#but like it is about time a main character died

[goodomensafterdark]

Writers Guild Presents - Tethered - Ch 7 - Memories

Big thank you to @gleafer for accepting to let me use this piece as illustration to this chapter! Go support her on Patreon -we promise that your loins will catch on FIRE ;)

Written by NegotiationReal6508 on our subreddit!

Chapter 7 of work in progress

TW/CW: Angst, Discussion of attempted suicide, implied character death, panic attack, some light smut.

Summary:

Crowley wakes up in a mental hospital with no memory of how he got there. Without his demonic powers, neither the doctors, nor the people who claim to be his family will believe he is who he says he is. With the evidence against him mounting, his only lifeline to the real world is a cryptic note left by an unseen messenger. The longer he stays in this hospital, the harder it becomes to recall for sure, is Crowley really a demon of Hell? Or has his entire existence been nothing more than a delusion conjured by a grieving mind?

Excerpt:

Crowley stood in a noisy airport at the arrivals gate holding a bouquet of red roses, fidgeting nervously. All of his usual laidback swagger was buried under a blanket of anxiety, his spine was a solid metal rod. He was always a little bouncy when Aziraphale came to visit, but this time was different. Crowley hopped his feet up and down like the floor was burning hot sand. He juggled the little box in his jacket pocket as he stared at the sliding glass doors, willing the familiar head of blond hair to appear through them. Were the roses too cliché? Maybe he should have gotten the peonies instead. Too late now.

“There, I see him.” Crowley turned to the young man beside him. “Are you recording?”

“Yeah, it's on,” said Adam.

“Right, here he comes.” Crowley shook out his shoulders and trilled his lips. He knew he looked ridiculous, but it was an airport; no one ever looked their best at an airport. He moved towards the beacon that was Aziraphale’s gleaming smile. His heart thudded like hoofbeats in his chest. Breathe, he reminded himself. Breathing and walking, those were the two main requirements at the moment. He had no idea what his facial expression was, he just hoped he was smiling too. God, Aziraphale was so gorgeous, even after eight hours on a plane. How was that even possible?

“Hello, my darling!” Aziraphale greeted him.

“Hi,” said Crowley, because that was about as eloquent as he could manage. He unceremoniously handed the bouquet to Aziraphale.

“Oh my!” Aziraphale chuckled. “Flowers? What's the occasion?”

And there was Crowley’s opening. Aziraphale was reaching out his arms for an embrace but Crowley needed to do what he came to do first. He bent down on one knee, and pulled the little box from his pocket.

Continue reading on AO3

Or start from chapter 1 - Dies Lunae

Special thanks to my beautiful betas: u/KotiasCamorra, u/Paperclip_Ninja

#good omens after dark #goad #good omens #good omens fanfic #writers of after dark #writers guild presents #good omens fanart #artists of after dark

[discowheelsau]

🛼 Disco Wheels: a WH AU! 🪩

ㅤㅤㅤa famous and beloved rollerskate rink from the 80s, brought alive by its colorful cast of puppets and live entretainment. a safe place for anyone and everyone, no matter who or what you were.

ㅤㅤㅤa story following Wally—nicknamed Roco—and his experiences working at a roller rink, until everything went wrong.

！﹘ Index

About the AU

The Cast

Boundaries

Tagging Guide

Important Links

1. ﹕ About the AU

ㅤㅤㅤit's the 80s, and all you can hear being talked about is the latest rollerskate that opened not so long ago. neon lights, disco music, a cast of colorful puppets and live entretainment bring the building to life all day and all night long. ㅤㅤㅤa place where everyone is free to be who they are, free to have fun however they want; sounds like a dream come true, doesn't it? come in! the doors are open for you, everyone is waiting. ㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤwill you join the fun…? :o)

2. ﹕ The Cast

Roco :: Wally (he/it/roll)

the main mascot of the roller rink; he appeared the most in commercials and other promotional material, and could be seen present in the rink at all times either dancing, singing, or rolling around. - Actor: Renny

Blades :: Sally (she/he)

the "chill friend" of the group; she could be seen frequently in roller skating and roller skates ads, hanging out near the speakers, or rolling around the rink. - Actoress: [REDACTED]

Cherry :: Julie (she/he/cherry)

the most cheerful one out of the whole group, always ready to be the center of attention and the life of the party. she was always dancing and singing along the disco music of the rink. - Actoress: [REDACTED]

Beetle :: Frank (he/they)

possibly the most grounded out of the whole group - although certainly not any less fun! they could usually be seen skating around the rink helping those that needed it. - Actor: Mateo

Dee :: Eddie (he/dis)

a popular drag queen in town; like Julie, he's always ready to be the center of attention, frequently dancing alongside her during the later hours of the day. - Actor: Ken

Mr. H :: Howdy (he/him)

with a more "rich jock" attitude, he was the most admired by the rink's attendees out of the whole group. he was always ready to help anyone that needed it! - Actor: [REDACTED]

Pop' :: Poppy (she/her)

the mother figure of the group, she used to appear most frequently in health/ safety PSAs videos in the rink. she usually worked during child-friendly hours of the day. - Actor: [REDACTED]

B.B :: Barnaby (he/him)

the clown of the party - he was always up to making everyone present smile and laugh along. he had more party tricks up his sleeve than stars on his fur, or so he said. - Actor: [REDACTED]

3. ﹕ Boundaries

What is ok?

