#I'll be honest not sure if this in character but they've been on my mind and as you know I'm weak for sleepy piles so

[kirider]

[24/11/2023]

Sleepy

#kamen rider v3 #shiro kazami #joji yuki #my art #I'll be honest not sure if this in character but they've been on my mind and as you know I'm weak for sleepy piles so #been working with some pics from the cartoon that's why the visual noise i like the crunchyness

[gold-pavilion]

Toman and Buddhism + Tenjiku and Taoism

Another post to cover references in Tokyo Revengers! 

This time, I'll be covering the links to two religions to be found in two gangs in the series, reference by reference, with the according explanation of each. 

Some of these may be already known, I know one of them sure is (the whole buddhist manji confusion thing yeah yeah) but still, for the sake of a tidy compilation and of providing more detail, I'll go through them too. Some others are a lot less noticed, like Tenjiku's lean towards Tao, so it'll be best to lay down eeeeeeverything I've caught during my time enjoying this series. Plus, I'm pretty excited to get some of those less-known facts out here!!

Warning though, it's lengthy.

Let's start with Tokyo Manji Gang:

- Firstly, the gang's name and how it's written.

Despite Mikey suggesting the name as a short form of Tokyo Manjiro Gang, putting himself front and center, the kanji that ended up forming the name of Tokyo Manji Gang show that it went in a different direction of meaning. The manji used for the middle part ended up not being the same one from the name Manjiro, but a manji written as 卍. Aloud it's read the same way (many, many, many kanji are homophones), but has a different meaning.

卍 (manji) is an extremely common buddhist symbol (not even limited to japanese buddhism, but in hinduism and other aligned east-asian religions too), which represents the path of Buddha and the endless cycle of rebirth through samsara; the pursuit of leading a more spiritually balanced existence until the soul can reach enlightenment. In other words, it's nothing but deeply buddhist.

(To answer a common question around it: can it be called a swastika? Yes. The symbol in general, with each of the million variations that have popped up in different cultures, can be called a swastika as a broad term. There are a fuckton of swastikas. They mean a fuckton of different things. The tilt and the direction in which this one "spins" makes it different from other swastikas though, and it's always best to be precise and call this one manji.)

Moving on,

- Reunion spot.

The Musashi Shrine (based, but not exactly taken from any of the real-life shrines and temples of similar name in Tokyo, as far as I know) is a shinto-buddhist temple. And, apparently, a place where the founders hung out from time to time, but I'll add to that later!!

It's cute to me that the Toman members seem to use the temple very respectfully. They always meet in it at night waaay after it's closed (daytime meetings have always taken place in different locations, never the temple during visiting hours), they've never once set foot even near the oratory/sanctum/other buildings, never been seen bringing the motorcycles anywhere they shouldn't, and the one time a character was seen using the public temizuya (the little stone fountain where visitors purify their hands and mouth), he was proper about it in terms of pouring water into his hand to rinse his mouth with, not getting the ladle or the rest of the water dirty, as one should always do. 

A fun fact: in Google Maps, buddhist temples are marked with the manji symbol!

- Gang's manifesto.

Embroidered on the chest of the gang uniform, you can see the text  天上天下唯我独尊 ("Above the earth and below the heavens, I alone shall be honored"), which is the gang's manifesto or motto. Sounds just like something Mikey would choose, yeah.

That phrase is also of buddhist origin; famously, the words spoken by Buddha Gautama Siddharta (bear in mind that buddhism isn't a religion with one god or anything like that, anyone enlightened can become a Buddha and many figures have been granted that status, but Gautama is the first and main one, the creator of the doctrine) when he was born. To be honest, this is very much interpretative, but I've come to get the impression that it's not so much a power or ego statement, but rather an expression of cultivating and honoring yourself…? It's absolutely up to personal reading and I'm absolutely not an expert. But those are certainly THE Buddha's words.

- Ceremonial sash.

Another part of their uniform that bears a slight reference: the sash worn by the commander, vice-commander, captains and vice-captains during important fights.

These are tasuki, sashes originally worn by shinto-buddhist priests during ceremonies, in order to keep long sleeves and such in place. However, eventually, they also began being worn by samurai and all sorts of warriors, 'cause of their convenience. In modern times, they even started being used by just about anybody who wears traditional clothing but also does manual work and needs the sleeves out of the way. So it can be concluded that, over time, they stopped being strongly linked to religious practicers. In fact, even biker gangs in general ended up adopting the use of tasuki! Not for their religious origins, but for the warrior part; a bōsōzoku gang member wearing one would look very prepared and determined for a fight.

That's why overall, Tokyo Manji Gang having them is only a relative reference; they could be paying homage to their reference religion, as they could be only honoring gang traditions.

- Additional notes about the leader.

I feel it's important to add up all these little factors of Mikey's choosing, with other little details about him as a person that kinda make it all make sense.

If I say "Mikey seems to be religious, to an extent", I understand this can carry a bunch of tricky connotations. Japanese religion isn't exercised the same way it is in other places, someone being religious SURE AS HECK doesn't mean the same things it means in the christian west. Shinto-buddhism is so commonplace in Japan, most people partake in all kinds of religious practices without even thinking of them as strictly religious, such as new year's celebrations, casual prayer during shrine visits, purchasing and giving charms and such. Religion is integrated in life in a lot of extremely chill ways.

And we can observe a lot of things about Mikey that put him quite above the average in terms of his relationship with local tradition and religion. His house is a huge traditional-style family home, his family is hinted to be active in religious practice (remember Emma's appearances during the Christmas Showdown arc? How she mentioned that their family does a lot of temple visits, and even she considered it weird at that time of the year?), he's much more prone to wearing traditional clothing than his peers, his motif in extra clothing designs is the lion-dog (temple guardians; statues of these can often be found in them), his personal beliefs around death and relationship to the dead run deeper than others' to the point they find him disturbing when he talks about Shinichiro or Baji still being with him... many little things that aren't that deep on their own, of course, but when added up they paint a pretty coherent picture of the guy.

And so, it does make a lot of sense that, even from childhood, a temple was a regular place for Mikey to hang out with his friends, leading to the birth of Toman in one. And it makes a lot of sense that he made all those little choices about the way the gang would be styled. In my opinion, it's likely that those things just all came natural to him because they're a part of his background and worldview. Of course, how actively religious he is, how much he believes in the things he happens to know and how much exactly he might know about buddhism are all up to headcanoning and interpretation. Personally, I'm just a roleplayer that takes it as a relevant part of his character.

- Following a Buddha?

A little out-of-TR-universe element that I love to bring up, 'cause it's just hilarious and cool as hell, is the creation of this statue:

This part of the 2022 Tokyo Revengers exhibition straight up imitates the famous Reclining Buddha in the Wat Pho temple, Thailand. 

The ENORMOUS statue depicts the moment Buddha reaches nirvana, and his enlightened soul is at rest. The golden Mikey statue that imitates it very much intentionally likens him to a Buddha; funny to note that the exhibition staff even prayed to the statue, as you can read in the tweet itself.

What does this mean about Mikey's character? Well, this isn't within text in Tokyo Revengers, just a little outside factor, so I wouldn't take it too literally or too seriously, but it's interesting nonetheless. Personally, I see it as a hint that Mikey was supposed to be on his own little quest to enlightenment, or had the potential to be. Grappling with morality without having a natural sense of what's right, wrong, too much or enough is a major thing with his character. I can also imagine it might just be meant to represent the godlike view others have of him, the guidance they sought from him. Take it as you will! 

The important thing is just that it exists, to confirm that there is an intentional connection of some type between the Buddha and Mikey.

Thaaaaat concludes the Toman and Buddhism section of this post.

Whew!! That was a whole lot.

The Tenjiku and Taoism section coming now is shorter, but I'm sure it contains interesting and less-known things (at least, I've never seen anybody talk about these)!

So let's see, Tao references in Tenjiku:

- Gang name.

Tenjiku is a now-obsolete word that translated directly to "heaven", while simultaneously being the japanese word for the country India (as taken from the chinese pronunciation, Tianzhu).

In modern times, it can be found mostly in ancient literature, the most prominent example being Journey to the West. Given that Kakucho and Izana mentioned this book and seemed to have knowledge of it as kids, we can conclude that's where they got the name of their gang from.

Why would they use the word for India to name their kingdom? What does this have to do with Tao? I'll get into that properly now:

- Kakucho, Izana & Journey to the West.

