#at least i haven't come across this parallel yet

[wingedjellyfishflight]

Freedom Calls

Sneaking in here just might be the dumbest thing you have done, but you can't sit idly by and watch this man be tortured and killed by your corrupt organization. You might not have any better options, but you know that he does. He just needs help getting to them. At least you are good with a lockpick and have security access as a guard. Makes it easier that way. Though, your keycard will be traced to you, and you know that means your life is forfeit. They haven't had time to start on him, though, which means that he should be well enough to escape once he is out the door. And the guard on duty tonight is well known for falling asleep at the job, hiding in a closet nearby. So that should mean you don't have to hurt anyone.

The only thing you didn't account for was him. The man himself.

"Why are you here? What do you want? This is a trick, I know it! No, I'm not playing your games." Finally, you resort to ordering him to cuff up and putting a bag over his head. You drag him out, fighting him every step and pretend to anyone you come across that you've been ordered to bring him to interrogation room 15, which no one wants to admit they have no clue where that is, so your confidently bored voice gets you most of the way across the facility without an issue.

You drag him into an empty bathroom and shove him to the handicap stall before dragging the hood off and uncuffing him.

"What-? Where?!" You shove a hand over his mouth.

"Keep your voice down. I'm trying to set you free, you idiot! Out that window about 10 yards is the perimeter fence. It's got a hole at the bottom that you can crawl through, and then it's straight to the woods from there. North of those woods is a main road where your team can pick you up if they are watching. Shouldn't take more than 10 minutes at a flat out, so long as you don't trip. Now, go already before we get caught, and I die for nothing!"

He seems torn for a moment. You think he is unsure if he should believe you, but the truth is almost worse. He grabs you and tosses you out the window before jumping out himself. Wrapping his hands in the straps of your tac vest, he half carries you like a doll, shoving you through the hole in the fence and following quickly. There are no shouts of alarm yet, luckily. He quickly pulls you to your feet and shoves you toward the woods. You start running, knowing if you are caught, then you're both dead.

At the wood's edge, you hear the first shouts. They are focused inside, and you know they have discovered that he is missing. You pick up the pace, guiding the two of you to a deer path that you know from your leisurely walks at lunch in the forest. He follows you, and you signal to follow the path. Surging past, he goes into a flat-out run. You struggle behind him, doing your best to keep up.

You hear a squad moving behind you. If they catch him, it's game over for both of you, but you know if they catch you that you can be a distraction, giving him a chance to escape. So you duck down a side path, barely wide enough for precise steps. It takes you mostly parallel to the road, east instead of north. After a few hundred feet, you begin purposely making extra noise to attract attention. You can hear them changing direction to follow you, slowed down by the heavier brush. The further you go, the more you outpace them and the less purposeful noise you make. Another few hundred meters or so, and you realize they have turned back, likely assuming they have chased wildlife instead of their target.

Breathing a tiny sigh of relief, you continue looking for a fork in the path to take you north again. You find it surprisingly quickly and come out onto the road about a mile away from the main trail. Almost immediately, you are held at gun point by a man who sports an enemy uniform. Well, an hour ago, he was your enemy, but now, you're not sure.

"Has he made it here yet? The trail I sent him on was only a mile south, and he was far ahead of me." Your question seems to put the man off kilter for a long moment. Too long. You brace yourself, waiting for him to kill you. Instead, a masked man comes around the corner of the vehicle.

"That's the one. Handcuff her and put her in the back. Let's go." You flinch as he handcuffs you tightly but cooperate every step of the way. You're sandwiched between the two men, and you sit quietly as the masked man drives the truck away. Surprisingly, it's as straightforward as just driving down the road to a nearby airport to escape. On board a big military plane, the questions start. They hate your answer that it was a spontaneous decision, and you just didn't think it was right, keeping him there. It's nearly an hour of questions before they seem satisfied.

You can't believe it when they just uncuff you back at the military base. Rather than let you walk away, the masked man pins you to the wall, pressing his body against yours. "You cannot return," he says bluntly.

You shake your head. "No, I can't go back."

He stares at you for a long moment. "Then, you are mine," he says with a growl, dragging you to his quarters without a further word, determined to cement your place at his side.

#call of duty #ghost cod #simon ghost riley #ghost x reader

[seventhdoctor]

A Trapezoid of Foils: Judai/Yubel and Amon/Echo

I'm back on my bullshit, and my bullshit is yelling about the trashfire that is Judai Yuki and Yubel. This post is a collection of thoughts on how Amon and Echo were clearly meant to reflect Judai and Yubel in some way or other, and how it feels like it should be neater than it is. The parallels are there, but it's not fully symmetrical and some of the angles are kind of weird...so yeah, kind of like a (non-isosceles) trapezoid!

(Geometry Tumblr do not @ me, I'm doing my best with this metaphor)

Spoilers for GX season 3, naturally. I haven't said it before, but for this post as well as previous ones I'm basing all information and characterization on the sub version of GX rather than the dub (which drastically changes Yubel's backstory and motives).

Yubel and Amon

This is the most obvious one, because Yubel spends two whole episodes and honestly some of their most iconic monologues trying to tear Amon down after building him up the whole season.

They're both antagonists willing to cause harm to the one they love for their goals. For Amon, that goal is the power to build a utopia. For Yubel, the harm is the goal - or at least, the metric by which they will have achieved their goal (showing their love for Judai).

Yubel, of course, claims that Amon is more selfish in his use of harm. Pain is love in their philosophy, but it's mutual pain - dishing out the pain without taking any back would only be mere cruelty. This of course misses the nuance that Echo wanted Amon to use her as a sacrifice, while Judai didn't welcome any of Yubel's twisted affections.

Still, from what I've seen most people agree that Yubel comes across as more "honest" one way or another. And to understand why things feel that way, it's important to look at their backstory and motivations, as well as how their motivations change.

Yubel dedicated themself to Judai's past life, tying themself to him through lifetimes, and in the present remained true to that devotion in unwanted ways. When Judai sent them to space and it ended up being Oops! All Torture, Yubel developed their sadomasochistic philosophy as a coping mechanism and an attempt to reconcile Judai's past promises and present actions.

Upon their return to Earth, they planned to return the "favor": by sending Yubel to the pain and isolation of outer space Judai made them stronger (i.e., infected by the Light of Destruction, with all that entails), so they'll give him his own painful experience (all of season 3) to make him stronger (awaken his power as Supreme King). Then they'll reunite, having both demonstrated their love for each other, and [this part is where the Light of Destruction really twists up their thinking]. Everything they do is in the name of this motive*, whether Judai really likes it or not.

Amon dedicated himself to the Garam conglomerate with Echo by his side before being replaced by his younger brother Sid, the sole blood Garam sibling. He nearly murdered Sid before changing his mind and dedicating himself wholly to his brother instead, a decision Echo and Yubel both describe as willingly chaining himself to their service. Even when given an opportunity to become the heir (all it'd take is watching his brother die to illness, not even murder) he rejects it, and begs for a way to save him.

And yet, when when given the opportunity he made a deal with the devil to break the chains he put on himself and abandon that same family. Then when he gets the chance to obtain power by sacrificing someone he loves, he does exactly that. Then he plans to become king of a utopia free of suffering, and always remember Echo.

So then, what are Amon's motives? Is he somebody who got tired of being abandoned or unappreciated? An ends-justify-the-means idealist? Just a power-hungry hypocrite? It's hard to tease out a consistent character and ideology from him. And in a show where people wear their hearts in their decks, I think this part of why people hate him - and so does Yubel.

Yubel hates Johan because he's terrifyingly like Yubel in some ways, focused and protective and dear to Judai.** Yubel hates Amon because he can't be like Yubel at all, resenting the brother he dedicated himself to and sacrificing the person he loved for power in an empty world forever devoid of that same person.

No way Yubel can be that kind of person, right? Otherwise, what was it all for?

* To be fair, you don't know all of Yubel's backstory by the time of their final duel with Amon. However, even removing the context of their past life that duel together with Yubel!Johan vs. Hell Kaiser establishes Yubel's central motivations more coherently than they do Amon's.

** Help, I know there's been other essay segments on this topic, text and video alike. But I saw a lot of them back in early 2023 when I was mindlessly going through GX material in a haze of hyperfixation and now I've forgotten all the other good sources.

Yubel and Echo

If Yubel's parallels with Amon are about their dedication, Yubel's parallels with Echo are about who they're dedicated to. Both believe in their loved one's destiny to become a king, and take actions to make them that king.

Yubel has historical basis in that Judai is quite literally the Supreme King, bearer of the gentle darkness. To help him achieve that role, Yubel enacts a plot to break Judai until he awakens his Supreme King side. It fits neatly into their schema of things: this is how they make the person they love stronger, so that they will thrive and survive. Make Judai stronger and awaken his old power, and all will be as it was meant to be.

Echo just believes that Amon is amazing enough that he would make a better king than anyone. When the chances arises to help break his chains and give him a world to rule, Echo takes it.

...And boy does she.

Both Yubel and Echo believe their loved ones are meant to be a king. Both give their lives in support of their loved one, and become weapons wielded in their service.

No wonder Yubel was shaken by Echo's devotion remaining within Exodia for just a moment - it's not all that far from their own.

Unfortunately Yubel's only direct interaction with Echo is goading her attack on field-Yubel during the final Amon duel. Otherwise they only speak of Echo as someone used and abandoned by Amon - which in itself has potential, given Yubel's own feelings about Judai sending them away.

I think GX could definitely have explored this connection a bit more. There's space to fill here.

Judai and Amon

As noted above, Judai and Amon both have roles as kings - at least, in the eyes of their single most loyal people. Judai holds the title of Supreme King as the wielder of gentle darkness, and while not confirmed his past life sure looked like a prince. Amon simply has ambition, talent, and an ideal world in his mind.

And in operating with the ambition of kings, they both do terrible things to achieve power. Judai lays this out explicitly in the Edo vs. Amon duel:

Amon lets his need for power get in the way of his other relationships and priorities, and sacrifices the ones he loves to obtain Exodia similarly to how Judai sacrificed his friends and eventually uncountable innocents for his own goals - finding Johan, and then ruling as Supreme King. Straightforward, right?