Fan art, edits, cosplays, fanfics, anything creative!

Character interactions of any kind!  In any medium!  I’d love to see them!

Memes or things alike!

Hurt/comfort!

Fanon AUs of the AU

Edits! All of this, as long as you tag/ credit me of course!

What is not ok?

Selling mass produced merchandise.

Sexual interactions, both explicit and not explicit.

Ignoring a character's sexuality for shipping purposes.

Redesigns, recolors, tracing, etc. without my permission.

Any type of com-proshipping content; this includes Wallycest.

Any kind of AI content. Please respect these boundaries, if not you will be blocked and blacklisted.

4. ﹕ Tagging Guide

#disco wheels au — general tag for the AU! #lore — general lore/ important posts. #ask — all answered asks made to the blog! #golden disco years — all posts related to the roller rink. #watcher mansion — all posts related to Watcher Wally's Mansion and other interactions with other AUs in it.

5. ﹕ Important Links

Spotify playlist

fanart folder!

... it's best to not live in the past, isn't it?

are you willing to hear the truth…?

#partycoffin #disco wheels au #welcome home #welcome home au #welcome home fanart #wally darling #julie joyful #sally starlet #frank frankly #eddie dear #howdy pillar #poppy patridge #barnaby b beagle

[lucabyte]

i am looking at nohats au 👀 please share more

So! NoHats! I'm going to grab you and use this to ramble. A Lot.

The NoHats AU is @samhainian's it's just that I'm the strange little freak who takes the words said unto me and executes on them. But I can still do a little explainer on what our overall thoughts and vibes are. (And, that we are in fact propping up a little box with some cheese under it here. 🪤 Please (PLEASE) feel free to pick up what we're putting down.)

We're far from the only ones exploring a "what if siffrin fucking died" AU, though the main difference with NoHats is the placement of the death in the timeline. Instead of being 'Mal Du Pays Wins' or 'Act 6 encounter goes horribly wrong', the death is… Just after the (literal) falling action.

(This placement is because Sam is a comic book fan who thus has become used to characters being ripped away at the cruelest times by shitty writers. THANK FUCKING GOD adrienne is not that and isat is delightful yippieee, but, back on topic.)

Giving the party the full understanding of What Happened that you get by putting the death after black hole siffrin, but before the A6 encounter leaves an interesting gap to be filled. See, making Siffrin's death very much not Loop's fault means that… this once again reads (when not read as simply a tragedy...) as the universe doing what it sees fit to fulfull Loop's wish… Thus making Siffrin's death Loop's fault again, but only in their eyes. And only in a way they could express if they were honest about who they were…

And this is where having had excuse to waffle about my general Postcanon Loop thoughts the other day comes in handy, because Sam and I have that as our canon-compliant reading to begin with, NoHats plays off of a lot of the same readings of Loop's character. Namely: Uh Oh Somebody's Lying By Fucking Omission Again. (BECAUSE TO BE FAIR THIS TIME… HOW THE FUCK WOULD YOU HANDLE THAT?)

Now, neither Sam nor I are fanfic writers, so this has been a little bit trapped in our heads and DMs (and my unfinished art but,)

But our thoughts on how NoHats like… Goes.

Siffrin's death is peaceful, but that does not mean the aftermath of it is. I can't imagine the party takes it well, especially after understanding the circumstances of the Loops. (And, of note, in A5 where nobody had the discussion on what to do with each other's bodies should something happen…) But I'd imagine it traumabonds them somewhat (understatement of the century) and now knowing how the rest of the party feels, they resolve to travel together for the forseeable future.

The party track down Loop to deliver the terrible news, since they were clearly Siffrin's friend too, and invite Loop along to travel at least long enough to (let them grieve) get the burial over with. Loop, here, can be helpful in knowing what Siffrin would've wanted where the party would be at a loss. Loop, I think, takes a bit of a lead on the funerary aspects of it all, because, um. (Performing rites on your own body, huh?)

Then, as things are after a death, life just… Kind of has to continue on as normal. The party travel, pick up Nille, and get to know Loop as this mysterious new person. Maybe in this situation they might stay in Bambouche for a while to give Bonnie more stability since. They are probably taking it the worst. It would've come out of absolutely nowhere for everyone in the party obviously but god, for a kid? For A Kid?

It should be stated NoHats is not intended to be grimdark, just y'know. An exploration of grief. This is also why it's got a bit of a lopsided focus on Bonnie vs the rest of the party because hhrrhghghhghghhhghhghhh <- incoherent

Now, a crossroads.

