obscenely long. it’s so sososososoos long. and it’s just one page so far. this is. lmao I LITERALLY cannot imagine anyone wants this besides me but it’s fine,,, its going to have to be fine i was going to end this with like a, HEY QUICK POLL SHOULD I ABRIDGE SOME STUFF OR NOT but running a poll would be stupid cause i already know the answer in my heart is cant do that so. ssooo. lmao aaghkkkk

Anyway shout out to thi paragraph, insane to put on a wiki page,that I refuse to delete or edit in any way?!! as I flashback to Maci’s childhood again-

normal wikipedia article (BUT LIKE I CANT SHORTEN THIS??? I NEED YOU TO SEE INSIDE MACI'S HEAD!!!)

#preview snippets #i am - in general - in my own head this past month a lot so the absurdity of this project is making me uhh #want to eat myself alive a little bit dont mind me #im having so much fun genuinely and then i step back and cringe myself into oblivion

[baejax-the-great]

I have genuinely spent countless hours with nothing but All That Glitters on the brain since like mid December. As it comes to a close I just wanted to thank you for your writing. I’ve gotten so much happiness from it. (And also sadness but in a good, escapism-y way). I don’t think i’ve ever been so attached to a fic before. So sad to see this story end but grateful to have been blessed with ever encountering it in the first place. ❤️❤️

🎽👟🥇🐕

Thank you for this lovely message, Nonnie. I'm going to use it as an excuse to ramble way too long instead of writing the epilogue.

When I wrote even if it's a lie, I played around with a lot of tragic backstories for Achilles, though mostly non-seriously. I didn't really plan on including it--his relationship with Pat was basically comic relief. I wasn't even going to have it in eiial other than allusions to his fame and his clear fall from whatever fame that was, but a couple people asked, so I decided to have him give the abridged version to Zag.

Someone said they would read it if I ever elaborated on that story, and I remember thinking, lol I'm never writing that. Partly because at the time I assumed that painting Achilles in such a negative light just wouldn't go over well. But I also didn't really have an angle for how I wanted to tell that story, so it didn't interest me.

I don't totally remember how/when I came up with the plot for Gold, but I know @johaerys-writes was the one who really encouraged me to write it and I think @juliafied helped me with it a lot. I believe I posted the first chapter the day before I went out of town on what would be the first of many trips this autumn/winter. It's one of very few fics I wrote on google docs, mostly on my ipad because I don't own a laptop.

I think I was only a chapter or two into Gold when I started writing what is still titled in my docs as "Post-Gold." This fic ended up being such an interesting challenge because I had written what happens before and what happens after, and now I had over 20 years to cover to explain it all.

Here's what I knew at the start.

1. Patroclus got thrown out of his house the minute he got home from Seoul.

2. Achilles sets his own life on fire and Patroclus takes the blame for it, resulting in Achilles moving to Tartarus in shame and not returning until 2022 with Zagreus.

3. Because I'd already written it in eiial, the first time Patroclus sees Achilles in years, the first thing he does is make out with him. (I regretted this one a lot, but hopefully I made it work 🤣)

4. A 39yo got a silver medal in the javelin at the 2020 Olympics. As a result, one of the first lines I wrote was "Take me to Paris, Achilles." That entire scene changed, but I kept the line.

So then it was a game of filling in what actually happened (so much math to figure out the years and their ages lmao), and figuring out how to show the journey of two men growing up, growing apart, and then putting their lives back together. All the years were written out of order, which is why the different sections start the way they do-- originally it was just a system to help me keep track of what year it was and make sure I covered each one.

And with all of that, I thought this fic was going to be shorter than Gold. I figured each year would just be a snapshot--maybe 500-800 words to get a sense of it. Short and sweet.

I'm an idiot, of course. Just the reconciliation that took all of three sentences in eiial required over 15k words for this fic, and it could have been longer.

It was so fun to imagine all these eras of their life. I went from writing about guys who were much younger than me to men who were older than me. The way the world has changed between the year 2000 and the year 2022 is kind of astounding. Someone asked me why the boys couldn't just text each other in Gold and it's because it hadn't really been invented yet. We barely had wifi. They would have had an answering machine at their first apartment they shared with a goofy message recorded together.

