#i'm so curious about ben's backstory

[movementsofmylife]

there's this level of desperation and tragedy woven into this show. all the teens are stuck in little boxes made by their parents and the other adults around them. phum says, "It's business between adults. I'll let them handle it." and it's fucking tragic because, if only.

nlmg shows the extremely compromised position of children and teens in society. the lack of agency and pressure and expectation and strictures; a 'protected' class which is very often an oppressed class. the classification of a child as not a person, as simply an extension of their parent or guardian. and the different ways this plays out due to wealth and class status.

all these teens are being moulded and put under pressure to become an object of their parents' desires and crises, both purposefully and through the vagaries of their circumstances. the adults with power and money get to choose and direct their children's paths. the ones without get fucked and changed by those that do, and this falls onto their kids and influences them regardless of their parents' true desires. capitalism makes the position of child an even more precarious one for those not in power.

and it's clear that the teens are all aware of the situation. palm goes around his dad by hiding and lying. nueng by manipulating his mom. only chopper seems to be pushing back in a straightforward way: by becoming financially independent with his crypto (sigh) stuff and telling his father where he stands. (i want to say that whatever chopper implied happened between him and ben was part of the reason he started to push back against his dad's expectations? maybe?)

i hope they all get a chance to push back and remake the world and themselves in their own image. and don't let the pressure and circumstances lead them to destroying each other instead. (although that's clearly already begun. thus, the air of tragedy.)

#i'm so curious about ben's backstory #also literally even maggie is following the path set out by her parent's #does she want that? #i hope so #i feel like their dance studio is going to get pulled into the whole renoviction shit #and that's going to be bad times for everyone #and i can def kind of see ben pulling nueng into the studio for just the purposes of showing him how his parents are fucking things up #for everyday people #but i could also be entirely wrong and ben is just a wholesome boy #chimon is playing him as shroedinger's betrayal right now #and i am stressed #never let me go #nlmg ep 3

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

I'm genuinely curious-

Based on your spidersonas abilities, strengths, and weapons:

Do you think your Spidersona could win in an 1-on-1 fight against:

Jess with her motorcycle

Peter B. without MayDay

Gwen

Pavitr

Hobie with his guitar

Miles

Miguel

If you had to guess - Earth42!Miles

Name another seen character that you think they can beat in a fight (WebSlinger, Ben Reilly, Margo, 60s Spiderman, Spider-Plush, etc)

This is a training scenario:

You've got one hour prep. Don't worry about full on hurting them. They're trying to best you, not wound.

Headcanon:

Between missions and work in your home universes, Spider Society also includes mandatory training courses and evaluations. Like today. Lyla is algorithmically keeping count.

The training field is a continuously updating holographic New York, standard Spider-man setting.

This is your final for the quarter. They REALLY want to beat you.

Who you beating for sure without a doubt? Who's gonna be a problem?

I'm SO curious

DO NOT BE MODEST They're Spider-people, so don't worry about your OC seeming OP cause like... That's hardly possible considering what they are - so like your Sonas BEST DAY and they're a good test away from a raise.

Cause it's not about strength - it's about fighting style, swinging style, experience, using their special abilities to outsmart a certain person. Etc, etc.

I wanna hear how you're sonas be fighting. We talk a lot about backstory but like - CAN THEY THROW HANDS THOUGH

ALSO BONUS QUESTION;

Duos:

You have to pick two people to fight.

You get to pick 1 partner.

Who are you fighting? And who got your back?

#nah fr fr who ass they whoopin let's be honest #your Spidersona got hands or no #spiderman #atsv #marvel #spider man #hobie brown #across the spiderverse #spider punk #spiderpunk #peter b parker #Jessica Drew #Jess Drew #pavitr #Gwen Stacy #Miles morales #Prowler!Miles #Earth42!Miles #Miguel Ohara #Miguel O'hara #spider Gwen #spidergwen #spiderman 2099 #Spiderwoman

[mayasdeluca]

Station 19 7x02 Thoughts

This episode was...something. There was SO much going on which we kind of figured by all the stills, synopsis, promo, etc. There was way too much time spent on two parts that I really had no interest in (Beckett's family funeral and the Theo/Ben call) and also Kate's just entire existence (can she leave already??)

It's frustrating that someone like Beckett can get an episode with extended family in a plot yet we've been waiting 4+ seasons to get any kind of backstory/storyline for Carina. But now...she's getting sued?! This intrigues me. I was wondering what the connection to that woman was and thought at first we weren't going to even found out but I'm thinking she's blaming Carina for whatever kind of health issues her daughter is having and that also ties into Danielle saying we're going to get more badass Carina this season. I can't wait for this and I'm so glad Carina is finally getting her own storyline!

I loved seeing Maya and Carina working together and sending each other flirty looks (as they always do so well). The look Carina gave Maya when she said "That's what I said." after the woman said she wasn't going to ever have kids was 😍 and it was just great seeing them in that element. Seeing Carina worry about how it would affect them with Liam and Maya calming her down was also so cute ❤️

Truly cannot believe that Tremmett got the sex scene again??? Like really?? They made Travis a cheater for a second time and we have still yet to get a real proper Marina kiss in the 10 pm time slot but I have to see these two raw dogging it two episodes in a row?? I truly hope our time is coming.

I'm not gonna lie the end of the episode really got me emotional and I say that as someone who has had my issues with Jack for a long time now. The parallel to the scene on the truck in Season 2 was just perfect and I love how they did it and to see Carina holding Liam there watching them as they all cuddled together. That was a really great ending scene and I really enjoyed it. ❤️

Very curious to see how next week ends up but now it makes even more sense why Carina goes to Bailey for support. We'll see who Maya ends up encountering at the parade but between Carina getting sued, starting the fostering/eventual adoption process with Liam, starting the IVF process, getting a new home....Marina certainly have their hands full this season! Can't wait to see how they handle it all.

#station 19 #station 19 spoilers #carina x maya #carina deluca #maya bishop

[b3achysurfur]

I know I originally said in a comment at some point about how annoying the Logan war got (think it was in that post asking why we all suddenly backed off) but now I just find your posts humoring it's like "THIS LITTLE GODDAMN PIECE OF SHIT-" and it's the most innocent picture of Logan.

Love seeing it nowadays (cuz it's funny), but you have a good point that he hasn't furthered the story yet but I feel like Red might change that soon. Hopefully. Also how we haven't had his backstory but that also might change too (we've got a hint in one episode where they fought his bullies, something about how his parents didn't want him and he fact that we've only seen his grandparents but not his actual parents says something....)

Anyways something I need to ask you! What are your opinions on the others, what you like about them or dislike, favorite moments and what not. I'm curious!

Sorry this may have been long!

SEE NOW YOU GUYS ARE GETTING MY HUMOR , THIS ACTUALLY MAKES ME SO HAPPY!!! THANK UUUUU A LOT

also UR SO GREAT FOR THE QUESTION YOU ASKED!! I love talking about everyone else

I’ll assess them in order of: ashlyn, aiden, taylor, tyler, ben (not by order of how much I like them or anything btw). Some sections are longer than others because I’m bias BUT ALSO BECAUSE I got tired of typing and realized there was wayyy tm to read. Sorry!!!! if you don’t wanna read all this I put a short summary all the way on the bottom + feel free to me ask me specific questions ! now let me talk your ear off

ASHLYN:

I really like ashlyn because she has the most potential out of everyone (and that’s not to say the other characters aren’t deep, because that’s the opposite of true but bae is the whole reason we’re here). I think she’s also really relatable in the sense that she doesn’t like interacting with people but she can easily take the leadership role when needed. like okay queen I see you. also I really enjoy the fact Red made her dislike aiden at first even though they have a side romance plot going rn. bc that’s how it would’ve been if they were real. ash would not just become chatty out of no where and fall head over heels for him. and I really appreciate the slowburn. Ashlyn’s also higher on my favorites list because I’m bias and we have the same hair length 😣 usually when characters have long hair, authors tend to let their hair flow a lot, but red put ts in braids 🙏 and ask anyone with long hair like that, their hair is up 99% of the time bc it’s annoying, hot, and (personally) GRABS ONTO EVERYTHING LIKE ITS A THIRD HAND. I have a lot of headcannons for ash just based on small character designs / aspects that not a lot of people really think about. She’s so interesting and I really just love her. And since I have positives, I’ll give one negative about her. In the beginning, Ashlyn was really hesitant to tell the group anything. I understand where she was coming from, and given Tyler’s reaction, I don’t blame her for keeping things to herself. But mannnn ts was so frustrating sometimes. it’s ok tho bc all good stories stress you out.

