#i fully kept thinking their dialogue was a different character

[aroaessidhe]

2022 reads // twitter thread  

The Fable of Wren

YA contemporary about a teen in a small southern town who lives with their uncle & spends their time with the birdwatching society looking for a rare local finch

until their uncle & then another birdwatcher dies, and they have to investigate to discover the truth

#The Fable of Wren #aroaessidhe 2022 reads #yeah this was....uh #the writing is pretty bad which is the cause of most of my problems i guess #idk if it’s trying to be atmospheric or magical realism vibes or what but that does not come across #its trying to have vibes and it has 0 vibes #there’s also like… it’s in first person but the writing style of the prose is very formal but their dialogue is written with a very souther #southern accent so that comes off weird. write the prose like that too coward #i fully kept thinking their dialogue was a different character #a lot of random deep lines that just feel odd #it also has that -character says something generic and reasonable -character blows up at them and an argument starts which feels very “plot #notes: and then they have an argument” #also what is this a birdwatching cult. i feel like if you just called this group birdwatchers that would make sense but Citizens? you sound #like a cult. i was trying to figure out what even it was about but they’re literally just a weird group of birdwatchers who have some brief #mythology about a rare-ish bird? why are you writing this in a way that makes it sound like a cult? #the friend dude is annoying in like. the way he's written is annoying #also i read this bc the mc is ace but it's literally like. in the last chapter they allude to the fact that they don't want to date #also are they hallucinating their uncles ghost like every 50 pages #what's that about

[catnippackets]

Hello!! Do you have any tips on fully scripting ur comic before drawing it out? (Anything u kept in mind during the process or that stuck out to you!) Im thinking of doing it this way and i think u mentioned somewhere that u scripted the backmaker before starting to draw it?

I think I might! this might be more just general storytelling advice in general rather than specifically scripting, but I find it's a thousand times easier to do it this way, I do this for when I'm writing prose as well. to be perfectly honest I don't know how to plot stories any other way lol

so first of all: everything needs a thesis statement. or rather every scene needs to have a specific reason for existing.

When I wrote TBM I divided it into three acts, and then decided where I needed to be at the beginning and end of each one. So for example, act 1 had to begin with the girls at the creek making a discovery, and it had to end with one of their classmates dying and all of them being left with a feeling of dread and are unsure if they’re responsible for it or not.

Once that was decided, I had to figure out what other things needed to happen in order to carry us there. There’s nine sections in act 1, twelve in act 2, and fifteen in act 3, and each of them have their own little thesis statement as I like to call it. Sometimes they’re specific like “they go to the creek so they can find the body of the first victim and kick off the mystery”, but sometimes they’re simply “establish this dynamic between these characters”, or “set up that this character feels a certain way about this issue” or even “drop foreshadowing here for this other thing so it can pay off later”.

So for act one, the things that needed to happen were: establish that Alice has a reoccurring nightmare, set up all the girls' personalities and relationships with each other, establish that they hang out at the creek regularly, they go to a different part of the creek this time and find something kind of creepy, one of their classmates dies, all of them feel various degrees of fear and guilt over it, and life goes on and they all graduate highschool and aren't sure if they should move on or keep thinking about it.

Some of those things can be done in one single sequence, and others can be drawn out in between a few of them, but as long as those things happen, you’re golden. With certain sections, if the point is simply “these characters talk about this thing”, you aren’t even really locked in to a specific setting, you can put them wherever you want and have them doing whatever you want as long as it works.

And then there’s also the characters!! They each have their own beginning and end as well. I needed to make sure I knew exactly where each of them were, like, mindset-wise, at the beginning and end of each act, and then dedicate scenes within the story to track their progress on it. So characters and scenes and acts are basically all treated the same! Each start in one place and end in another, and I have to figure out how to merge all of them nicely.

I've locked in the full script at this point, it was locked in before I started drawing it really, but I'll occasionally reach a scene and have to rework dialogue a bit cuz ppl are talking too much or whatever and I hadn't realized in the writing stage that drawing it out that way would be tedious or tricky. but it's usually pretty minor, the general ideas are all still there

I hope that's somewhat helpful to you, I never know how to explain what my process is lol but that's basically what I do!

#ask #Anonymous

[teaandtoastandthyme]

Lockwood & Co - Books vs. show preferences

First, things about Lockwood & Co that I like better in the books. (Book and show spoilers abound in both these lists.)

The timeline. I'm actually very confused about what the timeline in the show is supposed to be. I could see a somewhat condensed timeline making sense for screen adaptation, but I felt like the show didn't give the characters enough time to know each other as well as they supposedly did.

Which boy drew his rapier first in the Archives. In the show, Lockwood draws his rapier first to defend both Lucy and himself against Kipps' nastiness. In the books, Lockwood draws his rapier in quick defense against Kipps' rapier, having used his words rather than his sword to provoke Kipps. I just like that bit of character portrayal better.

The scene at the Combe Carey well. I think Lockwood's "No, Lucy. That's not the way it's going to be." is such a powerful foreshadowing line about how they help pull each other away from the call of death. And it would have fit so well with some of the other scenes they added for the show.

The Skull's dialogue. Certainly most of his best sarcastic lines are in later books, but they didn't set his character up well to make those remarks. While the tone of the show is a bit different than the books, it seems they could have kept at least a little of his ridiculous nature.

The plan (or lack-thereof) for infiltrating the relic auction. While certainly the trio (plus Flo) are plenty chaotic in this part of the books, they DO have a pretty well-thought-out plan to get into the auction and get the bone glass. They're not just winging it. There are several minor plot holes and/or convenient plot devices in the show that wouldn't have had to happen if they had kept the Winkman auction scene a little closer to the books. And it would have highlighted that these kids actually are smart. (And that Lockwood is actually good a making plans sometimes.)

And now, things I like more about the show adaptation:

George's physical characterization. The books' use of Lucy's voice to disparage George's appearance can be overwhelming to the point of distracting sometimes. I appreciate that the show allowed Lucy and George to have some conflict without it involving making fun of physicality in any way. There's enough of that already in the world. That is literally my least favorite part of the books. (Though at least Lucy does mature a bit over the series in this respect.) [Edited to clarify: I have nothing against George in the books or the way he looks, just the way the others talk about it!]

The expansion of Norrie's role. I think this was a brilliant move to highlight the trauma Lucy experienced and heighten the stakes a bit. And it was also the perfect device for explaining parts of the world in narrative form.

A deeper exploration into mental health and suicidality. The books contain these themes, but I love the way the show brought these characters' experiences of trauma and mental illness more fully into conversation with each other and with the story. It was masterfully done, without romanticizing or preaching or toning down.

Lockwood giving Lucy the diamond necklace before the party. When I first watched this scene in its entirety, I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding. I am so used to male characters telling the dressed-up scrappy female character how stunningly beautiful she is, and I hate it. I hate the way it shifts the agency and purpose of the woman's appearance. I've said before in other posts how much I appreciate that Lockwood just lets Lucy be in this scene. She doesn't need him to compliment her appearance because her appearance is not for him. And then, of course, the necklace can be more about connection and relationally rather than approval or beauty.

Clues about Lockwood's parents and the nature of the Problem a little earlier. It ties the stories together into one larger mystery a bit sooner and quite effectively, I think.

What about you? What are your favorite changes in the show, and what do you like better in the books?

#lockwood and co #save lockwood and co #lockwood & co #anthony lockwood #lucy carlyle #george karim #george cubbins #save lockwood & co #jonathan stroud #lockwood and co spoilers #lockwood netflix #lockwood and co tv show #lockwood & co books #comparisons #book vs show

[aerynlallaboso]

theory post:

(spoilers for AW1/AN/AW2)

AW2 Zane is not the original Zane; he is a new version of Tom Zane that has overwritten the original, both in the Dark Place and in the real world.

