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lil--nuggett · 2 months

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Hey guys, so if you know Baldur's Gate 3 this is an AU for that with Hardenshipping but it's really fucked up. I will explain why it's fucked up below the cut.

Maxie is a High Half-Elf Warlock (his patron is Groudon), and Archie's a Human Fighter <3

Also I just realized this is the first time you have seen me draw Archie seriously lmao my bad guys I'll try to draw him again soon

I took a ton of inspiration for various things for these designs, including Guile for Archie's armor bc I love Guile sm!!

(More info and our dumb AU lore under here - No BG3 Spoilers I promise <3)

I'm going to tell you this now... this gets really fucking crazy and honest to god I know I'm going to have a hard time explaining this. It WILL be quite long and I WILL be yapping.

This AU is really just something we did on impulse and it's really fun to mess around with, so I'm hoping you all will enjoy the concept as well :)

I'll try to explain it simply as I can. I thank you in advance to all who sit here and read this ily sm if you read it all <3333

Anyways, okay so imagine how one could do a bg3 AU for these two fuckers...

And throw it right out the window because you'll never guess how me and my friend have done it.

The Backstory:

This all started when my friend decided to play BG3 for the first time, and he jokingly said to me "Should I make Maxie our main character??" and I replied "I you want, but I won't force you" and thus BG3 Maxie was created, and his misadventures began.

Now your probably wondering (if you've played the game) what about the guardian?? Who did we make the guardian?? Well, we made Archie the guardian. However, I did not know just how wild this idea would get within the next few days.

So, eventually we realized how crazy the BG3 lore actually is (it's a like fucking DnD campaign idk how we didn't realize this beforehand), and so, we jokingly started our own "AU Lore" that ties in with the BG3 Lore.

If you really want to know, I have an entire note in my notes app dedicated to keeping track of what happens. It is very long.

The Parasite:

Now, if you've played the game or know anything about it, you know about the Mindflayer parasites. Well, one fateful day, me and my friend joked that the Parasite in Maxie's head was this little freak who looks like Archie.

The two have no correlation other than looks, its completely coincidence and it's not a mimic situation. The Parasite "Archie" does nothing but talk nonsense to Maxie all the time, and initially the bit was that he only talked about Fortnite. All because I made the joke that the dream realm in game looked like a fortnite update. By now, that bit has fallen off (thank god), replaced by just general nonsense and lies.

Also he fucking looks like this:

Weird little freak. This is just one of his talk sprites I have, this is just his neutral expression.

So basically it's:

- Maxie was supposed to be on a Geology research trip, but instead he got dragged into the Parasite issue with the rest of the companions. He really just wants to get home to Archie.

I am the one who handles everything for Maxie in this AU, I do his voice, I handle his lore, etc.

- Parasite Archie is this 1 foot tall, neco arc-esque version of Archie that sits on Maxie's shoulder and tells him nonsensical things. He also says Maxie's name wrong, he says Maxie's full first name and pronounces it as "Maximilliam" instead of the "N" at the end. For Maxie it's like handling a toddler but the toddler fights back, doesn't shut up, and threatens your life. He also has a ton of his own lore that my friend continously adds on to, so I can make another post with just the parasite's part of things.

My friend handles everything with the Parasite himself, comes up with the lore, does the voice, etc. I simply keep track of it.

- The "dream visitor" version of Archie is not real either. It's linked to the Parasite in ways that if I get into it, I will spoil a good chunk of the game. Sorry. Just know you can consider this and Parasite Archie kind of as one in the same almost.

- The REAL Archie is still at home, completely unaware of what's happening, while Maxie is fighting for his life. He does miss him, though, and hopes he gets home soon. He and Maxie are only boyfriends, they haven't gotten married yet. (They also haven't been through their rivalry yet, as this all takes place before that happens.)

Sorry for the convoluted yap sesh, I just have more art planned for this stupid AU and- God I cannot possibly just post this shit with no context. Like, I'd have to explain it eventually so I might as well do it now beforehand yk 😭😭

I might do separate posts with our HCs and some silly conversations that have happened between Parasite Archie and Maxie if you guys would want that :)

Also, I do have all of the sessions from where my friend plays the game recorded and I'll be sure to post some clips of what Parasite Archie sounds like eventually, possibly with snippets of my shitty Maxie voice in there as well. You'll get to see the talk sprites in action with that, too.

#nugget's yapping again #apologies in advance to all the bg3 fans who end up seeing this shit im so sorry guys #nugget art!!#GOD THIS IS SO LONH IM SO SORRY GUYS #Parasite Archie #its official #he has his own tag now. god help us.#like i said ill make a separate post about Maxie and Parasite Archie so you can know more about them and their dynamic #hardenshipping #magma leader maxie #aqua leader archie #bg3 #bg3 au

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wangxianficfinder · 6 months

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Fic Finder

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1. Hello! I’m hoping to find a specific fic, which is narrated from the POV of a mail delivery person from a small sect. They observed how Lan Wangji came to mail a letter every year to Wei Ying after his death, and came to see the melancholy and longing that Wangji had. They were not able to deliver the letters but they kept it. Eventually they didn’t see Wangji come to mail his letter on a particular year, but out of duty, the mail delivery person went to Cloud Recess to deliver the letters he kept. And there, he met Wangji and Wei Ying.

It’s a beautifully written fic that I read years ago, but for the life of me I can’t remember the name. I did a lot of searching on my bookmarks but can’t find it. I would really appreciate it if someone can point me to the right direction!

Thanks so much. @tacitanovember

FOUND! you’ve got to find a way, say what you want to say by Quixiote (T, 12k, wangxian, outsider pov, 13 years of WWX’s death, letters)

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2. hello, i am very sorry to send this ask but i've been trying to find this fic. (Please don't feel bad! This is what our blog is here for! ^^ - Mod C) i don't remember anything about it other than this scene in which LWJ is holding LSZ while they're on a boat because he's getting seasick and he takes care of him while he sleeps. if i remember correctly it was Sizhui-centric. thank you so much in advance!

FOUND? Gathered Herbs & Sweet Grasses by hansbekhart (Not Rated, 19k, WangXian, dad wangji, LWJ's Questionable Parenting Skills, Grief/Mourning, Recovery, Injury Recovery, Hopeful Ending, Canon-Typical Violence)

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3. hiii, I'm looking for a fic in which Jiang cheng suddenly starts hearing other people's thoughts and ends up hearing lwj thinking about wwx (inappropriately) @mercurygirlwt28

FOUND! Losing My Mind by pupeez4eva (T, 6k, wangxian, JC & WWX, Humor, Protective JC, JC drinks a potion that lets him hear people's lustful thoughts, Teenage LWJ has a lot of feelings, Canon Divergence, Cloud Recesses study arc)

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4. heyy there! i was wondering if you could help me find a fic from a while ago. basically wwx nearly dies when he fell from nightless city, but was however saved by baoshan sanren. in the the end to save wwx, she had to give her golden core to him so she was no longer immortal (i think). thanks in advance! @aquiver-heart

FOUND? Ghosts Shouldn’t by ShanaStoryteller (Not Rated, 15k, WangXian, Grief/Mourning, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending)

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5. sorry to bother you but I've been trying to find a fic for some time and I can't. is a multi-part series. in the first part wei ying is left to take care of some young disciples and lan qiren forgets to send someone to replace him. the next parts are about how they don't have enough teachers and how wei ying would fit the role. sorry for my writing. i used google translate to write. @mazilu06122001

FOUND? ❤️ Joy In the Midst of These Things Series by Glitterbombshell (T/G, 53k, WangXian, Angst with Happy Ending, Post-Canon, Teacher WWX, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff)

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6. Hey there, I’m looking for a onshot fic where WWX repeatedly say “I love you” to LWJ who never says it back until after WWX is resurrected and then he is the one repeatedly say “I love you” to wwx. I’m pretty sure I found it on your blog but I haven’t found it since. @gwencaer

FOUND! When the Words Stop Coming by mrcformoso (T, 7k, WangXian, Canon Compliant, POV WWX, POV LWJ, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Pre-Sunshot Campaign, Burial Mounds Settlement Days, Canonical Character Death, Love Confessions, Rejection, LWJ is a Panicked Gay, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Trauma, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, Angst with a Happy Ending, Sad with a Happy Ending)

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7. Good day! There's this fic that I've read before and I forgot what tag/s I used to bookmark it. I only remember bits of details. So, the scene that I remember is during the sects were trapped in the burial mounds—that chapter when the juniors were kidnapped—yiling patriarch wwx was sleeping (or dead?) at the blood pool(?). Then the present wwx came to dead/yp!wwx to wake him up (something like that) so they can save the others from the puppets. It is before they go to Lotus Pier. I think there's also a scene where they tried to save him (yp!wwx) that they cant leave him alone at the burial mounds or smth. Im sorry, that all I can recall but I really want to find it again. Thank you!

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8. I’m looking for the fic where little WWX is in Cloud Recesses and little LWJ is like “gonna marry him” and when he’s told “no” he finds different ways to tie his ribbon to little WWX until the adults give in?

are you sure it's Cloud Recesses? bc if you are not sure, this sounds like the Sami fic where Jiang Yanli travels back in time, but that part of the fic takes place at Lotus Pier

FOUND! Sail Away Sweet Sister by sami (M, 73k, WangXian, YZY/CSSR/MDM Lan, MingLi, Time Travel, EXTREME Canon Divergence, Wide Focus Narrative, Some People Live/Not Everyone Dies, Most Named/Canon Characters Live, Childhood Friends to Lovers, Families of Choice, Parenthood, this work contains a major tonal shift, Fluff, Angst, Underage Sex, not particularly explicit, but not at all ambiguous, PTSD, Only a tiny bit, Unforeseeable consequences, The butterfly effect, Slightly Dark JYL, Asexual Characters, but that's not really the focus, Canon-Typical Violence)

not FOUND 💖 Let the Heavens be the judge by A_Mirror_of_memories (T, 4k, WangXian, Time Travel, Fix-It, Not JC friendly, YZY Bashing, minor character death offscreen, JC is the worst, Angst with a Happy Ending, offscreen child character death, Fluff and Angst, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, CSSR and WCZ Live, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies)

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9. ficfinder request! modern college au where Wei ying is a student that arrived late to a class that lab qiren should be teaching but instead lan zhan is, and Wei ying is sassy/rude to Lan zhan. I think it's rated E but I can't remember anything else. TIA! @the-marathon-continues-nip

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10. Hello, I am looking for a fic that focused on lsz feeling worried that wwx will feel disappointed that he grew up lan. The fic references what he told lsz the first time lwg left the wen settlement. This fic has been stuck in my head but I can't find it, I would rlly appreciate some help! 😭 @fox1023

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11. A) There's this fic where WWX moves into a house and ghost LWJ lives in the attic or something like that, it's an Eldritch horror kind of fic I think? Iirc Lwj doesn't have a face and he drips water but I could be mixing up different things.