To make a long, unnecessary essay short, this fic went from something I had no enthusiasm for and was certain I wouldn't write, to something I'm really proud of. I'm going to miss it.

I was talking recently with someone about this fic from Achilles' perspective-- over the 22 years, which moments would he pick as important in their lives for better or worse, and how many of them would match up with Pat's. I have no intention of writing that story, but it certainly would be a way to sit in this universe a little longer.

#sorry to wriet a whole long essay #but I hate finishing fics I hate saying goodbye #anyway I started writing the interview fic today #Achilles admitting to the world that not only was his first kiss with Pat caught on live tv #it was his first kiss with anyone ever #he was such a cutie

[seelestia]

HELLO HELLO HELLOOOO !! :DD

You're probably wondering why I'm not using an anon to ask right now- but that question will be answered as soon as you scroll down to the bottom of this ask, so don't spoil yourself before you've finished reading the entire ask >:D

ngl I don't have much to say other than send you some tiktoks that I wanted to send lmaooo

Here's a cute scara tiktok :P

Here's an tiktok that made me so speechless that it's hard to describe

that last link made me think of you, not cuz of what the tiktok was about but because the tiktok starred al haitham and ur the first one I thought of to send it to huehuehuehue (sorry if i scarred u, or should I say scarra-ed?)

and here's the main purpose for this ask!

I just saw your new oc on my dashboard and thought "hMmMmMm, I have an idea :D"

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Here's a lil gift from me to my dearest author! Thank you for always answering my answers and being one of my first online friends :''D!! Thank you as well for having accepted my requests and prompts <3 (albeit all of them were angsty hehehe) - Ever so sincerely yours, Jae 👹✨ <3 (i hope u like the drawing!!)

JEWJDKDKKW??? JAE, HELLO??? I AM SPEECHLESS RN. i wasn't expecting to obtain the honor of having my boy drawn in your art style 😭

AND I AM HONORED because:

1. your art style is sooo pretty and squishy like an edible soft slime that i'd 100% sprinkle sugar on and eat???? I LOVE IT SM <3 (/pos)

2. jae, you don't really need a full fledged reason to come into my inbox 🤧 like you can literally just leave a tiktok link with a "heyyy, liaaaa :D" AND I'D STILL RUN OVER TO ANSWER YOUR ASK !! >:) (/g)

3. i am resisting the urge to include your art on caelin's official profile so i can show it off to everyone. like the will smith meme with the proudest grin on my face, yes. (but only if you'd give your permission, ofc~ i totally understand if you're uncomfy! i'd still cherish it either way hhhhh <3)

ngl, the first time i saw boss scara, i went "aww, look, he's in there" while knowing fully that he'd wring my neck if he hears me say that LOLLL but YESSS, nyehehe to your heart's content, mr. crazy chaos bringer with mommy issues 🫣 (/j)

I CHOKED AT THE ALHAITHAM ONE. all i said was that i wanted to study him like a lab specimen but viewing this tiktok made me feel like my face is being shoved into his chest and idk how to feel 🚶(/j) BUT THE SOUND EFFECTS AND THE CLOSE-UPS, HELP. yes, it definitely scarra-ed me... until aethernity... PERFECT COMBO MUAHAHA

and now, i shall return the trade by offering you these two tiktoks: the raidens' reunion abridged and scara in grandpa pj's that reminds me of you >:)

TYSM FOR THE GIFT, JAE <3 I LOVE IT SM WORDS CAN'T EVEN EXPRESS 😭 it's always been a joy to talk to and go crazy stupid with you !! <3 and tbh, you didn't even need to thank me because i can assure you i never ever feel tired when it comes to answering your asks >:) you can imagine a samoyed puppy pouncing on you for a hug because that's me rn. (/lh)

#tattooing your caelin art on my forehead rn and it's going nowhere #IT'S SO PRETTY <3 #my boy being drawn by one of my fav ppl on this site is a dream come true 😭 #TYSM JAE !! <3 #dramatically perishes to dust from euphoria (/j) #ask box! 📬 #visitor: dearest jae! 👹✨

[talenlee]

Story Pile: Megatokyo

New Post has been published on PRESS.exe: Story Pile: Megatokyo

Throughout 2022 I made a bit of fun on social media by reminding people that Megatokyo, the webcomic, was still updating, and had through all 22 years of its existence, produced a plot that at this point spanned roughly a week. It’s one of those things that when you present it to people who remember reading it as literal children creates an interesting reaction that shows you what they remember.

