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tofixtheshadows · 28 days

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You guys really need to stop and consider the ways you're talking about Kabru I am dead fucking serious. Like I know that flattening characters is just what fandom does to a certain extent, but Kabru's actual personality is getting lost to the fandom hivemind insisting that he's aggressive/cruel/sociopathic/hateful, and these are particularly concerning takes to see leveled at the only brown character in the main cast day after day. "My poor sweet golden child Laios needs to be protected from this scary brown man" is not a good look! Like, it's very telling that the bulk of the hate and bad faith readings are reserved for Toshiro and Kabru. Everyone else's flaws get to be discussed and validated and forgiven (or erased), meanwhile people are straight making up things to be mad about with Toshiro and Kabru but patting themselves on the back for being smart.

The worst part is how undeserved it all is. I'm trying to lay off anime-onlys because we're still kind of in the red herring stage of getting to know Kabru, but I would still like to gently suggest that even if you think Kabru is up to something, you don't gave to get in the tags of every fan creator's post and bring up how you hate him or You Can Tell he's totally evil. Sometimes I think Kabru's blue eyes give people license to say things about his appearance that they know would sound completely racist otherwise, but referring to his blue eyes acts as a get-out-of-racism free card. The jokes about the dog with brown contacts are getting old, by the way.

For people who have read the manga, it's disappointing. Kabru is one of the most complex and important characters in the story, and if you base your interpretation of him and all your fandom interactions on shallow first impressions you are completely missing out.

I know part of this is because Dungeon Meshi is a comedy, but the story also wants to be taken seriously. For example, it's admittedly really funny when Chilchuck calls Laios "sick in the head", but that doesn't change the fact that the way Chilchuck casually belittles Laios caused him to hide the fact that he was "hallucinating" from his friends for weeks. Those feelings matter.

Like, this

is funny.

But this?

Is not. This is just a very clear example of a brown boy with PTSD. As someone else with PTSD, just looking at this fucking sucks, man.

The only reason why Kabru thinks about killing Laios is because he is in the middle of a flashback. He's struggling through a panic attack. If he truly wanted to kill Laios because he's violent or because he finds Laios inherently annoying, he wouldn't otherwise talk with Laios normally. Notice how he doesn't act this way at any other point in the story- it's just because he's triggered by monsters. Even when he's thinking about his plans to "deal with" Laios later, he's reluctant to actually kill him and only considers it to prevent another tragedy. Despite his deadly skills, Kabru relies far more on "soft" power- insight, persuasion, diplomacy. He's a rare example of a character who absolutely is, or at least can be, manipulative, but seems to use his abilities for good. He's not a pathological liar, he isn't looking down on everyone behind a smile. He's someone who is extremely emotionally intelligent, and he's willing to put aside all his own basic wants and needs to stop the cycle of dungeons devouring humans.

I'm going to cut a potential thesis on his character short and just give some examples of things that fandom should consider about his personality more:

Racism in fandom isn't just about whitewashing in fan art, or using racial slurs. The insidiousness of bad faith readings, reductions to racist tropes, lack of fan content for characters of color, and dismissal of a character's complexity are far more common. You can believe yourself to be completely neutral or even positive about a character and still churn out low-grade bile about them into fandom's collective unconscious. Fandom reflects real life.

And I have been around fandom long enough to see how these behaviors (mostly from my fellow white fans) affect fans of color, how it makes a fandom feel hostile and unwelcome to them. It's fun to make jokes and memes, I'm absolutely not saying that everything needs to be a deeply nuanced take, but we need to be careful that it doesn't veer into toxicity. Please think about how our contributions to fandom come across, and what sort of vibes they cultivate in this communal space.

#Dungeon Meshi #Kabru #Kabru of Utaya #Dungeon Meshi meta #I'm putting it in the tag. I'm making you look at it.#if you come into my inbox to bitch about this just know that people used to send me b*heading videos in there for similar racist reasons #so I will not be impressed #I'm in a fucking time loop someone get me out!!!!#musings with Dea

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the-cat-and-the-birdie · 10 months

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Hobie Brown, Emotional Preparation, and the Art of Great Dialogue

Nearly all of Hobie's dialogue is written with his goal - protecting and preparing Miles for Miguel's abuse - in mind, even if it may not be obvious at first watch.

Here's an unhinged breakdown where I over-analyze literally every one of Hobie’s lines and explain how every sentence was written to contribute directly to Miles’ radicalization.

Hollywood. Pay your writers. (:

___________________________________________________

Hobie has around 10 minutes screentime total, but for the sake of introductions and this analysis, let's start at the end of the battle, and the beginning of the quantum hole.

Starting with his first line in the scene:

"I don't follow orders. Neither does he."

All morals considered, Hobie doesn't seem like the type to speak for someone who can speak for themselves - he's a punk after all. But here, he speaks for Miles. This line serves to tell Miles 'I don't respect them, why should you?', but funnily enough, it can also be a point to Jess, as if to say 'Miles isn't interested.' - even if he is.

"Bit much, innit?"

While, Hobie and Mile's next interaction is their exchange in the elevator, the scene leads to Mile's introduction to the Society. Miles gawks at the lobby, obviously impressed. Gwen affirms this awe, telling him 'this is just the lobby.' However, Hobie feels the need to chime in. His next dialogue 'Bit much, innit?' is a subtle nudge to Miles that the society is not a place to be in awe off. It's a spectacle, one that's a bit overdone. Knowing Miles now sees Hobie as cool, Hobie makes it known - he sees the Society as uncool.

"Gwendy, How much have you told him? About his place in all this? Maybe not enough."

'So what happened about that small elite strike-team?' - 'Most of these are part time.' This is by far one of Hobie's more interesting lines, and I wrote about it here. But in short, this is Hobie's soft but direct confrontation of Gwen. After Gwen lies to Miles in front of him, Hobie immediately asks how much Gwen has revealed to him. And when she tries to play it off, he openly says 'Maybe that's not enough.' He's not angry with Gwen, but he is disappointed, which in turn motivates him to have his discussion with Miles.

"Super humane, and not creepy."

One of my favorites, because it's hard to catch and to the point. After talking about Hobie and Gwen's mission history, they're taken to Margo and the control room. As Miles marvels at Margo and the Go-Home-Machine, and Gwen says she voted against it. However, Hobie says blatantly: 'Holy shit, Miles isn't this inhumane and weird???', validating that the Society is willing to do inhumane, hurtful stuff to those it deems 'misplaced'.

Next comes Hobie's confrontation with Miles.

Because Hobie knows this is his last movements with Miles before he meets Miguel, and this is where if final push of emotional support kicks in, before he goes quiet in front of Miguel.

And because this conversation is so well layered, I think it's best to go line by line. ______________________________

H: "Bet this doesn't even do anything." M: "Maybe it did before you ripped it out of a wall!"

Hobie has now confirmed that he'll be making an exit soon. And he begins his finally sweep of parts he needs for his watch, stocking up his pockets. He's not stealing to steal. He knows he's leaving and this is his last chance to get what he needs before he's out the door.

"Propaganda, bro! It's to distract you from the truth!"

HOLY SHIT I missed this one. Notice how in this shot, Gwen is not visible at all. Hobie notices they're out of hershot of her for the first time. And his first line is - 'Propaganda.' Their watches can take them anywhere. When Gwen needed to, she was taken to exactly where she needed in Mumbattan. But when they're heading towards HQ, Jessica makes them walk through the lobby. They could have been sent directly to Miguel's station, but instead she makes them do the whole tour, which serves as a flex of muscle. In order, Miles was shown the massive number of members in the Society, then their prisoners, then the go-home-machine. Only THEN can they see Miguel. All of which was intent to intimidate Miles on purpose. Hobie tells him directly: 'Everything you just saw was propaganda.'

M: And what's that?

"I ain't got a Scooby Doo, mate. Cause that's what they want."