Part One: Contradictory realities

The idea that this version of Zane has been written into reality and displaced the original Zane is, I think, pretty much textual - I'm very interested in the fact that despite the fact Zane the poet wrote himself out of the world, he did still exist in certain places e.g. in the memory of Cynthia Weaver, who kept that memory alive by writing newspaper articles about Zane (dismissed as urban legend by everyone around her), in actual physical evidence via the shoebox loophole that he created himself (the box of books in the cabin, which are real copies of books that don't exist), and in the memory of the Dark Place (Diver's Cabin at the bottom of the lake). When Zane dismisses the poet/diver as 'a beloved character I played in one of my films', that may be what he now believes (I think he's either not fully aware of the disconnect or doesn't particularly care), but it hasn't always been the truth. There was a real poet called Thomas Zane, and there wasn't: two contradictory truths.

Besides the box of books in the cabin in AW1, the most compelling evidence that reality has been rewritten is the existence of the manor that became Valhalla Nursing Home. Cynthia Weaver's journal indicates she still retains her memories of the original Zane and is very confused when people start referring to him as a filmmaker. She also has in her room a photograph of Zane and Jagger standing in front of Diver's Cabin, which is an object that absolutely should not exist - Zane was never a diver, right? In the basement of the nursing home, you can find a newspaper article with an identical photograph of Zane and Jagger, this time standing in front of their newly purchased manor home. The manor did not exist in the original version of reality as it is in AW1; Norman has dialogue referencing this ('Isn't it strange that I've lived in Bright Falls my whole life and I can't remember this house?'), which Mandy-May refutes ('The house has always been here') just as Saga's memories of her original reality are refuted throughout the game. The manor and the cabin are, similar to the filmmaker and the poet, the same building in different versions of reality, occupying the same role in the history of Bright Falls, which is why the Writer's Room exists in both of them. The same place, the same person - but different.

(Jesse Faden's therapy tape referencing Zane the poet in Control is an additional piece of evidence similar to Cynthia's memories - I assume that Polaris's influence protected Jesse from the effects of that reality rewrite.)

Okay. So Zane was rewritten into reality as a filmmaker. By who?

Part Two: Who else?

This part is more speculative, but it makes so much sense to me that I don't even feel like it's reaching too far 😭. Alan Wake is constantly writing drafts. Constantly cycling through loops that even he's forgotten. He wrote Thomas Zane into Departure as a way to free himself from the cabin, as a guardian angel for himself who would feed him manuscript pages and lead him to the end of the story. It seems almost impossible that over the course of 13 years, it wouldn't occur to Alan to try that again. Bring Zane back, rewrite him for his purposes, maybe as a collaborator this time? American Nightmare provides some excellent context for this, since the final piece Alan needs to rewrite reality and kill Scratch at the end is Alice's short film - you could say he's collaborating with her in absentia. Their two pieces of art strengthen each other, similar to the idea Zane presents to Alan in Initiation 5 of 'your magnum opus, Return, and its companion piece, my film'.

It feels natural (to me!) that Zane the filmmaker was created to fulfill this role of collaborator in a different medium, down to the way he describes himself as a fellow 'celebrated auteur'. He's here to help Alan get out. But as Alan forgets his own actions after a certain amount of time, Zane's role becomes murkier - Alan no longer trusts his intentions, no longer wants to give up control of his story, and the new Thomas Zane is left adrift in the Dark Place with little besides the desire to create to escape (with Alan). Again more speculative, since Zane's objectives are left relatively ambiguous throughout the game, but I do believe his desire to help Alan get out is sincere (even if his motivations for it are unclear). What this will mean if/when he escapes the Dark Place himself is another story :)

Side note: why does the new Zane look like Alan?

I don't know if this is a question everyone has? I do, because I'm not sure as to the current canonicity of the photographs of the original Zane in This House of Dreams, but those appear to show a blonde man with a different build to AW2 Zane, and Alan himself questions why Zane looks like him. Frankly, if we're going by the 'Alan created him' theory and given Scratch's existence as his evil doppelganger, I don't think that Alan would have intentionally written the guy to look like him - Zane's appearance feels like a reflection of the fact that this is Alan's dreamscape, a 'performance the Dark Place [is] putting on' which is 'all about me, but I [have] no control over it'. I also think that Zane is a reflection of the traits Alan would value in a collaborator, and that Alan Wake has a hard time letting anyone but himself write his story... You see where that could go.

Theorising more about this one would require going deep into my beliefs about Wake and Zane as reflections of each other in a creator/creation loop paradox that continues from the first game and fulfillers of the same archetypal Creator/Hero role within a larger metanarrative of the Story of Cauldron Lake (hence why various important characters refer to Alan as 'Tom') and I don't have time for that right now but probably the true answer has to be. They wanted to give Ilkka Villi a guy to play without dubbing. And I could listen to that man talk forever so alright post is over thanks for coming

(Side note 2: Self-promotion

I wanted to write a full 'setting out theory' post about this but I did also incorporate a lot of it into my fanfiction. Which you can read if you want to if you're interested in edging for creative inspiration 🙂)

#alan wake #alan wake 2 #alan wake 2 spoilers #thomas zane #meta #theory #yayyyy promotional tags

[etrevil]

I just can't get enough of the new episode like, goddamn. I love it.

Cutting to the chase, the back and forth between who's topping the other - Agency and DOA addition - was such a nerve-wracking succession of scenes even as a manga reader. Like, yes I know how this ends, yes I know there isn't much to be worried about,

but then the New Order pilots come into play. And then suddenly, the blondie's bleeding and the cool eyepatch is dead. Okay, I get that: poison, simple. Wait, what do you mean Fyodor did that? Is it still poison? Is it his ability? Is it something else?

-was my first reaction concerning the manga, and the shake of emotions reappeared watching episode six, and I adore it for that.

It threw me onto my toes, kept me up like I was in heels, and I love how Teruko and Tecchou come in with a military vehicle, and Tecchou shouts out his wonderful "setchudai!" while Jouno's probably out there somewhere as a vampire. Can't wait for him to say, "I will put Jouno above justice," because I will froth at the mouth.

Anyways, Ranpo's dialogue was such a delight and stress-inducer to hear. I was so, so worried even after I read the manga. 'cause he sounded so confident before the pilot-escorts got taken care off, and Fukuchi got his hands on the New Order. Are they screwed? Is everything fucked now?

This scene,

did nothing to help, because it's good, beautiful with its colors, and just reminded me how much of a truly dangerous character he is. In prison, yet still aiding his allies for his own means.

And when I was watching the new episode, the line, "If we'd made just one more mistake, we would have lost the One Order," had turned me upside down. I was confused at first. I thought Ranpo would be shakes up, panicking even- but no. He said this with certainty in his voice. And Fukuchi's wide-eyed expression was the cherry on top.

Because this was when I remembered another bastard in prison, aiding his allies for Yokohama's safety:

DAZAI HOLY SHIT, I had literal chills when this scene came up in both the manga and anime. This man really is on par with Fyodor, and I was fooled by their silly little life counseling in mersault.

And gosh, I gotta appreciate how similar yet different these two scenes between Dazai and Fyodor are. Both are looking over their shoulder, but Fyodor stays in his position and half of his face is hidden. Dazai, on the other hand, starts with his back. Then he turns towards us, fully showing his face with that hella pretty smile of his, and these small differences really just make me love how the two are like the antithesis of one another.

Both are labeled demons, and yet one sought out the light and is now doing his best to protect the home he's found from his alike, who wishes to burn the whole world down for his belief.

The cut to the opening song was just, so good.

Anddd I think I'm done... still jumping all over the walls though :D

This ain't an analysis or anything fancy tbh, just me geeking out about bsd episode six (the first half of it) 'cause I love this story so much, and I needed to get this vibrating thought out my head and into readable words.

Might make another one for the episode's second half idk

#as you can see i am not sane rn for the episode #im appreciating it with a whole heart #i need this for the pain to come lol #... fuck chuuya #is gonna come soon #FUCK #bungou stray dogs #bsd #bsd manga #bsd anime #bsd season 5 #bsd season five #bungou stray dogs season five #dazai osamu #osamu dazai #bsd dazai #fyodor dostoevsky #bsd fyodor #ranpo edogawa #bsd ranpo

[skeletonpunching]

Buddy Daddies interview with Toyonaga Toshiyuki

Interview with Toyonaga Toshiyuki (voice actor for Kurusu Kazuki)

Interviewer: When you first saw the character design, description, and other information about Kurusu Kazuki, what impression did you have?

