#and you can't really have interesting characters without their actions being driven by love and hope

[maranull]

anyway, Elden Ring is about love and hope

Marika burns everything she has build out of sorrow

Ranni banishes the Outer Gods and also fucks off the Lands, giving agency back to the normal beings of the Lands

Fortissax endlessly fights Death for his friend/lover

Melina burns herself and Erdtree in hopes of a better world in the hands of the Tarnished

Blaidd fights against the very reason he was created out of love for his sister

Ranni and Rykard always keep an eye on their mother, protecting her

Radahn evokes so much love from his troops that they organise a whole festival to give him a honorable death even in his madness

Radahn learns an entire new school of magic in order to still ride his favourite horse

Boc's love for his mother, his mother's love for him

How all but two endings are build on the hope that this new era (whatever it might be) will be good

Miquella attempting to create an whole new world-tree to host the forsaken and the damned

Miquella turning on the faith he was raised and even believed in to an extent, when it was unable to cure his sister's curse

The Cleanrot's loyalty to Malenia and their endurance of the Rot, only to stay in her service

Malenia marching through the entire continent in search of her brother

Finlay traveling all the way back on her own, carrying the incapacitated demigod on her back

Tanith's love for Rya

Dialos' entire questline

Edgar being driven mad after his daughter dies

Vyke embracing, to a point, the Frenzied Flame in order to save his finger maiden

or you know, that's just how I see it

#elden ring #i'm simplifying a lot in this #but that's the story #to me #it follows the pattern of the ds series too #where the world was miserable and depressing #yet the main theme was hope and perseverance #with elden ring we got so many more characters and as such love began playing a bigger part too #and you can't really have interesting characters without their actions being driven by love and hope #or lack thereof #even power-hungry characters are driven by the hope of reaching the power “level” they want #and hateful ones are driven by lack of love #or so i think

[atopvisenyashill]

Do you think comparisons can be drawn between Targaryens sharing the same name? Aegon. Rhaenys. Aemon. Viserys. Daeron. Rhaena. Others?

YES! I think they’re very purposefully characters in conversation with each other actually. @transdimensional-void has this great meta here about all the rhae girlies and the way that relates to the themes in rhaegar's story. i also think there's a clear link between aemon the dragonknight, maester aemon, and jon snow (which is why i think jon was named aemon) and i've kinda talked about that here (although a bit angrily, haha) and I have a "jon and the aemons" tag as well for that reason.

then there's the daerons who i think are really interesting - Daeron the Young Dragon who started a violent war of conquest against Dorne without reason, who gets himself murdered under a peace banner because he bungles the whole thing so badly, and his younger brother has to do an entire religious penance walk barefoot through the desert lasting months just to sort everything out again. Then Daeron the Good, who helps end that war by refusing to play into the cronyism of his father's court - his father who only got the throne because of Daeron I's folly - and refusing to allow the disrespect of Naerys or Myriah, who settles everything by marrying Maron to Daenerys and doing this amazing PR campaign of praying to Baelor's statue with Maron and claiming he's doing Baelor's work, not Daeron's or Aegon's. Daeron I whose unnecessary death leads almost directly to a lifetime of reproductive abuse and spousal rape for Naerys, and Daeron II growing up in the shadow of this horrific life where he's the only protection his mother has and he's never enough, until she dies and suddenly he's the only thing standing in the way of Daenerys and an equally horrific end.

I think it's kind of a fandom joke that all Viserys' are flops and I do think that's a theme in the series - men trying to be Visenya by literally invoking her name but they simply do not have the juice. Viserys I with his inaction and his drive to feel Good Things Only, Viserys II keeping his eyes firmly shut to the follies of the younger Targaryens around him, Viserys III slowly losing his mind to grief until he turns all that anger out at poor Daenerys. Something to be said with how highly they're all linked to a younger relative they fail to care for, and the fact that those women are all linked narratively as well - Viserys and Rhaenyra, Viserys and Naerys, Viserys and Daenerys.

I think there's something incredible in how the names Rhaenys and Rhaena completely fall out of favor after the Dance and are replaced by Rhae, Rhaella, and Rhaelle in popularity. Rhaenys the Conqueror, her namesake Rhaenys the Queen Who Never Was, but the Dance proves that there can never be a Rhaenys again because there can never be a woman sitting the Iron Throne again. Rhaena the Black Bride, named for her grandmother, a Queen because she's a consort and remembered for being a Queen in her own right (in a metaphorical sense), Rhaena of Pentos being a dragon rider who knows how to play the game in a smart but compassionate way, all leading to poor Septa Rhaena, locked up for a beauty she can't possibly understand when she is so young, driven to the Faith by the actions of the mad, lustful family members who would never see her as anything more than a pretty face and a convenient womb.

There's also the idea that Daena named Daemon Blackfyre after Daemon Targaryen, because she revered Rhaenyra and felt Rhaenyra was treated unfairly that I find very interesting. Daena's claim being put aside, and just like Aegon III (the beloved, "last" living son of Rhaenyra and Daemon), Daemon is forced to say his claim comes from a father who does not deserve his love instead of the mother he's really dedicated to.

This is also why I tag all the Aegon's with their epithets - I actually think Aegon VI is going to have some sort of "Aegon the U______" name because you have Aegon the Usurper, Aegon the Unlucky, Aegon the Unworthy, and Aegon the Unlikely. Then there's the play of Aegon the Dragon vs Aegon the Dragonbane as well there!

I could go on! There's so much here that's interesting and yes, I do think there are a lot of links between characters with the same name or similar names.

#house targaryen #asks #anons #valyrianscrolls

[baihesgeorg]

do you have any baihe recs?

yes! i am not sure what sort of recs you're looking for precisely, so i'll just list everything i'm reading and give my opinions on them (i don't really read things i wouldn't recommend, anyway, so it works out). i should add that i speak and read chinese, so a couple things on this list aren't fully translated and i'm reading the originals. if you can't find a copy of any of them, send me a message, and i'll get it for you :)

fgep/女将军和长公主: probably the most well-known baihe novel. written by qjmx/pdl, this is very plot-heavy, and very dense. it's well-written, but it's also very, very long and pretty dense. i think it clocks in at over a million characters? i'm about a third of the way through, and i think all the characters are well-written, with the dynamics being interesting and, in my opinion, realistic. however, if you're not into a lot of political drama, you might not enjoy this novel—it's basically driven by political drama. also, the characters are on the younger side—i think both li xian and lin wanyue are around sixteen at the start? otherwise, though, if you like a meaty plot, well-written characters, and intrigue with a historical setting, you'll probably like this.

couple of mirrors/双镜: technically adapted from the tv show into a manhua; i would say that the manhua's pace is a bit slower than the show, and in some ways less emotionally charged, at least at the start. that said, the art is good, and i believe there's a full translation of it available? without spoiling too much, it's set in republican shanghai, and follows an author (xu youyi) and an assasin-turned-photographer (yan wei).

who moved my ashes/谁动了我的骨灰坛: contemporary, transmigration/time travel. follows jiang xichu, who, after wrongfully dying, is given the chance to go back in time and save both herself and her best friend/boss/love interest from dying as well. this one is the shortest novel on this list, but i think it's quite good! it's not fully translated (there was a complete translation at some point, but it got deleted; i'm working on getting it translated and up again), so that's something to keep in mind, but if you want an overall low-stakes baihe, this one fits that bill.

clear and muddy loss of love/泾渭情殇: this is the novel on this list i've read the least of, but it, like fgep, is also very heavy on the political drama, and, from what i understand, contains a decent amount of betrayal and rivalry. lots of people call it qjmx's best work, but i haven't finished it so unfortunately i cannot speak to this. like fgep, the characters are on the younger side.