One of the most iconic and notable of his quotes. Cockney aside, this line ties back in with his discussion with Gwen just a couple minutes before. They've done their tour and walk. Both Jess and Gwen have been given a chance to prime or explain to Miles anything, and both have chosen not to. So Hobie simply tells him, 'They want you in the dark. And they're sending you into a fight.'

The next line is:

H: Why do you want to be part of this lot? M: To get a watch. H: Make your own watch.

Miles sucks his teeth at Hobie.

Because of this - Hobie begins to change methods. Which I cannot stress is incredibly perceptive of him.

Miles is exasperated with him. So instead of dissuasion and making the society out to be uncool, he tries to turn Miles' attention towards his family.

"Bet you got a nice setup, huh? Nice parents?"

This line is a very well done one, with two things of notice. First, I find it interesting that the screenplay phrases this line as a question, not a sentence. Hobie is asking. He's taking a shot in the dark here. And this is backed up by his delivery; Hobie hesitates while saying this. The only line in which he does so. He may not know about Miles' mom and dad, because Gwen hadn't met them when she met Hobie. But still, Hobie asks, hoping the reminder of Miles' parents will dissuade him from continuing.

M: They're fine. H: [After this line, Hobie turns black and white momentarily. Potentially a nod to the fact that this conversation is the only 'black and white' one Miles has had so far.] M: But we got into a fight. They just want what's best for me, so...

[Hobie frowns. The scene and dialogue REALLY starts to pick-up from here.]

"That's a bloody shame. Because you're not ready for everyone else."

As the scene progresses Hobie goes from behind Miles, to beside him like an ally. Then, when Gwen finally comes back into frame, Hobie crosses in front of him. When Miles mentions his parents wanting what's best for him, Hobie warns that everyone else does not want what's best for him. At the same time, visually Gwen has her back to Miles, and Hobie puts himself between Miles and Gwen, trying to block his path. The scene is set up to show that in Hobie's eyes, Gwen is turning her back on Miles. She does not have his best interest in mind. Hobie is telling Miles 'They're using propaganda on you, they're keeping you in the dark, and they do not have your best interest at mind. You're not ready for this." And he physically tries to block Miles from continuing, one last time.

Miles goes through Hobie, and now within earshot of Gwen again, this is Hobie's final chance and push to get as much information into Miles as he can - without freaking Miles out. Above all else, he needs Miles to be prepared, confident, and willing to fight back.

His voice becomes more serious, and he starts speaking more straight-forward and a lot less cryptically.

"Listen to me, bruv. The whole point of being Spider-man is your independence. Being your own boss, you don't need all this!"

I think Hobie saying this reveals a lot about his character, especially understanding the context where he's from. While many Spider-men would agree that being Spider-man is about responsibility and power - to Hobie, it is about independence, and freedom. Hobie is a freedom fighter, and one of the only Spider-men besides Noir that knows how to fight systemic threats as well as physical ones. To him, being Spiderman is about being able to free yourself and others. It's about independence and freedom, and he's trying to nail that in Miles' head one last time.

M: Then why are you here?

"Looking out for my drummer, is all."

As the scene is coming to a close, the writers chose this time to reveal some of Hobie's motivations, starting with the independence comment, and now this. Despite knowing about Gwen's deception towards Miles, he is still looking out for her - and Miles. This is the writers' and Hobie's last push to solidify himself as an ally to Miles and the viewer.

M: I want to be in a band. I want to see my friends, and I need a watch to do that. G: Guys, come on.

"Alright, Squashed. Just don't enlist until you know about who you're fighting."

I genuinely had to sit and ask myself why the writers would choose to leave Hobie's collective effort - a LOT of effort - with this line. And honestly, I think it's a perfect segway. Hobie chooses his words very clearly; He doesn't say 'what', he says 'who'. The next scene leads into Miguel's intro, and up until this point, Miles doesn't know who he is. He only knows about the Society, but never who is at the top. We know about Miguel, but all Miles knows is his name. That's why Hobie says 'who you're fighting'. Because the Society isn't really a Society, and this isn't really between Miles and the Society at all. It's a dictatorship - and the person he's enlisting to fight is Miguel. The perfect introduction and warning to the person he's about to meet. He's telling Miles, 'Don't rush into it. Wait until you meet Miguel first'. And when Miles does meet Miguel, he finally sees that this isn't the place he thought it was, just like Hobie said. ALSO EVEN MORE INTERESTINGLY - THIS is one of the lines that is changed between the two versions of spiderverse (there are two theatrical versions on release.) In the alternative he says 'Don't enlist unless you know what war you're fighting.' And I think that the fact the writers chose to publish two different versions of this line goes to show how powerful they knew this line would be in Miles' characterization. There is so much Hobie has left to say to him, but only one line - and so we get two versions. How fun!

With the scene now over, we see a change in Hobie's demeanor, and I love the writers' choice to have the shot linger on Hobie.

We see him give Miles a look that isn't exactly full of confidence, but from this point forward, Hobie chooses to hang back, no longer having any motivation to instigate. He knows his work here is done, and now all he can really do is wait for Miguel to reveal his true colors, and hope that he got through enough to Miles that he will react, and fight back.

And closing out the scene - I noticed that when Peter B. arrives Hobie pointedly says

"Oh boy, Humbling Reality Spider-man has arrived."

All I'll say about this is Hobie has to be Jamaican cause that was so mfing rude shgjfkghjgjkdfjk

Hobie has about three lines between this point and then end of his screentime - Two of which were his lines to Mayday, and his comment during the canon events.

But there is one shot of him before it all happens. And after this shot the movie begins staging Hobie in specific a very different way than anyone else.

The moment begins with Miles' line 'My Dad is about to be captain.'

The camera pans to each character. Gwen, Peter, and Jess all avert their eyes. Miguel looks at Miles. And Hobie is the only one who looks at all of them. Instead of looking down, he looks to the others, in anticipation of whats going to happen. It's also important to note that this was probably news to Hobie. He probably didn't know Miles' dad was a cop - or at the very least going to be captain. So the understanding of just how much trouble Miles is in kinda multiplies in this moment.

Then, this happens

From this point forward, every time Hobie is portrayed, he is shown as separate from the other characters, always being divided from the group - with Miles as the divider. Even as the camera moves, Hobie visually remains - quite literally - as the only person in Miles' corner. And as the scene goes on, he moves farther and farther into that corner.

Until finally the scene comes to a climax, and Hobie gets two shots to himself - delivering his final lines.

"Here we go." - "Hobie, You're not helping." - "Good."

GUYS IM GONNA CRY OKAY IM GONNA CRY

This is Hobie seeing his work pay off. This is him knowing that he got through to Miles and that it was worth it. He's proud of him.

Hobie knew what he came to do, and he used literally every line he said to Miles to the FULLEST extent. He doesn't give a fuck if he's not helping the Society. He's helping Miles. And now he knows his work is done.

Being a punk is not about being a hero, it's about empowering those who feel powerless. HE UNDERSTOOD THE MOTHERFUCKING ASSIGNMENT.

IN SHORT - HOLLYWOOD PAY YOUR FUCKING WRITERS I SWEAR TO GOD.

if you read this far let me know :) thanks bye

#ill repost the ending as its own post as well yay #hobie brown #spider punk #spiderpunk #miles morales #gwen stacy #jessica drew #miguel o'hara #spiderman 2099 #atsv #atsv analysis #across the spiderverse #spidergwen #spiderwoman #peter parker #peter b parker

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lesbxdyke · 10 months

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Decided to steal my own tags from This Post because I didn't want to detract from the very good points being made about wheelchair accessibility in the art

So I'm disabled. And I often have to use crutches as a mobility aid. Sometimes one, sometimes two. And even with that, I still sometimes can't get around.

There have been numerable occasions in my life where something has been marked as 'accessible' that is not accessible to me, because it was made with ONLY wheelchair users in mind.

And like I said in my tags, it's a genuinely great thing that things are now being made with wheelchair users in mind! I am genuinely heartened and happy that wheelchairs users are being recognised in public spaces and accommodated for!