But I think there's another parallel between the two that's a lot more interesting. Or...most of a parallel. Namely, their relationship with their other halves and the responsibility of a loyal follower who would give up anything for you, be it their life or their humanity.

What do you do when the person you love most dedicates their existence to you - to the point of throwing everything else away, even their very life?

Of course, the Judai-Yubel and Amon-Echo situations aren't exactly the same even putting aside the issue of reincarnation. (For the purposes of this essay I'm not making huge distinctions between Judai and his past life, but if you want to get into the details I've written about that previously.)

Yubel went ahead and made their sacrifice without Judai's input, and all he could do was decide how to respond. He chose to dedicate himself back to them so hard it crossed lifetimes, so hard he chose to risk his own existence for them as well in his next life.

Amon, on the other hand, is the one who proposed Echo sacrifice herself for him. Echo agreed to it, and even by the end she stood by her decision. But Amon loaded the gun and pulled the trigger.

He tries to honor her sacrifice, of course. He's always mindful of Echo's sacrifice and what it means. But in the end, he did choose to sacrifice her, ultimately using her as a pawn. Their love never trumped his own objectives.

And I think the example of Amon and Echo leads to the question: if Judai had the choice of letting Yubel become a dragon or stopping them, what would he do? When it was explicitly their will?

This is another missed opportunity, one that could have solidified the parallels neatly. But GX never asks that question, so the answer is unclear. What could have been a parallel is just kind of...askew.

Judai and Echo

Okay, I admit there isn't a lot here off the top of my head. Probably the best parallels between them are in relation to their other halves, as the people "harmed" by their villainous partners, and how they respond to that harm.

Judai rejects Yubel's torments as unwanted attention, until he remembers the past and flips to understanding why Yubel did they did and makes moves to unite the two of them forever. Echo, meanwhile, understands Amon's motives from start to end and...lets herself be sacrificed, the end.

I don't know about this one. Really, ultimately Echo is supposed to be a willing participant in her own sacrifice but in the end I still don't feel like the narrative gave her a strong sense of agency in the matter and it really weakens my attempt to write this section.

In Conclusion

Some of these connections are stronger than others for sure, but I argue that they're all there in some way or another. They're very uneven and overall I'm not entirely sure what you're meant to take from the parallels, and I wish I could give something neat and concise for this section. Instead, it's a bit messy and misshapen - hence, the trapezoid metaphor.

Still, I think there's interesting room for thought in this awkward space. I was certainly thinking about these parallels while working on the latest chapter of Need (accidental last-minute plug?) and trying to figure out exactly what the prince felt while Yubel was in the middle of dragon surgery. What must it be like, to be in these relationships of sacrificial devotion?

#yugioh gx #yugioh series #judai yuki #yubel #amon garam #echo #essaying #meta #analysis #once again thanks to kaiowut99/GymLeaderLance99 for the subs #they're being used for a good cause? #anyway here's the product of me thinking too much about yu gi oh gx season 3 #and all things yubel related #i am so on my bullshit

[queeoretician]

Initial thoughts on The Unwanted Guest below the cut:

Well, damn. There sure is a lot going on here, and I'm all about it.

Front and centre is the concept of the permeability of the soul, and there's so damn much to chew on around that. Then we have Dulcie! Dulcie! She and Pal finally get to talk, both dead but still kicking! She would have liked Gideon! And we get more direct insight into Ianthe's psychology, which is a nasty little treat.

The first place my mind went was to Paul - if Pal and Cam were already experiencing memory transference, then maybe they saw some kind of soul merger as inevitable, and that was another push towards doing it intentionally, doing it right. But writing it down now I'm less sure of that inference. And the fact that Pal and Dulcie got to talk, really talk, was both wonderful and all the more bittersweet if (I'm assuming) Pal's and Cam's individual souls no longer exist to reunite with Dulcie in Alecto. I have to say, when I first read Nona I didn't really get why people found the birth of Paul to be so sad, but I've come around on it since then. (I should write more about that sometime...)

Regarding the permeability of Ianthe's soul, one thing that occurred to me is that her genderfuckery vibes over the past two books are probably not Ianthe Tridentarius's identity, but a new thing formed of the (imbalanced) gestalt that is Ianthe Naberius. I really hope Alecto gives us more on gender and lyctorhood and soul permeability! I imagine this is all the more jarring for Ianthe with how she's so deeply anchored to her relationship with Corona, to find her ego boundaries to be permeable in relation to Babs. I firmly believe her shell-shocked reaction to the birth of Paul was at least in part her thinking "oh shit, did I eat the wrong person?" If she had wanted this kind of erosion of self with anyone (and I'm not sure she did), it would have been Corona. Having it happen with Babs by accident is a real slap in the face.

Which brings me back to my wild theory for Alecto - Corona will (at least try to) pull a Paul with Judith, and Ianthe will utterly lose her shit. This story really underscored just how little Ianthe understands her sister, which we already saw some of in the embassy scene. Sure, Corona isn't the flawless sword hand that Babs was, but in BoE she's shown herself to be a canny operator and a decent fighter, which Ianthe is steadfastly in denial of. At the end of the day I believe the story of Ianthe will be of someone who loved without understanding, who put her love up on a pedestal and at the same time belittled her as someone both more and less than she actually was.

Another thing that I latched onto was the argument about whether lyctors' cavaliers' souls provide a truly perpetual source of energy or not. Ianthe was pretty adamant that they do, but that honestly came across as arrogance or bravado. There's a strong parallel between lyctoral power and nuclear power, and all kinds of nuclear activity eventually reach a point past which they no longer emit appreciable energy, so I feel confident in saying that lyctoral power also diminishes over a long enough timespan. I'm less sure of whether this will come up in Alecto, though - I would be quite surprised if we saw a 100,000-year timeskip (but if we did that could be super fucking interesting).

Back to more direct applications of soul permeability, I have to imagine there's been some exchange of something between Jod and Alecto, at least before he locked her in the Tomb. That could go in all kinds of interesting directions that I haven't yet had a chance to contemplate adequately.

Speaking of Alecto, the John chapters of Nona seem like a pretty clear case of transference between her and Harrow. I wonder - were those happening concurrently with the Nona chapters? If so, it would make for a nice symmetry between Harrow and Alecto/Nona.

Either way, we've got a gross messy soul transference hookup graph with Gideon<-->Harrow<-->Alecto<-->John (gross) - I'm dying to know more about what this means for each of them (especially with Tazmuir's "if Gideon's soul is a happy meal" line from this interview).

So as usual, Aaaaaaa there's so much to chew on and so much more I want to know and I can't wait for Alecto aaaaaa...

#the locked tomb #the unwanted guest #tlt meta #tlt spoilers #the unwanted guest spoilers #ianthe tridentarius #ianthe naberius #prince ianthe naberius #palamedes sextus #dulcinea septimus #naberius tern #paul tlt #coronabeth tridentarius #crown him with many crowns #john gaius #alecto tlt #nona tlt #harrowhark nonagesimus #harrowhark the first #gideon nav #kiriona gaia

[pttucker]

Among all those comments, a particular one caught her attention. – Dear author-nim. It was a great read. May I ask about your release schedule? Such an unparalleled naivete that made him use his real name as the username. Han Sooyoung stared at that name for a long, long time. She looked closer, and discovered another comment attached to it. – Are you… going to release another chapter tomorrow? She repeatedly clenched and unfurled her fists many times. Sweat was soaking her small hands. Is it really okay for me to write this? Even then, isn't it fine this way? Han Sooyoung hesitated for a long time, before typing her reply. While thinking about a certain someone, still alive beyond this screen. While thinking about a certain boy who'd breathe, eat, shout some nonsense about 'I'm Yoo Joonghyuk', and do whatever it takes to endure his own apocalypse. And so, the story of a regressor that reached 3149 chapters started in this manner. – Yes. A new chapter will be published tomorrow.

I WAS RIGHT!!!!!!!!

Well, I was right after I spent like half the novel convinced the author was actually Dokja. At least I wasn't alone in thinking that, considering Sooyoung thought so too. 😂

Though I do love that it's not at all how I thought it was. I figured she was the author and just forgot because she lost half her memories to her avatar and just assumed that Dokja wrote it because that was the most logical option that her Predictive Plagiarism could come up with.

Was not expecting all this wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff, though I guess I should have by the time I reached the end of the novel and all sorts of things in the beginning were being affected by the ending. Time travel. Dimension travel. Just full of paradoxes.

I loooooove though that the novel is "trash" because she has to speed write it as fast as possible based on vague memories while using Predictive Plagiarism (...plagiarizing herself...) because she only has a limited time with her own body and also because she needs to keep Dokja engaged, needs to pump out chapters as fast as humanly possible to give him his reason to live until the next day.

And I love that the reason it only has one view is because she doesn't bother to read it, not even to typo check. She already knows it has a reader. A paradox it may be, I love that the novel truly was written for Dokja and not just after the first hundred or so chapters when all the other readers fell off. Nope, it was written for him and him alone from the very beginning. Sooyoung already knows that she doesn't have to make it good, she just has to make it, and that in turn will save him, even if it dooms millions of others.

Oh man, Sooyoung seeing him in the hospital after he tried to jump out of a window and wondering where the heck tls123 is, why haven't they started posting yet, they need to hurry up and save this unbelievably precious idiot. 😭💖

Sooyoung of all people having to wrestle with the knowledge that if she saves one person, she will kill billions (perhaps trillions) of other people across multiple worldlines.

Well, actually, perhaps it's fitting that it is Sooyoung of all people because I don't know how many others in Dokja's party who would doom this entire universe of parallel worlds to save a single person, even if that single person is Dokja himself.

Like, it parallels pretty well with what's going on with Sooyoung's other half...she's the weird one in the group who wants to go save the Dokja they left on the train while even Dokja's incarnation is worried that they're going to cause a lot of harm in the process and open up another worldline of tragedy, which they all know Dokja would not want.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that Han Sooyoung is perhaps one of the few people selfish enough to save Kim Dokja at the cost of the entire universe and it's so interesting to think back on the fact that she literally tried to get Joonghyuk to kill him way back in the earliest chapters and now she's using Joonghyuk to save him.