AIDEN:

omg guys it’s my favorite ever. I know aidens really popular already so I’ll try not to rant on about him forever but hes just the best 😣 but mans really does not gaf EVERR.

now I could rant on and on about how silly Aiden is and why he’s so misunderstood as a character, because he’s not crazy like at all and if anything he’s one of the smartest characters in sbg, but I’ll save if for a better time. Instead I wanna talk about how observant he is of Ben and ashlyn.

it’s cropping weridly, sorry. but aiden’s eyes are always watching the ones he cares about most. I feel like this has to do with the fact Ben cannot voice his concerns/opinions so aiden always has to glance at him to make sure he’s not missing any important signal. But I also think it has to do with his childhood (I don’t have fast pass or anything this is just based off of theories/analysis based on his character bc I do that a lot 🤒). Anyways, he has a specific way of comforting people that I think it’s rlly niche. He uses his hands and gets the person what he thinks they need. Like in the attached images he gets ashlyn fabric to squeeze and distracts her with light conversation, and he immediately offers to take a walk with Ben and get some fresh air. If a person refuses or asks him for space, he immediately obeys and doesn’t question their decision. He’s very trusting and understanding. He gives people room to make mistakes and gives them room to ask for help. I’m mainly bringing this up because it ties back to something I’m gonna talk about in Taylor’s section. I just think that this detail is so important to his character and we always brush over it. I don’t wanna say he doesn’t like physical touch, bc he’s always touching everything around him, but I like to think his main love language is acts of service. When you really look at it, his actions speak a lot louder than his bickering and it really helps display how much each character means to him individually. what elseee. He’s able to quickly adjust and assess situations (like when he attacked the phantom or pulled up ashlyn in the bus). He’s very quick to his feet and always needs to be interacting with something to keep his hands busy. Aiden just really don’t gaf 99% of the time (unless it’s Ben / ashlyn) and honestly that’s why I like him. He doesn’t take anything seriously or personally. clap it up for my hb. Also I notice the sbg fandom has a habit of doing it with everyone, but I feel like Aiden is always reduced to his impulsive behaviors and ‘crazy kid’ persona. please guys. look deeper into Aiden Clark. Instead of wasting your energy trying to defend a NERDY FREAK like Logan fields, you should study more on Aiden Clark and his complex character.

yes. do that. rn. You want to so badly. I know you do. Do it. Go reread sbg and focus on Aiden. wowwww. I know you want to. (I’m hypnotizing you btw) Or just ask me I can talk about Aiden (or really any character) alll day long. Ask me anything about anyone and I’ll tell you what I think with proof and evidence. yes. I just need to cut it short because I have to talk about everyone else to. But study Aiden Clark. do it. really. really. Right now. Go. Go. Now. PLUS Aiden’s probably the least likely to die because he’s to cool for that + he’s better than death and injury. YAAA!!! MAKE AIDEN CLARK UR FAV BC YOULL BE SAFE FROM ANGST 🎉

only thing I don’t like about Aiden gotta be his fashion sense sometimes (usually beginning S1). like WHAT R U WEARING MAN???? 🙁

TAYLOR:

okay now let me talk about my shnukums Taylor. I love her a lot but her and Tyler had very different childhoods regardless of the fact they were in the same situation.

We don’t know a lot about Taylor’s version of growing up, so a lot of the details are vague but everything I say is based off of observations and analyses I have personally made, so please take everything I say about Taylor’s backstory with a grain of salt and understand that no matter what, both twins were majorly affected by the passing of their father and illness of their mother.

At first i thought of Taylor was the more lucky one out of Tyler and Taylor when it came to their childhood. Yes she struggled, I knew that, but Tyler was under a lot of stress. But that’s when I realized that she suffered just as much. Although she didn’t need to sacrifice herself to help her family survive, like Tyler did, she went though the most loss. She lost her mother, father, and brother all overnight. One second they were all happy together and the next she was all alone. Physically, her mother and brother were still there, but they were both shells. Her mother isolated by grief and her brother isolated by responsibility. She was all alone. Yes Tyler did his best to support her, but at the end of the day, there wasn’t much he could do to change the situation. Taylor suffered a lot, and since people mostly focus on Tyler, we never really see Taylor’s POV of it all.

Now her backstory leads me into the fact Taylor is the most socially smart character in sbg. She is also the most observant and supportive. This is not to say others aren’t observant/supportive, like Aiden for an example, but she does it much differently. I would attach a picture here but I’m close to maxing out the photo limit and I want to save it for later.

Taylor is very good at reading the emotions of other characters. She is also very observant. Taylor is often the first to notice when a charater is uncomfortable, panicked, or harmed. For an example, she’s the first to notice Ashlyn’s fear back at the house. Unlike Aiden, Taylor is able to verbally let people know she is there for them. She comforts them through words and physical affection. Taylor is usually aware of how much support someone is in need of and the best way to display it for them specifically. For an example when Logan was getting bullied, she defended him against Tyler’s mean words and held his shoulder for reassurance. This same tactic would not work for ashlyn, and Taylor is aware of that. So, when ashlyn broke down about the struggles of being leader, Taylor comforted her through words and reassured her fears. Taylor opened up a space for ashlyn to be scared and share her burden. She was able to do all of this in only a couple of moments. This skills also becomes a werid quirk when she is able to sense Tyler’s condition in the hospital, but maybe that was just twin senses? 🤷‍♀️ idk

Taylor is also very aware of everyone around her. We know that she is very social and has a lot of friends and connections, but she also educates herself on the people she doesn’t interact with. Even if she doesn’t know a lot, she makes sure to acknowledge their presence at the very least.

What does her ability to read emotion have to do with her childhood? Well, Taylor basically lived with a shell of a family. Tyler was under constant stress, which made him prone to outbursts. Her mother was disabled by grief. Taylor was in a situation that made her feel like she had to take care of her family mentally. It was, to her, the least she could do. So, she was mentally mature from a very young age. Although having to hold the burdens of others constantly is very unhealthy, I’m not sure if she’ll crack because of it.

Taylor being very social and having a lot of friends is also another example of how she’s different from Tyler and how their shared childhood affected them differently. Tyler saw people as distractions while Taylor sees them as her means to keep living. Taylor lives off of other peoples energy, and she maintains the energy of other people by being a supportive beam for them. This is also why I’m okay with Taylor being shipped with others. She’s use to being around people and can form close bonds with others while still only viewing them as friends. Tyler cannot do the same. Taylor is in a position where she can expand her horizons into romantic relations if she was interested in doing so. That’s why I feel as though it’s okay (if that doesn’t make sense I’ll explain it again, but I tried to condense it down)

Something I don’t like about Taylor is that we haven’t gotten to see her brain in action yet. We know she’s the president of the robotics club , but we haven’t had the chance to see her charater support the story in any other way but socially and mentally. The story is only at 60 episodes though, and I’m sure we will see it eventually. Im just impatient and want to see women in STEM shine 😣😣 I wish I could talk about her more, but we barely know anything about Taylor as of right now. I will say it’s interesting how she told her and Tyler’s backstory, but only talked about how Tyler was affected and not herself. Interesting… I hope we learn more about her experiences and I hope I’m right 🙏 also CAN WE TAKE A MOMENT TO APPRECIATE HOW PRETTY SHE IS??? UGHH I LOVE HER SMM

TYLER:

I feel like Tyler has been the topic of discussion for the past couple of months because his backstory was revealed and the end of S1 / beginning of S2 was all about him and his past, so I don’t have a lot to say that I haven’t already said. but I do really like Tyler. At first when he was in his jock era I was very , oh! about him. but he’s actually warmed up to me sooooo much since then. he’s so goofy I just want more interactions between him and Aiden. I think I good place to start is how much I HATE people shipping him with other members of the main cast. I talked about it a little in Taylor’s section, but him and Taylor had very different childhoods. Again, I’m not saying their father’s death and mother’s illness was not hard on the both of them, but Tyler was under a lot of pressure too. We know he isolated himself harshly, and stopped having fun all together. The way I look at it, everything, including living day-to-day, became a chore for Tyler. Ever since he was a little kid. His dad’s death changed his entire world overnight. He had to learn how to physically and mentally support everyone important to him, because if he couldn’t no one else would. Tyler had to learn everything about living life by himself as a baby just so everyone else could survive. He stopped having fun. Little kids find fun in everything. Tyler stopped himself from finding it. He didn’t do anything for himself anymore. He was almost like a empty shell doing automatic tasks so that his sister and mother could have space to grow, heal, and live. In a sense, it was self sacrifice (which he attempts again when he tells the group to leave him behind)

So when Taylor tells us that the main cast started to become an extension of the family he sacrificed himself for, it’s so heavy on his character. Especially because for once in a long time he started relating his ‘family’ back to joy and fun, not just safety and survival. That’s why it bothers me when people ship him with others. It’s so werid to imply he’d date any of the main cast when he sees them as his family. consider them blood-siblings if you gotta, but just stop shipping them. PLEAASSSSEEEEEEEEEEE. otherwise I’ll eat your dog. thanks! also him being friends with the main cast at all is such a huge step for him. I don’t think Tyler has time to get involved with romantic relationships when he believes friends are a distraction. I know a lot of people go to romance when they want to express how strong a connection is between two characters, but you guys are forgetting that Tyler considering everyone as his friends is sooooo much more complex and deep compared to (for an example) Logan saying he considers everyone his friend. ANYWAYS ENOUGHHH!!! let’s move on.