B) I'm also looking for a fic that's kinda the opposite? Where it's WWX who lives in the house and LWJ pretends he doesn't see him

11A)

FOUND! ghost stories for lost souls by queenklu (M, 17k, WangXian, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Body Horror, (of the ghostly variety - hey number of limbs are hard), child death (not explicitly described), Ghost Hunting, Spirit Box, Juice Box, Reincarnation)

11B)

FOUND! one good thing by Yuu_chi (T, 26k, WangXian, Modern AU, Ghost WWX, Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, I swear there really is a happy ending, And an alarming amount of rabbits, [Podfic] One Good Thing by jellyfishfire)

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12. Hello, I saw someone from Twitter asking about a fic where Jiang Cheng wished Wei Wuxian never existed after their battle in Nightless City (I'm guessing this is when WWX battled with the other cultivation sects and JYL died). They recalled it has some elements of poppy flowers dying and WWX's soul being connected with it will totally dissipate too.

Can you help? @tiredlaoshi

FOUND? Remember by Amona (T, 59k, JC & WWX, wangxian, Canon Divergence, self-sacrifice, erasing oneself from history, colored souls, sword spirits, major angst w happy ending, implied/referenced rape/non-con, minor character death, WIP)

FOUND? The Way It Wasn’t by KouriArashi (T, 72k, WangXian, XiYao, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fix-It, (eventually haha), Slow Build, Family Feels, Moral Ambiguity, Eventual Happy Ending)

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13. Hey so the fic lm looking for is a Jiang Cheng centric fic but it does have Wangxian in it but it's a time travel fic with JC fixing thing he gets NHS to help him travel back it's OK if you can't find it tho

FOUND? Lynchpin by ShanaStoryteller (Not Rated, 103k, WangXian, JC & WWX, Time Travel, Fix-It)

FOUND? heaven is for me too high by stiltonbasket (M, 11k, JC & WWX & JYL, wangxian, JC/WQ, JYL/JZX, LXC/NMJ, LWJ & JC, Canon Divergence, Time Travel Fix-It, aka the one where JC goes back to the past, and absolutely does not want to be there, Politics, Angst, POV JC, the jc and lwj alliance nobody expected, Bad Matchmaking, Team as Family, Happy Ending, WIP)

FOUND? Moments of Revelation by meyari (T, 134k, JC/NHS, wangxian, LXC/JGY, major character death, POV JC, Canon Divergence, Temporary Character Death, Character Death, Time Travel Fix-It, Self-Sacrifice, Torture, Chronic Pain, Chronic anxiety, magical healing and how it fails, Grief/Mourning, PTSD, Chronic Mental Health Issues, learning to communicate for stubborn people, premeditated murder as a method of problem solving, Assassination, renamed meng yao, Because of Reasons, Warning: JGS, Warning: WRH, Families of Choice, no elders are perfect not one of them, Unreliable Narrator(s), Demonic Possession)

FOUND? For Both Of Us (And Time Is But A Paper Moon) by sami (E, 65k, wangxian, JC & WWX; JC & LWJ, LWJ & LXC, Canonical Character Death, Mentions of Rape, not explicit but definitely referenced, Time Travel, Not Everyone Dies au, Canon-Typical Violence, Fix-It, Hurt/Comfort, WWX/babie tendencies, WQ is a queen in any reality, Healing, Yunmeng Shuangjie, Canon Divergence, Asexual JC, First Time, Getting Together, BAMF JC, BAMF LWJ, WWX finds new ways to be oblivious, seriously it surprised even us)

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14. Hi!!! I am looking for a fic where wei wuxian travels back in time but tries to kill himself to avoid all the tragedy that happened to his loved ones. Please help me find this one!!!

FOUND? (Un)Hidden truth by Sarah_R (M, 198k, wangxian, major character death, graphic depictions of violence, characters watching their show, characters watching the future, watching the future, Time Travel Fix-It, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Suicide Attempt, On the first chapter, Suicidal Thoughts, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, Nightmares, Self-Harm, dark, fluff, Angst, LWJ best husband, WWX needs all the love and hugs in the world, and he gets it, WWX Protection Squad, The juniors are literally the light of the show, WQ best sister, YZY and JFM will realize what an absolute shit they’ve been, Character Development, Sentient Burial Mounds, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Except the people who deserve to, WIP)

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15. Fic I'm looking for: a royalty au, LWJ POV, LWJ is the prince, it's a one shot, WWX and LWJ are friends or at least have a close relationship throughout. I don't remember what status WWX is but I know for sure he's not a servant cuz there is pass in the fic where LWJ says WWX helps the palace staff even though he doesn't have to. WWX basically acts as a waiter for a little bit during this royal ball and that's where the confession happens in front of everyone. Not Desiderium. Thank you so much

FOUND? How to propose to the love of your life in one simple step by CloudyInk (G, 6k, WangXian, Royalty, LXC is King, Prince LWJ, General WWX)

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16. Hello, this is the first time I do not know if this info will be enough. I read a modern au short fic before in which wwx have a terrible eye sight and memory. Every time he goes to Lan house he will go somewhere different from what he is looking for. Like he is supposed to go to a restroom but ended up in a kitchen. Lan Qiren then said to LWJ that his boyfriend might be a thief because he is always found somewhere he did not say he will go. Then when lqr visited lwj and wwx's house, he found out that wwx got lost even to his own house. Like he cannot even find the mug and lwj has to say where it is. Lwj then said to lqr that it is because wwx got into an accident when he was a child, the same day he lost his parents. That is the reason for his terrible memory and eye sight. After that, lqr became soft to wwx. And every time Wangxian visited the Lan house. He will help wwx find what he is looking for.

Thank youuu @yunshenlianhua

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17. Hii mods , can you help me find this fics

A) it's time travel but here WWX gave up on cultivation world while whole cultivation world needs his help to defeat wen ruohan....?? I guess everyone is back from past ?? Now sure

B) I don't know where I read this fic ...and don't knew if fic like this exists where after Wuxian's death he is in ghost city but in child form with having same mind as child he later get adopted by hualian they raise him once again he remember nothing till the day in his (new )16 year old body he sees the newly ascended God lwj

C) I don't remember much but I guess it mpreg and has twin lsz n Jingyi but they have lwj because he is busy ? Or just not there with them..I am confused

Sry to ask this many at once but help me ..this half reads are living rent free in my mind @selflovingmedj

17A)

FOUND? The Line Between Good and Evil by Dandelion_sama (G, 34k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, What-If, Rebirth, Time Travel, kind of Mass Reborn, reverse uno, Canon-Typical Violence, WIP)

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18. Hey! Do you remember a fic where a-yuan gets sick and WWX brings him to the cloud recesses for treatment? There was a heart wrenching scene where wwx asked the lan sect to take a-yuan in and raise him. I can't seem to find it. Thanks in advance!

FOUND! the kite string and the anchor rope by fleurdeliser (M, 38k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, set after the yiling date, Sick Child, the illness never gets worse than it is in the first 1000 words)

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19. hi! I'm looking for a case/curse fic, post-canon/getting together - which features wangxian & the gusu lan/juniors solving a case in a cursed town. iirc, the curse is related to a wish granting ritual at a yearly festival, and i believe lwj had visited this festival before in the previous year and wished for wwx's return. thank you! @patchworkpotatoes

FOUND! 爱不释手; never let me go by yiqie (E, 68k, WangXian, Case Fic, Blood and Injury, Demons, Body Horror)

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20. Hi! I'm here for fic finder request. I'm sure I bookmark the story but couldn't find it. It was set in the Cloud Recesses study arc where Wei Ying grow up with the Lan. Wangxian is engaged with each other. I remember that Jin Zixuan was jealous when Jiang Yanli and Wei Ying start to get close while they were in cloud recesses. Nie Huaisang told Jin Zixuan and Jiang Cheng that WX are engaged and they were shocked because they thought wangxian are cousins. Sorry if my explanation is a mess and I hope you can help me find it. Thank you! @mayuchi96

FOUND! what a strange life by dass22 (dass15) (T, 26k, wangxian, JYL/JZX, Canon Divergence, Fluff, Friendship, POV Alternating, mostly from JC pov tho)

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#wangxian #mdzs #wangxian fic finder #wangxian fic search #the untamed #wangxianficfinder #long post

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runningwithfangs · 2 months

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Vampire Chronicles Book Review/Rant #1

Interview with the Vampire

Overall:

I mean, what can I say, it’s the OG. It’s what started it all, it’s pretty dang good. It’s just a little odd how the whole book is in speech quotes because it’s almost all Louis speaking, but I got used to it after a while. So dramatic, so melancholy.

I didn’t realize that Louis and Lestat actually fight each other, the violence is brief and not very graphic, but it’s there.

Claudia’s arc of becoming a grown-up is so good, the way Louis describes it, she’s playing with dolls one day, and reading advanced literature the next, the way something in her expression changes over the decades, where one day he has to come to terms that she is not a child, and has not been for some time. Also, her murdering Lestat was a bit too “super easy, barely an inconvenience” even though she very thoroughly thought it out, but still.

The Théâtre des Vampires vampires are kinda gross. The way Armand paralyzes/hypnotizes Claudia so he can talk to Louis is so creepy.

OMG Lestat getting dragged in for a “trial” and Louis begging him to defend their murder attempt by basically admitting he was a piece of shit to them is WILD.

Louis’s grief is so real, if you take him at his word (which, in this book, I suppose we should) he was stuck with a demanding, rude maker, the small attempt they made at a “human” life was so short-lived and they all ended up worse for it, making vampire friends is hard because vampires are largely gross and violent, his daughter was murdered, and the one guy who crushed on him didn’t stop the murder of his daughter and the love died out over the decades. So, not a lot of fun to be found (in human or vampire activities). Louis seems so lost and I did feel bad for him.

It makes sense he’d wish to warn the world, but I’m kinda with Daniel though, Louis, baby, you did it wrong, I’d be out there dancing in Paris, swimming in the Caribbean, falling in love with vampires and humans, eating child predators, like, having a time! Clearly I too learned nothing.

Favorites:

Louis giving his neighbor Girl Boss advice once her dumb brother got himself killed in a duel so she wouldn’t lose her money and societal standing.

Claudia! Everything from her yelling at her parents to making Madeline build her a mini room in the hotel room complete with tiny rocking chairs and tiny gowns.

Louis burning down the Théâtre and slicing anyone that tried to come at him. It’s not just cool and exciting, but it’s written well! I get confused by written action scenes easily, and this didn’t feel confusing.

Least Favorites:

The plantation. I mean, Lestat feeding on the enslaved people there, it’s . . .uncomfortable, to say the least.

Louis and Armand being together but Louis clearly being very done with Armand but just stringing him along while Armand shittily tires to cheer him up/make him feel anything again is sad and anticlimactic for a book filled with so much adventure/chaos/action/death.

Smutt:

Claudia asking Louis about what sex used to be like and Louis freaking out about it was so funny to me.

Armand and Louis’ little date at the top of the tower! Armand trying to tell Louis about Venice and his master who loved him, Louis barreling past Venice to be all wait you loved someone else :( OMG Louis, pay attention!

Nonsense Meter:

Pretty low, I think the most nonsense part was Santiago imitating everything Louis did like some kind of mime.

Misc:

The whole thing with the revenants and the peasants using the horses to find what graves held vampires was really interesting. I’m nearing the end of the VC series and still wondering if these revenants will ever show up again.