(Oh man...when Joonghyuk finds out who his creator is...)

#granted it's almost difficult to think of hsy as yjh's creator because of all the weird circular time travel stuff #like...yjh lived as a real person because dokja read about him...dokja read about him because hsy wrote it... #hsy wrote it based on things dokja told her and things the living breathing yjh said and did or MIGHT have based on his real personality #...the personality that she gave him...which dokja read and brought to life...which made hsy write it later...around and around we go #like she's his creator but also it's almost like yjh created himself along with the help of dokja??? #lol orv you hurt my brain sometimes but I love you #(also hankim shippers rise up! get you a woman who will destroy the universe for you!) #orv spoilers #orv epilogue spoilers #orv #orv novel chapter 532 #omniscient reader's viewpoint #orv liveblog #hsy #kdj

[gayroman]

RELEASE THE AUGUST CUT!!!! (tbhc doc)

OKAY SO the document has some incredibly embarrassing notes and ideas + its linked to my email with my full name so i'm not gonna share a link to it BUT here are some screenshots from it + pictures and stuff

re-reading some of these, i have no idea what the fuck i was talking about

i have no idea when these photos are from but they are sooooo tbhc the frontman #To Me

i liked the idea of the frontman coming with his band to the moon and being the in-house lounge band, (hence part one being "lounge singer shimmer") and playing there for a while. the part in star treatment about being a little too wild in the 70s, i think, could be imagined as the frontman is now a little past his peak - or at least, this is how the public/audience sees him. which i say because i think that a lot what builds up the character is the perception of how they are viewed by the people who consume the product, in this case, the art and the singer. i was reading annotations of tbhc songs on genius.com and i found this one for the lyric "maybe i was a little too wild in the 70s" that i wanted to use a bit as a background for the character: Alex Turner himself could never have been too wild in the 1970s; he was born in 1986. As such, here he is most likely playing the role of an aging rock star whose career peaked in the 70s and is now forced to get by as the resident singer at the futuristic Tranquillity Base Hotel and Casino on the moon. This narrator crops up a number times across the record and is used to draw parallels between his form of isolation and that of Turner.

i didn't want to see it as "forced" to take the job as the lounge singer, but instead as a way to seperate from earth, and who the singer was in the 70s - too wild. to be able to become a more refined artist (for lack of a better word). it might've been a post from you, or from a mutual or something, that talked about how alex turner will sing about the melacholia of achiving your dreams and the sadness that can come with that. i can't find the post but i do think this idea is very interesting, and can lend into the characterization of the frontman, and what drives his emotions. genius says this about star treatment: Turner personifies a washed up lead of the fictional band The Martini Police, and crafts a rich metaphor for how idolized celebrities are never seen except from a distance, similar to the light of a star. i think that the frontman should feel very disconnected to the people around him, less so to his band, but especially the guests at the hotel. just like how the monkeys went from am to tbhc, i wanted to add that a bit to the plot. the frontman, now sliding away from the 70s persona he had, wants to branch out and try something new. but sex sells! even though he no longer wants to be that guy, or play that role, he still wants to make something people will love. so its a bit about deciding to just do your own thing and create the art that you want to create without the worry of what the consumers will think. art, not a product.

i hope this makes sense. please tell me to shut up if it doesn't.

i also wanted to play a bit into the idea of double lives, and personas and playing character, although i haven't quite worked that out yet fully. that's why i called part seven i think it was??? "i suppose a singer must die." i also considered using "what a death i died."

i think also themes from the car can also be pulled into this, because i think, more than any other two am albums, the car and tbhc are a little connected. with mr schwartz and how he, the actor mr schwartz, is connected very much to the people working on the set, who help him get into character. big ideas with coming up with something new and being excited about it. "your horrible new sound" lyric in sculptures of anything goes. the lyric about keeping on the costume to use as a writing tool in body paint. themes of being a performer rather than being a lover and being in love. but idk man, maybe this makes no sense at all. but the car and tbhc are sister albums To Me because they are my two favourite am albums and they will always be loved by me. ALSO pretty visitors and the look into fame at such a young age. also the dream synopsis and the bourne identity by tlsp.

i also thought a bit about how the hotel might look. the taquería - "the information action ratio", a lounge, obviously, where they will perform, a pool, a spa, all that stuff. so its most like a resort than a hotel. and i thought the line "everybody's on a barge /floating down the endless stream of great tv" and the idea of giving the hotel a little movie theater called "the barge" as a little nod to the lyric. visually, 2001: a space odyssey is, of course, a huge inspiration in terms of looks. i don't know if you've seen 2001 but there's this spot on a space station where its all very white and blank except for massive, bright red chairs. i like the idea of decor like that, maybe even a spot just like that, to pay homage to the film. i think also "retro realism" is a good jumping point. how people from 50 years ago imagined what the future would be like. blade runner, that sort of thing.

i think also "retro realism" is a good jumping point. how people from 50 years ago imagined what the future would be like. blade runner, that sort of thing. 1950s astropunk. taking inspiration from older science fiction movies rather than newer ones. also vintage interiors and hotels that look like the one in the shining.

i did also think about the idea of leaning more into a horror, like psychological, but i think it should be more of a study in character. a tbhc horror film would still be cool though.

so yeah. idk if any of this makes sense and maybe i'm off my rocker and don't understand the album at all. but it's a little fun to think about.

#do with it what you will #friend who got me into am is for sure regretting it because i have since become the most annoying person alive #did not mean to make this so long omg #my tbhc tag is essentially inspiration for it visually and all that stuff #i also wanted to play a bit with a romance since alex aludes a lot to a love he lost or someone he longs for still #but more on that another time! #i also made a playlist for it but its a little silly and all over the place #tbhc #gonna have to add all this stuff to the document actually since i kinda went off book #but anyways yeah hope you like it #asks

[chubbs-the-fish]

So naturally because of the similarity of parents and children themes with Avatar and Hollow Knight (albeit Ozai doesn't have the cause that the Pale King did) I'm going to be curious as how Zuko takes any reveals that uh - being the approved of child by the dangerous parent is still a bad spot, just a different one and possibly worse because harder to get out. Ghost left behind - bad, but not essentially sacrificed to the Radiance. Hornet - pressure of protecting a crumbling kingdom going under.

Admittedly I'm sympathetic to Azula. Iroh is right she needs to be stopped - but she gets Ozai's attention and was given a simple way of not being in his ire "Don't be Zuko". Throw in Ozai not being subtle about isolating her (Mai's family sent across the sea about when Azula was old enough for summer long visits/explore the Fire Nation without constant supervision)

The man knew exactly what he was doing with finally giving Azula some level of control over her life - as a military operative. (Whose first acts was to get Mai and Tylee because her friends.) Abusive father - just Azula went the appease route and unlike Hollow her parent desires destruction.

ATLA is such a good show, and the parallels between characters and themes in ATLA and Hollow Knight was part of the reason I wanted to attempt to crossover the two medias in the first place. You've got manipulative kings on opposite side of the spectrums (Sacrificing everything for the greater good vs for your own personal gain) and children being used and manipulated, knowingly (Hollow, Hornet to some extent) or unknowingly (Azula, Zuko at first).

That said, Azula is such a cool character I really want to get her right when she shows up. I've come up with at least three different ways I could write her when her important scenes start happening, and I honestly haven't fully committed to which direction to go in yet.

#asks #lswg

[venturismcdonald]

Temporarily ignoring the parallels between George and Nora's relationship and Derek and Casey's for a moment, here is how I expect the blending of the McTuri family (version 2) to go:

Molly instantly accepts Sky as a sister before Derek and Casey even get together. She declares them sisters within a week. Skyler is cool with this, but takes a couple of months to adjust to it.

Kai follows Molly in declaring Sky his sister roughly six months into living together. It's right around the time Casey's starting her divorce proceedings and they're on the verge of something. Sky agrees about a year in, once Casey's divorce has been finalized.

Meanwhile, Luca and Sky take the longest to see each other as siblings. They become friends within a couple of months of living together, address each other as stepsiblings after Derek and Casey get together, but they reach the sibling point in their senior year. It's at a party where someone has broken Luca's heart and the obvious response was for Sky to yell that her brother doesn't need to be cheated on so publicly because that's just dumb. Her and Luca get into a very loud debate in the middle of a party over whether or not it was cool for her to ruin the party over it, but from then on, it's decided: they're siblings.

Casey starts seeing Sky as a second daughter about four or five months into the move, when a girl breaks her heart and Casey spends a while consoling her. Being fifteen and in love is difficult, she remembers. Sky never really says the words but does casually start introducing her as a stepmom and agrees that Casey might not be called her mom, but she has that position in her life. (Yes, Casey cries when she says it.)

Derek sees Kai as a son when Peter can't show up for his big soccer game about seven months after the move. Instead of flying across the Atlantic to beat the shit out of him (because really, this is important to Kai and it should be important to Peter as a result), Derek does the adult thing. He goes to the game and cheers embarrassingly loudly. The rest of the kids hide from him with his poster and soccer dad energy. Someone asks him if that's his kid and Derek just nods because how's he supposed to answer? "No, actually, he's my stepsister who I'm in love with's son, but we're living together and she's going through a divorce which is the only reason we haven't made out yet" is so long and wordy. A nod is the correct answer. Kai sees him as a father when Derek nearly gets himself arrested screaming at a person who nearly hit him while he was walking safely about a year into it. It sort of clicks into place: oh, this is what a father does, so he just starts calling Derek his dad. (Derek is very proud of the fact he doesn't cry.)

Molly latches onto Derek within a week of him moving in, but he only sees himself as her father about six months in, when she tells him that there's a daddy daughter dance and he's her best option. While that is the least enthusiastic way he's ever been asked to a dance, Derek does smile and twirl her all night long. It's a good night, one that cements to him there's really nothing he wouldn't do to get these kids laughing. Even listen to k-pop. One day in therapy about two weeks into Derek and Casey dating, Molly comes to the conclusion that Derek does everything her therapist says a dad is supposed to, so he's her dad and informs him of this while they're on the way to get post therapy milkshakes. (He's holding his not crying streak very well.)