Toyonaga: I felt like this was a bright character - but he was also clad in a coat that gave off a slightly bleak air, so I imagined that there must surely be more to him than just that womanising side. At first, this series was referred to by the nickname of "Parenting Project", so I wondered, "Is he becoming a papa or something???"

Interviewer: Once you actually acted as him, what did you find appealing or interesting about Kazuki?

Toyonaga: I think, hopefully, the brightness and liveliness came across. The director also told me, "Please do lots of cooking," and I wondered: how could I add my own extra touches to the character of Kurusu Kazuki, while staying true to the series and the character? I treated this as a test from the director. But there was already plenty of interesting nuance to the lines of dialogue, and I tried to convey all of that fully in my performance.

Interviewer: You were essentially playing the dual roles of father to Unasaka Miri, and a professional assassin. Was there anything you kept in mind at those times?

Toyonaga: Honestly, I wasn't really consciously thinking "this part goes like this" or anything. There are lots of fantastical bits, and as an assassin, he's always super casual about shooting people (I guess that's how it goes, when you're an assassin…) so I think his portrayal doesn't come across as all that brutal. If anything, I'd say I was probably most concerned with maintaining the overall balance between the realistic aspects and the exaggerated aspects.

Interviewer: Please tell us your impressions of Suwa Rei and Miri, as well as what you find appealing about each of them.

Toyonaga: I'm pretty envious of Rei-kun, in some ways. (laughs) But even Rei-kun, who seems at first glance to have an enviably self-indulgent life, has the kind of past only an assassin would. I find his evolution very fascinating. Miri-chan, well, what else can I say? She's just plain adorable. I think Kino Hina-san's performance truly brought all that charm bursting forth. I'm a father myself, so I've really gotten to understand that sense of "adorableness".

Interviewer: From the episodes that have aired so far, are there any scenes that left an impression on you, or that you're especially fond of?

Toyonaga: Well, it's not part of the story, just a super minor detail - but in the opening, there's this moment where Kazuki picks up Miri-chan. That movement is so totally realistic, it really gets to me. You can tell so much care went into that. As for the episodes themselves, that conversation with Miri-chan's mother in the bar was a memorable scene. Kazuki says shouldering everything is a mother's duty, and gets the retort that people who talk like that, without ever having been parents themselves, bring the greatest misfortune to their families… There's a lot to think about there.

Interviewer: Please tell us what you think are the selling points of this series "Buddy Daddies".

Toyonaga: Miri-chan is cute. I recommend it to people who like watching shows while having plenty of comments and questions about the story, and people who like suddenly noticing some words or truths that might surprise them, even if they have no particular questions or comments.

Interviewer: Finally, please give a message to everyone who is enjoying this series.

Toyonaga: It's an original series, so no one has any idea where it's going next - I think that's really fun and thrilling. "What kind of events will they get caught up in from now on? Will it turn out different from what I expected?!" Maybe it will, and maybe not. I hope you'll have a great time watching the show, including all those unexpected twists. It'll be fine! Miri-chan will never betray you!!!

#buddy daddies #buddy daddies interview #toyonaga toshiyuki

[ripplestitchskein]

I've been binge reading your Helluva Boss and Stolitz posts for a while now and I love how mature and nuanced your takes are. I've run into a good deal too many Stolitz antis on Twitter who won't give Stolas and Blitzo's relationship a chance to improve later, despite the show clearly trying to do just that. I'm especially tired of people saying that their relationship is one-sided. And even when actual evidence is put out there that Blitzo actually does like Stolas back, they say it doesn't count because those hints are less than 5 second long small details rather than being spoonfed to them. Just argued with one of them on Twitter like an hour ago and that's exactly what they said. And they accused ME of not paying attention because in their mind, Stolitz was built up from sexual assault, and they think Blitzo's line in Western Energy "He can get hurt?" is somehow out of character which confused the hell out of me, and they kept insisting that Blitzo had "zero interest" in Stolas no matter what.

Thank you so much!! I do try my best to be as rational and logical as possible so I’m glad it’s coming through, not to say I don’t have emotionally based reactions or bias but in my meta analysis I try to set my personal feelings about the text presented aside and just talk about what it could potentially mean based on recurring elements, themes, and deliberate choices made throughout not just in individual scenes.

LooLoo Land is a perfect example, there are some moments in that episode I heavily dislike (Blitzø shoving the dolls down his pants, the “as long as she washes it” convo, and Stolas being sexually inappropriate in front of his kid) so I do understand some of the criticism. It was also episode two and being a creative myself I know firsthand that things like that happen. You put in things early, for a joke, a laugh, to highlight personalities and they don’t necessarily come across the way you intended or jive with where the story ends up. Which is why a lot of my analysis takes in the entirety of what we have so far, the recurring stuff, not just individual moments or one off lines.

I’ve always maintained that it’s crucial to remember that creators are not perfect beings who are getting their story from on high fully formed, they make mistakes, they get inspired and take things in a different direction as things develop, they can contradict themselves over time. It happens.

It’s also a cartoon so it’s limited in how much it can even do, how expressive the characters can be, how much time they have to explore and the medium absolutely comes into play when analyzing it. Art has always been and will always be subjective, and unless the creator flat out contradicts something it’s largely left to interpretation, but that interpretation cannot be based on one scene, or one episode, or a one off bit of dialogue or a single expression either.

I always encourage not wasting your time arguing with people who are still serving up early content talking points or who dont have media literacy as a learned skilled. I know it’s super hard, I’m guilty of it myself. I was so close to going off on a “Stella and Stolas are mutually abusive” take last night you have no idea. It was more the dude was just being deliberately obtuse to the point I stopped myself and was like “they have to be trolling, no way someone believes this”. You can’t change their minds, they obviously don’t want to engage with the material from a place of good faith, and it just bums you out at the end of it.

A lot of them are really young too I find, which may be part of the disparity. I’m 38 so I have a lot of different experiences to draw from they haven’t had yet. I’ve been a fandom girl since I was a kid, I’ve always been a shipper and I also create things so my perspective is further down the line and with lived experience some people don’t have yet. I’m reminded of this daily, my oldest son is 18 and we have many conversations where I’m reminded about how much you learn as you grow older and the assumptions you make as a younger person. This is not to say that younger people can’t think critically but it is a skill and it improves over time like any other.

I also encourage people to think of what is being said and why. There is a lot of hate for VivziePop as a person. My understanding is she said some things early on and created a hate base that is going to deliberately misinterpret just to validate their initial assumptions about her motive and character. With popular things there is always a small subset that hate a show because of its popularity too, I don’t think because they are jealous like some speculate but because they didn’t personally enjoy it and don’t like feeling like they are missing something, so they take it in a “it must be the children who are wrong” Principal Skinner approach. They can’t see why people love it so those people must be ignoring what they didn’t like about it and they must tell them.

Sometimes people like another ship or another character more, and their ship might involve one half of yours, or they don’t feel their character is getting the same focus and attention because of yours. So instead of just letting everyone enjoy their own things it’s now a competition, a source of resentment and they must make that everyone else’s problem.

And I’ve talked about the fascistic purity culture that seems to encroach into fiction spaces as well that is also at heavily play. Any time a character does anything that is vaguely “toxic”, “problematic” they are immediately painted with the SA brush, the creator is promoting it and the fans are enabling it and are somehow directly responsible for it existing in the world. You can’t do anything about them except enjoy what you like, look at it critically within your own personal comfort level, and as always, my favorite thing to say “kill the cop in your head.” Not just with fiction but everything.

I’m glad my analysis is being enjoyed, and I super appreciate your feedback on it. Come to my inbox anytime and we’ll enjoy the ride together!