ruzhui/matrilocal marriage/入赘: another qjmx work, this one is a time travel novel with a historically-inspired setting. in comparison to jwqs and fgep, ruzhui is much more lighthearted and fluffy—though that doesn't mean it lacks emotional depth; in fact, in my opinion, it's the best-written of qjmx's works. it includes crossdressing and an arranged marriage, but unlike jwqs and fgep, the female lead tells her wife about her identity almost immediately. the leads in this are also older, in their twenties from the start.

wen guan/问棺: my personal favourite on this list; i'm only about 12% through since i'm reading as i translate, but it hits about every trope i like. the premise is that a woman named li shiyi and a number of other characters go on adventures to bring spirits of the dead to rest. there's a lot of supernatural elements, and, of course, tombs. all of the characters are well-rounded and interesting, and their dynamics and actions are all engaging, in my opinion. the one caveat i would give is that if you're squicked out by age gaps this might not be for you—while all characters are adults fairly quickly, one of them does start off as an infant (she's also probably some sort of ancient being, though, so. don't think about it too hard).

some others that i have on my to-be-read/listened to list: 他们的故事/their story (contemporary, manhua), 我为鱼肉/at her mercy (court intrigue), 钟山谣/the ballad of zhongshan (xianxia/xuanhuan, audio drama), 造物的恩宠/the creator's grace (scifi thriller), night flowers shirking from the light of the sun (english, historical fantasy).

if you want to find new baihe novels, i'd suggest scrolling through the yuri tag on mdl—a lot of stuff that never gets posted about on tumblr is on there (though the quality can be variable, and there's no way to filter only for baihe, versus korean/japanese gl).

i hope this helps! if you have any questions, feel free to send me a message or another ask :)

#叶 #baihe #inbox

[submissive-and-readable]

Skater Boy by Anthony Nerada

Source: Audiobook ARC from NetGalley

Release date: 6 February

Genre: young adult contemporary romance

If you like: queer coming of age, explorations of toxic masculinity, pop-punk, flawed protagonists trying to be better, Sk8ter Boy by Avril Lavigne but gay

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Synopsis

Stonebridge High’s resident bad boy, Wesley “Big Mac” Mackenzie, is failing senior year—thanks to his unchecked anger, rowdy friends, and a tendency to ditch his homework for skateboarding and a secret photography obsession. So when his mom drags him to a production of The Nutcracker, Wes isn’t interested at all . . . until he sees Tristan Monroe. Mr. Nutcracker himself.

Wes knows he shouldn’t like Tristan; after all, he’s a ballet dancer, and Wes is as closeted as they come. But when they start spending time together, Wes can’t seem to get Tristan out of his head. Driven by a new sense of purpose, Wes begins to think that—despite every authority figure telling him otherwise—maybe he can change for the better and graduate on time.

As a falling out with his friends becomes inevitable, Wes realizes that being himself means taking a stand—and blowing up the bad-boy reputation he never wanted in the first place.

Content warnings

Explicit language

Bullying

Alcoholism

Underage drinking

Racism (as experienced by a Black love interest)

Past domestic abuse

Childhood trauma

Smoking (cigarettes + weed)

Homophobia

Physical violence

Review

Why'd Wes have to go and make things so complicated 😔🤘

I hadn't expected to, but I found myself relating to Wes quite a bit. His experience of being labelled as a bad kid, and then only being seen as such without being given the chance to break that expectation, as well as his feelings of anger and fear and powerlessness, that no one wants to listen to him, that he can't open up to people, that he's inferior and will never amount to anything, took me right back to primary and secondary school lmao. (I'm so glad I'm not a teenager anymore.)

I also empathise with how awkward Wes feels around Tristan, or when he's trying to talk to people who aren't his friends; not knowing the right thing to say, or when he says something that comes off as angrier or meaner than he intends—that's literally me, baby!

A part I don't relate to is the bullying. Wes is like, a legit bully, like pushing kids into the lockers like in american high school movies kind of bully. While he's not the main aggressor among his friends, it still kind of hurt to read about how he hurt people in the past. I liked how his character arc developed, with him facing up to his actions and apologising to his victims, although I do think he was forgiven pretty easily; I personally would have held a grudge until I died, but good for them!

At the start of the book I was worried that this would be a whole "find a bf and magically all your problems are fixed!" kind of story, but while Tristan is definitely a motivating factor for Wes to improve himself, I really appreciate that Wes was the one who decided to take initiative and begin the first steps to becoming better.

There's layers of complexity to Wes and Tristan's relationship, because (a) Tristan is Black, and so deals with racism that Wes could never understand, (b) Tristan is out and Wes is not, (c) Tristan is a perfectionist and has a goal and life plans, while Wes is flunking high school with no plans to apply for college, (d) Wes had an abusive childhood, and Tristan has loving supportive parents, and (e) Wes is poor and Tristan is wealthy.

These are a lot of issues to handle in one book, and while I feel like the author does a good job discussing and resolving most of these elements, there's one point that I feel didn't get fully resolved, and that's the wealth disparity between them. Wes is super aware of this, he constantly notices the differences between the way they live, which makes him feel self-conscious around Tristan.

Spoiler warning, but at one point Tristan dresses Wes up in like a pricey cardigan and a polo shirt to meet his parents, and later Wes is furious and leaves early because he feels out of place and insecure, and that Tristan is trying to change who he is. Later, they talk and Wes comes to the conclusion that he was over-reacting, which, yeah, he was. But Tristan never apologises and is like "you know I would never have made you change your clothes if I knew it would make you feel bad!" He also makes fun of one of Wes's friends, and Wes wonders if part of the reason why he doesn't want to introduce Tristan to his friends was because he felt embarrassed.

I feel like this is a pretty big deal, and an obvious source of tension, that doesn't seem to get fully resolved. Most of Wes and Tristan's discussions about their relationship revolve around Wes apologising, but Tristan, even though he never does so intentionally, never apologises for making Wes feel inferior in this aspect.

I also feel that Tristan was kind of one-dimensional. From Wes's perspective, Tristan is perfect and flawless, and he puts him on a pedestal, while Wes is the one messing up. Tristan's only flaw, as far is I can tell, is that he struggles with anxiety, but he never seems to show it to Wes, for all that he encourages Wes to be emotionally vulnerable with him. I would have liked it if Tristan messed-up, or needed Wes to support him or comfort him in some way (Wes does support him, at near the ending, but that doesn't really count), to balance out their relationship a bit, instead of always having Tristan encouraging him, and having Wes mess up and make up for it.

The climax of this book gets really chaotic, huge shit goes down, like life-ruining shit. He manages to work it all out in the end, but I feel that it came way too easily, especially the problems he had with his friends. I feel like it got dismissed as some sort of misunderstanding, like Wes was the one making a big deal out of nothing. Afterwards, he and his friends talk it out very maturely, but where was all that maturity when shit was going down!!

I realise that a lot of my review sounds like I'm complaining, but this is really worth a read! The way this book discusses toxic masculinity, emotional vulnerability, dealing with trauma (because Wes is very clearly traumatised) is so well-done, and you can tell from the author's note that he put a lot of love and thought into this book. I would discuss this more but this review would get very spoilery.

To finish off this review, here are some nitpicks! These are minor details and do not affect the overall story! Some of these are purely personal issues I have that may not apply to other people!

Wes is stated to be a punk, and a lot of this book (the title, the chapter titles, the marketing) is about pop-punk, or scene music in general. But Wes doesn't seem to listen to pop-punk? The only band he mentions listening to is Metallica, which, last I checked, is a metal band. He wears a Linkin Park t-shirt once (huge slay) and mentions the My Chemical Romance reunion (double slay), but that's about it. He seems to be more of a metalhead tbh, which there's nothing wrong with, but I was hoping for more pop-punk references. (This sounds greedy, since almost every chapter title is a pop-punk reference, and I did appreciate that, but I wanted more!!)