Luca is a bit trickier. There are a lot more boundaries with him because he's fifteen, not a kid like the other two are. He's a much better liar and prefers talking his problems out with Gabe on dirt bikes than with Derek over pancakes. But about ten months into the move, Luca comes to him panicking because his girlfriend is moving and Casey won't let him follow her to Georgia with her and it hits Derek: he's the one who Luca came to for advice. Holy shit, he loves this kid like he's his own. It'd be difficult to say exactly when he started seeing Derek as a father figure, but gun to his head, Luca would probably say his accident. Derek and Casey had been together for a few months when he got into a four wheeler crash and shattered his ankle and wrist, broke his arm and had contusions on so much of his body it was insane. The second the ambulance came, Derek only let go of him long enough for the doctors to run tests and was doing his best to make sure he was okay, like a father should. Someone mentioned to him that his dad was really worried and Luca nodded, shrugging. He refers to Derek as his stepdad, telling him one day that he's his father in every way that counts, but that he's also sure as shit not calling him Dad because whether Luca likes it or not, in his brain that's equated with Peter.

#dasey #ry rambles #derek venturi #casey mcdonald #life with derek

[dreaminghour]

Hayden/Ewan RPF - Learning something new

Event: @domaystic Fandom: Star Wars RPF Rating: Teen and Up Prompt: 05 Learning something new Ship: Hayden/Ewan Disclaimer: References to real people are used fictitiously. Do not share this with them! Context: Present day. Ewan is visiting Hayden on his farm. You don’t necessarily need to read all of the ficlets in this timeline to understand this. You can find them here on my blog for more/better context though. Words: 1,468

When Ewan wakes again, he can hear the water running in the master bathroom. It isn't loud and he'd still be asleep if he hadn't been up all night and then on a very long call with his agent.

He dozes for another moment, hearing the tell-tale sounds from the kitchen that Hayden is cooking. He hurries to shower off the gunk from sleeping all day and help with dinner preparation. It isn't because he minds Hayden's cooking — he's been spoiled by it for over a week now and he'd enjoy playing sous-chef for Hayden a while longer — but because he wants to repay the kindness somehow. He imagines Hayden coming to visit Ewan in California, staying for a week (or more) but all he conjures instead is Hayden's new place in Altadena which he's mostly only seen in pictures.

When he gets downstairs, he finds Hayden standing by the counter, cleaning up pots while two dishes of food sit cooling on the counter. He's wearing fresh clothes and his hair is still wet, curling into his collar, so that scent of lanolin and hay is gone. Ewan hadn't even realized he'd been expecting it.

"Sorry, I'm not too late am I?" Ewan asks.

"Oh!" Hayden looks fairly spooked as he turns around, his face slightly pink. "Wasn't sure if you'd emerge in time."

"You've cooked twice for me today, I don't think it's fair of me to not say a proper thanks."

"You haven't said thank you yet," Hayden points out with a smirk.

"True," Ewan says, sticking his hands in his pockets and nodding. "Thank you. Lunch was delicious."

"This will be too," Hayden says, gesturing to the plates. "Pick a seat, I'll join you when I'm done here."

"Why don't you let me do that," Ewan says, crowding close. "You've already cooked, least I can do."

Hayden shakes his head but doesn't argue, bringing the plates to the dining room table. When Ewan joins him, Hayden puts his phone away, apparently having waited for Ewan; the food is almost too cool but with two hungry men it disappears quickly. Ewan mops up the rest of the sauce with some bread and something about it makes Hayden smile to see, even though he himself was just doing the same.

"So," Ewan says, "I read it. Did you want to hear anything in particular about it?"

"I guess…" Hayden lays his silverware carefully across the plate. "Was there anything in particular that stuck out to you?"

"I love the way you've described the landscape," Ewan begins, "there's a sort of reverence that really is apparent."

"Yeah, that's this area," Hayden says, smiling somewhat shyly, only glancing up at Ewan again before he crosses his arms. His face is that light pink color again.

"And I really think you did capture something universal about grieving a relationship… And without villainizing the ex. She was…" Ewan laughed. "I think I would have gotten on with her; she rides a motorcycle and likes Led Zeppelin, she's a city-girl after my own heart."

"That's not—" Hayden snaps his teeth together and his face darkens in color, his brow going stormy in that rare way. "I didn't mean anything by that. I was… I wanted her to not be like Rachel."

"I didn't mean anything," Ewan replies quickly, "it's just a passing parallel that amused me. She's not like Rachel, not too much, though I always liked Rachel too."

"I have to admit," Hayden says after a drawn out moment, "I was worrying as I was rereading last night that there was something… I don't know, some unintentional thing I was doing… I know we haven't been the closest over the last twenty years."

"There's many relationships you can mourn," Ewan says after another long moment, his way of agreeing. He continues to stare at the smears of sauce still on his plate, focuses on the low music from the radio in the background all but drowned out by the pouring rain.

"I'm just worried it's confusing things for Mac, like for his story arc, I mean."

"I thought it was alright," Ewan says. "Though I did wonder…"

When Ewan looks up again, Hayden quickly drops his gaze back to his own plate, still slumped in his chair, still with his arms crossed. It feels protective and Ewan's heart is beating a little faster but he has been wondering — for days now. Maybe it isn't his place to ask, but…

"Why isn't Mac seeing anyone new?" Ewan asks.

Hayden does look up at Ewan again at that, parting his lips but not speaking.

"Or is he?" Ewan asks. "He doesn't mention anyone and he seems very alone, despite the scene you wrote where he goes to that workshop and how he relates to the local bar…"

"He's not," Hayden says as he reaches out to adjust the plate again. "You know it's funny…"

All at once, Hayden seems to relax, his shoulders drop, he sits up and leans forward a little, and Ewan, who sits just around the corner at the table, can't help but echo the gesture, bringing them closer together.

"It used to bother me a lot what people said about me, that I was quiet and sensitive, that I didn't like to go out. Not because it wasn't true, but because they drew conclusions about me based on that. I thought, when I fell in love with Rachel, that it wasn't true, that I'm not—" He swallows hard. "That I'm straight, but it bothered me because I know those things aren't related. Being straight doesn't mean you like to go out to clubs, being not doesn't mean you like to stay in and read books."

Ewan sits very still, feeling as though he is watching a rare butterfly settle on a blade of grass, easily startled. He doesn't really think it's funny.

"It bothers me because if I ever said anything, there would be people who'll be so smug about it, and I don't really let them get to me, but it still gets to me, you know?"

When he looks up he's no longer pink, but there's a touch of red to his eye, his eyes look watery.

"I do," Ewan says quietly, because at some point he decided labels were for other people to better box you in and he doesn't give a shit what people think. It's a luxury though; he knows he isn't sensitive like Hayden, not exactly.

"Mac isn't seeing anyone because if I wrote about his desire, beyond how he still has echoes of desire for Evelyn, I'd have to put more things on the page about myself than I already have. And I don't want it to change what the book is about, I think it would be distracting. I don't think… I might still never publish it because it would have my name on the cover and it won't stop being about me and Rachel…"

He trails off.

"You can't help what other people think," Ewan says. "Closing yourself off from certain things because of how it might make others perceive you is no way to live."

"I know that," Hayden replies, sounding only slightly peeved. "I built my whole life here without a care for any of that."

"And yet," prompts Ewan.

"And yet," agrees Hayden.

"I know I probably seem like a hypocrite, telling you not to hide things, not to omit things from your story, when I came out here to hide."

Hayden smiles in that guileless way of his. "Did you now?" he asks without really asking.

"I don't think I ever told you how much I appreciate how steady you are."

"I think I got the idea," Hayden says, scrunching his nose a little as he grins.

"No, I mean. I think I forgot as well, after we saw less of one another. But after that press tour and that night I just wasn't—" He chokes, not really wanting to repeat any of it aloud, hoping he can just… let it lie since Hayden already knows.

And Hayden does, he reaches across the narrow distance between them and grasps Ewan's wrist. He strokes his thumb across the sleeve of Ewan's shirt. When Ewan looks at him, Hayden gives a nod and a watery smile. Ewan is surprised when he brushes fingers across his own eyes and finds tears waiting.

"I'm glad I could come here, to you," Ewan says.

"Of course," Hayden replies emphatically, giving Ewan's wrist a squeeze. "I didn't know you thought I was steady, I felt like such a kid back then."