#inbox #stolas x blitz #stolitz #helluva boss #will I ever answer anything in less than 500 words? #not fucking likely

[zinnia--0]

diluc, his past and present, and a pair of gloves

i like to think that diluc’s gloves play a greater role than just heat protection from his daily and knightly duties.

note: this post was originally posted on jan. 9, 2023.

diluc’s default skin is his chosen outfit for his nobleman duties, for when he’s out to do his obligations and responsibilities as the current head of the ragnvindr family, the master of the dawn winery. on the other hand, his alternate skin “red dead of night” is a modified version of his uniform from when he was still under the knights of favonius. he wears this mainly during his vigilante work.

both skins represent the two current and main sides of diluc’s identity: diluc as the ragnvindr heir, and diluc as the darknight hero.

the bases of his clothes are quite similar (a coat, vest and shirt, pants, and boots), just in different colors. but what stood the most for me is the detail of his gloves.

diluc’s glove for his red dead of night skin is fully black. on the other hand, on his default skin, the top side of the glove is black while the palm side of the glove is fully red.

this made me wonder since plain colored gloves are most common to use when it comes to formal attires and yet diluc chose at two-colored pair instead of a plain black or red one. i began to revisit some of diluc’s lore from events and voicelines out of sheer curiousity.

during the hidden strife event, diluc has stated that he only kept letters from the past in case they prove to be useful in the future, and yet he has kept (and have recently read) kaeya’s letters from the said past, even when some of those letters were only out of kaeya’s concern for him.

diluc also kept kaeya’s compensation gift even if it doesn’t match the mansion’s interior.

during the weinlesefest, the traveler asked him regarding the voice from the wine bottle, that of which he responded with the following statement [regarding his late father].

connecting all of these together, one could conclude that diluc knows the definition of the past and lives it through, but that doesn’t stop him from being sentimental about it.

diluc has a complex character which is sometimes (or maybe often) left unnoticed with all the running gags about his deadpan stare and remarks about kaeya and the knights of favonius.

he got his old uniform re-modeled for the sake of nostalgia but using it instead in accomplishing his newfound resolve after three years of solitary sojourn in search for the truth.

in his vision story, it was explicitly stated that as much as he doesn’t talk about his past, he also doesn’t deny it. he acknowledges that his past is a part of his present.

in this sense, i’m inclined to think that diluc’s gloves could’ve been his own way of remembering what his hands have committed during those years of his raging anger and loss, that his hands are both stained and that cannot be changed even under the guise of nobility and fame; it could be his way of admitting that his persona as the master of the dawn winery and the vigilante darknight hero aren’t two separate entities, but rather his acceptance that both personas, as well as his past self and deeds, are all part of the diluc ragnvindr that he is today.

note: to be clear, the part about the purpose of his gloves is a headcanon. however, the analysis itself is my conclusion from the dialogues, events, and voicelines stated.

#genshin #genshin impact #genshin lore #genshin spoilers #diluc #diluc ragnvindr #darknight hero #headcanon #genshin headcanons #red dead of night #hidden strife #genshin manga

[looniecartooni]

Sonic IDW issue 62 spoilers (not like I haven’t been reblogging a bunch already)

I love the scene between Mimic and Clutch sharing a drink. There’s a great amount of visual emphasis being displayed along with the dialogue. Sure- it’s a bit cliche, but it shows both characters motivations and how they shift as the dialogue progresses...

Mimic initially refuses the drink while Clutch still holds onto it, waiting for him to take his offer. We’ve known from the Bad Guys arc, Mimic doesn’t trust anyone unless they appeal to his interests. Even then- he doesn’t fully trust them until he’s done extensive research on them.

Clutch, on the other hand, likes appealing to people’s wants to get his own needs fulfilled. Heck- he pretty much tells Mimic this straight off the bat when he walks into Clean Sweep Inc. Even when Mimic doesn’t accept the drink (much to his disappointment) he doesn’t let go of it. He appeals to Mimic’s interest via his own extensive research.

And after Mimic’s interests are appealed to, he’s willing to take the job and “trust” Clutch. Clutch has convinced Mimic to do what he wants by appealing to his needs. Thus their motivations meet and Mimic takes the drink (which now probably has a melted ice cube in it because a certain someone kept holding it).

They even clink glasses to seal the deal- it’s beautiful.

Also also- we see that Clutch kind of is evoking most the power over Mimic here, towering over him, being uneasily close to him while he makes his offer, and of course- never letting go of Mimic’s drink.

I also love this scene because it has a very age appropriate stand in for whisky on the rocks (err rock? I don’t drink- I don’t know).

I hope Chaos is getting gratuity on that name label. It also evokes a bit of “Enerjak sounds more like a sports drink” vibes from Archie Sonic. Still- it’s hilarious what an obvious stand in this is for- but hey, you do have to keep this age appropriate. These over 21 -year-old Sonic characters are just drinking adult soda out of totally a soda bottle.

I’m not trying to make fun of it- I really like what they did with this scene and I actually am a fan of the trope where a businessman pours a drink or offers something like a cigar and tries to take power over a character by simply explaining how their ideals align. I also love it when cartoons or comics try to disguise adult things with more creative or child friendly things. It’s a fun little reference too- typical of Sonic IDW. It’s also funny to me of just how much it resembles a whisky bottle where even the label is said to be premium. I don’t think soda usually has a premium label or a sealed top (or maybe it does? I don’t really drink soda either).

Anyways- this scene is fun and interesting for many different reasons, but I think I spoiled it enough already.

#sonic idw #sonic idw 62 #tw alchohol mention #clutch the opossum #mimic the octopus

[queseraone]

Do all the ones you haven't gotten yet 😂🥰❤️ ilysm

OMG YOU BRAT

1. Which of your fics would you keep the basic plot of but rewrite completely? Um, probably my Linstead multi-chapter (I think you're familiar hahahaha), mostly because I had no plan in place and it became a total mess. So I guess I would rewrite it by... not writing it at all? Oh! But seriously I kind of wish I could go back and re-write this one. It was my first foray into writing for Chenford, and I've been thinking about a bunch lately for some reason (I think because it's vaguely related to another idea I have). I wish I'd kept it entirely canon compliant.

3. How would you describe your writing style? Lately? Nonexistent.

4. Do you have any OCs? Do you have a story for them? Original characters are TERRIFYING to me. There's a reason I write fanfic and not original fiction, coming up with characters (especially well-rounded, relatable ones that people like) feels impossible. So I just... don't. (To the point that I researched the names of every single referenced member of Metro so I could use actual character names and not make any up. I have the list if anyone's interested 😜)

5. What's a tag you never want to use for your works even when it applies? I find this question confusing. I never want to use MCD, but it shouldn't ever apply since I have no intention to write it. What a cop out of an answer, but I don't understanddddd. OH! I sometimes wish I could exclude relevant tags for the surprise factor.

6. What's your ratio for rating your works? What does this mean? Oh wait, I think it means in terms of T vs M vs E? Sex brings it to M, and porn is E?

7. Your favourite ao3 tag. Lately? Established relationship or missing moment.

8. How slow is a slow burn? So slow that they spend most of the story dancing around their feelings and only get together near the very end.

12. If you write in more than one language, what's the difference? Strictly English over here.

13. Rate your worldbuilding skills from 1 to 10. Uh... 1 or 2? Because I don't build worlds, I play in existing ones created by the show?

16. Are one-shots really underrated? Wait are they underrated??? WHY?? I LOVE a one-shot. Whether it's 500, 2000, or 10K words, I love being able to sit down and enjoy and fully fleshed out story from start to finish.

17. Past or present tense? Why? I used to write in past tense, but I think reading more present tense influenced me to do the same, and now I prefer present.

19. Share a snippet from a wip without giving any context for it.

“No!” she practically shouts at him. She takes a moment to school herself, exhaling slowly. “I mean, Tim, I say this with love, but if you don’t give me some fucking space, I will kill you.”

20. Do you work on a single project or many at the same time? How does that work for you? Many. Though it usually bites me in the ass because I end up stuck on something, and then something else, etc. So clearly it doesn't work all that well. But I think (unless I was on a total roll, which sometimes happens) I'd be stifled if I focused on only one thing. Plus ideas tend to multiply.

21. Can you accurately predict how long your fics are going to be? If you can, what's your secret? No, not really. I don't typically write anything super long though.

22. What is it about watching the same two idiots falling in love over and over again? I DON'T KNOW BUT I LOVE MY IDIOTS!!!!

24. Thoughts on flashbacks/flashforwards. Not really a fan, especially if they're super long. A couple of lines here or there are a-okay with me, but when you're italicizing half a chapter? Pass.

25. Is writing the whole thing beforehand better or worse than writing it as you go? As in, with a multi-chapter? I clearly suck at that, so I think I'd only ever do another if I wrote the whole thing in advance (or at least had a VERY clear plan in place)

27. Do you agree that one shouldn't start a story with a piece of dialogue? Nope, strongly disagree. Sometimes it just works to jump right in without preamble.

