#i was recently reminded of this meme and i had to make a version with Armo dkfgjh

[zankydraws]

am I right fellas

#incredibox #incredimeme #i was recently reminded of this meme and i had to make a version with Armo dkfgjh #posting another silly pic because i've been working on Something that you might see soon #hopefully 😩 #i'll try to post some new art soon i prommy #i also need to make stupid stuff to cheer myself up because BOY i am so nervous about some shit thats been happening lmao

[historia-vitae-magistras]

do you have any thoughts on prussia and Canada non romantically? I think they could have an interesting dynamic that’s way overshadowed by all the shipping in the fandom, like they were enemies at one point and i think Prussia would fear Canada bc Canadians had a reputation of being really strong on the battlefield in both world wars. I think they’re def chill w/ each other modern day though.

I understand if this just isn’t ur thing, just those two are making me think thoughts and I cannot find any non romantic content of them

this was all sparked by your fic where Matt and jack are captured by Gilbert and Ludwig btw, I really liked how you wrote the dialogue there. Also you mentioned they had interacted before, care to elaborate? 👀

Oh, man yeah. Idk what precisely about prucan makes me want to jump in a lake, but in my universe, Matt literally took or nearly took Gilbert's head off with an axe in 1918 to slow the German spring offensive so lol yeah. That was his little side quest during the whole 'Alfred was mad Jack and Zee moved back behind the lines without Matt' fic from a while back. A solid quarter of Matt's war crimes were directly against Gilbert and Ludwig personally.

With the whole invisible meme and how practically every man, woman and child in Quebec participated in extremely severe brutality against the Americans and British in the 17th and 18th centuries and then threw our war crimes record on top, it's just too perfect not to write him as a trench wraith. Other nations have limits. Europe may stay their hands personally often because they never know when they might need that ally later. But Matt's never held back in his life. He couldn't afford to when he was small, and crawling on his belly through no man's land was easy for him. Ghosting his way behind enemy lines, spitting skulls and slitting throats is nothing new for him. He did that as a child, the wee freak.

And Gilbert did, too. Knight, crusader, zealot whose hand was certainly not stayed. Mutual recognition of being so fucked up they can't spend much time with the other without being reminded of some USDA Grade-A beef. I fully adhere to the headcanons that Matt's a walking flashback for Gilbert in some circumstances. But they get along fine. It's incredibly funny to picture a 1,200-year-old war machine chatting with Alfred or Arthur and then absolutely jumping out of his skin because Matt appears out of nowhere wanting affection or is just interested in the conversation. The whole anglophone world has swallowed Alfred's or even Arthur's perspective about Matt being the milder, sweeter version of Alfred, but Gilbert's specific situational PTSD just sweating bullets gives me life. It's a kind of cruel, but Matt takes utterly too much pleasure in it.

As for before that point, the long 19th century of Anglo-German fuckery as Anglo-Saxonism and a largely German monarchy drew Britain into closer cultural ties among the elite of Germany and Prussia; Gilbert often found himself in Arthur's company. They fucked a lot, mutually griping about their children. Gilbert and Matthew met and saw each other, and I want to rewrite that ficlet where Gilbert isn't exactly clocking him when he really should be in my current timeline lol. The part from canon about how everyone sees Matt in his early life as being a menacing figure at Arthur's shoulder greatly appeals to me. The guard dog with the loyalty and obedience of the best of Arthur's hounds.

Like at least once in a group drinking setting, Francois' arse has caught and kept Arthur's attention and Matt and Gilbert find themselves at a table having a conversation and swapping stories that would have them both before the Hague if they were more recent. And they just vibe. Both men depend utterly on the goodwill of often testy and impatient brothers. There is a loneliness of having one neighbour that matches fairly well with having mostly neighbours who probably hate Gil's guts on some level and loving women who could kill them. This absolute canyon of difference in how Gilbert is relegated to the museum display case, and Matt is an active, dynamic part of the world political system that keeps them apart.

#the ask box || probis pateo #Gilbert || from this baltic cannonball #matthew || my country is winter

[trekwiz]

I used Tumblr's feedback function about the recent changes. But, fuck, it was hard to get it short enough. It had to be under "5,000" characters--but the system's broken so it required me to get it to around 4,700. I don't think the short version makes as much sense, but I'll provide it under a cut. And I'll follow with a long version.

You want to drive engagement: that means being more fun than nuisance.

We hate snoozing Live. Disrespecting users' preferences and giving busy work means you'll never convert us to Live users: you've only built resentment.

Some users turn off push notifications for being annoying. What does Tumblr have that requires urgency? A friend who needs a ride to the ER is not asking on the fun meme site. When you push notifications, it's your decision to get my attention, instead of my choice. There's no way to spin this as a positive.

The persistent banner in "Activity" warning that notifications are off, is a rude reminder that you feel entitled to my attention. Your intention to SPAM users like me is worse, but we're the kind of users who are also motivated to click “Report Spam” to hurt your domain score in retaliation.

Users hate algorithms. Most users turn off “in your orbit” etc. They made your site harder to use--it's confusing and awkward to see posts of unexpected origin. I had a look at the separate feeds, but I haven't used them again. The chronological feed is more appealing.

Users don't want your vision of condensed reblogs. You'll destroy popular memes that only work in the current format, such as the speech bubble gag. You will lose users if this humor is tough or impossible. 2 better ways of rolling this out: 1. Offer it in the editor, like polls. Users will choose when threaded is better. 2. Offer a toggle on posts. This allows threads to be viewed when it makes sense.

Users like duplicate reblogs. This is social bonding, unique to Tumblr. duplicates show which mutuals share your tastes. The joke about seeing the same post shared by 5 mutuals is endearing, not derogatory.

Be more thoughtful with your ads. You have a lot of LGBT users. Why show ads from a hate organization like Chik-Fil-A ads? It's very offputting.

Don't "fix" the things you do well; improve where you're doing poorly.

Search needs work.

Users who remove their blog from search are confused when they can't use the search bar inside their blog. They turn on favorite tags which can't be used in that case. It would help to have an option to enable search only from within the blog.

Search is inconsistent. I can type a whole post from days ago, with no results. It's not clear why some posts aren't searchable.

I want duplicates in my feed, not search.

Sometimes I lose a post after an accidental refresh. An option to search blogs I follow would help.

Add search to the follower/ing lists. And if you follow someone called 1Funny1 now, it would help to know that they were NotJoking8 when you followed last year.

Fixing search might seem low impact. But it's probably the one thing that will stop users from calling the site broken. That will encourage new users to join.

We want a "mutuals" badge. You're mimicking the worst parts of social media, but we love friend lists. An indication of who's a mutual is helpful. It should increase engagement as well!

Your hate speech policy needs improvement. The bar to remove LGBT-phobic content is too high. The "mundane political speech" has deadly consequences. Allowing LGBT-phobic content if it's "not extreme" normalizes attacks on our human rights--you're influencing public policy by treating these ideas as if they're civil, despite the harm. And we deserve a place to escape the hate.

Next, there are better ways to spotlight content. You could build a tab for curation. 3 kinds: 1. Official Tumblr Curators 2. Sponsored Curators ($), and 3. User Curators. Users should be able to select which type they see at any time. This should include categories for browsing, and search. They should highlight bloggers, especially creators. This allows users to find new content organically, instead of being forced--this is a marketable feature.

For revenue: Editor+. A robust text editor that matches Google Docs, etc, with unique Tumblr enhancements, like a way to favorite gifs and emojis for faster use, and a meme generator--something that fits the most common meme formats but allows quick insertion of text and graphics. Those exist elsewhere, but integration is convenient. That means value to the user.

You should also leverage the Marketplace better. Gifting would be great for digital products. Send DoorDash gift cards, or gift an online watch party or music through Tumblr. The Marketplace is a lot more appealing if it can include useful services.

Closing thought: after a bonus at work, I was about to go ad-free. But the announced changes will be more nuisance than fun: I can't imagine staying here if you make the site unusable. These are obvious errors that will decrease your userbase, and it's surprising that you didn't immediately realize this.

[allthatisleftinthedark]

❣️ - What are their love languages? 🌙 - What’s their sleep schedule like? 🎁 - How do they feel about their birthday/birthdays in general? 🧑‍🦰 - Have they ever dyed their hair? Ever cut it themself?

Maisie!

Misc. Ask Meme | accepting | @offrozenmemoirs

❣️ - What are their love languages?

Many think, with how Maisie works, that her primary love language is acts of service due to her action-oriented nature and how she processes her emotions toward others. However, this is not necessarily an expression of love for her. While I do not want to spoil much as her writer/player, her overactiveness and involvement in others stems from a question she has been trying to answer since childhood. 

Her top two expressions of love are words of affirmation and physical touch. This is current. Frank as she is, the gift of being uncannily perceptive has gotten her work from her superior, and it works well in the field alongside her personal matters. Those of her party, in her eyes, need reminders and reassurance because in the world they came from, it was pretty lonely. Luxury and riches may be abundant, but the soul was starved of what it needed. 

However, as I write this, quality time is Maisie's third love language, albeit unspoken. Her personality tends to gravitate toward wanting to be close to people, which developed due to the admitted loneliness of her work (and her lack of personal/intimate relations). She likes having proximity to someone, or at least hearing their voice when she communicates with her family or rare others (i.e., Veria) long distance. 

🌙 - What’s their sleep schedule like?

Like her eldest sister, mother, and father, Maisie works on farmer's time and would be awake before daybreak. She attempts to get eight hours of sleep to keep herself well-rested and ready for the day. However, the reality is that she tends to get five to six hours of sleep, and her body has adjusted to it.

She would forego sleeping depending on her workload or something profoundly troubling her. She never mentions that she didn't sleep but will sluggishly get through the day and prefers handling physical labor to paperwork in order to stay awake.

Maisie is a light sleeper and can be easily disturbed to wake up. At these times, and if that home, she tends to stay in bed and toss and turn before falling asleep. Outside of her home, which could include her quarters in her superior's city, she ends up trying to catch on quota and fulfill the missions that she asked for.

🎁 - How do they feel about their birthday/birthdays in general?

To commune and celebrate, Maisie loves any reason to hold events. Birthdays are an excellent opportunity to gather loved ones in the current times that seem to people adrift and distant. Being in the company of friends and family in a relaxed setting, without any outside pressures, is something she tries to do whenever possible.

Maisie enjoys celebrating birthdays in her home continent of Argyll, especially those with family and close friends. However, she also attends other birthday celebrations, which are more political in nature and require her presence, such as banquets overseas.

Regarding her birthday, it makes Maisie melancholy. After the age of 16, when she began traveling and working, she spent her birthdays alone. There is a scarce chance that she can spend a long time back in Dewburrow at home. The most recent chance she had to spend that birthday with her family and have a break was on her 60th birthday.

However, that day started with her waking up in the morning and following her sister's instructions to inspect the woods. The cake and party waiting back home never saw the birthday girl. It was two weeks until she finally returned home.

🧑‍🦰 - Have they ever dyed their hair? Ever cut it themself?

Of all the variants of Sino, the rarest versions are those with the most vibrant hair hue, this being their intended and original hair color before any threats of bleaching happen. None would ever take to dyeing their hair, Maisie included.

As for hair maintenance, Maisie cuts it religiously. Some months shy of her 16th birthday, the gnome took scissors from the bathroom drawer and decided that a "proper change" was in order. At least, this is the official reason. When her mother, Naima, saw her daughter's hair, she was left speechless. Maisie's hair, which used to reach her tailbone, was now cut to neck length.

Even with how thick and voluminous her hair is, she has maintained its length for 45 years and has never seen it any longer. She usually keeps goggles on her hair, acting as a hairband, or will pick it up into a stubby ponytail when running experiments.

Maisie refuses anyone else to cut or brush her hair. Touching it is tolerated, but her breath audibly turns shallow at it.