I also wanna talk about this scene (I was to lazy to go find the original scene so the flashback is all you get). I never really realized how much ashlyn ordering Tyler around must’ve affected him. He literally spent his whole life making decisions and taking leadership and all of a sudden some random lil girl is over here telling him to stfu and sit his ass down. I would imagine as mad as he was, he probably felt a least a bit of relief. For once the responsibility wasn’t on him, at least not only on him. He could share his burden with others, and he wasn’t suffocated by being responsible for the lives of everyone else. We see this same struggle affect ashlyn, as she feels like being leader strangles her with the weight of guilt, paranoia, and responsibility. Imagine if Tyler had been the one to bare that weight after everything he’s already been through? he would’ve cracked, whether we like it or not. so let’s clap it up for ashlyn rq!!! yasss girl 😋 I know I’m rambling a lot about tyler but I know a lot about him and want to talkkk 😣 but here is my last point: Tyler’s coping mechanism to the unknown and things that confuse him is denial. Just like his mother 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

woww! do you guys remember when Tyler thought this whole thing was a joke? me too! he would’ve never thought this silly prank would almost kill him. Tyler’s mom probably thought her husband’s illness wouldn’t kill him either. oops! 😂 (I’m going kms). sorry. my point is they both refused to believe it happened (although his mom’s denial may have been more of a trauma response while his was just to help him cope). Even with evidence, they both couldn’t understand what had happened to them and pretending nothing was wrong. Tyler saw the picture of the phantom’s shadow and brushed it off to technology he couldn’t understand yet. he felt more comfortable with not knowing how technology worked rather than not knowing if he was in danger. his mother is similar. She couldn’t understand and cope with the death of her husband, even though he died in front of her. She felt more comfortable not understanding why he was late from work than understanding he was dead and gone. Guess it runs in the family? 🤷‍♀️ and since these are all things I like about his character, I will tell you what I don’t like. THAT STUPID ASS JOCK ATTUIDE FROM S1. okay I didn’t hate it, and it fit him sometimes, and I kinda miss it sometimes, but he’s like 5’5 and a stick, he is not beating no one’s ass 😭 respectfully. now he could probably rock me but he’s matured a bit since S1 so it’s different. Tyler’s not even my favorite idk why I talked about him sm , especially when I held off on talking about Aiden because I didn’t want to say to much 🤦‍♀️ whatever

BEN:

I have a lot to say about Benny boy, especially because he is SOOOOOO mischaraterized. Now I won’t go crazy like I did for the twins because I’m thinking about making a separate post just about Ben (maybe.. maybe not idk). plus I just reminded myself anon asked me to just say a few things I like and disliked about each charater not give crazy long paragraph about them. so, sorry Ben but you will probably have the most boring paragraph of them all. I still love you a lot pookie 🙏 I’m just tired AND MAXED OUT THE AMOUNT OF PICS I CAN USE EVEN THO I NEED TO TALK ABOUT U WHILE USING PICS 🤒 anyways enough rambling.

bens charater is often reduced to his backstory which genuinely makes me want to start tweaking out. if you expand on why his trauma affects him, then I will happily listen to you talk. But when most the fandom sees Ben as “music boy who hate bully, will fight you if you be mean” it makes me so SAAAADDDDD. no, Ben will NOT beat my ass for making fun of Logan. That’s like… the whole point of his backstory? He doesn’t like violence, at all. He’s ashamed of his anger issues. He blames himself for having to move and putting his family in danger. The only reason he got involved with Logan’s fight was because the phantom interference + no one was there to help calm him down.

also he doesn’t only do music. he draws too! he’s a very artistic dude. He also gardens. Ben be planting food and shit. which (as much as I HATE the ship) Logan n Ben shippers could probably use to their advantage. Yk bc Ben gardens and Logan helps his grandparents in their greenhouse? wtv. Bens prob growing flowers for Taylor anyways. Fuck Logan. sorry.

Ben is also very compassionate and gentle. He’s always thinking about what’s best for the group, even if it puts him in an uncomfortable position, like sharing his trauma. Ben is also very soft hearted. He gets flustered very easily, we see this when ashlyn and Taylor complimented him. He is very protective over those he cares about and he does not come to play, ever. Also his character development from S1 makes me so happy. He use to be attached to Aiden’s hip 24/7 and we could often only understand his emotions when Aiden would translate him to us. But we’ve seen lately that he’s much closer to Taylor, even putting her safety before his own.

wow, gentleman alert❗️if I didn’t run out of photo space than I would’ve shown more examples where he holds onto others as a way to comfort or protect them. he’s so respectful I might cry. maybe I will make a Ben-centered post. I need to show you guys pictures so you can understand what I’m saying. But Ben is growing and he needs more attention. thank you.

SUMMARY:

Ashlyn

pros:

- has crazy potential + most hinted at lore

- very relateable

-introverted but stands on business

-W relationship development between her and the cast, very natural and not forced

- her hair

cons:

- she is very hesitant to spill info (only in earlier chaps tho!)

Aiden

pros:

- silly

- observant of those he cares about

- acts of service love language

- trusting/understanding

- quick on his feet

- good at assessing situations/making plans

- he doesn’t GAF 🦅🦅 EVAAA

cons:

- often misunderstood / mischaraterized by the fandom

- has ugly ass outfits sometimes

Taylor

pros:

- most socially smart character in sbg

- good at reading emotions

- good at comforting others

- aware of her surroundings/the people around her

- supportive

- social

- super pretty

- wrote a paragraph on why it’s ok to ship her with the rest of the cast js cuz

cons:

- we don’t see enough of her robotics president side, show me women in STEM 🤬

- we never saw how she experienced childhood (yet..)

Tyler

pros:

- deep childhood trauma/responsibility

- sacrificed himself for his family twice

- not meant to be shipped with anyone in main cast

- sees main cast as family

- he finally made friends

- talked about the scene where ash tells him to shut his bitchass up

- copes by using denial (js like his mom)

cons:

- his jock attitude during S1

Ben

pros:

- hates violence

- angery at his anger issues

- ashamed of his past

- draws and gardens as hobbies

- compassionate and gentle

- soft hearted

- easily flustered

- very protective

- slow but steady quiet charater development

- a gentleman

cons:

- you guys mischaraterize him a lot (like someone told me he doesn’t change as a character bc he never speaks, ts made me mad asf)

THATS ALL! THANK YOU FOR ASKING!! again feel free to as me questions about anything at all even if you didn’t read allat. And if you did, thank you ur so sweet and amazing. Sorry for writing sm 😢

also everyone is open to their own opinions, this is just what I think. As always, I’m always down to debate.

#omg that’s a lot of writing #IM SORRY AGAIN #sbg #school bus graveyard webtoon #school bus graveyard #schoolbus graveyard #sbg (webtoon) #sbg ashlyn #ashlyn sbg #ashlyn banner #aiden clark #sbg aiden #aiden sbg #Ben Clark #sbg ben #ben sbg #tyler hernandez #taylor hernandez #Taylor sbg #sbg tyler #hernandez twins #asks #charater analysis

[kallypsowrites]

Came here from AWAL and OIAG (absolutely amazing fics btw), but I've noticed you also write for Shadow and Bone, specifically Darklina. I wanted to ask, what makes Darklina such an appealing fic to you? Like completely genuine question, absolutely no judgment. Beyond Ben Barnes' Darkling being super hot (I'm aro/ace, and even I can see that), is there anything else about it that makes it particularly interesting to write/read? Like the power dynamic or the tragic backstory involved or things like that?