#interview with the vampire #louis de pointe du lac #iwtv #vampire chronicles #book review

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kimbureh · 10 months

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TBB S2E13 Pabu, Active Duty Makes You Passive

Oh I loved this episode. Wrecker is just so precious when he makes the flirting between Tech and Phee for the first time a topic of conversation by pointing out Shep as Tech's competition. I mean, Wrecker lacks both the inhibition to voice such a thought AND is empathic enough to clearly see what's going on and correctly diagnose Tech's concerns.

Tech is clearly interested in Phee, and Phee is perceptive enough to notice her advances are reciprocated despite Tech's restrained mannerism. I wonder how this attraction feels to Tech, since he so far spent basically all his life surrounded by soldiers, and mostly soldiers who are fellow clones. With military duties not allowing for much free time to mingle with civilians, having so much interaction with Phee surely is A First for Tech in many ways.

A military army is a social cosmos of its own, and historically, the men within it have dealt with the constraints of it in a number of ways. Once they leave the military environment, be it temporary or permanently, their own otherness can starkly snap into focus. The military is a high pressure environment that regulates almost all aspects of a person's expression in one way or the other. With this limitation comes paradoxically the 'freedom' from making choices. When you don't have any options, you don't need to put any effort into choosing.

The Bad Batch struggles with exactly this when they have to source supplies on their own after the war, when it's on them (and specifically Hunter) to decide what to do and where to go. The Batch is used to make snap decisions on a chaotic battlefield; they are not used to organize the trajectory of their lives, or even gather provisions on their own. That's why they cling to Cid for that. Or they did, until now.

The step towards autonomy is especially key to Tech's arc in this episode, since his passivity stabilizes the already crumbling squad. And it makes sense in a military context: You stick to your duty and wait until the situation changes or new orders come in. In the past, this strategy must have served Tech very well, for he sticks to it for two seasons now despite the continuously diminished return on investment.

But back to Phee and Tech's interest in her. Wrecker's "You've got some competition" is what makes Tech acutely aware of his own passivity. He's got no protocol on how to engage romantically with anybody, let alone a civilian. And now he has competition! Tech needs to become active, otherwise he might lose what he didn't really have to begin with. The romance subplot with Phee is central to finally lure Tech into proactivity instead of passively enduring the Batch aimlessly drift through the galaxy. If (When) Tech chooses Phee, he will inevitably challenge Hunter's leadership, and I'm up for it.

(pls no season 2 spoilers, I haven't fully watched it yet)

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nobodysdaydreams · 6 months

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THE SI-5 WILL PAY FOR THEIR SINS IF I HAVE TO WRITE THE FIC FOR IT MYSELF! BLESSIE WILL BE AVENGED! (or my reaction to episodes 32-34 and mini episode 5 of Wolf359)

Sorry (again) for the delay, but I did warn you my schedule would be very inconsistent. Thank you everyone for your patience. At least I was able to finish these notes tonight.

Tagging the mutuals who got me invested in this, and if you want to be tagged or untagged from these posts, lmk, or you can follow my blog or simply follow the tag "#bods wolf359 reactions". Anyone who has followed me for a while knows my updates are inconsistent, so I apologize in advance for that and for any spelling/grammar mistakes in my posts.

@sophieswundergarten @oflightningandstars @acollectionofcuriousreblogs @herawell @commsroom

Episode 32: Controlled Demolition

I'm reacting to this while doing chores, so sorry if this is super brief. Hopefully it's not too plot heavy.

Have I mentioned I hate Kepler? Honestly the worst. I don't trust any of them.

Let's see...not a fan of Jacobi either. Of course I don't like Hilbert or his Decima project (which btw, it was very nice of the virus to not attack and kill Doug during his 100+ days alone in space without Hilbert keeping him stable). But Jacobi clearly doesn't know what he's doing, leave the dangerous chemicals alone!

Also the whole idea of Doug keeping someone on task...hilarious. Makes you wonder why Kepler REALLY gave him this assignment. Maybe to keep Doug distracted.

And then Maxwell. Looks like she has an interest in AI that's not entirely hostile, but at the end of the day, she's still working for the bad guys. When push comes to shove, she's gonna have to chose between Hera and Doug and Cutter and his errand boys. But I guess I hate her the least right now out of the three. She at least detected that Hera was in pain and is trying to do something. I hate to applaud someone for doing the bare minimum but that’s where we’re at I guess.

And Hera...you could have told Doug. He would understand. He's your friend.

I feel so bad for Hera. I just know they're gonna install some program in her that forces her to hurt her friends. It's only a matter of time.

Also, of course Kepler wants to play chess. That's the most villain thing ever, threatening someone over a chess board. Just once, I want to see a villain use a less ominous board game just to be funny. Like imagine Kepler with a nice Whisky in his hands mulling over a game of "Chutes and Ladders" or “Candyland”. It would be funny. Well at least Kepler embraces the villain aesthetic.

Though it's interesting: command doesn't know where the two years of Lovelace's life went. Or at least they claim. Now I'm curious. Was it the aliens? Is Lovelace a robot clone after all? Maybe Doug was right yet again!

A liability? Fire when ready? Oh my gosh is Jacobi gonna shoot Lovelace? Or Hilbert?

What was that?

Nice of Dr. Maxwell to make sure Hera wasn't in pain. But um...what did they just destroy on the Hephaestus? Another secret lab?

Oh my gosh. Just from the way Doug says the word "is". I've pause the episode but they better not have. THEY BETTER NOT HAVE.

If they did I'm gonna go insane.

NO.

THOSE BASTARDS.

USED TO BE?

BLESSIE DID NO HARM HE DIDN'T ASK TO BE CREATED! HE DIDN'T ASK TO BE BORN AND HE WASN'T PUTTING ANYTHING IN JEPORDY! HE WAS A GENTLE SOUL. 🥺

JACOBI AND KEPLER HAVE FORFITTED THEIR RIGHTS TO REDEMPTION ARCS. CUTTER'S ERRAND BOYS DESERVE NOTHING. 😠

Mixed feelings about Maxwell. At least she helped Hera but...she did it so they could kill Blessie. I still don't trust her.

"It's just business" WELL GUESS WHAT KEPLER? Maybe my business is about to become writing 500 fics where the plant monster eats you! How do ya like them apples?

You all knew this was coming didn't you? You, person reading this right now. You saw my love of the plant monster and hate for SI-5 and smiled to yourself. You've been waiting haven't you? Well dear readers. Here it is. I hope it was all worth it to you. Because for the rest of my Wolf359 reactions, I'm gonna have nothing but hate and contempt for Cutter's errand boys and their stupid chess games and inability to properly inspect a chemical lab.

Episode 33: Don't Poke the Bear

Yeah Hilbert, Doug is allowed to be mad at you. Just because there are worse devils in the world than you doesn't make you an angel.

Hey that's actually a pretty good quote. Good for me.

"You won't even know I'm here". You know Kepler, if you threw yourself out of the airlock, then you wouldn't be here at all, you plant murdering psychopath. I hope you drown in your own Whisky.

And stop talking. And slurping.

Never thought I'd support Hilbert, but Here. We. Are.

Kepler. What kind of childish power trip is this?

Oh ew. Jacobi. Maybe you can help Kepler out the airlock.

Wait...are they trying to tell them how to do this? ARE JACOBI AND MAXWELL BETRAYING KEPLER? Or is this all part of some grand scheme? Jacobi still shot Blessie, so even if he is helping them, I really don't care, and I don’t believe it.

Oh ew Kepler. You don't get to call Hilbert out. THAT'S MY JOB. You forfeited that right when you shot Blessie.

And stop pretending to care about Doug.

"Mr. Ballistics Dummy" okay Jacobi. "Mr. Errand Boy" it is.

Yeah Kepler seems pretty paranoid.

"I'd kill for five minutes in the achieves without red tape" "She's being metaphorical" ...why do I not believe that...

And Jacobi...you seem unusually calm and laid back about this. Why do I think this is all you trying to trap them?

"Just because we do awful things doesn't mean we have to like it". YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING. You're still morally responsible. Forgive me if a few tears shed over those you killed doesn’t cut it.

"This empty coffee cup outranks you" Kepler I hope one day your Whisky glass outranks you.

No decima research? Oh my goodness what a surprise! Command doesn't care about you Hilbert! Who could have seen this coming? Oh my gosh evil people stab each other in the back, I could have nevvvveeeerrrrr seen that one coming. 🙄

"He can be very...enthusiastic when it comes to guarding his secrets" Oh I bet.

THE WHISKEY SPEECH IS A ROUTINE SPEECH HE GIVES?

Kepler really is discount Cutter.

Ah...grand scheme it seems. I knew I was right to put Jacobi on my hit list. And Maxwell, it seems you're interested in joining the party. Welcome, welcome.

They didn't even deliver their letters? Man they are embracing the villain aesthetic.

"Kepler is manipulating you." Of course he is.

Solid advice Hilbert. "Don't trust me. But don't trust him either."

IT GREW HIS FINGERNAILS BACK?

Oh my. This is big. But then why does Cutter want to shut it down? Is he so against doing good that he won't do a good thing for society even if it will make him famous and considered a good guy for curing a ton of stuff? He really is the worst.

Episode 34: A Matter of Perspective

People need to be nicer to Doug. He has the least blood on his hands. And every time Jacobi and Kepler talk I lose brain cells. "I do evil but it's necessary" yeah, except it's not. It's literally not. What's wrong with you?

I don't care about the stupid superpowered three-legged pig.

Oh my gosh HE IS STILL GOING.

...

He can't even remember the punchline. Pathetic.

More music! 🎶🎶🎶

...They have board games?

Ugh. Pryce and Carter again. "The existential terror that is funzo."

Why is that in the manual? And if it is, why bring it to space? This raises so many questions.

Well at least it's not chess. Though it's no "Chutes and Ladders". Or “Candyland”.

Have I mentioned I hate SI-5 yet? Poor Doug.

Oh my gosh is this more funzo? Is the game even real?

"Hidden inwardness card"? "Time Vortex?" What sort of old-timey board game is this? Loyalty round? Wheel of ages? Sunken Idol? Celestial Steps?

At least Hera seems to like it. Did they bring it for the AIs? To keep them entertained?

WHAT IS THIS GAME. 😂

IS HILBERT THE REF? 😂 Oh my gosh he is being tortured.

Okay Jacobi and Kepler have history. But here's the thing Jacobi. There's a difference between a coach that pushes you to do your best on a football team, and a known murderer who pushes you to become a murderous psychopath.

WHY DO YOU TRUST HIM WITH YOUR LIFE JACOBI? He's crazy. Nutso. Why would you blow up Doug for him?

Oh. A forbidden picture of Doug. Maybe that's private. It does make me wonder about his past though...

"Reality Storm".

...ooohhhh... the "Golden Loyalty Card". How fancy.

I hope Pryce and Carter had fun designing the game. Sound like they really had a good time with it.

"I never wanted to be up here in space" well, then WHY ARE YOU HERE? WHY ARE YOU GIVING IT EVERYTHING?

"Kepler is gone" oh that's such a stupid cop out. "The old me died" nah, you're still here you're just making terrible life choices.

"Jacobi's a smart man" No, not really.

Oh great the pig joke.