I didn't vibe with the audiobook narrator. I'm kind of (very) picky about audiobooks, so the fact that I didn't dnf shows that he did a decent job at least, but I feel like he missed the mark on narrating the dialogue. Sometimes I couldn't tell the difference between Wes's internal narration and when he was actually speaking which was confusing, and the narrator also read everything in this sad, hesitant sort of voice, which works for the overall vibe of the story, but makes the happy, lighthearted moments in the book feel sad as well.

Minor spoiler, Wes's mom got him and his friends tickets to see Metallica, but later they start growing apart and the concert is never mentioned again (unless I somehow missed it?), so its unclear if they did go to the Metallica concert. I need to know if they went, because if they skipped out on it due to their beef, I will be very sad on their behalf.

#skater boy #anthony nerada #booklr #book review #lgbt #queer #queer books #mlm #coming of age #young adult #gay #lgbtq #lgbtqia #achillian #gay romance #gay books #mlm representation #mlm romance

[drewzelle]

“nine mutuals you want to know better” tag game!

Tagged by @sarenhale ! I didn't have access to my computer the past couple days so I'm a bit late, but this was a lot of fun!! Thank you for the tag <3

Last Song: lately I've been relaxing to the Hollow Knight OST (City of Tears best track) but in terms of lyrical music, I recently rewatched the music video for "Little Dark Age" by MGMT because its vibes are fucking impeccable and mesmerizing (I can watch it on repeat for hours)

Favorite Color: purple is my go-to answer (especially blue-ish purples), but I also really love dark greens and desaturated earthy colors so much

Last Movie/TV Show: I feel like I haven't been watching movies lately (I'm more of a show person because I like longer form narratives) but I think the last one I watched was "Better Off Dead" while I was visiting my family for the holidays. It was a weird/surreal but good time! As for shows, I finally got around to watching Scavenger’s Reign!! Every aspect was just amazing, especially the worldbuilding and visuals. 2D animation is probably my favorite medium, so I'm really glad we're seeing more animation for adults that wants to tell a story instead of being a delivery device for lame sex jokes and cringe humor. OH ALSO DUNGEON MESHI!!! For a lot of the same reasons! Excited to watch the new episode tonight :>

Sweet / Spicy / Savory: I have a HUGE sweet tooth, so if I had to pick one, that would be it. Savory foods are great and I love them, I just have a leftover "now's your chance!" impulse from not being allowed much sugar as a kid that I can't seem to get rid of. I'm also weak to the "I deserve a lil treat" trap if I've got a bunch of sweet snacks around, so I have to be careful. As for spicy….I am SO completely unable to handle spicy food it’s almost funny, but really it’s just tragic because I LOVE cuisines known for being spicy, like mexican and thai. If I eat out, I always have to be like “can you please make it mild?” and even then, if it's not seasoned for the babiest of babies, my mouth will burn and my weak, white-person tummy will hurt.

Relationship Status: I keep forgetting I’m getting married in less than six months. My partner and I got engaged like two years ago and have lived together for almost five, so my brain just defaults to "there’s probably a guy nearby" and doesn’t think much deeper on it than that.

Last thing I googled: "morels" because I was discussing mushrooms with my friend and those are some cool lookin' guys! Shaggy ink caps too!

Current Obsession: …….One Piece 😅 I was a big fan as a teen but only got as far as the Skypiea arc before I fell off reading/watching it. The hype over the new live action version reminded me the series existed, so I’ve been not so slowly making my way through again, picking up where I left off. I love how absolutely bonkers, there-are-no-rules, anime-ass-anime it is, but also how genuine and heartfelt it can be. I also enjoy how character-driven so much of the plot is which works because of how interesting the characters are (Chopper, Robin, and Franky are my favs). I just got to the timeskip, so I’m maybe…halfway through? between this and BG3, RIP my free time lol

Last Book: I've been reading through Seiji Yoshida's "Houses with a Story" (slowly, because I want to really take it in and savor it) and it's been a delight. Very relaxing and inspiring :> (up next, I finally got copies of the Locked Tomb series, so soon I will be enjoying The Space Lesbians)

Looking forward to: Being able to organize and enjoy my "new" office space after some hectic days! My partner and I realized we barely spend any time in our bedroom except for sleeping, so we swapped my office into the bigger room in our apartment! There were some complications with getting the internet working on my PC, but we finally got it all smoothed out. Now I finally have all my books and sewing/crafting/creative stuff in one place without it feeling cramped or hiding things away in storage :>

Thank you again for the tag! I'm tagging @justagoos, @icicleteeth, @lunarliart, @saltsparkle, @fael-draws, @juliedillon, @ninamodaffari, @crabdominalpain, and the final slot for anyone else who wants to join in - but please don't feel obligated, this is just for fun! :>

#thanks again for the tag Saren :D #it was fun to read yours and I'm excited to read some for the people I tagged! #drew says words #personal.txt #tag game #long post

[gwyns]

There was someone who made a post on why Gwyn being evil is stupid. I can’t get the link but this is what the text said:

“Do you know what's truly funny about the theory of Gwyn potentially betraying Az and Nesta? It could still shape into a captivating Gwynriel narrative, with Azriel endeavoring to rescue Gwyn from whatever led her to betray them, while Nesta joins him due to the profound impact Gwyn has had on her. It's doubtful that SJM would introduce a betrayal without a valid reason, especially when the characters have received significant attention. Azriel is unlikely to abandon someone he views with 'admiration and quiet encouragement.' He's more likely to follow his natural instinct, which is to save her. And I believe that if Rhys were to attempt to prevent him, it might lead to the revelation that Azriel's actions are driven by love.”

Yes to all of this. Nesta sees Gwyn as a sister. And if Gwyn was evil, it would be a big plot. I have a whole list of reasons as to why Gwyn being a lightsinger would actually make her and Azriel even more connected if you’re interested. It makes me believe Gwynriel is even more likely to happen. (:

oh i love this. gwyn is clearly important to multiple characters so if sjm did decide to go this route, it's not like she'd just disappear like e/riels want lol gwyn is an important character, or will be, you can't just dismiss her

i've had a complicated history with the lightsinger theory, when acosf first came out i loved it, i felt it made her and az more equal. but of course then e/riels took it and made it into gwyn being this horrible person and i didn't care for it anymore but honestly... it really would be so interesting. i would love to see your list of reasons! 💖

#antielriel #anti e/riel #asks #anonymous

[nocturne-side-blog]

I am going to start by saying I apologize for the rant I am about to go on, but I don't want Ganon to be redeemed in Tears of the Kingdom

As we slowly get closer to May 12, a surprising amount of people really want Ganondorf to have a change of heart and fight by the hero's side in ToTK. This genuinely surprises me. Here are my thoughts on the matter (despite the fact no one asked):

Let's get the elephant in the room out of the way. His tear, which replaced the gem on his forehead. We know he does not have this initially, so it somehow had to have ended up there. The bigger stretch of an explanation is that someone else put it there as an attempt to remove his dark power from him. But the more likely explanation? He stole it. Perhaps as an attempt to take control of its power. It will be the last year that must be gathered, but he snatches it first; and it may just be the mistake that later comes back to bite him. We've seen Ganondorf use weapons of "good" before, such as the sword of the Sages that he steals after his failed execution in Twilight Princess.

I love the idea that they show the human side of Ganondorf. It would give him so much more depth to see that perhaps he's grown tired of the cycle, but what would make it hurt more for the audience is seeing him force the cycle on by his own actions of revenge anyway. It would be much more interesting to watch Ganondorf break himself down, claiming to be a suffering man at the hands of fate, when in truth he is the one keeping it going. He was quite literally a walking corpse when Link and Zelda found him. Even if he were to realize it at the end, it seems more in character for him to only do one "good" deed, and it's to free himself.