"Well, I mean, you needed to grow into it." Ewan feels heat where Hayden is still touching him. It spreads in tingling waves across his skin. He smiles. "It suits you."

~~~

One more part and then this will be uploaded to my AO3! I'm hoping to write more with these two once this wraps up. I'm so grateful to everyone who has followed along. I really loved writing this.

#domaystic2023 #2023day5 #dreamy does fic #dreamy does domaystic #star wars rpf #hayden x ewan #ewan x hayden #haywan

[chaotic---calm]

Hi! So, I've been debating sending another ask to continue the conversation or not, mostly because despite wanting to, all I could think of was a lot of "*SQUEAL*" and "EXACTLY!" and "AHDSHHS I'M SO GLAD YOU LIKED THAT!", with all the energy of a sugar-hypped child. So, after putting down your answer and coming back to it a bit calmer, I can finally point something that I can make into a proper conversation: the topic of LQR.

I have to tell you, I was so surprised when you mentioned having thought of making him side with the elders! It's not that I haven't seen him characterized as an antagonist (mostly in WWX/WangXian-centered fics), but somehow I didn't consider him facing against LXC here. In a way, I understand, he's a traditionalist through and through, which naturally points to perpetuating gender roles. And yet I believe so wholeheartedly in his love for his nephews (nevermind if that love is perfect, it isn't, but neither is JC's to JL and that doesn't make it less all encompassing, though obviously the next generation intentionally tries hard to be better than the previous one and it shows —I always think of the LQR/Jiang parents-LWJ/JC parallels, but they can be cross examinated too), that I think this version of him suits him better. I think the difference for LQR lies in the fact that LXC cannot choose to not be an omega and LQR knows it, while I think he never understands that LWJ doesn't choose to be gay, and certainly standing by WWX is a choice LWJ makes, and the choice is what LQR disapproves of, I think.

I also think it curious that LQR is a beta here, the dynamics of him parenting and omega LXC and alpha LWJ make me really curious (add the fact of o!LXC being not just older than a!LWJ but also the future head —as opposed to JYL being eldest but not in the line of succession, planting her firmly in the caregiver position— and the family structure and power dynamics across the years must have been quite something). It surely helps him sympathize with LXC, though the fact that he gets mistreated by the elders makes me wonder about gender demographics. How rare or common are each gender? Are all the elders alphas? Sounds… weird. How are elders appointed? If by bloodline, it sounds ridiculous that there wouldn't be any betas (maybe not omegas since they get female-coded sexism —speaking of which, what about female alphas? where do they fit here?—, but at least betas, since surely some families don't get lucky with getting an alpha in the first or even second try, like some people get four daughters and no sons). If they get appointed by picking from between the disciples, who does the picking? Why are they not choosing non-alphas (besides sexism)?

Adgagd I said I wanted to talk about something, but then I couldn't help moving the conversation somewhere else, sorry, I'm so easily sidetracked. Anyway, the main point of this ask (besides pointing out my thoughts on LQR) is to say thank you! I'm really happy that you enjoy my rambling comments and are okay giving me such nice answers. I've been ignored before and once got something like "wow that's 700+ words" and nothing more, it totally broke my heart, so it's really reassuring when you're so enthusiastic (even when the last ask was far longer than 700 words, or twice that). Yeah , thank you for being so nice! *sending bunny hugs if you want them* - S.D.P. 🐰💛

Hey! Good to hear from you again. As a quick aside, your first two asks have both led people to come looking for my story because they were intrigued by what you were saying and how excited you were about the story, so thank you so much for that! 💜

LQR is an interesting character, particularly to me. I think the logic you wrote out regarding the way he would differently approach this situation and the way he approached LWJ/WWX is spot on. Something that can’t be controlled versus a choice (or a perceived choice, as far as LQR not understanding that sexuality isn’t a choice) is a big determining factor for his characterization. And I also think that’s why, in the end, it didn’t feel right to me to make him an antagonist here; it just didn’t feel true to character. Now, comparatively, I have a different short story I wrote that was after the Guanyin Temple incident where it’s revealed that LXC is pregnant with JGY’s baby, and the elders and LQR are all upset about it. Their stance and expectations are extreme, but again, his unwillingness to side with LXC in that moment stems from not understanding the choice to fall in love with someone like JGY, and a refusal/inability to see LXC’s alternative perspective where all he saw was the genuine love that JGY treated him with.

Like I’ve said about LQR earlier, he’s a bit difficult for me to figure out when writing in stories because I’m admittedly a little biased against him, but just because of my own personal experiences. He reminds me a lot of people I know who are very set in traditionalist mindsets who are bigoted or unwilling to become more progressive as the world changes and as we learn new things. And his extreme stern strictness reminds me of aspects of how I was raised, like not being allowed to ever “talk back” (re: try to express my own feelings and look for middle ground). But, I did read an important post one time talking about how cultural differences were important to remember too, and that from an eastern perspective, LQR’s actions aren’t nearly so awful as they can seem from a western perspective, which is true as well.

The gender demographics…are definitely not something I probably thought about enough before starting this story, lol. So far, we’ve really only seen a lot of focus on the Lan sect. For their sect, all of the elders are alpha. I’ve always figured that the positions of elders, if not elected per se, were at least appointed positions where those in power got to choose who held that position, much like how in the U.S. the Supreme Court isn’t an elected position, it’s positions appointed by whichever president is in power at the time a new spot needs to be filled. It’s a flawed system that allows for party favoritism (insofar as my understanding of politics; please, no one come at me in the comments, I’m not in the mood). In regards to the Lan Sect, they lean hard into gender stereotypes, so the alphas hold the power and feel they should continue holding power, and so they keep putting more alphas into positions of power rather than considering betas or omegas. Other sects are different. I feel like the Nies are primarily alpha but do include betas. The Jins have included all three in the past, but JGS is a gross bitch, so omegas in particular tend to be leery of working close to him. The Jiangs have had the best mix in the past, largely due to the influence of JC’s mother who was omega but not at all stereotypical, and even more so now that JC is rebuilding his sect, as there’s a noticeable majority of betas and omegas more willing to follow a “damaged” alpha compared with alphas. Honestly, the way I’m writing this is leaning onto those stereotypes just as much; I guess I’m just a little bit more invested in or focused on the relationship between JC and LXC than the overall politics and social situation, lol. But yeah, that’s kind of how I’ve got it all explained/organized in my own head.

To answer your other questions, female alphas are less common than male alphas, but they do exist and are generally treated similarly as other alphas. As far as line of succession for families, alphas are preferred, betas are accepted, and omegas are expected to marry out. Perhaps what some sects will do is if a first-in-line heir presents beta, they are considered the interim heir unless a younger sibling presents alpha. The Lans could have chosen that option, but even before presenting, LWJ was showing signs of not being good for leadership in comparison to LXC, so they chose to lie rather than be honest. And it bit them in the ass.

lolol. So, in regards to how many words you wrote last time, it was around 2500! I put it into my word processor to check—not because I thought it was bad, mind you!—but because I was absolutely astounded that anyone could find my writing so engaging as to have so much to say about it. You’re a rock star, and I really appreciate you.

On a side note, I’m sorry you’ve not had the best reception with other times you’ve reached out to other authors. While some people might just be assholes, my guess is that most aren’t. I know a lot of fanfic writers don’t respond to commenters at all or very in depth. Sometimes it’s because they just don’t have the time, and sometimes it’s because they don’t feel comfortable engaging with strangers, and sometimes it’s just because they feel uncomfortable gushing about their own work. Whatever the case may be, I do have experience from your side of things as well; I also tend to be a big loquacious, especially when I’m excited about something, so comments like yours don’t faze me in the slightest. 💜

Also! As long as I keep my shit together, Chapter 3 should be coming out later today, so keep an eye out for it! 😁

(Including a link to the story here and in future responses to asks from you to help out anyone who might be interested in reading it after our conversations: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48148945)

#asks #my asks #my fanfic #the untamed #xicheng #jiang cheng #lan xichen #a/b/o #omegaverse #i will be your sword and shield and you will be mine

[lorillee]

Simon and Athena for the duo bingo (I know you haven't played SoJ yet but just based on DD)

ok i am SO so very sorry this took so long to answer . to be honest there have been like 57 concurrent Incidents in my life and i have been severely lacking in the emotional energy to do anything at all. but things have finally calmed down a bit so HERE WE GO !!!!

wasted potential box hit because of my eternal frustrations with aa5 on two different points: 1) i know that because of the way the case is structured its impossible to do it this way but to be honest i wish that the player character for the final case was athena instead of phoenix because like obviously without athena simon totally 100000% would have been executed but i feel like it wouldve come across stronger if it was more of a turnabout goodbyes situation (not 1:1 obviously, but still) except with athena & simon . like come on we're already establishing athena as a direct parallel to phoenix re: "i went to law school to save somebody important to me" and then you dont even let her properly do that 😔😔😔 honestly i think its a phenomenal shame they didnt actually capitalize on that more regarding her relationship with phoenix but WHATEVERRRR and 2) the irrelevancy of the phantom's identity to the core conflict of the case, among everything else, also severely undermines the main emotional thread of the relationship between the cykes & the blackquills imo and all of this could be vastly improved by making aura the phantom . but that is an essay for ANOTHER TIME !!! ha aha. ha. sigh. anyways

simon is VERY much the kind of character that you absolutely need to pair off with an opposite of some sort because he's so . extremely. something . that it works SPECTACULARLY well (think: athena, bobby, jinxie) and im so happy that the aa creators have assigned athena as his certified weirdgirl little sister its everything to me. actually this bit from his testimony still makes me insane its so cute

since aa5 kind of cheaped out on giving me the family soap opera messy feelings melodrama of my dreams at least in aa6 ill be able to get my stupid siblings fluff and i am TREMENDOUSLY excited for it i cannot wait to watch them bounce off each other in a much more casual context and if i dont get this i am GOING to cry im gonna be so sad my life will be ruined . my dream is for simon to be exactly and prickly and obnoxious as he was in aa5 and to make his stupid jokes that absolutely nobody thinks are funny except for him and athena to make fun of him for them and drag him around to do whatever dumb thing she wants to do today and he'll pretend to be grumpy about it but he would 10000% kill and die for her and they both know it