Hahaha...that's not funny you psycho. That's not funny at all. It’s also clearly a metaphor for them. A slow death doesn’t make it any less of a murder.

Oh there's more? Is it just me or are the episodes getting longer.

It's his birthday again! And Christmas! Well, this is nice. They remembered this time. 🥰

"The same thing I do every night. I get older". Don't we all Doug. Don't we all.

Mini Episode 5: Long Story Short

What is the Argentinian incident?

Well I guess we'll never know.

Oh flashback land.

Yikes Kepler really seems to like to tell stories. HE HAD A FUNK BAND? HABERDASHERS? WHAT?

Well I guess even cold hearted villains need hobbies. Charges of insider trading? Saw Maxwell's feet? Okay that one was weird. What's out there in the woods? "I don't remember anything from 1987?" ...why are these silly stories getting more ominous.

Is that it? Yikes that really was short. Really short did I miss something? Okay, well I guess that's it.

Kepler should have stayed with his funk band. Maybe then he wouldn't be on my airlock launching list.

Thanks for reading dear readers. See you soon!

#bods wolf359 reactions #hera wolf 359 #renee minkowski #isabel lovelace #daniel jacobi #alana maxwell #warren kepler #wolf 359 #W359 #w359 #hera w359 #doug eiffel #alexander hilbert

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bonefall · 1 year

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I was wondering about some of the PO3 cast and what their personalities will be like in the rewrite. Firstly, Poppyfrost; I've seen a lot of people complain about her being initially described as "fearless" only for that to be forgotten as soon as she had kits so she could turn into a generic, constantly worrying mom. I wonder what you have planned for her in the rewrite besides the relationship with Jayfeather. Also Cinderheart, since so much of her canon story was based on the weird ableist reincarnation arc, and finally Heathertail, who kind of gets dropped by the plot in canon after falling out with Lionblaze but is supposed to have a more important role in your rewrite.

Been sitting on this ask for a bit because I didn't have a good answer at the time, and sat on it until the newest reworks came up so now I have more solid ideas

Poppyfrost

I have a solid trait that I want to work with; Bonefall Poppyfrost dislikes getting involved in conflict. There's plenty of argumentative, brave cats around her who are going to be arguing with Bramblestar in particular and having large opinions on the direction the Clan is turning in, so I want to make sure there are more "neutral" cats and Poppyfrost feels right to me.

I think she's inquisitive. She likes learning and knowing the truth about things, but isn't fond of battles and debates. What she likes about Jayfeather is that he speaks his mind; and their outdoorsy, practical natures mesh very well together. She is probably one of the people who helps with his garden.

She only gets involved in conflict after TBC, when Cherryfall and Berrynose die pointlessly and she can't stay quiet anymore

She's still a bit of a WIP, though it seems like the direction she's currently leaning in is going to have that "fearlessness" be less about being brave and more about being curious.

Cinderheart

I have another ask I'm going to answer about why I've given her BPD because it's an interesting story; but without getting into the process of why we chose her, Cinderheart is getting that reincarnation plotline utterly removed and replaced with a story more based on how she handles her emotions

I don't have a full story yet here; just the knowledge of the sorts of scenes I want to write and the interactions she has with others

Cinderheart's role in the story is as a major supporting character in the slice-of-life-esque Po3, and later she's the mother of Dovewing and Ivypool in OotS. I initially planned for her and Lionblaze to be a romantic couple, but their chemistry hasn't really clicked yet so I'm considering them being... something else

Jaypaw comes up with the water therapy for her broken leg while he's a warrior apprentice (foreshadowing that he's an incredible medic), but Lionpaw is the one who helps push her through it

They adopt Jay and Poppy's kits together, less as mates and more because they want their siblings to still access the kittens. They come into conflict later as Jay and Lion push them into harm's way, and in AVoS, Cinderheart has Lionblaze's litter (Hollylark, not sure what siblings they're keeping) and is tentative about letting him be involved with their early childhoods.

I would also like to make sure she gets advancement unrelated to just Lionblaze and her children, too, though it's going to end up being a big part of her as only a supporting character. She will probably end up becoming an above-average, very reliable warrior

Heathertail

Heathertail is going to have a bigger role in AVoS. It was a massive waste that she's the child Onestar acknowledges and she has no noteworthy feelings about Darktail

Even Onestar's Confession just has Heather and White go, "it is bad you lied but we forgive you :)"

Heather is going to get wrapped up in the Kin somehow and Darktail is going to hurt her in some way. This is going to be tied to the way Onestar refuses to help ShadowClan when they really need the aid. Breezepelt is going to do something to save her, turning against the Kin to save multiple cats.

Through Po3, OotS, and AVoS, Heathertail struggles with the idea of serving her Clan and father over doing what's right. She considers what she wants to do with her legacy and the purpose of forgiveness, and what these things mean to her.

She's brave, assertive, and calculating. I think this will work well with Breezepelt, who's also brave and assertive, but rash and emotional.

With these three I have a good opportunity to set them up, because Po3, OotS, and AVoS is the point in Warriors where we get a consistent cast for several books and I'm willing to go even further to yank the POVs away from completely new characters. All of them will get dedicated "episodes" in Po3.

#Bonefall Rewrite #Cinderheart #Heathertail #Poppyfrost #Bonefall Po3 #Bonefall OotS #Bonefall AVoS #Breezepelt #Lionblaze #Jayfeather

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lisannastraussisanangel · 11 months

Note

Actually screeching like a goddamn pterodactyl about your Aquarius & Lucy headcanons, their friendship is way too underrated in this fandom! You have no idea how happy that post made me like— 🥲🥲

I apologise in advance if it seems like I’m coming on a little strong but I have many feelings about these two, like I gobble up every tidbit of Aquarius & Lucy I can get, I’m not even kidding I’ve read every single fic on ff.net AND AO3 about them.

On a side, and very much angstier, note… do you think the spirits could’ve felt Future Lucy dying during the GMG arc? Or if they could like sorta see into the human world via some kind of mirror-lake thing? Cos if so that would be hella angsty (I’m actually still kinda pissed Loke had an almost zero reaction to Lucy dying right in front of him when he’d pledged his life to her like ?? I have so. many. pent up rants about this anime you will not believe) and I’d be so eager to hear your thoughts on it!

Side side note: Loke’s cat ears are fucking adorable and I screech every time I see them 🐱

Oh and I know you’ve touched on it a little bit already, but if you have any headcanons about Aquarius during significant moments like post-Eclipse Celestial Spirits arc or perhaps a little immediately after her key was broken, since we almost never get to see the spirits’ POV, I’d be so excited to hear them! Pretty much anything Aquarius and Lucy haha (I’m sorry if I’m coming on a little strong). I’m actually so addicted to angst lol (but that’s not to say I don’t love a good ol’ heaping tablespoon of fluff!)

I love all your headcanons very much and re-read them whenever I need a smile! Keep up the good work!

I'm really glad you enjoy my posts! You are totally fine btw! I love hearing y 'all's thoughts on ft!

Don't get me started on Loke lol, I feel like he has so much potential and is just thrown to the side. Especially cause it seems like he only has one personality trait nowadays :(

As for the spirit world, it's pretty confusing in the canon how it works cause of the weird time thing. But my idea of how it works is that the spirits can sense certain things about their masters. Like they can feel when she's in danger and know when to jump out and save her. I also assume that only works if they have a strong bond. Like Loke couldn't sense Karen dying but can feel everything with Lucy. (kinda like that comment he makes the first time he fights with Lucy about how it's weird that he can pass through so easily.) But I also think that means Aquarius can no longer feel Lucy and is constantly stressed about if she's okay or not. (I also imagine the king has like a weird mirror lake thing he can look through. King perks, you know?)

I wonder if the bond would be different between Future!Lucy and the spirits. Loke seemed just as surprised as the rest of them by the Lucy reveal but that doesn't mean he didn't feel something weird when Future!Lucy showed up. I bet they could feel like a faint trace of a second Lucy but probably ignored it cause that doesn't make sense. (I really have no idea. What a head scratcher...)

I have another couple Lucy and Aquarius posts coming soon so I'm gonna hold off on throwing any on here (for space reasons) but imagine the angst of Aquarius desperately wanting to help Lucy because she keeps seeing her spirits leave and come back wounded, but there's nothing she can do and the spirits wont give her any info because they know she'll just freak out worse. Imagine Aquarius begging the Spirit King to let her watch what's happening and praying that Lucy doesn't get seriously hurt or die. (this isn't exactly inspired by any fight in particular.) I love angst so much... Maybe I should write a fic lmao

#Sorry i didn't add any headcanons #im just worried about the length of the post being a nightmare to read #btw this is me feeling bad about how much i wrote not about how much you wrote #i really loved hearing your thoughts :)#anon #fairy tail #lucy heartfilia #fairy tail aquarius

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im-overstimulated-and-im-sad · 7 days

Note

Hi Kerry, here are some Nice Ask Weeks questions for you!!

1. What about TK’s character interested you the most in exploring his backstory, and what made you decide to explore what it would have been like had he had a little sister?☺️

2. If we were to get a flashback in s5 to a point in TK’s life, at what age would you prefer the flashback to be set?

3. What about the show made you join the fandom and is this the first fandom you’ve been in?:)

I wish you a wonderful weekend🌼☺️🌼☺️

Hi Mar! 😍💝

Oh my.... first off, I want to apologize for how unhinged the answer to this question might get and also in advance if I give you a bunch of information you didn't want- The biggest reason is the cliche reason of write the fic you yourself would want to read. I came into the LS fandom when season three had just aired, and I adored TK and Owen's relationship in the first season, and the third season did this SO dirty - like there were literally so many times they could have, should have included a scene for them and just didn't- and because of this/the Gwyn stuff, when I went looking for sweet Strand family feels fic, if it didn't have a publication date of 2020, was some version of, "Gwyn is the ONLY parent TK has ever known and Owen was not there for TK once, IN HIS LIFE, they were basically STRANGERS the day TK didn't come to work and Owen clocked that as something being wrong - and I respect everyone's right to write whatever fic they want. I would never tell any of those writers I didn't agree with them, because they had their opinion and I had mine (also I'm sorry I make way too many references, please throw something at me) but in the show The Good Wife, there's a judge who makes every lawyer preface their statements with "in my opinion" and I was like is that a nifty idea! Because I'm not going to say my take on their relationship is THE right one because it's just how I see it. Before I started my long fic I was just writing cute Strand family stories that are shorter because I didn't find those, so I wrote them. Also (and there is a very long, unhinged post that I don't think I'll ever be brave enough to write about how much it grinds my gears they killed Gwyn off) but I truly hate that they killed her off, I don't think it was the right decision or that it has served TK's character arc, and also, I think Gwyn and Owen are such strong characters and they both love their family so fiercely. Which brings us to the cliched reasons - the things of write what you know and only you could write this fic this way, I was like pfft so made up, and then I spent a year writing a fic over 200,000 words with no end in sight about children of divorce who felt very loved by their parents... and realized that yes, this was written by a child of divorce who felt very loved by her parents. Like in the show, I was also seven when my parents divorced (albeit for a much, much more cliched of a reason) and something that I really strongly see and relate to is that despite what has happened, TK loves and has always felt loved by his parents, and has never had to question that. It doesn't mean they haven't let him down and it doesn't mean that everything's perfect- it's like an early episode of Scrubs where their parents all visit and Dr. Cox tells JD, "Every one of our parents does considerable emotional damage". This is very true, and (I swear I'm trying to be concise and just failing) and I know that so many people's parents fail their kids in this respect and they don't get to have that relationship, but if you do have that bond that the Strands do and that love is never questioned (especially as TK has stated his parents were there for him any time he relapsed), then you look past the times they didn't measure up because they mean so much to you; and I really see that in TK's relationships with both his parents. And TK is just so sweet and so caring and if there are too many characters on TV that are an only child I will be like .... but what if they were a big brother/sister? (Me watching the first three years of teen wolf: why do none of them have brothers and sisters lol) Also because (this probable doesn't come as a surprise given that it's 50 chapters deep lol) writing TK as a big brother is really, really fun for me - because he would be the kid who was so excited his mom was having a baby and wanted to help as much as he could and tell his whole class it's his baby - TK Strand is a character that is very fun to write at any age