28. Any writing advice that works for you and you feel like sharing? Not really, but I'll take any advice you want to throw at me, because I am soooooo stuck.

30. Describe a fic that almost happened, but then it didn't. Well right now, every single one. Because I CAN'T WRITE 😩. Oh, but my Contractor Jay fic counts I guess? *Sigh* 10K words of nothing. IT HAUNTS ME

32. Do you have a word/expression that you always use in your writing? Fuck. And murmur. I looooove murmur, it's my favourite.

33. Give your writing a compliment. 😩 I... can... idk dude, I can't right now. How do you compliment something that doesn't exist?!?!?!? I'm going with my fallback -- I'm decent(ish) with words themselves, but ideas are my struggle.

34. Do you write to improve? Or is that not a concern for you? Do I sound like an ass if I say no? 😬 I write as a creative outlet, that's all.

35. Thoughts on writing challenges/contests. Contests, no thanks, I don't like the idea of pitting writers against each other (assuming that's what that means???). I'm all about celebrating other writers. Challenges, like #chenfordweek? YES, I wrote more that week that I had in ages, I apparently do well when there's a fire under my ass.

36. How do you come up with fic titles? What's the one you're most proud of? I ask you? 😅 And when I try by myself, I follow your lead of Taylor Swift lyrics. Fave of the ones I've managed to do on my own? I like this one best I think?

38. "This never happened" fix-it fics or "this happened but" fix-it fics?

As long as you fix it, I'm happy! (Yes Suz, I mean you specifically here)

39. Wildest AU scenario you have written? I've only written one, so I guess that's it -- paging Dr. Jay Halstead. I don't think any of the AU ideas I've played around with are particularly wild.

40. Write a 9-word fic. What the fuck is this question?!!? Tim Bradford loves Lucy Chen forever and ever. Amen. Nine words does not a fic make.

Thanks-ish, I love you and I hate you for this 💖

#fanfic writing asks #asked and answered #nancyddrew

[lokigayforhela]

Hi! Can I request a Hela x fem!reader? Thank you stay and keep safe 😊

TW: None

Rating: G

WC: 1177

A/N: Wanted to try something a little different this go around, especially with such a vague prompt. I saw a prompt a little while back on TikTok that was just to write your characters in a moment without dialogue, so I wanted to try my hand at that. I hope I conveyed emotions really well without using speaking. Enjoy~

You heaved a sigh as you dug around in your bag for your keys, trying to ignore the chill of the mid-November cold seeping through your clothes and into your very bones. You couldn’t wait to get inside and get into a hot shower before tumbling into bed with your girlfriend.

To say that you had been having a bad day would have been a little bit of an understatement. If you were being honest, you were having a bad week. Bad month. Bad existence, even, if you thought too much about it. But today had truly taken the crown for the worst day of the week so far. You’d left your lunch at home, and you were ten cents off from being able to get a snack from the vending machine to suffice, and on your walk from the car to the apartment, whoever was in charge up there had thought it would be really funny to start a downpour in the middle of a cold snap. And you’d had to park on the entire other side of the lot.

And now you couldn’t find your damn keys.

You heaved another frustrated sigh, swinging your bag more fully in front of you so that you could dig around a little better, feeling the last dregs of your patience evaporating the longer you had to search. Just when you were about ready to give up and regretfully text your sleeping girlfriend and inevitably wake her up and make her grumpy, too, your fingers closed around your keyring and you thanked your lucky stars that at least one small thing could finally go your way.

Quietly as you could, you unlocked the door and tiptoed inside, locking it behind you before setting your belongings down with a quiet, weary little sigh. For a long moment, you just stood there, reflecting on how absolutely terrible your day had gone. You let your pity party last for a few minutes before dragging yourself over to the laundry room, so you could strip out of your wet clothes and put them straight to wash so they wouldn’t get ruined, and then headed to the bedroom so you could get to the shower.

You kept the bedroom light off as you carefully cracked the door open, narrowing your eyes until you could focus on Hela’s sleeping form curled up on her side of the pillow. Just the sight of that alone was enough to soothe your anger enough to calm you a little, and you let yourself watch her sleep until you felt a little more relaxed.

Eventually, you dragged yourself over to the bathroom, waiting until you had closed the door behind you before turning the light on and heading straight to turn the water on with the highest temperature you could stand.

Somewhere between getting in and washing your hair, the weight of your day paired with the overwhelming sadness that just seemed to settle over you during this time of the year became too much for you to bear and, hair still sudsy with shampoo, you sank to the floor of the shower, drawing your knees to your chest and focusing on the spattering of the water hitting the floor until you were so zoned out that you couldn’t think about anything else.

You were certain you were crying, because your vision kept getting blurry, and somewhere in the back of your mind, you hoped that you at least weren’t sobbing, because the idea of waking Hela up only made you feel worse, and there your mind went again, wandering off into total nothingness as you just kept staring at the water.

You didn’t know how long you’d been sitting there on the shower floor when the curtain drew back slowly, and you didn’t acknowledge it until you felt a gentle hand cup your cheek and carefully turn you until you were facing your girlfriend. You wanted to feel guilty. Somewhere in there you thought maybe you did. But all you could focus on was just how tired you were. Just tired. Of everything. Of nothing.

Hela said nothing as she studied you, and you were grateful for that, in part because you didn’t want her to say anything, and because you weren’t entirely sure you would be able to translate your emotions and how you were feeling into something Hela would understand. You didn’t like talking when you got into one of your moods, and Hela had always respected that. You appreciated it, and her, endlessly.

After a long moment, Hela nodded to herself, and drew back, and you watched tiredly as she undressed and got in with you, gently pulling you to your feet and guiding you to rest your forehead against her shoulder as she began to finish washing your hair, gently combing her fingers through whatever tangles created resistance, until your hair was clean and your knots were gone, and then she took a washcloth and gently soaped you up and rinsed you, kissing your cheek and your shoulder and wherever else she could spare as she cleaned you up.

She remained silent as she turned the water off and wrapped you up in a towel, carefully guiding you out of the shower and over to the counter where your pajamas lay folded and ready for you to put on. She dressed you gently, coaxing you into the clothing limb by limb until you were nice and cozy, and then she combed and plaited your hair just the way you liked it to keep it from getting tangled in your sleep. Rather than trying to get you to wash your face, she opted for some cleansing face wipes instead, and went through your entire bedtime routine as you watched her in silence, trying desperately not to start crying again and ruin all of her hard work.

When she had finished, she kissed the top of your head, cupping your face gently and brushing her thumb along the curve of your cheek before gently leading you to the bedroom. She pulled the covers back and tucked you in, and then made her way over to her side of the bed, cuddling up to you the second that she was comfortable, and you let yourself melt into her, reveling in how she was able to convey just how much she cared and worried about and adored you without uttering a single word. It brought you such a strong sense of peace that after a few moments, you felt yourself begin to relax entirely, sleep slowly settling over you like a blanket of new snow during the first storm of the season. Hela began to play with your hair and continued to press kisses to your face with such gentleness that you could feel yourself being lulled to sleep even quicker.

You’d never been known or loved in the way that Hela continuously showed you, and as you drifted off to sleep with Hela curled around you, you thanked whoever would listen for bringing her into your life.

#Hela x reader #Hela Odinsdottir x reader #Hela #Hela Odinsdottir #Marvel #fluff #comfort #this is soft and gentle #anonymous #ask #answered #thank you for the prompt!

[toxicshipsincorporated]

I just don't get how people really think NATLA was good. Like...were there elements that were done well? Sure. I'm so so glad that they mostly kept the bright color pallette (but I wish they had been more...intentional about how the color washed things??? Sometimes if made sense other times it felt.....cheesy? Or just...clumsy I guess). I really like majority of the cast.