Journey to the West is one of the four great chinese classic novels (along with Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Outlaws of the Marsh, and Dream of the Red Chamber) which are enormous, ENORMOUS influences on east-asian literature and fiction in general. Journey to the West, itself, is considered the most popular east-asian literary work overall; of course, being super well-known in Japan, too. (To give my favorite funny example of just how omnipresent it is, y'know Dragon Ball? Hit anime series Dragon Ball? Unabashedly based on Journey to the West, which was to thank for most of its initial local popularity.)

It's the story of the buddhist monk Tang Sanzang, who travels to Tenjiku, to India, to that certain heavenly kingdom, to obtain sacred texts for Buddha Gautama Siddharta (the guy I described as THE Buddha in the Tokyo Manji Gang section above). The quest doubles as a search and exercise of enlightenment, as Tang Sanzang is aided by three protectors that are atoning for their sins and learning from him. The main guardian and arguably the true protagonist of the book is Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, a fighter "so strong he could carry a mountain on each shoulder, and still dash as fast as a meteor". It's a huge, epic, 100-chapter monster of a book, in which each chapter is already a fantastic and entertaining anecdote about the characters or what happens in their travels, but also a long spiritual journey that pretty much serves to subtly teach the principles of Tao (term that can be translated to "the path", chinese religion and philosophy). 

A tangent: let me just show you how large it is (and why I haven't been able to finish it, 'cause I cannot take this brick of a book anywhere lmaoooo).

(Cover says Journey to the West: The Adventures of the Monkey King. It's in spanish.)

My guess is that Izana and Kakucho studied about it or read some chapters in school, 'cause dang, there's no way they read all of this at that age?!?! BUT ANYWAY.

While there's obviously quite some buddhist influence in the story, most of what it works with throughout is rooted in chinese folklore and Taoism. The edition of the book I have even begins with extensive notes and introductory explanations about Tao, as its themes of harmony with the universe, self-cultivation, internal alchemy, its main ethics and values, etc etc etc are the basis from which the book is built up. The characters very actively engage with Tao. Sun Wukong is an ardent student of Tao who obtains a bunch of powers through it, for one.

I've gone into this much into detail because Kakucho and Izana make it pretty explicit that, to them, Izana is like monk Tang Sanzang leading to Tenjiku, and Kakucho is like his guardian of unmatched strength, Sun Wukong.

In the end of Journey to the West, it's both Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong that accomplish their goal and also obtain enlightenment, finally ascending to buddhahood. Had Izana and Kakucho's journey with Tenjiku reached their original destination (not "to become a criminal syndicate that controls Japan" but "to build a kingdom where everyone without a home could exist"), had it been like Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong's pilgrimage… they would've learned true balance and they would've found the necessary enlightenment.

Again, I find this little connection with characters that could've been on a quest towards buddhahood, but as far as things went in the main TR timelines, all failed.

- Uniform & logo.

Finally, something lighter and quicker to add, haha.

There are symbols and references that are so so so widespread that they become more of an aesthetic detail than a symbol with meaning, in the eyes of the general public. The yin-yang is one of those symbols that just… appears in a lot of places, fashionably, and one kinda gets used to seeing it without thinking much about it. Sometimes it's not meant to stand for much more than a decorative detail, yes, that definitely happens, but sometimes it's very much a thoughtful choice. With Tenjiku, given its connection to Taoism, I'm gonna treat the yin-yang as a meaningful choice.

So! On the back of the uniform we have a yin-yang, Taoist symbol that represents the balance of the two complementary and opposing forces of the universe (note: it's not a good vs evil type of thing, as tends to happen with western black-white dualism, but rather… the fact that reality needs to be composed of push and pull to get anywhere, hard and soft things with their own function, sun and shade. A common comparison is how a mountain will have a sunny side and a shady side when looked at in a certain moment, but the sun and shade will switch over at another time of day, in a needed cycle). Other features of the uniform are a mao collar instead of a more common style for gang jackets, and an intense red color, the main auspicious and prosperous color in chinese culture. These last two little features could easily be coincidental, but when paired with the yin-yang, I feel like it's intended to lean towards chinese aesthetics.

And with that, 

I end this reference post!

Did you learn anything you didn't know? Did you enjoy learning it? Any thoughts? I LOVE TO TALK ABOUT THESE THINGS, SO FEEL FREE TO DROP BY MY ASKBOX with any comments or questions or such!!

#tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers meta #tokyo manji gang #toman #tenjiku #kurokawa izana #sano manjiro #izana kurokawa #manjiro sano #mikey #kakucho #thoughts and talk and so #tokyo rev #wanted to write this one forever #just never quite got around to it

[formula1fanfiction]

George Russell / Max Verstappen

Title: I can think of ways to make this less boring

Pairing: George Russell / Max Verstappen

Characters: George Russell, Max Verstappen

Prompt: Max has a lot of pent up boredom after a very boring race, George is very willing to help him out with it.

George had always been sort of a none event to Max, it's not that he didn't like him, they've had a few coming togethers over the years, mainly after the sprint race in Baku but nothing too serious and they had laughed it off pretty quickly. They had just been polite with each other and that was it, really.

But recently, Max had been scrolling through instagram and come across Aleix's instagram posts, and had respectfully, okay, unrespectfully watched a lot of George's arse content, he's a healthy gay male with needs, nothing wrong with that. Has George always had a great arse or is he just noticing this now?  He had asked Lando, which had been very embarrassing conversation. "Eww, I don't want to talk about George's arse, mate." 

And somehow, this is how he finds himself sneaking inside one of the rooms on the Mercedes yacht, George doesn't know he's here yet but he's expecting him, he's not some kind of sick pervert, despite the dirty thoughts in his head. 

"That race was so boring, I wondered if you wanted to burn off some energy in another way." Max whispers into George's ear, his hands wrapping around his slender waist. "What did you have in mind?" George knows, but he just has to ask doesn't he? He doesn't seem startled by Max's sudden appearance.

Max presses his hips forward, cock bumping against the swell of George's ass. "Well, I've be up your arse for 77 laps, why not in a more physical manner?" George honest to god moans, he didn't think it would be this easy.

"Do you think i'm that easy?" George spins around, he gives himself away too easily, his pupils are blown wide with lust, his half hard cock is evident against his leggings. "Yes, exactly that." Max gives him the lightest push, and he falls back onto the bed, so pliant, so easy, long legs spread so wide, happy to take whatever Max is willing to give him.

Max jumps up onto the bed and settles himself down between George's legs, his hand ghosts over the now hard bulge in George's pants. "And you said, you are not easy?" Max chuckles. "So hard for me, and I haven't even done anything yet."

"Touch me, please." He begs so nicely, but Max is feeling a little bit mean, it had been so frustrating being stuck behind George for all those laps, not being able to overtake. It had been so boring, Max has a lot of pent up energy to use, now poor George will see just how frustrating it is.

Max grabs George's dick and squeezes him through the fabric of his pants, George protests and bucks his hips. "I need more, please." Max ignores him, and continues to stroke him through his clothes. George obviously isn't getting much pleasure out of it, judging by his frustrated withering underneath him.

"Take them off, please." George reaches down and pushes his fingers into the hem of his pants, only to have his hand slapped away. "So desperate, already." Max continues to torture him, a little longer then slowly lowers his pants and boxers together, his angry red cock lays hard and leaking against his stomach.

"Please, i'll suck you off." Max hadn't considered this idea, he pushes his fingers into George's hair and pulls him up, using his free hand to take his own cock out of his skinny jeans.

George becomes face to face with Max's cock, but doesn't do anything, just licks his lips. “What do you want me to do with this? Eat it?” He's not sure what do here, should he force George to take it? “I want those pretty lips wrapped around my dick this instant or i'll do it for you” At least that gives George the option to back out, he takes his cock into his own hand and slaps it against George's cheek. "Come on pretty boy."

George takes Max's cock into his hand and kitten licks at the head, swiping away a bead of pre cum. "Oh, you want me to fuck your throat?" Using the hand still in George's hair, he thrusts his hips forward and slides into the back of George's throat, only stopping when George's nose presses against his stomach. Gag reflex? Obviously not.  

"Someone's got you trained well, no choking from you huh?" Max chuckles, watching George's pupils dilute with lust, as he slides all the way out, only to slam back into him again. George lays back taking, using his tongue to encase the pleasure as his through is brutally fucked, Max makes sure to hit the back of his throat with every thrust.