Taking another route, perhaps Ganondorf would rather be driven insane by embracing his role in Demise's Curse. His Phantom, Calamity Ganon, is bent only on making Hyrule suffer. I wouldn't be surprised if, at this rate, all he wants is for the world to suffer. Especially now that he knows that, tragically, it's his destiny (even though Twinrova would've raised him to be kinda messed up even without the curse in play).

He doesn't deserve it. Look, I am all for redemption arcs. They're one of my favorite tropes ever. But saying Ganondorf deserves a full on redemption arc; as in, him getting to be forgiven or let off without consequences just because he's "good now"? It's unfair to every incarnation of the spirit of the Hero and the blood of the goddess that we've seen. More than that, it's unfair to Hyrule across time. It is no question that Ganondorf has killed hundreds of people. It could be even more. I hate to say it, but in the storyline of a video game, a "redemption" for that just won't work. I kind of see it how I see the redemptions of the Diamonds in Steven Universe. Besides, if Ganondorf at this point could be redeemed, then what about other villains who did less? Take Vaati, who was more than likely a child in The Minish Cap and felt like he could never live up to Ezlo? Or Ghirahim, who- like Fi- was created to be a servant with no other choice or knowledge of another route. Neither can simply walk away from their actions, but they certainly have a better blueprint for a slow redemption arc.

Nintendo probably wouldn't go that direction anyway. Let's face it, Nintendo is kind of obsessed with keeping their storylines (if they even have any) under a specific formula. While TLoZ always gives interesting spins and twists on traditional fantasy, they also are usually operating by a good vs evil formula. If they intend for a character to change, such as Byrne, it's usually not until the last second of screentime. You know, when they can't be used for a boss fight anymore.

Ganondorf as a villain is SO COOL in the context for ToTK. Even if you're tired of Ganondorf being the villain in general, you got to admit that in concept he's already a fantastic starting point for a villain. Think about it: he has been sealed away for 10,000 years. Ganondorf no longer even has the Triforce of Power, and he's still holding on to the point of being a corpse that releases it's fury in the shape of kingdom-destroying monsters. After thousands of years (even before the first Calamity) of rising again and again to fight the same battle with no end, the embodiment of Demise's Curse finally revitalizes itself when it seems that the long war is over. No matter how tired he may be, or who has to suffer, he will destroy Hyrule in honor of himself. He will leave no survivors.

tl;dr just because he looks awesome doesn't mean he's gonna start fighting demise

#totk trailer #totk theory #totk spoilers #totk

[like-rain-or-confetti]

Hey vanity I remember you saying something about if you wrote twilight again you'd make the Romanians and the Volturi darker. Any headcanons on that?

Please Vanity I need my fix. I'd remember you said you'll fund it because you don't do rehab.

Hey I'll pay if I have to... just name the price

(This is a joke btw. Don't feel pressured. I loved that last fic you posted)

When I tell you this had me hysterically laughing 😂😂😂...

Headcanons, I don't really have- mostly just thoughts of what I could differently and revamp some characters.

So I tend to wonder myself. Like a part of me thinks, they're less approachable. A.K.A Demetri and Felix- I'm looking at you buds.

I also wonder if some -like the Romanians- have any kind of compromising bone in their body? Like realistically, women have had to spend years fighting for their right to be heard and taken seriously. We still have people out there who would take that away and they aren't centuries-old vampires. So would a very old vampire male who has always gotten the first and last word be willing to give up that kind of power? I see this as one of the Volturi or Romanian covens thinking "Oh you want to do this? Tough shit. It's my way and that's that." Covens like the Cullens that interact more with humans have changed with the times but I wonder to what extent older and isolated covens would still be stuck in rigid ways and how that would go with humans who are of this time?

Beyond a revamping of sorts for Demetri and Felix- I tend to think about the level of violence. The Volturi have definitely gotten their hands dirty over the years and the Romanians literally enjoy torture.

Although all of this could be utter bullshit because I've recognised from writing for different fandoms that I have written for twilight frightened of what people take of my writing and what people will accuse me of rather than just let the story write itself without fear of judgement of those few who take it too seriously. Whereas say for Batman, it has been a case of expect shitty actions from shitty people. I think we all know the Volturi and the Romans especially are a collective of shitty people so anticipate shitty behaviour that's driven by outdated philosophies.

But I'd definitely say Caius, Demetri and Felix needed to be amped up a notch.

The flirty or goofy Felix should be reserved for those he is friends with or more at a certain time or place.

Demetri should be almost silent, as he has been in the books and movies. This might be mistaken as being shy but is really a predator ready to strike at any given moment. When he's interested romantically, that's when he becomes the irresistible dude he knows he is😂😭

For Caius, I'd like to put him more to use. Whilst he is undermined and overruled by Aro constantly throughout the movies. I'd like to display this as a rarity rather than a constant crutch. The two are sadistic lil' shits who bond over this.😂

For Marcus, I think I'd like to have him more of darker side too. Like beyond Chelsea there's a reason why he's still there. He isn't always this zombie who saves the day per say because he likes a good love story- all of that.

I dunno, these are just things that pop into mind. I think their brutal reputation could be kicked up a notch in my writing but worry about the consequences of that since this blog is only for fun and only intended to have fun. Not to mention I think I'd like to have the other Volturi guards more known in my writing.

I'm curious! Let me know what you guys think!❤️

P.S.

what did I say I'd fund now!? What did I get myself into this time?😭😂

My price...

Hmmmmm...

Could do with more Volturi and Romanian content? Anyone willing to annoy SMeyer into giving me that Volturi book or Romanian coven stuff? Not sure if I trust it but beggars can't be choosers!👀

#vanity needs to stop talking

[everyothermouse]

The grand theater presents an inside scoop on Boiling Over: we asked each of the core actors what their favorite part of making the show has been :] under the cut cus certain people had a lott to say

Vannessa

"I love the whole haunted house vibe of it all, running around and screaming is definitely my favorite part! The cast try their best to get a genuine rise out of me, including Emory, who isn't even a villain. It's very fun, if you think watching horror movies is fun you should try being in one- you'd think being friends with the main villains actor would ruin it, but you just have to put in some suspension of disbelief and it's easy to have fun being scared!"

Luke

"My favorite of my additions to the story is the concept of Vanilla's occasional lucid moments. While I understand the horror of a character who commits atrocities without any remorse, I personally find the concept of realizing you have committed something horribly wrong and against your moral code against something incredibly important to you to be much more gut wrenching and horrifying. Writing Vanilla's breakdowns of guilt that are laced with the horrifying knowledge that the moment will pass and that he will go back to being an awful person is my favorite thing.

I enjoy contrasting it to my character, who does not have strong feelings of guilt over his actions. It's an interesting comparison to see a character so wrecked with guilt but who has so little control of himself that he will undoubtedly do terrible things again compared to a character who has no guilt for his actions but who is fairly in control of himself and most often takes a course of action beneficial to the safety of himself and others, outside of moments where he is put under intense outside pressure and acts poorly due to fear. 

I purposefully make sure Luke is always the character Vanilla goes to when he has moments of regret, because I really enjoy seeing the dynamic of a deeply emotional character who is attempting to destroy himself from the inside out, and a character who is so shrouded in defense mechanisms to try to not destroy himself that his humanity and emotion is almost completely turned off.