But....the plot and pacing is a mess. I get it, they condensed Book 1 into 8 episodes but....Book 1 and 2 had the same amount of episodes and Book 3 was even longer. Maybe Book 1 had more filler but that should have made it EASIER to condense it. The condensing made the show extremely confusing. It muddied the waters of a lot of the flow and pace of the show. A lot of people complain about Book 1 feeling slow and that's because it's kind of true to what is happening in the world. The whole world is locked into this....stalemate with the Fire Nation continuing its aggression and holding the weaker lands and areas while the strongholds are pretty comfortable in their holdouts. The world is on the precipice of...chaos but it isn't quite there yet. Aang's return and all the whispers of the Avatar is what awakens the people to fight back. Its this slow awakening of a world that seemed...compliant and comfortable in its own terror and violence so long as it didn't get any worse. And we don't get that at all in the live-action series.

1) I don't think condensing was a good idea. And I don't think they even did a good job of condensing the series. The battle with Koh should have been the s1 ending, it could have been the moment when Aang realizes that...idk maybe Koh has set Zhao on this path to disrupt the balance of the world to the point of total destruction and even tho Aang "defeats" Koh it doesn't matter because Zhao is already on that set path and Koh tells Aang that he isn't ready to save the world yet because he wasted a hundred years and still isn't a fully realized Avatar. While Koh spent 100 years preparing for this (maybe something in there about how he thinks the Firebenders, Sozin's line especially, are so myopic. Their destruction too human and petty. Their small mindedness is their own downfall but his destruction is happening on a cosmic level, one that will rattle the many realms). I think this opens up a whole different storyline and character motivation for the next half of the adaptation of s1.

2) are we all just gonna ignore that the reason why the first season had to be condensed is because Netflix doesn't actually care that much about making something good but making something that will get them money??? It is a mixed up and jumbled, tangled mess but they knew a lot of ppl would eat it up because a. "At least its not the movie!!!" or b. "Well they had to fit a lot in just 8 episodes!"

No they didnt. They could have made the decision to split the season in half. They could have made the decision to add more episodes. But Netflix is just in it for the money and they are cutting corners to make their execs as much as possible while screwing you, their cast, and staff over.

The other big flaw I saw was dialogue. The dialogue is so bad in this show. Like...all the really deep moments in the show sounded good because they had a great score and there was a lot of space for those moments to breathe but its like...every couple of minutes characters will just espouse nuggets of "wisdom" that pushes characters to act in a certain way to spur on the plot. The original show's dialogue which did have these moments of deep and thoughtful ideas and very emotional beats was interspersed with like....regular human bullshit talk. Iroh did have moments of great depth but it was balanced out by him saying just...fake deep shit sometimes too. Aang, Katara, and Sokka never get to just....talk like kids because they are too busy espousing messages of "be strong" and "this is going to make you stronger" "I have to get stronger!" "Its my responsibility to be strong!"

It's bad writing. Bad dialogue and it doesn't help that the cast seems to have been directed to deliver their lines in the most stilted and blad way possible (its the youtube scary vid voice, you know the one) and its such a waste of good talent. The only one who really gets it is Zhao (don't think I didn't clock that actor as the one from Rush Hour that I had a huge crush on. It was the villain-sexual awakening of my childhood lol. Good for you baby).

Also the fucking wigs are WILD. Wtf. Why. Idk if its wigs or hair pieces or if they just managed to put so much product in that it looks fake but wtf.

Also the costuming....some of it is a big miss. I wish they had just done a little more...well-fitting?? Idk. A lot of the cast looks like....they feel awkward or bulky in their costumes?? Its giving Party City babes.

Idk. I think a lot of yall are deluding yourselves or you've become comfortable with accepting shitty product from greedy companies. Idk.

#anti-natla

[gailiag]

The Stultifera Navis Post

Well here it is. My scene analysis-turned-character analysis-turned-event analysis of Stultifera Navis. SN story spoilers and descriptions of being eaten alive ahead. This is a long one, so strap in. Ye have been warned.

Of all the things that happened in Stultifera Navis, the one I keep coming back to is the scene in SN-10 before where the Endspeaker, Will of We Many, tells Laurentina of Amaia's sacrifice. This isn't my area of expertise, but there's something about its writing that's just so intimately visceral. The contrast between the imagery of her being devoured, still conscious even as her flesh is stripped from her bones, all the while comforting the Endspeaker as one might comfort a child, makes for an incredibly powerful scene.

[Image ID: A screenshot of dialogue between a Seaborn and Specter. The text is white on a greyed-out background, which depicts the Seaborn, an angelic jellyfish-like creature, floating in the air. The dialogue reads:

Seaborn: Laurentina, that is the name of our scaleless kin, the Liberi, the Iberian.

Seaborn: As I consumed her, she kept stroking my head. She spoke of many things. Time itself was like frozen dust, an eternity seeming to pass as I listened to her.

Seaborn: Until she could no longer speak, until even her bones were digested by our smallest kin, she nurtured me with both nutrition and time. She taught me everything I know.

Specter: Since when were you so sentimental towards your food?

Seaborn: Such was her request, I merely granted it. If there is purpose to such emotions, we are willing to experiment.

End ID]

In SN-ST-11 “Main Mast,” Amaia tells the Endspeaker that there is no grand purpose, no glory, no honor in sacrifice, and that the shred of humanity she gives it is purely for the survival of their kind. But despite her going on and on about how humans are not so different from the Seaborn, I think we also see sentimentality in how she nurtures it and in her request to be remembered. There is still a glimmer of humanity left in Amaia, and she gifts this to the Endspeaker. It's not lost on me that the Endspeaker is referred to as "it" before consuming Amaia, but "he" after.

It is clear throughout this event that Amaia’s view of humanity is reflective of the Seaborn’s view as a whole. The Endspeaker is continually baffled with the Hunters’ refusal to join their “kin.” Amaia explains this belief more fully than any other character. In her eyes, idealizing things like sacrifice and dedication is merely a delusion that lets humans pretend that they are somehow more noble than the animals that they are. The Endspeaker says she taught him that laws are much the same. To the Seaborn, there is no inherent meaning to life or death or duty or pain. Any attempt to create meaning from this is a delusion, a denial of the truth that humans and Seaborn are fundamentally no different from each other. In a world devoid of any inherent meaning, the only rational goal is survival. 

When Amaia and Laurentina share a dance in Main Mast, Amaia tells Laurentina that the part of her that keeps her awake and alive, that makes her Laurentina, is the Seaborn part of her. That she is, at heart, no different than them. But Laurentina rejects this. In what I would argue is the most important line of all of Stultifera Navis, Laurentina says, "Because, during the process of carving, chiseling, and shaping, we give meaning to the forms of the dead, liberating them from the void of meaningless." Laurentina does not reject Amaia’s premise that there is no meaning inherent in sacrifice or life. But she concludes instead that sacrifice is meaningful because we remember them, and the meaning of sacrifice or of life is the meaning we give it. Amaia calls this delusion, but Laurentina suggests that our ability to make meaning from a meaningless world is what makes humans unique. Looking at the characters in this light, I think we can see what Stultifera Navis has to say about what makes someone human.

 To the contrary of Amaia’s perspective, Laurentina believes that, much like what separates a sculpture from a rock, it is the act of remaking herself as an Abyssal Hunter from the unstable, originium-infused body she has been given that makes her human. Skadi lays her own claim to her identity. "...No. I am the Abyssal Hunter, Skadi." Not Ishar-Mla, not seaborn, but a Hunter. Gladiia's concern at her physical transformation is at some level self-fulfilling. She sees the physical transformation as synonymous with becoming Seaborn, and so it is. Opposite Gladiia there’s Captain Alfonso and First Mate Garcia, who resisted assimilation into We Many for sixty years, remaining human only through continuing to define themselves as human, even as their bodies were twisted beyond recognition. 

And in the end, this goes both ways. Amaia asks that the Endspeaker assign no meaning to her sacrifice, no greater purpose beyond the simple instinct of a species to survive. But she asks that the Endspeaker remember her, and the Endspeaker makes its own meaning of her sacrifice in doing so. It recognizes the gifts of knowledge, of feeling, of time, she has given him. Even Amaia understands the implications of this act. In the flashback to her conversation with Bishop Quintus, she says, "[y]ou have to admit, that we're more like them, more like humans, than we are like Seaborn.” The Endspeaker shows signs that he, too, has the capacity to become human. 

It's not that we humans aren't so different from the Seaborn. It's that now, the Seaborn aren't so different from us.