No pressure to answer, obviously. Hopefully this didn't come across as judgy. Just genuinely curious to hear from someone I really respect as a writer.

Lol you're all good. At face value, Shadow and Bone and Darklina is far less rich a material for me to plunge than Game of Thrones. I think the main draw for most writers of Darklina is the ~potential~ of it.

For me the Darkling is an interesting character because he's the leader of a group of oppressed people who has been driven to terrible acts because of centuries and centuries of crimes against the Grisha. He's a villain with a cause and I think there was a lot of room to explore his character and the moral complexities of making the 'morally wrong' decision in order to save people. Alina is interesting in this story as a fish out of water who knows very little about the oppression of the Grisha but must quickly come to terms with this new part of her identity. They are two sides of the same coin and drawn to each other which is also always fun.

Now I don't think the author fully explored the potential and mostly made the Darkling a two dimensional villain in the later books. The show followed suit in the second season. So because there was so much untapped potential, I wanted to take my own try at it lol.

Thanks for the ask!

#darklina #asks

[threadsun]

JDA Asks: "DUDE I READ LIKE—

-JDA here-

I read you said something like your main Oc has some stuff in common with Doe or something like that I- Can I please, please, PLEASE ON MY KNEES RN, can I please see them? Or can you write some info about them??? LIKE IM SO CURIOUS NOW !!

-also the abbreviation (jda) was cool, thanks uwu-"

Yesssssssssss I get to talk about my fucked up lil freak!!!

Okay okay okay so I'm absolutely shit at drawing and I don't think I currently have any of the art my partner's drawn of him but I can try to give you some facts about him!

ngl I tried to write out their whole backstory and everything but it got too long and hard to follow ^^' especially since it changes somewhat based on AUs

So I'll try to give you some facts and people can ask more questions if they wanna know more about him >:3c

Name:

Generally known as Zander Cohen (or Z for short)

Known as Kitty Cohen for work

Sometimes known by various other names, especially for his... less than legal activities

Hebrew name is Ezra ben Yael

Pronouns:

Yes

Most people default to "he" if they know him as Zander and "she" if they know her as Kitty

But they go by he/she/it/they/whatever

As long as you're not thinking too hard about which one you use, he's happy. Just use whatever pronoun comes to mind first at any moment, even if it's the same one every time

Gender:

Yeah, sure! She'll have one of each, thanks!

She considers herself transfem and transmasc because she was raised as both a man and a woman

Generally their gender is just... intersex/queer/creature

Or like... whatever's funniest or most convenient in the moment (especially when it comes to flirting, he'll be whatever gender you find hottest~)

Sex:

Intersex

He can change his body at will, but naturally he was born with an intersex variation and considers that important to his identity

If you want specifics for horny reasons: he's got tits, pussy, and dick (it's half way between a clit and a dick, really)

He's sterile and has patchy facial hair that he usually shaves

Sexuality:

Bisexual and slutty about it

Very t4t and nb4nb, but he'll flirt with/fuck/date anyone really if they catch his fancy

Switch verse and very kinky

Species:

Half human, but fully golem

His human mother and golem father did some weird sex magic, which ended with him being stillborn and then brought to life with magic

His golem dad fucked off before he was born, but his dad's dad stuck around. He's also a golem who usually takes the form of a cat, and his name is Grandpa Moon

Zander is made of clay, and his life is given to him by the word "אמת" carved into his skin, like all golem. His happens to be on his lower back, like a trampstamp

He can't be killed in any way other than by deactivating him by erasing some or all of the word

He can, however, feel pain and will take a long time to heal from injuries and murder attempts. His best way of healing is pouring boiling water on whatever's injured and moulding it back into shape while it's soft

His body is a lil fucked up cause he doesn't fully know how human biology works, so his insides are not the right organs in the right order. It causes him chronic pain and various disabilities

Usually he keeps a human form that's curvy, chubby, and strong. He has freckles and curly hair that both reflect his mood. When he's upset, the freckles fade and his hair goes limp and straight. When he's excited, the freckles look like stars and his hair floats. When he's in love, his freckles and curls start to look like hearts, as do his pupils

He can change his form at will, and make himself look however he wants. Usually he just does this to tweak his appearance to make himself more attractive to people because he's very vain. He also uses it for kinky sex stuff, unsurprisingly

He has a golem form that comes out when his base instincts are activated. That form is about 10 feet tall, with sharp claws and jagged teeth with serrated edges. His eyes are covered in a black film that makes him only able to see vague shapes. His senses of smell and hearing become sharp enough to sense the blood in someone's veins

His golem form also has various shapes carved into it, almost like tattoos, that glow orangey-red like hot coals

He doesn't remember the things he does in golem form once he gets back into human form, if his golem form was triggered by his protective instincts

Being a golem, if he loves someone then he's magically bound to protect them with his life. If he thinks they're in danger, his golem form comes out and he can't stop it

Uhhhh can't off the top of my head think of more important facts about him being a golem but I'm sure there's more

General:

He's a sex worker, but the specifics depend on AU. Anything from full service to burlesque/stripping to online sex work

They were raised partially in a circus. They learned lots of skills there, including picking pockets, picking locks, using a bullwhip, sword swallowing, and various other sleight of hand/illusion sort of stuff

Charisma and charm are his weapons of choice, and he'll flirt his way into and out of trouble

She's autistic!! And also severely mentally unwell but like that's a separate thing

It's... borderline illiterate. It dropped out of school really young, and never bothered to learn to read past the basics

He's got a big ol' gap between his top two front teeth

They have committed murder before

He's been engaged twice and married once, he's married to @threadmoon's OC Nik (they/them)

He and Nik are polyamorous. Usually they'll only date people together (except women, Nik isn't attracted to women so that's all Z >:3c), but Z sleeps around plenty on his own too

She's got a minimum of 12 serious exes (there's 12 that have full stories) some of whom she's still friends with and some of whom she'd kill if she had the chance (and one she did kill...)

It likes to eat raw meat, it's not picky about what animal the meat comes from, humans included :)

He's usually just kind of silly and flirty and doesn't take much seriously, but when he gets angry he goes feral. His teeth and nails are his weapons of choice

He can get very obsessive over his partners~ Once you've got his love, it's very hard to lose, and he'll do anything for you~

They're sooooo normal, I promise, come closer—

#zander #sunshine #jda

[redwhale]

Quick Yellowjackets thoughts so I can clear my head – once I watched the final episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, it’s going to be hard to shift mental gears back!

SPOILERS:

Spoilers! Spoilers! Spoilers!

Like a lot of folks, I spent the episode in the present timeline narrowing down who was going to die – and was heartbroken when I realized all the evidence towards Nat kept building. There was an instant around the campfire when I realized Nat had no one in that moment. Shauna had Jeff and Callie there for her, Misty had Walter, Van had Tai, and Lottie had her people and her belief. In the next scene, Lottie in the past gave over the leadership to a shocked Natalie, and I heartbrokenly realized it was done. Oh, Nat, my darling. I think I'm still processing.

I’m absolutely shattered for the loss Adult Nat and Juliette Lewis, but I adore from a narrative structure and perspective to see a character’s arc coming to a close in the present day as the younger version of the same character begins the next step in their arc. I love that that I know where Natalie as a character begins and ends, but I’m still missing the in-between. As Yellowjackets as proved many times this season, one of its great strengths are plot revelations that completely recontextualize existing scenes.

I was holding it together well with Nat dying, until Adult Nat began to cry on the plane. It was such a raw performance from Juliette Lewis that I had an involuntary little sob with her. Lewis will be dearly, dearly missed.

Whether you prefer the supernatural or the rational reading of the show, how heartbreaking that Natalie was back on the goddamn plane in the moments before her death. And whether ‘It’ is real or not, seeing Natalie's final moments accepting ‘It’ before her death and letting it in was hard. I so wish she’d been free from that.

I know a lot of people had predicted Natalie saving Lisa and dying in the process, and I don’t think it’s a bad thing to have been correct, as it means the focus of Natalie’s arc was solid. Nat, you were the best of them.

It was riveting watching Young Nat’s transition from shock and discomfort to giddiness and joy at become the leader.

It was also fascinating seeing Young Misty be the one to give Lottie hardcore cannibalism survival pep-talks: the group needs to do this and believe this to survive. Pep talking the messiah, as you do, though Lottie passed on her crown quickly.