But what of me? What did I remember? I thought that maybe I should go check it out, and see what I thought of Megatokyo, since after all, I’d stepped out well before the talking robot girl had made a schoolfriend who was also the avatar of female tragedy. What is Megatokyo now? And how has it changed? Is it what you remember? is it better? is it worse?

What would I answer to the question, What is Megatokyo?

Content Warning: Y’know, there’s a lot of pretty nasty misogyny in Megatokyo, though not anything I’d step up to the level of a content warning. What I would content warn, though, is the commonality with which they suggest an adult Piro date a fifteen year old.

Megatokyo is a webcomic that launched in the year 2000, immensely successful for its form and platform, and one of those ‘top ten most popular’ things in its genre for a number of those years. Famously slow paced, erratic and unreliable in its update schedule, its claims to fame early on mostly were tied to its high art quality compared to other webcomics of the time and its quirky mix of Anime Softboy Piro and Libertarian Gamer Largo, and that’s kind of where the simple summary breaks down. You can’t really look at Megatokyo as the thing it started as, or the reason it was successful, because those things are amorphous and there’s a lot of assumptions. I mean I assume it succeeded because it looked good compared to a dozen sprite comics and stuff that looked like Sluggy Freelance. What’s more, ‘why it was notable in 2000’ is really unimportant in 2022, where I’m trying to look at what Megatokyo, the whole text, is.

The best thing you can give Megatokyo at the moment is abridgement. Twenty-two years on, waiting between strips and the dead strips are all no longer being drawn out by weeks at a time. The first year or so of comic strips are a breezy read, around 129 pages, which load nice and quick and honestly ricochet through the narrative at a pretty breakneck pace. I started this article imagining in my heart of hearts thinking that I’d just read all of Megatokyo. All twenty years of it, which totals up to about 1600 pages. As I write this down now, the ‘jot notes down’ stage of things, I am at 412 pages, which puts me in March 2003. That means that within the first 3 years of the comic, a quarter of it got made, which is honestly pretty good — that’s around 72 pages a year, which is about two pages a week. You could do a lot worse than that in a lot of serialised publications.

Of course, then there’s the question about what is or is not ‘Megatokyo‘ in this context. At first, I started by noting how often pages were what I filed as ‘padding.’ They were dead art days, ringer days, diary days, explainers for delays in the comic, and my numbers found that first ‘chapter’ of Megatokyo was composed of 83 ‘strips’, and 38 pieces of filler content. I don’t know if that content proportion holds; honestly, I imagine it gets worse, with more and more dead art days over time, until updates are instead interspersed with great big gaps of nothing, but I won’t know until I get there.

I wanted to make sure I spent some of this time noting down my reactions to the characters, the ways the story was telling me things and the things the story seems to think of as important, though, because it’s a lot easier to give the benefit of the doubt at the end of an archive binge, when you’re trying to construct the narrative in your own head. And I think that it holds that some of the best things you can do for Megatokyo is cut out a bunch of Megatokyo.

I need to talk about Megatokyo‘s author. No, not Piro. No, not Fred Gallagher. No, not Largo, or Rodney, or Dom or Ser. None of those people, but rather instead, the Author of Megatokyo, in a Barthesian sense.

Fred Gallagher fell out with Rodney Carston. Fred Gallagher has had depressive spirals, and personal medical tragedy and breakdowns and collapses. Fred Gallager is a person, and that person has been influenced in immense ways by material needs and constraints, and I will talk a little about what I think of that. But Fred Gallagher isn’t ‘the Author’ of Megatokyo and should not be regarded as such, because Megatokyo‘s author is the single mind that created the first strip and the most recent strip. Both of those people who did that were called Fred Gallagher, but they were not the same person by any measure.