That's what I love about Luke. His character is in direct contrast to the out of control, emotional messes that are the villains, but also in direct contrast to the caring, strong willed, and equally emotionally driven heroes. He is in his own separate category, and it makes him a very good character to accentuate other characters' traits. He himself is also benefited by this, as his strange emotionless but survivalist behavior is much more evident when you put him against pretty much any other character in the cast, especially Cayenne, Vanessa, and Vanilla. Vanessa's choice to help Luke after he betrayed her just helps to highlight her character a lot, in a way that wouldn't have been possible without him. Cayenne's fighting against Kath and Vanilla is much more poignant when displayed against Luke's blatant compliance. I just enjoy writing Luke a lot. Vanilla is still my favorite part though, his acting definitely adds to it, he genuinely looks like he's trying to rip off his own skin out of disgust and fear, he looks and sounds like he's going through his own personal hell that the rest of us can't see during those scenes."

Cayenne

"Honestly? My friends. I enjoy projecting my trauma on to Cayenne and basically barfing out my feelings through him, and then getting to turn around and go hug my boyfriend and pretend to be a baseball star. It's fun man, and Vanilla and Kath really make an effort to make things fun and pleasant, Kath is a total dick but xe always brings cupcakes and grins at me whenever they're saying something rude out of character, and you can tell we're just having a lot of fun. Meeting Marshall was the best part of everything, he's the fucking best."

Vanilla

"I like the torture scenes."

Marshall

"I enjoy the setting! We've been working on set design for a long time, it's slow and changes a lot. When we first started, Kath lived in a tent, the baseball stadium was actually high budget, me and vanillas house was tiny, and Kai didn't even have a house, he just had an office! Man, things have changed, and for the better! I've loved roughing out the aesthetic of the story- dirty baseball fields and equipment for marshall and kai's mildly rebellious and punk romance, the clean and soulless house of two perfectionist parents who put too much pressure on the kids they never see, the cozy little apartment of Kai and Marshall, the absolute mess of depression and misery and trash that is kath's house- we've still got so much to do, but oh my god am I enjoying it all so much. Vanilla came to us with his ideas about wildflowers and the messy, exciting, and free energy he saw in Kath and we took that and ran with it hard for the scenery, and it has done us so many favors. I can not wait until the whole set feels as intentional and well worked as those few small places that we've perfected- if anything, I hope we improve some more on those areas too!

(Ps, i also love working with cayenne, but thats just my favorite part of life in general so it'd be unfair to list it haha. Hes my inspiration for this whole story, most of my favorite sets were made for like, 5 minute romance scenes between me and him because I put way too much effort into our little subplots."

Kath

"I love the characters, I honestly can't even pick a favorite because they're all so fun to me. I'm biased toward Emory cus we're good friends outside of the show and he injects a lot of his own humor into how he plays and writes Emory, so every time Character Emory is on screen I have a great time. Marshall is a really interesting character to me, I think he has more under the surface than he likes to show and I'm really excited to keep working on him and seeing what he has in store, I really want us to do his concept justice so we're not rushing into anything at the moment, just taking our time workshopping pretty much everything. Kath is a really fun chaotic character, xer motives are totally bullshit and I love it, xe's just an angry fucking bitch who destroys shit and it's so fucking fun to play, I especially love trying to get into depth on the acting in scenes with Vanilla- in scenes they're doing crime it's usually just pure joy combined with anger, but Vanilla really fucks with Kath's head so there's this crazy mix of emotions going on there. He's an abuser, victim, partner, best friend, etc, Kath is constantly trying to rationalize all these different pieces of Vanilla in xer head but it's difficult because while from an outside perspective he's not that complicated, from Kath's perspective, these are like 2 completely different people with totally different personalities and relationships with Kath, and every time Kath is with him xer brain is fighting itself trying to fit the 2 together when it just can't. He's a sweet, kind, best friend, he's a total freak who's been stalking xem for years, he's doing whatever he's doing with Cayenne, he's taking everything Kath can dish out with a smile on his face, practically taking away all of Kaths power by saying to their one strength against everyone, this doesn't hurt me, I enjoy this. It drives Kath insane, which is fucking fantastic for an otherwise very self assured character, he absolutely destroys xem. 

All that isn't even half the characters, I just love them all a lot."

Jake

"I'm not super involved in the writing honestly, I'm just here for my girlfriend. I like the part where we get done with the show and we hang out on the couch"

#tldr luke and kath geek out abt their characters while everyone else just talks abt how much they love their friends /j #the grand theater #boiling over #not art

[vt-scribbles]

lets do 3 and 7 for the most recent writer asks 👀

3: on a scale of 1-10 how much to enjoy incorporating romance into the average story?

Oh man, so like... it very much depends on two things. Our definition of 'romance,' and what story world I'm working on. I have two main worlds: The Harvester, and Olmia. [Olmia is my catch-all fantasy world where most of my characters live, full of elves, giants, anthro people big and small, dragons, etc.] Firstly, my definition of 'romance' in this case is: Characters openly being drawn to each other in a 'i want to be your life partner' sort of way, sometimes tinged with a bit of sexual tension. [In the case of TH, there IS no sex content so that doesn't apply. In Olmia, anything goes.]

If I'm working on TH... I only like Light-Shipping aspects. Characters being cute, chaste kisses, bonding through different life events, and then MAYBE now and then there's some flirting or a tiny little 'date'. But as for Romance being a driving force? Absolutely not. The plot is not moved forward by someone's romantic desires, usually. It happens maybe about 10% of the time. I'm not super interested in plots driven purely out of 'I want to get together with this person romantically.' I like it being mixed in with other man vs self or man vs nature sorta plots.

If I'm working in Olmia... I still prefer fantasy-driven plots and man vs nature sorta stuff, BUT I am much more loose with characters pursuing each other romantically, and that driving their actions. It helps that Olmia is full of different species that are not all asexual/null creatures like Gems.

---

7. tell us about one of your characters who’s an absolute joy to write

Okay so I think I've already talked about Topaz and Hema, so I'll bring up another favorite.

Meta.

She's big, stoic, tough, scary. She's the biggest gem in existence at a staggering max 280 ft tall. She's got massive neck-crushing bear fangs and a hammer that can level a skyscraper. And yet... She worries about holding people too roughly. She likes telling stories, and sharing quiet evenings stargazing. You find out she likes puns, and that she's got a big-sister soft spot for most of her other batchmates. Meta is so quiet, but when she /does/ speak, she shows so much introspection and intelligence, and I love subverting the expectation that this 'brute' is violent and dumb. She's also strangely romantic, once you peel back all the hard surface. She's easily moved by pretty words, which I find really cute. If you call her 'pretty, beautiful, cute' etc, she gets really flustered but like. in the most stoic way possible. And just shoves her hand on your face. And SPEAKING of beautiful. One of my favorite parts about writing Meta is like. The times where I get to subtly show off just how fucking beautiful she is. Not in an objectifying sort of way, but like... there's /something/ about her that's effortlessly pretty. Not in the way a rose is, or a sunrise, or a rainbow is pretty. No, Meta is beautiful in the way a misty mountain is. She's beautiful in the way a waterfall is. The ocean. It doesn't have to /do/ anything to prove it's beautiful. It's there, and big, and powerful, and you hold this sorta respect for it - and I'm just rambling about what I like abt Meta, WOOPS. Something else I like abt writing her is that she has this very deep level of respect for the Diamonds, which gives her a lot of tact. She's very careful abt how she speaks to them, and tries to be as respectful as possible... without being a doormat. She's this HULKING gem who I LOVE writing as a badass and an unstoppable force, and yet she's quiet, thoughtful, likes small things and poetry, loves standing in the rain and listening to it fall...

Anyways uhhhh yeah I rly like Meta and I can't say much more without HUGE spoilers for the future so HERE TAKE THIS LOVE-RANT

#skitters around #author gets enrichment in his enclosure #vt text #author ask game

[wildcard-rumi]

Since you've been really into it lately, AI for the fandom asks!

Ngl I was really hoping someone would ask for this, just so I could have an excuse to gush about these games so thank you

3 male characters I love:

Kaname Date, this man is literally the full package. I mean, he's hot, smart, dumb, goofy, a fantastic dad figure, horny as hell, lover of puns, can kick people's ass with ease, what else do you want?