There were so many great theories after 2.08 that the one who survived the hunt became the next Antler Queen, but now that Lottie has passed the leadership torch to Nat, I presume she becomes the Antler Queen in a static role. She also now has a fascinating foil in Coach Ben, who was surrounded by antler imagery all season. Is he an antagonistic foil to Nat, or a potential sacrifice?

Coach Ben, I still hope you live on to this day. I’m so intrigued where that leaves his character now, with his intention to kill the girls by burning the cabin. Does he still live on in the cave? Will we still follow his POV in the past? Does Nat figure it out what happened and the group goes hunting for Ben in vengeance?

Van continues to be a walking bundle of complex ambiguity. In the present, I think part of her was genuine in wanting to take responsibility over Lottie, but she also wanted another chance at life and her cancer going into remission. The weight in the final look between Adult Lottie and Adult Van sure was something.

I loved seeing Shauna in the past wanting to be the leader, and not being chosen, and how that entangled into her blaming Jackie for feeling invisible, but realizing that feeling didn’t end with Jackie’s death.

I’m fascinated to see how Nat dying affects Misty, especially by Misty’s accidental own hand. Misty is the main character we have the least amount backstory for, so I’m curious if next season Misty coping with Nat’s death might reveal more about her past.  (I'll also always carry a torch for Misty/Nat.)

I wonder if there will be a bit of a timeskip in the present day next season, eg. Simone and Sammy, Van’s cancer, Shauna/Jeff/Callie trying to go back to normal lives, Lottie recovering, everything surrounding Kevyn, Misty dealing with the loss of Nat. Tai is the only character for me it would be a little jarring to do a time skip with, but I feel like it would benefit the rest of the cast.

There were two spoiler-y behind the scenes pictures for two potentially different storylines that didn’t get used this season. I won’t spoil here, but very curious if they were filmed and will be used later, or were cut entirely.

Both the younger and the adult casts were absolute powerhouses all season. Can everyone win an Emmy?

It’s hard to beat S1 because it’s so brilliant conceptually and in execution, but I thought S2 was a very enjoyable (and stressful) follow up. Ep.9 was a solid end of the season for me, with enough resolved to feel satisfied for now, but with plenty of questions to still be answered. My big hope was that the Adam Martin storyline would fully come to a close. I know we saw Walter tying up as much of that subplot as he could, but we still have the question of why had Martin made all those paintings of Shauna…. so I’m still wary whether that storyline has been fully resolved yet. It may be intended by the showrunners that he painted them all in the time he knew Shauna… but given his Yellowjackets yellow-blue keys, the time some paints can take to dry-? Hopefully some post-finale interviews give clarity there. I’d be happy to be done with the subplot, though.

Off to catch up on other people’s thoughts and watch the final episode of Mrs. Maisel. From cannibalism to comedy!

#yellowjackets #yellowjackets spoilers

[shazzeaslightnovels]

Fate/Strange Fake 4

Author: Ryohgo Narita

Illustrator: Shizuki Morii

Label: Dengeki Bunko

Release Date: 8 April 2017

My Score: 4/5

These books are so hard to summarise because there are so many characters and moving parts and it's hard to know what's a spoiler and what isn't. This book moves into the second day of this Holy Grail War and we start off with learning more about Flat and his backstory and why he is the way that he is. I find Flat to be one of the more charming characters in this series and I really liked getting to have a look at what makes him tick. It was also great to see Great Big Ben London Star- er, I mean Lord El Melloi II. I liked Lord El-Melloi II's Case Files well enough but it's so satisfying to see that character involved in another Holy Grail War, even if not directly. We see the influence that the Lord has had on Flat and why Flat admires him so much. We also see the Lord start to influence False Berserker. And I love False Berserker. I've come to appreciate the interpretation of Jack the Ripper that appears in Fate/Apocrypha, despite her goofy design, but I definitely prefer this interpretation of the figure. I love the idea that this Jack does not know themself who Jack actually was and that because of that they can take many different forms. I love that they are searching for the answers as to who they are and I love their relationship with Flat. While I don't love this pairing quite as much as I love Enkidu and their wolf master, these two are definitely one of my favourites of this Holy Grail War.

There's also Haruri who has ended up summoning a monster Berserker thanks to Fillia's interference. Fillia is an Einzbern homunculus but it's clear that is not all she is. She's also the person responsible for Ayaka's involvement in the Holy Grail War. They clash heads with Bazdilot and True Archer.

Then there's the continuing adventures of Saber and Ayaka who have formed an alliance with Enkidu and False Assassin and end up encountering Sigma. Speaking of Sigma, he's growing on me. This book reveals that he's a bit of a movie buff and pretends that his servant is a Lancer Charlie Chaplin, which causes everyone confusion. Sigma's actual servant is Watcher, a unique servant that's meant to guide Sigma into becoming a Lancer himself. To be honest, the set-up with these two is a bit hard for me to understand, but it's definitely an intriguing idea and they have some amusing interactions. There's a bit where Watcher asks Sigma if he's familiar with Arthurian legends and Sigma responds that he's seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail which made me laugh.

There's a bunch of other stuff going on behind the scenes here too, like Jester infiltrating Tsubaki's dream world, but these are the main points that don't feel like spoilers. This was another fantastic volume. I am really enjoying my time with this series and am excited to move on. In the afterword, Narita finally admits that this is not going to be a series that will end at volume 5. I'm curious why they initially thought that this series could be. There's far too many moving parts so I wonder if they didn't plan certain plot points in the beginning or if they were planning to not develop certain characters and then formed more ideas for them. Either way, I'm glad that this series is given the time that it needs to develop everything and that it's not just being rushed to fit into 5 volumes.

#fate strange fake #ryohgo narita #shizuki morii #dengeki bunko #September 2023 #4 stars

[stromuprisahat]

(pt 1) When I watched the episode of Shadow and Bone that gave Aleksander’s backstory, I was really hoping Alina would have a moment at the end of the series that was parallel to Aleksander’s when he accidentally made the Fold (I especially love how Ben Barnes said the “I made something” line and the expression on his face, it really looked like he was already brainstorming tactical advantages he could use the Fold for).

Alina’s concerns and dislike towards the Fold are valid, since the Fold is the reason she became an orphan in the first place. However, I think her reluctance to destroy the Fold and her being kind of overly myopic about that would have been much more interesting if that reluctance was contrasted with her slowly starting to learn more about what the Grisha are going through and how corrupt the monarchy is (I still can’t believe Alina didn’t realize how despotic and useless the monarchy was after hearing Genya’s story, how else could you possibly interpret that). Even if she’s unsure about what the Darkling’s intentions are, it would be interesting to see her have that internal conflict between wanting to help the Grisha but not wanting to use the Fold.

This could have led to a moment where Alina ends up having to expand the Fold in a moment of desperation because many people could die if she doesn’t. For that to work, Alina has to be a protagonist who actively wants to learn things and is empathetic (she also needs a corruption arc). But, Alina is so uninspired and cares for no one except Mal, which not only makes her come across as annoying, but also very unintelligent and I hate it.

I had to send my ask in parts, because it got really long when I wrote it out and I couldn't fit it all in one due to the character limit. I'm sorry if that's inconvenient, but I really wanted to know what you think because I really like your blog, especially all the Grishaverse and Hannibal content.

This is a very long ask (Thanks a lot! <3), so I’ll take it piece by piece:

When I watched the episode of Shadow and Bone that gave Aleksander’s backstory, I was really hoping Alina would have a moment at the end of the series that was parallel to Aleksander’s when he accidentally made the Fold

We already have a parallel, although not a fair one. In the first episode, the creators had Alina intentionally destroy important military maps, so she can cross the Fold with Mal. The similar parts are Darklina both did something horrible that got out of hand.

The differences are greater: Aleksander’s loved one was murdered right in front of him, his mother and people were in mortal peril. If he succeeded, he’d have a weapon to protect them all. Malyen was in danger, but he wasn’t targeted by anyone. Alina not thinking through the severity of the impact of her actions cannot be compared with being cornered to use mythical power one doesn’t fully understand to live to see another day.

From storyteller’s POV, it doesn’t make sense to add character-building scenes that will never be brought up again in any way. Alina wasn’t confronted about her reckless crime- let’s be honest, she’d be executed if anyone knew. Aleksander was painted as a desperate protector, yet the remainder of the season treated him as villain, that needs to be stopped.

I especially love how Ben Barnes said the “I made something” line and the expression on his face, it really looked like he was already brainstorming tactical advantages he could use the Fold for

He totally was.