But they are not the be all and end all of physically disabled people.

I need the extra space of a disabled bathroom. Especially as another physical disability of mine causes me to often require space to change underwear or clothing.

However, if I'm having a bad pain day, I can't wash my hands. Because the only sink is at the height for a wheelchair user. So my options are to eschew hygiene and pray that a cleaner wipes down the door handle regularly so others aren't interacting with a thing that I have touched without washing my hands, OR risk furthering my own pain by bending to reach the sink, which could end in me stuck in the bathroom as my back seizes and I cannot move.

As I'm sure you can imagine from reading that, neither option is a good option, but one is a safer one for me. And I hate it. I'm 'lucky' in that I have to always carry baby wipes with me anyway so I'm somewhat able to mitigate the hygiene issue, but what if I didn't? What if I didn't have the extra disability and just had the back problems that required the extra space of the disabled bathroom for my mobility aids? What then?

I also have a radar key (for those not in the UK: disabled bathrooms are often locked. A radar key is a skeleton key for disabled bathrooms all around the UK) so I can always gain access to the disabled bathrooms. Except... I often have to find staff to help me open them anyway because the door handles are low and I can't bend to press them.

Now this post isn't me saying that the world should be built only to cater to me in particular (tho gods it would be nice!)

This post is talking about competing support needs and how my experience as a disabled person, struggling with how so much 'accessible' stuff is only designed for wheelchair users is just as valid as a wheelchair user celebrating that they can use an ATM and a public bathroom without needing the aid of a stranger or a carer.

I've seen quite a lot of people, in real life and elsewhere on the internet, want to call it Ableist when people ask for there to be a different option that would be inaccessible for a wheelchair user to use within an accessible area like a bathroom. They think it's able bodied people, or parents (since often in the UK, disabled bathrooms also double as baby changing, which is a whole different kettle of fish) demanding we take away the accessibility that the bathrooms are there for. They don't think about people on crutches, or canes, or with mobility that changes by day, or who can walk unaided but cannot bend, or, or, or.

Two sinks in a disabled bathroom would change my life. One wheelchair accessible, one not. I could wash my hands. Other people who needed the bathroom could wash their hands. Everyone could be hygienic in an accessible way!

Two ATMs, side by side. One lower, one higher. I can access my money. Wheelchair users can access their money. Everyone can withdraw their money safely in an accessible way!

Maybe there's no solution for some (like the door handle) but if others were solved, then the remaining ones would bother me a lot less. It's a lot less frustration and humiliation inducing to say "Hey, can you open the bathroom for me?" When you know you'll be able to wash your damn hands once inside, yknow?

#disability #disabled #physically disabled #competing support needs #personal #okay to reblog

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befuddledcinnamonroll · 6 days

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So with some of the takes I've been seeing in the Wandee Goodday tag, I wanted to share my perspective.

Just to note - I firmly believe art is subjective and what we see can vary a great deal based on our own perspectives and lived experiences. I'm not calling anyone wrong, I'm just saying this is my personal take on things. (I feel like this should be obvious, but nuance is so often lost online).

And my main goal with watching QL is fun and escapism. I'm here to have a good time. I tend to go with the flow, I like imperfect characters (I even like the fucked-up ones), and I trust the characterization and plot elements to be doing what they need to do until a problem shows within the narrative itself.

Ok, disclaimers done - here's my take on Dee & Yak's interactions around the fake dating idea.

I think all of their interactions are deeply affected by the degree to which they have already developed genuine feelings for each other, but are not yet in a place to admit it, even to themselves.

Do I think Yak has real concerns about being out as a boxer trying to hit a career high? Absolutely. But I think his quick jump to a "let's end this" reaction was mostly a kneejerk attempt to protect himself for what he felt when Dee, the man he is already emotionally connected to, and desperately wants to be able to kiss, dropped a request for fake dating over a real deepening of their relationship.

We don't yet know the level of societal homophobia this show is aiming for, BL land can go many different ways with this, but considering his brother's openness in the gym that he owns, training boxers, there is a tone being set. Yak literally holds hands with Dee in the middle of the street. He doesn't panic when people recognize him at the hospital. This may change, but I'm going to trust the signposts that his career concerns are valid, yes, but are not the dominant issue between them.

Similarly, is Dee competitive and overly focused on winning? Clearly. It's set up in his earlier conversation with Yak for a reason. But at the same time, his insistence that it has to be Yak is not just about his need to win - again, this is about genuine feeling. He wants Yak. This is a way to get Yak, and to frame it to himself in a way that feels less scary and vulnerable, especially after being hurt by Ter.

I know a lot of people saw Dee as being pushy. I do agree with that, and yes it is going to cause more issues for them in the future. But I wish more people also saw Yak holding firm to his boundaries and refusing to give in to the immature behavior from Dee, showing why he's such a good partner for Dee.

And sure, we haven't seen Dee support Yak as much so far, but the scene with the mother and child wasn't there just for kicks. Dee is empathetic and caring, and that will be important in his relationship with Yak as well. He is there for people when things are at their worst.

Some people see Dee on the bridge as being manipulative.

I saw Dee as finally cutting out the toddler shit and being emotionally real about why he's taking the scholarship too seriously, how sensitive he is to what people think of him, why Yak is someone he trusts implicitly, and how he knows it's not Yak's problem and it isn't fair to expect him to fix it.

Some people see Yak as finally agreeing to fake date as showing he is weak to emotional manipulation.

I see a man who has more agency than that. I see a man who is affected by seeing genuine vulnerability both because of how caring he is as an individual, and because of how much he wants a real emotional connection to Dee. And eyes-open, he makes a choice.

These are two characters who have never just been friends with benefits from the beginning. And the narrative has never been about what they are saying. It's about what they are feeling.

#wandee goodday #wandee gooday the series

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batmanisagatewaydrug · 16 days

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Hi,

I am very much not american so I must admit that my first impulse when seeing all the rap/racism discourse was something like "do I really need to consume more american culture, it's fucking everywhere already". Idk but to me it feels like american/english-speaking culture absolutely dominates a lot of the world, sometimes at the cost of out own cultures and languages, if something is in English it is "good", if it is in own own languages it is "bad". Musicians often start singing in English and more american-like after a while to get bigger. We value American culture and music, they mock our accents (and languages sometimes) and best case scenario see us as funny and silly.

Then I started thinking. Do you think that americans kind of see rap kind of like foreign music still? Like low-brow unexotic foreign music.

I don't know this is a really fresh thought and I'm not sure if I am explaining it very well.

hey first off I just want to say -

you are entirely correct in your reaction that people outside of America/the English-speaking world do not need more American culture thrust upon them! this discussion is extremely centered on Americans, the reception and reaction to rap within America, and excuses that white American use to avoid interacting meaningfully with Black culture, art, and ideas. while anti-Blackness as an issue obviously extends far outside of America, this particular conversation is deeply tied to American culture. I appreciate you pointing that out!

I also think you're point about rap, and by extension other Black artforms, being Othered in American pop culture. certainly in terms of language, African American Vernacular English (AAVE), which is utilized by many rappers, is still heavily disputed in its validity as a "real" language, with many dismissing it as a bastardized version of "proper" English and associating it heavily with those who are lower-class and uneducated. in a similar way to many international artists having to work in English to gain wider recognition and validation, many Black Americans are proficient in "code switching," the practice of switching between AAVE that they likely grew up speaking and an English dialect that is considered more "professional."

similarly, I think your use of the term "low-brow" is very apt. Black music has always been met with distrust and disdain by white audiences. there's a reason that so many people feel the need to bring up sex, drugs, and violence when they talk about rap; to many white cultural gatekeepers that was all rap was. (and, like, we should very much talk about why that is in and of itself a bad thing, when white crime is so often glorified in pop culture. why is the Godfather a classic masterpiece but Black men making art about their own experiences with racism, violence, poverty, and survival don't deserve serious consideration?) and that didn't start with rap! in the early 20th century jazz, also a Black creation, was seen as dangerous for promoting promiscuity among nice white teens. no matter what Black people make, white cultural gatekeepers will find a way to start a moral panic about it.

the reverse also happens as well, with Black people being treated as foreigners even in music genres that they helped pioneer. Black Americans were hugely formative in the early days of country, but are met with hostility in the contemporary country scene. Lil Nas X's Old Town Road was one of the biggest songs of the year it was released and undeniably country but was largely snubbed by country music community, and Beyoncé's new country album, Cowboy Carter, is a direct response to her hostile reception at the Country Music Awards in 2016.

the point being, yes, I don't think it's off-base to say that, to many Americans, rap and Black music and art generally are like... very optional and avoidable parts of pop culture in the way that more white-dominated genres are not, similarly to a lot of international and especially non-English art.