I want to talk about what Megatokyo makes me think and feel and what it’s about as a historical millenial story. I want to talk about things that the text seems to me to be trying to do, because that seems the most reasonable way to treat this text as a whole object with its own ideas, and not as a diary of the breakdown of a man cursed in a way only capitalism can curse you. To that end:

The Author Of Megatokyo Is Dead, Because The Author Of Megatokyo Was Never Alive.

When I refer to Piro, I use that to mean the character Piro, and the fact that Piro is written by someone who for a while there wanted to be primarily known and seen as Piro is a detail that the diegesis can discard. It’s interesting if you want to particularly pick on him but I think that picking on him at this point is sort of redundant. The Author of Megatokyo then is the collapsed personality you can see in the work, a mind that would make the jokes that are made here and why they might make them. If a comic makes a particular kind of joke, you can probably reliably expect that the author of that comic finds that joke funny; just in the same way you can expect a comic made in English has an author that understands English.

Without delving too much into Megatokyo’s failings at this point, one thing I think is most important about Megatokyo‘s author is that they value nostalgia and impressions. There’s a shocking amount of things in the comic that claim, in some way, to be ‘about’ something in particular, or reference caring about a thing, but then demonstrate a breathtaking ignorance of it; if you told me the Author of Megatokyo had never been to Japan at all I wouldn’t actually doubt you. There are all these little giveaways, like the ways people have their meals, freely available guns, high speed highway chases, american-style health insurance and details like car accidents and a lack of attention paid to trains. This is not about Japan, this is about the Japan you think you like if you liked thinking about Japan a lot in 2000.

The Author has concerns outside of the comic that creep into them, too; there’s an antipathy towards internet forums and commentators, a distrust of normies, a shocking distaste for women and their agency, and a surprisingly common reliance on violence as a punchline in a way that makes me feel like they’re not very confident.

The confidence and distaste for women show up a lot more in the early parts, but don’t seem to have gone away around strip 500. Early strips relied a lot on the joke structure of someone being awful to a woman then being hurt for it, which meant, to make a joke, a lot of characters harrassed women. Repeatedly. A big part of this is a specific joke structure that was, I think, kind of Mcluahn-like, embedded in the form by another media.

Okay, okay, so this is a big reach, this is unprovable, but it explains a trend I lived through and I think that the story has some explanatory power. When I talk about it, please recognise this is a lens that works for me, this is an explanation for a trend that makes sense to me and I think helps me mentally avoid y’know, some creative problems.

I think that weeby webcomics are populated with a particular joke structure that occurs by trying to emulate an anime punchline.

If you watch a lot of 90s comedy anime, a very common thing is a character does something or says something funny but inappropriate, trying to get away with something they shouldn’t or being somewhere they shouldn’t, rather than stay and explain what’s going on or what they were doing, the show tends to keep things pacing on by having someone in the scene whallop them so hard they go flying out of the scene. This is a structure used a lot by Takahashi across her, let’s say, shithead-based narrative stories, and she used it for a lot of sex-based slapstick.

Webcomics that wanted to emulate anime aesthetics of the 90s were often being made by people who could reference that particular vein of punchline-PUNCHline moment. Also, and this is again, conjecture, I think a lot of webcomics were very keenly aware that they weren’t very funny. What’s more, they were often stuck with a four-panel structure, which means you’d get something like:

Panel 1: Framing for a joke

Panel 2: Setup for the punchline

Panel 3: The actual punchline

Panel 4: A reaction for the punchline

And I think, because overwhelmingly these were being made by people who weren’t boiling with confidence, panel 4 would be a reaction of violence, a shocking and abrupt ‘bam you got hurt for the thing you did,’ which was often a bad joke or a thoughtless line or a cheesy pick-up line. And that structure plays into how, in the early Megatokyo stories, a four panel comic that couldn’t come up with a use for its fourth panel would regularly have Largo say or do something misogynistic or awful, and then, the fourth panel is an understated observation of the aftermath of some violence. A doctor patching someone up, or a news report about someone getting hurt, or Piro hearing that something bad just happened to Largo.