Plus I’d add some fascination, because Sasha is a curious creature.

Alina’s concerns and dislike towards the Fold are valid, since the Fold is the reason she became an orphan in the first place.

I wouldn’t say so. It might be direct reason, but not the original one.

The Fold is like a great ocean full of beasts, or lava field. It’s dangerous if you wanna get on the other side. It won’t actively chase you around. If Alina’s parents didn’t go there, they would still live, so to find out, what killed them, we need to continue, and ask why would they risk going into such a dangerous place?

Now, show came up with whole new plotline, that probably answers that. Alina comes from mixed marriage. Shu aren’t exactly well-loved in Ravka and- no matter, what the show wants us to see- understandably so. We can safely assume Alina’s mother wasn’t accepted better than her daughter, and Alina’s parents might’ve thought moving West would help them find safer place to live in.

But even racism isn’t the real villain here. That’s a consequence of another problem. Why do Ravkans distrust Shu? Because they’re at war for over a century. Conflict this long means there would be milder times and worse ones. The books tell us there are disputable areas, claimed by either of these countries through the centuries. That means cycles of (relative) peace, when both nations cohabit and mingle, and more turbulent times, when love among them is scarce.

This just happens to be one of the worse times in Ravkan-Shu relations, when Shu feel Ravka’s weaker and weaker, so they’re raiding, murdering and kidnapping... and their ordinary people on the wrong side of the border pay for it.

“You murdered my parents.” is just a sentiment of a hurt child, not a statement of adult with critical thinking. But the writers don’t want the heroine to consider wider implications. She might hate wars and realize her “enemy” has a point.

However, I think her reluctance [not]??? to destroy the Fold and her being kind of overly myopic about that would have been much more interesting if that reluctance was contrasted with her slowly starting to learn more about what the Grisha are going through and how corrupt the monarchy is (I still can’t believe Alina didn’t realize how despotic and useless the monarchy was after hearing Genya’s story, how else could you possibly interpret that). Even if she’s unsure about what the Darkling’s intentions are, it would be interesting to see her have that internal conflict between wanting to help the Grisha but not wanting to use the Fold.

One of the saddest aspects of the show are these cool, or interesting statements that just don’t correspond with the plot. One of those is Alina telling Aleksander she wants to make the world better place for Grisha before their first kiss. Or her saying she’ll come back to help Ravka, when she’s stronger or whatever. The moment her oponent’s presumed dead and nothing stands between her and her return to Os Alta, the only place, where she knows she could learn...

The whole situation is badly handled. The show seems as anti-Grisha as the books, except less showy (LOL).

We don’t see the horrors Grisha have to face. Nina’s a spy kidnapped by enemy forces. That’s occupational hazard, not state-organized genocide.

The heroine is a victim of anti-Shu sentiments. There’s also some war with those. Now imagine, if she met Shu Grisha refugees, saved from one of their laboratories.

Grisha are painted as privileged upper class. They’re arrogant chauvinists and show offs. 

Second army constitutes of incompetent fools, canon fodder in fancy clothes.

People are running away from draft to Second Army, not joining for safety offered by the Darkling.

The fact finding a Heartrender in Katterdam is hard because they’re virtually slaves, is conveniently glossed over.

The only people we see at least talk about the real state of things are either unsympathetic- Ivan contradicting Alina’s speech about struggle-, or straight up villains justifying their unforgivable actions against the heroine- Aleksander.

Eight episodes, extra (feeble) Crows plotline and five meadow scenes also mean we never really see Alina live in Little Palace or interact with other Grisha. There’s no confrontation with the Grand Palace luxury. The scenes, where Alina’s painting pictures of Grisha living freely among other Ravkans doesn’t make it look like any of that happened off the camera. It’s even more obvious she lived in her own bubble, when she was in Little Palace.

Genya’s story is presented, when Alina’s full of self-righteous fury and the viewer isn’t supposed to pay it more attention than Alina herself. Or blame it on the Darkling the way everything’s “solved” (in the books).

So yes, it would be nice, if her desire to do something for others wasn’t just empty statement, before she smooches the hot, yearning idealist.

This could have led to a moment where Alina ends up having to expand the Fold in a moment of desperation because many people could die if she doesn’t. 

Now, we’re getting a little out of hand. Alina might be powerful, but it should take time, before her skills get on level of (at least) decades old immortal. No matter how much books ignore that little detail. But I understand the sentiment. If we want to pretend the Darkling’s wrong, Alina should face similar situation and solve it better.

For that to work, Alina has to be a protagonist who actively wants to learn things and is empathetic (she also needs a corruption arc). But, Alina is so uninspired and cares for no one except Mal, which not only makes her come across as annoying, but also very unintelligent and I hate it.

I don’t think corruption arc is necessary. She doesn’t need to become “morally weak”, quite contrary- becoming more self-aware and realistic would mean becoming morally better person. I’d say it’s worse to sit by idly, than decide, who will live when you’d want all to survive. One of those will certainly end up with everyone dead. Mistakes are inevitable, but inaction inexcusable.

Grishaverse is a horrible place for Grisha. It’s not exactly nice to “ordinary people” either. Wars are paid by lives of innocents, want it or not. Fighting them isn’t about saving everyone, but managing losses untill you find a way to make the other side stop.

The problem with show!Alina is relative inconsistency. Book!Alina doesn’t give a flying fuck about Ravka or Grisha in the whole first book. Her only concern is Mal and her own comfort.

Show!Alina’s seemingly more active insider her story. She talks about using her newfound influence, she initiates her relationship with Aleksander, she seems to enjoy her time in Little Palace, especially once she “accepts” she’s Grisha... so we expect her to continue that way. Instead she follows Baghra, the Cockblocker, and disappears without a real plan to do anything. When she conveniently stumbles over Mal, she decides to go after the Stag, but what then?

The only logical way forward would be to confront the Darkling, but when that happens, it isn’t on her terms, so she’s not really interested in any sort of conversation. If she really cared about anything but her own hurt, she wouldn’t blindly defy the Darkling and disappear for no reason at all. Show!Alina’s a hypocrite, because she claims she cares, but her actions say it’s only about herself and Mal. 

#reply #Shadow and Bone #season 1 #Alina Starkov #self centred and paranoid #The Darkling #General Kirigan #anti S&B writers #Ravka #Grisha #grishanalyticritical #The Fold #Alina Starkov's parents #Shu Han #Grisha trilogy #I'm not tagging anti Alina #because it's mostly anti shitty writing of her character. #I hope there are no mistakes #because I've spent last four hours on this #and I should've been asleep this whole time.

[robsterskellington]

List of my fics:

(Completed):

Soul Sharing = a Super Paper Mario fic wherein Dimentio and Luigi are forced to stay together in an unusual fashion, but it helps Dimentio begin to see the Worlds in a new light.

Keeping Promises = a fic based on @lizadale 's Dimigi AU where Dimentio finally finds a way to get rid of the Chaos Heart without killing Luigi (not canon to her AU, please check out her fics, they will give you life.)

What's Important to you, Snatcher? = a fic based on the A Hat in Time, Oh the Humanity! AU created by @doodledrawsthings , in which Snatcher has to make an important choice after Queen Vanessa kidnaps Moonjumper (my first fic, kinda sucks lol. Again, not canon to their AU, please check out their art.)

Prelude = a Bendy and the Ink Machine fic that leads into Bendy and the Dark Revival, with a fan theory of mine thrown in. (Not my best work, I wrote it because I needed to write something. My first one-shot fic.)

At Arm's Length = a The Case Study of Vanitas fic that I wrote with my cousin (HisDarkDisgrace on AO3, please check out his work), and my first collab fic.

(Incomplete/Work in Progress):

Embrace the Darkness = after the events of Kingdom Hearts 3, before going to Quadratum, Sora has an adventure in the Eternal Kingdom of Hallownest, where he learns that the light isn't always the good thing, and darkness isn't necessarily bad. (My first crossover fic.)

Echos of the Past = a continuation of @zanzaflux 's Shadows of the Studio AU, where Ben, Bendy and Henry find themselves going back to Joey Drew Studios, for hopefully the last time. (Like the others, this is not canon to her AU, please read her fics if you have the time, they helped me survive 2020.)

(Discontinued/Hiatus):

These following fics are the ones that I'm not sure I'll ever be able to continue for my own reasons, but if anyone is curious about them, please send an ask or drop a dm and I'll gladly answer any questions about them.