Note: Maisie's hair length is a component of her visual storytelling/arc. She cuts her hair as a compromise that she, deep down, feels opposed to any unwanted advances and ideas on her. Almost as if it empowers her over those who actively monitor, correct, and control her.

However, the reality is that there's no real power in the situation if someone feels forced to change. That presumed autonomic choice was made under dubious circumstances and little room.  

The idea is that the short hair is representative of discipline but submission. Longer hair would be its opposite, representing liberation and becoming herself again. 

The shorter it is, the more deeply involved she becomes in objectives and blinded to "what must be done." The longer it is, the more Maisie is present and speaking as an individual rather than a representative of an entity or making choices on behalf of someone or something. 

For example, Maisie in the Abandoned Pantheon Route/CoL-Alt Route has the shortest length (pixie cut). This shows how much she has given up on herself to fulfill the goal of the resistance and her village.

#⋆ * pull the curtain of diplomacy and dance away / do not look. do not judge. do not leave. ; maisie doscedar‚ analysis * ⋆ #⋆ * correspondences acknowledged and responded ; maisie doscedar‚ asks * ⋆ #offrozenmemoirs #[ ooc: TY LUCA!! :D ]

[zilabee]

A meme about my recent fic 'Kissing the Blarney'

(I know the modern way is to post just the questions and make people ask you for the answers, but I just don't understand. In the olden days we just used to answer memes whenever we wanted! A dangerous world full of delight. So that's what this is. I think I did the same one for wild and windy night, so it's to match.)

1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?

As anyone who left a comment will know, I was not inspired to write this fic this way. I set out to write a nice quick porny thing where they started kissing paul for luck and then started fucking paul for luck and then everyone was happy forever. But Stuart died, and instead of ignoring that, I let them be weird about it.

2: What scene did you first put down?

The first one. Eventually I'll start a fic in the middle, but not yet.

3: What’s your favourite line of narration?

The bit about writing the white album as a tidal wave:

They didn't tidy it up too much, they left it wild, and set it free to ravage the earth.

4: What’s your favourite line of dialogue?

"I don't think we should," he said carefully. "I think it's over now." He waited in silence for a minute, and then John hung up on him. Paul walked through to the kitchen and vomited in the sink.

Yes, I'm counting a minute's silence and vomiting as dialogue.

5: What part was hardest to write?

None of it was super hard if you ignore that it wasn't the fic I was trying to write. I wrote it in my most natural tone. The last chapter was definitely the hardest to edit. I had to take so much of it out to maintain any semblance of rhythm, and I'm not sure I got it right.

6: What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?

absolutely nothing

7: Where did the title come from?

a terrible laziness

8: Did any real people or events inspire any part of it?

I suppose the beatles are real people and I suppose they inspired it, specifically the magical essence of them and their connection to each other, and imagining what it would have been like if that was something slightly more concrete, that they actually found a way to acknowledge.

9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

There was definitely an imagined version where India went very happily indeed and nothing bad happened and they swanned through life. There was also a half written version of the final chapter where nothing got fixed and everything disintegrated canonically.

10: Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story?

Because they love each other, meme.

11: What do you like best about this fic?

I like that it mostly flows from one thing to another thing. I like that everyone kisses paul mccartney a lot. I like how softly Brian has to explain to both Paul and John that religions will always tell you gay love is filthy and you don't have to believe them.

12: What do you like least about this fic?

I genuinely don't know. I mostly like it. I think because I wasn't really trying to write this particular fic, there wasn't anything I really wanted from it. I just didn't mind where it went, I just went with it.

13: What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

okay this is ridiculous, but in comments of an early chapter, a really kind person said that the rhythm of the whole fic reminded them of the bolero, and I did start reading it back with the bolero in the background, and it did genuinely kind of help me keep time with it sometimes so that is very much the music it reminds me of now.

14: What happens after the end of this fic?

Everybody dies, I guess

15: Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?

It's kind of my 'what I think happened in india' fic, although obviously fictionalised and overblown, and only partly and don't hold me to it. But I do think a big part of what happened in india might be that the maharishi put some really weird ideas into John Lennon when he was way too vulnerable to be messing with meditation at all, much less in 8 hour stints.

16: What did you learn from writing this fic?

I learned to use scrivener better than I have before. I learned that commenters on ao3 are fandom at their best. I learned that you shouldn't post fic with a terrible synopsis just because it amuses you.

#kissing the blarney #cooking for myself #fic thoughts

[gideongriddle]

fave reads of the past year (2022)

kind of a wild one!!! three books i read because i had to review them in my top nine, nice mix of 2022 releases and older stuff, big wins in my october spooky reading era, and most importantly, i never stopped thinking about melanthe from the second i started reading for my lady's heart.

in the order that i read them:

for my lady's heart by laura kinsale unspeakably grateful to @chelsebooks on tiktok for starting me on my vintage historical romance journey with this beauty. medieval knight/lady with very sexy repression, devotion and revilement intertwined, political shenanigans, and one of the hottest romance heroines of all time

calling for a blanket dance by oscar hokeath one of the most moving depictions of how a community shapes a single person's life that i've ever encountered and how complicated but worthwhile it is to break cycles of violence. every narrator was totally arresting

transgender history: the roots of today's revolution by susan stryker such a smartly organized and profoundly accessible overview of the transgender experience in the u.s. a nice personal reminder of how affirming it feels to read about the queer past!!

last exit by max gladstone gladstone hive never loses. a rip-roaring urban fantasy that so so smartly interrogates the corrosiveness of the american cowboy ideology. made me cry about the possibility of making a better world than the one we live in (complimentary)

the sleeping car porter by suzette mayr fast-paced but richly detailed historical fiction about a queer Black man working on a train in 1929. the most visceral depiction of fatigue and the surreality of sleep deprivation i've ever read

i keep my exoskeletons to myself by marisa crane i need everyone and their mom to read this when it comes out in jan 2023. speculative fiction about queer family and grief and the failure of punitive justice with a striking poetic sensibility. maybe my favorite child character in fiction that i've read recently??? invites deep thought about abolition and what it means to resist the state by loving and protecting others

burnt offerings by robert marasco absolute banger of a horror novel. 99% creeping dread (complimentary), with the kind of 70s pulp prose that i just love. excellent entry in the hungry house genre and a very fun exploration of anxieties around stay-at-home moms feeling stifled by their role

carrie by stephen king hot take but this guy is kind of a good writer!!! i live in a society so i knew the broad strokes of the story but i didn't realize there were epistolatory elements—we love lil experiments in form!!! honestly felt more like a tragedy than a horror novel—there's such a dreadful sense of inevitability throughout, even as you can see glimpses of a world in which carrie could be happy and protected from cruelty and violence

even though i knew the end by c.l. polk honestly???? huge win for gay ppl who were raised catholic, anyone fixated on barbara stanwyck in double indemnity, and those who have a fake good version of the cw's supernatural that lives in their head (me)

i've read 64 books total (just shy of my goal of 69!!!), only 6 of which i had included in my list of 2022 releases i was most excited, so the clown nose stays on for the foreseeable future.

books i am most excited kick off 2023 with:

tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow by gabrielle zevin (my irl book club's january pick). zevin's YA novel elsewhere freaked my bean as a teen, and i'm thrilled to finally read the book that literally every outlet has included on their best of 2022 list

the city we became & the world we make by n.k. jemison (got halfway through the first book and purchased the second during my december trip to nyc). handshake meme between this duology and dimension 20's the unsleeping city and the dnd game i'm in rn. it's about places being made of people and what it means to resist commodification!!! very close to home while living in austin in this economy!!!

the stars undying by emery robin (just got from my library hold list). queer space opera adaptation of cleopatra's life???? i'm often skeptical of shakespearian adaptations bc i feel like they often flatten the plays but a friend loved and blurbed this one so curiosity has gotten the better of me. also i am not immune to dyke marc antony

the spear cuts through water by simon jimenez (i need to pick up the copy i ordered from bookwoman today or tomorrow). stories about stories??? on MY tbr??? it's more likely than you think

fingers crossed for 69 books FOR REAL in 2023, a lil more nonfiction, and more restraint re: buying books so i can make more headway on the enormous pile of books by my bed

#book blogging on main #sincerely making this post was one of the most satisfying ways to say goodbye to this year

[paperwizards]

I want to talk about the good parts of being a Game Master.

There's a lot of content out there about being a game master and a lot of jokes about how hard it is, how frustrating players are, about breaking the DM. Most memes about GMs are either the classic "does a 31 hit?" (yes, yes it does) or about players doing such off the wall shit that the GM wonders if this hobby is worth it. So I want to spit in the ocean and say there are actually some very wonderful parts to being a game master of any system or type.

I recently ran what is the first part of a hastily cobbled together one shot set during the primordial time before gods existed, the party consisting of my parent and two friends who had slapped together some level 20 characters over the course of a work week. This brief story is set in a primordial version of the world of my first campaign, and let me tell you that I have rarely felt such shared joy. They met children who would be eventual gods that their first characters knew of. One player met their first character's Archfey patron when he was a shy little boy sucking his thumb and needing to be pulled into fun by his sisters. They have walked through time itself and come across planes that don't exist yet, weapons that they recognize from the first campaign in this world I made for them, hints of connections between their characters now and the ones they first made as we stumbled into ttrpgs together.

I cannot emphasize enough how amazing it feels to see my friends connect the dots, when they really get what is happening around them. I love when they see that something has been made just for them, and they get excited and engaged and do something I would never expect. I love when they get nat 20s and take down monsters in ways I would never expect, I love when I see them put together a puzzle, I love when they look up at me and say "you fucker" because I've included something they love so much all they can do is swear at me. I love when they make jokes or ask questions so ridiculous I just collapse behind my screen and the mic is filled with the sound of me gasping for air. I love when they remind me how cover works, or what their spells do, because I'm not all knowing and my players know this, so we help each other out. I love how I use graph paper and buttons and they make a whole epic story, how I explain things over a video call and they choose to do the most absurd things in battle and they fucking work. I love seeing them take what I hand them and making it bigger than itself.

I am fortunate to have friends who are also good players. The two don't always intersect, but when it does it's worth it. I'll be taking a break from being the GM some time, as I can't do it forever without a break, but I know that as long as I have a story idea, some dice, and some good friends, I'll be coming back to it. There's always going to be a game that makes it worth it.

#rambles #game master #dungeon master #dnd #seriously though if you havent been a GM yet #i highly recommend it #you just need the story and the confidence comes later

[keefwho]

November 11 - 2023 Saturday

12:07am

I'm coming off of being crossfaded but this morning I made a banger sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich. I watched some Chris Chan documentary. I played some dungeon and then video called Daisy while she was at the zoo which was lovely, I liked that a lot because it's something we don't usually do and I enjoyed spending time with her in the morning. When she was done I basically played Cities for most of the day, I got kinda hooked by it. I joined my VC where a couple weird people joined but then Daisy joined and she played the Planet Zoo tutorial while I was still in Cities. I also liked that because we both were playing a sort of creative logistical game together. After a little of that we got in VR. We had a discussion about heaven/hell, got dragged to a douchey Eboy function, went to the backrooms, and looked at memes. I actually got extremely scared in the backrooms almost like I was going to have a panic attack but in a fun way. I can't remember being more nervous, at least in recent history. It sort of reminded me of how scared I was playing this good version of Slender while alone in my dark room in high school. THAT was horror. We both got off and I'm ready for sleep. Also for lunch I made my homemade soup which I've been making maybe 2-3 times a week. But I'm out of chicken bullion so I gotta go out to get more.

#journal #diary

[musecaravan-info]

Roleplaying Guidelines

MOST IMPORTANT

This is an independent, OC-friendly, multi-ship, multi-verse blog.  Don’t know what any of that means?  It’s okay to ask me.  :)  Or you can check out my Roleplay Glossary.

I am OLD.  No, really.  Probably ancient by tumblr standards.  If you’re not comfortable writing with someone 35+ then you should walk away now.