I would love to see a flashback to the beginning of his relationship with Alex; just because I'm so curious about what it was about Alex that made TK want to propose, (this would also be hard because it would be so different from his relationship with Carlos, but it's a very curious time to me)

It's the first fandom I've been in like this; probably yes, cause I don't think any other fandoms (like Teen Wolf) I was actively a part of like wrote for it- I did not expect to love this show this much - I'm a big parks and rec/west wing/outsiders fan and was like Rob Lowe as a dad- well sure- and then by the time the title card aired I was like "WHAT IS THIS SHOW" like it still amazes me how fleshed out almost every character is in the pilot/first season. Like - I hadn't written anything for 13 years before I started watching LS- but the characters they provided us with were too good to ignore

Thank you for the ask 🥰- and sorry I ramble too much 🫣🫣

#answered asks #nice ask week #911 lone star

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cavehags · 1 year

Note

bear w/ me bc i have been defending my choice to watch s1 to ppl all day and like…. i think the characters felt like people? like ted yelled at people (nate & jamie) everything was a clusterfuck and it felt… real? and now maybe two characters feel like real people, the rest are NPCs with weird dialogue. we have “main characters” and i couldn’t tell you what any of their storylines were at this point. what is ted even doing. everything is unmoored in a bad way

totally - i think s1 was really well constructed and mature and, as you said, invested in developing its characters as flawed and complicated people who are struggling to express and communicate and find support. roy and rebecca's arcs were fantastic in season one and it's sad to discover that those were the best their arcs are going to get... s1 roy was this genuinely tragic figure, a career athlete facing the end of his life as he's always known it and very nearly suicidally depressed over the thought of it coming to an end. opening his heart to keeley and to ted's coaching philosophy is the first time he's dared to crack himself open in a very, very long time. and s1 rebecca was so magnetic and fascinating, newly divorced and bitter as hell about the wasted years, trying to define herself by how she'll get revenge on her ex without realizing what a wonderful opportunity she has to add new connections and challenges to her life. those are good fucking stories! dark and heavy with the promise of hope. then add to that how pleasantly surprised i was by keeley and rebecca's friendship, how they help each other out by sharing the wisdom of their respective generations. and, yes, the foil relationship between roy and jamie felt fresh and exciting. i loved how the show wasn't precious with its characters - it let them fuck up - and it balanced comedy and drama well in those blissfully short episodes. using sports as the easiest metaphor in the world for success and failure, it got to the heart of these characters without ever feeling like it was trying to do too much.

unfortunately, since the second half of s2, it seems to me it's really been struggling to keep the focus on those small and personal stories. this season is worst of all because you can just tell the scripts are burdened by the pressure the writers are under to meet expectations for the conclusion now that the show is a monster hit. expanding the cast and allowing episodes to bloat to an hour just gets the show further away from those tight, intimate stories. and with the more scattered focus, the characters are becoming less themselves. roy has had zero arc this season and his reasons for his breakup with keeley - the most important thing to happen to him in two seasons - have only ever been implied. the lines that are coming out of his mouth are getting more and more shock-value disturbing, and while i think everyone has always enjoyed roy's violence, that was because its impact was tempered by how kind he was, too - he was a teddy bear with a gruff voice. this season, it feels like we haven't seen him do much but threaten to break into people's homes and beat them with a rope. i miss my guy :( and same goes for rebecca, whose fixation on this psychic feels like borderline bimbofication. why are we not advancing a meaningful story for her organically? why do we have to teach her a lesson about believing in fantasy? does it have to involve the promise of a husband and a baby? for a million reasons, i feel like the show has totally lost its way, and maybe these next four episodes will make me feel better about it but for now i miss the simple good writing of season one. fucking rip :(

#soccer show posting

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spicyicymeloncat · 2 years

Note

You replied to my post saying Nya never choice to become the water ninja I 100 percent agree that was traumatic plus that makes Wu I really bad person so wanna talk about it together

Yeah Nya was kinda forced into it. I don’t really blame Wu (sorry if you were hoping to trash him, you’re valid I just don’t hate wu that much tbh) because it’s not like he held Nya at gun point or anything (also Misako had as much part in it) and I’m sure Nya would have found out eventually but yeah it isn’t ideal. A lot of Nya’s plot is really interesting on how it explores her struggle to be independent and have control in her life. A lot of people say that she’s badly written because misogyny but in my humble opinion, I think that there’s a lot of unexpectedly decent feminist (intentional or not) commentary in her story.

Now I’m gonna use this as an excuse to ramble about Nya lol. I feel like I very much stray from your original point but ehh sorry abt that lol

Tl:dr - Nya has a lot of identity and self worth storylines as well a deterministic mindset and it’s cool to observe these themes that are present in literally all of the show

She’s a young girl who gets adopted into a highly male dominated family (she’s the only girl) and quickly adopts the mindset that she has to be better because of the need to prove herself in the face of sexism. By this I mean, she’s always getting singled out because she’s not a ninja (see: Wu asking her to stay home and watch Lloyd whilst the ninja do missions). I don’t think this literally means she didn’t feel part of the group because they were boys, it was because they were ninja but that could be a metaphor.

This leads her to make samurai X and we see that she is an incredibly talented and accomplished person. I used to wonder why she kept samurai X a secret, but I think it’s because by being samurai X, she could control her own actions and other people’s expectations of her. She could be a hero without people worrying about her safety, or her capability. Also this kinda makes sense as to why she was so competitive with the ninja

We also get reference to her need to be independent when it comes to Jay, who in s1 Snake Bit we establish that he overcompensates way too much, putting her on a pedestal and whilst it’s not like he expects much from her, he does have a perceived image of her that isn’t accurate or appreciated by her. She just wants him to be himself, so she can be herself as well. In season 3 we start off establishing how their relationship is flawed which then sets up their (admittedly awful) love triangle arc. Jay is still pretty clingy and Nya still needs her space. There’s no cool socio-political interpretation that makes Nya’s crush on Cole make sense. I mean maybe we can make it a metaphor for how ai and advance technology is kinda soulless and love compatibility is an overly romanticised endeavour and actual relationships don’t work like that. And Nya’s indecisiveness fits into the idea that she’s again forced to make decisions based on other people’s expectations?? And she still has very little control as she becomes a trophy wife essentially, like the prize to Jay and Cole’s contest. Kinda? Anyways…

And then we have s5 where the episode when she wore the green gi could be a nod to the fact that she was very much in the same shoes as the green ninja, an under-prepared hero with the power to save the world. Whilst yeah it isn’t great she was kinda rushed into the responsibility of the world, there’s also another moral to her arc, which is the subject of her true potential, her own impossible standards on herself and how she gives up easily.

Diverging into headcanon area but I like to think that both of Kai and Nya’s true potential are linked to the loss of their parents. Kai valued being the green ninja over everything else because he equates being a ninja to being able to protect his family ever since Nya was kidnapped and he had to become a ninja to save her. And so that translated to being obsessed with being a saviour and the best because if he wasn’t then he had to give up and the last thing he had to give up on was the idea that his parents were coming home. (Dunno if that made sense since I rushed that point but this isn’t abt Kai lol). Nya on the other hand gives up incredibly easily (or at least as soon as it gets hard). She felt she couldn’t be a hero alongside the ninja so she never even told them about samurai X. Instead of fully cutting off from Jay, she remains inactive in their relationship, slowing growing distant from him. Going back to my point abt s1, she seems to hold herself to a certain standard, which I feel like is a valid observation of gender in our society today. Don’t mind me getting a little political but women are held to very strict standards. There were many things women can’t do and no one ever agrees on what, women can’t be too boisterous, or rowdy, and they also can’t be too uptight or safe because then they’re boring. I think even feminist ideology contributes to this to an extent, in our own version of toxic masculinity, the idea that a woman has to be a strong independent woman because otherwise she’s giving in to the patriarchy. Specifically I mean when girls say “I’m not like other girls” and swear off make up, and feel like they have to be un-girly. It’s not that being girly or un-girly is an issue, it’s that people feel like they have to be a certain way because the other way is wrong. And Nya holds unnecessary standards to herself, and it’s only when she allows herself to be messy, unregulated, when she’s not competing to be better than the ninja or better than herself, she’s able to achieve her true potential. And whilst Wu is kinda annoying, I can believe that he’s just trying to prepare her for what’s to come, that sometimes there are no right choices (heyy I’m quoting Seabound).

AND THEN we get season 6. A beautiful Nya season. Yeah I said it, I think s6 is not only a good season, but a good season specifically for Nya. Because that first ep where she was getting judged by the media because she’s the girl ninja, is incredibly real in comparison to real life. Ninjago is a world which happens to have to same gendered standards and sexism that our world does and I don’t think it’s portrayed awfully. So Nya faces heavy critique from the public because flat out sexism, and Jay has the knowledge that she and him are literally fated to date(d). Nya explains to him at the lighthouse that she’s not dating him because it feels like she doesn’t have control of her life, she was always just an add on to someone else’s story like Kai or Jay and she’s even been forced to be the water ninja with powers she didn’t earn, only inherited. But at the end of the lighthouse ep she sacrifices herself again for the world. And importantly she puts her faith into someone else. She’s spent a lot of her screen time trying to battle it out to be independent and separate and self sufficient and self orientated, that she didn’t let anyone in. Yeah she is strong and independent but that doesn’t mean she’s not allowed to rely on ANYONE. It’s important to let others carry the burden sometimes.

Her last words in the finale of Skybound is really telling. She tells Jay that he should use his final wish at the cost of losing her, that she “never wanted to be part of the boy’s club anyways”. She’s accepted she needs to sacrifice herself, and that she still thinks she’s not really a part of the “boy’s club”. She then states that the “greatest love stories always end in tragedy” which shows how pre existing expectations (yeah I feel like I’ve said that too much) have shaped her deterministic mindset, that she isn’t fated to get her happy ending. And I choose to interpret the final wish as Jay being like “no you do get a happy ending I’m going to bend the laws of time and space because you deserve a break”. Also the title “Skybound” is also symbolic because it doesn’t just reference Jay and his powers, or Nadakhan’s floating djinnjago, but how Jay and Nya were technically bound because of Jay’s future thing and also how Nya was bound and restricted herself. Seabound also has similar symbolism but I’ll get to that.