Kuruto Ryuki, honestly Ryuki is one of my absolute favourites. He is the definition of a poor lil meow meow and a babygirl and my god do I love him for it. I honestly hope that, if we get a third game, Ryuki gets some more time in the spotlight and we get to learn more about him because he's such a compelling character.

Pewter, he doesn't get a whole lot of screen time but when it actually gets down to his parts in the story and you learn his reasoning for his actions, it just makes me feel so bad for him. Also he dresses like the leader of a Pokémon villain team.

3 female characters I love:

Okay, ngl, usually I tend to prefer male characters over female characters. I don't know why, it's just always been that way, I've related to them more, I guess? BUT I love the female characters so much more in this series, they're all fantastic, I adore them. That being said I definitely have some favourites.

Mizuki Date, god I fucking love Mizuki, she is my daughter who can and will kick anyone's ass. When I saw her all grown up in Nirvana Initiative, I screamed... And then I found out you played as her in Nirvana Initiative and I screamed again even louder. Honest to god though, Mizuki is one of the best written characters I've ever seen, especially for a child character, and the poor girl goes through so much... Also, Corina Boettger's performance is incredible, I don't know how they managed to genuinely sound like a twelve year old girl but they did it and they gave one of the best performances in the whole game, which is saying something but the dub as a whole is amazing.

Aiba, I love Aiba so, so, so much. I love how in the real world she acts as a straight man to Date's antics but will still trade puns with him and then in the Somnium's she gets goofy and Date acts as a straight man to her. She has so many funny moments and I adore her crazy smile when she's really enjoying something. Also, her lil jelly hamster design is so cute, I love it.

Shizue Kuranushi aka Boss, Listen... I am not immune to hot women, okay? Especially when they're voiced by Allegra Clark. This is the third time this has happened to me and my heart still can't handle it. But I mean... She's hot, she's badass, she's flirty, she's funny... She's perfect. Also, I want to avoid spoilers since you're debating whether to check out the series or not, but there is A Scene that everyone adores and with very good reasons and all I'll say is, if you weren't in love with Allegra Clark's performance already, you will be after that scene.

3 romantic ships I love:

Hitomi/Date, can't really into this one without discussing spoilers but wow, I was not expecting that and they're so, so cute... Wish they got more of a focus in Nirvana Initiative...

Date/Ryuki, Date has two hands. But honestly, it's the way Ryuki talks about Date that gets me. Plus the idea of Mizuki judging him for his taste in men is just funny to me.

Iris/Amame, I just think they'd be cute, not to mention they're always checking up on each other when stressful stuff happens and share a lot of interests so I can see plenty of chemistry. Also, pretty bubblegum colour scheme.

3 platonic dynamics I love:

Can I just say the whole of Abis and their families? Like, the whole group is essentially a huge family at this point when you consider all the stuff that goes on throughout both games.

Ota and Mayumi, god that route destroyed me emotionally, it was so bittersweet. But I love me a good family driven story, so seeing this mother and son work their way through their issues and how they tried their best to protect each other.

Ryuki and Tama, ngl Tama was so, so, so close to being one of my favourite female characters, she just needs more screen time so, y'know... Anyway, I love their dynamic both in the real world and in the Somnium and I love how Tama knows about Ryuki's issues and tries to help him as much as possible despite his honestly self destructive work mentality, like when she forces him to go to the hospital.

3 favorite moments in canon:

Ooooh... I dunno... Like I said I'm avoiding spoilers for you so that limits me a lot but also, there's so many really, really, REALLY good scenes... I'll be as vague as possible.

The final scenes of both games.... If you know, you know.

Mizuki Route Ending in the first game, I dunno just... Found family and an adorable callback to a conversation way earlier in the route, it's so sweet.

The Annihilation Route interrogation, again... If you know, you know.

3 favorite headcanons:

I like to think that Aiba and Tama sometimes do their augmented reality hologram thing just so they can join Mizuki, Iris and the other girls for their girls nights sometimes. Doesn't matter that they can't eat or interact with anything, just hanging out with them is enough.

I know that we see Ryuki drunk a couple of times and he's really mopey in both of them, but I like to think that when he's having a night out and doesn't have anything weighing on him, he's quite a giggly drunk. Not howling with laughter or anything, just finding everything amusing and almost constant smiling and giggling to himself.

Slight spoiler stuff but I like to think that after Mizuki learned about who her dad's new partner was after divorcing her mother, she makes an attempt to connect with them especially since she can understand their complicated feelings over what happened.

3 least favorite things about it:

Chikara Horadori. That bastard knows what he did.

There are a few plot points where you sit there and think "... Okay, that was kinda stupid, I'm not a fan of that..." But I mean I've seen worse from Uchikoshi *cough*ZTD*cough*

The fact that Ryuki and Tama just kinda get shoved to the side in the second half of Nirvana Initiative. Honestly that was one of my biggest complaint about it, like c'mon they're the new characters, shouldn't you give them even just a little more screen time?

[funkymbtifiction]

Hi Charity again! I’m going to start apologizing for being annoying and asking so much questions. I also wanted to thank you for the clarification about the 9 vs 1 fix, it was so so so helpful to discover my sister type and understanding the differences in general. I wanted to ask some questions (it is not personal this time, is about the enneagram in general) and hope this can help other people too, feel free to not answer if you think is too much.

1. Overthinking is usually associated with the head types, right? But if you’re Ne and not a head type core, can you feel like you are (a head type)? How can we know for sure our core type?

9 ENPs think over things less and trust their gut instincts more; they are at home with their strong intuition and don't second guess it or anticipate what they will be doing next as much. I would say if you aggressively "think-think-think" without knowing how not to, you are a head type. If not, you're not.

2. Still about head types, 7s are more simple to figure it out to me, but 5s and 6s seems kinda similar. Both need to be secure, both are always looking for knowledge. 6s are more future oriented, but if you have a 3 fix, you are goal oriented as well. 5s are self sufficient, but if you have a 9 or 2 fix you are more “people oriented”. Sometimes I think that 6s are more likely to read about useful things (because they’re afraid of the future) and 5s usually read about everything (because they’re afraid of being stupid). But I don't know if this is correct and I don't think that everyone that reads a lot about everything have a 5 fix. How could we break them apart?

IDK. I read about everything cuz it's interesting to me (Ne/6w7).

I see 6 and 5 as being oriented toward or against people. 6s move toward people, 5s don't. 6s doubt themselves, 5s don't. The sin of the 6 is fear/paranoia, the sin of the 5 is avarice (selfishness). 6s are less morbid than 5s, who trust their own logic more than 6s. I mostly look for a super-ego (right/wrong thinking) vs. withdrawn (separate) stance. 5s feel like they don't belong, 6s want to belong.

3. I was thinking about characters that are types 3 and 4. It seems that the 3s (core and fix) are the “popular girl/boy” ones or have the desire to be (probably 2s too, because they need to be loved and appreciated), but the 4s (core and fix) seems like the “bad girl/boy” that doesn't want to fit in. Do you think this is usually true or just a coincidence (and 4s also have the desire for popularity that is usually associated to 3s)?

4s don't want to be popular necessarily because if everyone loves something, everyone is being "basic." They don't want to be basic, common, or easily understood. 4s are more self-absorbed (and unapologetic about it) and interested in being separate from everyone else (you're not like me, and my problems can't be fixed).

4. My last question is if you have Ne (specially ENP) and are a core 3 (or other "action" type), can you be more about “planning”, but procrastinating and doing less?