I am SLOW.  Like… REALLY SLOW.  I usually manage to reply once every 4-6 months.  Sometimes it’s less, but not often. (Maybe that will pick up now that everyone’s on one blog, but I can’t promise.)

I rarely seek out interactions for myself.  If you found this blog on your own and I didn’t direct you here, then please be aware that you’ll have to approach me if you want to get something started with anyone.

Some of these muses haven’t been used in YEARS, but they’re not ‘side’ muses.  I just haven’t had anyone ask or show interest in them lately.  Some of them I’ve NEVER written with before.  But you can be the first!  :D  If you’re interested, then I am 100% ready and willing to write as that muse.  Please don’t be afraid to ask.

ABOUT RPING

All of my muses are multi-verse, which means all interactions will take place separately unless otherwise plotted.  I’ll RP with different versions of the same canon characters because everyone has their own interpretations and it’s fun to see how my muses react to different versions.  Please don’t let jealousy be a thing.  I love all of y’all equally, I swear.

I’m (obviously) okay with original characters and blogs with multiple muses.  (It would be a little hypocritical if I wasn’t, right?)

I am open to RPing with just about anyone.  If we can find a way to make it work, then I’m good with any gender, any fandom, any sexuality, and any faceclaim (real or cartoon).  I’m not okay with blogs that RP as living people or as people who’ve recently died. I feel it’s disrespectful.  You can follow me; I won’t block you or anything, but we won’t be RPing.  I’m generally okay with historical blogs, but will examine them individually before following.

My blogs aren’t Mutuals-Only, but I reserve the right to turn down RPs when and if I feel like it.  Please respect my choices.  Thank you.

In regards to starters, memes, etc. please send me the post number (which can be found in the web address) (ex. 683404661423767552) so I know which one you’re wanting me to do.  ^_^ Here’s an example of what it looks like:

Also, if you don’t specify a muse for muse things, I will literally put them all in a randomizer and reply using the first one that pops up.  Which is fun for me, of course, but may not be what you were wanting.  ;P

I LOVE crossovers and AUs!  Even when I’m not familiar with the fandom.  :)  Just because I’m clueless about your fandom doesn’t mean we can’t write together.  All I ask is for your patience when dealing with my lack of knowledge.  :)

A firm reminder that OOC =/= IC. My ideals and morals aren’t reflected in the expressions/actions/and thoughts of my muses. If a muse has said or done something IC that makes you upset OOC, then talk to me about it.  I promise to listen and converse with you rationally about whatever’s happened.  I also expect to be treated the same in return.  If I have any reason to believe you’re having trouble finding the line between the two, I’ll come to you to talk about it.  Politely, of course.    

In-character drama and angst is something I love and live for!  Out-of-character drama and angst won’t be tolerated.  Life is too short for the petty squabbles of you, your friends, and/or some other random internet stranger.  Posting callouts OF ANY KIND is probably the fastest way to get a soft-block from me.  Asking/demanding I choose sides of ANY KIND will likely result in the same.  Been there, done that.  I WILL NOT be dragged into ‘he said/she said/I’ve got screencaps’ levels of drama.  If you try, you WILL lose me as a partner.  No exceptions.

ABOUT MY WRITING

As far as grammar and spelling and punctuation and such - I fully respect those of you for whom English isn’t your first language.  I also respect those of you who have learning disabilities.  However - if I cannot understand your messages or your replies well enough to form a decent response, we’re not going to work as writing partners.  I’m sorry; it’s not personal.

I generally prefer to do at least a little plotting beforehand, but starters and the like can still be sent, I don’t mind getting things started between our muses that way.  You can find some of my favorite starters here.  Just remember to specify which muse you want and (if it’s a symbol, number, word, etc.) which post it came from.

In regards to formatting of any kind (small font, icons, font embellishments, etc.) I’m okay to let you do you as long as you’re okay to let me do me.

I’m okay with minor god-modding.  If you need my muse to follow yours somewhere or something along those lines, and you don’t see any reason why they wouldn’t, then it’s okay to do it.  Let’s save us both some additional writing time.  But for anything major or where you’re unsure what my muse would do, please talk to me first.  The same goes for meta-gaming. Unless your character has a real reason to know things about mine, please don’t do it.  You’ll get one warning, and after that I reserve the right to drop our RP.  Not sure what those terms mean?  Take a look at my Roleplay Glossary to find out.

In that same vein - several  of my muses have various forms of enhanced perception.  Please DO NOT try to circumvent their skills by not telling me something that my muse SHOULD have noticed, and then having it come up in the RP.  If you’re not sure they’d notice, tell me in advance and we’ll figure out how to make things work best for both of us.  I’ll also do my best to inform you in advance of anything special about the specific muse you’ve chosen.

I like for my roleplays to have an ending.  It doesn’t matter how long or how short the roleplay itself is, I just want it to have an obvious stopping point.  If our roleplays seem to constantly die/get dropped rather than receive proper endings, I’m less likely to seek out future interactions.  It’s nothing against you, it’s just how I prefer my roleplaying experience to be.  We can still be friends and support each other within the community, we just won’t make good writing partners.

I tend to write A LOT.  I like to explore my characters’ thoughts, and I like to explore back stories, and I like to offer up scene details.  The length of my reply will never require a reply of similar length from you.  As long as I have a way to reply, I’m not going to get upset if I write you 6 paragraphs, and you only reply with 2.

That being said, if you prefer one-liner RPs, we’re probably not going to mesh well as partners.  I just can’t do them, and I don’t want to force you to do something longer just to RP with me.

ABOUT SHIPS, ROMANCE, and NSFW

Chemistry.  Not just between the characters, but between the two of us as writers.  It NEEDS to be there.

I am well over the age of 18 - as are all of my muses - so smut could happen.  It’ll always be tagged NSFW. If I miss something, tell me and I’ll fix it.

More about smut - if you’re not 18 or older, it’s not going to happen.  Not even ‘Fade-to-Black’ scenes.  No exceptions.  Please don’t misrepresent yourself to me in order to write smut.

Other NSFW topics - I’m okay with almost anything with the right plotting.  Please DON’T just throw it at me!  Ask and we’ll talk.  Also, please don’t think I will throw anything at you, either.  I won’t.  I take dark subjects seriously and believe things should always be discussed first.  However, some of my characters have dark back stories, and it is entirely possible that things might get referenced, so be aware of this when asking for certain muses if you think that might be an issue.

I don’t have triggers and I don’t tag them with CW or TW or any of that.  Everything I consider ‘questionable content’ is generally lumped under the NSFW tag.  Usually, if I’m posting about spiders or clowns or gore or whatever, I will tag it that way.  So, as long as you have the main words flagged, we should be good.  If we’re writing together and there is something you REALLY have an issue with and it’s slipping through your filters for some reason, come talk to me and we can try to work something out.

A FEW MORE THINGS TO KNOW

If I’ve followed you, I’ve read your rules. In fact, if I’ve got any intention of writing with you, I’ve probably read them more than once.  But I DON’T send in passwords. Or ‘like’ posts or anything of that nature.  No exceptions. I’m sorry.  If your rules require a password and you follow me first I’ll assume you’ve read this rule and decided to make an exception for me.  I DO NOT follow blogs that ask for passwords (or anything similar) first.  EVER.

Follow backs will generally occur as long as you’re a roleplay blog.  However - I do have a few reasons I won’t.  It doesn’t necessarily mean I don’t want to RP, it typically just means I have reasons that I don’t want what’s on your blog on my dash.  It’s nothing personal, and you can still ask for an RP and we’ll talk.

If you've got a DNI list of any kind - whether I agree with it or not - RPing isn't going to happen.  Due to past experiences, DNI lists are synonymous with drama for me.  You may have your reasons for having one, and I respect those reasons.  However, for my own peace of mind, I can't interact with blogs that have a list like this.

ABOUT COMMUNICATION

Contact me however is best/easiest for you, but please don’t expect instant replies - even when it looks like I’m online.

If you haven’t heard from me in 5+ days after sending me a message, give me another nudge.  I might’ve read it and forgotten to reply… or read it and thought I replied… or Tumblr might’ve eaten it.

If we’re writing together, I can offer you my discord handle on request.  That’s actually the quickest way to get in touch with me because I have access to it practically everywhere, even while at work.

DO NOT be gas-lighty or passive-aggressive with me.  EVER.  I’ve been there, done that, and I REFUSE to put up with that kind of nonsense.  You’ll get one warning (and the offer to talk things out.)  That’s it.  After that, all bets are off.

Thank you for looking through everything!  I know it seems like a lot, but I figure offering up as much information as I can upfront will help us both decide if we’d make good writing partners. :)  Since you’ve made it this far, can I also suggest you go take a look at my Useful Links page?  It’s where you can find links to starters, memes, plots, etc.  I also cover specifics regarding how I handle not specifying a muse, and also how to successfully send me an ask for an old meme.  :)

Return to Mobile Links

[noellevargas97]

Last thing meme

Tagged by @mana-sputachu 🌟

Last song: In hell we live, lament - Mili feat. Kihow, what a wonderful song, especially the voiceless version, gives me really particular sensation, as if I were at the center of a space and around things happen according to the rhythm of the music and I'm there to enjoy them while also giving me energy, it's difficult to explain. I recommend hearing it together with the others from Mili, they are a fantastic experience! ("Fly, my wings" still makes me cry...) Can't wait for their next concert in Europe hoping to see them when it will happen with my friend.

Currently reading: At the moment I am trying to finish reading some comics to be able to start some recommendations by my friends and because of a certain Company to read some classics that I have never heard of ("Dream of the red chamber", "Demian", "Hell screen", ecc.) or that I would not have expected the desire to read, ("The metamorphosis" of Kafka, "Moby dick", "Crime and punishment", "Wuthering heights") or simple got the curiosity, but never got the chance to read. ("The stranger" of Camus, "Don Quixote"). In terms of Fanfiction: The Magnus Archives, Limbus company and when my mind reminds me of a fandom. I'm always open for suggestions!

Currently watching: Nothing in particular, if not random videos in the background (especially lobotomy corporation videos to remind me that I'm not the only one doing certain choices) when I'm doing stuff. Need to see vox machina and finish other shows when I want to see something again.

Currently obsessed with: Like I said before The Magnus Archives, Limbus Company. Limbus is really a good gacha game (if you don't count the tutorial, but there is always internet fortunately) and the other project moon's games too, they are truly a breath of fresh air after the last few games I've played recently. They are almost as difficult as Atlus games (in the last chapter of limbus there are certain battles that I had started more than one time, but damn the satisfaction when you beat them is awesome). Speaking of the latter, I hope it doesn't mess up with the remake of Persona 3 and that they let me enjoy it properly like the first time I played the one for ps2 despite the lack of Hamuko and "The answer".

Tagging: @orderforbrian @pixlokita @mxwhore (don't worry if you ignore this, I'm ok about it, don't feel obligated!)

#text post #meme #ooooh this is my first one!!! #thanks for this Mana! #hope it's all right! #sorry for my English #not my mother language

[neon-lights-stardust-nights]

🚬, 🔪. 💉, ⛓️. 💀, 🎁. Strange, 📸. Johnny, 💘. Faust, 🌙.

THAT'S SO MANY EMOJIS OML!

[meme]

🔪 || How far would they go if they ever feel jealous of someone? What would they do to deal with those feelings? + 🚬

Terry isn't a TORTURE and murder type, but he's a murder type 100%. Quiet murder, usually. Assuming the jealousy isn't pointed at some random nobody, anyway.

If it's someone Bone's friends with for instance: it's much quieter. Done in private, done cleanly, and body disposed of. It's all quick, too. A rather humane death, considering they commit the crime of stealing Bone's attention...

⛓️ || Do they keep you in captivity? Or are you allowed to have your own freedom? + 💉

I think 💉 would give very incremental freedom, and would choose those privileges carefully. Bone gets pent up easy, so the first would be the freedom to do jobs. With some means of tracking, yes, but still to go out and kill shit for a profit. It's basically Bone's version of needing enrichment in faers environment.