"Aww you are a mess." George really is a mess when Max pulls his cock from George's abused lips. His eyes are shining with tears, drool running down his face. "I could have cum down your throat, but i'd sooner cum in your tight little as."

"Please, fuck me Max." George whines, his throat rough and scratchy from the face fucking. "Oh don't worry your pretty little head Georgie, i'm going to."

"Hands and knees, beautiful." George doesn't hesitate for a single second, just rolls onto his front and presses his ass high into the air. "Uhm, do you have any lube?" Max had never thought to bring any, George shakes his head. "Just use spit, won't be the first time."

"Open wide baby." Max pushes three fingers into George's hot, wet mouth. George wastes no time getting to work and starts to suck on Max's fingers, soaking the digits with spit and saliva. Max waits until his fingers become nice and wet before letting them slip out.

"Just tell me if you need any more spit or anything?" Max whispers into George's ear, giving it a little kiss. Max circles George's entrance with a single finger and slowly lets it sink inside, George is lose and open already. He's either, recently had a fuck or prepped himself earlier on. Max feels a small wave of jealousy in the pit of his stomach.

He slams in three digits at the same time. George throws his head back and groans. "Why didn't tell me you were already lose, huh?" Max chuckles, twisting and  turning his fingers. "I prepped myself, I hoped we would do this." George chokes out in between loud moans.

"I don't know what I was expecting from you, but it wasn't this." Max lets his fingers slide out, spitting on his own palm then stroking it over his achingly hard cock. "Are you ready sweetheart?"

"Fuck me please, I've waited long enough." Max nudges the head of his cock against George's spit glistening hole. "Max please, i've been a good boy, so far." Max keeps teasing, lightly pressing against, it but still not pushing inside. "To be honest, I think you've been a naughty boy."

Max himself can't wait any longer, he grips George's hip and slams inside of him with one swift thrust, George cries out in pleasure, finally getting what he wants. Max doesn't bother to stall, George feels so warm, tight and open around him, he pulls nearly all the way out, only to slam back inside of him again.  George's body shakes with every thrust into him as Max settles in a rough, deep pace while his fingers leave dark bruises on the pale skin of his hip.  

"Yes, yes this is exactly what I needed." George whines, fisting the bed sheets below him, while Max thrusts harder and deeper with every thrust, searching for that little bundle of nerves inside of him. George responds beautifully to every thrust, it's music to Max's ears that he's enjoying himself as much as Max is.  

"Right there, right there." George throws his head back, pushing back his hips to meet all of Max's thrusts. Max keeps smashing into it with every thrust, loving the moaning and the begging underneath him, as he reaches the height of his orgasm. "I'm going to-" Max squeezes the base of George's dick and avoids his prostate, while still slamming into him.

"No, I don't think so, you've frustrated me enough today, did you really think I was going to let you cum, that easy?" George lets out a pathetic whine, pushing back, trying to force Max back onto his prostate. "Please, Max."

"No." Max pushes his fingers back into George's hair, pulling him up onto his knees, so he's practically sat in Max's lap, forcing the cock deeper inside of him. He's so deep, Max can feel the outline of his cock through George's flat stomach. "Please, Max."

Max picks up the pace again, with more speed and force that before slamming into him with all his might. "Do you want to cum baby?" George nods furiously, words seeming beyond him at the moment as Max smashes into his prostate once again. Max never gives him the chance to get used to the sensation from the pounding on his prostate before hitting it again, overwhelming him with pleasure.

"Come whenever you're ready sweetheart." Max presses a hard kiss onto George's temple, while still slamming into him. He doesn't last much longer after that, his whole body shakes as he comes, screaming something garbled as he spurts his load over his own chest.

"Such a good boy for me, good bye." Max keeps pressing kisses against his temple, using all his strength to keep George's limp body upright, as his own orgasm draws close. He's fucking into him much slower now, just enjoying the feeling of having George wrapped around him.  

"Where do you want it?" Max pants, on the very edge of his orgasm. "On my face, please." He wasn't expecting him to say that, he quickly pulls out and lays George down on his back.

He looks beautiful like this, his lips swollen and bitten, eyes unfocused from his orgasm, sweat glistening over his whole body. Max Furiously jerks off over his face until he cums in thick white spurts over George's cheeks and long eyelashes.

"You look so beautiful, covered in my cum." Max chuckles, leaning in and taking George into his arms. "Are you okay?" Max reaches down, using George's Mercedes jacket to wipe the cum off his face.

"I'm okay, I think you tried to kill me there, mate." George snuggles into him and Max finds he really doesn't mind it. "Can you stay and cuddle me, please?" And how can Max say no to that? He sinks down and holds George's trembling body.

If someone would have told Max that he would be snuggling George Russell, this time last year. He would have said they were crazy, but right now he can't think of doing anything better.

#formula 1 fanfiction #fanfic #mxm #formula 1 fanfic #fanfiction #formula 1 #formula one #mxm smut #george russell #max verstappen #max x george #Gax

[jascurka]

this is purely out of curiosity and i don't want to send hate your way, but do you ship mob and reigen? and if so, why?

I do, yeah. An ex-friend of mine asked me the exact same question (just more... harshly I think and with what I assumed was prejudice) before they decided to part our ways and I could never properly answer them because I was so stressed by the situation, it was hard to gather my thoughts. So I'll do my best to explain here, hopefully to make myself understood better.

Sorry if this gets lenghty >_< I'll just put a readmore right here.

I think the biggest reason for why I like them is their canon relationship that has been explored in the series already quite thoroughly - that they have changed eachother, helped eachother grow and one wouldn't be the person they are without the other. I think most of us understand the depth of it. Reigen is Mob's teacher and friend, someone like an older brother. There surely is a strong bond between them and they've seen each other at their best and worst and still acknowledged and accepted eachother's flaws. They trust eachother, they would give their life for eachother even (at least Reigen would, he almost did in the finale after all). And I do think that they love eachother but in a way that isn't actually romantic in canon. I'm perfectly capable of realizing that and I value it a lot both in the series and in fanworks (one of my fav works of fanfiction is about exactly that).

It was my curiosity that made me search up a ship fic of them, I was just confused why people ship them in the first place and whether it can be good and I found myself enjoying it a lot (to my surprise). It was set into the future, and dealt with some serious topics like loss and acceptance, it was kind of bittersweet. Then I felt that maybe it was just slightly ooc because all of the serirei fics I was busy reading depicted Reigen slightly different. Nontheless, I had the other ship on my mind then so I never really dived into Mob/Reigen, but it changed my perspective on them a lot.

And at some point into all this I realized, why not? Why can't I haz 2 cookies? (god im sorry that was terrible sfjgsdkj). What I mean is that the buildup canon offers can be taken further - more of their relationship can be explored in terms of new tropes, sometimes romantic too.

On a personal note I'll just add that I'm rather picky about them and tend to stick to fluff, hurt/comfort and slow slow burns. And I like them most post-canon, a few years into the future. It turns out that it all depends on how they're portrayed for me to like them anyways. I talked on here recently about a work that really had it all and portrayed their relationship in a very satisfying and mature way, with all the complicated feelings, it felt very realistic, especially on Reigen's side. So if anyone wants, here's a rec from me again -> in my dreams (I seem to be more honest) on ao3, just because I think it has all that I like about the ship.

I think that this is the whole point of fanworks - to kind of look further and have fun with it, to see "what if?". Even if it's something sort of.. taboo I guess? Because you get to take it apart in a fictional dimension (if that makes sense). And I completely understand if this is something that can ick some people out or that someone doesn't want to ruin their perception of the characters' relationship. That's totally fine by me and I'm not going to force anyone into liking the ship of course. And there are definitely tropes and tags I really don't want to look into - not everything is for me either.

And I think this goes without saying but I'll add it here anyways: what I like to see in fiction doesn't mean I would like or encourage anyone to do the same thing in real life! It's just interesting to explore from a safe distance where no one can get hurt.

#I didn't mean to make it this long sorry T_T #answered #you dont need to read the fic of course jsdfhskjf i just put it here for anyone interested #also big thanks for asking respectfully #I really appreciate it!

[balanceoflightanddark]

I saw your earlier post about live action Azula and a few thoughts came to mind.