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alicelufenia · 3 months

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Testing new ways to recruit Minthara in Patch 6 - Part 1 (KO at the grove battle)

First of what may become a series of attempts to find new ways to recruit Minthara on the good playthrough.

Now according to the patch notes:

It's unclear what they mean by "number of valid methods". So far the ONLY valid methods to recruit Minthara are siding with the Goblins (ie the best method) or to knock her out while temporarily hostile. I go on all about it in this post.

So to start I wanted to see if the number of cases where she becomes temporarily hostile have been expanded. And the first method I wanted to test is possibly the coolest way to knock her out; by fighting her and the goblin horde at the grove! I don't need to show any screenshots of that, suffice to say, she was marked fully hostile by the game, and her knocked out status was NOT temporary (ie., said this entity would disappear permanently after a long rest)

So I played the rest out as you normally would; long resting to go to the tiefling party, then heading to the mountain pass, past the undead patrol, into the shadow-cursed lands, summoned Kar'niss, turned on him at the Harpers, yada yada Last Light Inn yada yada Isobel and Marcus.

So I arrive at Moonrise, and while expecting nothing, who do I see?

THERE SHE IS! And wearing her camp clothing cause I stole her armor again lmao (and she didn't wear the blazer of benevolence I reverse-looted into her inventory, cause she'd rather be in her PJs in front of her boss than anything from Volo. Honestly understandable.)

The cutscene plays out normally, but after going down into the prison, freeing her mind and fighting her interrogators

She just... breaks. No dialogue, not interactable, doesn't follow me, nothing. Killing the other guards outside doesn't do anything.

At first I was ready to call this whole attempt bugged (which don't get me wrong, this IS a bug)

But I thought, what if I have her play along (I never did that in my own playthrough) So I reload, and trick the guards instead.

SUCCESS! She's a follower npc now!

We deceive our way out of Moonrise, send her back to camp

Also, incredibly funny that both Astarion and Karlach approve, when Astarion is the only one who voices major objections, and earlier Karlach had this to say at camp before we headed into the prison

I guess seeing her tortured and grateful for being freed warmed Karlach's heart to her. Awww :3

Ladies and gentlemen, we got her

It's not completely without bugs. Karlach and Wyll both didn't have anything to say about Minthara's recruitment, but that might have been because I hadn't exhausted their reactive dialogue beforehand, as they both had things to say about prior events. Lae'zel, Shadowheart, Astarion and Gale (y'know the regular durge squad) all had their normal reactions.

Also Halsin isn't there cause he's currently at Last Light hanging out with Art. I hadn't even found Thaniel yet. Although I don't anticipate any interactions with those two, as the ultimatum dialogue is still inaccessible, and even if it was, involves an absolutely convoluted way to get both Halsin and Minthara that will almost never happen anyway.

Final Verdict: Recruiting Minthara by KOing her while defending the grove - WORKS!

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #baldurs gate 3 #baldur's gate iii #baldurs gate iii #bg3 minthara #minthara #minthara baenre #minthara bg3 #nightwarden minthara #minthara good playthrough recruitment #EXTREMELY happy this method now works #I will test later to see if knocking her out at the goblin camp while fully hostile works the same #all in all I'm a bit surprised as this is a blatant exception to the way lethality and the knock out condition works for everything else #but if it means more people can have Minthy I'm all for it!

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desceros · 14 days

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i open up my tumblr to get my daily dose of turtle content after an excruciating day and immediately SPAT out my tea seeing what was happening in the rottmnt tumblr community like?? oh my god thats WILD

i presume you're referring to the dragon situation which is. well. it sure is fucking something i'll tell you that.

it's my understanding that she's currently being told she didn't do anything wrong which. ok. i'm going to need people to understand something. there are two big reasons to Why this is Such a Huge Fucking Deal.

interacting, sexually, with adults (which dragon lied about her age to do) is harmful for kids. it puts them directly into explicitly sexual places, which while Mostly Safe, do harbor some people who will latch onto vulnerable people. kids don't have a lot of the real-world experience that adults have that allow them to Spot these asshats and avoid them. kids like validation. they like feeling cool, wanted. and groomers know how to spot people that like these things and give it to them. christ, there are a lot of Adults that get this part wrong. (comprehensive sex education can reduce the chances of this happening, but considering the state of that for children being less than robust, it's safe to assume Most kids aren't being taught the sighs of a proper, actual predator and not 'dude in a white van with some candy.')

interacting, sexually, with kids, can get adults into a MASSIVE amount of trouble. there is no recourse for this. it ruins your reputation, it puts you on a fucking List, it can get you jail time, it destroys your ability to get housing or a job, etc.

so yes. this was all bad because a kid was doing sex stuff. but for everyone who i've seen saying "ohhh we all looked at smut and stuff when we were teenagers, she didn't do anything wrong", yes, she did. because she INTERACTED WITH ADULTS ABOUT IT. yes, we all know that teenagers read smut. we all know that you can click onto someone's blog. frankly, in my opinion, there's never going to be a way to stop that. but having that teenager come into adult spaces and TALK to adults, SEND them asks, POST erotic art, SEND THAT LEWD ART TO ADULTS, DO EROTIC ROLEPLAY WITH OTHER ADULTS, is beyond the pale. that's not "a teenager reading smut like we all did." that's a minor violating the trust and consent of adults who have said they don't want to interact with minors.

i want you to imagine a scenario where we have someone we Know is a liar. she says she's 17 in two months. but is she? she's lied about it before. but let's say we believe her this time. let's say we trust her when she says she's 18 now. we start letting her interact again. we talk about erotica with her again. except oops she's still not 18, she's 16 and her mommy just checked on her blog and sees she's talking about porn with adults. or she hears a headcanon she doesn't like and decides to narc on that adult for sexting with a child. or one of her friends decides they don't like how i talk to people, so they say something.

do you see the problem? sure, the kid is in danger. but so is the adult. the adult who thought they were interacting with another adult, but because that kid lied, now they're the one in trouble. oh, and fun fact, there is typically no recourse against the kid in this scenario. the adult's life is ruined, and the kid gets to walk away.

there are very few adult-only spaces left on the internet. we put up signs on our blogs that say "we talk about sex. minors do not interact." because we want these spaces for ourselves. it's so disrespectful and childish and stupid and selfish and bratty for kids to think "oh, i'm adult enough for that, actually" or "well everyone i'm following is an adult, but they all say minors don't interact, so i'll just lie and say i'm an adult, heehee." it reveals a lack of character and regard for others that disgusts me. it tells me that you don't care about my wishes, you will do whatever you want to get what you want. i did not consent to speak with a child. it's vile behavior, and people who can't comprehend why the adults here are so upset because "oh you don't owe anyone your age, we all read smut as kids, what's the big deal, it's totally fine" are clearly not using any amount of critical thinking because they learned that their favorite artist is a minor and they don't want to rock the boat and lose access to it which, by the way, maybe think about what that says about you.

#ask tag #inhale. exhale. okay i got that off my shoulders. feels better.#.......imagine this wasn't the drama you were talking about and i'm missing something else LMAOOOOO #well THIS is the drama in MY world right now so THIS is what you get the rant on!!!!#but yeah. dragons is 100% blacklisted. i don't tolerate people who lie about important shit like that.