#speaking of i need to finish dd so i can play soj and see MAYA AGAIN!!!!!!!! and also FINALLY be able to start following people #bc ive been severely holding off on following aa blogs that i want to follow because i dont want to get spoiled 😔 #ask game answers #jake-marshall

[brujahinaskirt]

rank your fics

PROMPT: Rank your own fics from best to worst. Reasons optional. Don't be too hard on yourselves; appreciate how far you've come! (Bonus challenge: Find some good things to say about the fics you don't like anymore.)

Tag some other writers when you're done! Tagging @mangocats, @jawanaka, @plummeting-plum, @weterali, @mourningafterdark, @maranzalla, @angels-heap, and anyone who wants to do it! (If you do it, tag me so I can read yours!)

A Strange Hunt (Kingdom Come: Deliverance)

This is my best fanfic. I’m proud of most of the lines even 3+ years later, and I love how the individual chapters resonate/communicate with each other. There are certain lines I would have written differently now and some mistakes I should have caught during the first drafting, but I think it has a ton of heart. I love it a lot and I’m happy I wrote it, mistakes and all.

2. Lost in the Trees (Kingdom Come: Deliverance)

This one wrote itself, and did so pretty fucking well if I’m any judge of my own work. It was supposed to be a quick 8k max piece and it wound up at 22k—and I’m actually glad about that for once. I planned out the vignettes and their parallels extensively and it paid off. Writing-wise, it's flowery emotional imagery built with plainclothes language; I think it “sounds” like Henry’s soul (at least as I depict him), and I believe it brings out the best of my strengths. This is the one I revisit when I feel like shit about my writing.

3. Instead of Stars (Half-Life)

A structurally complicated and sometimes too-dense behemoth, as was its predecessor, but one that I feel honors my roots while showcasing how much I’ve improved in a decade. Feels kind of like a “hey, kid, I didn’t forget you” love letter to the young writer I used to be ten years ago. And given that the central character is also older and more mature, that feels… idk! Appropriate. Nice. We grew up.

4. Fortune Favors the Bold (Kingdom Come: Deliverance)

Probably contains the lines I am proudest of across all my fics. There’s huge range in this story. But right now… it’s sloppy and there’s just too much of it, and the best chapters haven't been uploaded yet. Will definitely need a stern editorial beating when it's done.

5. With Horn and Leash (Kingdom Come: Deliverance)

A clean-faced and inoffensive child. Not a particularly ambitious fic, but serviceable and satisfying enough in its conclusions, I think. The writing is newer and fresher than the below entries. Doesn’t live up to its admittedly killer title which I was smug about for a solid week.

6. In Spring (Kingdom Come: Deliverance)

It’s okay. Too maudlin in parts, too sparse in others, but I do still enjoy the symbolism. I'd say I’ve nailed POV character’s speaking style and I think a lot of these lines could pass for game dialogue.

Also: I adore writing Hans. He is such a beloved mean little cunt.

7. Without Home (Kingdom Come: Deliverance)

This piece always felt to me like it could have done more.

8. Half Full (Thief: Deadly Shadows)

My favorite of my Thief works. Its strength is its dialogue, which still holds up for me.

9. The Jackal (Thief: The Metal Age)

Dusty but I think I really had my finger on Viktoria's pulse here.

10. In Caes of Disastur (Kingdom Come: Deliverance)

Truthfully, I like this little bugger quite a lot. But it’s too short and silly to rank any higher.

11. Black Coffee (Half-Life)

Old, but I feel great affection for it. I put a lot of myself in my depiction of Barney Calhoun, intentionally and unintentionally—in part to fill blank spots in Valve’s writing, but also because… well, I felt a bit like Barney back when I wrote the original. I was just entering college, I had a thick country accent, I desperately wanted to be more grown-up than I was, and I felt like everyone else thought I was the dumbest no-interiority shit-for-brains redneck on campus. Sorry for giving you so much of my teenage trauma, Barney, damn.

12. The Princess-Boy (Red Dead Redemption 2)

So far so good, but it’s too new for me to rank higher (or lower).

13. Words Unanswered (Tolkien)

This one’s just too old. It was written in large part to match a dear friend’s stylistic tastes, not necessarily my own. I’m no longer proud of the writing, which makes it difficult to work on. Many of the early chapters now strike me as flat and kind of babyish. I’m not outright embarrassed of it yet, but I know I’ve come a long way since I started, and I’m ready to lay this one to rest.

14. Desert of Ghosts (Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines)

L o r d.

(I still love-hate my Ms. Woeburne, who is The Worst.)

15. Regaining Balance (Thief: The Dark Project)

Now in relic territory, but I don’t hate it! I feel fondness for it, even if I no longer think it's well-written.

16. Haggling Freedom (Dragon Age)

Frankly stupid, but some of the descriptions still slap.

17. Running on Faith (The Walking Dead)

Not good, but not in truly awful territory yet. Some genuinely cute sentiments and images.

18. Killing Snakes (Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines)

Getting into profound oof territory here. This is ancient, so I don’t feel too terrible that it’s terrible, but I am kind of relieved canon materials have since been released that render my take completely invalid.

19. You Do Not See (Tolkien)

Kind of boring, but at least it’s short.

20. You Do Not Know (Tolkien)

Boring as hell and too long for what it does.

21. You Do Not Hear (Tolkien)

Boring as fuck.

22. On White Shores (Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines)

Kill me.

#rednightmarefics #fanfic

[achillesmonochrome]

Yes! It was a very boring Pokemon Direct! And thank fuck for it!

There are many, many things to complain about the Pokemon Company and Game Freaks; you can point of most of them with the last mainline games.

Yet the last thing that I had seen popping up lately is making me wonder what the fuck are you all thinking.

All I had been seen is people complaining how boring was the nintendo direct, asking for X or Y game, or so on.

And at this point I am wondering why you want any of that.

In a span of a year, we got three mainline pokemon games.

November 19, 2021: BDSP.

January 28, 2022: Legends Arceus.

November 18, 2022: Scarlet and Violet.

And how did that go?

BDSP: A remake that the pokemon company didn't actually make, probably because they were busy with Arceus and Scarvio.

The excuse of being 'like the original' ended up making it an extreme dull remake; even the people who weren't deterred for the art style didn't seem to like it too much, and I even know of youtubers who abandoned gameplays of it; and those are the people that do it for work.

Legends Arceus: I really liked this game, so I watched many videos and gameplays of it, want me to tell you something I came across multiple times "If you gave it a year or two extra, all of these issues wouldn't be there."

Popping issues, errors here and there, so on. Arceus came with its fair share of problems.

Scarlet and Violet: I could list every issue it has, but honestly I bet if you haven't encounter issues yourself, you have seen the funny videos or at least see the reviews because I'm pretty sure the ratings of anything that lets users vote the rating ended in the slumps because of their issues.

And what are you all complaining about? Games.

Scarvio and Legends were made in parallel to each other, most probably two teams (and this company isn't exactly big, is a bit more than 150.) Not sure how many people were working on Scarvio once Legends came out, but it clearly not enough.

Scarvio is still, getting updates for bugs, and I swear the popping keeps getting worse.

Now please someone explain me why anyone want a new game in these conditions.

The last year or two were poured into mainlines games and it wasn't enough, even if they would had announced a Mystery Dungeons or similar, I doubt it would had been any polishing in it.

Because in case you guys forgot, we have THREE Nintendo Directs a year.

And if you haven't notice, they don't do the things you will see in E3 of saying "yeah we are working on this game and it may take us another 5 years before launch." Oh no no.

Want to hear something funny? I remember when I first heard the rumors of Pokemon doing a Region in Spain; I heard it from Spanish friends since there were News of people of the pokemon company in Japan going to the european headquarters in Spain; and people caught on that detail because something similar happened with sending people to Hawaii and then we had Gen 7.

If you notice a bit of doubt while saying this story, is because it happened years ago; before Gen 8 was announced.

Not when Sword and Shield came out, before we even had an announcement. We didn't even know about Galar yet.

And before someone call me out saying there is no way they had been working on Scarvio this long and still came out this messy- If people were sent there, was because that was the earliest of the stages, planning. They wouldn't even have a title for it yet.

But this means it has been in the planning for awhile, and when did we hear first about gen 9? Last year, the same year it was coming out.

And this isn't even getting into how the pacing for these games is not slowing down, and they should.

It took this company longer than it should get with the times, it really isn't totally yet there to be honest.

The games are getting more and more complex in every possible way and there is no way they can keep up if they continue insisting we need to have mainline games this frequent.

Like seriously, had ANY of you thought of how much more complicated this is getting? My first generation was the fourth one, the sprites of the protagonist for example had an animation for walking, running, for pulling the pokeball to fly, and if someone remembers anything else please tell me.

Our MC in scarvio? You can go down, you have an animation for sneaking, you have idle animations, if you go to a specific part in the menu you have different ones as well alongside poses and so on. And this isn't even getting into the level of customization that believe me, in my generation? Not even in our wildest dreams.

And even then the MC still needs a lot of polish. Like even if we have different expressions a lot of times it feels mechanic.

Again, I am not saying Game Freak is exempt for criticism. Complain about the bugs, complain about the graphics.

But don't fucking come at me saying you want games and shit with every pokemon direct. We have three a year, of course we are going to have boring ones, and frankly we don't have enough, BECAUSE THE GAMES STILL COME BROKEN.

You guys don't think that I am frustrated? I love Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, I adore the story and the characters it has; the ending is the best this franchise ever had (and I will die in this hill.) The fact that you can take any gym, titan or stair raid is brilliant because now you establish your own pace. Oh you don't want to do this bit of story yet? That's cool, you can just do anything else; is not like in previous games where if you want to see more map but didn't want to evil team raid despite the story saying so, well you were out of luck.

If Scarlet and Violet came without the bugs and had a good scaling system, it would had been without a doubt, the best pokemon games we got up to date.

And what we got was such a buggy mess Nintendo was giving refunds like this is 2016 and we are playing No Man's Sky.

I'm absolutely furious that we could have gotten something so great and we didn't get it, and why was that? Oh yeah THEY DIDN'T HAVE TIME.

Hell want me to be honest? It scares me how the only things we have gotten for the DLC are art work; if they can't even give us a proper trailer it worries me how much they have done, and more importantly, how much can be finish by the dates we have.

Games aren't an easy task, hell I had seen books that had taken more time that pokemon games.

Complain that they have bugs, complain that they are not giving devs enough time, complain that we don't have enough devs- but don't fucking come crying about a Nintendo Direct being boring when not only we got a mainline game recently, it came broken because of it.