The 3 ENPs I know are pretty driven to accomplish things and look good while doing it. I think Charles Dickens in The Man Who Invented Christmas is a really good example of a driven 3 ENFP. Decides he wants to revitalize Christmas, designs his own book "just so" (only the best illustrations), and gets it all written in a few weeks, then goes on to promote it and make a lot of money off it (but he's so deep in debt, sadly, it doesn't help him much). Presentation of ideas would matter the most to a 3 ENP.

#question #mbti

[cornylilguy]

Hiya! I'm trying to find an rp partner! Pls message me if you're interested in chatting about it.

About me: Hi, I'm Cherri, I'm 20 and go by they/them. I work part time right now and I will try to be as fast as possible when replying, but I do tire socially, so if I need a break I will let you know!

My style: Don't let my usage of shortened versions of words and general dumbness fool you; I'm semi-literate to novella when it comes to writing. I like being descriptive even in the most minute of details. What can I say? I love really getting into the guts of a world and it's characters! I'm a huge nerd when it comes to story analysis and character analysis, if that's not your thing exactly that's cool, but I am a big planner when it comes to this stuff, so if you aren't I may not be your cup of tea. Also I only work in third person, any other way just feels weird for me.

What I look for in a partner: Preferably someone who can match me in both enthusiasm of the world, the characters, writing length and style. And I know that can be a tall order for some, so if you can't write a whole five paragraphs and just stick to one, or maybe prefer first person; again it's fine but I will let you know if ultimately I'm not feeling it. Also pls be 18+ in case there is ever eventually nsfw, I don't generally feel comfortable if minors talk about those subjects with me considering my age, but I understand since I was a teen not too long ago that nsfw topics can come up in conversation. If you are a minor, please keep these subjects to a minimum.

Boundaries: I'm okay with a lot of dark topics, heavy gore, torture, horror elements, etc. Granted they aren't what I'm going for in the roleplays I'm pitching, but for future reference they are fine. I'm not looking for any smutty plotlines either. Eventually maybe one can be worked out for a different story, or even added eventually between characters in an rp, but I'm more interested in building up chemistry between characters. Also a big trigger for me is sexual assault or csa mentions or otherwise. Granted in some context it's not as bad, but as a general rule please avoid mentioning this as a part of a character.

Rp Ideas!

MHA: I would really love to do an ocxcanon or ocxoc with double ups. By this I mean either our OCs can date a canon character, or if the chemistry is good enough, then each other! But the basics of this rp is plopping our two OCs into this world, whether it be a foreign exchange student program, Isekai situation, or some other circumstance. The plot will be similar, but paced down, and will be more character driven instead of action driven, and exploring the social commentary of the universe. I know, nerd shit, but I do want to explore topics of inequality, idolism of celebrities, how society pushes people to extremism, stigma around mental illness, and a number of other topics. Oh and a critique of the capitalist system overall. We can discuss details on things in DMS, preferably over discord!

Fantasy Gothic School: This one is loosely based on Wednesday considering it takes place at a school for the occult. No characters from the show would be used however and all characters would be OCs. This one would also be more involved with mystery, world, and character building. Each of us trying to make and somewhat keep mysteries from each other and having control of up to three OCs if either of us wish. It's hard to explain without adding a wall of text, so I'll explain further if you express an interest in it!

Please dm me if you're interested, or interact with this post. Dming is easier for me so there's no mixed signals, and I promise I am pretty nice, if a little strange.

#1x1 roleplay #1x1 rp #mha rp #mha roleplay #rp search #pls its so hard to find people #i just want to roleplay

[mejomonster]

I've been watching The Vampire Diaries lately as a show to kinda relax to without needing full attention and:

Kinda ship Bonnie/Caroline unfortunately I doubt this show has lesbians (but buffy had willow/Tara in the 90s so I wish this 2000s drama does -.-; I'll see I guess)

Kinda enjoy Tyler and Jeremy's scenes post 1x10 which I'm surprised by cause before I'd been rooting for Tyler to die

Damon/Elena are eons more interesting to me as a dynamic in that their scenes together have less predictability and more interesting outcomes (I get why elena/Stefan is a thing, they're both book loving reading nerds who like to talk about that stuff for hours and write diaries and spend quiet nights kissing/sleeping together and chatting about stuff they fan over basically - without the vampire old issue/Katherine ex situation they'd basically be a normal couple with shared interests, but like... as tv entertainment that's just not as fun to watch as ppl who do not get along and slowly need to learn to understand/interact. It's like angel/buffy versus spike/buffy or faith/buffy I suppose. Except I do appreciate stefan/Elena actually fight over "yr a vampire damn! People are dying I need to get AWAY this is fucked" and "I look like your dead ex what rhe fuck is wrong with you/any other secrets??!!!" Because like while it's still teen romance show level "I love you" ridiculously fast and unrealistically with a yikes vampire usual age gap lol, at least Elena's and stefans reactions seem somewhat more like real people would actually do? Whereas like... idk I usually see a much less realistic reaction of "wow people are dying I need to get away from you and reevaluate my view of the world goddamn".)

Bonnie makes me feel like I'm watching Charmed

Watching vampire stuff I'm glad there's a lot of death in this cause what even is a vampire story without people getting their blood drank? Also this show reminds me I've got my own vampire story I eventually want to write ToT but mines more itwv level bloody than teen angst. That said, i appreciate the slightly outside of high school elements of the show which remind me of charmed or buffy and give the impression this show CAN grow beyond a high school setting as the plot ages out of it, like buffy did, which gives it space to possibly do some cool stuff later on (that say a show like teen wolf bound inside teen-life couldn't really move to)

Thank goodness the show has some horror scenes and fights I really Can't focus without my action scenes lol

Like buffy (tho idk How better the writing will get) I can tell that around mid season 1 the writing shifted from Teen Show Pilot usual to having a more solid idea of the angle it wanted to go in. Caroline went from a "could be any teen extra" to a character with a clear personality, Bonnie went from only magic-show-plot element to someone who's friendships and enemies in the show matters, Matt and Jeremy as plain humans get a more defined characterization driven by their internal values more than only what's happening to them externally, Elena once she finds out vampires exists her character acts much more idk Likable to me? She's an everyday girl stand in, but with the knowledge of vampires her personal bg as someone fucked up by tragedies in the family and feeling death is inescapable to her (vampires all around and looking like a dead ex katherine), her desire to not see anyone else die and personally try to help stop vampires who are hurting people in town (despite being very mundanely human) gives her a solid backbone of who she is when put in a hard position. I liked her trying to fight a vampire alone with pencils and a broken broom - she doesn't succeed as she's a completely untrained and regular strength human but it shows she's got future potential and a trajectory, her trying to stop vampires from killing, her willing to go into danger, her willing to confront anyone, etc. She's showing some interesting traits specific to her that not every character Would do. Even Stefan with as little as I'm personally clicking with him, is making lets say Relationship choices that are distinct from Edward type or Angel type or Spike type or Lestat lol, so at least he's feeling like His Own individual character in a vampire story instead of a copy of someone else. He communicates eons better than Edward, saying he'll leave before leaving for someone's safety lol, and just in general open to conversations when conflicts come up more, he's mopey sure but not to the level of emo Angel from buffy is (and not quite as creepy tho he also stalked for a year lmao) and Lexi coming into town showed he's really not Endlessly pessimistic the way Louis or Angel would be. He's got a distinction versus other leading romance vamps, and although his dynamic doesn't have the enemies/rivals to friends to lovers I enjoy in watching a romance (bellamy/Clarke, lexa/Clarke, lucifer/Chloe, spike/buffy, louis/lestat etc) I do like that he feels like his own character to me. So I'm hoping like buffy the depth of characterization gets a bit better as time goes on for everyone. And the plot expands past high school as characters age up.

Damon and Stefan remind me of Dean and Sam. Yeah I know what I said ToT if supernatural went on 150 years and they turned into demons or vampires or whatever, both fell for the same girl, who's to say what coulda happened. All IM saying now is a crossover when they'd both been airing would've been hilarious.