#long post #sometimes you have zero thoughts about an event story for two weeks straight and then have every single thought all at once #despite the whole seaborn thing not being my cup of tea #i really liked this event #also apologies if none of this makes sense all of this was written in a fugue state over a 3-hour train ride #arknights #specter (arknights) #amaia #seaborn #stultifera navis #specter #arknights analysis #abyssal hunters

[bm-blog01]

Kate and Anthony Week: May I have this dance?

We see Kate and Anthony dance three times in Season 2, and each dance tells us a little of their story.

Please note this is based on my thoughts when watching the dances, and does not reference the intent of the choreography, which may be different to my interpretation.

Dance 1: Hearts and Flowers Ball. During the first 90 seconds of this dance there is no dialogue, this combined with their continual eye contact, and the choreography of coming together and moving away makes this one of the most intense dance sequences I have seen. For me this shows Kate and Anthony where they are at in their relationship at this point, they are drawn to each other naturally, but they keep pulling away, then they get very close, before pulling away again. Once the dialogue begins it seems to break Kate and Anthony, and the viewers, out of the spell that they were in during that first 90 seconds, and though the dialogue is about Edwina, it reveals Kate to Anthony as well. Whilst discussing Edwina, and her happiness, Anthony asks Kate if she wants him to reconsider his intent, and Kate responds with 'it does not matter what I want', Anthony has a look of hurt almost on his face as she says this, he realises that Kate does not believe she matters, and he feels that loneliness and hurt that Kate does. Whilst we did not get long monologues of these two getting to know each other, I think in these moments the amazing acting of Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley helped communicate more about their characters than any big speech could, and in turn Anthony and Kate learn about each other. I just want to end on this dance with the note that when Anthony hears that Kate is returning to India his face, and body language, reveals a similar panic that we saw in him when Kate was stung by the bee, it wasn't as intense, but he certainly displayed a mild panic. To me this shows that even if he wasn't acknowledging it yet, Anthony knew that Kate was the one for him and the one that balanced his anxiety and stress, and kept him calm.

Dance 2: Harmony Ball. This dance was a lot more joyous than the first dance, and being a country dance we got to see Kate and Anthony dance, and interact, with others. Right at the beginning of the dance we see Kate look at Anthony with a softness we haven't seen before, she is charmed by him including Hyacinth, and you can see that she is falling in love (if she isn't already in love with him), and she knows that she is. This is a lighthearted country dance where we see Anthony dance with Hyacinth, Lady Danbury and Kate, and we see Kate dance with Colin, Violet, and then of course Anthony. What we see with Anthony and Kate is a lightness and a joy that we haven't seen before, we see that they take genuine joy in each other, and even at the end when they were reluctant to let go of each other's hands showed that they really didn't want the dance to be over, and they didn't want to leave each other's presence, but their bodies were facing from each other at this point, showing that even though they were happy to be with each other they still weren't at a point to completely let go of what was holding them back, especially for Kate. This dance represents what I hope to see more of in Season 3 with Kate and Anthony. One final note, this dance also showed very much how Kate is a Bridgerton, she fits in with the family, and she is part of it.

Dance 3: Wrecking Ball Dance. This dance is, I think, their most beautiful dance, it lacks the intenseness of their first dance and the joy of their second dance, but it is full of love. Both Kate and Anthony think this is the last time they will see each other, and dance together, and at this point they have both fully given into their own feelings for each other. As the other dancers begin to leave the floor and Kate asks Anthony if he wants to stop, he responds with the lines 'keep looking at me' and 'no-one else matters', this second part is a call back to both Kate and Anthony in separate scenes (episode 4 & episode 5) both saying a variation on the theme 'I don't matter'. Anthony is telling Kate that she matters, and he matters, he is acknowledging that what they want matters and that they can have it. And we can't mention this dance without mentioning the move at the end, as their hands lowered, Kate's iconic eyebrow scrunch, but more so the longing that they both have for each other, they truly seemed to forget everyone else, and were completely in tune with each other.

A note on the dances, I said at the beginning that each dance told a little of their story, and the progression of the dances does this. In the first dance they were moving away from each other before coming together, but often they weren't facing each other for much of the dance, but in different directions or occasionally in the same direction whilst not looking at each other, thus showing that they were more combative with each other, whilst drawn to each other. In the second dance there were equal moments where they were either side by side, or facing each other, and whilst happy they still hadn't fully given in to either their feelings, or the idea they could have what they wanted, but they were getting there. In this dance they were happy in each other's presence, but as the dance symbolised, it was the beginning of them moving forward since part of the dance had them not facing each other, but side by side. In the final dance, with the slight exception of a few turns, they were facing each other for the duration of the dance. This represents them coming together, finally accepting their feelings for each other, and them remaining on the dance floor shows they are now living for themselves and what makes them happy. The final move in the dance (mentioned above), had them close and sharing their breath, this fits in with previous moments of them getting close and sharing breath. Whilst I am sure it was not a reason for Bridgerton to include this aspect for Kate and Anthony, in some cultures around the world the sharing of the breath is seen as something spiritual, sharing the breath of life. In Bridgerton it is a call back to both Violet in episode three where she said Edmund was the air she breathed, and to Anthony in episode 7 where he told Kate she was all he could breathe for, they are what gives each other life, and this is symbolised in this move where they share the breath with each other.

#kateanthonyweek #kate sharma #anthony bridgerton #kate and anthony #jonathan bailey #simone ashley

[oddygaul]

Spiritfarer

This game was a weird experience for me. I wanna say that a story like this is more about the journey than the destination - and that’s copacetic narratively, as the unfolding stories of each of the passengers are far stronger than the capital p Plot the game builds towards - but from a gameplay standpoint, the journey itself largely felt like a tedious timesuck, and I kept finding myself wishing we could get straight to the point.

Let’s do a compliment sandwich here.

The overall vibes are immaculate, and the world of Spiritfarer is incredibly cozy. The dialogue is delightful - and not only with the main characters! Even the random villagers always have something charming going on. I think the last time I was actually this enthused to talk to minor NPCs was A Short Hike.

They’re not always cheery, either; the game has a lot of that old-school Animal Crossing edge that got sanded away over the years, where characters are actually allowed to be abrasive or even straight up dislike you. Spiritfarer has multiple passengers that, upon meeting you, are anything from fully disinterested to straight-up jerks. Some of them will warm to you over time, as in the OG Animal Crossing, but some will just never really like Stella all that much… and they will loudly, vocally share that fact with you. Even some of the friendliest, most open characters sometimes need their space. This wider spectrum of interactions goes a long way toward making the characters feel real and engaging, and it’s something I’ve missed in this space for a while.

The art and especially the animation work is absolutely stellar, too. Each of the characters have strong silhouettes, and the animators really make the most of each design’s unique attributes: Stella’s big wide-brimmed hat puffing up when you use it to glide, the Everlight’s infinite transformations into whatever’s handy for the current situation, Bruce and Mickey’s big guy little guy dynamic*, Gustav mightily leaping from floor to floor. A 3D game with this concept would likely stick to a handful of rigs for the characters and keep their movement simple, so I give a lot of credit to the Spiritfarer team for going the extra mile and putting such care into making the passenger animations lively and creative.

*Well, this one is only fun until you find out the why behind the dynamic

Daffodil is the cutest fucking name for a cat btw

Unfortunately, despite how fun they’ve made the basic movement, the actual gameplay bits get pretty tiresome. It turns out that much of the moment-to-moment gameplay is actually doing chores on your boat, and they start to feel like chores remarkably quickly; while running, jumping and ziplining all feel great, most of the production minigames, like watering plants or smelting, are tedious and time-consuming. 

For the first third of the game or so, you’re unlocking new building minigames regularly, so they all feel somewhat novel. Plus, the density of the early game lends itself to a constant multitasking that feels satisfying. You’ll set your boat’s navigation system off to a location, then decide what form of crafting or farming will be the best use of your time; the result is a great “just one more turn” loop that's pretty engaging. The thing is, due to the length of the game, the pacing simply doesn’t stay that tightly engineered. You’ll run out of new buildings and minigames to unlock, start to get tired of the ones you’ve done dozens of times, and have to return to the same islands to farm materials over and over again. 