#pokemon #pokemon direct #rant #I may delete this later

[dolphs-world]

Get back

In the words of the 'Quack Pack' theme song "I feel like quackin' so I think I will". I have a lot of little thoughts I've jotted down in my notes so may as well fully fledge them. A little whiles back I picked up a DVD of 'Death to Smoochy', a Danny DeVito film with the late great Robin Williams and equally great Edward Norton. My mum has a DVD of 'Fight club' that is older than I am, it is one of the few movies I've watched as an adult over 2 times and each time it gets better. But somehow, despite owning it longer than I've existed my mother has never seen it so I rewatched it for a 6th time with my mum and I loved it even more. Now, I still have a lot of Fincher films to watch but after rewatching 'Gone Girl' I think 'Fight Club' is his best work. I need to read 'Gone Girl', my mum says it's better. I've read 'Fight Club' and I think the movie is better in every way except the stuff with Angelface, his name isn't even said in the film. 'Gone Girl' is a nice parallel to 'Fight Club', men v women, but it is also just as dated in technology. There's phones with buttons, TV is respected, CRT computers. The last of its era. 'Gone Girl' is really excelled by the actors being well known actors. None of them come across like they're trying to pivot their image but it's so weird seeing Madea as a lawyer. Affleck's and NPH's (not really EmRata but she is well known) performances benefit from their perceptions, Affleck as a shlub and NPH as a charming guy from less prestigious works. And then there's Rosamund Pike, a chameleon which works because she appears as an unknown actor, someone who never got their time in the spotlight. But the twist is really a one time amazing moment, unlike 'Fight Club'. Not to butcher Hegellian Dialectics but thesis, antithesis, synthesis; Tyler is cool, Tyler is bad, there are good aspects of Tyler (or broke, woke, bespoke). If you know 'Fight Club' well I don't need to expand upon the first two. I don't really relate entirely to many characters; Sonic, Tim Drake, Ron Stoppable; let alone at all. So it shocks me whenever I can really relate to someone, this time it was Edward Norton. Not in the ways you would expect and I'm not going to expand upon it, but the looking up to a strong male influence is one of these aspects. (sidenote: I think 'Fight Club' is one of the least homoerotic films I've seen which is surprising). The first scene with Tyler is perfect. Tyler is perfect as a tool for self reflection "How's being clever going for you?" "Why don't you just ask?". But that's all he should be, a tool for self-reflection. Having something only for men to form a brotherhood is good, hobbies are good, taking agency for your life is good, finding love is good. I think this is missed when viewing 'Fight Club' as a satire, there are good lessons for men buried in here but they can be dangerous when taken to the extreme. The only thing about the film that sucks is the ending "You met me at a very strange point in my life" and that love is the answer. They very much enable each other. Even if Tyler has changed, who's to say Marla will? And for a film so big on agency, why does Marla have none in the end? This was my attempt at a sort of disjointed flow, weaving back and forth between two works. Notice how I started with something unrelated? Here's my actual point about 'Death to Smoochy": I haven't seen it yet but I will soon. However, I have seen a scene from it where Robin Williams gets arrested. I saw this in a meme compilation. I've become a little addicted to these meme compilations, I think they are awful in a lot of ways. But how do these guys know about 'Death to Smoochy'? Who thought "I'll add the totally 'sigma' film, Death to Smoochy, a film with no insanely attractive characters I can project my power fantasy on to my meme compilation about how me and the boys are so totes mcgotes epic"? So bizarre!

#death to smoochy #fight club #david fincher #gone girl

[hydralisk98]

Imagination-driven manifestation Workflow#1?

Noting down a FreeCiv+Civ5 to SC4 to TS2 content pipeline

I was simply brainstorming ideas alone and I could not help myself but tell you all for feedback and longevity. Did some quick testing for the SimCity 4 -> The Sims 2 workflow here and succeeded in some ways. (Had yet to fully figure the TS2 quality importation part but yk, much progress still!)

So I am looking to convert a handful of hexagonal grid maps (upsized to 288x144 for FreeCiv, with Sid Meier's Civilization 5 CE generation processes and community map scripts for the tilemaps chosen for my very own reasons...) and I devise that each of these regional grand strategy-scaled tiles cover ~10 small red tiles of both width and height. That way I can interconnect the games' height & biomes calculation some more... (The exact "region sectors" may depend from each tile with mid-sized green and large blue tiles for a few larger bitmap exports or something, I haven't chosen yet...)

After using Azgaar Map Gen's tools (submap & export previews will come very handy), QGIS (full model) & OSM (tileserver and geofiction additions), I will then smooth out some SC4 Mapper rough edges towards importing the relevant data as maps into SimCity 4 proper. Ideally I would then go onto towards construction of the TS2 neighbourhoods for my conworlds and get some such custom campaigns going.

Custom content packagings & libre documentation all across!

Control freak-ing my way with LibreOffice Calc (pages of filtered spreadsheets and Monte Carlo utilities) / Writer (stories, logs & playthrough fictions) / Draw (vector family diagrams & neighbourhood relationships + mental local maps) / Impress (short demos and video slideshows) / Base (Historical log timestamping, SimPE, CustomContent mod tracking & parallel play lore connections) with LibreOffice BASIC scripts & macros for fullest manifestation toybox shenanigans. With raw file archives and prints hopefully...

Ideally migrating those too towards nerdier software too like Vim, Emacs and overall customizing the full content generation workflow my very own way. But I can wait some for such. But yeah, I do desire to to tinker alot with everything in TS2, or at least the supernatural and the alien segments as far as integrating those nuanced divine agents into the neighbourhood more with my lore and custom content fluff. (Think 'Helluva Boss', 'Stellaris' and 'Star Trek' and you are in the right bull park thematically speaking)

A few more dedicated realms like some hellscapes, some heavens, some other foreign plane realms (including alien colonial worlds) would be great! Amongst much gameplay tweaks / fixes, customization (especially for my massive array of cultures/ancestries I add in like Shoshones, Inuits, Mayans, Samoans... you get it indigenous peoples) additions and other Quality-of-Life lore improvements.

This planetary scoped realm (world, named Angora, part of my wider 16^12 continuum) is pretty much the testing ground for that manifestation thesis.

By the way, any suggestions are welcome for this constructed world addventure-ing on-video... thing. Especially mod-making tutorials and existing CC mods to enrich the shared playthroughs.

#maskoch #actually autistic #youtube #gaming #FLOSS playthrough workflow real fast

[adamarks]

I haven't seen anyone in the fandom talking about it but I'm pretty amused that Agatha found a girl who is like Simon (a bit socially awkward, sturdy build, strong sense of duty, first instinct appears to be FIGHT ME) just like Simon ended up with someone kind of like Agatha. I know the prevailing conversation is compulsive heterosexuality, which yeah of course, but I think it's more entertaining that they weren't entirely wrong about what they liked.

Hey sorry if this comes off rude, but I wholly disagree with what you’re saying. If not just from a personal opinion, but a literary view.

Starting off, I literally wrote this meta on why Agatha is a Simon mirror. Which means that she is there to reveal things about Simon to the reader. So from this standpoint alone, her falling for another Simon mirror doesn’t make sense. The point is that she’d fall for a BAZ mirror and continue to reveal things about Simon and snowbaz through that relationship. That’s just baseline literary analysis.

Secondly, I’d like to debate your description of Niamh. “A bit socially awkward.” Perhaps, but A! Simon is described as being much more personable in everyday settings. Baz is a diplomat but Simon is a lad. And B! Agatha is way way more socially awkward and antisocial than Niamh. Who’s the one with absolutely no friends at Watford? Who hated parties at college? And who wanted to become a vet because she hated people.

“Is that why you became a veterinarian? Because you like animals better than people?” That’s why I want to become a veterinarian.”

“No,” she says.

[…]

“Fine.” She’s fed up. “Why did you want to become a veterinarian, Agatha?”

“Because I like animals more than people! Like a normal person!”

“I also like animals more than people!” she says. “That just wasn’t the deciding factor!”

-Chapter 62

Literally if anything this just proves they’re both assholes honest to god.

Ok next descriptor:

Sturdy build.

Ok she’s gotta sturdy build but let’s just take this apart.

In this book especially we learn that simon never got to a comfortable weight. He keeps calling himself fat but everyone else is just like “yeah you can’t see his ribs anymore.” Even AGATHA goes oh look he doesn’t look a starving child how nice. We’re not getting true sturdy build plow you over Simon until after the events of CO. Rainbow herself has said that CO Simon is a twig.

As for Niamh’s physique, a major part of Agatha being like Oh A Woman, was her remembering her from lacrosse. She was a great player. Very aggressive. One… could…. Say……… ruthless.

You know who else is “ruthless on the field”?

Lastly for this section, I DONT think that Niamh’s instinct is FIGHT ME with anyone except for Agatha. At worst she just comes across as tactless and mildly autistic-coded. It’s literally only Agatha that she goes WHATS UP YOU STUPID BITCH YOU SUCK!!!

And before I get into my last point, Agatha literally did Simon’s thing of not knowing she was attracted to Niamh until the moment they kissed in the woods during a life or death situation. It was a very obvious parallel to chapter 61. (But softer. Bc the point of this book is learning to be softer and vulnerable.)

Ok also one more thing: Agatha isn’t really like Baz except rich and dress fancy. But maybe that’s just me

Finally, and I hope I don’t come off too rudely, this ask just puts a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. It’s not fair to compare “what you liked” when you thought you were straight to what you want in a partner when you figure out you’re queer. Agatha’s whole story is not wanting to be defined by her relationship with Simon, and yet you’re doing that right now. One of Simon’s main trope flips is that he was never actually attracted to the fair maiden. He never had any feelings. If we put compulsive heterosexuality aside like you said, then they are basically siblings. Simon is pretty much Agatha’s foster brother.

I can tell you didn’t mean this in a bad way anon, and maybe you yourself are a lesbian, but from my own lesbian perspective, I know very very few lesbians that wouldn’t be at least uncomfortable with someone saying this about their possible past entanglements with men. I’m not trying to accuse you of anything or trying to be rude. I just feel uncomfortable at best with this take. Let’s not compare the butch lesbian to a man. That’s all I’m saying.

#sorry if this came off shitty I just don’t like. #like don’t quantify lesbians by their relationships with men I guess? #maybe someone else will be more willing to play in this space with you Anon #it just makes me uncomfy #awtwb spoilers

[hello-yue-here]

About your atla ship songs, I have a couple of questions (sorry if my phrasing comes out wrong, english isn't my first language and I worry it might across as accidentally defensive): how did you end up with the choices for zukka, jetko and yuekka (note: I haven't seen the great comet, so feel free to obsess over it, I'm intrigued now and the hype is appreciated!)? Sidenote: I think the mailee choice is HILARIOUS and the tokka one just make me sad, I didn't expect to be attacked like this😭