How does the party discover Loop to be Siffrin? How long does it take. How much have the party embraced them as part of the family (especially with something as intense to bond over as this)?

There's the Odile option. Have her put it together and have to bring it up somehow. This could also be done by Isabeau, perhaps. He's smart. (which. God. If anything's the real Isabeau Torment Nexus it's this)

Then there's the other option batted around by Sam and I. The: The Universe Dislikes Duplicates option.

The items in the house that fzzt away when inspected. The Universe doesn't like there to be two of something, at least not when they're acknowledged. But one of something is just fine…?

Which is to say. I'm not a personal proponent of 'Loop getting their body back'. EXCEPT …… except this one time.

There's only one Siffrin now, so they don't need to be obfuscated to exist.

Consider, if you will. Loop swallowing their guilt for long enough to be comfortable. Falling back into old habits. Without another Siffrin around to compete for the niche of, they actually begin to act like Siffrin again. Not intentionally, it's just… The party is as welcoming as they've always been. And the party swears they keep catching glimpses of a face under all the light.

Then, one day, while still not fully human again, the resemblence becomes undeniable. Loop having not even noticed until everyone looks at them like they've seen a ghost.

Has it been months? How long have they kept up this lie? Is it even a lie, to them? They're Loop. But they were, once, Siffrin.

Even after explaining it, does that make it better or worse?

Bonnie cuts through the betrayed, struck-nerve reactions with a sobering "I missed you."

… Anyway !

Yeah so that's the vibe for NoHats. As for LoopLoops? That's more nebulous. I think it can go anywhere really in the NoHats timeline. I err personally toward the "Loop continuously replays the last 10 minutes before Siffrin's death almost immediately after they find out and have to parkour their ass up the House in the most distressing situation possible to try and get them to hold on, just please hold on." (Remember! Siffrin can remember the contents of Loop's loop backs in the A6 fight!)

But there is the possibility that this happens months, or worse years down the road. One last Loop back. Throw it all away for the chance to just get that one thing you didn't know you even wanted but now know you NEED.

Misc:

Okay miscellaneous time.

This is where I admit that I have a bunch of unfinished NoHats art that I haven't gotten around to yet because I feel like a right tool being so obviously Loop-Centric with my fancontent (I AM . . I REALISE I AM NOT DOING MUCH TO BEAT THE ALLEGATIONS.) So like if people want to see that please say because euaghghghhfh <- the nervous.

this is like the most fucked up place to do isaloop fr. anyway.

one of Sam's mid-game observations that I'm just going to share for no particular reason is that Bonnie's hair shares a bunch of shapes with Siffrin's. The flick up at the top, the 3 pronged shape of the fringe… just something to think about.

Without 2 Siffrins around to compare each other to it'd likely be a lot harder to notice Loop's similarities. Doesn't mean that those similarities don't sting more in this context though.

If you do NoHats without LoopLoops. The concept of this all fading into memory years down the line while they just have slightly-glowy but otherwise regular Siffrin hanging out is fucked up to think about. Just like real grief. Augh

6. a peek into the original dms as a treat from us

#LONG POST....! #be free our ideas. go forth into the wild. and by that i mean neither of us are fic writers so please HUNT US FOR SPORT #isat spoilers #looploops au #nohats au #isat au #isat loop #isat act 6 spoilers #not giving it more tags than that since feels rude to tag the rest of the party lol #lucabytetalks #but yes! to be extra clear: nohats is a 'please play in the space' invitation. because neither of us are big fanwork people! um! #it feels a little bit neglectful of us to not make more stuff for this AU ourselves but... we aren't practiced at that kind of thing. so. #open invitation! we know we won't make anything MASSIVE with this so.. don't hold your breath. and feel free to take the reigns. #we aren't like. the arbiters of 'sif fuckin dies' aus in general obviously but if you want to play with our specific ideas please do! #think of this post like prompts if you want to. go nuts #and @ a certain someone who said in the tags theyd maybe write something inspired. kisses you so sweetly. thank u for even considering it #also hi kaun i was thinking about your little snippet when typing 'act 6 encounter goes horribly wrong' 👋

[waltwhitmansbeard]

so i just read a post explaining why the op (and, according to the op, a lot of other people, even tho the post in question only had 32 notes, some of which were from people who disagreed with them) didn't like the cut to the crown keepers in last week's episode. while i'm totally on board with people not jibing with stuff that just doesn't work for them, i wanted offer some reasons why this seemingly hard pivot to people who are not the main characters of the story being told was a good decision to make (note good decision, not inherently the best decision, which i believe no one, including the dm, at a ttrpg table should ever be expected to make).

matt had an extremely powerful, extremely unexpected character decision dropped in his lap in the final moments of the previous episode. we don't know exactly how much time matt has between recordings, maybe a full week, maybe not, but either way, there's a very real chance that matt just did not have enough time to fully prepare a session to deal with fcg's death and what comes next.