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chubs-deuce · 2 months

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Haaard agree on anti-Chaggie post (so sorry Chaggie shippers. We love you)

Alastor is known to steal the attention of people whenever he is on screen. But when he is with Charlie it makes it more interesting! They bounce off of each other in an entertaining way. Even if you don't ship them they are funny. Alastor is getting a kick out of just talking to Charlie. He finds her amusing (probably in a mean way lol). And Charlie while thinks he is an asshole, (cus he is!) she sees he tries to help her even with an obvious hidden ulterior motive.

They don't see eye to eye in their goals but at least they are both real characters with their own motivations and that makes them very dynamic with each other. Also they are both goofs, love 'em

Chaggie has fans within people that just want cute and non-dramatic relationships. Or just a queer couple that is wholesome without any dramatics. Valid!

It's just awkward that Vaggie is all about Charlie. This one thing puts me off. Considering my previous experience with it was in Steven Universe (Rose and Pearl, anyone?). But it's just personal thing. Sometimes things like that are funny like "they are obsessed with this person lololo" or "they are... Uncomfortably obsessed with this person"

[I think it depends on if the other person is on the same level? Charlie seemed somehow dismissive of Vaggie but it can be explained that the plot was just more focused on hotel than them (ugh 8eps. waiting for S2 to have fillers).]

Shipping is all about preferences and that's okay! My friend is a Chaggie shipper and I am a Charlastor shipper. I asked her to explain to me the appeal and she explained it as "a cute couple that has no conflict whatsoever. People like that exist and it's more common than very dramatic or action-driven couples". And I just like a bit fucked up dynamics where I watch someone in that dynamic go through some emotional turmoil (mostly Alastor<3) and also co-workers/housemates dynamic (when I need something cute and simple)

Some people just prefer down to earth things, especially if their life is a rollercoaster. What's important is to respect each other!

Sorry for a lil essay. I just think sometimes it's important to say "these are prefrences. We don't hate you for not liking your thing and the same goes in vice versa"

All fandoms have a group of people that is.... A bit too devoted to something. Respect others even if they don't like the same thing you do. Instead ask them to explain to you why they like it in a non-hostile manner or don't interact at all.

We're all tired of shipping wars, especially when some companies add oil to this fire to monetize more. I just want to get back to old fandom days when you both would be shopping different things and then end up in a make out session /j

Sorry for an essay again. Love your art, especially when you draw unhinged or going insane Alastor because Charlie makes him "feel". Thanks for all the content<3

This!!! So much this!!!

I hardly even need to add anything to this tbh, you already said everything that needs to be said perfectly!

I often like to think of shipping as the more adult version of playing with dolls, and that different people will play with their dolls differently! Some may prefer to follow the instructions on the packaging, playing with the toys exactly as intended, whereas others might find that boring and instead prefer to mix things up and do their own thing!

How I play with my set of dolls should have absolutely no impact on how you play with your own.

Thank you so much for writing out this ask, I'm honestly really glad to see that common sense and critical thinking skills within fandoms haven't completely died out yet lmfao

#chubs answers #anti chaggie #hazbin hotel #charlastor #bc it was mentioned

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azrielgreen · 4 months

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remember why you started

it can be so easy to start creating for others and stop doing it for yourself, but that's where it fucks up every time. there has to be a pure vein of creation just for creation's sake, for your own wild and weird indulgence in the things that caught your attention and stoked your passion. when you trade that for external praise, you begin to lose your natural love for the core experience, and it becomes work. you become obsessed with numbers, with interactions, your "place" among others and before you know it, some bullshit hierarchy has formed and all that matters is no one overtaking you, no one doing the things you were doing first because what if they do them better? what if people stop looking at what you're creating? what if you gave everything you had, and everybody leaves anyway?

create for yourself. create for YOU and you alone, in at least one area of your life. not for money, not for attention, not for validation. just one little piece of fertile earth preserved for your weird little universe of exploration and inspiration and delightful failures and unexpected brilliance.

of course it feels wonderful to have people praising your work, to have touched people in some small way, to be SOMEONE, but here's the thing. you already were someone. you were you. and this attention, this validation and praise and interaction... it never lasts. it can't last. everything passes. the only way to truly get people to stay longer than they would, is to give everything you have and more, to break yourself down into pieces and sell them off one by one, become a content machine, or worse, to become a person who steps on others to be taller. someone who polices what others create.

but none of it is real or lasting. tumblr isn't real. twitter isn't real. the cliques aren't real. of a hundred people you know in your fandom experience, three of them might be true friends.

what is real, and what lasts, is what you create.

that's what people will find in ten years time when scrolling AO3 at one AM after a horrible fucking day, if the internet hasn't gone down forever, and that is what touches people. not the things you made purely for validation or comments or popularity. the art you made for you. imagination through the lens of a person whose experiences have shaped them uniquely, beautiful and strange and unknowable to someone else who has not had that same life experience, yet there, available, open and inviting, would you like to feel something new?

so please, when you find yourself dedicating more time to your socials and the construct of your online persona than the actual thing you were creating that first set fire to your passion, think about this. if it won't matter in five years, don't give it more than 5 minutes.

when you find yourself thinking "if i write this, people will really love it and respond to it, it's what's popular right now, everyone's talking about it, this will get me back where i was before" my darling, no it won't. creating for the sole outcome of interaction and praise and attention is a waste of your beautiful energy.

i've made plenty of mistakes, i'm still making them as i go along, but i have never stopped creating for myself and i never will.

people will write the thing better than you, they WILL get more attention, comments, reblogs, impressions, likes, kudos, you'll never hold onto the height of it, because everything changes, everything passes and that's how it should be. passion is river; depriving your interests of momentum and variation will make it a stagnant pond. embrace the new, trust that it will feel good again in new ways and just keep creating what you love, for the one person who needs it most - you.

you make art for yourself first.

that's why you started.

you made the thing you couldn't find anywhere else, your way.

and THAT is what will last.

#writing fanfiction #fic writing #fandom is a fickle thing and i hate seeing people break themselves down over it #normalise writing flops out the gate and moving right onto the next #success is what happens when youre too busy to look for it

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vazaez · 1 year

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how do you think rottmnt and tmnt2012 would interact with eachother? (art request)

Disaster twins WHO? THEY are the real twins 👯/j

He was flabbergasted

Listen i don't like 2012! April nor her ship w/ donnie but i feel kinda bad cuz it's not her fault that the writters suck at writting female characters and romance 😭

U thought it would be all sillyness??? Well u were WRONG *projects my insecurities into them projects my insecurities into them projects my insecurities into them projects my insecurities into them*

They both needed that hug and that validation of their feelings

I feel like even thought 2012!raph is older (i think?) Rise!raph sees his younger self a lot in him, around the time he still hadnt learned to manage his emotions due to the fear of hurting his family with his size and spikes, 2012!raph didn't have that factor in his life, he isnt the older brother who feels completely responsable of his brothers safety just because he's "suposed" to cuz of his age and role, neither is he the leader and he doesnt have physical aspects that could harm them if he was not careful enough so it was more of a slow path for him than for rise!raph who just didnt have any other choice than to learn to take control of his anger

#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt #tmnt 2012 #teenage mutant ninja turtles #mikey tmnt 2012 #donnie tmnt 2012 #raph tmnt 2012 #April tmnt #mikey rottmnt #rottmnt mikey #donnie rottmnt #rottmnt donnie #raph rottmnt #rottmnt raph #damn that's a lot of tags #tmnt crossover #crossover #vaz sketches ✨✨

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saffron0v0 · 4 months

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¶Hello¶

I'm Saffron, thanks for stopping by!

Art blog, I accidentally reblog stuff here too.

Have a cookie 🍪

My dear Mutuals (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠):

@habtcher you're so fun, one of my first friends on here

@bunskero Very cool (I low-key look up to you)

Amazing artists, and amazing people

@shycroissanti Role model + big sister energy + Amazing animator in denial.