I know a lot of people are (rightfully)worried about the live action. I understand that they have cause to be wary.

As for me, I’m just hoping we get to see Azula kick the Zuko’s + the Gaangs (including Aang and Katara) collective asses! She got jipped quite a few times in the Og show regarding PIS and her mental breakdown.

And who knows? Maybe Netflix will make big changes and we’ll get to see an Azula redemption.

They also have an opportunity for epic trolling by having either Azulaang become canon (in the netverse anyway) Or having Katara fall for Zuko’s little sister instead of him. If nothing else, it would be good for a laugh.

I doubt any of these things will happen. But a person can dream, no?

In a similar vein to myself, do you have anything you wish to see in regards to Azula’s character?

How do you think Azula will be handled on Netflix?

Thank you for the ask anon.

I think one of my biggest fears is that they're going to play up her insanity and her breakdown. Unfortunately, her entire character has been colored by that breakdown both by the fandom and the franchise. Almost all of her post-canon work focuses on her mental instability to the point she's portrayed as a rabid animal in that awful Legacy of Fire book. Sure, we've had some more nuanced portrayals of her in recent years (Azula in the Spirit Temple comes to mind), but that's over a decade of her being portrayed at her worst moment.

And that's not even getting into how she's been demoted into little more than a glorified punching bag for Zuko and the Gaang in the Yang Comics.

So, yeah. I'm right with you about being apprehensive about Netflix's portrayal. If the creators can't get what made her character special, I don't exactly have confidence in a company who's had a pretty spotty track record when it comes to live-action adaptations (One Piece being the exception from what I've heard).

The other thing I'm a bit concerned about is...well, I don't think they're going for a redemption. With how modern media is like, I doubt they're going to stray too far away from the original series. Especially with Azula since her breakdown is iconic for all the wrong reasons. I mean, I'd like to hope for a redemption, but considering how Bryke and almost all the creative team keeps shying away from the possibility, I sincerely doubt Netflix is going to do better. Kind of frustrating when they've been leaving us up in the air for years at this point.

Now for what I'm hoping...I want Azula to get more sympathy. Basically, bust as many bad faith interpretations as possible. Don't tie in her story so closely to Zuko. Let her be a badass. And maybe leave her story on a positive note unlike the series. She seems to be getting a bit more focus, so I'm hopeful this might be true. Though it's all up to the writing team at this point.

I'll be honest, it's going to take a lot to convince me they have a handle on Azula's character. I mean, all respect for her actress and I'll be rooting for her. It's just...well, like I said in my previous post, over a decade of toxicity towards Azula and wishing the worst for her with creators that keep feeding that attitude has left me a little estranged. A part of me is hopeful, but until I see otherwise, I'm going to be skeptical.

Feel free to leave your thoughts.

#azula #princess azula #azula deserved better #azula meta #atla #avatar: the last airbender #atla netflix #atla live action #anon ask #anon answered #ask answered #ask me anything

[theatrevampire]

It's totally cool if you can't answer, but I have to ask for my own sanity: are there depictions of sexual assault, domestic violence, or serious violations of the mind/body in episode 5? I'm a horror fan so I don't mind blood & murder, but I do get uncomfortable when it comes to loss of body autonomy. Its why I've only been able to watch 1x05 once all the way through. On rewatches, I have to skip past Bruce and the Loustat fight.

I remember Luke saying at the premiere red carpet that if fans read the books, they would have an idea about what happens after the 1st interview. I took this to mean that Armand would kidnap Daniel and lock him up for a few days like he did in QotD, par for the course for our little gremlin. But I've been reading things that make me worry it's a lot worse than that.

One person compared 2x05 to the episode of TWD where a certain character meets a certain bat, another person compared it to 1x05, and another person said that the trauma Daniel goes through in San Francisco is the most harrowing thing they've ever seen on IWTV. Would you agree with any of these opinions or do you think they're being dramatic? I was so excited about this episode and now I feel a panic attack coming on

okay let me see how i can answer this. i definitely don't want anyone to have a panic attack. if you want to come back to my blog right before episode 5 airs i can try to give somewhat of a bigger warning.

i've seen the comparison to the TWD episode--i'll be honest i never actually watched that episode as glenn was my favorite character and i bowed out before it happened, so i'm not sure HOW violent that scene was on screen. i think this might be a BIT of an inaccurate comparison, though. the most "HARROWING" thing on IWTV? personally, i would disagree. i think that's still the 1x05 fight for me.

#ask #anon #iwtv spoilers

[petrichoraline]

Thai BL Favorites List Tag Game

i got tagged in the summer lmao i've been struggling cause i simply can't make a completely honest list - my taste is too fluid and the definition of "fave" is a blur to me

thank you to my lovely @tenprem and @littleragondin for tagging me, consider yourselves tagged again in case your answers differ vastly from your previous ones hahah

💓Fave bl: default answer is Bad Buddy, current - Last Twilight and Cherry Magic..and Cooking Crush

👨🏻‍🤝‍👨🏻Favourite pairing: as in actors? if i say GunSing am i gonna get ToddBlack again? (im fine with DrakeSing too y'know, im just being teased atp)

honestly i don't know, i think of actors i really like but i'm not big on their counterparts..? i enjoy it a lot when they mix and match, i don't have anyone i particularly follow.. i will say MaxTul were super powerful, i really appreciate the bonds between a lot of pairs like ForceBook and i think some of them have amazing chemistry like FirstKhao but even though there are a few i would always try to tune in for like OffGun and YinWar, there's no one i can call a fave, i don't think..currently JimmySea are eating it up tho

🎭Most underrated actor: just the Wayufilm crew in general, I see them do fundraiser lives on yt all the time and I don't think they're that well known by the fandom

🧍‍♂️Favorite character: ig it is Karan currently, Tay really made the character shine in a different way than Machida Keita's Kurosawa and i can't get enough of those puppy eyes

🕴Favorite side character: rn it might be Metha from Cooking Crush? he's just a bit too charming for someone i'd punch if i met him irl..or Fire, i think writing about him made me fond, they're both so..this

📽Favorite scene: from all the thai bls i've seen?? there's beauty like THAT ITSAY scene, there's unexpected scenes i come back to like WaanTul in the last episode of Between Us, there's Nuea and Toh finally getting everything out in the open..there's the Kitty Gang in FUTS going up the elevator, the ep.5 KinnPorsche scene..most of PatPran's scenes!! like how am i supposed to even start choosing lmao

i'm gonna say (after i catch up with my shows this whole list would prolly be different, it could be Karan's scream soon) the one from my recent shows is the rooftop scene from LTTS..sue me for being basic, i'll plead guilty

📝Favorite line: nth has ever quite stuck with me as "do you want us to be friends?" "no." so let's go with it

🃏Most anticipated bl and why: let's say Jack and Joker hahah, I hope it works out <3 i want to see a project YinWar have certain freedom over completed successfully - even if it ends up not being my thing, they deserve to share their talents and artistic vision. they are trying something new, maybe there will be a nice balance between comedy and drama and also it seems like those characters are meant to be whipped for each other and YinWar can pull that off splendidly

👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨Healthiest relationship in a bl: PatPran and PuenTalay are the first to come to mind, the communication and conflict resolution skills are on another level

💢Most toxic relationship in a bl: I suppose it would be VeeMark before the end or maybe DimGreen from 2gether? I also personally don't like Mayom and Nadia from My Ride but I can't tell if they're actually toxic 😄 and im reminded of GramBlack cause that friendship sucks imho

OH WAIT PiMork is pretty bad. yeah, maybe not the worst but they've got a spot on the list..and ig TehOhAew but I have not actually seen s2 so overall I don't have a definitive opinion :')

🍿Guilty pleasure series: i guess it would be Cause You're My Boy (My Tee) because everyone hates on it but I binged it and had a good time 🤷‍♀️ also I Will Knock You cause it has some questionable elements but it's also very special

❎Most underrated series: out of what I've seen it would obviously be Rainbow Lagoon but it's two episodes, not sure if it counts as a series.. really sweet short watch though, you should give it a try here 🥰

also maybe The Best Story? I didn't like it that much because of the ending but it's younger YinWar and I never hear anyone talk about it; I'd say they were pretty good at it 😊

i'm tagging @sommmnus @forcebook @catboyjosten @sparklyeyedhimbo @lovesickfolly @sollucets as per usual no pressure and sorry if youve done it ❤

#i look like such a bad buddy fan? which i dont really define myself as #but you gotta understand that was the show that got me into this fandom and its honestly just soo good #also now im aware pairing means like characters but pls dont make me choose im at my wits end hahah cause id have to consider sides as well #and ill straight up postpone this by three more days #i have so many tag games to catch up on that if i start tagging everyone yalls notifs would go crazy #so pls just consider yourselves tagged if you want to participate in smth ill literally add you to the post lmao nobody needs to know shh #ppg #tag game

[choiliner]

Alright, so about the whole Made In Abyss situation, I shared some of my opinions here, but I've been looking into it more closely so I could finally make up my mind about it. I don't really stan any of the idols involved in this controversy except for Soobin, so he's the one I'll be talking about, but I guess some of this might be applicable to those who only mentioned watching the anime.