#lb #the vampire diaries #yeah bet u didnt expect legit tvd meta from me #tvd

[an-overcaffeinated-npc]

Tonight season 3 comes to a close and the fate of Ivan and Biffilo Bub is revealed

Shovelwarewolf S3 E5: Legend of Zelda CD-i Link vs the Faces of Evil

Part of me wishes that Ivan was able to finish the Zelda Cd-i trilogy of games because it would make a fun motif

This is the first time we see the lightning actually affect that world, but this means that every lightning strike we see during the transformation sequence is real, so does that mean Ivan's curse is tied to the weather?!

I like the little Ganondorf musical reference

Why do the people move so much during the cut scene, they are like sharks always bouncing around

Haha another Upisnotjump reference

Another power glove foreshadowing moment

I'm not gonna lie if Susan did bust in this episode to once again save Ivan I would have laughed so hard, seeing an AJ Gwen fight would be great (RE definitely needs to put two of their characters against each other in a serious fight it's something they really haven't done before)

Poor Ninja bread man, the game with so little substance to it that it never made it into an episode and even Nat Geo got an episode

The idea of Nate having to run in the desert in full Shovelwarewolf costume is honestly quite commendable for him

You know RE doesn't have the best reputation when it comes to green screen shots/ adding in cgi elements but I think the soft kinda bright light of the desert works as a good base to put the dim alien ship into without it telling out of place, even with it having a more neutral tone compared to the cool tones of the live action footage works with the bright white colors coming off of it, I wonder who made this ship

That being said, Rip Bub, your death explosion looked hella fake, way to over saturated without interacting with the rest of the world, at least there should have been a soft glow on the left side of Ivan

And then the obvious front facing green screen shot for what reason? Did they forget to get one when they went to the desert?

Another season down, this one admittedly did not top Season 2 in my mind, I feel like we saw more of Ivan's character in that season, this season felt more like season 1 just with a higher budget not that there's anything wrong with the more game focused set up, I just like the more story/character driven things personally

Now this next episode is my second favorite episode because it has the most interesting character that we never see again which admittedly does hurt but I still love this episode so much and can't wait for the review tomorrow

#randomencounters #random encounters #remusicals #shovelwarewolf #howlween

[abovebelowhalimekaraca]

EGX LONDON

A quick overall review of the EGX experience.

This was an opportunity to try indie games and have the amazing chance of playing the newest demos for upcoming big hits. I really liked the diversity of the games and demos that were featured. A lot of the games I have played were at a very impressive level in regards of both game design and actual gameplay and controls.

I am very pleased that I found the courage to approach different people and teams and play their amazing games. This experience thought me a lot about what is needed to not only make a game yourself (teams, programs, etc) but also what someone who would be interested in being a game concept artist would need to have reached skill-wise in order to be noticed.

A big issue I have found in my case is that most of the games had to be played with a controller which I found extremely difficult and it most certainly affected my experience, but that is simply my case since I don't play games very often, so I lack the experience.

GAMES

Escalar

Escalar is one of the games I have played and really enjoyed. The beautiful assets and rendering really captivated me. The grass physics and attention and care to animation were admirable.

I think this game has a certain vintage aesthetic to it that fits really well with other adventure, casual games such as Snake Pass.

Planet Of Lana

Another game that was featured and that I instantly fell in love with is Planet Of Lana. The cinematic angle of this game goes hand in hand with the beautiful story of a girl and her cat.

Playing the demo was an absolute pleasure and it really holds itself quite well. the controls and camera view remind me of Inside, which is another story driven game. The backgrounds have a certain old painting aesthetic combined with something you would see in a Studio Ghibli movie.

Something that I , personally, had to adjust to is the controls for manoeuvring the cat . I found it a bit difficult to place the cat where I needed it to be and at times it seemed like the commands just didn't work. However, seeing as this is a demo, I am absolutely positive that any issues will be solved.

Sonic Frontiers.

Sonic Frontiers is an upcoming and most anticipated open world/action/adventure/exploration 3D game from one of the most popular franchises, Sonic The Hedgehog.

Unfortunately I was not able to play SF due to lack of time. Since the franchise is extremely popular, finding an opening in the que was difficult. However, I was still able to see little bits of gameplay from others and even though I was never a big fan sonic, having never played any of the games, I was still able to appreciate how far the quality of the games has came.

From it's first ever appearance in 1991, the character still remains to be highly successful, now having several movies, animated shows and cameos and collaborations with other studios.

Sonic started as a pixelated game for SEGA GENESIS, and later, in 2010 being exported on Windows via Steam. Most of the games follow the same recipe, where you fight your arch-nemesis Dr. Eggman. while you collect rings and find chaos crystals, the biggest change however, is the transition between the 2-D pixelated side-scrolling game to a 3-D much more polished open world exploration.

I ,myself, find the consistency in Sonic's design to be very appreciated and I think it is one of the main reasons for its continual popularity. The link to childhood and nostalgia that this character and it's games hold is very touching for a lot of people. The simplistic nature of not only Sonic's design but of the other characters' (Knuckles the echidna, Tails the fox, Amy the hedgehog etc) is very effective and has the advantage of being easy to enolate in a 3D manner without it looking out of place or choppy, especially in Sonic Frontiers and the latest Live Action movies.

VR

EGX had a special section designated to VR games such as Beat Saber. Virtual Reality is considered one of the biggest technology breakthroughs, especially for the gaming industry. With the help of a headset and a pair of biosensors, VR games allow people to move through the game environment as if they were actually in the game.

It has gained popularity over the years, especially with genres such as horror and even nature/environmental based game. Even BBC has just recently launched a VR space experience where you're playing as an astronaut who has a brilliant view of Earth.

A fear that game developers and small studios seem to have is that VR gaming will take over and replace conventional gaming which would be a big issue for indie game creators that cannot yet afford the means of creating suitable games and people that cannot afford VR sets.

I however, feel like this will not be the case, especially since there is a big portion of people that still prefer conventional gaming and find that, VR has still a while to go until it reaches it's full capacities.

MERCH

Merch was something that pretty much everyone that went to EGX was interested in. I fin the idea of merch to be an amazing way of both promoting one's game but also a way for people to show their adoration and cherish their good experiences.

I was very pleased to see a lot of artists that sold their artworks in forms of posters, t-shirts, caps, shoes, etc. As someone who hopes to one day become an illustrator/concept artist, it was highly pleasing to see so many people be interested in buying something that takes so much love , skill and time to make.

I even had the chance to speak with a few of the artists behind the amazing merch, which was very helpful and really opened my eyes to the possibility of opening my own merch station. I have learned, for example, that while it is something that pays well enough, depending on the popularity of the merch subject, it would also be recommended to keep it as a side job and be sure to have something more stable going on (which can still be in the art industry).

I unfortunately was not able to take pictures of most of the poster stands due to copyright issues .

The prices were accessible enough, and I feel like even if you budget was limited, you would've still be able to find something accessible such as badges, stickers, little figurines etc.

The quality is absolutely impeccable, no scratches or any kind of imperfections, all for a good price.

However, the one thing I did find kind of weird is the diversity of the merch. The 2 things that seemed to dominate the stands were Pokemon and Anime in general, which was a bit disappointing since I was really hoping for merch for games such as Valorant, Portal, league of Legends and Spiderverse. I am still glad that I was able to find something at the end of the day to make me remember this amazing trip.

In conclusion, I find EGX to be a brilliant idea and opportunity for small teams of talented people to promote their hard work and amazing talent. I think EGX is about the love so many of us share for games and for the people behind them. And even though I am not usually someone that plays many games (as I have already mentioned above) this experience really made me excited for upcoming games such as Planet of Lana, Lies of P etc.