@sweetstarryeyedgirl The sweetesttt, her energy is always so happy! + Hard worker! (I'll miss you forever)

@kimetsu-chan Always supportive and there for everyone! + Her art and coloring is super unique and pretty! + Pretty aesthetic

@kiyokatokito I love kiyoka + you're very kind

@magnetsonfridges Tanaoi 🔛🔝

@night-mince0 Your blog is so fun and chaotic (in a good way) + Theria is such a cool concept! Good luck with writing it!

@naramaiz Your art is edible + Amari's cookies are delicious

@axolotl321 Your oc is the epitome of adorable

@ta-ni-ya Your art always inspires me! + Sanemi is lucky to have Kirika.

@thesimp-nikki I love seeing your art and silly (in a good way) posts on my dash! + Nikki is just adorable!

@silliestsakura Your tbhk content is so cool!!

@thewinterpillarhashira Your art is literally so soft, and squishable.+ You sure you ain't gotogue?

@cloudymistedskies I love marimui smmm + your ocs are super cool!

@larz-barz You're one of the sweetest people on here + Can I pet Milo?

@muitsuri Your aesthetic is so prettyyy! + Your ocs are all gorgeous!

@giyubabe Giyushino ftw + your Giyuu art is just chef's kiss.

@tokito-dulya20 Your art is so cool! + It's my first time befriending a Ukrainian! You guys are super cool.

@rion-isnot-an-ai I love your art + Hanako is so pretty.

@ashr0 Your writing is just hajdhdhehhdjjfjh So gooood!

@pinkwisteria your art and ocs are so pookie (⁠｡⁠･⁠ω⁠･⁠｡⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠♡

@pandhora So sweet + her aus are so thought out and thorough with so many details. She honestly never fails to impress me! + I love rping with her!

@squidifier I didn't talk to you much, but I think you're cool!

@munchinpumpkin we never spoke, but I like your pfp

@ask-aoi-kanzaki we don't talk at all, but I love aoi <3.

@bugzheadquarter I love Detective Conan, I like your art, and I like you/p

@dreamcorechild your art is so tiny, and fluffy + you're so valid for falling for the upper four demons, they're so (⁠｡⁠ﾉ⁠ω⁠＼⁠｡⁠)

@animatoonstudios Tbhk moot (⁠☆⁠▽⁠☆⁠)

@renikyoki Giyuu looks so cute/cool (at the same time) in your art style!

Go give them all a follow, they're super nice, talented and friendly!

Edit: Okay wow, I need to get this updated.

Sideblogs:

@saffron-reblogs (reblog account)

@saffron-rose (writing)

@ivy-lo (tbhk blog)

∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆°°°°°°°°°°°°∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆

DNI INTERACT IF YOU'RE PRO-ISRAEL (⁠ノ⁠｀⁠Д⁠´⁠)⁠ノ⁠彡⁠┻⁠━⁠┻

✓🇵🇸🇵🇸✓

******************★«‰»★*******************

Note: Self love is the most important type of love, at least that's true in my opinion. I hope that influences yours (⁠´⁠∩⁠｡⁠•⁠ ⁠ᵕ⁠ ⁠•⁠｡⁠∩⁠`⁠)

#(⁠◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕⁠✿⁠)

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sparklecryptid · 5 months

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The Folgers "Incest" Commercial and the Internet

the internet doesn't know how to engage with things that make them uncomfortable or self reflective and im a killjoy

TODAY ON: The Internet is once again Hitting My Buttons and I have been Enabled (shoutout to @fatalism-and-villainy for reminding me of my BEEF WITH THIS SPECIFIC MEME) so now you are all going to listen to me rant about why I get so fucking annoyed with the meme that grew out of the Folgers Brother and Sister Commercial.

This is the commercial in question:

youtube

Is the acting weird and stilted? Yes. Does the whole thing remind me of bring a teenager and having awkward interactions with the family members I haven't seen in a long time? Also yes. Does this commercial commit the crime of being suggestive? Does it commit the crime of making it seem like the brother and sister are in a *gasp. pearl clutching. etc.* incestuous relationship? No. It doesn't. The acting is bad. The camera angles suck. The lighting is terrible. The script could be more natural. These are valid criticisms of the ad. The fact that a meme culture jumped up around the siblings in this ad making them into an incest joke makes me wonder if we all need to go back to elementary school Language Arts.

Granted I do take the view that messaging in media can be interpreted by others however they please so I know I've already lost some of you and that's chill, I am not here to convince I am here to rant.

Also like. My guys. My gals. My nonbinary pals. The intention of the creator matters. The creator of this stunted and poorly acted commercial did not intend for the internet to read this as an incestuous relationship.

(That doesn't matter to the internet, and is of little relevance here, but it is still important to note.

"But Moose," You say and I already know where you are going with it, "We know that, that's why it's funny to meme!"

"I know," I reply with a sigh that speaks of having just completed three end of term group projects, "But at the moment I'm taking the words incest and incestuous away from you because none of you can be trusted to use it to describe the thing it is made to describe and siblings just being siblings.")

The internet has decided its a funny haha to giggle at the bad acting here. That's fine! It's fine! You do you! I am simply a fellow on the internet that gets annoyed too easily! It's fine! The author is dead and the internet took over and nothing matters ever.

We're here to talk about how one of the reasons this commercial took off so fast as a meme is likely because it showed an awkwardly acted familial relationship that made people uncomfortable because it showed an attempt sincerity and sincerity is cringe. The internet around the time the memes took off was full of people who would rather make jokes about being affectionate toward your sibling than ever admit that sibling relationships are complicated things and that *gasp* being sincere with a sibling you have a good relationship with isn't uncommon! Admitting that you like your sibling might ruin your cool guy street online cred! Admitting you don't get the joke might make people make fun of you!*

Admitting that you're afraid of self-reflection and being forced to confront why you would rather these two characters be in an incestuous relationship than just be siblings is scary!

AND THAT is why this commercial annoys me! Because these memes are seem like they are laughing at a poorly acted aid that at least made an attempt to be sincere about how it portrayed a brother and sister relationship! Is the commercial cringe? Yes. Does the acting suck? Yes. Is the commercial implying anything? No. It's not. You guys just can't imagine something being cringe and sincere and are stuck on the heteronormative imagining that any relationship between a man and a woman has to be sexual if it is to mean anything.

*why i was on the bandwagon for so long. i am not good at Getting The Joke in real life why would I be any better online?

#i cut this down from 500 words so here #anyway. i should have a tag for rants #moose rants

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blueisquitetired · 13 days

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Astral Shards AU

TLDR: The Boys are in space and they have a Bad Time. (Lady Sneasler is there too)

(This is technically a No Man's Sky AU, but you don't need to know anything about the game to follow along just fine)

Welcome to the pitch! All art for this AU will get their own posts, so everything here will be in game screenshots. There's also a lot more to this story then just what's written here (As this is, you know, the pitch) so please leave any questions, thoughts, or ideas in my inbox. This bad boy isn't getting a fic anytime soon, so it's tumblr only for now!

(In game models of the boys. I'll post a drawing of their actual designs sometime in the future)

Post proper under ReadMore!

This is honestly half fic if I'm being honest.

Length: ~3,000 words or so. Sorry not sorry.

Disclaimer: I don’t know every single No Man’s Sky lore detail, and I’m not going to scour the wiki for every piece of information and spoil the whole game for myself, so not everything will be 100% lore accurate. And I’ll be ignoring the giant late game twist (if you know you know) because, as cool as it is, it’s very much a twist that consumes all narratives set in this universe, and I’d rather not make my story *also* about that. (Also, as with all AUs not currently written down in fic form, details are subject to change)

Anyway did you know the No Man’s Sky protagonist suffers from amnesia?