sam now has to create a new character that a) is of a level with the rest of the party and b) makes narrative sense for him to be there. that takes time for both him and matt, and they might just need some space to work on that. when laudna died, marisha was willing to sit away from the table for several weeks because she knew that she wanted laudna to be resurrected, but sam may not want the same thing, and that's okay!

matt may want to fold the crown keepers into his main story, some or all of them—particularly dorian, whom both liam and the fans have been asking to return for a while now. dorian is clearly important to orym and the story that liam is trying to tell, and bringing the crown keepers in may be matt's way to do that.

matt—and dms generally—has always had to straddle a very fine line of making sure that his players are the main characters of their story who feel like their actions have real consequences and effects on the world, while also understanding that in reality, it doesn't make sense for half a dozen chucklefucks to have such an outsized effect on major cosmological goings-on like *checks notes* the potential release of a god-eater. this becomes especially true when you're on your third campaign set in the same world, and your players' previous ultra-powerful pcs are still around and definitely more adept and connected than their current pcs are. i, personally, think matt does a great job at walking that line, and one of the things he does that i appreciate is that he doesn't shy away from the fact that a) his players are powerful but not the most powerful and b) his players aren't the only one who care about what's going on in the world and who are taking actions to effect change. the current plotline re: ruidus is absolutely world-shaking and is causing all the divine girlies to cower in their demiplanes, so of course even the evil ones are going to be calling on their champions to help out. it makes more sense for opal to be involved (which, btw, matt has been hinting at for a while now) than not.

matt might need a fucking break! he's been doing this consistently for nine years now, and shit is complicated! handing over the reins to aabria for a week or two or three may be what he needs to not get burnt out.

dnd is an emotional game, and the entire cast might have been rocked hard by fcg's death. some space away for a week or two could help them process and regroup to get back into a story that is otherwise very stressful and action-packed.

or it's none of these! what do i know! i'm a random idiot on the internet! matt doesn't consult me on these matters! (though my dms are open if he wants to chat, i do have ideas)

i think it's tempting to think of the decisions made in and around critical role (or any ttrpg show) like those made for a television series, because the episodes are serialized and we love them so much. but this show is, first and foremost, a group of friends playing a game together, and not a carefully constructed narrative with the primary goal of entertaining an audience. the audience always has been and, frankly, always should be second to the wishes and fun of the people around that table. matt would not have asked aabria to step in and dm a crown keepers side arc if he didn't think it was a good decision for him and his players, and that priority is the correct one. we are being invited in to watch these friends have fun together, and that's a privilege that we're super lucky to have. as long as the cr story isn't doing things that are outright abusive or harmful to the cast or the audience, i don't think we should begrudge them the choices they make in the name of their own game.

again, it's okay if you're not vibing with the crown keepers! i didn't love the aeor arc of c2! not everything is for everyone! but i think accusing matt and the cast of narrative malfeasance is a bit much when, tbqh, they don't answer to us. they answer to each other.

#me #critical role #cr meta

[remia-art]

Okay, but thank you so much.

Like, I genuinely like Tommy, and I think he and Buck are cute, but it kinda makes me sad to see how nice and happy and gentle the fandom is with his character versus like any of Buck/Eddie’s female love interests.

Especially when I saw people saying that Tommy is Buck’s most developed love interest?? Like, I don’t like Abby but she was literally a main character in season one?? And Tommy who has appeared in four episodes is more developed? Huh??

Anyway, it just kinda sucks to see people treat the female love interests in this show so badly. Like I can admit some of them weren’t written the best, but it feels like there’s a generosity that’s afforded Tommy that’s never been afforded to the women.

And again, don’t get me wrong, I lovelovelove getting to see more queer relationships on the show. I just wish that the fandom could realize that queer relationships don’t mean you have to like disparage every existing female love interest, yknow?

I get you on a spiritual level my dear. Thank you. Exactly what I meant. Some shippers automatically see me as their opposition.

I ship buddie, I really like bucktommy for now, they have chemistry and are sooo cute. Of course.

But I hate the total disregard of female characters in this fandom. As you said and I will continue : Abby started Buck's development. And both him and Eddie grew with each partner they had. And I love and respect all of these girls as characters, with their mistakes and wrong timing.

I just remember the times after Shannon died, I would come to AO3 and there would be tags like "Shannon lives", "we don't die like Shannon", "Shannon is a good mother" and so on

Like, I remember my dear fandom mourning Shannon, my buddie friend shippers being pissed about her death, noone wanted buddie to happen then on Shannon's bones.

Then we moved on, but it was their development nonetheless.

Bucktommy is supermegacute, as Tommy would say, they're "adorable". But if he wasn't a man... God... If it was Tamara (woman), we wouldn't be here.

And anyone who wants to fight me on that, don't bother. I was you when I was 11 years old, I remember.