The Nightmare before Christmas: Jack's Legacy = my own AU of NbC, that was created with a friend whom I am no longer friends with. Basically, it's my own twist on the story, with some new characters and some characters removed. I loved writing what I did, but unfortunately I just can't bring myself to continue.

Just a Glitch = I have absolutely no idea why I wrote this, I think it was on a stupid whim. Basically, it was my own interpretation of Five Night's at Freddy's: Security Breach, because as interesting as the game is, it didn't make a great deal of sense to me in a lore aspect.

Sonic Revival = This is my own Sonic story, that another ex-friend of mine wrote with me, but he wanted to create his own Sonic game and there were way too many ideas to use. It's based after Sonic Forces, since we started it around the time it came out, so now after Sonic Frontiers, the story doesn't make much sense. It contains my own Sonic OC, but I never got around to revealing her backstory since I kinda made it up.

(Upcoming works):

Yes, despite how much I've already got on my plate, I've been working with my cousin on a few more fics. Nothing has been posted yet, everything is still in the process of being written and edited- I do not intend to post any of these until they're complete, if I can help it. Warning: most of these are crossovers:

A Guide to Tainted Sorrow- by Nakahara Chuuya and Osamu Dazai: When a mysterious boy from another world falls into Yokohama on the brink of death without any memories of his past, aside from his name and the fact that his book is valuable to him, it's up to the Agency to take care of him. But exactly *who* is Vanitas, and why doesn't he remember why he nearly died?

Operation: Stray Dogs: When Agent Twilight receives a file from his informant Franky, he receives with it a peculiar mission- find and retrieve Agent Sigma, who has been sighted in Yokohama. Not knowing how long this could take, and under orders to be discreet, Loid Forger and his "family" travel to Yokohama. What could possibly go wrong?

The Case Study of Stray Dogs: What happens when most members of the Agency and two prominent members of the Port Mafia end up in an entirely different world, one full of Vampires staying hidden from Humans? Can they trust the Human Doctor and his Vampire friend to help them?

Blue Moon Family: on the night of the Crimson Moon, Noé and Dominique are forced to watch their friend Mina become a Curse-Bearer... or do they? When a brilliant blue light envelopes her, and a boy claims to have restored her True Name, exactly what happens next? And why does Louis look happier than he's done in weeks?

I hope you enjoy reading what I have been able to provide!

If you wish to ask me or my characters any questions, please feel free! (Anon asks are enabled)

Any comments are helpful and appreciated, too!

Thanks a lot! -RobsterSkellington.

#soul sharing #keeping promises #what's important to you snatcher #prelude #embrace the darkness #jack's legacy #sonic revival #just a glitch #echos of the past #super paper mario #a hat in time #bendy and the dark revival #bendy and the ink machine #the nightmare before christmas #kingdom hearts #hollow knight #sonic the hedgehog #five nights at freddy's #fnaf sb #at arms length #the case study of vanitas #vanitas no carte #a guide to tainted sorrow #case study of stray dogs #blue moon family #bungou stray dogs #operation: stray dogs #spy x family

[cat-scarr]

Thank you for your quick reply! And yeah, it is quite limiting honestly but it's hard to speak about anyone we haven't seen yet, excluding ocs...

So, wanna share those oc you wanted to ship Ben with? I'm curious lol.

I have a tag for most of my older posts regarding her, but it really doesn’t detail the way I have her set up currently.

The VERY short version is that she’s a character Ben would meet post the events of Omniverse, whose backstory takes place during the events of the continuity and ties into the Ben 10 universe without interfering with the main plot at all. This was because I didn’t want to have to retcon or rewrite anything and allow her to fit into the story as is. Also because the romance gets spicy so they’ve gotta be older. Her names Kat Gunn.

She’s a girl with a troubled past, family secrets, and involved in crime which leads her to meet Ben and get into a very controversial relationship with him, which then leads her to a path of redemption…or does it?

I do plan to post an update on her backstory, design, abilities and all that but recently the Ben defence videos have been taking priority due to, y’know. A surge in counter arguments 😒

I appreciate the interest in my original ideas though <3

#seriously I’d love to reveal what I came up with for her #and I will #once I decide in what format lmao #I have such a good name for the story too 😈 #ask #Ben 10 #ben 10 oc #oc files

[walker-extended-universe]

I've been going through the earlier seasons and transcripts recently to try and put together a timeline for Cordell/his backstory (mostly because I'm trying to figure out how old he is and what year he's born for some reason??? IDK--two different wiki's say '82 and '84 and idk what to believe).

Doing that though made me realized.... Do we know literally anything about Emily's family? I haven't finished the rewatch yet (still early in S2 tbf), and to some extent, it makes sense that the episodes and narrative are centered around the three generations of Walkers. That said, now three seasons in and a rewatch in process, it's been a bit jarring to realize how little I know about Emily, her backstory, and her personal life. I'm assuming any parents/relatives are dead or estranged since even in the funeral scene in S1E12 it was only the walkers there and the kids never mention them, but to my knowledge no one has even mentioned anything there.

There's also the matter of Cordell somehow being at all of Emily's soccer games at UT even though—if I'm tracking it correctly (and IF Emily went to college on a traditional timeline--big if to be fair)—I think Cordell should have been enlisted at that time... Curious if that means that Emily, like Stella, took a gap year or something. If she did, I feel like hearing that would make Stella feel more comfortable with not being 100% sure about what she wants to do... I wonder if the show will ever start to flesh out some of those gaps (especially if they do more flashback scenes for Hoyt with Sadie coming into the picture). Idk if I want whole episodes to address that tbh though because there are already so many characters and storylines that could be developed, but I would seriously appreciate a line or two thrown into the story somewhere because honestly, it feels like Emily didn't exist outside of her relationship to Cordell/the kids/Walkers.

We didn't get anything about them until season 3 actually

Geri mention that her father was a lawyer and that Emily was expected to follow that same path. And then Emily went against her father's wishes and went into social work/charity instead.

But yeah It's very odd that there's been no mention of Emily's life outside of what she had with the family. Granted, the show is very focused on the Walker family and we know very little about the backstories of most of the other characters like Larry James, Trey, Cassie, Ben, Bret, etc..... Even Abby we know very little about as far as her history goes aside from her estranged brother.

It does make me wish that we could meet someone from Emily's family just to get more of a perspective on her but I digress.

Also yeah the timeline of the show is very strange and there's a bit of mental gymnastics involved to make all the details work out, especially with Cordell's enlistment. I would say that it is possible that Cordell could've attended all of Emily's soccer games though because the soccer season only happens over the course of a few months and he could've been very careful with his leave/when he went on tours.

#walker #walker speculation #walker crit #ish #emily walker

[alpona]

Geats episode 14 liveblog:

What an episode full of delicious info! Obviously spoilers.

- lol, Game master getting annoyed at predictable winner situation?

- Keiwa-kun being the super nice guy again

- yes Neon, I'm also wondering about Ace's secret plan.

- woo, Keiwa using command twin buckle already! Good good, no drama like boost.

- punkjack didn't write aaanything for a wish, not even a silly one.....

- *gasp* yesss! Jamatos showing traits of dead riders, because they're grown from broken ID cores!! What did I write in that episode.... Ah, so Jamatos are kinda like... Reborn...plant...people....??

- hmm, So red-hat girl was an illusion created by the Jamato, and it can make hallucination inducing pollens. Very cool.

- Ace directly asking important questions.

- btw, punkjack may not know about Ace's wish to join every game, but Ace definitely realized that simply eliminating him won't accomplish anything, right? His memory will only be lost for this game, he'll get it back when the next game begins. Killing him is the only option for game master.

- Neon's valid concern. Sigh... Sometimes you do need certain people...

- hello bodyguard-san! What's Neon's gonna ask...

- I expected punkjack to betray game master, but he betrayed punkjack first? Ahaha

- sweet exposition time! My favorite!

- the superstar wish had deeper reasons after all. This kinda has a parallel with Neon making videos to get noticed too.

- yay, detective bodyguards!

- woahh Ben and John already used to be riders!! That means definitely on screen henshin in future episodes too!

Congrats Tom Constantine for becoming a rider on top of joining the cast! Woah, what a dream come true!

What are the motifs, white tiger?

- 'sponsor' huh. And DGP even needs funds. Curious how these things actually works considering the reality bending powers they have...

Is there an alien with superpower 'sponsoring' these things? Lol.

- punkjack backstory. His music career wasn't a lie, woah

- Ace's mom was a navigator? Ok! Did she became the main boss behind everything, or did something and got banned or something... I wonder.