What I’m saying is that an attempt to be Takahashi made Megatokyo into Ctrl-Alt-Delete.

Part of what bothers me in the reread is how much Megatokyo seems to have the edges of some ideas, as it is filled with conversations about media, games, and culture, but these ideas are so basic and stupid and dead-end with cliches. There’s this whole recurrent thread about how Piro liking dating sims was a problem because it made him weak, and not Piro objectifying real women was the problem.

It wants to comment on games because of Largo liking games but it has no idea about how people interact with games. It’s full of characters who clearly like hentai but is deeply dismissive of sex work, and in the same way, these characters seem to always be looking for a woman who is to blame for the things that are going wrong in their lives! Largo spends a huge chunk of the story at war with a girl because he thinks there’s something sus about her, and there is something sus about her, but even the ways he tries to address that involve approaching her as a problem who needs to be solved.

It’s not like this isn’t a story with some ideas in it. It’s definitely trying with both hands to pull together a bunch of different ideas, ideas that maybe had some purpose once, when the story started but as the story persists, the longer it goes without being able to resolve or conclude those story bits, the Author just keeps stapling together things they like. It also creates this weird phenomenon of backpedalling, sometimes as quickly as two panels immediately after one another, with a day between them. There’s a sequence where a teenager finds Piro’s books and her reaction at first implies that she’s looking at hentai he draws, but then the next panel, on the next day, opens with her saying ‘well I’m definitely not looking at hentai here.’

Then what the fuck was that first reaction?

This character’s reaction to Piro’s art is one of those other ways the story seems to be telling me ‘hey, here’s what you should think about this,’ and it’s also one of the ways the story underscores the theme of sadness. It keeps bringing up sadness, the sadness of a character, the sadness of an art, the sadness of a fandom, the sadness of a particular interest, and it keeps bringing up sadness itself as if the sadness is what makes someone interesting. This art is so sad, this artist draws sad characters, he was drawn to this character because there was a sadness to her (even if that wasn’t actually who she was).

I think Megatokyo is a story about how being sad is the same thing as being interesting. And hoping that other people in the world think that too. That a character with the right aesthetic presentation, the right drowned babymanchild, is inherently interesting. You should care about Piro because he’s sad. Piro cares about characters because they’re sad. That’s why he draws them to be sad. Piro’s emotional state is soooo strange, so unlike other boys, so much so that a brain-warping AI that manipulated people assumed he was a female player and he didn’t take well to being hit on in a game, where he was also, again, sad.

You can unpack a whole thing there if you want. Seems you can’t manipulate lesbians over the internet.

Good Girl.

There’s a lot of a particular kind of softboy fantasy to Piro. The character is the hub of a lot of attention from people who value him and his opinion a lot when one of his only acts of selflessness so far was giving away someone else’s money. And I don’t get why I’m meant to like that. I don’t feel like Piro is interesting because he is sad, I feel like he is sad, because he gets to be sad, because he keeps seeming to resort to sadness as a personality trait. He complains about the people around him, especially women, and that’s why he’s sad – because people are making him sad, and that’s not interesting. It’s wretched.

According to the timescale of Megatokyo, there have been about twenty days since the start of the story proper, with a two week timeskip early in chapter 0 to set up the predicament of our freeloading idiot protagonists becoming homeless. It means that the world of Megatokyo is a historical one; it is set in a year 2000 Tokyo where Fukushima Daichi hasn’t happened, where no global financial collapse happened, no impeachment of Park Geun-Hye or assassination of Shinzo Abe happened. Hell, in Megatokyo, Sega is still in the eyes of the gamer audience, a leading console manufacturer, which is why they have black vans and sick-ass secret cops with guns. The PS2 is a loathed upstart console made by an Enemy, Love Plus is eight years away, and Metal Gear Solid 2 isn’t out yet.