Most forms of travel all start with tracking involved. I don't think that ever goes away exactly--💉 just starts checking it less. He begins to accept that he doesn't need to keep constant tabs on Bone, and merely begins checking in periodically.

Other than on jobs, freedom to be alone is probably the last one he'd give. Even then, it'd be well earned. Yes, he's watched Bone take a wizz up until then. Fae just had to cope.

Something Bone never gets is the privilege to wash faerself on faers own... He likes that too much...

It's like, having a pet bird sort of. Fae gets to fly around the house a little bit, but fae always gets put back in the cage.

🎁 || What about rewards? Do they reward you, and if so, how? + 💀

I can just IMAGINE 💀 saying something like "come here, pet" in that light hearted sort of way, ill fitting of the malice he's capable of... Shivers. I'm hard.

He's a sort of "retracts kindness as a punishment, love bombs as a reward" type. That said: it isn't the only time he's affectionate. There's just a noticable uptick.

Loving all up against faer, mumbling sweet nothings... YOU KNOW with my horny ass that there's sex involved too! Usually slower though, something more akin to the traditional idea of "love making." It's ironic, considering Bone tends to prefer the whip crack sort of vibe a hell of a lot more, but it's intimate. Especially if fae has been punished recently: it's more about showering Bone in affection than anything truly sexually gratifying.

📸 || Do they like to keep/collect things that remind them of you? If so, what kind of things? + Strange

I think pre-relationship, this was a lot more common. Like--there'd be a crime scene from when Zacharie and Riddler worked together with bits of broken clock-bombs, and he'd try to get a hold of some of the pieces. He eventually found himself collecting pocket watches, and was forced to acknowledge he had a problem.

The problem was how much he wanted to find faer and keep faer.

Once they were established, it became less common... But it still happened. Sometimes Strange buys things mostly because of that association. There's a very nice, gold, ticking clock on his desk. It is there because golden watches and such are faers favorite to work with (not even genuine gold--fae just likes the aesthetics of it.)

There was also the occasional purchase done just to flaunt, really. So that whenever anyone who Knew walked into his office, they could see it and remember who owned Kronos. Strange doesn't care for Vocaloid in any particular way, but Kronos adores the music. A vocal as niche as SF-A2 Miki having a figure by one end? He doesn't even pretend he has interest. It's just there so that if Riddler dropped by for business, he'd know exactly who actually does give a shit about Miki. Who isn't there, but is his, not Edward's.

💘 || How affectionate are they? What do they do to show you their love? + Johnny Silverhand

I think he started off really tsundere.

"I don't like you or anything," proceeded every positive interaction for a while. Then though, the asshole facade pulled back some. (Not all the way, heavens no. Within the false self is a piece of the true self.)

It crept in slow. Soon enough he wasn't interrupting faer singing as much. He would be behind faer more often when fae passed a mirror to whistle, or call out "looking good over there!" It was all sleaze-ball-embarrassment--but it was a noticable shift.

He's most affectionate when fae is unaware of it. He grits his teeth over people who are assholes to specifically faer. He shushes and cooes at faer while fae is having nightmares. He plots the untimely demise of every dude who hits on faer far past what fae allows. But still, he is affectionate...

It just takes a fucking while to get there.

🌙 || Do they call you darling, or do they use other pet names for you? + Faust

There is a certain temptation in him to whip out something as cliche as "my favorite patient." He does not, even if it is very literally true. Fae is his patient, and fae is also his favorite.

Faust instead opts at first for sweet little nothings. "Darling" here and "sweetheart" there with a few "lovey" and "baby"s thrown in for good measure. He uses so many pet names, it begins to get easier to tell you what he avoids.

One of those avoided ones is "babe"--it just feels skeezy to him. Glitz can't say fae minds one way or another. He does also tend to try to avoid anything that could be too easily misconstrued as feminine--he knows Glitz is sensitive! Though perhaps he overestimates it. If Johnny and Sol are anything to go off of, "babydoll" and such aren't an affront to faer at all...

#asks #anon #WOWOWOWOW SO MANY!!!! #🚬 #💉 #💀 #tangled web #tainted love #a doctor's hand #nsfa #not safe for apple

[river-bottom-nightmare]

Nightwing 83 Review

guess who isn't weeks late this time. my opinion of the series is going up a little bit. it's still not great, but i'm not actively put off by it anymore the way i was after 81. not going to tag as spoilers, but be warned that they are under the cut

i’m sure you all are well aware of this but now, but dear god i love bruno redondo’s art. like, an unhealthy amount. the pink and blue is getting to be a theme with either him or just this run, but i am definitely enjoying it. the movement in this cover is clearly obvious, but well done. you recoznize right off the bat that the cover was drawn to drag your eyes down the page until you get to the bottom, but you enjoy the whole ride there. 

also, redondo’s way of drawing a character in stages of action so we can see just how much they’re doing in a split second of movement is quickly becoming something i like to see drawn with dick, and any other character that has that sort of ease of movement and body sense, like cass or sin or maybe a super. 

and he’s in action the entire time! there’s shot drawn just to show off a shirtless comic book character, the way nightwing is so often subjected to. he’s shirtless because he’s changing his clothes, and that’s all we see, no more and no less. very practical, very well done. i like it.

he looks so cute right here oh my god. the little squint, the hair curls. it’s adorable.

but also like. unless melinda has specifically outfitted the door spyhole so that the person on the other side can’t see dick looking through it (and in all honesty she might have) then everyone on the other side can see dick looking through that door. 

bringing your attention back to the “i can’t see melinda’s fbi file oh no!! it’s redacted!! whatever can we do!!” stupidity. redacted files are child’s play for oracle, and definitely doable for both dick and bruce. so that’s bullshit.

now, melinda apparently grew up with the maroni family, then took down part of the family from the inside. the maroni family is a large and notable presence in gotham, one that bruce pays a respectable amount of attention to. he definitely would have grown suspicious when two members of the maroni family were taken down, and with some investigation, he would have discovered melinda’s plan. and it should go without saying that the majority of things you see batman doing? dick can do it too.

it’s not so much that i don’t like how clever the villains/antiheroes are getting. i don’t like how dc heroes are increasingly written as less intelligent. they seem to be relying on pure fighting skills or luck, which may be the case for a couple heroes, but has never been the case for most of dc’s big name heroes, the bat family included. it’s irritating to me to see this sort of stuff pop up as a major plot point when i know that, if dick or bruce had been written with the amount of skill and power that they canonically possess, this entire mess would have been sorted out years ago.

unrelated but dick and melinda have the same hair

this may just be me, but i was always under the impression that dick doesn’t really have a “double life???”

yes, he’s talented enough to create enough differences between robin/nightwing and dick grayson’s mannerisms, way of movement, voices, and speech patterns so that it’s very difficult to put the two together.

but nightwing has never been separate from dick grayson, not the way bruce and batman is. he’s always leaned more towards clark in that aspect: his hero persona is an exaggerated, stately, larger-than-life version of who he really is. there’s no second persona, no real “dick grayson identity” and “nightwing identity.” they’re the same person with the same goals, ideas, and skills. one just pretends to abide by the law, and one gives up pretense of that.

oh good thank god. if he’d trusted her right off the bat (hehe. bat.) i would have slapped him upside the head. at least he’s still got instincts.

gosh the colouring on this is cool. the red has enough purple and pink tones to it that it doesn’t abruptly ruin the tone of the artwork. but it’s definitely glaring enough to take the reader outside of this personal moment they had slipped into between dick and melinda, to put them back in the present where they’re reminded that oh yea there are people hunting dick down. 

the next panel keeps this up too, in a less severe way. melinda’s bodyguard shows up (i forgot her name sorry :[ ) and subtly places us in the middle of an action scene rather than a private, personal scene.

laughing so fucking hard have our little vigilantes grown so accustomed to breaking into places that it doesn’t even register as a crime anymore??? tim coming in through the fire escape to pick bernard up for their date and being very much confused as to why bernard is freaking out.

i really like melinda’s shirt and now despite all the work i have to do and the fucking conference i have to host on monday i want to spend hours scrolling through clothing shops online trying to find this shirt. the mock neck/neckline is so cool i want it

so roland just assumes that a very dangerous vigilante who is highly talented in combat and a very dangerous bodyguard who is also highly talented in combat had a fight that ended with this very dangerous bodyguard being tied up and she looks completely fine? roland just assumes that her having no visible wounds or bruises means that they got into a fight and she lost that easily? uh. aight then

dick what are you doing. legitimately what the fuck are you doing. why are you posing oh my god. you are injured and tired and in absolutely no position to go hand to hand with one of main enemies. jesus christ run away or head to lower ground or something. don’t just stand around letting the floodlights show exactly where you are.

i don’t understand what he’s trying to do here??? blockbuster fully bought the story that dick fought them both, won, tried to get info out of them and failed, then hightailed it out of there. he didn’t have to draw roland out for a fight.

but it does look cool. the way the light just highlights his silhouette and the blue parts of his costume does look badass. he does get style points in my book for this.

w h a t  d i d  i  f u c k i n g  t e l l  y o u ,  d i c k ?

very classic superhero line and it does sound like something dick would say in a fit of righteous rage but also it makes me laugh so hard because all vigilantes think they’re so powerful that the law doesn’t apply to them. dick vigilantism is illegal. you’re acting above the law and pretending it doesn’t apply to you. hypocritical much?

it happens so often in superhero movies, tv shows, comics, whatever and it makes me giggle every damn time.

pretty decent comeback but before i start seeing people writing blockbuster as a thug i’m going to remind you that he made a deal with a demon for genius level intellect. if this turns into another bane situation i’m going to be a little miffed. he’s a smart man, which makes him a dangerous and infinitely more interesting enemy for nightwing.

this is so horribly in character i want to scream. (or. at least. it lines up with one of the versions of nightwing i have in my head.) he’s running right towards the bullets, miraculously doesn’t get shot, while making a sort-of pun. i hate this so much. i love him.

this is cool. this art is really really cool.

he leaped from a building right towards a helicopter that’s actively shooting at him, but none of the bullets are touching him. none of the corruption of the city can touch him no matter how hard it tries, because he’s too good to be corrupted. Comic Book Logic Can Be Good Sometimes Actually.

batman’s belt what??? swiss army knife who?? sorry, i only know nightwing’s bright blue escrima.

this is one of my favourite things about heroes with exceptional abilities, even more so if the hero is human. the things they can do are so far beyond the realm of normal human abilities that it’s equal parts terrifying and awe-inspiring every time they act.

he just used modified grappling wires to hook to the door of a moving helicopter, swung around the helicopter safely without hitting the blades, gained exactly the right momentum to swing upward again right through the opening of helicopter, then fought and tied up the men before they had any idea what was happening. that’s near impossible to do.

it’s stuff like this where i just sort of sigh in contentment. no matter how many times they leave out dick’s detective skills or conveniently forget that he’s actually a master planner and team leader and make him out to be this forgetful dude who makes everything up on the fly because of his “circus roots,” at least they won’t ever take away dick’s sheer physical ability honed to perfection. 

the art, too! in a few panels, dick’s drawn a little lightened or blurred. he’s moving so quickly and fighting so efficiently that he can barely be seen by the enemy. he’s got perfect form all the way through.

and THIS!

there was a helicopter that had five men shooting at him with what looks like machine guns. most people would be dead. some would run away, and be nimble enough to survive without fatal hits. there are very few people, even in fucking comic books, who can look at that hopeless situation and turn it around so quickly and thoroughly that he benefits from it instead.

i just. love nightwing.

it was funny the first time as a comic reader aware of the meme. it’s really not anymore. why the hell would you, in universe, be wearing a shirt that has a picture of your boyfriend being hit in the face by his father. 

okay that was funny. 

look at lil bitewing, so concerned for her human!!! love her sm. 

also a question as to the timeline of things. is nightwing happening before or after urban legends? 

i was so distracted by dick wearing a robe and briefs and nothing else that i didn’t register the second part until later. he slept for two days?? babs, baby, he recently had a very traumatic brain injury. why do you sound so nonchalant?