kdjfha;s i love you im gonna obsess SO HARD over great comet now. you may regret this

this is gonna be so long so the rest is under the cut whoops

yuekka: no one else from great comet

where do i even begin. WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN

okay so background information on this show: it's based off of a 76 oages excerpt from war and peace and its centered around a woman named natasha (and this guy pierre but he's irrelevant to this song so we wont worry about him) and natasha's bethrothed is off fighting in the war right now. she hasn't seen him in a while but she is in love with him.

every single lyrics of this song SCREAMS yuekka to me. the innocence and purity of their love. the love at first sight. and even the melancholy ending just- i go apeshit for this song. i love this song so much. and denee benton's voice??? kljsdhflwksugf please listen to this song if you haven't already. listen to the whole show. your life will be changed forever.

onto the lyrics (i stg this is ab to be the whole song whoops)

"the moon"

THOSE ARE THE FIRST WORDS ON THE SONG. natasha and andre (her bethrothed) met underneath the moonlight. Sokka and Yue first spoke to eachother at night and always met each other for their most intimate moments under the moonlight. also yue is LITERALLY the moon so like: right of the bat with those two words it's yuekka.

"and i saw your eyes / and i saw your smile / and the world opened wide"

sokka fell in love with yue the moment he saw her in the canal. she literally enchanted this motherfucker. everything about her made his heart go crazy. and 'the world opened wide' to me is from yue's perspective. Yue had never left the north pole and sokka had seen a good chuck of the world at the point. He took her on appa, he told her about his adventures. he saw the world yue wished to see and you know damn well that Sokka would have done anything to give it to her.

"oh the moon /oh the snow in the moonlight / and your childlike eyes and your distant smile / ill never be this happy again / you and i and no one else"

natasha sings fondly about the moon and the snow, seeing as it was where she fell in love with andre. yue and sokka LITERALLY fell in love in the same place: in the snowy nothern water tribe under the light of the moon. childlike eyes: THEYRE CHILDREN!!! distant smile: this is where it gets a little sad. theyre both children with way too many duties during a world that has known nothing but war for the past century. they want to be happy but yeah, theyre smiles are distant and far away because happiness seems out of reach for them most of the time. i'll never be this happy again: the moments yue and sokka shared together were probably the happiest either of them ever were. they were able to ignore the war and the world in the moments they shared together. and with no one else. no one else would be able to give each other this sense of peace and happiness and love.

"joy and life inside our souls / and no body knows just you and me / it's our secret"

Yue and Sokka had to sneak out in secret at night to go and see each other. Yue and Sokka couldn't be together for real because Yue was already engaged, but they were literally in love so she decided to see him anyways in secret. kasdjfhklasjd im losing my mind over them at this point.

"this winer sky / how can anyone sleep / there was never such a night before / i feel like putting my arms around my knees / and squeezing tight as possible / and flying away"

these are my FAVORITE lines in the entire song. yue and sokka had never felt this strongly about anyone before and that's why they are so drawn to each other. they had never experienced love before and they wanted to hold onto it for as long as they could even though they knew they couldnt. Sokka takes yue up on appa and she is wistful and wishes she could live like he does every day: ie flying away. oh my god these two deserved so much better. so much fucking better.

now for the saddes part. the saddest fucking part.

"maybe he'll come today / maybe he came already / and he's sitting in the drawing room / and i simply forgot"

natasha misses andre so intensely at this point. when i first listened to this show and heard this song i was like "wait a min... is andre like... dead?" and im sure i wasnt the only person who assumed that this was why natasha felt so sad by the end of such a beautiful song. (spoiler alert andre is fine)

but this line really exemplifies how sad natasha is, and hints at the fact that andre may never come back. it implies that their relationship is doomed (at least in my opinion) and that's all yuekka. Sokka misses yue intensely when shes gone. Yue accepted her fate almost immediately but sokka was in denial. he thought there had to be another way. but in the end it wasn't meant to be. and sokka will go on, loving yue, wishing for her back, even though it's not possible.

fuck im gonna cry.

zukka: all i've ever known- hadestown

"i was alone so long / i didn't even know that i was lonely / out in the cold so long / i didnt even know that i was cold"

sokka is from the swt so theres where the cold comes in. also in the gaang (initially) it was just him katara and aang. and katara and aang were much closer to each other than sokka was with aang and the two of them were benders so sokka was kind of an outsider with the two of them. He also represses a lot of his emotions and feels the need to do everything himself so i do see a lot of loneliness in sokka. and the fact that so many people in his life have left him (his mom, yue, his dad, suki briefly, etc...) he is known to keep people at an arms length. i see a lot of loneliness in sokka.

zuko's loneliness is a lot more obvious: he has literally been cast out and abandoned by everyone except iroh. and even then he still feels the need to be alone (remember zuko alone? thought so) these boys look after themselves and push others away and revel in their loneliness in order to keep themselves from getting hurt. at least in my opinion on canon and also some fanon because id be a liar if i said fanon didnt influence how i view ALL my ships (not just zukka)

"all ive ever known is how to hold my own / but now I wanna hold you too"

COME ONE MANNNN, they just wanna hold each other. theyre both very big protectors as well and kljhflkasdhg they wanna protect eachother like kljdhfl im gonna lose it rn.

"You take me in your arms / And suddenly there's sunlight all around me / Everything bright and warm / And shining like it never did before / And for a moment I forget / Just how dark and cold it gets"

SUNLIGHT SYMBOLISM. zuko is literally powered by the sun. i don't think i even NEED to elaborate on this one anymore lol. They find comfort in each other away from all of their trauma. when they're together nothing else matters and i personally love that for them. they both deserve love.

"I knew you before we met / And I don't even know you yet / All I know is your someone I have always known"

these two are extremely similar in canon. many parallels. older brothers overshadowed by their prodigy little sisters. longing to make their fathers proud (granted one dad is good and one is fuckin evil), both are pretty bad with emotions. both are seen protecting others before themselves (sokka protecting suki during the serpant's pass, sokka protecting toph on like multiple occassions, zuko protecting katara in the final agni kai), the list goes on. they know who the other is because they see themselves in the other person. they already know each other because they are each other (in a way, not entirely, but the similarities are strong in my opinion)

"I'm gonna hold you forever / The wind will never change on us / Long as we stay with each other / Then it will always be like this"

i just think this line is so cute and sweet (ignoring all the symbolism and foreshadowing that comes with the last line in the musical itself. im gonna pretend this is nothing but happy) and i think these boys deserve happiness so yeah. this song is zukka to me lol.

jetko: thrill of first love- falsettoes

if you've never listened to this song go an do it now. you will know INSTANTLY that it is jetko because of the dynamics alone. marvin and whizzer are pure jetko and i take no crticisms.

marvin and whizzer are both extremely stubborn, and they don't always get along, and they fight a lot, and they get mad at each other a lot, and they are both passionate as hell, and they will bring this passion into everything. they love each other that is without a doubt, but they arent perfect and they are once again stubborn and determined as fuck.

sound familiar? it's literally jetko.

the lyrics aren't what remind me of jetko, but the dynamic itself. the lyrics are too on the nose for a gay couple in 1970's america so that rlly cant apply to jetko all that much. but the way these two characters bounce off of each other and get annoyed with each other and argue with eachother reminds me of jetko. because let's be honest: these two are the most stubborn characters in the whole show. they will fight for what they believe and it will take literally everything to change their minds.

i love jetko but i think they would have petty arguments all the time and get aggravated by one another so easily. and this is even seen in canon: they work so fucking well together but they did not even HESITATE to fight one another after neither of them would give in and let the fight about whether jet was right or wrong about zuko being a firebender. like i cannot say it enough they are stubborn as fuck.

but underneath all that stubborn pettiness and bickering: marvin and whizzer still love each other. and jet and zuko would still love each other. because even though they are stubborn when it comes to arguments, they are even more stubborn and determined when it comes to each other. these two passionate motherfuckers are in love.

(now when i chose this song i decided to ignore the fact that this song literally spells out the fact that marvin and whizzer's relatinoship is doomed because they literally say passion dies. thats the difference between jetko and whizzer and marvin because i dont think passion dies. i chose this song strictly for the bickering lmao)

and i know you didnt ask about tokka but,,,,

i rlly wanna talk about the tokka one

so im going to

tokka: on my own- les mis

look. i KNOW this song is about unrequited love and i love tokka as a couple but,,, the unrequited love in this song just SCREAMS unrequited tokka to me so thats what i went with.

eponine is a girl who has neglectful parents who lives life by her own rules: toph. eponine is shown to be tough and confident and spunky to others but behind all of that she has emotions, she feels love, she hides her vulnerability so much: toph. she is in love with a guy she cant be with because he loves someone else: TOPH

eponine is toph to a t and toph is eponine to a t. this is not up for debate lmao

"without him i feel his arms around me"

toph is always seen grabbing onto someone (and its almost ALWAYS sokka) when she's somewhere where she can't use her feet to see. FEEL and ARMS cmon. look at it.

"and i know / i know that he is blind"

COME ON. IMAGINE TOPH SINGING THIS LINE. this line is already powerful enough in les mis but having toph, a blind character, sing it just makes the symbolism even deeper. toph sees the potential relationship they could have together. toph sees that sokka is oblivious to this. toph is not blind to the truth or the potention, but sokka is blind to her feelings. im about to lose my mind over this line.

"I love him / But every day I'm learning / All my life / I've only been pretending / Without me / His world will go on turning / A world that's full of happiness / That I have never known"

i need to sit down for a moment. toph grew up in a household where her parents did not understand her. she has learned to hide her true emotions and vulnerabilities from everyone. and its the fact that toph knows that she and sokka will never be together and the fact that she still loves him in spite of that is what makes this even more heartbreaking.

"but only on my own"

TOPH AND EPONINE SWEETIES I LOVE YOU

thank you for indulging my theatre kid nonsense. you are very sweet and kind and lovely and awesome and i hope you have a lovely day bestie :) <3

ask me why i think these songs go with these ships

#asks #liv is a theatre nerd #liv is an atla nerd #yuekka #zukka #jetko #tokka #ask me about my ship songs