Picture this- Ingo wakes up on a frozen planet next to a crashed starship. He's a bit confused and lost- but his space suit is damaged and that kinda takes priority. Because of that, it takes him a hot minute to figure out he has no memories- but as he’s gathering the materials needed to not die he figures it out

The starship recognizes him as its owner and he feels relatively confident in his ability to fix all of this jazz, so he did exist before... but besides that he’s kinda stumped

But this place sucks- he’s constantly freezing to death, stuck either recharging his hazard protection with sodium or siting in his (still wrecked) starship until he warms up enough to go mine stuff with his handy dandy laser again.

And he’s alone

It’s very lonely

(He’s not supposed to be alone)

So the tentative plan is this: fix the starship enough for space flight, launch into space, and then fly to this solar system's space station. (which he has a gut feeling exists. “Every solar system has one” he mutters to himself. He’s not sure how he knows that)

It’s….. slow going. But it’s going

There’s a lot of mining involved, a lot of looting crashed space junk, a lot of mind numbing boredom as he goes to the same spaces over and over and-

And then he sees something weird in the distance.

(This is a monolith. In game it’s used to learn space language words and history and to get l o r e. I’m taking advantage of it)

It’s kinda a hike over there, and it uses up a lot of his sodium reserves, but eventually he comes face to face with….. whatever this is

So he walks around it, trying to figure out what it is, before eventually finding a platform he can interact with.

Stepping up to it, he’s filled with strange sensations and knowledge, a story of an alien race that is familiar yet he hasn’t actually seen yet-

And then the world shatters in front of him

He steps back in shock as a tear in reality forms, a crack in the cosmos widening and fracturing, the sound of breaking glass as everything s h a t t e r s-

And then everything is fine

He stands there, dumbly for a moment, mind reeling….

Until he notices something that wasn’t there before

A shard of purple glass

Carefully, he picks it up, holding it up to his visor-

It whispers

It’s faint, too faint. He can’t hear it well- but it’s important. The whispers are familiar and he needs to know what they’re saying.

So he treks back to his ship, filled with a purpose he hasn’t had in his entire remembered life.

It takes a bit to wire his radio receiver to accept strange reality shards as a valid form of input, but eventually he figures it out. Connecting the last few wires and attaching the shard to it-

“Ingo, where are you? Please respond.”

That’s- that’s- that’s his brother!!!! His TWIN!!! Ingo doesn’t know much but he knows that’s his brother and he’s not supposed to be alone and what happened, why did he crash and why is his twin not here, where did he go? What happened?? He needs to find him!! He needs to find him NOW!

This lights a fire under him

Suddenly it isn’t “hey let’s fix my ship because I have nothing better to do” it’s “I have to fix my ship so I can find my brother” he’s working in overtime

He visits the monolith once or twice too, hoping to get another hint, another clue, maybe even respond- but it has no more answers. Reality is stable, and there are no more shards of glass

It takes forever and the fixed spaceship is…… not great- but at least it flies.

It works well enough, and Ingo has enough oxygen for his life support and enough fuel for his ship to get to the space station- even if it’s on the other end of the solar system.

Ingo…. reeeeaally wishes it was better put together, but this is the best he can do for a previously totaled starship.

So, he lifts off.

And things go great at first!

His radar manages to locate the space station without much trouble, and his pulse engine should get him there fairly quickly.

He charts a course and gets going, little purple shard tucked into his suit. (He’d listened to the message on repeat hundreds of times. Over and over “Ingo, where are you? Please respond.” He’d combed through his ships logs as well, but they were almost all corrupted, left with nothing but fragments of his brother’s voice. This was his only true connection)

And then the engine dies

The engine dies and Ingo is in the middle of nowhere, ages away from any planet, stuck in the middle of empty space with no hope of getting anywhere.

No debris, no friendly ships, no nothing.

He’s going to die out here.

He's going to die out here and his brother will never know, will never see him again, will think he just forgot him-

He has a nice panic, looking at his limited supply of oxygen and mildly freaking out

(Majorly freaking out)

But at least he has his radio.

He doesn’t…. know any frequencies or anything, doesn’t know what to tune it too, but he has to try something.

So he just, turns it on and hopes for the best.

“Hello this is Ingo. I am stranded in deep space and require assistance.” No response. Tune the frequency one more decimal point “Hello this is Ingo. I am stranded in deep space and require assistance.” No response. Turn the dial-

And so on and so forth.

Eventually, his wordy message turns to just a hoarse plea of “help”, and he’s started switching the stations willy nilly, no longer one decimal at a time.

He’s going to die out here.

Hours of this, hours of desperately pleading into the vast depths of space-

The frequency changes without his input.

“….help?” He asks hesitantly, staring blankly at the radio transceiver. How did it do that? Why did it do that? Why was the display filled with random symbols instead of numbers-

“With what?”

Ingo jolts upright in his seat, adrenaline rushing through his veins and his heartbeat in his throat “I am stranded in deep space and require rescue.” He wheezes out, his throat sore and dry

“Oh yeah that’s no good. You sound awful- you must have been stuck there a while.” There’s the sounds of buttons beeping and fingers tapping before- “Ah found you. We’ll open a pocket near your location. Sit tight.”

And then reality warps and-

That’s new

It’s uh…. A bit too far from his ship though. It’s a nice, rational distance away, but his ship can’t move.

But it’s close enough he could probably jet pack over there.

Making sure his shard is close to his chest and firmly secured, he opens up his cockpit and leaps, propelling himself into the docking bay-

And oh

Artificial gravity kicks in, and he falls to the floor in a crumpled heap right by the entrance.

Impossibly, a ship flies in a mere moment later, even though there had been no ships anywhere nearby Ingo before. Several more soar in and out as he ungracefully shuffles to the station proper. Somehow.

And by the stars, is it loud.

(Please imagine this area being far more busy than it is. I took this photo on a weekday, but even on its busiest days it’s still a game that probably maxes out at lobbies of thirty or something. Since, you know, it’s an indie game)

After weeks of total isolation, the sheer hustle and bustle of hundreds of people is far too much to handle, the echoing reverb of ships landing and taking off sending spikes through his skull.

But, as uncomfortable as it is, it’s still people- and Ingo is so so glad to have company

“You okay?” A young voice asks as he clambers up to the parking space nearest to the entrance. “You took quite a tumble there.”

There's a short being on the platform, one that helps Ingo up. It's a youth, maybe female- and she almost seems to be the same species as Ingo. (Ingo has the feeling that he doesn't meet members of his own species much... or ever)

“Everything is operational.” he reassures, standing at full height and towering over the girl. He hunches down slightly, as to not seem intimidating. “I am just relieved that I am no longer trapped out there.”

The girl nods and gestures him forward, walking towards the station proper and expecting him to follow. He does

“Yeah I bet! If your ship wasn’t even working well enough to fly in….” She shakes her head. “Well enough of that. I’m iteration Akari! What’s your name?”

“Ingo.” He replies, a little more directly then he prefers. His voice is still hoarse. “What is this place?”

“The anomaly!” Akari replies, as they get closer to the crowd proper. “I guess this is your first time then?”

“Yes it is.” What in the world is this place? And where are all these people coming from??

“Then you should meet with iteration Adaman and Irida!”

Akari begins leading him past the crowds and towards a curving ramp.

“Iteration?” He asks, noticing the pattern in their titles.

“Oh yeah uhhhh… I’ll let one of them explain that.”

Akari chatters to him as they walk along, pointing out different landmarks and explaining their purpose

Eventually they reach a wide room that seems to overlook the entire station, just as bright and colorful as everything else.

“Hello!” A voice calls, and an alien decked in dark blue greets him. “You took quite the fall there! Are you alright?”

He is iteration Adaman apparently, and iteration Irida stands nearby. She waves when Ingo and Akari approach.

They are the leaders of this place- the founders of the anomaly. A place between dimensions, a safe haven for people like them- one's who are alone in the worlds they inhabit.

They ask about his lack of spaceship and Ingo tells them of his plight, eventually explaining his goal.

“I need to find my twin.” He explains, pulling out his shard of glass. “I remember little, but I know we are not meant to be separated. I fear for his safety.”