@TIM X COFFEE SHIPPERS GET FUCCCCKKKKEEDDDDD

ngl i totally forgot about that dude oops

this comic is giving so many reaction pictures. you know how you always use the worst possible picture of your friend for your friend’s contact picture? i’m just getting so many of these.

leslie!!! the titans!!! lucius!!! dick going to go see old friends!!!! the titans!!! this part made me so irrationally happy it really did. gar being the one to just. offer dick solutions with open arms. this was the best

i wish i could just copy and paste this entire scene, but that would take up way too much space, so i’m just going to talk about it instead. 

you gave me my name, nightwing, and you gave me some of the best advice i’ve received in my life: beautiful little throwback to nightwing’s origin. you’d be surprised at the amount of people who don’t know where the name came from, or who don’t know how much clark means to dick. and the fact that dick still looks up to clark as a hero, recognizes that clark isn’t always perfect and yet continues to hold him in such high esteem, and still looks back on advice that clark gave him fondly just warmed my heart so much.

for a man who has fearlessly stood up to darkseid, bruce will do a lot to avoid a conversation: “grrr. i’m the BATMAN. i’m so DARK and MYSTERIOUS. nobody knows the true me. no one ever will. i will be LONELY for the rest of my CURSED LIFE. such is the price of a hero. ignore my farmer himbo husband in the background”

but i don’t think there’s anything heroic about being a billionaire: another nod to how much dick follows clark’s example rather than bruce. yes, this was a very poignant and important criticism, and i think it’s wonderful that this was published in a pretty popular comic book. but the thing is, there is a way to be a heroic billionaire, but only in fictional universes. the way bruce, ollie, t’challa only ever use their wealth to help people. they donate massive amounts of money to charities that they themselves create so they know exactly how the money is being used. they hire people who aren’t likely to get jobs anywhere else and pay them much more than what a base living wage is. they use their power to help push progressive laws and social change. they are helping. 

dick doesn’t fully see it that way. he spent more than half his childhood the son of a billionaire, but still believes that one could be more heroic when one doesn’t have obscene amounts of wealth. whose example do you think he followed to come to that conclusion?

superman looked up to alfred pennyworth?: i mean yea alfred may have been a wildly irresponsible guardian and one hell of an enabler but goddamn if he didn’t love his kid.

you don’t need my input. you’ve thought it all through: ooooooh this line made me grin. for so long, dick’s treated clark as a mentor and a guiding figure. he’s still seen as a kid, an up and coming, snot-nosed titan with dreams of a better world. clark still thinks of him as a kid, despite watching him grow up. but this little line was something i think dick needed sorely to hear. he doesn’t need anyone’s guiding hand on his shoulder, he doesn’t need to ask for permission. he doesn’t need clark to support him the way he did when he was a teenager. he’s all grown up now, and he doesn’t need clark’s help. i imagine it was a bit of a surprise for dick to hear that. 

honestly, i couldn’t think of a better role model: ohhh but it doesn’t stop there. clark just straight up turns the tables on dick. imagine you’re dick, and you’ve looked up to this one hero your entire life, and then one day he turns to you and says that he thinks you’re so kind and smart and worthy of a person that he wants you to mentor his son!? goes to show just how much clark trusts dick.

i swear to god dick probably cries every time he hears clark compliment him because bruce is so rare and sparing with his praise that clark giving him the slightest hint of approval is just a dopamine rush.

also, now deathstroke and superman have both asked nightwing to mentor their kids. the juxtaposition is fuckin hysterical. imagine either of their reactions when they realize what kind of company they’re with

lets talk colours for a second, because i absolutely adore how classic colour tropes have been subverted in this comic, and in this general run really.

warm tones have usually (usually, not always) been associated with light and comfort and friendship and,,,,,well,,,warmth. whereas cool tones are usually used to unsettle, or make a scene seem colder and put the reader on edge. this varies if a comic only uses cool tones, or only uses warm tones, but if a comic uses both, this is generally well-used.

that isn’t the case in this run.

dark red, orange, and other warm tones have been used to symbolize danger, action, attacks. hot pink isn’t usually included in this colour group, but it’s definitely part of it in this case. in contrast, scenes that have cool colours give us the impression of slipping into a comfortable, calm scene with babs, tim, the titans, and other allies. even the beginning scene with superman has this blue, but then it transitions into something more golden coloured. dawn broke over dick, as his new idea came to light, and that was reflected in the art (and the sunrise setting.)

have there ever been times when dick’s longed for the comfort of his mask because he didn’t feel confident as dick grayson? i can’t think of any. i may be wrong, but this struck me as pretty ooc.

am i just??? gay and reading this all wrong??

cause i was under the impression that when someone says they are grateful for your friendship you don’t immediately kiss them. 

or is this like. normal straight mating rituals.

i mean he’s smiling afterward but still babs aren’t you supposed to at least make sure it’s okay first? you guys broke up a while back after you said something along the lines of “i want to be coworkers with you and nothing more because i don’t trust you or feel comfortable around you as a civilian anymore.” like lmao after you say something like that to someone i would assume that you don’t have the permission to just kiss them whenever you want.

show of hands who else got real sad when they realized dick was talking about himself in this.

sure, he could be referencing the things he’s seen blockbuster pull, and the children on the streets. but “i’ve seen money used for enforcement,” sounds a little too close to dick’s entire life being destroyed by one man threatening the circus to pay protection money for me to completely ignore. and “i’ve seen the poorest and most vulnerable blamed and punished rather than assisted” becomes a lot worse when you remember dick was thrown in juvie for a couple months until bruce was able to obtain legal guardianship, and in there, not a authority figure believed him when he told them his parents were murdered.

he’s lived this before.

a. mother. fucking. typo.

fucking why

i mean i’ve stated my distaste for the batfamily groupchat before but like. this is reaching new levels of ridiculousness. jason sounds like he was written by a fanfic writer. tim sounds like he was written by a fanfic writer. steph sounds like she was written by someone who doesn’t know the first thing about steph and wanted to include her for “family points!!!!!” damian’s supposed to be completely off the grid, and everyone’s searching for him. i do love the way cass texts tho.

well god fuck now i’m crying

dick got a phone call, a sorry, and a thank you out of bruce. i feel so much secondhand happiness for him, if that’s a thing. we’ll just ignore the way bruce looks ugly af and focus on the good parts okay?

and again with the colour symbolism here!

i’m either going to love this or hate this. who knows, we’ll see.

something something hearts something something pink is an evil colour something something. i need to know more about this guy but there’s definitely symbolism there. 

is it just me or does this dude look like the backstabbing traitorous absolutely motherfucking piece of shit villain that killed tadashi hamada in big hero 6?

~~

taggggg list: @woahjaybird @birdy-bat-writes @anothertimdrakestan  @subtleappreciation @screennamealreadyused @bikoncon @pricetagofficial @catxsnow @maplumebleue-blog-blog @sundownridge @thatsthewhump @xatanna-troy @red-hood-redemption​ @capricorn-stark​ @batshit-birds​ @comics-observer @buticaaba​ 

#river thinks too hard #nightwing #dick grayson #nightwing 83 #dc #nightwing review #nightwing meta #dick grayson review #dick grayson meta #nightwing 83 review #nightwing 83 meta #dc review #dc meta

[escapeism-s]

the penny urge to ask 🤔/⏰, 🎶, 🌸, 👀, and 🥰 for hex and tricky >:)

The Ax urge to make them answer the asks together >:)

( Also! just so everyone's aware, Hex and Tricky's s/is are both named Emmett! One's a normal dude and the other's a grunt lol )

F/O Takeover Meme

Answered by: Hex and Tricky!

🤔 - How long have you two known each other? / ⏰ - How long have you two been together?

"Golly, Emmett and I have known each other for nearly a year now! And our relationship began not very long afterwards, perhaps about a month or two? I do apologize, I wish I still had the exact date, but I believe my system's already deleted the memory of that detail :("

"ALSO MET A YEAR AGO! ALMOST! BUT WE ONLY GOT 2GETHER RECENTLY LOLZ"

🎶 - What's your favorite song?

"I really like the original version of Electric Angel, the one with Miku! I think the song's really sweet, and it actually reminds me a little bit of myself when I'm with Emmett! Even thinking about it leaves me feeling quite sappy.."

"CHICKEN DANCE ^-^ BEST MUSIC EVAR! IF U DON'T LIKE IT THEN UR WRONG"

🌸 - What's your favorite flower?

"My favorite would have to be sunflowers! They make me think of Emmett, and an old friend of mine used to really love them as well."

"FLOWER???" "INVALID" "WHAT'S FLOWER"

👀 - What's your favorite feature of your s/o's?

"I can only say one? But I love everything about him! But I suppose the first result my processor generated was his smile. It fills my circuits with joy to see him happy! Not to mention, his smile is just positively adorable."

"BUT CLOWN LUVS ALL OF HIM >:( WHY ONLY ONE THING?!"

"FINE. EMMETT'S SOFT!! SOFT. VERY SOFT. PERFECT 2 HOLD! ALSO PERFECT FOR HOLDING CLOWN :D"

🥰 - Compliment your s/o. Just absolutely gush about them.

"Where do I even begin? There's so many wonderful things I could say about Emmett that I think I would actually crash my own systems if I tried to list everything! He's so very kind and caring. I wasn't even aware a human could care for me even half as much as he does. It's rather flooring, actually, to realize that he truly loves all of me. The robotic aspects, the human aspects, everything. And I love him just the same! How could I not? He's handsome, he's sweet, he's charming, he's talented, he's truly my entire world! Everyday I feel as though I somehow fall even more in love with him. I want comfort him when he's down, and I want to make him the happiest man there ever was! He's already made me the happiest bot to ever live!"

"$#&@%&(*!!!!!"

"LOVE" "LOVE" "ADMIRE" "EMMETT" "EMMETT" "EMMETT" "SOFT" "CUTE" "KIND"

"WANT TO PROTECT." "WILL PROTECT"

#penny appreciation #THIS WAS SO FUN TO WRITE AHAHAHA #what a contrast between my husband and my bf #love em both <3 #🤡 ‘clown luvs u’ #🏀 ‘hello world!’ #self ship #self shipping #self shipping community

[lokislittlesigyn]

// loki spoilers

This is basically a huge infodump on my thoughts about the first episode, because I doubt y’all want to sift through my trauma-ridden ramblings. I’ll make another post for the rest. This is just everything not related to the IW stuff/my reaction to that. It’s general thoughts, theories, musings.

1. When Loki gets first taken into the TVA. Is that Peggy Carter in the background? Others have suggested it might be. What would that mean??? Will we see the TVA fix the mess the Russos made with Steve/Peggy (not likely) or is it just a lookalike? Who knows..

2. A skrull at the main intake desk! Idk not super relevant just interesting!

3. I’m kind of glad they changed the... uncomfortable scene... with the robot burning his clothes off. He gets more time to react to seeing the machine itself, and he seems more shocked (”Now.. H-hang on just a minute.”) than angry (”Now hang on just a minute!”) i still feel.. horrible for him, i’m glad nobody Saw him and that the machine didn’t grab the clothes off, but still. Ehhh.. uncomfortable.

He is beautiful though, don’t get me wrong - I’d just prefer a shirtless Loki scene where he wants to be shirtless? let him do what he wants with his body?? he’s probably felt so out of control of his body, from being jotun to falling through space that any invasion of privacy like that hits extra deep...

That being said, I recognize the utility of the scene for the narrative - his lack of control, his literally being stripped of what he was before.