I'm putting this under a read more bc it's long as fuck but anyway. I'll probably repeat myself a lot but I'm just trying to organize my thoughts. If you plan on coming for my head please read the full thing first.

First of all, once again, the whole "he said he does NOT recommend it" argument is not valid for me at all. As I've said before, just the fact that he mentioned it as something he was enjoying at the time is enough of a recommendation to most fans. Let's stop using that as an argument.

I watched an interesting deep dive about the anime where she talks about the controversial content, and I also took the time to read some long comments people left under that video. From what I've gathered, most of the problematic content is used in a way to make you see it as wrong and fucked up, much like other pieces of media have done multiple times before. The biggest problem is the use of children in those scenarios. Even though it's for shock value, it seems to be something that most of the people who enjoyed MiA have a big problem with.

It also seems that 99.99% of the people who have enjoyed it, enjoyed it for the world building and the main plot (the main character going into the abyss to look for her mother). I've watched/read some reviews (not linking them bc they're in Portuguese) and most people only really talk about these aspects, and how scary some parts are. When the problematic parts are mentioned, it's to complain that they aren't necessary and shouldn't be there. They acknowledge it's problematic and make it clear they're uncomfortable with that. It's a general consensus that people didn't like the problematic parts and they agree that they should've been removed. I got the same type of reaction/opinion from my friend's friends who watched the anime in question.

I've seen multiple people saying the Korean version of the anime is heavily censored to remove all the pedophiliac content. I've seen multiple (Korean) people saying they've watched it and it had none of those things that are being brought to light. I've seen people claiming that many of the things that are being brought up are actually from the original manga and the movie (which allegedly wasn't even aired in SK). Reportedly the 15+ rated version was being aired (and highly popular) in SK at the time. And to be honest, like I said in previous posts, if you remove all the problematic parts and you enjoy scary stories, then the anime sounds like a great option to watch.

"Soobin said once he watched 18+ rated animes, therefore he was DEFINITELY watching the original version": I don't think that's something you can claim for sure. 18+ doesn't always mean sexual, too. Plus, apparently even the 19+ rated version of the anime is censored in SK to remove the problematic parts?? So idk.

Even if he were watching the 19+ version, like I said, I haven't seen anyone who enjoyed the anime and DIDN'T have a problem with those problematic parts. Everyone seems weirded out by it. Plus, from what I've gathered, the more """subtle""" problematic parts are things you only really notice if you're watching it critically.

What's getting to me the most is: 1) He mentioned it over a YEAR ago, and somehow NOBODY cared about it at the time. It was only brought to light NOW, and it's only now that people are seeing a problem with it and pointing out what's wrong with the source material — something that went over everyone's heads at the time. Wouldn't anyone point this out earlier? 2) Would he honestly come out and say he's enjoying the anime on a livestream to thousands of watchers if he were watching the original version with all the gross CP stuff? Being an idol (and the leader of one of the most prominent groups we have in 4th gen, under one of the biggest kpop agencies), he's usually very cautious with what he can and cannot say. We've seen it before, and that's enough for me to think it's most likely not the case.

"Nobody should be promoting the work of a pedophile", yes, you're right, I agree with you 100% there!!! But I don't personally run a background check on the creators of every single piece of media I consume, and most people don't either. I don't know jack about the writers of most of the stuff I've watched. I highly doubt he'd go researching the background of the writers of everything he watches, so I don't think it's fair to hold this against anyone as an argument to cancel them.

I'm all for holding our favs accountable, I think it's important to call them out. I've unstanned people before because of problematic behaviors that made me feel like they didn't deserve the time I was putting into them, things that made me feel disgusted by them. But most of us have watched shows/movies with problematic themes, and it doesn't mean we condone them in real life. Of course, there's a limit and I wouldn't support someone actively enjoying basically CP, but considering everything I've said above, I genuinely don't think that's the case. In my head it doesn't make sense at all for me to think he'd just be like "heyyy I like borderline CP content it's so interesting <3", considering how much BigHit/HYBE is always up their asses when it comes to maintaining a good image.

On the other hand, I still think he shouldn't have mentioned it. As he said it himself, it's disturbing (which is what that word translated as "provocative" meant), so even without all the CP stuff it's still not something he should've mentioned by name to an audience of mostly young fans, a majority of which are very impressionable. It's even worse if he was watching the 19+ version even if it's still allegedly censored in SK. If I remember correctly, he has mentioned animes without mentioning their names before (or maybe that was just once? I'm not sure), so he could've just done that.

However, I personally don't think there's enough reason for me to unstan him, at least for the time being. After doing research for hours on end and doing my best to think logically and objectively, it doesn't make sense for me to do that.

Of course, you are entitled to stop liking a celebrity for whatever reason, or even for no reason at all. It's your right, there's nothing wrong with it, and please don't let ANYONE tell you otherwise!!! But if you decide to unstan, please let's be level-headed about this and not go around throwing people under the bus without knowing the full story. You can call people out and dislike them without being disrespectful towards others. And please don't go around calling people pedophiles, that is a VERY heavy word that shouldn't be thrown around so lightly.

I did my research and I'm still reading/watching stuff about it, and I think it's important for everyone to do the same rather than jumping on an extremist bandwagon (be it to defend or to condemn anyone). Your opinion is always valid as long as it is yours, not someone else's. I'm just sharing mine, and you have a right to disagree if you want to, but let's all be civil about this, alright?

You're free to mute Soobin's tag or even unfollow me, if you want. I'll keep him out of my blog for a few more days, probably, considering how fresh all of this still is.

#🌙.txt

[gothicprep]

so, wife and i finally got around to seeing barbie. and neither of us were particularly big fans of it.

stuff i liked. i'll get that out of the way first. i like that it's a huge box office success when theaters have really needed that post-covid. the set design and costumes were just my kind of garish. the opening scene was funny, and you can always count on ryan gosling to give it his all whenever he's cast in anything. and the "patriarchy is when men and horses rule the world" joke made me giggle a bit. the horses in general were an amusing running gag.

and. uh. that's about it really.

i've complained about this before, not with barbie, but i'm not a fan of the "movies that are for children, but not really" thing. usually they're aimed at critics instead, and this is *sort of* that. but also not really. i'm actually not sure who this is for, other than mattel, i guess.

this reminded me a lot of another movie, actually – disney's enchanted. and you could make the argument that the similar premise is responding to the same thing enchanted was. 00s pop feminism that criticized disney princesses usually included barbie in the mix too. and since people liked the meta aspect of enchanted back in '07, we've ended up with the live action movies that exist to reassure parents in my age group that the rodent empire has heard your cries, and they're aware, so it's fine to bring your kids to this. they've changed and grown as a person if you're going off the mitt romney definition of that word at least. they've changed their stories to reflect that. kinda. the princesses are girlbosses and they don't need a man. please clap.

the problem with applying this formula to barbie is that, unlike characters from an existing story canon – many of which, to be honest, were read very uncharitably during that blip in the culture – barbie is more of a concept. the movie winks at how barbie the idea is basically just whatever people want to project onto it, but it kind of falls into the trap of pointing things out in lieu of making a point. and while i do think that gerwig did the best with this that she realistically could, movies like this aren't in a position where they can thread the needle. after all, they're giving you this IP for a reason.

my wife also pointed out that it muddied the waters a bit to try and grapple with this all in a comedy where all the funniest lines end up going to ryan gosling, simu liu, michael cera, and will ferrell. my counterpoint is that kate mackinnon and hari nef had some great moments, but she's onto something here.

it's really difficult for me to watch something like barbie and really look at it in a vacuum. even though it has a different look than the other IP projects we've begrudgingly come to expect, i feel like i can't separate it from this broader picture of, like, integrity laundering. i went into it with an open mind, but left frustrated with it. you can make an argument for a remake. i guess. but this really shamelessly felt like a commercial.

on the bright side, this mostly negative review won't take away from the fact that this has been a much needed boost for theater attendance. in the end, that's what matters the most to me right now, i think.