Okay okay s7 is great because we get Nya and Kai’s parents. Tbh s7’s writing is a little weak imo, just cuz the hands of time were really under developed like they only wanted to take over Ninjago so that Krux could prevent the invention of the Borg watch??? But I think it’s nice to note that Kai and Nya’s respective attachment to their powers as seen in s11, might be because it’s one of their only connections to their parents. Their powers are not only symbolic of their connection to Ray and Maya but are also the reason they were able to save them at the end by making the dragon. I’ll go into more detail about Maya and Nya when I talk about Seabound.

Nya is also forced to kinda put her own misgivings and be a brave face for Lloyd in s9. Her brother, her boyfriend and two of her bestest friends were thought dead and she had to be strong for Lloyd. And it’s pretty amazing and she deserves the world! She’s someone who’s gone through so much loss in her life time but she just makes do and moves on. When she had no parents she and Kai looked after themselves on their own, when she couldn’t be a ninja she made herself a mech, when the ninja split up and then went missing on Chen’s island she was rebuilding the bounty and then infiltrated said island. She’s very cool is all I’m saying.

Also a moment of appreciation for how Nya and Jay’s relationship is incredibly different in s10 onwards in comparison to s1-3. Now their dynamic is that Jay doesn’t try as hard to be impressive for her, and she’s allowed to be a big strong gf who somehow keeps catching him from falling or getting injured. We get to see Nya reciprocating and CHOOSING to be Jay’s partner rather than it being Jay who initiates all the time. It’s much healthier and it’s a reflection of how they have both individually and jointly grown as people.

Something I’d say about Nya’s writing is that maybe her arcs are a little too consistent. She is constantly CONSTANTLY having to prove herself. In s11 she has to learn to control the ice in the never realm, in s13 she has to defeat the queen of the munce and assert her dominance as leader of the munce, and in Seabound she has to defend her right as the water elemental. #giveNyaABreak2022 for real. Like we know she’s badass but my god enemies are always underestimating her. Bringing back the feminist commentary but this is again, in line with the narrative that people always underestimate women or even women underestimate themselves. That’s all I got to say on this point.

Seabound is such a good season (I’m halfway through rewatching it - I stopped because I got sad at the merlopian king’s death). We get to see Nya’s independence conflict resurface as she struggles with an overbearing mother who has a specific way of doing things. It’s worth noting that Maya acts like the very traditional stereotype of what a woman should be. She’s calm, collected, motherly, wants to do housework and baby other people, a stickler for rules and manners etc. Note: there is nothing wrong with just happening to fulfil a stereotype, stereotypes are only bad when people expect that groups of people have to fulfil the stereotype purely because they belong to a certain group. Maya is allowed to like cleaning or whatever, it’s only sexist writing if we said that only women like cleaning or she only does it because woman (and she’s like the only woman who acts particularly this way, the other female characters aren’t part of the same mold so imo this is fine). However the fact that Maya does fulfil the homely wife/mother archetype adds to Nya’s own feminist narrative. Nya has basically spent her life trying to defy the expectation that she needs to calm or nice as well put together as her mother and in the season we quickly see that Nya is also trying to defy being like her mother. Nya is her own person who’s gone through different struggles than her mother and Nya doesn’t need to be like her. But it turns out that they share a crucial similarity in that they’ve both faced some really hard decisions. Maya had to abandon her family to save them and at the end of Seabound, so does Nya. In Seabound, the very powers that stripped Nya of her role as samurai are now forcing her to give up her form and her life to save the world. The whole “that’s just how the cookie crumbles” mindset is pretty consistent with Nya is s6. And the title Seabound is very appropriate because of how she’s literally bound to her powers and had to give up her life for them. And..

Spoilers for Crystalized

…we get to see the other ninja defy the impossible to get her back. In crystalized, Nya realised she wants to be herself (again that on going theme of her identity) and wants to be with her family, so much that she’d give her powers and status as the water ninja (which used to be her greatest fear). Her powers as the water ninja represented her need to be better, it represents her journey to become a powerful warrior, but maybe she’ll learn that she was always powerful and strong even without her powers and that she’s allowed to choose herself especially since she has a family of ninja who will break the law for her. I think I’m rambling now but I think you get the point.

Tbh I’m gonna miss her as a ninja and I’ll be happy if she ends up reclaiming her water powers at some point, but rn, a return to samurai x does feel like a logical next step. (I mean maybe I’m just too liberal, I’ll be happy whatever happens to her because at least she’s still kicking right?) Anyways I love Nya and more people should appreciate her! Also more people should appreciate that her story definitely tackles some very real experiences in terms of sexism, I don’t think it did a bad job at that either!

And don’t mind how meandering this post is I wrote it over 3 days lol haha.

#ninjago #lego ninjago #ninjago rant #I talked about feminism and I’m low-key kinda scared this is too much of a hot take for tumblr #don’t wanna make Ninjago a really political thing or anything I just appreciate Nya’s writing especially from a feminist angle ykno #ninjago nya #Ninjago crystalized #ninjago seabound #ninjago skybound #ask

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icharchivist · 10 months

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how many more 4kishi events its gonna take for lamorak to come home? what do you think?

ouuuh good question good question.

I think it'll depend only on if Gawain will be there or not to body him and basically kidnapping him back to his senses. In Gawain i trust. Lamorak's brothers are too lenient toward him, they'd see Lamorak escape again and they'd just smile like "ahah that's so Lamorak :)". While Gawain would just go "the fuck you're letting him go" before throwing his axe at the hybrid Lamorak is flying on in order to drag him back home. I see it in my mind.

*coughs* sorry i got carried by the high of "Gawain is a disaster when Lamorak is concerned", now, the more realistic answer.

Lamorak still wants to help out Merlin if only to save him from his own folly. I feel like Lamorak will not be distracted from his goal by now, especially after he almost took Aglovale's offer to come back and ended up not doing so because he has Dindrane to protect as well now.

It's really just "unless people get really cool about a brunch of things (helping war criminals) really soon-"

So i feel like we'll need to advance more into the Merlin plotline for Lamorak to eventually turn to his family again.

I feel like next kishi event might be either Siegfried or Vane centric, if only because i believe their Grands are in preparation and a kishi event will be the best opportunity to drop that (like they did for Percival).

The two directions it could take, is either

1) a Siegfried story coming more to term with Fafnir's presence in Feendrache, recontextualizing the lore around Fafnir like the lore around Sylph got back in focus, while also probably giving a resolution/upgrade on Siegfried's "poisoned by his dragon blood" plotline. Could also be an opportunity to learn more about the fairies we've heard have awaken in Lancelot's Grand FE. This could also work more into establishing the past sins of Feendrache and perhaps even more of an understanding of how the betrayal of Merlin's country went on. An opportunity to establish more of his past as well (though it could be redundant with SIEGFRIED so i wonder if it would be the direction)

2) a Vane story perhaps setting more as the outcome of Strength to Wield. More researches on Excalibur and the Sheath, more establishing of Vane's place in all of this and why he would be essential to ground the people around him when everything is going to come crashing down.

(because i could imagine that once everyone learn about Merlin's motivation Lancelot and Siegfried might temporary be shocked (but they prepared themselves for that in Grandcelot's FE), but i genuinely fear for Arthur and Mordred's mental health and i could totally imagine them getting into a rift by behaving really differently due to the reveal of what happened. As such, Vane would be the best to ground them back in reality.)

THEREFORE I'm like strongly believing next event either won't have Lamorak in it, or if it does, it'd be in a secondary plot where he's trying to get back into Merlin's graces.

a lot of people have been talking about a possibility of a 10th anni event being a Kishi one, where everything have been built up to this, the same way HSM was for the Society saga. Personally i admit i'm not too hot with that idea bc i feel like a 10th anni should further the overall lore of the game, but if theories about it are possible, i think the resolution of Merlin's arc could come here.

If we assume the anni events are not to take into account, i could see maybe that the event next year would be the one to actually set things in motion enough for Lamorak to eventually come back in the picture. Especially if Merlin makes a move that could eventually target the kids, i could see Lamorak return to his brothers specifically so he could share the information he has about the kids's past by trying also to barging for Merlin's life.

so personally i would say i don't believe this year will be the one, but i believe next year might be.

I rambled a little bit. i'm really excited about what's going to happen next so DLKFJDLKFJDFLKJ

I just can't wait to see what granblue will do. maybe i'm totally wrong too and i would be delighted to see how granblue will surprise me.

In the meantime. so we wait.

#ichareply #anonymous #ichafantalks gbf #ichablogging 4kishi

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soul-dwelling · 1 year

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I wonder if the "war arc ending" thing used allways to be the case in shonen. From Naruto to MHA to OP in the future and even partly Soul Eater with the whole clone army thing - guess its a logical conclusion of ever growing stakes and powerlevels, spectacles that need to leap over all what came before.

Naruto may not have needed to be a war--but then again, you have villages in territorial disputes, inspired by the history of ninjas used in warfare, so it's kind of hard to avoid that as a plot trope.

Same with One Piece: it's a pirate story, it has a navy, it has a world government, it's kind of hard not to bring up war.

MHA is divisive for me. Superhero stories don't strictly have to be war stories. And I'd too sour to treat the ongoing war arc(s) well, as I can't believe how badly the Pro Heroes dropped the ball on all of this (not preparing enough, not enough heroes, not having more contingency plans, somehow just letting Re-Destro or, rather, his clone, show up at their offices and not having a plan to contain him before he killed someone).

Superheroes have been in war stories (they have been used repeatedly to drum up support for war efforts). But that's not quite how MHA went about it...

...Although, given the post-January 6 2021 climate we're in in the US, I end up looking at the war arcs and realizing, "Ah, okay, this is what happens when you have some really evil fuckers doing fucked up shit to government officials--and a government too incompetent or so destroyed from internal rightwing forces that it can't respond in time, got it."

To its credit, maybe Fire Force ending without a war exactly, or saving the final moments for mostly talking it out and re-directing any action scenes not to a fight but the action film equivalent of painting a blank landscape was more creative....and that is about the nicest thing I can say about Fire Force compared to all the other series I just mentioned above.

I don't get why Soul Eater ended with a war arc. I can accept that Ohkubo had in mind a fight against Asura and Crona planned far in advance, to have them be the titular soul eater.

But Asura had since faded away for so long. Who cares that we now have him confronted finally?

And even when considering that Justin and the Clowns had been popping up for awhile, what actually were they accomplishing? What was Asura's goal here? Did he just want to be left alone? Was he planning to bathe the world in madness to get back at dear old dad? That arc felt like it needed more build-up: showing an actual set of steps Justin and the Clowns were following would have helped, having Asura appear in one other arc and actually doing something in that arc to hamper the DWMA would help, foreshadowing earlier that Asura had something in common with Death and Kid would have helped.

Otherwise, the war arc to me felt like an action figure fight: "Here's my Maka Albarn action figure, here's my Crona action figure, I'm going to knock them into each other for a fight before I just have them kiss and make up."

I'm not ignoring what good these war arcs can do. Bakugo finally apologizes to Izuku. We see Black Star come into his own. We say goodbye to Lord Death. All of that works. But nothing about those strike me as needing a war to make them happen.