“A twin???” Irida sounds completely shocked, the plants she was monitoring forgotten as she turns to the group. “That’s not possible.”

“It could be.” Adaman counters. “In the infinite reaches of spacetime anything is possible.”

“The odds of such a thing are so astronomically low. Do you mean a brother in arms? A family chosen by bond alone?”

“No?” Ingo responds. “He looks like me.” He saw his reflection in the ice, his brother whispering in his ears. They shared a face.

“Impossible. Mathematically impossible”

“Improbable Irida. Not impossible.”

“The odds are far too low-"

“Plenty of people have siblings. And plenty of twins exist.” Ingo interrupts, irritation coloring his voice. “It is not that rare.”

“But not travelers.” Akari pipes up, finally joining the conversation. “Travelers are always alone.”

“Traveler?”

“That’s what you are.” Irida explains. “A traveler. We all are actually- everyone here. A being cursed to wander the stars, one with no home of their own. They may stop and rest, may find a place to settle down- but there is no place that is theirs, no community for them. No sky they rest under calls them its own.”

“Only one can exist at once.” Adaman adds. “Every dimension can only host a single one.”

“Hang on.” Ingo shakes his head. “That does not track. You just said that everyone here is a traveler. Which contradicts your earlier statement.”

“We are in an in-between space.” Irida explains, her tone pitying. “We founded the anomaly so travelers could find each other. So that the iterations could finally interact.”

“So we wouldn’t always be alone.”

“I…. I need to sit down.”

Adaman pulls up a chair and Ingo slumps into it, his head and helmet falling into his hands

“You can stay as long as you need.” Adaman reassures, his tone soft. “Our home is open to all, a bastion of safety.”

“I cannot.” Ingo sighs, before straightening back up. “I must find my brother.”

He holds out his shard of glass, reflections of multicolored light gleaming off it.

“This is the only clue I have”

“May I?” Adaman holds out his hand and Ingo hands it over reluctantly, watching as he holds it up to the light. His face falls as he examines it.

“Oh dear. Irida is this….?”

“Yes.” Irida's tone is grave, somber and mourning. “A shard of the glass world.”

“Your brother is almost certainly gone.”

“No!” Ingo leaps to his feet, his hands clenched in fists. “He is not! He sent me that message-“

“There are many in between spaces.” Irida interrupts. “We are in one, a stable pocket that hides us from the world, from the gaze of the Atlas.”

She frowns.

“Larger ones are far less stable. Refractions, cracks. The-"

“-world of glass.” Adaman finishes for her. “Any living being unlucky enough to fall in there will cut themselves on its fragments, their very being torn to shreds. Your brother would not survive."

“Not necessarily.” Ingo counters, his voice tight. “If I could get him out-”

“He would be nothing like he was before, shattered beyond compare.”

“But he would be THERE!” His voice is loud and booming, his throat stinging in pain. “I refuse to let him suffer and die in there. I refuse to just…. give up on him! I will get him out!”

“It will be difficult.” Adaman hands him his glass back. “To find a way in will be tricky enough, but to find a way out….”

“How do I get in.” Ingo holds the shard to his chest. “How do I find him.”

“Well…."

Adaman frowns, drumming his fingers on his arm.

"Entering the world of glass shouldn't be much trouble. It's a vast space, and opening pockets in spacetime is our specialty."

"But finding him is the actual problem." Irida adds, her face grim.

"Yup. Which makes your encounter at the monolith even more strange." Expression contemplative, Adaman once again holds out his hand. "May I see your message again?"

Tentatively, Ingo places it back in his palm, still reluctant to part with something so precious. Adaman hardly seems to notice, casually turning it back and forth in his hands as he re-examines it- before eventually scanning it with a tool on his table. Data streams onto his screen, and he hands the shard back to Ingo before examining what he received.

The group is silent as he scrolls through the data, a tension in the air.

".... I think you could probably find more of these shards. Going off of your account of the event and the frequency of the shard itself..." He trails off, expression contemplative. "They seem to be... tuned to you somehow. Connected somehow. Maybe it's related to you two being 'twins'."

He hums.

"Maybe your predecessor was split into two. Maybe you are connected more than you know."

Ingo has... questions about that, but he keeps silent for now. Better not to interrupt him and break his train of thought.

"If you can find weak spots in your universe, places where the boundary between the world of the living and the world of glass is thin... Maybe you can find more of these."

"And then what?" Irida asks, her tone annoyed. "What good would more of those do?"

"Why, that's where you come in my dear friend!" Voice light and face playful, Adaman turns to his partner and grins. "With enough data points, I'm sure you can triangulate his location!"

"And send this man on a suicide mission?"

"I will find a way." Ingo interrupts the two before their argument to escalate, his determination swelling. "A way to travel there without losing myself. I will not go in unprepared."

"You heard the man!" Adaman claps his hands merrily and Irida groans. "He's already made up his mind! Better to help him where we can, hmm?"

Irida shakes her head.

“Fine. I’ll rig you up a scanner. A way to find unstable areas.”

"And then you can gather more of those shards!"

“But you’ll need to go all over.” Irida huffes.

“Not just yellow stars. Red, green, blue. You’d need to build an intensive warp drive, which is expensive and requires so much materials and nanites and you don’t even have a ship-”

“We surely have an extra we can spare.” Adaman interruptes, flashing Ingo an apologetic look. “And while the trials will be difficult, I’m sure your determination will see you through. Akari?”

“Yes?” Ingo startles as the girl speaks. He had forgotten she was there.

“Can you check the hangers for a ship we could gift our friend? I’m positive we have a few that have been abandoned.”

“Of course!” Grabbing Ingo’s hand, the girl leads him onward. “Let’s find you something good!”

Unfortunately, ‘something good’ was a tall ask when looking through old abandoned spaceships. Most had been left behind for good reason, old piles of junk that barely flew and would require extensive repairs. Certainly not anything close to the state of the art traveling ship Ingo would require.

“Okay this isn’t looking great,” Akari started, no doubt noticing Ingo’s discouragement. “But you could probably break one of these bad boys down for parts and then buy a better ship? Work your way up?”

“I suppose.” Ingo frowned as he brushed his hand over one of the ships, a part coming off under his hand.

“Or maybe….” The girl trailed off, and Ingo gave her an inquisitive look. “I mean it’s kind of a long shot- but I do know a ship that has all the required technology you’re looking for already.”

“Really?!” Hope bloomed in Ingo’s chest, his hands shaking in excitement.

“Yeah. But uh, don’t get your hopes up too high. She’s really picky.”

“…..she?”

‘She’ was a ship by the name of ‘Lady Sneasler’, a living breathing organism that happened to also be a spaceship. A marvel of biology that was like nothing Ingo had ever seen before, a pure wonder and the most beautiful thing Ingo had ever laid eyes on. And he told her as much.

(Living ships are a very canon thing in game and they are so cool! I'll post some art of Lady Sneasler later, but for right now, here's my personal in game living ship, Darling)

She was flattered, and was even more flattered when Ingo broke into an excited ramble as he examined her thoroughly, reverently running his hands up her flank when she gave him permission. She was a prideful one apparently, and had refused a pilot for centuries- but Ingo’s genuine wonder managed to easily win her over.

And so Ingo got himself a ship.

Thus, the two begin their cosmic journey together, traveling through the galaxy to gather all of Emmet’s messages and eventually save him.

It’s long and arduous, rife with danger and trials... but eventually they manage to force their way into the world of glass, and pull Emmet out.

And boy howdy is he messed up….. but that just means they get a healing arc lol.

But yeah, that’s the basics! Feel free to ask questions if you’re curious, (I have a lot more I haven’t shared yet) and I hope you enjoyed! There’s a very decent chance I might end up writing a fic about this in the future, but that’s so far off that you shouldn’t hold your breath.

Thank you for reading!

#Astral Shards AU #blue’s writing #submas #submas au #subway boss ingo #subway boss emmet

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