[just-a-carrot]

So, this may be a loaded question, and I'm sorry about that. But I really want to know, do you have any plans on what to do after OW ends? Like, any new stories?

It is completely 100% okay if you don't, especially considering you have a lot of things going on in your life, and you aren't actively trying to monetize your games. However, I just want you to know that your games mean so, so much to me, and many other people.

Our Wonderland has become an immense comfort to me over the past few months, and everyday I look forward to any new content you or others may post. That's not an exaggeration. Seeing OW content is genuinely a highlight of my day.

I know it can't last forever, but with the finale being so close I must admit that I will miss the story greatly. I'll probably keep replaying it and thinking about it for months on end.

I apologize if it comes off that way, but I'm not trying to guilt trip you into making more content than you want/can handle. I just want to tell you my honest feelings about the game, and the impact it had on me.

I hope, whatever the case is, that you'll be happy with your decision and that things will go well for you. You have created a genuinely amazing and beautiful story, and you deserve all the praise for it.

That's really all, Carrot. Please have a good day, and don't overwork yourself. You're an amazing dev. :D

THIS IS VERY SWEET?????

you're going to make me cry... this whole thing is so lovely 😭💕

i don't yet have any specific plans or ideas for once OW is finished. that's mostly because i never make future plans for anything LOL (i am scared of the future...). i do have random various ideas for potential things i could do once it's finished, but i would not be able to tell you when they would happen (or even 100% confirmed they would happen); they're more just like, little kernels of potential things sitting latent inside my head. these include:

The OW remaster, where I go back through and make some of the earlier arcs better and more polish/redo some of the art (this has the highest chance of happening)

Maybe another random OW side game at some point??? I know I'm already working on OC now LOL but I have so many random ideas for these characters in my head that I don't doubt I will suddenly get inspired to do yet another side game of some type, tho I don't know what that could be yet. I imagine it would be something of a different vibe than OC since I'm getting all my bittersweet-fluff-needs out now LOL

Game jams... I don't have any specific ideas for game jams but because they're always going on, there's always the chance I'll get a random little idea for one. Particularly when O2A2 rolls around again next year as it's such a good opportunity to work on something small and different. Or maybe next Spooktober (though I'd need a really good idea for that as I would feel a bit pressured to make sure it's good LOL)

A new project? I have an idea for one that's been tumbling around in my head for a while now that's more of a dark fantasy vibe. If I start to get the story for that a bit more developed in my mind I may eventually start working on it or at least start doing some sketches to help me better figure out the chars

those are all my current tumbling thoughts. but again because i hate planning or thinking about the future, they're all just kinda vague and none of them are 100% confirmed (even if the remaster is something i'm pretty sure i wanna do)

sob it really means so much hearing that you feel so strongly about OW though. just knowing that there are people out there who look forward to hearing about my chars brings me so much joy, especially since i think about them basically every second of every day LKDJLFAKDSFA they've really been my life for the last 2 1/2 years, to the point where it's hard to even think about not thinking about them or game dev in general. so really thank you so much for your support and for letting me know this as it's so sweet and kind! 💕

#ow: asks

[princeescaluswords]

I’ve read your content for years & always appreciated your POV & interrogation of TW fandom’s relationship w/Scott. Your recent post about compiling your work & the 3 points you listed as hypotheses intrigued me. Know that it’s with respect that I write to you (and full understanding if you decide to ignore this, if you’re not looking for this kind of feedback). 1/4

I am absolutely looking for all sorts of feedback. Indeed, I'll address each of your posts individually. But as I thought about how to answer them, I came across this author's note on an untagged story. I don't have any problem reproducing this here any more than I would have a problem quoting from the preface of a published book. (I'll supply the link if requested in DMs.)

I have never watched Teen Wolf. However, I have seen a compilation of Derek and Stiles scenes from the show (which is what sparked my interest in this pairing in the first place). My knowledge of canon is based on the thousands of fics I have read; and honestly, the majority of what I learned about canon was traumatic for me.

Which leads me to my next point. Whilst there are Argents in this fic, Kate is not one of them. Even saying her name makes my stomach churn. I like a villain as much as the next guy, but this character is just too dark (and this is coming from someone who likes DC Comics). I also don’t like any of the other canon relationships from the show concerning Stiles or Derek, so they’ve all been omitted.

I was scared to use either John or Noah as the Sheriff’s name as there seems to be a particularly big divide over that within the fandom. I decided to use John, headcanoning it as the Sheriff’s nickname, derived from Stiles’ frequent quip of the expression ‘Go get em’ Johnny Law’; and Noah being the Sheriff’s birth name.

This is depressing, to be quite honest, especially considering the fact that the writer can label this story Teen Wolf fanfiction and apparently know nothing of the show. How can the writer claim they find Kate's character 'gut-wrenching' if they've never actually watched her? How can they claim they don't like any of the other canon relationships for Derek or Stiles for the same reason? And even if you think that's acceptable, how do you feel about the fact that they made up their minds about a completely fabricated conflict over the Sheriff's name -- it's NOAH -- because of a line supposedly uttered by Stiles that he never actually said.

Of course, the weirdest part of this is that for the Teen Wolf fandom, this is not actually that weird! But that leads me to think -- has any other fandom created this sort of twisted parallel dimension and then passed it off as the real thing? This author has created headcanons for other people's headcanons, and I'm pretty sure that they bizarrely can't tell the difference between the television show and the fandom at all.

So, I'm asking for examples of this level of bizarreness. Has any other fandom succeeded at completely duping others into a deceptive paranarrative to this degree?

#anti sterek #fandom problems #teen wolf fandom problems

[showmey0urfangs]

thank you for being the only person brave enough to push back on this condescending nonsense about how loumand shippers are fragile, illiterate children who don't understand how complex vampires in this universe are

i just wish people would be honest about how the reason they've spent more than a day on this is because loumand actually threatens loustat

and just like lestat they'd rather let jealousy choke them than work hard to rehabilitate their abusive fave

Hi there, not sure it's bravely but rather just me speaking my mind, which I tend to do always—but I'll take it.

The assumption that Loumand shippers are delusional about Armand and/or are illiterate idiots who need to be told what to think by the higher minds who have 'read the source material' is very condescending.

And like I said, it's ironic because so far book fans have been the most vocal/out of line since the show was announced going as far as campaigning for people to boycott it and go leave hate comments on the writer's Twitter account after episode 5.

So this false concern that Loumand shippers will lose their shit come season 2 and go on a rampage is completely baseless.

Most Armand fans are perfectly aware of who he is and like him anyway? Maybe even… gasp prefer him to Lestat? (I know, blasphemy!)

So perhaps you're right that these people feel like it threatens Loustat in some way since I've never seen this type of energy directed at Devil's minion shippers for example.

We need to stop acting like any VC ship is better or morally superior to another. All these characters are toxic and fucked up, not just Armand and Lestat. And they are all monsters.

That's the whole point of these books and the show too, for us to empathize with these MONSTERS and root for them to be together despite how terrible they are for each other.

Unless people are promoting problematic things like good ol' pedo Marius or pairings involving Claudia, I don’t think it’s fair for them to be shamed and ridiculed in this manner.

Ship and let ship!

#saying you look forward to laughing at Loumand shippers?? #what? why? #personally I want all of them to fuck #😊 #ask #iwtv #interview with the vampire #loustat #loumand #fandom woes

[lol-jackles]

Have you seen season 2 of Good Omens? Honestly and season 1 I would hardly call it a masterpiece or perfect. It was just fun, sweet and kind. And the biggest plus is the cast - Michael Sheen and David Tennant. They are both extremely talented and charismatic. And they are the ones who carry season 2. The rest of the characters, although not bad, but they don't catch on. And the biggest problem is the plot. When the story revolves around the main characters the series is interesting to watch, but when the focus shifts the feeling that the series sags. Also glad that for the first time in the series we got canon(?). Of course everything didn't end happily, but the tie-in for season 3 was necessary. And in a way, I'm personally happy with this finale. Otherwise everything would have looked too sugary and unnatural. So a certain drama is maintained and that's a plus. And of course it's funny to watch the anger and frustration of the hellers who still think they've been robbed of canon from a couple who were never originally involved in each other, much less interested. Unlike Aziraphale and Crowley. Though I'll be honest, I never thought or expected them to be a couple. It takes season 3 to become a couple though. And here's my main problem. With all things considered, is all of this enough to get a season 3? I think with everything I wrote above, the series may not be renewed and I would be truly sorry not to get the story of Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship. What are your thoughts and bets?