And that's not even getting into when your war story is more like a GI Joe story rather than a response to actual real-life wars, assuming a silly fantasy story is going to handle such a response well. (See the odd Iraq invasion reference by Kid in that one chapter.)

If you're going to do the war to raise the stakes, fine, that can work. As I said, the stakes going up so that Bakugo is finally forced to apologize and Black Star gets to vomit up a laser--that all is fine. I guess what I want is a war arc emerging out of the characters' arcs and their interpersonal relationships. Is Toga's internalized trauma exploding out in a sea of Twice really needed for a war arc? Does that work at giving closure to how she regards Twice, the League, Ochaco, and Izuku? I don't think so, it seems unfocused with so much other stuff going on. Endeavor versus Dabi? Sure, that seems more suitable. Whatever is going to happen in a fight between Izuku, Shigaraki, All Might, and All For One? I guess that is inevitable.

But these are individual battles, not what I consider to be part of a larger war. Wars, I tend to think, are long-lasting affairs, small battles, insurgencies, isolated instances that foment more discord, weaken one side, lead to more desperate measures. You want an actual war arc? Watch DS9. I don't see it happening with the examples mentioned earlier, not in a more strict definition of "war."

About the only time I think the looser definition of a "war" worked was in something like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003, Season 5--where it's just, "Hey, we need to grab every last single character, hero or villain, we have ever met in this series, to work together for a final attack on the Shredder--because if he wins, all of us, hero or villain, are dead." The stakes are that large that we call that a "war," even when it's just one final attack, not a long set of battles. Sure, it's fanservice--but it was a hell of a good amount of earned fanservice.

Or, maybe war arcs suck. If you're going for spectacle, just go for a tournament as your finale, like the Cell Games in DBZ or in Yuyu Hakusho.

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kenkamithetiger · 2 years

Text

The Actor and The Head Engineer

An ISWM theory

This is gonna get messy, I’m sorry in advance. Don’t worry, I am a professional.

In the ISWM BTS stream, Mark said that the story of ISWM is supposed to explain things that happened in the past and things that happened in the future.

I thought that this could maybe mean that the arc Head Engineer Mark goes through might be an explanation for the inner turmoil of The Actor as we see a lot of parallels between these two characters (of which we don’t really know if they’re the same person because Mark likes to keep things cryptic and make us suffer, that ol’ sack of shit).

Part 1: The Head Engineer

So one of these parallels is the scene in which Older Mark talks about how he will go and come back and always comes back, referencing how he cannot die, no matter what he does, and can’t reach a conclusion (restoring order in the universe) either. This is because he forgot that he was the one who started all of this (building the warp core). Then he starts blaming everything that went wrong on us.

So if we take this and apply it to Actor Mark, it, in my mind, it makes a lot of sense.

Part 2: The Actor

He tries to take his life multiple times, this makes him frustrated because he can’t seem to reach the conclusion he wants (stopping his hurting over Celine leaving him), he’s isolated and his thoughts start to consume him and in comes to entity who feeds into these thoughts saying that non of this is his fault (Celine leaving him) and making him want to take revenge on his old friends. This will also not get him to a conclusion. He looses himself more and more in his delusions that non of this is his fault and that he is the hero in the story. He has the mission to defeat the villain.

Part 3: Direct references to The Actor’s turmoil

Scene subtitles: Head Engineer Mark - And then you and me can enjoy our newfound powers until they slowly drive us mad and turn us away from everything we know and love.

This is a direct reference to the way Actor is impacted by his immortality. Now that I'm looking at this again it could also reference the reason why Celine could've left him, as in he got too much into the dark arts and Celine felt that it was too dangerous to stay with him so she got the fuck outta there but that's a different theory for another day or for another person to discuss because I definitely should be drawing rn.

Scene subtitles: Computer - Well, not all problems. Not the problem of my broken heart, oh no. Some problems can't be solved with a swing of the fist, no matter how strong you are. When the love of your life tears you apart, well, that's a wound that just won't heal. The kind of wound that leads you down-

This scene is DEFINITELY a reference to how Actor's and Celine's relationship went south. The leading down part could also be referencing how Actor tries to cope with this wound, to put it bluntly. The "Some problems can't be solved with a swing of the fist" part could be an indication of physical abuse that may have occurred on the Actor's account against Celine.

Scene that I can’t find:

There is definitely a third scene like this in ISWM, which means that it establishes a pattern so now my theory is more likely or something (I think this is how that whole rule of 3rds thing worked but I’m not sure).

The scene I’m talking about is one where Head Engineer Mark is sitting at the edge of something and talking about self worth, however I can’t find that scene right now and I should really be going to bed because I am a professional theorist, trust me bro.

There is also the scene of Dadiplier (Stan, the waterman) talking about how he went through a divorce and he took out a bunch of books with all of Mark’s lore projects on the front covers sooooo that’s something. That’s a sneaky not so sneaky actually really obvious nudge to the lore. I wonder what that’s all about. No seriously like wtf but anyway, on to the next segment.

Part 4: The future of The Actor

“But it was me.”

Now Mark said that ISWM is an explanation for both things that happened in the past AND in the future SO

This, to me, means that the redemption arc of the Head Engineer, as he realizes that he is the one at fault and makes piece with that, is a parallel to what is to come for the character of Actor Mark.

The end of In Space With Markiplier is a prediction for the end of the Actor’s turmoil.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed my professionalism.

*Last Goodbye starts playing*

#markiplier #iswm #iswm theory #markiplier theory

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nobodysdaydreams · 4 months

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If Cutter and his little girlfriend are going to space, does that mean they're gonna get their hands chopped off too? (Also it looks like Duck Boy might be going for a redemption arc! Go Duck Boy Go!)

(or my reaction to Episode 47 and mini Episode 14 of Wolf359)

Welcome back dear readers! I managed to get another episode in as I pack for my vacation. Please enjoy!

@sophieswundergarten @oflightningandstars @acollectionofcuriousreblogs @herawell @commsroom

Episode 47: Into the Depths

I love Hera's narration, and I love the thought experiment. It reminds me of split brain patients. (For those who don't know what a split brain patient is, or haven't taken a psych class, if we were to surgically cut your corpus collosum (the part of the brain the connects your hemispheres), your consciousness would split and there would basically be two of you sharing one body (but same memories, personality, intelligence, etc.). This is only done if there are life-threatening seizures in the area and removing it is the only way to stop them, but it's an interesting thought experiment because if there are suddenly two of you, what happened to the one?)

And... now Doug is freaking out. I guess the slaps aren't working.

"You will understand Hera." Shut it Whiskey Boy! This also makes me wonder how many "Hera's" we've seen.

Kepler: "I have no idea what's going on Doug, but I just can't stop being ominous. I swear I don't know what's happening, this is just how I talk at all times."

Conan and Clippy? 😂 The names Lovelace gives them.

Yes. Kepler was rude Lovelace. He had so much Whisky and did he share it? No. No he didn't. Selfish.

Ah it seems even you weren't in the loop Jacobi. Perhaps you might fancy a mutiny now?

She doesn't know she's a clone? That's cruel. Think of Jacobi! He died thinking he was the real Duck boy! That's an awful way to go. No one should die believing they're someone so cringe.

Warm up act? Kepler, shut up. And what other clones have shown up over the years? Cutter? Pryce?

Good question. What about Jacobi? Was HE going to die too?

Kepler: "Start listening to me. The only person who knows what's happening." You're just blackmailing them Kepler, you're not good for much other than threatening people and swirling around your Whisky.

Weapon designed to appeal to humanity? But...how do you know she's a weapon? And how do you know she can't fight it even if she is? Maybe Lovelace is stronger than the evil aliens! If they even are evil.

TELL HIM HERA! TELL HIM!

Jacobi: "What could motivate me?"

Me: *Holds up a duck*

Ah blue part of the star. 💙💫 That does seem to be important. Scary, but important.

"Jacobi, any thoughts?" When does he have any?

His hands are shaking? Oh yeah, your friend died, you killed someone, and your boss who lies to people (GASP) LIED TO YOU TOO! Oh if only SOMEBODY could have seen this coming. Really, anybody with ears and a brain.

Oh right. The other Jacobi. This entire time he hasn't been sure? AND HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT FEAR FEELS LIKE? It's a NEW FEELING FOR HIM???

I guess everyone has their limit. Duck Boy needs a therapist. A team of therapists. The best therapists, and even then, I'm not sure it will be enough.

"You don't know what working at Goddard is really like" "You have a cool dental plan. Hooray." "It's not about that."

So...they do have a good dental plan? 🪥🦷

"Going new places. Meeting interesting people....LITTLE KIDS?"

Kepler. You didn't. NO. Oh my gosh they have Anne and Minkowski's husband at gunpoint don't they? And they don't even know.

Punch his lights out Doug. Good job.

Though to be fair that IS what working at Goddard seems to be about. Threatening the innocent for a 0.0000000000001% chance that you MIGHT get something out of this in the end.

Poor Lovelace. Hera knows what you're going through though. Exactly, see she does!

"Nobody do anything stupid" it's too late for that Kepler, you're here.

Good speech Lovelace! And nice punch!

"Can we get a break" Nope. Sadly no.

Huh. Hands are glowing. That's...interesting. Maybe she has some cool magic space powers? Is it too much to hope for?

Oh. It's the Dear Listeners. Well. Hello. 👋

Hush up Kepler. 😂 I love how they still talk like Doug.

That's right Kepler. Violence doesn't give you authority!

DISARMING HIM! DOES THAT MEAN HE IS LOSING HIS ARMS!

But...if he doesn't have any hands...

Then...how will he enjoy the feel of the Whisky in his hands?

Doug is hiding 😂 Why is Doug me?

What process are they talking about? “The door won't stay open, we are waiting.” Waiting for what? For what?

Well, at least the aliens don't like Kepler. That's a positive in my book. 👍

Glad Kepler and Jacobi are in custody. But...how exactly are they gonna put the handcuffs on Kepler if he no longer has hands...

Yeah, Minkowski, I'm with Lovelace. You SHOULD be in command. I know you think you're doing what is right, but Lovelace is an alien so...

DOUG. DO NOT SAY THAT THINGS CAN'T GET WORSE. TRUST ME THEY CAN.

Who is this? What is this? Who is Cline? Who is Jordan? What is this? Dr. what now? This is a lot of characters.

Full read out? Minkowski better send them a message warning them about Cutter. USS Hermes? OH NO THEY'RE NOT CALLING MINKOWSKI THEY'RE CALLING CUTTER. NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!

Who is this? Who is the robot? Expunge the records? Ah yes, the black achieves. Oh Rachel.

"Say hi for me?" Hi to who? HERA oh no ew Pryce isn't it.

TRAVELING???

Please tell me Pryce and Cutter aren't coming to space. Unless it's to get blown up. In that case, they are welcome.

Mini Episode 14: One of Them

Oh they are listening to Jacobi and Kepler.

Looks like Jacobi might fancy a mutiny now.

Doug is me, I want snacks too 😂

"are you worried I can't get around Eiffel?" "Hey!" again, why is Doug me. 😂

Wow, Jacobi really DID care about Maxwell. Well then. Maybe the two of you shouldn't have been working for the bad guys then.