The entirety of this story then, is the work of a millenial weeby author, perhaps fresh out of college, writing and creating about the way they felt in that one period of time, as the memories get fuzzier and the culture moves on.

This whole thing makes me feel gross. These characters are iconic examples of millenial internet culture, and looking back on them, they make me revolted to remember who they were, how they were. I printed out some of these comics and had them in my schoolbooks. I quoted them. I probably still do, without realising the source of the phrases lingering still in my head.

I recoil from Piro, even remembering my time as a depressed boy who wanted to be prettier than I was and wished Girls Would Just Appreciate How Different I Was. I see the way that his behaviour and thoughts all seem to reflect a disdain for the women around him, and the way he used selfishness and indulgence as an excuse to treat his friends badly. Largo is meant to be the relief from Piro, and he makes me gamerphobic. Someone who has nothing in his life but Being A L337 G4M3R, whose ability to even process emotion is morphed around that, obsessed with his interests in a way that harms other people, and constantly seeking alcohol.

When viewed as page after page of a single text it’s very hard to think of Megatokyo very well. The characters are dreadful, and you sort of need to make excuses for them to put up with them long enough to watch the character development. They were rough, self-insert characters of thoughtless men, they can’t help it, how were they supposed to be good at storytelling?

There are two things in this comic, in the first five hundred strips that stand out now, in hindsight as needing particular explanation. Firstly, at one point early on, Erika and Hayasaka, two Japanese girls from Japan in Japan are having a conversation, and the topic of Hayasaka’s coworker Piro comes up. Erika asks if he’s American, and Hayasaka responds with ‘I don’t know.’ Now, the specific wording there is very obviously easy – after all, any given white boy could be from Canada, Scotland, Romania, Australia, or indeed, Japan as well, there’s nothing about his appearance that makes it obvious.

But these are Japanese characters from Japan speaking in Japanese, and Japanese has a way, as a language, to signify if someone is from Japan or not, and what’s more, in Japan, it’s really obvious that people judge and assume how Japanese you are or are not, based on how you look. That Hayasaka reacts with an ‘I don’t know’ is really weird, and makes me uncomfortable because it almost feels like it’s asking a specific question, “is he white” and the answer is meant to signify “how should I be able to tell?”

It’s a recurrent thing with how people talk about perceiving Piro, the character. He’s seen as female by a mind-warping AI in an MMORPG, a group of girls describe him as attractive (but also a lady), and the Erika moment leave me feeling like this character, in some tiny way, is meant to be a very obviously white boy, who can somehow be seen, in Japan, aracially; that he would ‘pass’ as Asian in a culture that is very aware of what that means.

Oh and one of those groups perceiving him as a ‘her’ includes a group of fifteen year old schoolgirls who are shocked to see a boy reading shojo manga. This is once again one of those things that projects that image of Japan, rather than being set in Japan, because lots of boys buy Shojo manga, it would not be an oddity that children gawp at. But it does let us chain into the other thing that I cannot stop thinking about:

Piro’s Conscience stops the story and has a chat with him about how he should not find those girls attractive, because they are fifteen and he is something like 23. And that’s almost a thing that you could point to as character development, except it’s weird that he needs to be told that by an outside agent, and it’s weird that the Author would think of that as an example of a way to have this character improve. You kind of don’t tend to need to explain ‘by the way, this character is not a sex criminal.’

But okay, the story says ‘Piro will not have sex with that teenager, as a point of ethical growth.’ Cool, not the example I’d leap to but I’m glad they do it. But and oh no there’s a but – but, they then have other characters remark on that, and there’s a plot arc about ‘oh no, what if this teenager hits on him?’

Yeah, what if?

What if this character who is definitely not a sex criminal now, because that’s a thing that the plot said he wasn’t, gets invited to do a sex crime? Well, maybe he’d do it? Because that character development is uncertain? Which means he’s probably a sex criminal, really?

These are the things that make me wonder about the Author of Megatokyo. It makes me wonder, as with other works before it, why would you bring that up?