I enjoyed season 2, though I remember thinking while watching the first four episodes "are they ever going to get to the point?". I was getting impatient and kept thinking how so many of these tv streaming series are better off as 2-hour movies (Kenobi, third season of The Mandalorian, etc).

And then it finally got to the point, it was about love.

The love between Gabriel and Beelzebub reminded me a bit of the love between Sam and Dean: selfish and honest. Gab and Beel only care about themselves and each other, they didn’t want to deal with Apocalypse2.0 and they didn’t want to protect the humans or earth. And yet Gabe and Beel showed that love could be easy if you're honest, so it was easy for them to give up everything for each other.

Aziraphale is not selfish, he is willing to give up everything he loves - his bookshop, his food, even Crowley - just to save the earth. He also wants to make heaven into the good place it should’ve have been, and he thought giving Crowley back his angel status is what he deserves, because Azi have seen over and over again the good Crowley has done and that he's actually good. But Azi doesn't understand that isn't what Crowley wants, who makes it worse by not doing a good job communicating this to Azi. Granted, they both were not truly listening to what the other is saying because they already made up their mind before the conversation started. Crowley believes Azi choosing heaven over him while Azi believes Crowley, by rejecting heaven, is also rejecting him. Despite what Azi believes, he still "forgives" Crowley.

Those two have a lot to unpack, which is all a set up for season 3. With that said, the "sad" "bittersweet" ending kind of saved the whole season for me because otherwise, as you said, it would have been too saccrhine and unnatural-ish and why I was getting impatient for the show to get to their point.

I agree the characters other than Azi and Crowley were ....just there. I was glad that Nina and Maggie didn't end up together just yet since Nina is on a rebound. Crowley thinking all it takes for human to fall in love was getting them wet and looking into each other eyes is never going to be not funny. Crowley, are you sure you didn't know Jane Austen was an author and not just a master spy?

Will Good Omen get a season 3? I read it was the #1 comedy on Amazon so the odds are in their favor. Unlike season 2 which didn't really have a story arc, they set up season 3 to be a callback to season 1's Apocalypse storyline with the Second Coming, so a foundation is already established.

#good omen 2

[unnatural-twenty]

Here's a WIP of some tips for Dungeon Masters on how to begin and maintain a long form dnd (and ttrpg in general) campaign. This advice is intended for irl table sessions. I'll be updating this as I think of more stuff and there's some more point I'll elaborate more on later

Introduction

Hi, I'm Pat. I'm a dungeon master, and I like to think I'm a pretty good one. I've run a completed 2.5 year campaign in dnd 3.5 running a small group of 2-3 from level 1 to level 20 and beyond, and I'm currently running an ongoing 5 year campaign of 4-7 people in dnd 5e which (so far) has run from level 1 to level 13.

My players have remained consistently interested and invested in the game world, their characters, the npcs and overall plots of our games. They've both created and commissioned wonderful pieces of art for both the campaign in general and their characters, and I've done the same for them. They trust me to handle their stories with respect, challenge them and entertain them, as well as allow them the freedom to make strong and meaningful changes that permanently impact the world they play in. My current party are my closest and dearest friends, and the game we're running is something that, I consider my masterpiece. My Magnum Opus, my life's work. Is it perfect? Absolutely not, it's a chaotic mess. We've missed sessions, taken long haituses, and sometimes left the table feeling that an individual game might of been lacking. I've made errors in judgement while dm'ing and sometimes I've had to put to my foot down on my players, or mediate arguments. They've also taken the story on wild turns that I would never have seen coming! We've had players join for individual sessions or story arcs that last a few weeks or months before leaving again. The Party have been heroes and terrorists, the tools of fate and breakers of prophecy.

Not to brag but, I have the best party ever.

All of the above are basically my credentials for when I say 'hey, are you looking to start a long form campaign? here's some advice!'

We here a lot of advice in the online d&d community about specific builds for players or fun encounters for dms to run. But there is rarely any good advice on how to actually keep butt's in seats at your table and tell a great story.

The Advice

So here's a few things to keep in mind.

Spark.

The spark is simply the first idea that eventually blooms into the overall story. Something to inspire the events that will happen at the table. This can be anything from a single cool moment, or an item/s that you'd give the players, a place or person or situation or anything at all! This first idea is enough for you to want your players to interact with it. There really is no need to plan much further than this at this stage, but this first spark is vital! It doesn't even have to do with the first session, it can be something later down the story that you'd want the players to encounter for plot/fun/character reasons. Any good campaign comes from this spark.

Pick your Party.

So you have an idea for a story. Great! Now it's time to think about the people you want to share this idea with, your Players. Like I said earlier, we see a LOT of player advice about how to build characters or do 900 damage in a single run or ideal party composition (blah blah blah) but we rarely see any advice about WHO your players should be. If you genuinely want to run a long campaign that spans months or years, you need to make sure that the people at your table will be able to commit AND MOST IMPORTANTLY that you will all have fun together. Invite your friends, people that live nearby and you don't see moving anytime soon, invite people who seem interested and you think will get along. Invite people you've played with before who's presence you enjoy. Your game will live or die by these people, your story will be about them - so be discerning and honest with yourself about who you want to invite. Do not invite anyone you think is a buzzkill, do not invite people who have beef with each other, do not invite people who hate sitting down for extended period of times, and do not invite newly formed couples.

Additional clarification on this point: Sometimes couples at your tables can be dicey. Breakups between 2 players can KILL campaigns. One of them will probably leave the game, and resentment can build between you and the exiting player, even if you mean them no ill will. The exiting players absence might be keenly felt by the remaining players and the whole vibe might be ruined. However, longer and more serious relationships are less likely to suddenly and explosively end. In my current game I've had two people from the start, they were already dating for a long time when we began and they're now married.

So yes, the people you choose to play with will make or break your game, choose carefully. Which brings us to our next point -

Dont overfill your table.

For starting out I really would suggest limiting it to a maximum of 4 players + yourself as the DM. 5 players at an absolute stretch and never more than 5 to begin. You can add more people later as your skill with DMing improves and your players get more into a rhythm of sharing time and space with each other. But every player at a game is another wild element introduced into the world, another person to divide your attention among, another combatant in fights, another inventory to distribute loot into. Each player added to a game exponentially increases your workload as a Game Master - so don't overdo it if you're just starting out.

Characters

You've got an idea, you have interested and interesting people to play with. It's time to build characters. These characters are going to be ones you'll be spending a LOT of time with and a LOT of time thinking about. Your players come up with an idea or concept, and you help them stat them out and suggest people/places/locations/deities that you already know in your head exist to fill in any blanks or question marks in their characters story. Allow your players creative control over who their characters are, what gods they worship and what lands they hail from and try AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE to fold what they give you into the existing world in your mind. Giving your players this level of input over not only their own characters but some of the worldbuilding of the campaign will really help them start thinking of the campaign of theirs as well as yours. This investment is what leads to commitment and hey, its free worldbuilding. That being said, if a player tells you "This is Greg, he's a Gnome thief. He lived in the forest" End of character backstory - that's fine too! Not every character is gonna have nor should have a 5 page backstory. Some characters find themselves during play, maybe more about who they are and what they want and who they come from will develop naturally along the way. And these people have often been my favorite to play with.

My REAL tip is here though. Tell your players in no uncertain terms that no matter what character they come up with they have to 1) Be able and willing to work with strangers and 2) Be able and willing to do jobs for money. I tell them that 'This is a cooperative game, your starting point is level 1 adventurers who've left their homes and who will be working TOGETHER to solve difficult problems for loot and treasure and money, you can't play an antisocial wierdo whos going to immediately dick over the other players. thats not fun and we're all here to have fun together.' Sidenote, I VASTLY prefer and reccomend traditional pencil and paper character sheets. They're discreet, personal and don't take up space. If you're at a table and all your players and you all have your laptops out, it's a logistical nightmare. Table space can be limited, plugs can be limited, you don't know if your players are distracted on social media. Same goes with phone and app based character sheets to a lesser extent. Yes, you will have to replace the original character sheet eventually as it gets rubbed out and filled in as the game progresses. This is a small price to pay for more space on the table to put snacks, drinks, maps and minis, and avoid excess screen time and distraction....