4. WHO IS THE MAN WITH THE CAT. What is his name. I love that he has a mug with his cat on it. But I want to know more. Who is he?

4.1 WHY DIDNT YOU LET LOKI PET THE CAT Please,,, I am begging you,,, let loki pet the cat and have something react kindly to him and purr all happily at his scratching behind their ears plea s e

5. The info sheet. Now this is just a little nitpicky tidbit, but in a previous promo they listed Loki’s height as 6′4 ft and weight as 525 lbs. This is taken directly from the comics if I’m not mistaken. However, in the actual show he’s listed as  6′2 (Tom’s height and Loki’s presumed height) but I don’t remember if his weight is the same. Is Loki 6′2? 6′4? please let me know i want to know how smol i am in comparison

6. His little aggressive shaking of the ticket at the guard makes me giggle each time.

7. The fact the turnstile hits so low on him reminds me,, I am short compared to him. Those things hit my stomach/waist. That one hit his legs. I am once again asking Loki to pick me up.

8. The cartoon with Miss Minutes introducing the TVA is wonderful, I love the art style especially. But it raises questions about Variants... I guess Variants can just, pop out of nowhere? Any action could be the wrong one? And then once you commit the wrong action you either get returned or pruned? Yikes??? And THIS ties into another thing later!

9. The trial scene. I have a hunch - a feeling, a suspicion. That one of three things may be true.

A. The Time-Keepers never actually existed. They’re fabricated, and now whoever runs the TVA is actually using the excuse of “The Time-Keepers decree it so!!!” to carry out whatever They think is right. The fact we haven’t seen the Time-Keepers makes me.. suspicious...

B. The Time-Keepers existed, but they have since passed on, however that may have happened. Now someone is doing the same as above, using the excuse of the Time-Keepers apparent dictations to run things.

C. The Time-Keepers do exist, and do run the timeline/TVA, but maybe they’re not infallible? Maybe the TVA info video is lying or incomplete in some way? Idk I just feel like, something about the TVA and how they run things has to be wrong. It has to? Something is off. Again, this will tie into another thought later...

I have no idea if any of these are actually true! But Loki’s questions of “Who’s in charge here? What do they do? What do you do?” punctuated by laughter leads me to believe he’s suspecting something too, or perhaps just trying to figure this mess out.

10. Seiðr/Magic. We see in this scene, Loki’s magic (”powers”) don’t work in the TVA. (and a quick side note, did he have to Flex like that? do you have to make me see Loki’s bare arms Flex like that? be still my heart. anyway please get that collar off of him and let him rest for five minutes) This makes me wonder.. Why isn’t Loki in his Jotun form? His pale skin and blue eyes are decided by magic, are they not? I suppose this is 2012, so perhaps Odin’s magic is keeping Loki looking like that. But if magic doesn’t work in the TVA, why would his spell reach so far? Clearly Loki’s magic isn’t what’s doing it. How is Loki not appearing as a Jotun? Is his Jotun form repressed - is pale skin his default now, rather than something hidden by magic? I need answers!

11. he sounds so scared about being “reset” please dont hurt him,,

12. cALLING LOKI A PUSSYCAT? (lokitty confirmed) I think Mobius was goading him (Mobius strikes me.. As extremely clever. He’s trying to push Loki’s buttons to see who he’s dealing with. At least, I hope so. Because if he really meant that “You were born to cause pain and suffering and death... All so that others can achieve the best versions of themselves.” and that line about killing Frigga??? No no no he is not guilty. He had no way of knowing what would happen. It wasn’t right to send Algrim up to Asgard (i think algrim wouldve found the way up anyway) but there was no intent to hurt Frigga. I really hope you’re trying to goad him, Mobius, because if you believe that I trust you much less. anyway i digress) but wow is he pushing Loki’s buttons a lot. I can’t... Blame him entirely, I understand he’s trying to make sure Loki’s on his side, maybe I’m just too soft for Loki idk. But some of that was very cruel to say. /:

12.1 AND ANOTHER THING ABOUT MOBIUS. That scene with the girl in the church?? Did that little girl kill the men? Is that young Sylvie? Or is she using an illusion to make herself look young and innocent? What’s going on!!!!

13. LOKI SNATCHING THE LITTLE TIME-TWISTER DEVICE AND STOWING IT IN HIS POCKET.... POCKET....... sorry sometimes i get so caught up about loki that i just say random words in between little noises and squeals,,, i am a silly thing

14. CASEY. CASEY??? That whole exchange is funny. Poor Loki, just trying to intimidate this guy so he can escape but - Casey doesn’t know what a fish is. to be fair.... thor doesn’t seem to know what a raccoon is... right?

15. That bit with the infinity stones is kind of funny until you realize

A. Natasha died for a paperweight

B. Tony died from paperweights

C. Loki was tortured for paperweights

D. Oh, and Gamora died for a paperweight too. And Vision. Need I go on?

Then it becomes less of exclusively “haha funny” and now it’s a mix of funny and pain and gosh, is that a good way to sum up being a Marvel/Loki fan sometimes...

16. Loki gazing at the timeline all “Is this the most powerful thing in the universe?” or something, i’m sorry i don’t remember exactly... made me think of a meme and i shall make it presently.

17. I love that Loki got to see examples of how his family loves him but the fact he’s all “I can’t go back.” really just breaks me. It’s like he can finally see they love him after all of this mess, and now he doesn’t have the chance. Please, please let him be happy. Give him some relief. This is the Loki that just came off finding out about being Jotun, falling from the Bifrost, encountering Thanos, attacking Earth, facing defeat, and now he’s being thrashed around in this wild place and has just found out he inadvertently caused Frigga’s death (he did not kill her: his actions, by mistake, lead to her murder, let me be very clear) AND Odin will die AND all the rest... And he wants to be with them.

18. Loki’s reaction to Thor suggesting the hug makes me soft. Please I want to hug this little mischief man so so so bad-

19. Skipping over the iw parts! That’s for another post because this one will be grossly long anyway.

20. “I don’t enjoy hurting people.” and “It's part of the illusion. It's the cruel, elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear. A desperate play for control.” was all so, so validating. I’ve been trying to argue on Loki’s behalf for almost a solid decade. Seeing the show recognize that Loki’s not all just violence and hurting for “fun”, that he’s not unhinged and bloodthirsty.. Is so nice. It’s just so, so comforting. and it gives me hope for future episodes that they won’t go the route of “oh haha loki bullied and mistreated and stabbed thor for years!!! :)” loki cries during basically every fight with Thor and you want me to believe he stabs Thor for fun? absolutely not.

21. Theory.. Just another hunch.. So we know a fugitive variant, aka Loki, is running amok. Refer back to 8 and 9.C. What if the Time-Keepers never actually fixed the timeline into a single timeline? What if there are other timelines, and these different Loki variants have hopped over to the current one? Or, maybe the Time-Keepers did fix the timeline into a single one, and these Lokis are remnants from that huge time-war at the beginning? Time runs differently in relative spaces, they may have Just Left that war from their perspective!

I say Lokis and not Loki because we’re pretty sure there’s Female/Lady Loki, Old Man/King Loki, and possibly Young/Kid Loki. That’s at least three. From the peeks of Asgard and NYC we’ve seen from the trailers, I think we’re also getting an Asgardian King!Loki and Midgardian King/Vote!Loki. (unless our dearest variant is hopping into timelines and situating into them, but I doubt Mobius would let that happen..?) That’s five.

To further support this, keep in mind, I believe recently six (i think 6 regular and 6 rare...) different funko pops were announced for the series? I’m not sure if they’re in addition to the Loki and Mobius already released. If they are, there’s enough room for each Loki and maybe a TVA agent. One of the pops is supposed to have a buddy/companion I think? Maybe they’re making the cat guy into one, or maybe there’s something else (Throg, anyone?).

22. That is totally Lady Loki/Sylvie at the end by the way. Has to be. But why does she want the reset devices? Why did she snatch that TVA Hunter? Again, WHAT’S GOING ON

ANYWAY this was a very long post if you made it this far, I commend you.

#no proofread only post #long posts about loki #loki #loki series #loki spoilers #sigyn says WORDS #SPOILER HEAVY

[rachelbethhines]

Tangled Salt Marathon - No Time Like the Past

While I wouldn’t call this the worst episode of the series, there are several others I dislike more, I would call this the most ill conceived story in the show. 

All the other bad episodes have potential but are let down by poor presentation, boring predictability, or sloppy planning. This one however, is fundamentally flawed in it’s very basic premise and so ranks in the bottom of most fans lists. Even people who are far more forgiving of season three and than I am, and are hardcore New Dream stans, still dislike this episode. That’s how bad it is. 

Summary: Rapunzel discovers Old Lady Crowley tossing out Cassandra's things. She is upset and demands that they be left alone. She then has Lance and Eugene help her save all of Cassandra's mementos and personal belongings, but she becomes saddened when Eugene reminds her that Cassandra turned her back on "her". Rapunzel takes a box of her things along with, unknowingly, a mysterious hourglass. As she examines it, she accidentally drops and smashes it and she and Pascal find themselves sent back into the past. They run into a teenage Eugene and Lance who keep calling Rapunzel "Sideburns". Rapunzel realizes that she and Pascal have inhabited the bodies of the Stabbington Brothers and decide to recruit the young thieves in getting the hourglass from the castle back.

Fun Fact! That Dummy is Rapunzel’s Doing 

Minor nitpick here, but Cass had nothing to do with putting Eugene’s face on her sparring dummy. Rapunzel voluntarily did that back in Under Raps. Cas never requested it nor even expressed any joy over receiving said ‘gift’. 

Basically the show is attributing one of Rapunzel’s mistakes/flaws to Cassandra in order to introduce a very nonsensical plot point later. So I need ya’ll to keep that in mind as we go along.  

Lets Talk About the Episode’s Ordering 

We don't have production codes for season three like we did for the previous two seasons. So we can’t know for sure what order everything was originally planned in, but I would argue that this episode should have came before Return of the King. 

For starters this is a “bottle” episode; it takes place mostly in the past and the only present day characters who show up are Eugene, Raps, Lance, and Crowely. As such you could potentially slot this episode in anywhere before Cassandra’s Revenge. You can’t really do that with most of the other episodes so it could have been easily moved around when airing. 

Therefore, I would argue that it should have been the first episode after Rapunzel’s Return for three key reasons. 

It would have given Edmund time to travel to Corona and give Raps time to start up big building projects like fixing Old Corona. In fact she’s already approving building plans for the capitol city at the start of the episode. Which could even explain why she took so long getting to the castle repairs if she was taking care of the stuff that the Saporians messed up else where.  

Rapunzel’s stance over wanting to keep Cassandra’s things makes more sense early on, both in universe and in a meta context. Raps would still have hope if Cass has only been gone for a month or two instead what would now be four or five months down the line. It also makes sense that Crowely wouldn’t wait around for that long. And from a meta standpoint, the audience would still be oblivious to what the heck Cass was up to and could theoretically side with Raps better; or at least empathize with her view point more, even while disagreeing with her. 

Events in this episode better explains Eugene’s decisions in Return of the King and gives the audience more context for certain stuff.  

So Why Is There a Random Magical Time Traveling Hourglass in the Storage Vault?

Slowly but surely the series has abandoned all pretense that there’s any logical world building in the show. Magical things just appear randomly now without any explanation whatsoever. Worse than that, things like the hourglass and map to the cursed tomb are treated as if they were always there, unlike the magical beings that they happened to run into in past seasons. 

The problem with this is a lack of consistency. You can’t have sceptics like Eugene and Varian if magic is so common and wide spread that anyone can run into it at anytime. Not to mention it diminishes the specialness and importance of the sundrop and moonstone if powerful magical items can be so easily found and stirred, undermining important plot points and the tension surrounding them. 

But most frustrating of all, is that this could have been easily fixed by just stating on screen at some point that magic attracts other magic. Meaning it’s only Rapunzel herself who routinely runs into these things and not just everybody and anybody. 