#911 #911 abc #buddie #evan buckley #eddie diaz #buck x eddie

[clonebrainrot]

Hmm

Bad thought time. Right now the bad batch is broken up into three groups. What if one member of each group is dying?

Well the good news is I think Emerie is way more likely to die than Echo, but bad news I have idea who would die out of crosshair, Hunter, Wrecker. I know I said earlier when Wrecker was blown up that they wouldn’t do a fakeout and then just kill him later. But he keeps getting injured or almost dying.

Also I want to preface this I don’t want Emerie to die I just think she has death flags all over her. More so than Tech last season and he had major death flags.

Hmm thinking about tech he also got very injured before he died when his femur was broken. so maybe Wrecker is not as safe as I hope.

however I still think there is a literal 0% chance all members of the bad batch are dying. at the very least one if them is making it out. hell I still think there is a solid chance all the main characters make it out.

#star wars #starwars #the bad batch #tbb #tbb omega #omega tbb #tbb spoilers #the bad batch spoilers #tbb echo #echo tbb #wrecker tbb #tbb wrecker #hunter tbb #tbb hunter #crosshair tbb #tbb crosshair #tbb emerie karr #emerie karr

[inkskinned]

it's the levels of scrutiny too.

a movie that has a largely-female cast has to be well-written, well-shot, well-acted, well-advertised. people will spend 2 hours on youtube talking about a single plot hole; about a moment of bad pacing, about a singular background character's poor scripting. if there isn't something obvious, they will say - well there's nothing specifically bad, but it wasn't specifically good either.

they will turn out another all-male movie, and it's just a movie.

a book that has queer representation in it has to defy every convention of writing while also being true to traditional plot, structure, format, and pacing. it must have no boring chapters, no missteps, no awkward dialogue. it must be able to "prove" that any queer relationship "makes sense", their sparks must fly off the page and their love must be eternal. the writing must be clear and beautiful, the storyline original and fresh, the values traditional but with an undercurrent that is modern and saucy.

they will turn out another book without queer rep, where a man and woman just-fall-in-love, and it's just a book.

i am latinx. i am queer. i am nb & neurodivergent. my father said to me once: you will need to be exceptional to be just-as-good, and you will need to be beyond exceptional before they see you as just-a-person, and not your labels.

i am not beyond exceptional. i am a human person. i am skilled because i worked my ass off to be skilled.

i am currently reading a book that's so-bad-it's-good about a girl that falls in love with a vampire. i was 64% of the way through the book before she figures out tall-dark-fanged is not natural. i like books like these, i like letting myself relax while i just enjoy the read. but i do spend a lot of time wondering - would this have been published if it was about queer people? would this have gotten past the editors if the characters weren't white and sexy?

i want to write a movie about being a woman in a male space, and i want to start that movie with a 10 minute scene where the woman is lectured with the exact same whining that occurs in the youtube comments of even the trailers for those movies: "haven't we had enough diversity?" "we've had enough girl power movies" "sorry, this is just pandering. it's boring."

here's what's fucked up: it shouldn't matter, you're right. my identity shouldn't fold after my name like a battalion of stars: a cry of what i've gone through. what we all know i had to move past and through. i should just be a writer, plain and simple, without my work being shifted through with tweezers - i know everything i make, always, i am incredibly responsible for. beholden to. i don't like knowing that if i fuck up, i am also fucking up for every person like me. every person in a community i belong to.

once, back in undergrad, i wrote a short story about a girl who had been kicked by a horse. it was my first time writing about my experience with my ocd; i felt proud of it. the story was mostly about grief and slow recovery. the queerness of the main character was not important to the plot, my main character was just-queer. there wasn't even a romantic interest in it.

i remember one of my classmates being disappointed. "i just feel like you always write about girls who like girls, and i'm bored of it," he said. "you're a beautiful writer, but i'm like - oh, at some point, it's gonna be gay again." during the workshop, he folded his hands over my story and said, "and okay, i'm just going to say it. she's ocd, she's gay, she's depressed - it's a little much for me to believe is all happening to one person."

it is a little much to be that person (and more besides). i have therapy weekly, after all.

over and over, belonging to exception.

#spilled ink #poetry #prose #warm up #idk what this is #maybe more of a confession #btw the book is called crave it's OKAY #it's very straight #main character keeps being like totally okay with situations where dude is DEF #being a stalker villian #she's known him for a WEEK and shes like #'hes all that matters' #girlfriend ur parents only died a MONTH ago #there's a lot about timing in that book im like .... did this author ever have any #actually bad experiences #like main character being like ''i shouldn't cry over them it's pathetic'' a mONTH after her parents die #btw this isn't bc she's in denial/suffering/etc it's bad writing #the narrative is instead like #'' .... bc the author doesn't want to remember to discuss it'' #she forgets she has a sprained ankle a lot #tbh im THIS close to saying ''fuck good writing'' #and writing my OWN stupid supernatural school YA romance #and YES!!!!! IT WOULD INDEED BE GAY #''oh this school? we're all... different here....bc... of the witches??oh . i mean yeah but no actually we just really believe in a diverse

[miametropolis]

the fact that david tennant married the woman who played his daughter on the TV still haunts me occasionally (this is nothing against georgia, we love georgia) but the thing that makes me sit up at night in a cold sweat is the fact that his FATHER IN LAW is the fifth doctor. imagine your fucking father-in-law is Doctor Who. anyways.