"What kind of officer have you been?" DANG DUCK BOY. GET THAT REDEMPTION ARC. GO DUCK BOY GO! 🦆

"I feel used. I feel experimented on. You treated me like one of them!"

Oh Duck Boy. Sweet silly little Duck Boy. Don't you get it? You've always been one of them. You, Hilbert, Maxwell, Kepler, even Rachel. You've always been one of them.

"You're addicted to gambling with people's lives and you lost!" EXACTLY!

"Neither one of us killed Maxwell." LIES! YOU COULD HAVE STOOD DOWN!

Jacobi is starting to realize that's not necessarily true. Good for him.

"I had my orders." So did Maxwell. So did Hilbert. So did Jacobi.

"You're just the middle link in the food chain" EXACTLY! YEEEESSSSSS!!! DUCK BOY IS FINALLY GETTING IT! AND THANK GOODNESS SOMEONE FINALLY IS BECAUSE HILBERT NEVER COULD! DUCK BOY! YOU'RE DOING IT! WADDLE YOUR WAY TO THAT REDEMPTION LITTLE DUCKLING! YOU CAN DO IT! 🐣

Thanks for reading dear readers. Sorry I didn’t have time to react to more, but I hope you enjoyed this!

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kaijuworldorder · 5 hours

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Gadzooki + Konky Donk: The Empire Magazine review

Oh shit I was supposed to post this weeks ago and forgot, oops. Anyway, having seen Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire a second time and solidified my opinion of it, yeah it's pretty good! Major glow-up from the previous entry. It's not perfect and is no less stupid than its predecessor, but it's the kind of dumb movie that I like, one that doesn't go out of its way to insult my intelligence or annoy me. The things that worked about Godzilla vs. Kong are here only way more, and the things that sucked are mostly not here. There's just enough substance that my adult self is happy, and all the mindless wild spectacle that makes kWo Junior cheer and want to bash action figures together. Adam Wingard said in an interview that his aim was to make a modern-day Toho Champion Festival movie, and I think he succeeded. I'm no longer nearly as worried about the future of the MonsterVerse as I was. 4 stars, check it out if you haven't yet.

There's the short version. Under the cut, I'll get into specifics of what I liked and what I didn't. If you're still wanting to see GxK and somehow haven't yet, I recommend doing so before reading on, because I spoil a lot of the movie here.

WHAT I LIKED

Big-time Inhumanoids vibes. The tone, the “journey into a subterranean world to stop evil monsters from taking over Earth” plot, Skar King being kinda like Metlar personality-wise and living in a horrible lava hell, the wacky pseudoscience and power armor (well, just a gauntlet but you get the picture), the gruesome violence…I half-expected the end credits to sound like this. GxK is the closest I think we will ever get to a big-budget theatrical Inhumanoids motion picture, unless a miracle happens and Hasbro decides to give a shit again and buys back the rights. For those who aren't familiar with Inhumanoids: get familiar with it, you’ll thank me later.

Rebecca Hall's new hairstyle. Yeah.

Bernie no longer sucks. Way less grating and unfunny, doesn't parrot fascist talking points every goddamned second, and the sense of wonder he shows upon seeing the Hollow Earth for the first time really won me over.

Jia. One of the previous movie’s strongest aspects in my opinion, particularly her dynamic with Kong, and that holds true in this picture as well. She gets a good deal more to do, shows off more range, and her whole emotional arc in this hits just right for me. Feeling alone even though you’re not, feeling like you don’t fit in anywhere, thinking there must be something wrong with you but you can’t put it into words…these are things I can relate to all too well. And I won’t lie, I choked up when she chose to stay with Andrews at the end.

Unfridging the Iwi. The previous film’s most egregious, unforgivable misstep has been walked back, and I couldn’t be happier. It’s also good to see the Iwi having a more active role in the story, instead of basically being window dressing like in Kong: Skull Island, which as much as I love that movie was kind of a problem. It helps that the Hollow Earth Iwi are just extremely cool. Love the crystal spears, the gravity pyramid and all their other Sufficiently Advanced tech. They’re like if Seatopia weren’t horrible assholes, or if the Nilai Kanai were in a better movie. I like 'em!

Dentist! A thing I love about the MonsterVerse is how it comes up with creative stuff involving kaiju that no other movie has ever really thought to do (e.g. Godzilla flashing Chellen-kov LIGHT from his spines as a threat display). I also like that it shows how the world has changed in response to the emergence of Godzilla and the others—how culture, the economy, politics, and general day-to-day life have shaped themselves around these creatures. Trapper exemplifies both of these things really well. I doubt I would ever have come up with the idea of a kaiju veterinarian, let alone written a scene showing how a dental procedure on a 300-foot ape would work, but I'm so grateful for that level of worldbuilding. He’s also just a goofy weird guy and I like him.

Golden Earring "Twilight Zone" needle drop. One of my favorite songs of all time is in this movie and I know it's kinda stupid to pop for things like that, but goddammit I loved it.

Kong’s arc. There’s just something really satisfying about finally seeing a King Kong who isn’t the last of his kind. Plus he gets a Trendmasters accessory robo-glove gimmick, which is just stupid enough that I'm into it.

Monster rasslin'. I do wish the fight scenes had more weight and scale to them, but goddamn, they're just so much fun and visually engaging. I can't dislike a movie where Godzilla does a vertical suplex.

Sucko. I love this horrible little ugly-cute weirdo/giant ape version of Rock Howard, and not just because “hehe funni mokney” or the bit where Kong uses him as a blunt object to clobber those other assholes. I got genuinely invested in him and Kong bonding, as he realizes that barely anyone in the Skar King’s domain ever showed him genuine kindness before. He is good and can stay.

The Skar King. Fantastic love-to-hate-him scumbag villain, chock-full of personality. You really want to see Kong and Godzilla kick this guy’s ass, and his cruelty and tyranny getting paid back in full at the end is so satisfying. The only thing that really sucks about him is his uncreative name. Like come on, “Hanuman” was RIGHT THERE, especially since the Whipslash can totally stand in for a tail.

Skar King’s soldiers. I love these Lost City of Zinj-ass motherfuckers. They're nasty and fun and I want action figures of them yesterday, so hey uh, Playmates, maybe get on that? Not like you'd have to spend a ton of money either, just reuse the Ferocious Kong and Skar King body molds and make a couple new heads, splash some red paint on em and voila, instant gorilla warfare. That one balding ape with the fucked-up eye who Sucko kicks off the pyramid to his death might require some new tooling, but nothing major.

Shimo. It's nice to have an antagonist monster who isn't evil, and is still alive at the end of the picture. We don't often get reptilian monsters not named Godzilla that are babyfaces, and ice powers are rare in Toho kaiju circles. She's just a breath of fresh air, with a simple but effective design and a genuine emotional hook; I really felt bad for her when the Skar King was bossing her around and basically torturing her, and the joy she feels at her freedom from his control transcends onto me, the viewer.

Mothra is so fucking back. She makes her presence felt, she doesn't die this time, and she gets a little more to do here than in King of the Monsters, which I appreciate. I still say she ought to have a solo spinoff movie; she's Strong and Cool™ enough to stand on her own, and there's so much more you can do with her than just being Godzilla's conscience and bestest pal.

Tiamat. It was nice to see her in motion finally instead of just being relegated to tie-in comics that the movies ignore 99.9% of the time. Shame we’re never gonna see her again.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

Junkie XL's score. Soulless and unmemorable hackery, just like his work on Godzilla vs. Kong. The Skar King motif sounds like he started to compose something and then just gave up. He also has a Jimmy Hart version of "Mothra's Song" to accompany the previous movie's Jimmy Hart Godzilla theme, and it's just as lame. Bring back McCreary or Desplat, please and thank ya.

AVP-wi. As much as I like the Hollow Earth Iwi, I’m a little annoyed that the Iwi are now apparently the only ancient monster-worshiping culture there has ever been. It feels dumbed down, and limits what future stories in this setting will be able to do.

Godzilla Evolved. Boy oh boy do I kinda hate this, and have a lot to say about it. Godzilla's new look is way too busy and overdesigned with all these spiky greebles all over him that make him look more like a Monster Hunter boss than the King of the Monsters, and his proportions physically hurt me to look at. Where did all the internal organs in his torso go to make his waist that slim? What the fuck is up with his arms? Why are there dorsal spines growing out of his elbows and forearms? It just doesn't look right. I get that they're trying to evoke the Godzilla 2000 design with the giant pink spines and slimmer body proportions and the spikier and slightly greener skin (it's even got the same feet) but it just isn't done that well, and besides, if I wanted to see that design, I'd watch that movie. It’s just fucking up the cohesion of the Legendary Godzilla design and eroding its visual identity even more, dragging it further and further in directions it wasn’t meant to go in a cynical capitalistic move to sell new toys. I said it in 2019 and I'll say it again: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Moreover, it's 100% cosmetic and doesn't actually affect the movie at all in any meaningful way, it's just Dragon Ball-style "new color = stronger" power creep. We keep being told how much more powerful Godzilla is now, but we're not shown any evidence that there's a significant difference. It doesn't feel like there's anything Evolved Godzilla does that regular Godzilla couldn't or hasn't before. He doesn't act any different or display new abilities. His new thagomizer and Batmanesque arm spines? Never uses 'em, they're just more surface greebles to clutter up the design. Why make changes like that if you're not gonna do anything with them? Hell, the only new trick Godzilla shows off in this, the classic blue Nuclear Pulse, is something he uses before he evolves! And then he never does it again after that! Even the atomic breath color change is meaningless. We're told it's stronger than before, but again, we never actually see that; it doesn’t seem to do any more damage to monsters or buildings than the old one did. Sure, it burns away Shimo's ice storm at the end, but Godziller burned a tunnel all the way through the fucking Earth with the regular blue breath in the last movie, so it doesn't really feel like something he needed a new form to be able to do. I don't believe for one second that Godzilla Evolved was necessary; there's not enough real difference between it and Original Flavor Godzilla to justify its existence. I realize that's probably unfair of me to say since I don't know if or how much anything that would've helped illustrate the difference better may have been part of the movie before but got cut for time, but to me at least, the effect on the finished film is that Most Powered-Up New Godzilla® just feels like a palette swap in a video game, and that's not great. Maybe instead, oh I dunno, you could have Godzilla have a rough time and just barely win against Scylla in Rome instead of wasting her in seconds, Final Wars-style? Maybe have a little flashback to the ancient war of Godzilla vs. Hanuman & 700 Big Gorilla, like show him barely surviving that, so we get an idea of what he's up against? Then when he powers up, we can buy that he's stronger now, like a sense of progression or something. Instead, what we get is basically a Hong Kong martial arts flick if it showed the hero doing a training montage and then beating all the bad guys, but didn't show any of why he needed to train in the first place, e.g. the bad guys kicking his ass. It's a payoff with no setup. I assume this is probably a side effect of Godzilla in New Empire being what immature people with bad opinions claim he was in Godzilla (2014)—a guest star in his own movie—so there might not have been a way to avoid this problem without significantly altering the pacing, but like…could they have at least fucking tried?

#godzilla x kong the new empire #monstrous monologues #kwo at the movies

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