It’s hard not to be bitter about Megatokyo. Megatokyo was wildly successful on the con circuit, it had printed books and cosplayers and the creators in the first year of the comic’s life went from ‘nobodies with a comic’ to ‘celebrity guests at major conventions.’ And this is in that period where of 121 strips, 38 were just empty filler. There was a lightning strike of it all, and I know that impacts how I feel about it in hindsight. We were hanging on to see the plot developments? From this? At that point? A year in, knowing that twenty-one years later, many of those initial plot points are dangling or forgotten?

But, and now I’d like to talk about Fred Gallagher the person, and not The Author of Megatokyo. I think Fred Gallagher received a special kind of torment that only capitalism can truly give. In a fair or sensible world, Fred wouldn’t need to do this art in a way that generated revenue; he’d be able to do it in his free time when he wanted to and release it at a schedule that pleased him and find a stable feedback loop that worked for him, all while his other needs were met. He wouldn’t need to work as an architect, then as a bus driver, in order to make ends meet while he pushed on with Megatokyo, a thing that he can manage to update maybe twice a month with a single page, often a page full of wordswordswords.

Megatokyo got successful in a capitalist way, and it demanded that in order it work, it had to be consistent, it needed attention, it needed monetisation, it needed to be a hustle, and the result of it really looks like every part of that sucks. Gallagher has written about being a temperamental writer and artist, and doesn’t that bear out in a work which could have months of breaks between its haphazardly crafted plot beats?

Megatokyo is a project that could benefit now with a good editor going through a draft manuscript and saying ‘hey, is this not important? Maybe we get rid of this’ or ‘what are we doing with this?’ and maybe ‘a few less jokes about the fifteen year old flirting with an adult, perhaps?’ and then letting the perfectionist who wanted to drive the story come back through that process and engage with it in its own time. It doesn’t need to be a commercial platform that justifies its existence; it could be a shed project, something someone who loves it does to work on it a little at a time.

But it isn’t.

And the demands of making A Business, a Brand, are clearly things that really hurt its actual existence. The more upset and the more struggle that Gallagher has to go through to make it, the less likely it seems to me that it gets made. That’s the story of what happened to the visual novel (which still shocks me in that it seems like it’d be very easy to get something out, but which now, all that money has dried up).

Gallagher has a patreon. It pays for Megatokyo and it pays for his other webtoon work, which seems driven by improvisation and speed. It gets updated a fair bit more often than Megatokyo with more coherent, directed sequences. I do not wish ill of this man, and for all that I wish the culture had venerated something else, uplifted someone else, I do not want this project to be a failure, to be gone. I’d like it to be better – boy, I’d like it to be better, such as discarding all the jokes about the fifteen year old flirting with an adult, could we please stop that.

But it’s hard sometimes to think about it, about the unfairness that this got to be a Cultural Touchstone where someone nearly twenty years older than me got to be one of ‘the voices’ of my cultural space, and where now he gets to continue making a page or two a month, while some of my friends have to negotiate ‘groceries or rent’ problems with their online presences and the art they give away.

Is Megatokyo, the project, worth a few thousand a month? I mean, yeah, absolutely.

But it doesn’t seem fair to me that this project, this project, limping along over twenty two years to tell a story that is awkward and illformed and thoughtless and selfish and indulgent and focused on some characters who are kinda rotten assholes, gets to be the place where the cyberpunk dystopia is unevently distributed.

There’s an impulse to pull the punch here, or to be crueller. That somehow I should either be kind enough because Gallagher’s been through a lot (and he has! I don’t mean to downplay any of the realities of Being The Megatokyo Guy!) or be able to lay a knockout punch on the work and get rid of it, which, no, of course not; Gallagher should be happily working on this project in his own time in a way that appeals to him, it doesn’t have to go anywhere or have a goal. In this house we don’t do disrespectful teleologies. Maybe I should be ‘aw shucks, well, that Piro learns his lesson after four straight years of narrative,’ but to get there I have to slog through twenty two years of archives, most of which is irrelevant and boring.

Ah well.

Make art, make rent, help others do the same. And helping others make art can be stuff like reading your friends’ work, and asking them if they want to do things differently, or better, or with fewer jokes about flirting with underaged girls.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!