#the real-life doctor who crossover universe and its psychological ramifications on me #so you're david tennant right? #and you show up to work and you're excited because you've got this AMAZING script #the fifth doctor's daughter--the main character of the TV show you grew up loving and watching--turns out to have become an actress herself #and now you're about to shoot this groundbreaking exciting episode of that same TV show--of which you are now the lead and star! #so you do your work #give the performance of a lifetime #and try not to be flustered over the fact that you're lowkey OBSESSED with your #coworkers dad #your daughter (fake) on the tv show (fake) dies in your arms and you give her a soft kiss on the forehead (fake) to bid her farewell #and while you're pretending to be an eccentric immortal haunted by the ghosts of the past #recalling your dead children and grandchildren for the first time #sending your newly-born daughter off into death #you're like...wait...she's lowkey kinda... #AND THEN YOU GET MARRIED #to a woman who played your daughter #and HER REAL LIFE FATHER is your IDOL and also...you? #how does one begin to cope with any of that

[emblazons]

Y’all still worried about people dying in ST for real and I��m fully convinced we’re not watching the same show

People setting themselves up for a GoT S8 ‘The Long Night’ panic situation all over again—if you know, you know

#max and hopper should have BEEN dead #almost laughably so. like. they should in fact no longer be with us #and YET #duffers literally going out of their way to refute Millie’s more people should die claim #Gaten saying the same because he know it won’t happen #Matt literally rolling his eyes at the insinuation of a Mike death y’all #Finn so confident he’s not dying he makes actual jokes about it to GQ?!? #y’all still worried about someone kicking it in the final season be so astronomically for real #like. the worst that happens is someone ‘dies’ before the every season last episode time skip #and then shows up magically LMAOOO #it’s not even plot armor atp. they come up with new characters to kill JUST so they don’t have to kill their mains nsmsndndnd #the me tag

[vulturevanity]

Thinking about ScarVi's overarching theme being The Truth Shall Set You Free. I am so normal about this

#spoilers in tags #pokémon #pokemon sv #Arven initially being closed off and not trusting you because he was neglected by his parent and learned to only rely on himself #realizing very early on that being honest is the best chance he has at healing his Mabostiff #but still not opening up about his bigger issues until it was absolutely necessary which pushes the story forward into endgame #Penny hiding herself behind Cassiopeia to protect herself from bullying #getting an entire group of outcast kids into a team to scare their bullies off #only for the plan to backfire splendously when they're mistaken for the bullies #and Clavell in a rare display of clarity ffrom an adult in a position of authority #rather than simply punishing them for it opted to team up with us to understand what was really going on #and that made him much more lenient in punishing them (because they did still cause trouble!) #the truth of Turo/Sada spiraling into their work and refusing to see the damage it was doing to EVERYTHING including themselves #to the point that they DIED #and the AI they built explicitly for the purpose of continuing their work ran the calculations and realized said work was Bad #and that truth made it go against its own programming which is what kickstarts the main story to begin with #and may I contrast all that with NEMONA whose sheer energy and eagerness is 1000% GENUINE #I've seen so many people say they thought she was going to eventually be angry for losing to us all the time #but the whole point of her character is that she's free to do whatever the fuck she wants and she's pretty happy with her life #she has no reason to fake happiness. she's just like that. she is free from the beginning and she's always be free and that's the point #in a story where no one else is!!! everyone else is bound by some complication or another that holds them back from being honest #i changed my mind i'm insane about this. no longer normal #pokemon sv spoilers #babbles

[naomiknight-17]

I watch OutsideXbox vids pretty often to unwind but today's video was about games where getting a bad ending was actually more work than a good ending

And it featured fucking Tales of Xillia 2

Which, no joke, upset me so thoroughly when I played and completed it that I have spent years denying its existence and trying to forget about it

So when this funtimes goofy youtube vid started and showed scenes from Xillia 2 without warning I literally yelled at the TV and started crying and Jon had to come check on me because I worried him. I was laughing through my tears like "This is stupid!! I shouldn't be having a fucking trauma response over a JRPG!!"