That being said if a player is playing a spellcaster I HIGHLY reccomend That they download a Spell App on their phone to pull up spell descriptions and reference what their spells actually do. I can't stress how much time and bullshit this saves. Help them find one they like and maybe install it yourself, that way you can pull up this info on your phone at a moments notice. You can either track spell slots in app or on paper, dealers choice.

TBC

Individual and joint session 0's / tutorials

planning the first game JUST DO IT

Actions have Consequences

Be Fair

it's not about you

kill your darlings

you are not smarter than your players.

you are not smarter than your players because you know more about the world than they do

balance wins and losses

downtime

loot

Flagged Danger versus Unflagged Danger

Combat and common problems with it

Framing Expectations

Player Versus Player

So, your Players did something so unexpected you could do nothing but roll with it and now you're half a planet away from the plot.

Being a player makes you a better dm

One shots

Mini sessions and solo sessions

Other game systems

How to handle dm/gm burnout

Idea Piracy, it's fun easy and free

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, THIS IS A GAME, HAVE FUN

#pat talks #reference #dungeons & dragons #dungeons and dragons #ttrpg #long post #dm advice #gm advice #dungeon master advice #game master advice #d&d #dnd #whoever blazes this gets their shit slonked down sloppy style

[lapinpuff]

Just rambling a bit here but. almost a year later I really am still so disappointed with S3 of the Animaniacs reboot. Mainly mouse related TwT

It may be rather unpleasant to see...I'll pop my thoughts under the cut!!

I just keep remembering how excited I was for the third season of the reboot. I thought season one was okay and season two was pretty much perfect, so I assumed a pattern of improvement and had quite high hopes...that hope became my entire world, I suppose. It kept me alive. And the series was my strongest interest for entire years, so I think it makes sense.

But then I watched S3 and it was like something cracked inside me. I usually try to look on the bright side, but, to be honest, I'm still bitter about this. I thought the season was terrible. Worse than any other patb media I've seen. It makes me miserable just to think about.

On its own I think this would be fine if I could ignore the season and pretend it doesn't exist, but to top it off, it somehow totally killed my Pinky and the Brain special interest. I had always hoped that would be impossible...but since then, my brain literally won't let me consume ANY patb media. It's odd. It's like a plague stuck in my mind. It's like something so special and joy-inducing was stolen from me, and there was a hole left in my soul...

But I feel I can't engage in that warmth anymore. I think some people are...a little defensive over parts of the reboot? Maybe? TwT I tried to share some personal critiques once and got told I didn't "understand the characters" in a rather harsh way, which many others then agreed with, and it was a bit of a gut-punch. Still, I understand that now: it all stems from one's love of the show, so it's a beautiful thing. I can't be upset about it <3

And I kind of felt like I was letting everyone down 🥲

I've had so many sweet messages from the patb fandom over the years. Telling me how much they love my fics, my characterisation...it was always so magical. A blessing. Everyone is truly so kind.

I just didn't want to burden anyone with my opinions they'd be upset by. This separated me from this once beloved interest even more. I guess it was a painful and lonely feeling.

Despite all of this...

I still love the characters. Even if I haven't been able to watch the show since February, they've always stayed in my heart, asleep somewhere deep and cozy. I think that's a lovely thought.

And, most of all, I'll always treasure my time in such a welcoming and lovely fandom. I believe you are one of the best ever. I'm not sure how many of you are still there, but I loved all of you, and I hope with all my being that one day I can happily engage in this lost interest of mine again. 🩷

Anything is possible, right? <3

#patb #pinky and the brain #animaniacs #lapinrants #Just needed badly to get this off my chest! #I didn't want to log back into my mouse tumblr for this haha

[yxstxrdrxxm]

From the newest "..." post, we know three things by now, well i haven't gotten the real real answer from those three things, buuttt we have new clues! (Say 'yay' with me guys lol)

"Ah, and not to worry— I've gathered the documents regarding of you and your friend, ██e. I'm sure that she's someone you hate to see in harm's way, so I'll spare her for your birthday."

_ _ e : real name of eros. Well, we encounterered the use of their real name before, but i wasn't sure if it was really eros or not. Anyway, after this post, i'm sure it's eros!

Ngl for fun sake and to just joke around, i've been imagining eros' name as lee 😭 (probably not the real name guys)

"Speaking of... I do hope you consider my offer, ██e███. I know you're planning on leaving the company when your contract is up, but if you ever plan on working with me at the Hearth..."

_ _ e _ _ _ : real name of cupid. Hm, it's not navina, so then who is it? Well, i've been thinking it's ansy's other name, briseis or something like that (i hope i didn’t get the name wrong ;-; i just woke up and is very tired lmaoo) but the name doesn't seem to align with the clue.

Hmm, makes me wonder if cupid is an oc, a genshin character, or the real navina but in a different name. Anyway, it's three in the morning and i cannot think straight right now, so i'll just save these three clues for both future me and al the other theorists!

"Leave the rest to me, my darling client."

From this words alone, we can deduce that cupid was once or still is a client for one of the guys (?). It could be from a different batch of guys as well. Or could it be dainsleif? But, there's just no way, though.

Maybe the darling of pantalone? Err, i doubt that guy would join in on the fun of match ups and all that stuff. So, conclusion: still confused, but there are three new clues 🎉

- 🍀 anon

...

"So, you have contacted... Her?"

"... Yes. I spoke to her back then. I'm sorry if I kept you in the dark, Eros."

Eros knew Cupid well, but sometimes, she didn't knew if she really knew what her friend was thinking.

Now, to be clear, the two all have their secrets. They never like to talk to her about the things they've done before they became a matchmaker, and for her, she didn't want to say anything for it can be... Questionable at best.

Both don't have the best upbringing, and that's fine. Justified, even. But to hear that her friend had decided to be tied with the house of Hearth simply because they wanted out is...

...

Well, one may say stupid. But to her, he saw it as admirable.

Even if it would only damn them both in the long run.

Cupid shifted in her seat as they settled in the couch back home. She knew that they were expecting her to blow up, and she should. She found out that her friend has kept such a secret for a long time, and she's expressed how much she hated it.

But now that she's witnessed the lengths they had to go through, the documentation, and the way they still held on in hopes that she will help them both out unscathed... It made Eros feel conflicted.

...

"... Don't be sorry, Cupid."

Cupid's head seem to rise.

"You were desperate, weren't you?" Eros asked, raising a hand to gently pat their head. "And I can't exactly blame you for that. Boss has put all of us through the wringer, especially you."

Tsk. To think he wants them to take my job...

"Just... If you're going to do it, would you mind telling me next time?"

...

Cupid's eyes seem to water.

".. I will," they whispered, sniffling. "Thank you, Eros."

"Hah, you're so sappy," she retorted, chuckling as she wiped their tears away. "C'mon, where's the Cupid I've known, hm? You're always so honest with me when you're going to do something so impulsive. I thought you would've told me sooner!"

The ex-matchmaker laughed, this time sounding genuine.

"I... I couldn't. It's part of the contract we had, so I couldn't tell you before Valentine's Day. But now... I'm finally able to tell you what I've been doing for us."

Hah... How sweet.

"Yes, yes... Well, I suppose that you're more prepared than I am," the red-eyed senior sighed. "I did a few things when we were still at the company, actually. Maybe I can tell you all about it later when we get back home from our group date."

"... Group date?"

"Don't tell me you— ah, whatever. It's with Clover and the others. It's your birthday, after all. Why don't we celebrate it with them?"

...

"... I don't mind."

Eros could see them smile for once, and she looked happy to see that it was the brightest she's seen from them.

"Let's go see our friends, Eros. Let's celebrate our freedom while we still can."

[ Happy Birthday, Cupid. Happy Valentine's to everyone else, too. <3 ]

#💌 ;; messenger writes #💌 ;; promising letter: one last call #💌 ;; a letter from: 🍀 anon #💌 ;; message delivery #💌 ;; from: 'eros' #💌 ;; to: ???