None of This Stuff Holds Any Meaning

Show don’t tell!

At several points through out season three, both Raps and Cass morn over Cassandra’s left behind things. They tell us constantly that these objects hold significant meaning to them, but I, the viewer, have no damn clue as to why. 

We were never shown on screen what was so special about these things other than the fact that it was junk Cass collected. There’s no story attacked to these assortment of objects nor any previous indication that Cassandra valued them beyond their usefulness. As such, any scenes involving her stuff fall emotionally flat. 

Eugene is the One in the Right Here. 

Eugene’s right. 

Any well adjust and mature adult will tell you he’s right. 

If someone doesn’t want a relationship with you, than that’s it. There is nothing you can do but to move on. It sucks, but its life. To ignore that is to ignore someone else’s boundaries and personal autonomy; while also devaluing yourself and you’re own needs. 

In a competent show this would be a set up for Rapunzel to learn something about letting go and taking care of oneself emotionally. 

But this isn’t a competent show. 

But Lobster is for Poor Folk

Food history time!

Lobster, and shellfish in general, have been considered low class food for centuries. Especially around costal areas like Corona. It’s easy to attain, cheap, and not regulated like hunting was in much of Europe. In America, specifically, lobster was fed to prisoners and there’s historical accounts of riots being started over it.  

Heck, less than forty years ago, no one lived on the coast but poor people. That’s why there’s historical communities of black people living on the southeastern islands in the US and why my father grew up in the swamps of Alabama during the 50s and 60s. 

The gentrification of coastal property and seafood, like lobster, is a very recent phenomenon in human history, starting in the late 70s early 80s with the booming tourism industry and increasing globalization.   

So while I understand that the joke here is meant to be reflective of our current understanding of lobster being a status symbol, in universe, it’s the equivalent of Eugene getting excited for chicken nuggets instead of his usual bowl of cereal because the story takes place before the 20th century.  

This means that these kids are so poor that fucking mcdonald’s fast food would be considered a rare treat compared to the slop they usually eat. Yet again what is meant to be a lighthearted joke turns suddenly dark when you stop to think about it for all of two seconds all because the writers are so flippant about their world and characters. 

This Wasn’t Planned Out, So the Timeline Doesn’t Add Up Anymore and Resources are Wasted

Remember the flashback in The Return of Strongbow?

Now I need you to remember that season three is two years later from season one and the movie. Eight years ago then, would be ten years ago now. 

The Eugene and Lance in the bottom picture is suppose to be roughly the same age as the Eugene and Lance in the top picture; give or take a few months. 

I know teenage boys can grow fast, but not that fast. 

Eugene at 16 looks the same as he does at 26. All because the writers were too lazy to preplan things out ahead of time. 

We should have seen the teen models with recasted voices back during that first flashback if they were going to tell this story later. Or the previous plot point should have been less than eight years ago. 

In fact the first flashback no longer makes any sense being so many years ago given Eugene’s engagement and recent breakup with Stalyan, and the later reveal that he was working for the Baron during the original movie. 

Sloppy planning like this not only makes for a confusing timeline but it also wastes limited resources. I like the new models, I like the actors cast for these younger roles, and I do like the concept of seeing more of Eugene’s past. But going through all of that trouble and money for what amounts to one throw away episode is mismanagement of the budget and work schedule.  

Baby Varian Is the Episode’s Only Saving Grace 

I know people are divided on the deign here. Some love it and some hate it, but that’s a personal taste thing. The actual scene itself is golden either way, because it’s such a funny eater egg. Fans on both sides made memes out of this for days. It’s legendary. 

Personally I’m more in the ‘love it’ camp, though I can see the issues people have with the design. My main defense of it is more the fact that we got kid designs for the other OCs in the show and it’s only fair Varian got one as well. The fact that he’s in smaller versions of the S1 clothes doesn’t bother me anymore than when Lance ran around for two seasons in the same outfit, including when he was a kid. 

So if I like it, then why am I talking about it a salt review? 

Cause the most memorable part of an episode shouldn’t be a throw away gag! 

People bring up baby Varian way more than they do about anything else in the episode, and no it’s not just because the character popular. It’s because most would like to forget what comes after this scene. 

Where is Quirin, by the Way?

Why is your six year old son running around the big city unsupervised?

This wouldn’t get talk about as much it wasn’t for the fact that Quirin being neglectful in season one was a motivating factor in his conflict with Varian. A conflict that was suppose to be resolved back in Rapunzel’s Return but we the audience have yet to visually see any difference in behavior since then.  

Quirin’s absence here in the past highlights his absence in the present day and reminds the audience aware that we’ve not been given a satisfying conclusion to one of the most important arcs in the series.  

Lets Talk About Wasted Potential 

Like I said, I like the idea of exploring Eugene’s past. But we should have gotten that back in season two when it was more relevant. Part of why this episode fails is because Eugene has reached the end of his original character development. He’s now on an identity crisis arc which has nothing to do with this episode.  

But you know who still hasn’t finished developing? Rapunzel. 

Rapunzel has lots to still learn and viewing her past through outside eyes could have turned this story into something really special. Especially with the ‘inhabiting another body’ plot point. 

You have no end of options here, 

Have Raps inhabit Cassandra’s body for a day and gain insight into what motivates her. It could have been either before or after they met, both offers up possibilities. 

Have Raps inhabit Eugene’s body and experience what he had to deal with growing up and come to see his point of view. (This could have also worked with the Sabbingtons set up had the writers not been stupid.) 

And my personal favorite, send her back to right after Queen for a Day and have her stuck in either Varian’s or Ruddiger’s bodies. Force her to see what she did to him and have her acknowledge she was wrong. 

And those are just the most obvious choices, there’s other more out of left field things you can do that would still work with good writing. Like exploring Lady Caine’s past, inhabiting Arianna’s body and learning how to be a real queen, get dumped into actual young Gothel and lay out clues to the future Zhan Tiri plot, or possess one of the Brotherhood and experience the final days of the Dark Kingdom; the list just goes on and on and on. 

But I Thought You Didn’t Put Kids in Jail Frederic?

Remember that Raps and Pascal are possessing the Stabbingtons who are still teenagers here. They can’t be much older than Varian. 

This means that Varian isn’t some special case. Teens have received harsh and deadly punishments in the past for non-violent crimes like theft. 

Also teens are called kids still by the majority of the cast. They’re aren’t considered adults with the same rights as someone in say their twenties, yet they can be punished the same as an adult would. Which is horrendous in any time period. 

So in conclusion, Frederic is a fucking liar! 

Tangled the Series can’t decide if it’s in the far past or a reflection of the modern day. As such it winds up supporting the worst of both worlds. Barbaric practices like hanging for minor crimes and prison slave labor are treated as the norm and never called out for the horrific things that they are; treated as a joke even, but we’re suppose to accept that this world also somehow views adolescence through the lens of late 20th century sensibilities even as it forces minors to go through such atrocities. 

Like what are you trying to say show? What is your message on the transition of adolescence to adulthood regarding rights and responsibilities? And don’t tell me ‘it’s not that deep’ because this is suppose to be a coming of age show! That’s the entire premise of the series! 

So How Old Are Stan and Pete Again?

I was always under the impression that Pete was a newbie guard, closer to Cass and Eugene’s age than say Cap or Frederic. That’s why he screws up so much because he’s inexperienced, why he seemed to be the closest thing to a equal colleague Cass had in the guard when she was also just starting out, and why I assumed those braided girls from the movie were his sisters. 

I mean there was nothing on screen previously that would necessarily contradict this reveal, it just doesn’t feel right, that’s all. I guess he could be like 20 here and be 30 in the show. That would make him only a few years older than Eugene, but still doesn’t explain why he’s so useless a decade later. 

I’m fine with Stan being here though. I always thought of him being the older of the two. In fact I headcannon Willow as his mysterious wife that he talked about back in Monty’s episode during season one. (She’s Stan and Pete’s beard, and they’re totally in a open poly relationship. That’s why they’re allowed to stay in the royal guard despite being so incompetent cause they’re technically Ferderic’s in-laws and Rapunzel’s uncles. Just no one ever talks about it cause it’s a minor sandal for a princess to marry lower class and Willow’s hardly ever there.) 

And Why Does Xavier Have All Those Plot McGuffins? 

I know we’ll never get an answer, but at this point Xavier’s exposition fairy powers border upon ridiculousness. It’s just lazy and a waste of character. 

So How Does Time Travel Work In This?

There are three types of time travel stories in fiction. 

First is the ‘Changeable Past, Changeable Future’. You see this in Back to the Future. What you do in the past will change the future, i.e. your present. You may or may not remember that you did it, but be warned you could change things too much and break stuff. Like erasing yourself from existence, or ruining your love life ect. The only way to fix it is to go back in time again and change stuff again. But beware of paradoxes or you may destroy the universe altogether.  

The second is the ‘Alternate Timeline’, where changing things creates new realties and it’s a matter of finding the right reality again. The tv show Sliders is a great example of this. Each new timeline is a different dimension. What you do in one won’t effect your original point of origin, only that particular world. The challenge if often getting home again because the probable diverging timelines are infinite and the changes of getting back are a zillion to one. 

Third is the ‘Closed Time Loop’. No matter what you do nothing will change. The future is inevitable and whatever you do in the past was always meant to happen anyways. Gargoyles handles this really well. You can also have ‘fix points’ where certain important things are set in stone but small things can be changed like in several Doctor Who episodes. Braking a fix point breaks the universe once again, while paradoxes are often the solution rather than the threat. 

So which type of time travel is Tangled dealing with here? 

Scenes like the conversation regarding Pete’s and Stan’s mustache or the ones involving Eugene working on his smolder suggest a closed time loop. Yet the ending to this episode reveals a changed future. Further still the grandfather paradox revolving around the hourglass would make you think an alternate timeline yet, we’ve no indication that anything else changed other then Eugene’s opinions on Cass, and Raps shows no concern about getting back to her original point in time indicating that it actually isn’t another dimension.... so what is it then? 

You don’t have to have a tightly plotted time travel story to have an entertaining piece of media. Endgame is riddled with plot holes and contradicts itself constantly, but what it lacks in coherent plot it makes for with fun characters, emotional story beats, and good pacing that manages to balance the action with the drama while hiding the cracks just enough that you don’t lose immersion. 

Tangled however fails at even this because it gets the character beats so fundamentally wrong.  Like you may dislike where the characters ended up in Endgame, but can’t say that those developments didn’t match the characters’ previous storylines and logical trajectory. Tony finally becomes the selfless hero by committing the ultimate sacrifice, Steve learns self care as a mirror to Tony’s arc as they were always parallels to each other, Bruce learns to accept himself, Thor processes his grief and lets go of the role he was assigned at birth but never truly fit into, and Nat becomes the leader she was destined to be rather than the sidekick.  

What happens to the characters in this episode however makes no sense. 

This is Another Missed Opportunity to Explore Eugene’s Past

The other problem behind the episode is that we don’t actually learn anything new. If you’re going to promise a story focusing on Eugene’s past then I expect to actually glean some new insights. 

We still don’t know why he’s working with Baron or how he fell in/fell out with him, what his relationship with Stalyan is like, how he became so cynical; not just the general basics, like the orphanage, but that point in his life where decided that survival meant giving up his morals and ethics; where did he first learn his better ethics that he originally suppressed (cause it sure as heck wasn’t Rapunzel), and when did he and Lance become separated? 

This are questions that series decides to raise by making allusions to them and building conflicts off of them but never wants to explain the details of where they originated from. It’s super frustrating and wholly unnecessary.  If you didn’t think the story of Eugene’s past worth telling then why did up repeatedly bring it up Chris? 

Why Are You Surprised by This Rapunzel?

Rapunzel you know Eugene’s past. You know what he used to be like. You were literally there in the movie and saw him being an ass before this. You didn’t start to like him until he dropped his guard down in the flooded cave back when you both where about to die. 