That's just how hard that game fucked me up

#it made me care about all the characters and then 1. one fucking betrayed me and 2. several die and you CANNOT save them all #you can't #it's like the first time you play ff7 and aeris dies but times like 50 #you've spent like 60 game hours getting to know and love the main character and his brother! now make one kill the other 🙃 #oh you don't want to do that? ok well guess u have to kill all your friends instead #ok you did the right thing and got to the end of the game and it's time to save the world! now choose who dies to make it happen #someone has to die. you've spent all these hours honing these characters and bonding with them. now kill one. now another #it fucking broke me man #i could go in but i need to go to bed #tales of xillia #tales of xillia 2 #i'm gonna go back to pretending this game never happened #mod post #video games

[dangoarts]

unfortunately for everyone especially myself i am still thinking about minecraft story mode

#long rant in tags up ahead oops #I AM. NORMALLY UPSET ABOUT ELLEGAARD'S DEATH. #i feel so cringe screaming about the show that gave me so much psychic damage but liek #ellegaard was an influential character that led a whole city #you'd. you'd think there'd be a memorial service. #or like jesse would be more visibly upset and emotionally damaged over witnessing her death and indirectly being the cause of her death #but no #the best thing we got was a brief scene of them going 'oh no she died! :( anyway the wither survivors tho' #i get that they're good guys n all and they were probably like 'i'm devastated by this but i need to pocket that to process later to get- #-these people to safety' but COME ON #justice for ellegaard #the playthrough i watched had ellegaard die if you didn't figure it out through this ramble #i probably would've been as attached to magnus as i was to ellegaard if i saw his arc at boom town but the playthrough chose redstone land #which like yeah samesies #ANYWAY. MAIN TAG TIME SORRY FOR THE RAMBLE IN TAGS (not sorry) #mcsm #minecraft story mode #AND THE FACT THAT THE PIG GOT MORE OF A MEMORIAL THAN HER REALLY RUBBED SALT IN THE WOUND FOR ME #sorry reuben fans i didn't care for him at all #yes this is a kids show meant for 10 year olds yes i'm overanalyzing it what else am i supposed to do on a monday #if i ever make a fix it rewrite story you have full legal permission to ban my tumblr account /j /silly #blood tw #tw blood

[samarecharm]

Random question about the “they should make persona for people who like good games” post. Do people think the persona series is that bad? I know they aren’t perfect but I wouldn’t call them bad games.

I had a wholeass essay written out before i realized im too tired to make it sound coherent. AND my only experience is p 4 and 5, so my opinion on it means jack shit. All i can say is that the most recent titles suffer from bad writing. (And repetitive gameplay, but thats a different issue). Be it poorly written characters and dialogue, or poorly written interactions and plot, it is hard to take some of the stuff in the more recent games at face value. One could argue that that just means the game is subpar, not necessarily bad, but thats subjective; bad means different things to different people. And i say this as someone who thinks this game is Not the best but still found it incredibly engaging and entertaining.

#chattin #i am the kind of person to write video essay length posts on games that disappointed me LOL #so i am the wrong person to ask #remember that when thinking about the quality of a game; you should ask urself #who is the target audience? is it accessible to this audience? do i need an outside source to keep up with this game ? (like a guide) #if its in a series; what does it do to separate itself from the others? #is the writing okay? characters? interactions( #? #insensitive content ? #how is it handled? the game may me okay for me but can I have my fat friends enjoy this game??? #can i have my trans friends and gay male friends enjoy this game??? #who can i recommend it to? my sister is unable to process all of the social links and requirements for these social links #so she just. doesnt do it. she IS the target audience bc she likes rpgs #and she likes the story and characters. but its too overwhelming #and the social links would be overwhelming regardless of the difficulty #are u meant to enjoy the game in one playthrough or across multiple runs?? #is it WORTH it to do those runs? for a game that has ‘choices’ it is painfully linear #and it confuses people who are trying to follow the rules (do things in my free time to build confidants) #when theyre unable to actually hang out w confidants bc of a rush of mandatory scenes #velvet room fusions are a pain and overly complex #and the game stops being about making a good build #and it starts to become ‘make a shadow null to everything bc the game will keep instakilling you’ #forcing a game over when ur main character dies is ALWAYS bad to me i will swear by this #u make more interesting builds when u arent scared of a gameover #weh. rambling #the game is as bad or good as u want it to br #people clearly love it; we talk about our faves all the time. but how many of us are replaying a game meant to be replayed. not many.

[nellasbookplanet]

The thing about nuanced characters is that you can’t really have their 'nice' parts without also having their less palettable parts, not only because the two are more interesting as a whole but also because they fundamentally depend on each other narratively. Imogen is a good and kind-hearted character who has suffered greatly from loneliness, abandonment, ostracization, and a fear of her own abilities. She wants to save the world and is prepared to risk her own life and powers doing so. But she is also by her own words greatly tempted by said powers. Her self-sacrifice in being prepared to give them up means nothing if it isn't paired with her self-centerdness in wanting to keep them, because without it there would be no sacrifice, only a relief from something she didn’t want anyway.