- Yeah, we're also thinking you should know game master's identity, Ace-kun.

- oh, thank you! Thank goodness it was Ace's plan to deliberately let Michinaga take the driver, I'm glad the slyness isn't totally gone 😁

- "what am I doing with my life" thats what I wonder everyday too, dear punkjack.

- by the way, Neon has a very practical hairstyle this episode.

- little deception lesson Punkjack and game master should learn: don't reveal your plan before fully achieving your goal. (I'm not a criminal consultant btw)

- Game master henshin time! Vision driver huh, a totally different system than regular riders. With fingerprint scan n all. Girori become glare. The suit is cool

- and he can even do mind control, wow, scary!

- episodes almost ending, when's that preview scene of Ace worriedly looking at his ID core at... I had some ideas about that scene.

I was thinking maybe Game master will 'deactivate' Geats ID core, to ensure he can't even henshin with ANY driver at all.

- Ace just went poof eliminated? The scene was so short, nooo Takahashi-san, there could've been much more drama here..!

More twists please (lol)

But again, Game master can't seriously be content with just eliminating Ace, unless... He's planning the murder while Ace doesn't remember anything and is vulnerable, outside the game, with some trick that doesn't revive him👀😳? *Dan dan daaan!*

- lol at the rule!

Well well, we got the visual of Ace-kun being eliminated! That's actually not a big deal, cuz anytime he can come in contact with an ID core and remember everything, most likely Keiwa himself will go ahead and do that. Plus the upper management seems to be on his side, heck, wouldn't be surprised if he already has a backup plan and hid a spare ID core in his room! Basically, he can very easily join again very soon, maybe next episode. So Geats isn't gone yet. But I'm actually waiting for his apperant 'death' sometime.

(I'm starting to sound like an ominous witch with all the 'Ace will die' talk 😝)

#kamen rider geats #kr geats #ukiyo ace #geats liveblog #geats rant #win hareruya

[ben-101-rewrite]

So once we reach the whole alternative Bens area of things, do you plan on giving each of them a more fleshed out backstory, because the one 2 we really get a lot of lore out of (and I mean on screen, not post appearance crew trivia) are Ben 23 and Mad Ben. I'm curious what your interpretations of them will be, more specifically Bad Ben, and Benzarro respectively

I do indeed have plans for the alternate Bens, including working on the original ones, and perhaps adding a few of my own to add more variety, especially on Ben Prime's team, along with replacing Albedo on the opposite team since it always seemed strange he was there, given he's not an alternate Ben. I'm still working on ideas for them, especially ones like Bad Ben, but I have some concepts here and there that I will flesh out over time. E.g, for Benzarro's backstory, I decided not to make him a zombie, but instead, he comes from a reality where Zs'Skayr successfully possessed Ben, though the omnitrix caused a strange feedback that sort of merged the two into a new person. Or Mad Ben where I want to delve more into the idea of Vilgax being his mentor. If there are any specific Bens you want to know more about, or any that I have made up, just ask.

#ben 101 note #ben 101 au #ben 101 #ben 101 rewrite #ben 10 #ben 10 omniverse #ben 10 ultimate alien #ben 10 alien force #ben 10 original series #b10 #Ben 10 Ben Tennyson #Ben 10 Mad Ben #Ben 10 Benzarro #Ben 10 Bad Ben

[xenophobicideas]

Flow is a character I came up with a long time ago. I wasn't sure how exactly they'd work, but I knew I wanted him to be a slimy and liquid enemy. think Goop from ben 10... something like that. when I thought more about them, however, I started to fill in their backstory in my head. they don't come from the best part of Ethia. while they are (or were) Ethian, that doesn't mean their living as well as the majority. I'm thinking they were either a scientist or had someone close to them that was a scientist who conceived of the ability to transform into slime. of course, this would be useful, for more than just combat. the limitless possibilities this technology gave search and rescue teams, probably, was the inspiration. however, the process of becoming slime was dangerous. a 50/50 gamble on whether or not you'd be able to come back. and even if you did, there was an even higher possibility that your mind would be scrambled since all of your life essences are just rummaging around everywhere. regardless, this Ethian (he had a name but it's totally blanking on me now) used the machine and can't return back to normal anymore. on top of that, their thoughts are much more than scrambled. after the process, they lose themselves and start being wreckless around Ethia, a pretty normal supervillain-like introduction. however, before the group is able to interact with them, the antagonistic corporation gathers Flow (as well as giving them that name) and takes them in to support their forces. I'm now thinking that when they are initially introduced, Professor Silvester gives the group the go-ahead to travel to Ethia and gather data on whatever is causing trouble there. not to stop it, just because Silvester is curious. when they get there, however, the aftermath exists but Flow themself is gone. there is probably a lot of internal conflict Nakzen is facing about having to go back to her home planet, too. this bit of information isn't really necessary, but I have a bizarre connotation with Flow and Vince Staples. it's the only voice I can imagine being attached to the character. if whoever's reading this wanted some kind of reference, that is. also, I'll post one more thing today since I missed out on doing so yesterday.

[dangeles]

also what do you think of the other new characters? i love them all a lot, i ADORE sadie and that whole speech she gave adam when he was being sooo whiny 2 eps ago. "okay first of all, im straight-" hsgjkgfhj amazing, shes amazing

also i really love oliver and his dynamic with mark? love what those two have going on. mark hiding the damien thing. oliver being a mess about the am thing. theyre great <3

Lengthy The College Tapes blabber incoming!

(spoiler warning, I think?)

[takes deep breath]

I love all the new characters!!!!!!!!!!!

They're all so different and unique, you can tell from their voices and cadence what they are like, and I have this mental image of all of them and I wanna sketch the whole squad so bad!! Sometime soon definitely 🤠 im working on Caleb's design (he's my favourite for obvious reasons, *cough* Briggon Snow *cough*.)

Frankie and Caitlyn???? Adorable and feisty!!! Ben is so sweet, I wanna protect them with my life!!

Adam popping off on his radio show and then sleuthing by himself but freaking out over crows? I love him!!!!!

Right off the bat from the first episode, I felt like Sadie is the singular operative braincell in the whole Yale/BU squad; she's so solid and cool and chill, and wow, I love her! She's really grounded as a person and everytime someone gets all flighty or obtuse, she really puts them in their place. Though, I gotta be honest, at first I was like 'ok but like she's TOO cool, should I be sus????' there have been some micro instances where I was like 'huh okay she sounds a bit... hesitant here?' but that's just me being extra cautious because, you know, after what happened with Helen in The AM Archives?? Good god, you can't be too careful :(

(RIP Owen, you are missed, you poor sweet man.)

Mark and Oliver are downright my favourite duo after Caleb and Adam. I highkey want them to be a Thing™. Please be a Thing™.

Oliver is a RIOT; I love him, he's so funny and it's like he's not even trying?? He's just Oliver and I split my sides laughing at how he navigates conversations with his short attention span. I'm so curious to know about his backstory in detail, trauma and all. I love how he skirts around the horrors he'd faced in Tier5 and puts up a brave nonchalant front (which Mark sees through like it's made of gossamer lmao)

Mark was always a favourite of mine since the Bright Sessions; he's so fun and you know he's a good looking dude, he just radiates it. And the fact he uses humour as a coping mechanism for his trauma?? Poor baby. He's had a lot of baggage and I want to know more about his absurd time with Damien (that was very interesting for both those characters.) Mark is a very compelling character and I could listen to him monologue to himself for hours.

Mark and Oliver, and their dynamic??? Our Comedic Tier5 Trauma Boys??? Oh man, I could listen to a 100 episode spinoff series of just them bickering back and forth domestically, getting into all sorts of Shippen-orchestrated shenanigans, and I'd be as happy as a clam!! Both voice actors are absolute GEMS; they bounce off each other so well, its so entertaining to listen to. It's never a dull moment with them, be it the sassy banter or when they discuss their crippling insecurities.

Apart from all that, can we agree that Oliver and Caleb is the funniest ''shut up! no you shut up!' pair ever???? I was wheezing everytime they put their heads together to figure out that godforsaken Book and ended up pissing each other off every time, introspective revelations aside.

In conclusion, I just love all of them, Your Honour.

This is one of those podcasts I listened to repeatedly, and will be listening to again and again and again and again and again and aga-

#the college tapes #caleb micheals #adam hayes #oliver ritz #mark bryant #atypical artists #i love this podcast so much!!!