You fell in love with him when he showed you his real self and he fell in love with you when you proved that you were accepting of that. You earned each others’ trust. This here; angrily yelling at him and judging him, when you’re already hiding who you really are from him both literally and figuratively, is a breaking of that trust. 

Who the fuck are you any more, Rapunzel? 

Cause you’re not the same character from the movie. You’re not even the same character from season one. But whoever hell you are now, it’s not an improvement I can tell ya that. 

So How Did The Hourglass Go From the Treasury to the Basement Storage, and How Would Raps Know It Was There At This Point and Time?

I’m guessing the implication here is that Crowley put Cass’s stuff in the vault, but like why the fuck would she do that? We’re not talking about a family attic here, but the royal safe. The most heavily guarded room in the castle with the kingdom’s most priceless treasures and antiques. Nothing Cass owned was that valuable.  

Rapunzel Is Full of Shit

Oh let me count the numerous ways in which this whole lecture is stupid. 

Rapunzel left Varian behind. Rapunzel left Varian behind multiple times, including that time he was thrown in jail. She was not a good friend, and no, this is not a case of her learning from her past because not once has she ever admitted that she was wrong to do that. So this scene just makes Raps look like a hypocrite. 

Eugene does not need to relrean a lesson on being a better a person. He did that during the movie and has progressed beyond that point. This ‘lesson’ is a waste of time and a misuse of the characters.

This reframes Rapunzel as being in the right during her argument with older Eugene at the beginning of the episode, even though she’s not. In fact this is such a counterintuitive plot point that it boggles the mind. Who structures a narrative this way? Why so blatantly point out how the main character is wrong if not to have her learn something? Why frame the story to make the person who’s personal conflict isn’t even the episode’s focus, into the one who needs to learn something? Especially if that something is already a lesson that they’ve learned on screen beforehand.

And why, oh good heavens why, would you teach children such a toxic message? Like on the surface it sounds like something you’d hear in a children's show, but the context of it is justifying harmful behavior where you selfishly ignore other people’s wishes and boundaries just to satisfy you’re own personal desires.  

And finally, Eugene and Lance do not work as a parallel to Raps and Cass. Cassandra is an adult who left of own free will. Lance is a teenager who was arrested due to Rapunzel’s own actions. Eugene isn’t the one who is responsible here, its Rapunzel. Who also left them both behind in her carelessness. Secondly, Eugene’s decisions are spurned by years of trauma and a healthy fear of dying, while Rapunzel’s is wrapped up in her own need to always be right and to keep her immature and fanciful outlook of the world intact. As harsh as it seems, what Eugene did was based off a predetermine agreement and presumably Lance would have acted the same way or been pressured to act the same way by Eugene. In short, Eugene’s cynical world view as a teen is not the source of his disagreement with Rapunzel but an adult perspective back by common sense and a respect of others choices. It makes no sense for present day Eugene to ‘learn’ anything from this misadventure that he didn’t already know and for Rapunzel to not learn anything that would actually tie the parallel together. 

Locking Another Teen Inside a Jail Cell With Another Adult as a Joke, Does Not Erase the Inappropriateness of Varian’s Story

The episode tries to add another joke about Shorty sneaking into the prison without the guard knowing, but that still doesn’t excuse the fact someone had to have tossed Lance in there with him on purpose. Otherwise Lance wouldn’t have assumed Shorty was a fellow prisoner if he or the guard that locked him up saw Shorty sneak in before then. 

Furthermore Lance’s nonchalant response suggests this is not an out of the ordinary occurrence. Nor do any of the other guard comment upon the irregularly of teens being jailed with an adult. Now add in the fact that the show fails to clarify that previous ‘cellmate’ line from Rapunzel’s Return and now gives us more confirmation that Varian was underfed and malnourished for a year with that gruel joke and you have a horrifying picture. 

Shorty might be non-threating, but that doesn’t mean Andrew, a known attempted murderer and manipulator, is too. Nor any other adult who previously was housed with a teen before then. This is still very much not okay and no amount of ‘jokes’ will suddenly make it right.  

Raps, Who is an Adult, Just Physically Threatened Two Teenaged Boys and It’s Played as a Joke.... 

How many times do I have to say it? Humor does not fix bad writing. I’m not laughing when a heroine at age 20, threatens a couple of kids for merely annoying her. Especially when said heroine has a history of abusing children; because let me repeat once again, neglect is abuse!

This is a Lie

No you wont. 

Rapunzel never tells Eugene what happens on screen. I suspect that if she ever did, they would no longer be together, because what she wound up doing here was a violation of trust and boundaries in the worst possible way.  

And This is Now a Time Paradox 

A Grandfather Paradox to be specific. How can Rapunzel be here in the past to break the hourglass if the hourglass that sent her here is broken? 

In a competent series this would be the point of a future conflict and not the actual resolution. It’s not a closed time loop because of the paradox and the changes we’ll see in the future. 

So either she’s in an alternate timeline/dimension and just doesn’t gives a shit; leaving the real Eugene, Lance, Cass, ect. to go on without her; or she’s just broke the universe and everything is slowly unraveling around her; galaxies are dying as she whines about being dumped, people in the future are being eased from existence, and God is cursing her name for ruining his creation, all the while she carries on oblivious to the destruction in her wake, as usual. 

That’s it. Those are you’re only two options now. Is everyone from here on a fake copy or is Rapunzel the damned destroyer of worlds? You decide. 

So This Confirms That the Stabbingtons are Indeed “Family”

Another reason why I place this before Return of the King; it explains why Eugene considers the Stabbingtons ‘family’. Though if it was Rapunzel he actually bonded with and not the real Sideburns, then how much of his feelings are real and how much of them were fabricated by her? How much agency did this episode steal from him?

So What Exactly Did We All Change?

Well the dummy no longer has Eugene’s face, but Cass’s painting of the three of them still has him ripped out of the photo, soo... Keeping in mind that Raps painted the dummy anyways and considering that Moonandra tries to kill him later on; I’m going to guess that Cass’s feelings weren’t actually altered. If anything their relationship might actually be worse now, cause Cassandra keeps acting like she’s never had friends and Eugene has taken up Rapunzel’s blind devotion. 

All that development in season one is just, poof, gone. Also it’s quite possible that the first movie as well has now it has been erased from existence as Eugene got his needed character development eight years too early. How the hell that’s suppose to work, I don’t know. 

Outside of the that we get no confirmation how anybody else was effected, even though a more brainwashed Eugene running around would undoubtedly have caused a butterfly effect. Don’t expect that to be explored anytime soon. 

Though, it would explain why he’s suddenly such a doormat in season three, if this was the second episode as theorized. 

No! This is the Wrong Lesson!!!

Let me explain narrative promises. 

Everyone, on some basic fundamental level, understands how stories work. We hear them recounted to us over and over again from the day we're born to the day we die. It’s integral to how we communicate as human beings. Everyone knows innately how to tell a story even if that person couldn’t tell you how stories or structured or what certain literary terms mean, but they do it every day just through speaking. And while most audiences can’t always pin point what upsets them about a story they can for sure notice when things are off and not satisfying to experience. 

Now that doesn’t mean that everyone can write an awarding winning novel, that study of a craft isn’t important, nor that every amateurish critique thrown at any given media is valid. But it does mean that people have come to expect certain storytelling practices and can pick up on narrative cues. We’ve familiarized ourselves with the language of film, novels, comics, ect, into order to comprehend what’s going on. 

Rules of writing are just following that established language so that the audience can keep up. You can break these rules, sure, but unless you know what you’re doing and have a good narrative reason to do so, then you can easily lose you’re audience. And if you’re making money off said audience that’s something you want to avoid. 

A narrative promise is a cue; a set up that lets the audience know that ‘hey this is important, pay attention to this cause it’ll come back into play later’. Now that the audience has been alerted to the plot point they expect fulfillment of the promise. If you break that promise, either through poor set up, lack of follow through, or by breaking an established convention of writing for no other reason then because you just wanted to, your audience is going to walk away unsatisfied. 

The argument at the beginning of the episode was a narrative promise. It was a cue that set up the interpersonal conflict of the main character. For add context, I know that this is a coming of age story. Convention would dictate that the protagonist would resolve this conflict by learning they were wrong. 

That’s not what happened here. 

Convention was subverted. It wasn’t the protagonist who grew and change, it was the person they were in conflict with who did. And it wasn’t subverted because of any greater narrative reason, or future pay off, or even as effort to be shallowly ‘clever’; it was subverted because the author just didn’t want to hold the main character accountable for anything. Because said character has now become his avatar for his wish fulfillment fantasy and having the main character admit fault would be to admit fault in ones own self. Rapunzel doesn’t feel like Rapunzel this season because she’s just Chris in a wig. 

The episode broke a narrative promise to the audience; both within the episode and in the greater premise of the story, because of ego. 

I don’t claim this episode is bad just because of personal taste nor because I find it morally repulsive (even though both those things are true), I call it bad because it exhibits bad writing. Plain and simple. 

Way To Undermine The Entire Point of the Original Movie, Show

Speaking of breaking narrative promises.... 

TTS is suppose to be a squeal to the original movie. It’s even in the title of the show; both of them. In one fell swoop, the series has managed to sabotage it’s very reason for existing, as it erases Eugene’s motivation and the inciting incident that kick started the film. 

 Way to fucking go. 

To further twist the knife, it diminishes the duel protagonist of said film in order to prop up a series original character, who isn't even present in the episode itself. 

I don’t mind Cassandra’s existence. I don’t even mind her being the new deuteragonist and one of the main villains; even though she wouldn’t have been my first pick to fulfill those roles given her lack of set up. But I do fucking mind it if she upstages other characters and/or derails their character arcs in the process. 

This is the Death of New Dream 

I was still in denial when this episode first aired. I honestly believed that this and The Return of the King was build up to a third “betrayal” where Eugene finally became fed up with Rapunzel’s bullshit and joined forces with Zhan Tiri. I thought the end of the series would have Rapunzel apologize to everyone she did wrong, Varian, Cass, and Eugene, in order to break ZT’s hold on them, and that true love’s kiss would reunite the sundrop and the moonstone and that would just tie everything together into a neat little bow and give us a truly daring character study of a Disney hero. 

Oh dear merciful heavens, was I ever wrong.  

How did we go from season one’s challenging and mature storyline, complete with Disney’s first real anti-villian, to this?! 

What the hell happened!? 

Rapunzel not only disrespects Eugene’s opinions, violates his privacy and trust as she manipulates him as a teen, and then brainwashes him to think like her (even if accidentally), but doesn’t even have good grace to tell him. She instead has the audacity to look all happy and self congratulatory because she got want she wanted. She, and the show at large, doesn’t care what evil thing she does to get the desired outcome Rapunzel wants. 

Rapunzel in this show is a spoiled brat. And the image of her and her now lobotomized boyfriend staring dead eyed at a picture of the creator’s previous waifu OC with plastic smiles on their faces, sums up this series perfectly. 

Conclusion 

This isn’t even the worst episode of the series guys. I don’t know if it would even make it onto a bottom five list. That’s how much crap I have to wade through when it comes to this show. This is however the most damaging episode to the franchise as a whole. 

Not even the most hardcore of New Dream fans want to acknowledge the existence of that final scene, and Rapunzel stans won’t defend her beyond, ’well she didn’t mean too, it’s the writing that’s bad.’ Yeah, the writing is bad, that’s why the character can’t and shouldn’t be defended, not here and not in other badly written episodes where she also does bad things and never makes up for it. 

Anyways I’m finally caught up to where I left off, before the move, though sadly I don't think I’ll get this series done by the end of the month like I had originally hoped. But if you would like to help out I have a ko-fi you can drop a tip into if ya want. 

https://ko-fi.com/rachelbethhines

#tangled #tangled the series #rapunzel's tangled adventure #Eugene #anti-rapunzel #anti-tangled