Her mother in a way is a manifestation of Imogen's good and bad traits: it is kind of her to want to save Liliana, but it is also self-centered of her to consider risking the entire world in doing so (as she is when considering the Ruby Vanguard may be right). In this scenario, there is no way for Imogen to be just the one thing, kind or unkind, she has to be both. If she wanted her mother dead to save the world, she would be kind to the world but unkind to her mother; if she wants her alive she’s kind to her mother and unkind to the world. Similarly, you can’t have the goodness of imodna's absolute, unflinching trust without also having the potential of them going dark because of it, because if one of them goes down that road the other will follow seeing as nothing, not even the world, is more important to them than each other. You can’t have the strength of absolute loyalty without the flaw of absolute loyalty.

And people love to bring this up in quippy gotchas, like "Imogen and Laudna would break the world for each other just like the Briarwoods!" or "Imogen is an inversion of the critrole villains in that she wants the same power but chooses kindness!" but the moment someone extrapolates what traits in their characters make statements like these possible the very same people lose their minds and acts like it’s character assassination rather than character analysis.

Imogen wants power. Imogen and Laudna would maybe be prepared to break the world for each other. Without this truth, them choosing kindness anyway would have little meaning. There's nothing wrong with a character having a little darkness in her. It doesn’t mean she’s actually dark, or that she will turn dark, it just means she’s a well-balanced character with realistically human motivations and flaws as well as strengthts.

#critical role #cr3 spoilers #cr3 #imogen temult #there's been another uptick of 'why's there so much imgoen hate!' in the critrole tag and i must role my eyes #bc just like last time this happened all the 'hate' i come across is just acknowledgement of flaws and character meta #the closest thing I've ever seen imogen hate is people whining about her supposed 'main character' status #and even that has died down in the last few months #and i assure the same complaints were present about fjord and caleb in c2. this is not an imogen special #though it’s equally annoying and invalid no matter which character it’s about i'll give you that #nella talks cr

[snixx]

got queerbaited into reading a book by chatgpt. is this rock bottom

#girlblogging.pdf #apparently coding isn't the only thing that thing is ass at. fetching basic information is too #i mean i Wanted to read it anyway and i knew it wasnt queer before. idk why i let chatgpt gaslight me into believing i was making it up #whatever. neither the main character nor her best friend are textually queer or in love with each other. they're both pretty boy crazy tbh #but the mc is giving big aro vibes. like she's so done with her best friend every time she starts talking about men or crushes #also her crush on this guy is giving extremely platonic im not biased i swear #she just throws herself at him because she thinks itd be cool to date her besties crushs bff #so she could feel normal like her #they do have a cute friendship though. mc and the guy. also they start dating like 2 seconds after her bff dies so it's not really romantic #also theres a very cool lesbian who gets more pagetime than the guy and whos friendship with mc is super angsty so #w #its a really good book ok i just went in with really wrong expectations #like a sapphic hiaylm #but every day i grow closer to the great truth of my life that sapphic hiaylm will never exist #and i should stop looking for it and find the beauty in things for their originality and what they are #anyway in this case the lack of sapphicness did not detract from the book at all dont get me wrong #i just found it funny

[extra-somethin-somethin]

hey so do you think wtv keiko had to deal with growing up with yusuke could be considered a type of parentification

#god chapters where barely anything happens except a character's realization about things can be hard ... #im writing another keiko pov chapter and it's hard because well!! #keiko was never really a main focus in the series and as time goes on she gets even less of a focus so i have to fill in these spots #in her personality and views that aren't really explored. im taking a lot of liberties lets say #and idek if it's gonna read as in character cos of that #anyway im tryna say that like. pre series keiko was basically this presence in yusuke's life and he saw her as a pain but he cared #she was there to scold him and cajole him into going to his classes and she was his only friend #now we know atsuko was negligent and idk how involved the yukimuras were in his life but i feel like keiko #whether directly or indirectly was given this duty like you have to keep him outta trouble #you're smart you're mature he needs someone like you. this responsibility just kind of put on her before she can understand the weight of i #and she can't really comprehend that weight until it's abruptly taken from her. yusuke dies and there's no one to shepherd #i feel like keiko should get to be mad about this. this realization of the nature of their dynamic. keiko planning things around yusuke #who's never done that in his life. not because he's purposely being thoughtless but bc he was never the one to have to plan #to think about what their future looks like. he just kinda drifted along and keiko tried to do damage control. it wasn't fair #yusuke is keeping secrets from her she is scared of high school and that he'll die again without her knowing why and it's unfair #so she should get to be mad also because girls getting to be mad is one of my favorite things 👍🏼 #the realization that yusuke won't be lost without her so she shouldn't hinge her life on the expectation that he will be #she worries about yusuke a lot i think. especially after he comes back from the dead. and i think kuwa's presence would help ease that #dread in her heart. it doesn't have to be just me. there's someone who can be there with him always and it doesn't have to be me #the guilty relief of not having to be the sacrifice. but kuwa doesn't mind so maybe it's okay this way #idk just rambles about my fic while i puzzle out how to word it #character analysis #yukimura keiko #yu yu hakusho