I will say, I quite liked the cooking system. There was something satisfying about guessing what different ingredients would pop out a new dish, and the illustrations for all of them are cute enough to make the experimentation feel worthwhile.

And unfortunately, this pacing inconsistency applies to the story as well. At first, you’re running into new faces constantly, and at any given moment will have half a dozen passengers on your ship, making it feel like a lively community. The rate of new passengers slows down dramatically, though, and for much of the back half of the game I had only 2 or 3 passengers aboard, leaving the game feeling empty and rote. 

This is not an easy problem to solve - it’s gotta be near impossible to keep the pacing curated if your game is this long - but maybe Spiritfarer didn’t need to be this long? 30 hours is fuckin HEFTY for this kind of game. I dunno, it’s certainly possible other people found the management sim side of things engaging and equally as worthwhile as the character interaction, but to me it mostly felt like busywork keeping me from the story bits, so my patience for it grew thinner and thinner.

For the first half of the game or so, I had a running theory that Stella didn’t actually know any of the passengers, and these people were being enchanted by some sort of Spiritfarer glamour that presents you as someone they’re comfortable / familiar with. The game makes the truth clear as it goes, but a part of me really likes that idea of the ferryman taking the form of someone that can put the departed’s minds at ease. I think that’s how the reapers in Dead Like Me work..?

Now, the reason my frustration with those elements was intense was because boy I got invested in these characters. A few missed the mark for me (I’m sure everyone who plays this game has a different group of passengers that really pushed their buttons and those that didn’t), but so many of them were memorable and heartbreaking.

Gustav, with his desperate hope that the transcendence of art can outlive any individual, really speaks to some existential crises I’ve gone through myself

Alice, who in her old age finally has the means to travel and go on the adventures she always wanted to, only to be betrayed by her failing body... I literally watched this happen to someone close to me weeks before playing this, so the moment was a gut punch. And then that development is tied into the gameplay, by making you move Alice's house to the ground floor because she can't use the ladders anymore, and you have to walk her out to the deck and back every day... inspired, and soul-crushing.

The reveal that the reason Bruce does all the talking and initiates all the pair's movements is because Mickey's been in a coma the whole time... broke me. And then Bruce decides to end his own life because he can't bear to go on alone anymore? Jesus, man.

Okay, I get that I'm a mark for any story touching on Alzheimer's, but Beverly's depiction of the disease was particularly brutal. The Alzheimer's I've dealt with was a very language-based version, so Beverly getting halfway through a sentence and realizing it wasn't right, saying things like "Just give me a moment" or "Let me just take a little break and I'll finish" then giving up in resignation... fucking hell. Too real.

In general, the amount of spirits whose arcs aren’t resolved when they go out is rough. Despite being a work that’s clearly focused on death from the start, Spiritfarer initially feels like it’s going to be a somewhat sanitized look at the topic. You’re going to take these spirits to the door of oblivion, sure, but we’re going to get complete character arcs, we’re going to work through trauma, and people are going to go through the door when they’re good and ready. And for the first few passengers, that’s true… but things get dark quick. Bruce’s tale, as previously mentioned, ends with him killing himself. Atul, one of your most easygoing, dependable passengers, simply disappears one night, never to be seen again. Jackie, who embarks rather late to start a journey of self-improvement, gives up halfway and straight-up tells you he can’t find anything about himself worth living for and suicide is all he deserves. Spiritfarer even twists the knife by letting us read some of his journals afterwards, showing he feels a deep regret and self-loathing for his past actions… he just can’t find any way to live with them.

This is what I respect the most about Spiritfarer’s musings on death, I think. Rather than dressing everything up in neat metaphors and giving you emotional catharsis, it’s not afraid to show death as sudden, as unsatisfying, as desolate, as lonely. By presenting itself so whimsically, it gets the audience to let their guard down so the hard moments hit them with full force. I wish they could’ve had the confidence to lean on those moments without feeling the need to pad the time in between with monotonous crafting systems.

#will's media thoughts / virtual brain repository #games #spiritfarer

[sonosvegliato]

asking you because i seriously consider u one of the best writers i have. read? known exists? anyways im asking how much do u plan when u write? ik uve talked abt ur process (v funny i love how ur mind works id love to poke around [affectionately]) but like. how much do u Plan in Advance? ive been sitting on some ideas for a while and im trying to think down to the SLIGHTEST things and im jus v curious as to? how much you think abt urs b4 sitting down2 write?

I am glad you think I am funny because I think I am funny too.

(Haha but for real I literally jumped into the air. Thank you!)

Here is where I get shifty because I am not an artist, I never have been, I have never quite gotten a handle on the patience required to color inside the lines. Likewise...I am not a plotter.

In general, an Idea Arrives, and then I sit down and write. A lot of the time it starts out as a scene I'd like to read, and I write that scene for 20 minutes or two hours, and after that I roll the dice in the air. If I poke around it long enough, I am morally required to construct everything that had to happen to get me to the Inciting Scene. My favorite thing to write is dialogue, and to convey how someone said something/why they said it, then I have to know the characters a little more. Sort of like eavesdropping on a conversation, and then getting to know a stranger from it.

I have never plotted anything start to finish. I normally have an end or something close to the end, a few enticing snippets, and that's my map. I don't finish original work too often, but it's not abandoned, it's just reworked, reworked, reworked. I have a friend that has original work that won a big well known editing/pitch contest and now has her work in the Query Trenches, and if she was the writing FBI she would lock me in jail for disorderly conduct and missing plotting documents. She says I should try to at least write a first draft through and let that be my guide, but I'm like. Nah. I start a story and I keep writing it and backtracking and rewriting and backtracking and rewriting, but theoretically at the end I have a story I'm satisfied with--- and not a draft I thought was bad a quarter of the way in but kept mudslogging through it. It's not losing progress, it's just rerouting yourself the longer way home so you avoid future traffic.

"Kill your darlings" is a very famous piece of writing advice, and when I was starting out I thought it meant, like, literally killing your characters for the Drama. Now I understand it as if there's a scene I really like or really want to include...sometimes she just has to get sidelined. And that's okay. We can harvest her organs for later. Frankenstein that bitch.

Fanfiction is different. It's fun and loose and I entertain myself. Now you will not swell the rout was a bit more thoughtfully done, that is, I spent more time on it than just being awake at midnight because I thought of something funny. It was not plotted. I didn't know the story was there. I missed martial arts, and then happened to listen in on a conversation about the poem "To an Athlete Dying Young" (A.E. Housman). I didn't come up with Now you will not swell the rout as a fully-fleshed story then, I just added onto a snippet (literally the first three little paragraphs) and stuff connected and then two weeks went by in a mad haze and I had 30,000 words or whatever it was. After that, I've spoken previously that in hold the low lintel up (and now WIP#3) had some "plot" which are events in the comics I want to include, but I think that is more worldbuilding/keeping somewhat adjacent to the source material. Everything original is just up in my head or stored in a random line I want to remember to use later.

(Literally my "plot" bookmark in my google doc is Plot hey here’s a good line and then I proceed to write one very good sentence and seven disembodied dialogue fragments that don't belong together at all).

In the spirit of honesty, I wrote the last line of Now you will not swell the rout and that was supposed to be it. But the fic had such a lovely reception, and I really felt like I grew while I wrote it, and like look there was one big glaring unanswered question just sitting there, right, so. Now I have a series. And 100% of the reason I'm not uploading chapter by chapter is because I know I am not a plotter, I know I'll change things, and I really want to take my time with this and use it as experience for my original work.

So that was way more than you probably meant to ask for, but. In sum: no, I don't plan in advance, I just take a stab and commit literary medical malpractice. Some writing books will have whole sections on plotting, and will have you detail your characters' birthdate, favorite song, food, music, what's the name of their first dog, etc. A lot of people have to have that solid basis ("organization" my writer friend calls it, pfft). I know, personally, that if I go down that rabbit hole I will not get anything done. I will get stuck.

So if you are honest with yourself and won't get stuck making the ideal macaroni map, send plotting advice for the rest of us homies out there ✌️

SVEG OUT

#please do not hold this against me when I am bestselling in 5 years #thank you #I'm sorry I've been practicing when I do booksignings